February 10
Sea War, Atlantic
Britain offers the United States 34 antisubmarine vessels with crews to battle the U-boats.

The German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen

February 11-12
Sea War, North Sea

The German battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, supported by destroyers and air cover, leave Brest and sail through the English Channel. RAF and Royal Navy strikes against the German ships are total failures, and 42 aircraft are downed. During the 'Channel Dash' to the North Sea, both battlecruisers hit mines and need repairs. British operations to contain the threat of these commerce-raiders are easier while the vessels are in port. Gneisenau subsequently has to be rebuilt after being hit during an air raid against Kiel on February 26, but the project is never completed before the war's end.

February 13
Politics, Germany
Adolf Hitler finally abandons the invasion of Britain, Operation Sealion.

February 14
Air War, Germany
Britain issues the 'Area Bombing Directive,' which outlines the strategic objectives of RAF Bomber Command. Bombing will now aim to destroy the psychological will of the German people as well as the country's war industry. Air raids will now aim to destroy residential areas to erode civilian morale.

February 18-23
Far East, Burma
Japanese forces are in constant pursuit of British forces. At the Battle of the Sittang River, the British are withdrawing across a single bridge over the river when Japanese troops make a sudden crossing elsewhere. The British quickly blow up the bridge, losing much of their equipment with their forces only partially across; those left behind have to use boats. The Sittang River is the only major physical obstacle in the path of the Japanese forces moving toward Rangoon, the capital.

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