26 Feb 1943
  • Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Saipan, departing later on the same day. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
  • The German government issued the order that Eastern European workers who were originally sent to concentration camps for a temporary basis were now to be held at the camps indefinitely. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
  • USS Argonaut was struck from the US Naval Vessel Register. ww2dbase [Argonaut (Argonaut-class) | CPC]
  • In Burma, Orde Wingate lectured his officers about the British practice of worshipping gallant losers, citing the celebration of those who succeeded in the Dunkirk evacuation without placing blame on the same leaders whose failures made such an evacuation necessary. ww2dbase [Orde Wingate | CPC]
Atlantic Ocean
  • Whilst attacking USAAF bombers returning to their bases in England, United Kingdom, German nightfighter pilot Ludwig Becker was shot down over the North Sea off Schiermonnikoog, the Netherlands and killed. Earlier that day he had been given command of 12. Staffel of NJG 1 and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. He had 44 confirmed kills. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
  • Alpino Bagnolini sighted an aircraft over the horizon in the Atlantic Ocean at 1745 hours; she submerged to avoid detection. Shortly after, the aircraft, which was an US Avenger torpedo bomber from USS Ranger piloted by Ensign G. W. Bolt of VT-4 squadron, drop two 325-pound depth charges at the altitude of 200 feet, causing minor damage to both the Italian submarine as well as the bottom of the US aircraft. The aircraft circled for ten minutes, noted no sign of the submarine's destruction, and returned to the carrier ten minutes later. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | Ranger | CPC]
Australian New Guinea Australian Papua
  • George Kenney arrived at Port Moresby, Australian Papua to personally take charge of organizing an attack on Japanese convoy Operation 81; this intelligence was provided by cryptanalysis. ww2dbase [George Kenney | Port Moresby | CPC]
Dutch East Indies Germany Hawaii Mediterranean Sea
  • British submarine HMS Torbay (Lieutenant R. J. Clutterbuck, RN) sank the 1,327-ton German merchant Mariaeck (former French vessel Oasis, built 1938). The submarine opened fire with her gun about 30 nautical miles south of Cape Mele, Italy. Torbay also torpedoed and sank the 3,561-ton Spanish merchant vessel Juan de Astigarraga. Both ships were under German control. ww2dbase [HM]
Poland
  • The first transport of Roma and Sinti arrived at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland; they were assigned to the BIIe sector at Auschwitz II-Birkenau and housed in what was called the "Gypsy camp" (Zigeunerlager); this sector would eventually grow to house 23,000 Sinti and Roma people; 20,000 of them would not survive the Holocaust. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]
Ukraine
  • The notorious SS Obergruppenfuhrer Theodor Eicke, formerly Inspector of Concentration Camps and now commanding the infamous Toenkopf Division, was killed when his aircraft was shot down about one kilometer southwest of Artelnoje in Ukraine. ww2dbase [Artelnoje, Kharkov | AC]
United Kingdom
  • The British government authorized the use of the new water-skipping "Upkeep" bomb against German dams. ww2dbase [Dambuster Raid | CPC]
United States
  • USS Hoe departed New London, Connecticut, United States and arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, United States for special torpedo firing tests. ww2dbase [Hoe | New London, Connecticut | CPC]
  • USS Ancon's designation was officially changed from AP-66 to AGC-4 while undergoing conversion work at Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, United States. ww2dbase [Ancon | Norfolk Navy Yard | Portsmouth, Virginia | CPC]
Photo(s) dated 26 Feb 1943
American troops marching through the Kasserine Pass, Tunisia, 26 Feb 1943German Tiger I heavy tank and another vehicle on a road in Tunisia, 26 Feb 1943Commissioning ceremonies for Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 16 (MTBRon 16) at Higgins Boatworks in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, 26 Feb 1943. Note Higgins 78-foot PT Boats and LCM landing craft in the distance.

26 Feb 1943 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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