February 3rd, 1939 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: IRA terrorists bomb two underground stations in London.
Anti-Aircraft cruiser HMS Naiad launched.
CANADA: The first group of Canadian volunteers from the Spanish Civil War return to Halifax. There is a great controversy over whether they should have even been allowed back in the country. By fighting in the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion the volunteers broke Canadian law prohibiting enlistment in foreign armies. Of the 1,148 men who went overseas to fight against fascism, 721 will finally return home.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: General Douglas
MacArthur asks the War Department to lend more ordnance and
equipment for the training of the Philippine Army.
The request was declined. (Marc Small)