The harsh winter weather is partly responsible, by reducing outdoor employment, together with a slump in the building trade. because of government restrictions on civil building and the shortage of timber, 250,000 building workers have been laid off. Germany states that it has only 18,000 unemployed.

RAF Fighter Command: Unescorted merchant ships in the North Sea are attacked by an unknown number of Luftwaffe aircraft. Three British vessels are sunk; two Danish vessels are damaged; many casualties.

RAF Bomber Command: 4 Grp. 77 Sqn. Reconnaissance - Rheine, Emmerich, Hamm and Osnabruck. Two aircraft. Opposition slight.

102 Sqn. 'Security Patrols' - Hornum and Borkum. Four aircraft. Flarepath bombed. Opposition light.

Destroyer HMS Fernie launched.

NORTH SEA: S class submarine HMS Starfish attempts an attack on German minesweeper M7, but due to faulty drill, no torpedoes are actually fired. After a number of depthcharge attackes by the minesweeper and some other vessels, conditions inside the submarine become serious, and while attempting to surface after dark, Starfish found herself under machine gun fire from enemy vessels on either bow. The commander decides to abandon the submarine and scuttles in the North Sea southwest of Heligoland. This is the third RN submarine to be lost within as many days. Submarine operations in the area are abandoned. (Alex Gordon)(108)

ENGLISH CHANNEL: The British ocean liner SS Dunbar Castle is mined and sunk off the southeast coast of England. It is feared that 152 people have lost their lives. 

FRANCE: The first colonial contingent, of Cypriot troops arrives to reinforce the BEF.

GERMANY: The West Prussian SS chief reports the successful "elimination" of 4,000 incurable mental patients in Poland. Richard Hildebrandt, chief of the SS and Police in Danzig and West Prussia, and, from 1943 onwards, head of the Main Race and Resettlement Office (Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt or RuSHA), reports to Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler on the shootings of German and Polish mental patients which he has carried out: "The other two units of storm troopers at my disposal were employed as follows during October, November and December... For the elimination of about 4,400 incurable patients from Polish mental hospitals... For the elimination of about 2,000 incurable patients from the Konradstein mental hospital..." (Jack McKillop and Tommy Hickcox)

FINLAND: The Finns destroy the remains of the Soviet 44th Division at Lake Kianta, taking 1,000 prisoners.

GIBRALTAR: U.S. freighter SS Western Queen is detained at Gibraltar for several hours by British authorities.

AUSTRALIA: The Australian Comforts Fund (ACF) re-established. The ACF, based on its First World War predecessor, raises money for comforts parcels for Australian service personnel in the field, clothing and the provision of meals and accommodation for men on leave.