Destroyers HMS Offa and Oribi laid down.

BELGIUM: The government refuses to grant transit rights to enable Allied troops to cross Belgian territory.

GERMANY: Following on from the Mechelen incident of the 10th, Hitler issues his 'Basic Order No. 1' on security, and stipulated that it be displayed on posters in every military headquarters. Henceforth, no-one was to be given any classified information that was not directly relevant to his job, and even then, he was not to be told earlier, or more, than was absolutely necessary.

FINLAND: Russia starts bombing the Finnish lines at Summa.

EGYPT: Cairo: As Italy looks at Britain with growing hostility from its African colonies, the man now in the front line is General Sir Archibald Wavell, Britain's C-in-C Middle East.

An officer in the Boer War at the age of 18, he lost an eye at Ypres and later became an advocate of mobile warfare. As GSO (General Staff Officer) 1 of 3 Division he was closely involved in the training of the Experimental Armoured Force when it was formed as part of the division in 1927, and from 1930 he commanded the 6th Infantry Brigade. A poet and an intellectual, Wavell is both an outstanding staff officer and a formidable leader of men; his book 'Generals and Generalship (1939)' is a classic.

U.S.A.: Joint amphibious exercise begin in the Monterey, California, area to (1) provide training for the Army and Navy in planning and executing Joint operations, (2) train Army troops in embarking and disembarking, and (3) afford an opportunity for elements of the General Headquarters Air Force (GHQAF) and Navy patrol squadrons to work together and with ground forces. 

ATLANTIC OCEAN: SS Gracia in Convoy OB-71 was damaged by a mine laid on 6 January by U-30 about 5 miles WSW of the Bar Lightvessel, Liverpool.

At 0013, SS Fagerheim was hit by one torpedo from U-44 about 80 miles South-West of Quessant, broke in two and sank. The survivors were rescued and taken to Vigo, Spain.