11 February 1940

GERMANY: The Germans and Soviets sign further trade and economic agreements in Berlin. The Soviets will supply raw materials, especially oil and food, in return for manufactured products of all kinds, including arms.

SWEDEN: Intense Cold still grips Europe, with 58 degrees of frost in Stockholm.

FINLAND: The Red Army breaches the Mannerheim Line at Summa.

After more than a week of fighting, the Red Army finally breaches the Mannerheim line. So far the Finnish troops had been able to stop the Soviet advances and conquer back the lost territory, but this brutal trench warfare has badly worn the Finnish Army units. Outside Finland, the best known battles of the Winter War are usually those of Suomussalmi, and people often think of Finnish troops skiing through snow-covered forests, hitting the enemy and then disappearing back to the woods. But at the Karelian Isthmus, which is the most important front of the war, there's no room for such manoeuvres. The troops had to stand or die. The Finnish tactics reveal there one bad flaw: the lost territory is always tried to win back with immediate counter-attacks, when in fact a more flexible defence could perhaps save men and be more successful in the longer run. But the war is fought in Finnish territory, and the men and officers alike think in similar terms: not an inch backwards. Many of the men in the front are hastily trained replenishment troops (contrary to what is commonly believed, the Finnish Army did not run out of men in the Winter War, but of *trained* men - there were about two divisions worth of untrained manpower when the war started), and there are more and more instances of panic at the front when the men are faced by the reality of Soviet superiority of firepower.

In Summa, at the Lähde sector defended by the battered 3rd Division (Col. Paavo Paalu), the Soviet 123rd (sic; Col. Filipp Aljabushev) Division breaks through the Mannerheim line. It is defended by the newly arrived and badly understrength IInd battalion (Capt. Arthur Lindman) of the Infantry Regiment 9, now subordinated to the war-worn IR 8 (Maj. Sulo Laaksonen; such switching of battalions between regiments was common in the Finnish Army, esp. during the Winter War). Lindman's battalion has less than 400 men and only one AT-gun, and the Finnish artillery, as usual, is badly short of ammunition. The Soviet attack is planned well, and the defender is literally buried under the strength of the assault. The desperate Finnish counter-attacks fail to push the Soviets back, but the breakthrough is contained for the time being. This day is the beginning of the end.

CANADA: The Governor-General of Canada, Sir John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield, (well-known as the author John Buchan) dies in Montreal, Quebec, after surgery for head injuries suffered during a stroke five days ago. He was 64. His suspense novel “Thirty-Nine Steps” later became famous when Alfred Hitchcock made it into a movie released in 1935. New versions of the film were made in 1959 and 1978.

Steam trawler Togimo sunk by U-37 at 50.40N, 11.02W.

At 2354, the Orania was hit by one torpedo from U-50 and sank within three minutes 65 miles NNE of Flugga lightvessel, Shetlands. The U-boat had spotted the vessel at 2240, but was not able to identify her as neutral. The wife of the master was also aboard.

The unescorted Imperial Transport was torpedoed and damaged by U-53 (Grosse) in 59°N/12°W (grid AM 1490). Two crewmembers were lost.

At 1820, the Linda was hit by one torpedo from U-9 and broke in two. The forepart sank immediately and the stern followed four minutes later.

At 1100, the neutral Snestad was torpedoed and sunk by U-53 about 100 miles west of the Hebrides. The survivors were picked up after 22 hours by Albert L. Ellsworth and landed at Bergen.