London:

Lord Woolton, the Minister of Food, spiked the guns of speculators when the prices of 21 foodstuffs were pegged today as the level at which they stood at the beginning of last December. Prices of many of them will fall, but retailers welcomed his action. They say that they have been forced to buy supplies at inflated prices. Chickens, which come under the order, have risen since December from 2/3 a pound to 3/3. Price controls also apply to coffee, cocoa, honey, tinned food, meat paste, rice and pasta, pickles and sauces, jellies and custard, biscuits, nuts and processed cheese.

"I am always glad to catch the speculator," said Lord Woolton. Further price controls are expected soon on jam, syrup, treacle and tinned soup.

A survey of the cost of living just completed by the Ministry of Labour shows that families earning less than GBP250 a year spend GBP 1/14/1 per week on food, out of an average family budget of GBP 4/6/3. They survey was begin in 1937 and presumable does not take into account the recent wartime price rises as goods become scarce.

Destroyer HMS Onslaught laid down.

Minesweeping trawler HMS MacBeth commissioned.

Corvette HMS Jasmine launched.

Destroyer HMS Oribi launched.

Submarine HMS Torbay commissioned.

GERMANY: Berlin: Associated Press reports that Germany and Russia have signed a series of treaties today in Moscow including a new trade agreement designed to aid Germany's war effort. This new deal involves "many billions of marks." Other agreements recognise trade deals that Germany has previously signed with the Baltic States, now absorbed by the Soviet Union. The agreement includes "the greatest grain deal in history" and could be called an "economic plan" as well as a deal.

Daily Keynote from the Reich Press Chief:

The Minister has explained that we must avoid giving air shelters the reputation of being military barracks. This is in fact what is happening due to a multitude of prohibitions and regulations that have merely caused people to feel annoyed and indignant. The Minister suggests that certain absolutely necessary rules of conduct should be displayed in the air shelters in a summarised form as the "Ten Commandments of the Air Shelter."

The government presses Romania to enter the war on the Axis side.

Berlin: The American United Press News Agency reports:

Reliable sources have just informed us that the German have begun dismantling the Maginot Line. Once the fortifications have been removed, they then plan to parcel up the land into hereditary farms.

GREECE: British General Archibald Lord Wavell, Commander in Chief Middle East Command,  and Air Marshal Longmore are in Athens today and tomorrow for talks with Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas and the Greek Commander in Chief, General Aleksandros Papagos. The Greeks ask for nine divisions and a substantial air component to be sent to support their forces. The Greeks have the equivalent of 13 divisions facing the larger Italian force in Albania and four facing the Bulgarians. At this stage the Germans have 12 divisions in Romania and more in Bulgaria. To meet such a force Wavell is able to offer only a small contribution now, but more later. 

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Swordfish aircraft from HMS Eagle lost while searching for an Italian convoy.

LIBYA: RAF bombers continue their frequent attacks on shipping in Benghazi harbour.