Lord Moyne, the Colonial Secretary, said in the House of Lords last week: "We must remember that we alone in the Old World have a free press, and that no other country now enjoys our advantage of quick information and well-informed comment which the British press provides." In Fleet Street, journalists smiled. What they print is already vetted by the MOI.

London:

A "V for Victory" campaign was launched by the BBC at midnight last night. It began with a message from Churchill for occupied EUROPE: "The V sign is the symbol of the unconquerable will of the people of the occupied territories and a portent of the fate awaiting Nazi tyranny."

The broadcaster in charge of the campaign, "Colonel Britton", said: "Tomorrow the V army, Europe's invisible army of many millions, will come into being. You are asked to do two things. Take a vow to continue this fight for your country's independence. Second, to demonstrate to the Germans by putting V's on the wall, and everywhere you can out them, and beating out the V sound whenever you get the chance." The "V"-sign began to appear in Europe last January after a BBC broadcast to Belgium in which Victor de Lavelaye suggested that Belgians who were chalking up the letters RAF should add a V for 'vrijheid' (Flemish for freedom). V also stands for victoire, the French for victory.

"Colonel Britton" (a pseudonym for Douglas Ritchie of the BBC European Service) suggested an audible V, using the morse code rhythm - three dots and a dash. This is the rhythm of the opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which is now used as a station call-sign by the BBC in its broadcasts to Europe.

RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: 'Channel Stop' aircraft of 18 and 139 Sqns. sink a 7,000-ton ship between Le Touquet and Berck. Two aircraft lost and one Bf109 shot down.

Destroyer HMS Lively commissioned.

FINLAND: Lt. Fred Luther and of the 2^nd Rannikkoiskukompania (Coastal Shock Company) are landed as reinforcements on the strategically important Finnish island of Bengtskär, whose 52m lighthouse provides a commanding view of the entry to the Gulf of Finland and thus the approach to Leningrad. (Cris Wetton)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS Union is sunk by depth charges dropped by the Italian torpedo boat Circe SSW of Pantellaria at 36 26N 11 50E. (Alex Gordon)(108)

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Stalin, the "man of steel" has taken over the position of commissar of defence from Marshal Timoshenko and is now in supreme command of the Soviet Union's armed forces, a post traditionally occupied by a soldier. Stalin has thus gathered all military and civilian power into his own hands. It will be a heavy burden, but there is no doubt that the ruthless Georgian leader will bear it with his customary resilience.

Soviet Northern Fleet destroyer Stremitel'ny bombed and sunk by Stukas in Kolafjord.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0100, U-126 sighted the unescorted Canadian Star and followed her until 0242, when two torpedoes were fired at the ship in 49°15N/21°W (grid BE 1932). Both missed and Bauer decided to attack with the gun. The U-boat shelled her victim for about 10 minutes but hit only a few times. Then the gunners on the ship fought back with a great accuracy and forced Bauer to cease the attack.

At 0505, U-95 fired two torpedoes at the unescorted Palma but missed. The U-boat then tried to stop the merchant with gunfire at 0528, but had to break off the gun duel after 11 minutes due to problems with the deck gun and gave up the chase because the ship was running zigzagging courses at high speeds. They reported one hit, but in fact three had been scored.