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WWII On This Day: February 16

What happened on February 16 during World War II? This date brings together 3 events from 1940, 1943 and 1945, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1940
HMS Cossack alongside Altmark during the Jøssingfjord incident on 16 February 1940.
HMS Cossack alongside Altmark during the Jøssingfjord incident on 16 February 1940. House of Hanover · CC BY 3.0 Source
Operation Weserübung

HMS Cossack boards Altmark in Norwegian waters

HMS Cossack entered Jøssingfjord and sent a boarding party onto the German tanker Altmark, freeing 299 British merchant seamen taken by Admiral Graf Spee. Norwegian naval vessels had escorted Altmark through neutral waters while Britain sought the prisoners. The boarding turned Norwegian neutrality into an immediate issue between London, Berlin and Oslo. German planning for Scandinavia was already underway. The incident strengthened Hitler's expectation that British forces would use Norwegian waters when strategic interests demanded it and added urgency to the competition over the coast.

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1943
The Vichy official journal carrying the 16 February 1943 law establishing the Service du travail obligatoire.
The Vichy official journal carrying the 16 February 1943 law establishing the Service du travail obligatoire. French State official text · Public domain Source
Occupation vs Resistance in World War II

Vichy establishes the Service du travail obligatoire

The law of 16 February 1943 established the Service du travail obligatoire, compelling designated groups of French men to work where the state assigned them. It expanded earlier labour arrangements as Germany's manpower shortage deepened. The programme tied Vichy's administrative machinery directly to German labour requirements. Registration, summonses and transport moved French workers into German industry and construction, while employers and local offices became part of the system that identified those liable for service. Compulsion also changed resistance. Men who refused the STO needed false papers, hiding places and food;…

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1945
USS New York (BB-34) firing 14-inch guns during the pre-invasion bombardment of Iwo Jima, 16 February 1945.
USS New York (BB-34) firing 14-inch guns during the pre-invasion bombardment of Iwo Jima, 16 February 1945. U.S. Navy / NHHC 80-G-308952 · public domain Source
Iwo Jima

Three days of naval gunfire open, and the amphibious force counts its first losses

On 16 February 1945 the Amphibious Support Force, Task Force 52, began its three days of preparation with aircraft and gunfire, and Vice Admiral Mitscher's Task Force 58 launched a two-day air strike on Honshu to divert Japanese attention. The Marines had asked for ten days of naval gunfire, then nine, then four. Holland Smith gave strong support to each request, and Turner and Spruance kept the three-day plan for reasons the official history lists: the timing of the Tokyo strikes, limited ammunition and ships, the loss of surprise, and…

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