ARTICLE
THIS MONTH IN WWII:
FEBRUARY 1940
WESTERN FRONT
The 6th of February, 1940, saw the launch of a massive
new propaganda campaign by Britain focused on the
On the 5th of February, 1940, the British and French
necessity of everyone keeping any and all information
governments decided to take action in order to keep
about military deployments to themselves. The
Germany from accessing the rich iron deposits
campaign was titled “Careless Talk Costs Lives”, and
found in Norway; the planned operation would
featured a number of posters enforcing this sentiment.
eventually launch in March and April. Though they
They tried to make the public aware that even casual
were somewhat successful in their initial efforts,
talk about a single person could potentially give
ultimately the Allied forces are forced to withdraw
away information to enemy agents around them.
when Germany invaded France in May 1940. The
Norwegian government was exiled to London, and
On the 16th of February, 1940, the British vessel HMS
Norway was occupied by the German army.
Cossack boarded the German transport Altmark,
freeing over 300 prisoners of war in Norwegian waters
56 // War Thunder Community Magazine
The GameOn Magazine