Bf 109 F-2 WNr. 8086 of Uffz Alfred Döllefeld "Gelbe 7", 9./JG 54, Notlandung 28.January 1942 at Gr. Machim due to engine damage (damage reported as 30%). Eastern Front, Winter 1941-1942.
Battle of the Mediterranean: After a couple of days when operations were stopped by a desert sandstorm, Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps on 28 January 1942 once again approaches Benghazi. Rommel's forces also have been hampered by fuel shortages, enabling vulnerable British troops at Msus to escape. The Germans make good time, brushing aside British outposts at Ghemines on the coast along the line of approach, at Soluq just to the east of Ghemines, and at Regina, east of Benghazi. Some British and Commonwealth troops remain in the port but know they are in danger. Many already have escaped to the southeast or have been taken out by ship or plane. The panzers approach Benghazi from three directions, with the bulk of the Axis forces coming east from Msusu towards Bir Gerrari. A large part of the 90th Light Division and XX Corps ride up the Via Balbia to envelop Benghazi from the south, and a fast mobile assault column heads past Benghazi to cut the coast road to Tobruk.
SS Ninuccia, a 4583-ton Italian freighter sunk on 28 January 1942. Royal Navy submarine HMS Thorn (Lt. Cdr. R. G. Norfolk), operating just east of Mulo Island Lighthouse, Croatia, hits Nunuccia with one of five torpedoes. The Thorn also uses its deck gun to sink the freighter.
The German fast mobile assault column makes the most dramatic move on the 28th, reaching Er Regina, east of Benina, in the morning and then moving to block as many land escape routes as possible. However, it is a large desert and the Axis forces are insufficient to throw a tight cordon around Benghazi. The British have had ample time to study their escape routes and elude the Germans and Italians. After dark, the last Allied contingent (Indian 7th Brigade) in Benghazi sneaks out to the south and the Axis troops immediately occupy the port city. However, 1,000 Allied troops remain to be taken prisoner along with 300 vehicles and vast quantities of supplies that the Germans put to good use. The fall of Benghazi comes only a day after Winston Churchill finally gave his lengthy victory speech in the House of Commons for Operation Crusader, whose gains are now in jeopardy of being completely erased. This is the fourth time Benghazi has changed hands during World War II.
"One of the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go [Type 2 Ka-M] light tanks halted by the Australians' deadly anti-tank gunfire." 28 January 1942. Australian War Memorial 011299.
Battle of the Pacific: Australian troops covering the retreat into Singapore Island receive "Warning Orders" that they will be retreating back toward the island over the next few days. Three battalions, with the 2/20 (strength today of 36 Officers and 781 men) in the center, are to move early on 29 January south to the "Outer Bridge Head Force" line just outside Johore Bahru. This will cover the withdrawal of all remaining forces on the mainland to Singapore Island. The Japanese, however, have not gotten the memo and continue to attack all along the line. They reach Benut on the west coast and continue southward, attempting to cut off the Indian 11th Division. Using an opening along a railway line, the Japanese do manage to cut off the retreat route of the 22nd Brigade of the Indian 9th Division.
A Spitfire (shown) flown by RAF ace Robert Stanford Tuck that was shot down by anti-aircraft fire near Boulogne over northern France on 28 January 1942. Tuck was participating in a "Rhubarb raid" designed to draw up Luftwaffe fighters into combat. Tuck finishes his World War II flying career with 29 enemy aircraft destroyed, two shared destroyed, six probably destroyed, six damaged, and one shared damaged. Tuck is sent to Stalag Luft III at Żagań (Sagan), where he participates in the planning for the "Great Escape." Tuck passes away on 5 May 1987.
In Singapore, the British commanders study the defense of Singapore Island itself, apparently for the first time. Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, General Officer Commanding, Malaya Command, orders his subordinates to turn the island's 15-inch guns north. Only one is able to be used on land targets, however, and the ammunition is found to be decades old. There is little air support against the increasingly aggressive Japanese bomber runs, with only 21 Hawker Hurricane fighters out of the 51 that arrived on a freighter on 13 January still operational. There are no reserves in Singapore, so the beach defenses will have to be manned by troops that manage to cross the long causeway from Johore. The battle on the mainland thus takes on the character of a race for the bridge, a race that many Commonwealth troops lose.
Dutch 1053-ton freighter MV Boelongan, sunk on 28 January 1942. Japanese aircraft bomb and sink it near Padang (Sumatra).
In the Philippines, the Allies settle into their new Main Line of Resistance (MLR) across the Bataan Peninsula but cannot fully seal it in time. The Japanese attack in the evening and cross the Tiawir River before being stopped. On the west coast, the Japanese shift their attack units east, away from US Army troops, to positions opposite the Filipino Army 1st Division sector. After dark, the Japanese here get through this part of the MLR and fan out to the east and west. However, the Allied troops close the breach and trap the Japanese. They are forced into two fortified defensive positions called the Big Pocket, about a mile behind the MLR, and the Little Pocket, only about 400 yards south of the MLR.
Original caption: "One of our Filipino boys, injured in the fighting on Bataan, January 28, 1942, being brought back to a first aid station by his comrades. Longoskawayan Point, West Coast."
The Japanese forces south of the MLR at Longoskawayan Point and Quinauan Point continue to hold out. Filipino Scouts of the 2d Battalion, 57th Infantry Regiment attack the former position and take about two-thirds of the Japanese territory. The 3d Battalion of the 45th Infantry Regiment attacks the Japanese at Quinauan Point but make little progress because the defenders are aided by dense jungles. Another Japanese bridgehead, at Anyasan Bay, easily fends off an attack by a motley collection of USAAF ground echelon troops recently converted to infantry and the untrained Philippine Constabulary unit.
The Japanese land troops on Rossel Island, the easternmost point in the Louisade Archipelago. While the island itself is of little value, its geographical position about 490 miles southeast of Port Moresby, New Guinea, and 420 miles southwest of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands makes it ideal for Japanese plans. While the island is undeveloped, the Japanese quickly begin building an airfield to establish dominion over the ocean in this critical spot.
A VP-82 PBO-1 Hudson flown by AMM1c Donald L. Mason attacks U-85 (shown) on 28 January 1942. The U-boat is operating near Argentia, Newfoundland. Mason signals to base that he has sunk the U-boat, but, in fact, he misses and the U-boat escapes to be sunk on 14 April 1942.
Eastern Front: The unexpected success by a small German force to relieve the trapped garrison at Sukhinichi leads Adolf Hitler to begin dreaming of bigger successes. He asks the Second Panzer Army to convert the relief operation, which barely reached the town, to continue to the northeast toward a Fourth Army garrison at Yukhnov. This, at least theoretically, would trap a large Red Army force to the west. The plan bears remarkable similarities to Hitler's desire to have Army Group North continue its advance past Tikhvin in November 1941. Second Panzer Army commander General Rudolf Schmidt has to explain to the Fuehrer that further advances are impossible until reinforcements arrive.
The Soviet Stavka (military command) creates the Crimean Front under Lieutenant General Dmitry Timofeyevich Kozlov. It includes the 44th, 47th, and 51st Armies. The Separate Coastal Army and Black Sea Fleet also come under Kozlov's control. General Kozlov is inexperienced and has been hastily promoted from a regimental command, and his staff also is inexperienced. The Stavka sends Lev Mekhlis to Kozlov's headquarters to help plan strategy, and the two agree to launch an offensive in mid-February to reconquer the entire Crimea. The Soviets in general and Kozlov, in particular, remain under the impression that the Red Army has military superiority in the Crimea when the opposite is true. In addition, the Kerch Peninsula has poor roads and the Luftwaffe has complete aerial superiority, making road movements in daylight extremely hazardous for the Soviets.
Luftwaffe ace Franz Eckerle has a big day on 28 January 1942, shooting down three Soviet planes, an I-18 and two I-180s. Top Luftwaffe aces often had signed cards, much like American baseball players had cards. KIA 14 February 1942.
German Military: Adolf Hitler personally awards his top Luftwaffe ace, General Adolf Galland, with his 2nd Diamonds to the Knight's Cross as Oberst and Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter." Galland currently is servicing as the commander of all German fighter forces (General der Jagdflieger) in place of the deceased Werner Mölders. The Luftwaffe maintains aerial superiority in both East and West, so Galland is concentrating on offensive operations involving fighter-bomber attacks in England.
A Soviet KV-2 captured by the Germans and put into use on the Kalininsky front. 28 January 1942. The Germans would sometimes use captured tanks as "Beutepanzers" ("booty tanks"). (Armes Militaria Magazine " Bataille pour Moscow").
US Military: Admiral Halsey orders his flagship, aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, to refuel after dark. This is the first time such a large ship attempts this. Beginning at 20:00, oiler USS Platte hooks up and accomplishes the novel feat without any difficulty. The refueling is done by 01:00 on 29 January 1942.
The USAAF activates Headquarters, US 8th Air Force, at Savannah AAB, Savannah, Georgia. Brigadier General Asa N. Duncan is in command. Various subordinate commands, such as the 96th Bombardment Group (Heavy) (currently the 96th Test Wing), also are constituted on 28 January 1942. At this time it is unclear where the new command will operate, but it is tentatively allocated to projected Operation Gymnast, the invasion of North Africa. Operation Gymnast was agreed to at the Arcadia Conference in early January 1942, but there currently is no schedule for its launch.
Battle of the Pacific: The Battle of Endau has been a disaster for the British both on land and in the air, but on 27 January 1942 they attempt to turn the tide at sea. Rear-Admiral Ernest Spooner, commander of naval forces at Singapore, has sent his only combat-ready warships, destroyers HMS Thanet and HMAS Vampire, to attack the Japanese invasion fleet off Endau. However, while the landings and related air battles resolved the situation during daylight hours on 26 January, the Royal Navy ships do not arrive until the early morning hours of 27 January.
Commander William Moran, captain of destroyer Vampire, is the overall commander of the small force, which also includes destroyer Thanet (Commander Bernard Davies). The British figure the forces are roughly equal and that surprise at night will give them an advantage. The Japanese, meanwhile, have received erroneous reconnaissance reports of British ships operating to their north and thus shift their escorts in that direction, away from the approaching Royal Navy destroyers. The British could have mounted a much stronger effort if they still had battleship Prince of Wales and cruiser Repulse available, but those ships, of course, were sunk in December 1941.
Look magazine, 27 January 1942.
The two Royal Navy destroyers approach undetected and pass at least one Japanese ship without being spotted. At 02:37, Vampire firest two torpedoes at Japanese minesweeper W-4 but misses with both. Inexplicably, W-4's crew spots but does not report the two destroyers, and the British are free to continue searching for the Japanese transports. While this search is unsuccessful, at 03:18, the British spot and attack Japanese destroyer Shirayuki. However, despite launching a total of five torpedoes, the two British destroyers make no hits. Shirayuki spots the British but is unsure if they are friend or foe. After a period of indecision, Shirayuki opens fire at 03:31. Commander Moran returns fire but also orders both ships to withdraw. Destroyers Thanet and Shirayuki both sustain hits and are put out of action, but other Japanese ships quickly close. Destroyer Vampire makes its escape undamaged and reaches Singapore at 10:00, but Japanese ships Sendai, Fubuki, Asagiri, Amagiri, Hatsuyuki, and W-1 close on the immobile Thanet and sink it at 04:18.
Destroyer Shirayuki rescues 31 men from Thanet, while 12 British sailors perish in the battle itself. Commander Davies and 65 other men manage to swim to shore and make it back to Singapore. The "rescued" British sailors are never seen again and are presumed to have been executed by the Japanese out of spite, contrary to the rules of war. The Japanese landings continue without interference. The British failures at the Battle of Endau are probably the most significant single event leading to the evacuation of Johore and the ultimate fall of Singapore. Commander Moran submits a report on the battle, however, in which - despite the loss of Thanet - he stresses how poorly the Japanese reacted to his attack. This gives the Allied navies a false sense of confidence which is greatly misplaced.
Female metal workers in Leningrad, January 1942. Tank construction continued in Leningrad throughout the siege, sometimes with factories in sight of the front.
On the Malay Peninsula, the battle is rolling south toward Johore Bahru. The War Diary states that the Australian defenders holding the outer line at the Luo Tye Estate have made a "clean break" from the Japanese. Withdrawals are taking place efficiently and quickly. However, Indian troops fighting on the outskirts of Johore itself take heavy losses, including the death of their commanding officer, Major-General A.E. Barstow.
In Singapore, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival, General Officer Commanding Malaya Command, sees the writing on the wall from the lost Battle of Endau. He requests and receives permission from General Archibald Wavell for the complete abandonment of the mainland. Percival immediately orders a general withdrawal through Johore Bahru and across the causeway to Singapore Island. This withdrawal is scheduled for the night of 30/31 January. There is one piece of good news for the defense of Singapore - the civilian workers who have refused to work on fortifications on the island's vulnerable north shore finally reach terms on a salary that they will accept and get to work. The British remain under the illusion that Singapore Island can hold out by itself without retaining a foothold on the mainland.
USS Cassin (at right, DD-372) and Downes (DD-375). "Under salvage in Drydock Number One at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, 27 January 1942. They had been wrecked during the 7 December 1941 Japanese air raid." U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph Photo #: NH 54563.
In the Philippines, the Japanese launch a major assault against the Allied Main Line of Resistance (MLR) during the afternoon. The Japanese make quick gains into the MLR and secure a bridgehead across the Pilar River. The Allies in the western I Corp section have the most success in stopping the attack. However, they still have the annoyance of the Japanese landing far behind the MLR at Quinauan Point and Longoskawayan Point. Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright, Commanding General I Corps, sends troops from the 45th Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Scouts to attack the former and troops from the 57th Infantry Regiment of the Scouts to attack the latter. A fierce battle develops, but despite being backed up within 1000 yards of the beach, the Japanese continue to hold out. The Japanese successfully land a relief force north of the trapped Japanese, and the defending 1st Battalion of the 1st Philippine Constabulary quickly gives up. Thus, the Allied defenders are fighting two separate battles in opposite directions and are unable to win either of them.
A photo from Luftwaffe magazine Der Adler, 27 January 1942, showing pilots who are training using gliders.
In Borneo, the Japanese continue expanding their hold. They take Ledo, Pemangkat, Sambas with its Naval Air Station, Singkawang, and Singkawang II airfield. Sinkawang is a small city on the northwestern coast of about 145 km north of the regional capital Pontianak. While not of much economic importance, Sinkawang is in a militarily useful location. Singkawang also is a regional center for Roman Catholic missionaries who maintain the "Apostolic Vicariate of Dutch Borneo," which includes a leprosy colony.
US Navy submarine USS Gudgeon (Lt. Cmdr. Elton W. "Joe" Grenfell), on its first war patrol, is returning to base from the first patrol by a US submarine along the Japanese coast when it spots a target. Grenfell fires three torpedoes and sinks Japanese submarine I-73 about 240 miles west of Midway Atoll. This is the first victory by a US submarine against an enemy warship (as opposed to an enemy freighter, already accomplished). Grenfell thinks that he has only damaged I-73, but Station HYPO (also known as Fleet Radio Unit Pacific (FRUPAC) intercepts and decodes Japanese fleet signals admitting the loss. So, Grenfell and the Gudgeon's crew have a welcome surprise in store for them when they return to Pearl Harbor.
The Gudgeon's victory is important for a much more important reason than just the sinking of one ship. Its torpedoes contain RDX/Torpex (RDX stands for Research Department Explosive), a powerful new explosive that is twice as powerful as TNT. Some people believe that RDX/Torpex is a major reason why the Allies win World War II, as it ultimately is used in a wide variety of munitions including air bombs, torpedoes, C-4 plastic explosives, anti-submarine "hedgehog" weapons, and even the trigger for the atom bomb "Fat Man" dropped on Nagasaki. Gudgeon's success proves the usefulness in combat conditions of this deadly substance.
HMS Barham rolls over and explodes.
Battle of the Atlantic: The British Admiralty finally admits the loss of HMS Barham, sunk in the Mediterranean on 25 November 1941. It explains the lengthy delay by stating that "it was important to make certain dispositions before the loss of this ship was made public." Dramatic footage of this sinking by Pathé News, filmed aboard Barham's sister ship HMS Valiant, eventually is shown on the newsreels. It shows Barham still covered with men when it blew up. There were 862 deaths on Barham, including Vice-Admiral Henry Pridham-Wippell, and 487 survivors. The Germans, who now have official British confirmation of the loss, quickly award U-331's captain, Oblt. Tiesenhausen, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross today.
"German Beauftragte [Plenipotentiary] orders the Kyiv City Administration to Allow a Ukrainian Woman to Purchase Furniture Owned by Jews, 27 January 1942." (EHRI Online Course in Holocaust Studies)
Eastern Front: The Red Army has a tremendous opportunity to destroy the German Army Group North on 27 January 1942. A major battle is brewing around Vyazma, on the main highway between Smolensk and Moscow. Through a series of operations, the Red Army has parachute troops south of Vyazma, General Yefremov's 33rd Army is approaching along the highway from the east, and XI Cavalry Corps has reached the highway fifteen miles west of Vyazma. The highway serves as the main supply route for German forces west of Moscow, and the German guards and drivers of the trucks bringing food and ammunition east have to fight off attacks. Nowhere except in the east do the Soviets have enough strength to truly the German forces in Vyazma, but they can isolate it. The German supply difficulties are compounded by the lack of trains and train crews able to run on the railway line just south of the highway. Because the rail lines are of a different gauge than the German rail system, Soviet trains must be run, and only Russian train crews can keep them running. Both are in short supply.
Wilhelm Spies, pointing to his 19th (of an ultimate 20) victory marking.
Hauptmann Wilhelm Spies, Staffelkapitän of the 1./ Zerstörergeschwader 26 "Horst Wessel," a 20-victory ace with over 300 sorties flown, is shot down and killed. He is shot down by anti-aircraft fire near Sukhinichi (Suchinitschi), Russia. A rare Luftwaffe ace whose victories were evenly divided between the Eastern and Western Fronts, Spies holds the Ritterkreuz at the time of his death and is posthumously promoted to Major and awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross. Losses of experienced pilots like Spies are difficult for the Luftwaffe to make good because he developed a wealth of combat experience beginning in the Spanish Civil War and continuing through all of the subsequent major campaigns.
A WAAF of the RNZAF, Hobsonville, January 1942. She is sitting in what appears to be a Harvard trainer (Whites Aviation Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library).
Partisans: German Fourth Army has been fighting desperately to keep its lifelines, the Rollbahn highway and nearby railway line running northeast from Roslavl to Yukhnov, open for two weeks. The difficulty for the Germans is that these lines run parallel to the front, meaning the understrength Wehrmacht units in the area have to defend the entire length. Both sides have brought up reinforcements in bitterly cold weather, and General Gotthard Heinrici, the 43 Corps commander who took over Fourth Army from General Ludwig Kübler on 21 January, has had some success. The Germans have kept their supply line open most of the time by turning every journey along the road and highway basically into a naval convoy using armored trains and troop escorts (or, to use another analogy, into a wagon train escorted by the US Cavalry in the Old West). The defense of the Rollbahn and the rail line, however, has come at the expense of giving up large areas behind them to partisans. On 27 January 1942, the Soviets complete a large movement across the Rollbahn by the Red Army's I Guards Cavalry Corps under General Nikolay Belov. The Rollbahn and railway are closed on 27 January due to Belov's activity, but the Germans have sufficient forces nearby to reopen it in a few days when absolutely necessary.
Luftwaffe ace Wilhelm Spies, KIA 27 January 1942.
Belov has no intention of trying to cut the German railway line and highway permanently and invite a desperate counterattack. Instead, once across them, he turns north to make contact with partisan units operating near Vyazma. It is a curious maneuver, as regular army units generally do not operate as partisans, but the front at this point is so confused that nobody is really sure where it is anyway. Belov also hopes to make contact with IV Airborne Corps, which has dropped southwest of Vyazma but accomplished little. The overall Red Army plan is to take Vyazma and cut the highway to Moscow which runs through there. These complicated Soviet plans pose a great risk to the Germans but in some ways also help them. Because the Germans are having difficulty keeping their supply lines open south of Vyazma, Belov probably has enough strength to shut them permanently - which might be enough to strangle German Fourth Army. As it is, though, by heading north into the middle of forests and open fields, Belov gives the Germans the time they need to reorient their forces and bring in reinforcements from the west. This may enable the German Fourth Army to survive. Spring is coming closer every day, so every day that it survives gives Fourth Army more hope. However, if the Red Army can take Vyazma, it would encircle Army Group North and compel a general German withdrawal.
The Belfast Telegraph, 27 January 1942. This announces the first arrival of units of the US Army in the European Theater at Belfast - on page two.
German/Italian Relations: Hermann Goering is in Italy on Hitler's request that he "straighten out" the situation down there. Goering is considered the Reich's prime expert on Italy (because he visited it in the 1920s while virtually penniless) and considers it his personal domain (as opposed to other allies and occupied nations where Foreign Minister Ribbentrop represents Germany). However, Goering makes a poor impression upon this critical ally. Goering completely ignores Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano, who makes disparaging remarks in his personal diary about the Reichsmarschall. "In fact, ever since we bestowed that [diamond] collar on Ribbentrop, [Goering] has adopted an aloof air toward me," Ciano spitefully writes, referencing a story about Goering playing with jewels on the train ride over the Alps.
New York on 27 January 1942, Norfolk Navy Yard. (U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships Photograph 19-N-27366, National Archives and Records Administration, Still Pictures Division, College Park, Md.).
Goering is unusually candid with Mussolini about the turn of the war on the Eastern Front. He admits at the train station that "We are having a hard time." Today, however, Goering strikes an air of bravado at a formal meeting, saying:
Such difficulties [relating to the bitter winter] will not recur. Whatever happens in the coming year, the Fuehrer will halt and take up winter quarters in good time.
The main subject of the discussions, which last until 5 February, is the issue of getting supplies to General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps in Libya. Goering loftily suggests that Italian submarines make the supply missions, though they are almost all committed in the Atlantic and cannot possibly carry enough supplies.
British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes a lengthy address on the war situation to the House of Commons. The gist of his message is that Operation Crusader in Libya was a success:
Whether you call it a victory or not, it must be dubbed up to the present, although I will not make any promises, a highly profitable transaction, and certainly is an episode of war most glorious to the British, South African, New Zealand, Indian, Free French and Polish soldiers, sailors and airmen who have played their part in it.
Churchill, of course, knows that the tide already has turned in North Africa (there are no operations today due to a sandstorm) and that General Rommel once again is on the offensive. However, this is a well-earned victory speech, if a bit tardy and outdated.
American Homefront: President Roosevelt announces rationing of all consumer goods and commodities until the war is won. It will be administered by the Office of Price Administration (OPA) using rationing books.
Soviet Government: It is no secret that Joseph Stalin is a very hard man. No matter how you phrase that description, it can't quite capture the reality, so let's just leave it at that and let some of the facts speak for themselves. On 28 October 1941, Stalin demonstrates once again just how severe his methods can be. As usual, Stalin uses his chief henchman, Lavrentiy Beria, to rid him of underlings who have failed at their tasks. Whether these tasks were ever achievable in the first place is not the issue - men have failed, and they must die. That is how it is in the Soviet Union, and everybody knows it. Or, Stalin may just not like someone. That's how it rolls.
Six (former) top Soviets leaders perish at the hands of Beria's NKVD (actually, Beria also executes about 15 others, but most of them are simply nondescript minions). Their names are Smuschkevich, Shtern, Rychagov, Loktionov, Savchenko, and Proskurov, and the one thing that they have in common is that they are accused of treason. Now, treason in the Soviet Union is sort of a catch-all crime. It is not like in the West, where "treason" is understood to be an attempt to overthrow the legitimate government. In fact, none of the six men appear to have done anything of the sort. What exactly they did varies, but the only common denominator seems to be that it displeased Stalin. That is sufficient for execution in the Soviet Union in 1941.
For instance - and there is no point going through an endless series of names and stories, for they all are basically the same - General Yakov Vladimirovich Smushkevich earned the title Hero of the Soviet Union during the Spanish Civil War. That is the highest award in the USSR, akin to the United States Medal of Honor. Smushkevich followed up his Spanish Civil War heroics with the successful command of aviation for the 1st Army Corps at the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, one of the most significant military victories of the 20th Century (it convinced the Japanese to attack south instead of north into the Soviet Union). For this, Smushkevich earned the award of Hero of the Soviet Union - again. This guy, this Smushkevich, is like Audie Murphy and Sergeant York rolled into one man.
Yakov Smushkevich.
Due to his past success, Smushkevich has been promoted to commander of the entire Soviet Air Force from 1939 to 1940, and then Deputy Chief of the General Staff (Stavka) from 1940 to 1941. However, for unknown reasons, Stalin has Beria arrest Smushkevich on 8 June 1941, two weeks before the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa. The reason that Smushkevich's "crime" is unknown is that there is no trial - not even a show trial, as was common practice in the 1930s. It appears that Smushkevich was found guilty due to a Politburo inquiry in April-May 1941 into a high accident rate in the Red Air Force. In addition, a Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 52 lands in Moscow in May, undetected by the Soviet air defenses (ADF). Beria has his men execute Smushkevich on 28 October 1941 at Kuybyshev. Yakov Smushkevich is only 39.
Lieutenant General Rychagov.
Pavel Rychagov suffers a similar fate. He is arrested on 24 June 1941. Rychagov is another hero of the Spanish Civil War, a biplane fighter ace, who in 1940 is appointed to Head of the Red Army Air Force Administration and the Red Army Chief Military Council (predecessor to the Stavka). He follows Smushkevich into command of the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) on 28 August 1940, a position he holds until Operation Barbarossa. As with Smushkevich, it is unclear what Rychagov's crime is aside from the same general problems with the Red Air Force. In any event, Rychagov not only is arrested and held without trial, but he also is tortured - which is not particularly significant, because Stalin sometimes does that to his friends, too, who often are later restored to high ranks. However, Lieutenant General Rychagov does not earn a reprieve, and he is executed alongside Smushkevich. However, Rychagov does not die alone - his wife is executed alongside him. Yes, that Stalin, nice guy.
An F4F-3 Wildcat undergoing maintenance in USS Enterprise's hangar deck, 28 October 1941 (US National Archives).
Amidst the tens of millions of lives lost during World War II, it is easy to dismiss a relative handful of deaths at the hands of a dictator, names of people you will never know and never personally care about. However, some did not forget. Rychagov was exonerated posthumously in 1954, during the general cleansing of some of the sins of the Stalinist era. A fat lot of good that did him, and others have been rehabilitated as well, but it just shows the sheer arbitrariness of life and death in the Soviet Union during the chaotic days of 1941.
Battle of the Mediterranean: The British 4th and 7th Armoured Brigades continue their whirlwind advance across the desert into Italian Libya on 15 December 1940 as Operation Compass morphs from a planned five-day tank raid into a stunningly effective strategic offensive. The Italians, for their part, want no part of the Tommies and scoot further back along the coast road every day. Today, the British take Sollum and easily defensible Halfaya Pass on the fly, bypassing isolated Italian garrisons in the desert to the south (the actual date when the British take these points varies from source to source, but there is no question they are up for grabs by now). Next up for the British are Sidi Omar and nearby Fort Capuzzo, which the Italians show no sign of wanting to defend either. The unlikelihood of the Italians making a stand at Fort Capuzzo is underlined by the fact that they basically abandoned it earlier in the year when they weren't even under much pressure there.
The Italians, meanwhile, bet all their chips on their stronghold of Bardia, commanded by General Annibale Bergonzoli (known as "Electric Whiskers" due to his once-flaming red beard). The Tenth Army retreat there and reinforce Tobruk, which, aside from being a well-defended fortress, also constitutes a key port which would be much handier for the British than the much smaller one at Sollum. The Italians also bring up three divisions from the interior of Libya and station them on a line between El Mekili and Derna. Since the Italians now have ample warning of an attack and the British are outrunning their supplies, this line has a reasonable chance of holding - but it well inside Libya and 168 km northwest of Tobruk along the most direct route. The British already have Bardia surrounded, trapping the 40,000 Italians inside.
Royal Navy monitor HMS Terror continues giving the Italians headaches. While the British surround the port on land, it stands brazenly off Bardia and bombards the Italians there for the entire afternoon.
Not all goes well for the Royal Navy, however. Free French submarine Narval hits a mine off Sfax/Kerkenah, Tunisia and is lost. As is usually the case with such incidents involving submarines, the exact date of this loss is an educated guess because nobody lives to tell the tale in such incidents (54 lost). The loss is only realized when the submarine fails to return to its port of Malta on the 16th.
European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command raids Berlin, Frankfurt, and Kiel with 72 aircraft. They also attack Naples. For Naples, it is the second night in a row. As if in a pointed statement to the Italians that "you can run, but you can't hide," the British damage another Italian cruiser in the port of Naples. The raids are notable because the British mistakenly bomb the Basel, Switzerland railway station in an epic navigational error.
The Luftwaffe, after a quiet day, revisits Sheffield, which it originally bombed on 12 December. This raid continues its recent practice of repeatedly bombing medium-sized British towns with full-scale attacks. While only a small group of 16 German Heinkel He 111 bombers arrives soon after darkness, they drop thousands of incendiaries that start massive fires. This creates a target visible to the main force, which arrives overhead a couple of hours later. The Luftwaffe pounds the eastern half of the city for three hours, but most of the bombs miss the city's important factories. The two aerial attacks together kill 750 people and destroy 3000 homes and small businesses. During the night, the Luftwaffe loses five aircraft.
Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe attacks Portsmouth, "sinking" destroyer HMS Cameron. The Cameron, in dry dock, is blasted onto its side and utterly destroyed in a rare case of a ship being lost for reasons other than actually sinking or grounding. One of the destroyers acquired from the US in the destroyers-for-bases deal, the destruction of the Cameron continues a pattern of hard luck for the newly acquired destroyers.
German E-boats are active along the Great Yarmouth coast, and the come across Convoy FS 360. Two of them, S 25 and S 58, sink 2301 ton British freighter NC Monberg. There are nine deaths.
Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Britomart collides with fellow minesweeper Seagull, sending the former to the repair yard at Aberdeen for almost a month.
Deep in the Atlantic, German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer transfers its prisoner to supply vessel Nordmark. The British continue fruitlessly to search for heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer around the Canary Islands.
Convoy EN 41 departs from Methil, Convoy SC 16 departs from Halifax, Convoy MW 58 departs from Port Said (Operation Hide), Convoy SL 59 departs from Freetown.
Destroyer HMS Ithuriel and submarine HMS P-32 are launched.
Battle of the Italian Ocean: German raider Atlantis, in the uninhabited Kerguelen Islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean, remains stuck on a rock which has torn a chunk from its outer hull (but, fortunately for the German crew, not the more important inner hull).
Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek 3rd Infantry Division, which took Porto Palermo on the 13th, resumes its advance north toward the key port of Himara. The Italians have regrouped, though, and now are fighting hard. The weather now is the Italians' ally. The Regia Aeronautica also is active against the advancing Greek troops.
German/Vichy French Relations: Hitler, with his deep fascination regarding obscure European social history, realizes that very few things stir the French soul like repatriating Napoleon to France. The transfer of the dead Emperor's exhumed body from his place of exile on remote St. Helena back to Paris on 15 December 1840 was one of the great celebrations in 19th Century French history. So, realizing that bringing up memories of Bonaparte's royal line might also remind the French who sent him to St. Helena in the first place, and realizing that it is 100 years to the day later, Hitler craftily arranges to bring back another dead Napoleon: Napoleon II, also known as the Duke of Reichstadt and "The Eaglet." While never holding real power and still an infant upon his father's capture, Napoleon II did technically hold the title Emperor of France for a week before his own abdication. Napoleon II has been interred in deep obscurity in Vienna, Austria since even before the return of his father's remains.
However, things don't quite go as Hitler intends. For one thing, the whole affair elicits barely a yawn from the French public, for whom Napoleon II is just a name drawn from aged history books. Napoleon II never ruled France and was barely a blip along the Napoleonic line - which itself is rapidly fading from importance, particularly since Napoleon III proved such a monumental disaster - given his defeat by the Germans at Sedan, the memory of which is a lot fresher than that of Napoleon II. In fact, one thing that Hitler probably didn't consider is that bringing up the Napoleonic dynasty at this sensitive moment in French history might remind the French that, just as the Germans in 1870 broke through a vastly overrated French Army at Sedan, so too did such an army succumb in an eerily similar way at the same place in 1940. However, Hitler is never known for being particularly empathetic about what other nations might think about his obviously manipulative decisions.
More importantly from the perspective of present relations, however, French Premier Marshal Petain doesn't even bother attending the ceremony in Paris, which is under German occupation. While Petain has his own issues to deal with at the moment, including the situation with the recently dismissed Pierre Laval, his blasé attitude merely reflects the complete indifference within France by just about everyone. This puts the final verdict to this obvious attempt at emotional manipulation. Hitler, informed that Petain won't attend, does not attend the ceremony either, and professes outrage that his grand gesture would be dismissed when he "meant so well." Hitler probably did mean this as a kind gesture, but it does nothing at all to soften relations between the countries. This leaves Hitler's brief June visit to Paris as the only time that he ever visited Paris, his most significant conquest.
Parisians make light of the whole affair - while the Germans aren't looking - and the joke is that they would have preferred coal to ashes during a hard winter. The French government as a whole also takes a dim view of the entire affair for decades, and it is not until 1969 that it sets aside a small chamber opposite the entrance of the Dome des Invalides for the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte's only legitimate child. The whole affair also rankles Mussolini, who remains extremely jealous of Hitler's overtures to the French.
The remains of Napoleon II brought back to Paris, Note the absence of crowds along the streets. 15 December 1940.
German/Japanese Relations: It is widely noted among historians that the Japanese learned vital lessons from the British aerial attack on Taranto which sank three battleships in November 1940. They learn these lessons because two German officers, Baron von Gronau (former German air attaché at the embassy in Tokyo) and Colonel Johann Jebsen (a member of Admiral Canaris’s intelligence staff (Abwehr)), today proceed down to Taranto and write up a report about the attack which they send to Tokyo.
British Military: General Harold Alexander is appointed to General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Southern Command (southwest England, a sensitive area of defense). His temporary rank of lieutenant-general, achieved as a result of his successful withdrawal of I Corps at Dunkirk, becomes permanent. Alexander achieved renown among the troops by being on the last destroyer leaving Dunkirk on 3 June 1940 - they appreciate little touches like that. US Military: Headquarter, Eighth Naval District transfers from Charleston, South Carolina to New Orleans, Louisiana. It is under Acting Commandant Captain Thaddeus A. Thomson, Jr.
French Government: Relations between Germany and Vichy France, currently under great strain, are not helped when the German ambassador, Abetz, formally requests that Laval be released and reinstated. Petain indeed releases Pierre Laval from house confinement but does not restore him to his former positions. However, Laval accrues additional prestige due to being seen as the Germans' "man in France." Even though he now is out of office, he is by no means forgotten.
American Homefront: "Pride of the Bowery," starring "The East Side Kids," is released.
Future History: Ursula Ledersteger is born in Vienna, Austria. She becomes the "German Jayne Mansfield" and appears in several films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder under the stage name Barbara Valentin. Among other things, Valentin is married to US actor John Ashton ("Beverly Hills Cop") during the peak years of that franchise's popularity, and also was close with Freddie Mercury. She perishes in 2002 and is buried at the Ostfriedhof in Munich.
PTT Telephone engineers go about their business in Amsterdam, 15 December 1940 (ANPFOTO/Anp).
