Wednesday 7 January 1942

Japanese soldiers marching to Bataan ca. 7 January 1942.

Eastern Front: The Soviet General Offensive begins as scheduled on 7 January 1942. North of Lake Ilmen, Soviet 4th and 52nd Armies and 2nd Shock Arm (now under the command of Lieutenant General Andrei A. Vlasov) of Volkhov Front attack southwest of Leningrad. On the southern part of Lake Ilmen, ski troops and motor convoys of Soviet 11th Army cross the frozen lake while German outposts watch from the opposite shore. The Red Army attacks are not strong, but the defending German 16th Army does not have a continuous line but instead a chain of isolated strongpoints. The German generals quickly decide that the 11th Army thrust is the most dangerous because it threatens Staraya Rusa, the main German supply depot for the entire region. Nothing appears too dangerous to them at the moment, but there are wide gaps in the German lines with no troops behind them for dozens of miles. Things could get difficult for the Germans, but it all depends on where the Red Army units head and how far they decide to go. The Battle of Moscow is generally defined to end on 7 January 1942 due to the Soviet offensive.

The monument to the victory in the Battle of Moscow (2 October 1941 - 7 January 1942) is located in Zelenograd, located within Moscow Oblast 37 km northwest of central Moscow at the approximate location of the closest German advance to the city in 1941 and the site of the first mass grave of Russian soldiers. The 42-meter monument symbolizes bayonets carried by Red Army rifle, tank, and cavalry divisions. It is located on the "Hill of Glory" which itself rises 27 meters. An inscription reads, 1941 "Here the defenders of Moscow, fallen in battle for the Motherland, remain forever immortal."

Battle of the Pacific: The Japanese attack on the main British defensive line at Slim River on the Malay Peninsula features some of the most daring and fluid attacks of the entire campaign. The Japanese have brought up powerful tank forces on the western end of the British defensive line near Trolak. At 03:30 on 7 January 1942, in heavy rain, the Japanese artillery begins firing at the positions of the Indian 11th Division defending the main raid south toward the Slim River rail bridge. Major Toyosaku Shimada of the 5th Division then sends his roughly 17 Type 97 medium tanks and 3 Type 95 Ha-Go Light Tanks down the road, maneuvering past defensive obstacles. The Indian 4/19th Hyderabad Regiment under the command of Major Alan Davidson Brown quickly call in artillery counterfire that destroys one Japanese tank. The Japanese keep coming, however, and soon drive a wedge into the Allied line. The defensive line breaks up into small groups, and by 04:00 the Japanese tanks had scored a clean breakthrough.

"Striking down an aircraft. The Parking Officer in the flight deck of HMS VICTORIOUS flagging a Fairey Fulmar to the lift before being struck down." 7 January 1942. © IWM (A 7006).

Major Shimada's tanks then encounter the 5/2nd Punjab Regiment. After losing two tanks to land mines and Boys anti-tank rifles and a third to Molotov cocktails, the Japanese advance stops because the road is blocked and there are dense forests on either side. The Japanese quickly find a loop road that enables them to bypass the blocked main road. By 06:00, the Japanese tanks have destroyed the 5/2nd Punjab Regiment and advanced further south to the town of Trolak, where they face the 2nd Bn, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders under Lt. Col. Lindsay Robertson. The British troops are surprised by the speed of the Japanese advance and four of Shimada's tanks get through their line before the British open fire. The British, with tanks both in front of them and behind them, lose control of the road, and the four Japanese tanks in the lead head straight for the railway bridge. By 07:30, the Japenese have complete control of Trolak and the British are fleeing into the jungle, some remaining there for weeks. The British then destroy the rail bridge, leaving the Japanese in complete control of the north bank but unable to quickly cross the river.

The Supermarine Seafire, Spitfire fighters converted for use aboard aircraft carriers, makes its first flight on 7 January 1942. There are a total of 2646 built. The first batch of 48 is composed of Spitfire Mk Vb fighters that have been converted to carrier duty by adding an arrestor hook and strengthening the lower longerons. In addition, reinforcing strips are riveted around hatch openings and along the main fuselage longerons to provide strength.

The Japanese now send a small task force under Lieutenant Sadanobu Watanabe toward a road bridge that is still intact six miles away. The British service troops (artillery, medical, food supply, etc.) in this direction are taken by complete surprise, with two British artillery colonels surprised while driving on the road and killed. By 08:30, Watanabe is at the road bridge, where he personally cuts the demolition wires with his ceremonial sword. Watanabe then sends three tanks under the command of Ensign Toichero Sato across the bridge, and Sato advances 3 miles (4 km) before running into two 4.5-inch Howitzers of the British 155th Field Artillery Regiment. Sato's tank destroys one gun, then he himself is killed in his tank by the second gun. The remaining two Japanese tanks then quickly return to the road bridge and await reinforcements.

USS Downes (DD-375) on 7 January 1942. Downes was badly damaged during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This photo shows the aft deckhouse as seen from off the starboard side. USS Cassin (DD-372) has capsized against Downes' port side (U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph).

All in all, the Japanese advance over the Slim River during the morning hours of 7 January 1942 covers 16 miles (25 km), effectively destroys the 11th Indian Division, and blows a hole in the main Allied defensive line. The British realize the danger and withdraw the Indian III Corps - or what is left of it - from the southern bank of the Slim River southward to Tanjong Malim, a village between the village of Slim and a road junction at Kuala Kubu.

With the British defenses further north being savaged, the British in Singapore know they are in trouble. General Archibald Wavell, commander of the entire British-held region centered in India, arrives in Singapore on an inspection tour. He tours the north side of the island with chief engineer Brigadier Ivan Simpson and learns that no island defenses have been prepared. When he queries local commander Lieutenant General Arthur Percival about this, Percival responds that he thinks building defenses would be bad for morale. Wavell immediately orders Percival to begin building defenses on the north side of the island and to prepare to destroy the causeway connecting it to the mainland. Percival pays lip service to Wavell's order but after this meeting does virtually nothing to prepare for a Japanese attack on the island.

"Commander (F) H C Ranald testing the running up of fighter planes with a stopwatch in hand on the flight deck of HMS VICTORIOUS." 7 January 1942 © IWM (A 7008).

In the Philippines, the Battle of Bataan begins. United States Army and Filipino Army forces in Luzon abandon their switch position at Layac Junction on 7 January 1942. They now withdraw into the Main Line of Resistance (MLR) which is about 20 miles (32 km) long. The MLR extends from Mauban on the west to Mabatang on the east. There is an Outpost Line (OPL) is being maintained forward of the MLR. North Luzon Force now becomes 1 Corps (22,500 men of 1st, 31st, 71st, and 91st Divisions, all Philippine Army (PA), 26th Cavalry Philippine Scouts (PS), miscellaneous troops, and supporting weapons) and defends the western half of the MLR. The Bataan Defense Force becomes II Corps (25,000 men of the 11th, 21st, 41st, and 51st Divisions (all PA), the 57th Infantry (PS) of the Philippine Division, and supporting weapons.) and takes the right half of the MLR.

"Members of the crew giving the "V" for Victory sign." FFS Indo Chinois, 7 January 1942. © IWM (A 7015).

The Allies rely on a defense in depth. Behind the MLR is another defensive line composed of U.S. Army Forces, the Far East (USAFFE) reserve, i.e., the U.S. Philippine Division, less the 57th Infantry Regiment; a tank group; and a self-propelled mount group. This completes the Allied retreat into the Bataan Peninsula. There is a Service Command Area located at the southern tip of the Bataan Peninsula below the Mariveles Mountains. This rear area is the responsibility of Brigadier-General A. C. McBride and is policed by the newly formed 2d Division Philippine Constabulary.

"Commander (F) H C Ranald testing the running up of fighter planes with a stopwatch in hand on the flight deck of HMS VICTORIOUS." 7 January 1942. © IWM (A 7008).

Battle of the Mediterranean: British patrols find that the Germans have abandoned Agedabia. The first Royal Navy convoy from Alexandria to Benghazi arrives safely despite high seas.

Western Front: RAF Bomber Command continues its attacks on German warships at anchor in harbors along the French coast. While they have attacked Cherbourg Harbor during the past two nights, today the British switch to Wellington bomber attacks on warships at Brest and St. Nazaire. Neither attack causes much damage, but the Germans are on notice that the British are determined to eliminate the Kriegsmarine surface ships parked on the French Atlantic coast.

The Orange Leader of Orange, Texas headlines President Roosevelt's budget request for fiscal 1943.

US Government: Having previewed his plans during his State of the Union address on 6 January 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt submits his budget for fiscal 1943 (the fiscal year begins on 1 October 1942). This budget requests the expenditure of $77 billion over the next 18 months, $56 billion of which is for the war effort. The budget plan calls for the production of 125,000 aircraft, 75,000 tanks, 35,000 guns and 8 million tons of shipping by the end of 1943. These are all outlandish amounts that have never been contemplated, let alone requested, by any administration in the past. However, Roosevelt's party controls Congress and is certain to pass the budget, and everyone is united in a determination to spend whatever it takes to win the war.

Future History: Vasily Alekseyev, the strongest man in the world during the 1970s, is born in Pokrovo-Shishkino, Ryazan Oblast, Russia. He begins practicing weightlifting at the age of 18 and does everything necessary to increase his weightlifting prowess, including gaining weight. Alekseyev sets his first world record in January 1970, encouraged by bonus funds granted by the Soviet government. He goes on to win Gold Medals at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. Alekseyev retires after performing poorly at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and later goes into politics. Vasily Alekseyev passes away on 25 November 2011 at a German clinic from heart problems after having become one of the great international sports celebrities of the Soviet era.

"Babes on Broadway" (1941) starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland is the number one grossing film in the United States for the week of 7 January 1942. It comes in ahead of Bob Hope's "Louisiana Purchase."

German Homefront: Although the "Winter Relief Drive" got off to a very late start, the German newsreel "Die Deutsche Wochenschau" for 7 January 1942 is devoted largely to scenes of collecting and distributing winter clothing. There are many happy scenes of happy citizens donating clothing and happy men receiving it. The newsreel announcer notes that "Gifts for soldiers in the East show the unique solidarity between the homeland and the front." It further points out that "only the best wardrobe is good enough for the troops." There are also happy scenes of soldiers at the front building toy airplanes, happily learning to ski, and returning happily from Luftwaffe reconnaissance missions. While much clothing is being collected, little is making its way to the front because of lack of train space, and few soldiers at the front are smiling as they are attacked by the Red Army and losing digits and limbs to frostbite. Still, the battle is going well: "Whoever [on the other side] is not taken dead is taken alive," the announcer proudly states.

1942

January 1942

January 1, 1942: Declaration By United Nations
January 2, 1941: Manila Falls to Japan
January 3, 1942: ABDA Command Announced
January 4, 1942: MacArthur on His Own in the Philippines
January 5, 1942: Soviets Plan General Offensive
January 6, 1942: US Army in Europe
January 7, 1942: Soviet General Offensive Opens
January 8, 1942: Hitler Sacks Hoepner
January 9, 1942: Battle of Dražgoše
January 10, 1942: Building the Jeep
January 11, 1942: Japan Takes Kuala Lumpur
January 12, 1941: Rommel Plans Counterattack
January 13, 1942: First Ejection Seat Use
January 14, 1942: Operation Drumbeat First Sinking
January 15, 1942: U-Boat Off NYC
January 16, 1942: Carole Lombard Crash
January 17, 1942: British Take Halfaya Pass
January 18, 1942: Soviet Paratroopers in Action
January 19, 1942: FDR Approves Atomic Bomb
January 20, 1942: The Wannsee Conference
January 21, 1942: Parit Sulong Bridge Battle
January 22, 1942: Parit Sulong Massacre
January 23, 1942: Japan Takes Rabaul
January 24, 1942: Battle of Makassar Strait
January 25, 1942: Kholm Surrounded
January 26, 1942: GIs Land in Europe
January 27, 1942: Battle of Endau
January 28, 1942: Rommel Takes Benghazi
January 29, 1942: First US Coast Guard Ship Sunk
January 30, 1942: Singapore Isolated
January 31, 1942: Army Group South Averts Disaster

2020

Wednesday 24 December 1941

President Roosevelt addresses the crowd at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony from the White House South Portico on December 24, 1941. Winston Churchill, who is visiting during the Arcadia Conference, is at the right. This is the first Christmas Tree lighting ceremony ever held inside the White House grounds (FDR Presidential Library).

Battle of the Pacific: On Hong Kong Island, the British situation is growing increasingly desperate by 24 December 1941. The Japanese have split the island in two at Wong Nai Chung Gap and control the entire island's water supplies, but the British and Canadian troops have greater worries, as reports of Japanese atrocities are growing. After dark, the Japanese approach St. Stephen's College, which is being used as a hospital on the front line, and massacre many injured men and doctors.

About 1,300 Japanese Americans pledge their allegiance to the United States at a newly dedicated Buddhist church in Seattle, Washington, 24 December 1941 (The Associated Press).

Massacres on Hong Kong Island are not isolated incidents, but the norm. For instance, during the closing days of the campaign the Japanese have:

• massacred around two dozen members of the 5th Anti-Aircraft Battery of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defense Corps (HKVDC) at Sai Wan Hill;
• killed many men at the Salesian Mission at Shau Kei Wan
• massacred eight Canadian soldiers after the battle of Jardine's Lookout;
• murdered three prisoners at Causeway Bay, including a female air raid warden with the local Air Raid Precautions (ARP);
• killed four soldiers at a house on Blue Pool Road known as the "Black Hole of Hong Kong," including two Canadian officers;
• massacred 30 civilians at Blue Pool Road;
• killed at least 47 British POWs at The Ridge;
• killed at least 14 prisoners at Overbays;
• killed 7 men at Eucliffe;
• killed an additional 36 men near The Ridge;
• possibly killed six soldiers of the Middlesex Regiment at Deepwater Bay Ride (it is unclear if they had surrendered);
• murdered eight or twelve British soldiers at the Maryknoll Mission;
• executed 26 prisoners at Brick Hill.

Other incidents are known to have happened because some men simply disappeared without a trace - meaning some perpetrators covered their tracks quite well.

Volunteers at a special station to coordinate Los Angeles air defenses in December 1941. Fears of a Japanese air attack on the city continue well into 1942.

The most horrible atrocity on Hong Kong Island happens at St. Stephens, where an unknown number of victims variously estimated at from 13-99 are executed and then cremated. In the most notorious incident there, the Japanese rape three British and four Chinese nurses before killing them. Canadian Captain Overton Stark Hickey of the RCASC is shot while trying to help the nurses. The rest of the victims are doctors and wounded POWs (or at least patients who should have been treated as POWs). Unfortunately, the full scope of the St. Stephens massacre is impossible to prove later because the Japanese efficiently dispose of the evidence. Atrocities or not, the Commonwealth troops cannot hold out much longer on Hong Kong Island without water.

Damage caused by a Japanese air raid on the Manila port area. This photo was taken on 24 December 1941.

In the Philippines, Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur invokes War Plan Orange 3 (WPO-3) as he continues evacuating Manila. The WPO-3 plan calls for delaying actions in central Luzon while Allied forces retreat into the Bataan Peninsula. The 26th Cavalry Regiment attempts this difficult mission against overwhelming Japanese numerical strength under the command of South Luzon Force. The Americans begin using barges to move supplies from Manila warehouses into the Bataan in the hopes that it can be turned into a redoubt for US and Filipino soldiers and refugees.

Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma, 14th Army commander, coming ashore at Lingayen Gulf, 24 December 1941.

At dawn at Mauban on Lamon Bay southeast of Manila, the Japanese land the 2nd Battalion of the 20th Infantry Regiment (Lt. Col. Nariyoshi Tsunehiro). Other landings occur a little further south at Siain and Atimonan. The Philippine 1st Infantry Division is dug in at the Mauban beach and slows the Japanese down there. The invasion succeeds in getting three bridgeheads, however, and by nightfall, the Japanese have made good progress of about five miles inland at Mauban and even further advances at Atimonan and Siain. These landings put the Japanese within striking distance of the eastern approaches to the Bataan Peninsula. Maneuvering his forces to protect the exposed entry points in Bataan, MacArthur stations troops at San Fernando, the steel bridges at Calumpit over the Pampanga River, and Plaridel north of Manila. Admiral Thomas C. Hart sends the 4th Marine Regiment from Olongapo to Corregidor to secure it as the last bastion should the defense of Bataan fail. In the air, three B-17s based on Del Monte Field, Mindanao, raid Japanese shipping at Davao and then fly south to Darwin.

"Members of the gun crew overhauling their pom-poms while in the harbor." The Isaac Sweers in Alexandria Harbor, 24 December 1941. © IWM (A 7265).

In the Malay Peninsula, Commander Australian Imperial Force Malaya, Major General Gordon Bennett (General Office Commanding Australian 8th Division), tries to organize a defense in depth. The Australian 27th Brigade Group, 8th Division occupies North Johore, while the Indian 11th Division (which controls all remaining Indian III Corps troops north of the Slim and Bernam Rivers) concentrates around Kampar and along the Slim River. The British are hampered by dwindling air support and the Japanese are becoming dominant in the air.

The United States Navy is still determining the extent of the damage at Pearl Harbor from the raid on 7 December 1941. Shown is damage to US Navy light cruiser USS Helena (CL-50) at left, with construction materials to fix it. This photo was attached to the 14th Naval District report, serial 01451 of 24 December 1941 (Naval History and Heritage Command).

Japanese submarine attacks against US shipping along the west coast of the United States continue. Japanese submarine I-19 (some sources say I-17) surfaces and shells 5695-ton US freighter Absaroka about 19 nautical miles (36 km) northwest of Catalina Island, while I-23 does the same to 2119-ton US freighter Dorothy Philips off Monterey Bay south of San Francisco. Meanwhile, at Midway Island, US Marines of Batteries A and C of 4th Defense Battalions land after a hazardous journey aboard seaplane tender USS Wright.

"Commander Houtsmuller, Captain of HNMS ISAAC SWEERS coming on board his ship." Alexandria, 24 December 1941. © IWM (A 7262).

In Borneo, the Dutch send Martin B-10 bombers against the Japanese forces that took Kuching late on 23 December. The Dutch withdraw their aircraft from Singkawang, Borneo, to Palembang, Sumatra, but they still hold Kuching Airfield because the Japanese forces close by haven't spotted it yet. The British "SARFOR" (Sarawak Force) garrison of Kuching, composed of just over 1000 men of the 2nd Battalion, 15th Punjab Regiment and the 35th Fortress Company and about 1500 local tribesmen, begins a delaying action as it moves inland toward Dutch Borneo. The Japanese main objectives are the oilfields at Miri and Seria and the refinery at Lutong.

Luftwaffe reconnaissance of Malta, 24 December 1941 (Federal Archive Bild 168-116-012).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Germans secretly evacuate Benghazi on 24 December 1941. Later in the day, the 7th Armored Division of the XIII Corps, British Eighth Army attacks the city and is pleasantly surprised to find it deserted. Troops of the Royal Dragoons are given the honor of being the first into Benghazi. Off Alexandria, U-568 (Kptlt. Joachim Preuss) torpedoes and sinks 925-ton Royal Navy corvette HMS Salvia (K-97) about 104 nautical miles (193 km) northwest of Alexandria. All 106 men aboard the British ship, which has been returning to base with convoy TA-5, perish.

A Christmas Eve service somewhere in the Soviet Union, 24 December 1941 (Federal Archive Bild 169-0875).

Eastern Front: The lingering feud between the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge, and General Guderian, commander of 2nd Panzer Army, continues to simmer. Kluge complains to the OKH operations chief, General Franz Halder, about Guderian allowing the 296th Infantry Division to withdraw even further than first thought without orders (and thereby saving it). In addition, Kluge notes that Guderian has pulled 47th Panzer Corps back as well in defiance of Hitler's stand-fast orders. When Halder suggests that Guderian should be court-martialled, Kluge equivocates, rationalizing that the withdrawals had been done "under the compulsion of circumstance." Halder himself then sends a direct order to Guderian to stop the withdrawals, send a division to Belev, and report in detail his troop locations before Hitler's midnight conference.

"German Luftwaffe pilot Erbo Graf Von Kageneck, holder of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, standing in front of his Messerschmitt Bf 109 E whilst being assisted by two ground crew personnel. Von Kageneck, responsible for the destruction of 69 allied aircraft, was later shot down by RAAF pilot, Flying Officer Clive R Caldwell, (who was attached to 250 Squadron, Royal Air Force) on the afternoon of 24 December 1941 near Derna in Libya. Kageneck later died in a Luftwaffe hospital in Naples. Australian War Memorial P00323.001.

While there is a lot of drama behind the scenes on the German side, things aren't much better at the front. Second Army, which is holding the line to Guderian's immediate right, has to withdraw along with Guderian's troops in order to not expose its own flank. The lack of reserves near the front compels these kinds of reflexive movements when one unit begins to retreat. There is blowing snow and low visibility, and nobody is really sure where any other units are. He announces that he will abandon Novosil and Livny, also in defiance of Hitler's orders. Before midnight, Guderian responds to a telephoned order from von Kluge to stop his retreat by requesting to be relieved and court-martialed. Kluge immediately gets on the phone to Halder and tells Halder, while apologizing for "ruining your Christmas spirit, which probably was not very rosy anyway." Halder then passes this information on to Hitler in East Prussia, who is just about to begin his midnight command conference.

You can catch a special Christmas Eve 24 December 1941 train/steamer combo From Boston to Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard if you catch the 17:00 train.

December 1941

December 1, 1941: Hitler Fires von Rundstedt
December 2, 1941: Climb Mount Niitaka
December 3, 1941: Hints of Trouble in the Pacific
December 4, 1941: Soviets Plan Counteroffensive
December 5, 1941: Soviets Counterattack at Kalinin
December 6, 1941: Soviet Counterattack at Moscow Broadens
December 7, 1941: Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
December 8, 1941: US Enters World War II
December 9, 1941: German Retreat At Moscow
December 10, 1941: HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse Sunk
December 11, 1941: Hitler Declares War on US
December 12, 1941: Japanese in Burma
December 13, 1941: Battle of Cape Bon
December 14, 1941: Hitler Forbids Withdrawals
December 15, 1941: The Liepaja Massacre
December 16, 1941: Japan Invades Borneo
December 17, 1941: US Military Shakeup
December 18, 1941: Hitler Lays Down the Law
December 19, 1941: Brauchitsch Goes Home
December 20, 1941: Flying Tigers in Action
December 21, 1941: The Bogdanovka Massacre
December 22, 1941: Major Japanese Landings North of Manila
December 23, 1941: Wake Island Falls to Japan
December 24, 1941: Atrocities in Hong Kong
December 25, 1941: Japan Takes Hong Kong
December 26, 1941: Soviets Land in the Crimea
December 27, 1941: Commandos Raid Norway
December 28, 1941: Operation Anthropoid Begins
December 29, 1941: Soviet Landings at Feodosia
December 30, 1941: Race for Bataan
December 31, 1941: Nimitz in Charge

2020

Tuesday 23 December 1941

Wrecked US Marine Corps Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighters at Wake Island on or after 23 December 1941. There are about seven planes in this view. Following standard practice at all forward airfields, parts from damaged planes were used to repair other planes. The plane in the foreground is "211-F-11," Captain Henry T. Elrod's mount which he used to sink Japanese destroyer Kisaragi (National Archives via US Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-179006).

Battle of the Pacific: With Vice Admiral William S. Pye, Acting Commander in Chief US Pacific Fleet, having recalled the relief force for Wake Island, there is little hope for the US Marines and civilian contractors stranded there on 23 December 1941. At 02:35, about 1500 Japanese marines land after a powerful preliminary bombardment. Supported by air strikes from aircraft carriers Hiryu and Soryu, the Japanese marines overwhelm the garrison.

A 1943 aerial photograph of Wake Island marked to show key points during the 23 December 1941 invasion of the island. The two Japanese destroyers used as landing craft are still beached off the island, and the Japanese have constructed an airfield (using US civilian contractors captured during the raid) nearby.

The US marines destroy Japanese landing craft Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33, which are beached, but they have no air support and their artillery quickly is silenced. The fighting rages through the morning, but the situation is hopeless. The US Marines have 49 dead, two missing, and 49 wounded overall during the siege. In addition, over 70 US civilian contractors perish and a dozen are wounded. Overall, the Japanese capture 433 American men at a cost of 144 Japanese casualties. A huge fraction of the US civilian contractors will be executed by the Japanese during the war.

HIJMS Patrol Boat No.32 (left) and Patrol Boat No.33 (right), badly damaged during the invasion of Wake Island on 23 December 1941 but which managed to reach shore and beach themselves (United States Navy or United States Marine Corps).

While a major propaganda victory, the Japanese gain little by occupying Wake Island. They force the captured Americans to fortify the island, including bringing in an 8-inch (200 mm) naval gun, but the isolated location offers so few possibilities that the US Navy makes no plans to recapture it. In fact, its location on the route from Pearl Harbor toward Japanese possessions further west turns the island of Wake into the perfect live-fire training ground for US naval airmen and gunners. With so many US Navy ships in the vicinity, the Japanese find it impossible to supply the small garrison there with food, much less with airplanes or other offensive weapons. As an ideal training for US Navy pilots like future President George H.W. Bush, the US Pacific Fleet is content to simply keep an eye on it while pumping a few shells at the Japanese installations as ships pass on to more important destinations. The Japanese flag flies at Wake Island until 4 September 1945.

"Wake Island, December 23, 1941. Japanese troops pay homage to a memorial erected to unit commander Uchida, who was killed in the landing on Wake Island, 23 December 1941. Copied from a Japanese picture book. U.S. Marine Corps photograph." (National Museum of the U.S. Navy #USMC 315175).

In Manila, Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General US Army Forces Far East and a Field Marshal in the Filipino Army, notes the Japanese invasion force that landed just north of Manila on the 22nd and declares it an open city. The Japanese in Rosario advance ten miles (16 km) south toward Manila by dusk. The US forces begin withdrawing south into the Bataan peninsula. This is an easily defended region where the US Army has stored nearly one million US gallons of gasoline. The retreat is orderly and not made under Japanese pressure. Late in the day, a 7000-man Japanese force from the Ryukyu Islands lands in Lamon Bay. The US Army Air Force still has some B-17 Flying Fortresses at Del Monte Field on Mindanao, and they attack Japanese shipping in Lingayen Gulf, damaging a destroyer and a minesweeper. The Japanese send troops from Mindanao Island to land on Jolo Island in the Sulu Archipelago, indicating that they aren't too worried about the remaining US presence in the Philippines.

"Western Desert. Armorers working on a [Curtiss] Tomahawk fighter aircraft of No 3 Squadron RAAF." 23 December 1941 (Australian War Memorial 010926)

Japanese submarine attacks on US shipping off the west coast continue, with I-21 torpedoing and sinking 8272-ton US tanker Montebello four miles off of Cambria, California and later using its deck gun to damage 6418-ton tanker Idaho. Submarine I-17 uses its deck gun to damage 7038-ton American tanker Larry Doheny about 62 nautical miles southwest of Eureka, California. As experience in the Atlantic has proven in the war to date, tankers are extremely difficult to sink due to their compartmentalized construction. In addition, Japanese submarines I-71 and I-72 shell US-held Palmyra Island, which is about 960 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu.

Japanese artillery based on Jardine's Lookout in action, with Wong Nei Chong Gap in front of them. Late December 1941 (©IWM SIT3571).

On Hong Kong Island, the Japanese have split the island in two and are gradually restricting the remaining British presence. The Canadian Royal Rifles, a unit that had only embarked for the territory on 27 October 1941, withdraws into Hong Kong's Stanley Peninsula to make a last stand. The fighting is extremely savage, and there are reports of Japanese atrocities.

HMAS Karangi. Commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy on 23 December 1941, the Karangi was the third Boom Defence Vessel constructed by Cockatoo Island Dockyard. It serves in the Australian Navy until 1964.

The British remove Major-General David Murray-Lyon of the Indian 11th Infantry Division from his command on 23 December 1941 due to the unit's rocky withdrawal south toward Kuala Lumpur. He thus becomes the campaign's first scapegoat, but not the last. The Indian III Corps completes its withdrawal behind the Perak River after dark. The Japanese aircraft in the region shift their attention from attacking British airfields north of Singapore, all of which have been abandoned, to assisting ground troops.

One of the two Japanese landing craft beached at Wake Island on 23 December 1941.

The war at sea is picking up quickly. On Borneo, the Dutch naval forces detect a Japanese naval convoy sailing from Miri for Kuching and send submarines to intercept it. HNLMS K XIV sinks Japanese Army transports Hiyoshi Maru and Katori Maru, while Hokkai Maru is beached to prevent it from sinking. Most of the Japanese troops get through to the target, however, and they take Kuching by mid-afternoon. The 15th Punjab Regiment retreats up the nearby river. During the night, Dutch submarine HNLMS K XVI torpedoes and sinks Japanese destroyer Sagiri about 30 miles north of Kuching, notching the first Allied submarine victory over a Japanese warship. However, the crew of K XVI doesn't have long to celebrate, as Japanese submarine I-66 spots it and sinks it with all hands shortly thereafter. Off Badoc, US submarine SEAL sinks 856-ton Japanese freighter Soryu Maru.

Japanese photo showing the bombing of Rangoon on 23 December 1941.

In Burma, 80 Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-21 bombers escorted by 30 fighters bomb Mingaladon and downtown Rangoon for the first time. Casualties are unknown but there are an estimated 2000 civilian deaths. The American Volunteer Group (AVG aka "Flying Tigers") and Royal Air Force Brewster Buffaloes intervene but cannot prevent the attack. The Japanese use both high explosive and incendiary bombs. Combined with a similar attack on 25 December 1941, the Japanese destroy 60% of the wooden buildings in the entire downtown area from Pazundaung to Ahlone. This bombing begins a desperate flight from Rangoon of Indians, Burmese, Anglo-Burmese, Europeans, Chinese, Karens, and others.

Soviet scouts outside Moscow near Yasnaya Polyana, December 1941. The Red Army advance often involved soldiers like this attacking isolated German outposts where the Germans had taken over peasant buildings. Notice how well the Red Army men are dressed for operating outdoors, with felt boots and caps with earflaps. General Guderian had his headquarters in Yasnaya Polyana.

Eastern Front: German withdrawals continue around Moscow. In General Guderian's Second Panzer Army, the 296th Infantry Division escapes from a potential encirclement and by falling back to the Oka River at Belev. Its neighbor, the 167th Infantry Division, is not as fortunate and is smashed by the Soviets. Guderian requests permission to take his entire front behind the Oka River, but Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge denies the request because of Hitler's "stand fast" order and cautions that further retreats cannot be made "under any circumstances" without the Fuehrer's permission.

Western Desert, Libya. 23 December 1941. This is known as the Graveyard of the Stukas, some of the German dive-bomber aircraft destroyed by the Allied Air Forces (Australian War Memorial MED0220).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Much of the action is taking place at sea along the Axis supply routes to the Afrika Korps in Libya and the British convoys to Tobruk. The Royal Navy sends Convoy AT-5 to Tobruk, and that leads to a lot of action. U-559 torpedoes and sinks 3059-ton British freighter Shuntien east of Tobruk. It is carrying 850 mostly Italian prisoners of war and has a crew of seventy. Casualties are unclear because corvette HMS Salvia, which rescues as many people as it can, is lost itself on 24 December and virtually everyone on it perishes. So, ultimately, very few people on board the Shuntien ever set foot on land again. Meanwhile, convoy escorts Hasty and Hotspur use depth charges to sink U-79 off Bardia about 69 nautical miles (129 km) east of Tobruk. The U-boats crew is fortunate, however, as the Captain, three officers, and forty ratings and nobody perishes.

SS Shuntien, sunk on 23 December 1941 with great loss of life off Tobruk.

On land, the British advance by XIII Corps comes to a halt due to stiffening Axis resistance and supply issues. The Germans are gradually consolidating their position in western Libya, so the Indian 4th Division takes Barce. The Germans at Antelat retreat to Agedabia under pressure from the British 7th Armored Division.

An early production model of the C-47 Skytrain transport under production at the Douglas Aircraft Company plant at Long Beach ca. 1941. Douglas produced 13 C-47s a day at this facility. (Library of Congress).

US Military: Today is the first flight of the first C-47 Skytrain, 41-7722, the first DC-3 variant built specifically as a military transport. It flies at Daugherty Field, Long Beach, California. The US Army Air Force already has purchased hundreds of DC-3-type airplanes, most notably as the personal transport of the Chief of Staff of the USAAF, General Henry "Hap" Arnold, but those were civilian versions. The military version has a cargo door on the left side of the fuselage, a strengthened cargo floor, a navigator's Astrodome, and provisions for glider towing. The C-47 Skytrain generally is considered the most successful military transport ever.

SS Montebello at her launching at Eat San Pedro in 1921. Japanese submarine I-21 hits the Montebello, which had departed from Port San Luis early in the morning, with one torpedo on 23 December 1941 near Piedras Blancas Point (off Cambria, California). All 39 crewmen take to the boats as I-21 surfaces and fires with its deck gun. The tanker finally sinks bow first. Everyone survives.

French Military: In a rare military land action in North America, Free French forces land on St. Pierre and Miquelon and seize them without much trouble. Vichy officials have been governing the islands off of Newfoundland until now. This eliminates the last Vichy French military presence in the Americas, as the French outpost at Martinique already has entered into an armistice agreement with the United States.

American Homefront: Californians feel increasingly threatened by the recent spate Japanese attacks just off the coast, and there aren't many US Army troops defending the coastline. Lieutenant General John DeWitt, Commanding General Fourth Army and also Commanding General Western Defense Command, decides it is time to impose some discipline. He induces California Governor Culbert Olson to ban the sale of liquor to any person in uniform except during "Happy Hour" and the evening, from 1800-2200.

A 1930s postcard showing a bronze statue by Louis Auguste Hiolin in the Park des Les Buttes Chaumont called "Au Loop." The statue portrays a young shepherd chasing a wolf away from his lambs. A 23 December 1941 article in Figaro notes that the Germans had seized the statue to melt it down. The statue has never been replaced but the pedestal remains in place, empty. It is a very pretty spot and many park-goers enjoy sitting on the pedestal.

December 1941

December 1, 1941: Hitler Fires von Rundstedt
December 2, 1941: Climb Mount Niitaka
December 3, 1941: Hints of Trouble in the Pacific
December 4, 1941: Soviets Plan Counteroffensive
December 5, 1941: Soviets Counterattack at Kalinin
December 6, 1941: Soviet Counterattack at Moscow Broadens
December 7, 1941: Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
December 8, 1941: US Enters World War II
December 9, 1941: German Retreat At Moscow
December 10, 1941: HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse Sunk
December 11, 1941: Hitler Declares War on US
December 12, 1941: Japanese in Burma
December 13, 1941: Battle of Cape Bon
December 14, 1941: Hitler Forbids Withdrawals
December 15, 1941: The Liepaja Massacre
December 16, 1941: Japan Invades Borneo
December 17, 1941: US Military Shakeup
December 18, 1941: Hitler Lays Down the Law
December 19, 1941: Brauchitsch Goes Home
December 20, 1941: Flying Tigers in Action
December 21, 1941: The Bogdanovka Massacre
December 22, 1941: Major Japanese Landings North of Manila
December 23, 1941: Wake Island Falls to Japan
December 24, 1941: Atrocities in Hong Kong
December 25, 1941: Japan Takes Hong Kong
December 26, 1941: Soviets Land in the Crimea
December 27, 1941: Commandos Raid Norway
December 28, 1941: Operation Anthropoid Begins
December 29, 1941: Soviet Landings at Feodosia
December 30, 1941: Race for Bataan
December 31, 1941: Nimitz in Charge

2020