Saturday 3 January 1942

"A British Matilda tank in the Western Desert, recaptured from the Germans who had used it against the British in Bardia, 3 January 1942." © IWM (E 7482).

Battle of the Pacific: On the Malay Peninsula, the Indian 11th Division moves behind the Slim River on 3 January 1942. The Allied troops on the east coast also withdraw under pressure. Reinforcements arrive in Singapore, but these are newly formed units (45th Indian Brigade and an Indian Pioneer battalion) of little value. Of greater value are 51 disassembled Hurricane Mk IIBs that arrive with them along with 24 pilots (many of whom were veterans of the Battle of Britain). The 151st Maintenance Unit begins assembling the planes at breakneck speed. They are badly needed in Singapore and over the Malay Peninsula, where the Japanese have established aerial supremacy.

Arthur Edward Cûmming.

Arthur Edward Cûmming, a 45-year-old lieutenant colonel commanding the 2/12th Frontier Force Regiment in the Indian Army, counterattacks with a small party of men near Kuantan after the Japanese penetrate into their position. Despite receiving two bayonet wounds to the stomach and all of his other men also being wounded, Cûmming manages to stabilize the situation. He later drives an armored personnel carrier to rescue parties of his men who have been unable to withdraw and again is wounded, but rescues the men. For his valor, Cûmming is awarded the Victoria Cross. It is on display at the National Army Museum, Chelsea. Arthur Cûmming passes away in 1971.

Stern view of USS Runner (SS-275) from the south catwalk, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, 3 January 1942. It is a Gato-class submarine.

In British Borneo, the Japanese invade Labuan Island in Brunei Bay. The British have withdrawn in the mainland jungles, so there is no opposition. Later, the Japanese sail to the mainland at Mempakul and spread out from there.

In the Philippines, the Japanese continue advancing in Luzon toward the Bataan Peninsula. The Filipino 21st Army Division makes a stand near Pio, but the Japanese advance near Guagua.

USS Fitch (DD-462) under construction at the Boston Navy Yard, 3 January 1942. (Boston Navy Yard photograph 116-42, Boston National Historical Park Collection, NPS Cat. No. BOSTS-11125 via NavSource).

Eastern Front: German command problems continue on 3 January 1942 as the Red Army counteroffensive broadens. Already, two army group commanders and numerous generals such as Heinz Guderian have been sacked. The generals now are fighting over retaining control over units the OKH and Hitler want to be transferred between commands. General Georg-Hans Reinhardt, commander of 3rd Panzer Army, refuses an order from General Adolf Strauß at Ninth Army, who has been given control over the 3rd Panzer Army. The situation in Army Group Center always has had these ad hoc commands, where one army is given command of another, but Reinhardt is upset about the refusal of Strauß to give him command over V Panzer Corps, which had been transferred to his sector. Army Group Center commander Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge finally has to threaten Reinhardt with a court-martial if he does not obey Ninth Army's orders. This is a prime example of the diva-ish behavior that regularly breaks out within the upper ranks of the Wehrmacht.

"Vertical aerial reconnaissance view of Castelvetrano airfield, Sicily, the day before a successful attack was made on it by Malta-based Bristol Blenheims of Nos. 18 and 107 Squadrons RAF. A number of Junkers Ju 52 and Savoia Marchetti SM 82 transport aircraft, many of which were destroyed during the raid, can be seen parked around the airfield perimeter." This photo was taken on 3 January 1942. © IWM (C 4183).

Soviet troops are advancing Rzhev, which had been far behind the front lines a few weeks ago. The Luftwaffe manages to operate despite -40 °F temperatures and flies in a battalion of reinforcements. The Germans have requisitioned winter clothing from the local inhabitants and learned ways to keep their machine guns and other automatic weapons working. This gives them a fighting chance to hold Rzhev, which is an important railhead and the entrance to the "land bridge" to Moscow.

SS Langkoeas, a 7395-ton Dutch freighter that is torpedoed and sunk in the Java Sea north of Bawean, Dutch East Indies, by I-58 on 3 January 1942. The crew takes to lifeboats. I-58 surfaces and rams a lifeboat and machine-guns almost all fo the survivors. The Japanese then take three survivors aboard the submarine, where Lt. Cdr Kitamura interrogates them and then has them thrown back into the sea. The three men cling to a raft for four or five days until they wash ashore on Bawean Island. A Dutch PBY Catalina later arrives and takes them to Surabaya.

Further south, Junkers Ju 87 Stukas of StG 77 attack Soviet shipping off the Kerch Peninsula. They bomb and badly damage Soviet cruiser Krasnyi Kavkaz. It is under repair until October 1942. On land, the Germans begin building up forces for a counterattack along a line about 10 miles west of Feodosia while the Soviet 51st, which has occupied the entire Kerch Peninsula, begins moving slowly west to reinforce the 44th Army. General Erich von Manstein, commander of 11th Army, sends 30 Corps under the command of Generalmajor Maximilian Fretter-Pico and also two other divisions from the Sevastopol perimeter to buttress the new line in the east. The Germans plan a counterattack as quickly as possible but it will take a couple of weeks to launch.

"Mr. Churchill, complete in his air-raid suit, which he announced to the press and cinema men present was his "siren suit", demonstrates how he runs to the air-raid shelter." At the White House in Washington, D.C., 3 January 1942. © IWM (A 6919).

Allied Relations: At the Arcadia Conference in Washington, D.C., the Allies announce their formation of the American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA, or ABDACOM) command. British General Sir Archibald P. Wavell is the overall commander, with US Major General George Brett his deputy. Wavell's task is to stop the Japanese advance, restore communications with the Philippines, and save Australia, Singapore, and Burma.

The American Dancer, Vol. 15, no. 3, January 1942.

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

Tuesday 30 December 1941

The wreckage of USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, 30 December 1941. The superstructure seen in this picture eventually is cut off and dumped on nearby Ford Island. It may still be there, but it is a restricted area. A hatch was removed and later taken to the Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas. This photo likely was taken as part of the preparation for the removal of safes and sensitive military information that began in early 1942. Incidentally, all photos showing damage at Pearl Harbor were classified for many years.

Soviet Army Group Center, at Orel. - Discharge of a wagon with provisions and loading of a truck using Soviet prisoners of war. Inscription on the right wagon: "Wehrmacht - AK Kursk"; Dec. 1941 / Jan. 1942. (Koll, Federal Archive Picture 1011-287-0872-30).

Eastern Front: In the Crimea, Soviet landings at Feodosia and near Kerch have created a very difficult situation for the German 11th Army on 30 December 1941. Lieutenant General Hans Graf von Sponeck's 42nd Army Corps has only one German division, and he has withdrawn it entirely from the Kerch Peninsula. Generalmajor Kurt Himer, the 46th Infantry Division commander, has abandoned vast quantities of equipment in a hurried retreat through rain mixed with snow. Himer disregards the losses and simply flees to the west as fast as he can in order to save his men. This he does, but the division leaves a trail of abandoned vehicles and artillery in its wake. Altogether, the division loses 80% of its trucks, half of its communications equipment, two dozen artillery pieces, and nearly all of its engineer equipment.

German gunners on the Eastern Front at Orel, December 1941/January 1942 (Koll, Federal Archive Picture 1011-287-0872-04).

General Erich von Manstein, commander of the 11th Army, suddenly realizes the danger of an unchecked Red Army advance from Kerch. He transfers Sponeck to a quiet front (he later is sent to Germany for a court-martial) and begins shifting troops east from the Sevastopol perimeter. He orders 46th Division to stop retreating and to attack south toward Feodosia.

German armor (StuG III and Panzer III) in the Soviet Union, December 1941/January 1942 (Lachmann, Hans, Federal Archive Picture Bild 183-84001-0011).

However, Himer's men have lost all of their offensive power and are heading to the northwest away from Feodosia on narrow country roads that do not permit a U-turn. Himer follows the order, but to little effect. The 40,000+ Soviet 44th and 51st Army troops that have landed in Feodosia, meanwhile, remains largely unopposed throughout the day. Soviet 44th Army advances to the northwest, toward Himer's fleeing remnants, while 51st Army heads east to secure Kerch.

In Army Group North, a war reporter attached to the SS Totenkopf Division digs his car out after a snowstorm during December 1941 (Wittmar, Federal Archive Picture 101III-Wittmar-023-01).

Around Moscow, the Germans continue to give ground. Army Group Center commander Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge calls Hitler at midday and renews his request for large-scale withdrawals. Hitler, however, will have none of it. He lectures Kluge, telling him that withdrawals simply "perpetuated" themselves. Once they begin, he argues, "one might as well head for the Dnepr or the Polish border right away." He tells Kluge to listen to "the voice of cold reason," which apparently means Hitler's own voice. As usual, Hitler refers to his own experience during World War I. When Kluge boldly remarks that the situation is vastly different than in France during 1914 and that the troops are incapable of further resistance, Hitler snaps, "If that is so then it is the end of the German Army." Hitler then abruptly hangs up.

An Indian soldier guards German U-boat POWs at Agemi, Egypt, 30 December 1941 (© IWM (A 7990)).

Later in the day, Kluge reviews messages from the front. Ninth Army reports that troops at Staritsa which are forbidden to withdraw have been almost surrounded, while Red Army units behind Ninth Army are heading south. Rzhev also now is at risk due to this advance by Soviet 39th Army. For the first time, it appears that the Red Army may be able to surround the entire Army Group if they push their breakthrough further to the south. Ninth Army commander General Adolf Strauß warns that a disaster may occur unless the entire mass of Army Group Center withdraws beyond the Soviet spearhead.

"German U-boat prisoners on the right, watching Italian prisoners passing to their camp." Agemi, Egypt, 30 December 1941 (© IWM (A 7987)).

Battle of the Mediterranean: British 22nd Armored Division of XIII Corps makes one more attempt to pierce the new Axis line and take Agedabia. However, the Germans now benefit from shortened lines and supplies flowing again through Tripoli and inflict heavy tank losses on the British. Following today's battle, British Eighth Army ceases offensive operations and both sides begin building up supplies for eventual offensive actions. Which side will prevail in future battles is entirely dependent upon supplies brought in by sea. While the Germans have great difficulty getting their supplies across the Mediterranean from Naples, it is a short sail and resupply can be very quick. The British, while they have fewer losses of supply convoys at sea than the Axis, have a much lengthier supply route and it takes much longer to build up a large force. As usual in North Africa, victory in the desert depends upon successes and failures at sea.

Admiral Ernest J. King, appointed to the command of the entire US Fleet on 30 December 1941.

US Military: Admiral Ernest J. King, who has been Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet (CINCLANT), becomes Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH). He replaces Admiral Husband Kimmel, who is in disgrace following the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. While King has been serving in the Atlantic, he believes that the Japanese threat is greater than others realize. King now is the main proponent in top Allied circles of allocating more resources to the Pacific Theater of Operations. This becomes a perpetual annoyance to the British, who argue that the defeat of Hitler is the top priority. King's first orders are to embark 5000 US Marines on transports at San Diego and send them to Samoa to protect US shipping lanes to Australia.

British Government: During a two-day visit to Ottawa, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses the Canadian Parliament. He gets off one of his more memorable lines. Referencing a comment made by Philippe Pétain that Germany would invade England and "have its neck wrung like a chicken," Churchill comments, "Some chicken! Some neck!"

Winston Churchill addressing the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, 30 December 1941.

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

Friday 26 December 1941

Manila, Philippines is declared an open city 26 Dec 1941 (US Army Center of Military History).

Eastern Front: Soviet troops from the Taman Peninsula land near Kerch on the Crimea early on 26 December 1941. The landings are difficult, both because of the weather conditions and local defenders. The 224th Rifle Division and 83rd Naval Infantry Brigade successfully land at Cape Khroni to the northeast of Kerch. Another battalion follows later in the day, bringing T-26 tanks and light artillery. Other landings are less successful, with an attempted 302nd Mountain Rifle Division landing at Kamysh Burun south of Kersh prevented by Wehrmacht troops of the 42nd Infantry Regiment (Colonel Ernst Maisel) firing down at them from high ground. In addition, an attempted landing at Etigen is wiped out by the German 2nd Battalion of the 42nd Infantry Regiment. Two successive landings at Stary Karantin are smashed by the German 1st Battalion (Major Karl Kraft) of the 42nd Infantry Division, but enough men get ashore to seize the docks at Kamysh Burun and establish a bridgehead.

German soldiers west of Moscow, December 1941 (original via Wikipedia and Creative Commons).

The Red Army troops have all sorts of difficulties, with some drowning, some of their whaleboats capsizing, and men freezing to death of hypothermia. However, there are no German troops nearby, so they manage to build a bridgehead. The Luftwaffe begins counter-attacking around 10:50 with He-111 medium bombers and Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers, and they sink Soviet transport Voroshilov at Cape Tarhan and another ship off Cape Zyuk. About 450 men perish in the Voroshilov and 100 on the other ship. The Luftwaffe also sinks several Soviet ships off Kamysh Burun, enabling only 2175 out of 5200 Soviet troops to get ashore there.

Soviet troops retaking Naro-Fominsk southwest of Moscow ca. 26 December 1941.

Army Corps commander Lieutenant General Sponeck, in control in the Kerch Peninsula while General Erich von Manstein focuses the bulk of the 11th Army further west at Sevastopol, spends the day trying to figure out the Soviet objectives from the confused reports from the front. The German intelligence services extract information from a captured Soviet officer at Cape Khroni suggesting that the plan is to land 25,000 troops at Kerch. Lieutenant General Kurt Himer quickly orders troops east from the port of Feodosiya on the southern coast - leaving that port undefended. By the end of the day, the Germans feel they have enough troops in a position to launch a counterattack against the northern landings and eliminate them while holding in the south. However, the German forces are a hodgepodge of infantry, artillery, and combat engineers who are being assigned tasks for which they are not prepared. The counterattack is scheduled for around midday on the 27th.

Seaplane tender USS Tangier, which lands US Marines of the 4th Defense Battalion and their guns and equipment on Midway Island on 26 December 1941. Tangier had been sent to do the same at Wake Island, but the Japanese conquered Wake before Tangier could get there, so it was diverted. Included in this shipment are a 5-inch gun, twelve anti-aircraft machine guns, and radar equipment.

Battle of the Pacific: Mandatory evacuations of civilians from Hawaii begin on 26 December 1941. The first convoy load to the port of San Francisco is carried aboard the three Matson Liners (Lurline, Matsonia, and Monterey). The loading is frantic and the captain of the Lurline does not even know how many people are aboard until a count is made en route. Everybody is tense because there have been Japanese submarine attacks off the west coast and nobody knows where the Japanese fleet has gone since the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Operation Anklet, a British Commando raid on the Lofoten Islands, takes place on 26 December 1941. It is undertaken by 300 men of No. 12 Commando assisted by Norwegian Independent Company 1. The landings are supported by 22 ships and begin at 06:00. There is no German opposition when the Commandos arrive on the island of Moskenesøya, and the Commandos capture a small German garrison and some Norwegian Quislings at the radio station at Glåpen. The Commandos occupy the island for two days.

In the Philippines, Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur declares Manila an open city. The U.S. evacuation into the Bataan Peninsula is almost complete. The South Luzon Defense Force sets up a defensive line west of Sariaya. The Japanese send Nell and Betty bombers from Formosa to bomb shipping in Manila Bay, scoring a near miss on destroyer USS Peary. Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, Commander of the Sixteenth Naval District and the Philippine Naval Coastal Frontier, establishes his headquarters on Corregidor Island while his troops burn patrol boat PT-33, which has been damaged by grounding.

U-559 torpedoes and sinks Polish 2487-ton Warszawa (shown) off Mersa Matruh, Egypt on 26 December 1941. There are 24 deaths and 453 survivors (mostly troops from Tobruk). The sinking is slightly unusual in that Warszawa is taken in tow after the first torpedo strike, but U-559 sees this and then pumps a second torpedo into it, sinking Warszawa.

On the Malay Peninsula, the Commonwealth troops continue retreating south toward Singapore. While the Indian 12th Brigade Group delays the advancing Japanese at Chemor, the 11th Indian Division slips out of Ipoh just to the south. In London, Whitehall is aware of the deterioration of the British position and notifies General Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command, that it transferring four RAF fighter squadrons from the Middle East to the Far East - showing that the Japanese attack at least indirectly is helping the Germans in North Africa.

"USS Tangier (AV-8) (R) unloads supplies at Midway, 26 December 1941; USS RALPH TALBOT (DD-390) and USS BLUE (DD-387) are at left; TAMAHA (YN-440) is in the background, center. TANGIER had originally been earmarked for the Wake Island relief expedition." Naval History and Heritage Command.

HMS Triumph (Lt. John Symons Huddart, RN). After sailing from Alexandria on 26 December 1941, Triumph lands a party on Antiparos Island and then goes on a patrol in the Aegean from which it does not return. It is surmised that Triumph hit an Italian mine and sank off Cape Sounion, Greece.

Winston Churchill addresses a joint session of Congress in Washington, D.C., on 26 December 1941 © IWM (A 7187).

Robertson Stadium under construction in Houston on the campus of the University of Houston, 26 December 1941 (Photography by Elwood Payne, Construction by Fretz Construction Company).

Winston Churchill addressing Congress, 26 December 1941.

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

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