Thursday 19 March 1942

A Supermarine Spitfire on board HMS Eagle, ca. 19 March 1942. The Spitfires are being taken to Malta with Force H (© IWM (A 9580)).

Eastern Front: The German I Corps and XXXVIII Corps, pushing into the base of a Soviet salient across the Volkhov River from the north and south, respectively, meet late in the day on 19 March 1942. This threatens to trap 130,000 Red Army troops to the west that have been trying to take Lyuban. The most significant Soviet outfit in the salient is the 2nd Shock Army, led by General Andrei Vlasov. This follows a typical pattern early in the war when the Red Army basically shrugs off these kinds of German tactics, usually to the Soviets' eventual detriment.

The Wehrmacht advance has been difficult because there are no north-south roads in the area, requiring a difficult route through snow and trees in frigid weather. The battle is not over, and the Soviets will reopen a small gap, but this encirclement in Operation Raubtier is the first major German success in the USSR since the fall.

In Crimea, General Erich von Manstein is preparing an attack on the Soviet line in the Parpach Narrows. He wishes to recover the small amount of territory lost in the recent Soviet attacks. However, the Soviets also are building up their own forces for a renewed attack. The only question is which side attacks first. Manstein's offensive, which he has prepared hurriedly and that relies on inexperienced troops using sketchy Czech tanks, is scheduled for the morning of 20 March 1942.

"PORT MORESBY, NEW GUINEA. 1942-03-19. THICK SMOKE BILLOWS UP FROM TUAGUBU HILL AFTER A JAPANESE AIRCRAFT ATTACK AGAINST A 3.7 INCH ANTI-AIRCRAFT BATTERY." Australian War Memorial 129807.

Battle of the Pacific: The Japanese score their first success in the Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road that began on 18 March when they win the Battle of Tachiao in the Sittang Valley. The 143rd Regiment of the 55th Division advances about 12 miles north and takes Pyu. The next Japanese objective is to attack the defenses of the Chinese Army Cavalry Regiment north of the Kan River. These will become known as the Battles of Toungoo and Oktwin, the main defensive position of the Chinese forces in the area.

Toungoo, now under Japanese attack, is the original training base of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) aka the "Flying Tigers." The AVG pilots and ground crew have had to "bug out" to northern India and China. Lieutenant General William J. Slim, former General Officer Commanding 10th Indian Division in Syria, arrives in Burma to take command of Imperial troops. Slim wants to hold the current Prome-Toungoo defensive line, which is good defensive terrain due to the presence of heavy jungles.

The situation in Burma as of 19 March 1942 (Charles F. Romanus, Riley Sunderland).

The Chinese troops in Burma are commanded by US Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, and communication issues arise between the different allied forces. While experienced fighters, the Chinese divisions are the size of British brigades. The British troops are all defeated remnants of the previous Japanese advance across Burma, but Slim does have a potent tank force in the 7th Armored Brigade.

Seven Japanese bombers raid Darwin city, Myilly Point, and Larrakeyah in the Northern Territory of Australia. The 9th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group, USAAF scrambles from Batchelor Field (where General MacArthur landed recently) to intercept them, but they arrive after the bombers have left.

The Mount Gambier, Australia, The Border Watch of 19 March 1942 trumpets General MacArthur's arrival on the front page.

General Douglas MacArthur, recently arrived in Australia from the Philippines, and his party continues the long train ride from Alice Springs to Melbourne, Australia. MacArthur's journey is closely watched in the media, but the trip is arduous, lasting several days. Their railroad coach is tiny, with hard wooden seats running lengthwise that prevent movement within the train between coaches. In addition, the air is full of flies and this is a sheepherding region, with the train stopping once to aid a stricken sheepherder. The journey will require a change of trains at Terowie on the 20th, where MacArthur will make his famous "I shall return" speech. The party could fly, but Mrs. MacArthur refuses.

Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1 "Glen" to reconnoiter Suva on Viti Levu Island, Fiji. As with all similar Japanese reconnaissance missions of the sort, this one goes unobserved by the Allies.

Following the path taken by General MacArthur, Philippine President Manuel Quezon and 13 members of his party use motor torpedo boat PT-41 to evacuate threatened Dumaguete, Negros Island. They sail the 240 miles to Oroquito, Mindanao Island, where the US Army still maintains an airbase.

Italian magazine Tempo features a cover story on "Surveillance aircraft at work upon enemy positions" in its issue for 19 March 1942.

European Air Operations: An extended lull in operations continues on the Channel front. RAF Bomber Command sends one Wellington bomber to Essen during the day, but weather conditions force its early return to base.

Battle of the Atlantic: The U-boat fleet has been sinking tankers almost every day recently. This has caused great concern in London and Washington and has led to fuel rationing in the United Kingdom. The situation only gets worse today as more tankers go down.

U-124 (Kptlt. Georg-Wilhelm Schulz), on its eighth patrol out of Lorient, continues a very successful patrol off the east coast of the United States when it torpedoes and sinks two U.S. tankers about 15 miles southwest of Cape Lookout:

• 5939-ton tanker Papoose (2 dead, 32 survivors)
• 7076-ton tanker W.E. Hutton (13 dead, 23 survivors)

Schulz puts two torpedoes into Papoose beginning at 04:31. He then follows up by hitting the W.E. Hutton at 05:38. The men of both ships are rescued during the day by other passing freighters.

SS Liberator, one of the ships lost on 19 March 1942.

U-332 (Kptlt. Johannes Liebe), on its third patrol out of La Pallice, torpedoes and sinks 7,720-ton US freighter Liberator about three miles west of the Diamond Shoals Buoy off Cape Hatteras. The ship is carrying 11,000 tons of sulfur, which ignites and creates fumes that force the crew to quickly abandon ship. There are five dead. The 30 survivors are picked up within an hour by USS Umpqua (AT 25), which witnesses the attack. This concludes U-332's patrol, during which it has sunk 25,125 tons of shipping off the east coast.

U.S. tanker W.E. Hutton, lost on 19 March 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The sustained Axis air assault on Malta continues on 19 March. The list of sites hit is extensive:

• 1 JU 88 - 4 x 250kg (Ta Qali Aerodrome)
• 4 ME 109 - 4 x 250kg (Grand Harbour)
• 5 JU 88 - 20 x 250kg; 30 x 50kg (Grand Harbour)
• 6 JU 88 - 24 x 500kg (Marsaxlokk)
• 10 JU 88 - 8 x 500kg; 15 x 250kg; 36 x 50kg (Ta Qali Aerodrome)
• 3 JU 88 - 12 x 250kg; 24 x 50kg (Luqa and Safi strip)
• 6 JU 88 - 20 x 500kg (West of Luqa)
• 13 JU 88 - 44 x 250kg; 100 x 50kg (South Malta)

Despite the air attacks, Malta remains in operation as a supply base for Royal Navy submarines. Today, HMS Unbeaten departs on patrol after a quick resupply turnaround, and Upright heads to Gibraltar and then the US for a refit.

Royal Navy submarine Upholder (Lt.Cdr. M.D. Wanklyn) uses its deck gun to sink 22-ton Italian auxiliary minesweeper B-14 (Maria) about 20 nautical miles south of Brindisi, Italy. There is no record of casualties.

U.S. tanker Papoose, sunk on 19 March 1942.

Partisans: The Soviet partisan movement is becoming a serious problem for the Wehrmacht. The Third Panzer Army war diary states during late March:

There are indications that the partisan movement in the region of Velikye Luki, Vitebsk, Rudnya, Velizh, is now beiing organized on a large scale. The fighting strength of the partisans hitherto active is being bolstered by individual units of regular troops.

Some of the partisans are soldiers trapped during the rapid start of Operation Barbarossa. Others are Red Army troops flown in and dropped behind the German lines specifically to engage in partisan operations. The German troops sometimes see these Red Air Force planes landing in the distance to their rear and know exactly what is going on. As usual, the German response to this problem involves a massive application of force.

The Germans launch Operation Munich. This is a combined air/ground operation in the Yelnya/Dorogubuzh region against Soviet partisans. The Germans also are preparing and begin a similar anti-partisan action in the area of Hlusk District-Pariczi-Oktiabrskij to the south of Bobrujsk, in the eastern Polesie. This latter operation, more widely known, is Operation Bamberg.

In Serbia and Croatia, the Axis occupation authorities issue a draconian directive calling for the destruction of any village suspected of harboring or aiding partisans:

Removal of the population to concentration camps can also be useful. If it is not possible to apprehend or seize partisans, themselves, reprisal measures of a general nature may be in order, for example, the shooting of male inhabitants in nearby localities.

The directive specifies as an example of these "reprisal measures" that 100 local inhabitants be shot for every German that is killed, with 50 to be shot for every wounded Wehrmacht soldier. This is severe even by German standards.

"USS Juneau (CL-52), March 1942. Light cruiser at New York (also known as Brooklyn) Navy Yard, New York City, New York, March 19, 1942. U.S. Bureau of Ships Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. (2015/02/18)." National Museum of the U.S. Navy 19-LCM-31285.

US Military: Admiral King sends a memo to President Roosevelt in which he claims that it is "not at all sure that the British are applying sufficient effort to bombing German submarine bases and building (repair) yards." He adds that "It seems that the R.A.F. is not fully cooperative in complying with the views of the Admiralty in this (and other) matters relative to the selection of military objectives." He suggests "a directive from 'higher authority'" to remedy this situation. There is a constant tension throughout the war as different allied services request priority in the choice of bombing targets.

US Military Intelligence warns that the Japanese may seize the Aleutian Islands soon. The Aleutian Islands have been a preoccupation by both sides since the 1920s, with both the US and Japan worried they will be used for bombing operations against their respective homelands. The Intelligence position is that the Japanese also would use the islands to interrupt US/Soviet communications. Soviet-flagged ships continue to pass between the United States and the USSR in the North Pacific area because Japan is not at war with the Soviet Union.

"Ratings aboard HMS WALLACE being issued with free gift cigarettes. Lieut Cdr J P Reid, RNVR, the CALO at Rosyth is handing out the gifts." 19 March 1942 (© IWM (A 7999)).

British Government: In Parliament, PM Winston Churchill announces various appointments. These include the appointment of R.G. Casey, the Australian Minister of Washington, as Minister of State in Cairo and a member of the British War Cabinet. Australian Prime Minister Curtin objects to this appointment, which he makes clear to Churchill in a testy exchange by message.

British home secretary Herbert Morrison accuses the London paper The Daily Mirror of "reckless indifference to the national interest" for its practice of publishing stories with an antiwar slant. This has been a continuing theme of the Winston Churchill government during the war, as Churchill expects nothing but cheerleading from the British press.

US Government: Congress is busy working on the relocation of people along the west coast of the United States for defense reasons. The Select Committee Investigating National Defense Migration issues a report today recommending the imposition of a penalty of a $5,000 fine and misdemeanor conviction with the possibility of up to one-year imprisonment for persons violating restriction orders related to the military zones. This passes quickly, with little debate or discussion.

Holocaust: A new gas van, driven by two junior SS officers, Götz and Meyer, is used for the first time in Belgrade to address the "Jewish problem." These first victims of the gas van are staff and patients at the two Jewish hospitals in the city. The victims are loaded in groups of 80 and 100 and then driven through Belgrade. The vehicle exhaust is fed into the truck, killing the occupants within 15 minutes. The 800 dead in the two-day operation that concludes today are driven to Jajinci, a village at the base of mount Avala, south of the city. There, seven Serbian prisoners bury the dead in mass graves.

A Spitfire taking off from HMS Eagle, 19 to 23 March 1942 (© IWM (A 9586)).

March 1942

March 1, 1942: Second Battle of Java Sea
March 2, 1942: Huge Allied Shipping Losses at Java
March 3, 1942: Japan Raids Western Australia
March 4, 1942: Second Raid On Hawaii
March 5, 1942: Japan Takes Batavia
March 6, 1942: Churchill Assaults Free Speech
March 7, 1942: British Defeat in Burma
March 8, 1942: Rangoon Falls to Japan
March 9, 1942: Japanese Conquest of Dutch East Indies
March 10, 1942:US Navy attacks Japanese Landings at Lae
March 11, 1942: Warren Buffett's First Stock Trade
March 12, 1942: Japan Takes Java
March 13, 1942: Soviets Attack In Crimea Again 
March 14, 1942: The US Leans Toward Europe
March 15, 1942: Operation Raubtier Begins
March 16, 1942: General MacArthur Gets His Ride
March 17, 1942: MacArthur Arrives in Australia
March 18, 1942: Japan Attacks In Burma
March 19, 1942: Soviets Encircled on the Volkhov
March 20, 1942: "I Shall Return," Says MacArthur
March 21, 1942: Germans Attack Toward Demyansk
March 22, 1942: Second Battle of Sirte
March 23, 1942: Hitler's Insecurity Builds
March 24, 1942: Bataan Bombarded
March 25, 1942: Chinese Under Pressure in Burma
March 26, 1942: Win Or Die, Vows MacArthur
March 27, 1942: The Battle of Suusari
March 28, 1942: The St. Nazaire Commando Raid
March 29, 1942: The Free Republic of Nias
March 30, 1942: Japanese-Americans Off Bainbridge Island
March 31, 1942: Japanese Seize Christmas Island

2020

Wednesday 18 March 1942

"HMT ADRONIE CAMIEL with a barrage balloon above her." 18 March 1942 in Milford Haven and Fishguard. © IWM (A 7908).

Battle of the Pacific: In Burma, the two-day Battle of Tachiao begins on 18 March 1942 when about 200 Japanese reconnaissance troops on motorbikes are ambushed while advancing toward a critical bridge 35 miles south of Toungoo and 12 miles south of Pyu. The Japanese lose 30 dead and much equipment but resume their advance as the main body of troops arrives. This conflict begins the Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road which will last until early June 1942.

The American Volunteer Group (AVG), or "Flying Tigers," are still causing the Japanese problems in Burma. At 07:55, they attack the Japanese airfield at Moulmein and destroy three bombers, two transport planes, and 11 fighters on the ground. The Japanese realize they need to beef up their air presence in Burma. So, during the day, the Japanese transfer 420 aircraft from recently conquered Malaya and the Netherlands East Indies to reinforce their forces in Burma.

"Motor Minesweeper J514." 18 March 1942. © IWM (A 9738).

After spending the night in Alice Springs, Australia, General MacArthur's party boards a three-car wooden train drawn by a steam locomotive that General Brett has commandeered from the Australians and heads for Melbourne via Adelaide. This journey will take several days and involve numerous stops and changes of trains. MacArthur is traveling by train because his wife, Jean, is tired of flying.

The United States' presence in Australia is still very light. Today, the US Army Air Force has a strength of 213 combat aircraft. This includes a dozen B-17 Flying Fortresses, 27 A-24 Dauntless dive bombers, various other medium and light bombers, 33 P-39 and 52 Bell P-400 Aircobras (export version of the P-39), 92 P-40 fighters, and assorted other transport and trainer aircraft.

Let's take a look at an average pilot. "Lt. Paul H. Bateman enlisted on 18 March 1942 at Fort Bragg, NC. Assigned to the 370th Fighter Squadron in April 1943, he completed his combat tour of duty in July 1944 with 301-1/2 hours and 1-3/4 aerial victories and 1-1/3 ground. Aircraft included P-51B CS-O 42-106926." American Air Museum UPL 38438.

Eastern Front: The Wehrmacht scores a minor victory in Operation Raubtier when elements of I Corps advancing from the north cut a Soviet supply road into the large salient on the western side of the Volkhov River. With the "Erika" lane in their possession, the Germans continue driving from both north and south toward the remaining supply lane, codenamed "Dora." The Red Army has 130,000 troops to the west whose only source of communications to the east is along the Dora lane, which now is in severe jeopardy.

European Air Operations: The RAF is in the midst of an extended lull in operations. RAF Bomber Command sends five Wellington bombers to Essen but they return without attacking due to weather conditions.

SS Kassandra Louloudis, lost on 18 March 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-124 (Kptlt. Johann Mohr) has a big day off the east coast of the United States. It sinks two unarmed US tankers. First, at 01:14, Mohr spots and sinks independent 5106-ton Greek tanker Kassandra Louloudis (Master Themistokles Mitlas) about seven miles off Diamond Shoals, Cape Hatteras. All 35 men on board survive. At 08:27, Mohr spots and sinks independent 9647-ton US tanker E.M. Clark (Master Hubert L. Hassell) about 22 miles southwest of the Diamond Shoals Lighted Buoy. Two torpedoes hit, and the tanker sinks ten minutes later. There are one death and 40 survivors.

British 1547-ton freighter Ebro, carrying a load of fish from Reykjavik (Iceland) to Hull (GB), runs aground in Strathberg Bay, 2 nm NW of Rattray Lighthouse (Scotland, UK) and is written off. There is no report of any casualties.

U-653 (Kptlt. Gerhard Feiler), on its second patrol out of Brest, is lurking along the North Atlantic route near Convoy SL-119 when it is spotted by a patrolling Liberator aircraft of Squadron 120/F.  The submarine crew realizes it has been spotted and quickly dives, but it leaves one man topside who is lost. The U-boat sustains damage during the attack and barely makes it back to Brest on 30 April.

Italian submarine Tricheco, shown being launched in 1931, was lost on 18 March 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarines continue their recent streak of sinking Italian submarines in the Mediterranean today. HMS Upholder (Lt.Cdr. Malcolm David Wanklyn) spots Italian submarine Tricheco sailing from Augusta, Sicily, to Brindisi and pumps a torpedo into it. The Tricheco splits into two pieces and sinks within seconds. There are 38 deaths and three survivors, including the captain.

The Luftwaffe continues its daily raids on Malta today. Junkers Ju 88s begin the barrage at around 08:00, and air battles continue over the island throughout the day. Both sides suffer losses, and the Germans succeed in further damaging Hal Far Airfield and other key points.

"Rear Admiral Robert Lindsay Burnett, OBE, addressing the ship's company of HMS ASHANTI. On the right just below the Admiral is the ship's captain, Commander R G Onslow, RN." 18 March 1942. © IWM (A 7972).

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt sends Winston Churchill promising to send "one new battleship, two heavy cruisers, one carrier, five or six destroyers" to form a large part of Admiral Ghormley's European command. These forces, however, will "be under operational orders of CINC Home Fleet," meaning British command. This suggests that Ghormley is more of an administrator than a commander.

US/Chinese Relations: The United States Navy leases its river gunboat Tutuila to the Chinese government for the duration.

US/Australian Relations: General Brett, now technically General MacArthur's deputy even though MacArthur is still en route from Darwin, announces that the USAAF and Australian Air Force (RAAF) will fly together as a combined force.

British Military: Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten is named Chief of Combined Operations.

US Military: Two companies of the 182nd Infantry Regiment and a company of engineers arrive on Efate Island in the New Hebrides to construct an airfield.

Polish Jew Abraham Weinberger (No. 25986) of Tarnów, a political prisoner, was executed at Auschwitz on 18 March 1942.

US Government: President Roosevelt signs Executive Order No. 9102. This creates the War Relocation Authority (WRA), which handles the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The order directs in part:

Take all people of Japanese descent into custody, surround them with troops, prevent them from buying land, and return them to their former homes at the close of the war.

Milton S. Eisenhower (the brother of Dwight) is appointed as the first director despite the fact that he is largely against the whole internment scheme. He writes his former boss, Agriculture Secretary Claude Wickard:

When the war is over, and we consider calmly this unprecedented migration of 120,000 people, we, as Americans, are going to regret the unavoidable injustices that we may have done.

Eisenhower, unable to cut back the program as he desires, will resign on 18 June 1942. However, during his brief tenure, he does manage to implement some reforms, such as raising wages for the interned people and establishing an internee advisory council.

The WRA's main objective is to take internees from their temporary "assembly centers" established by the military's Wartime Civilian Control Administration (WCCA) and move them into permanent camps. This is done successfully at ten camp locations, most of which are on tribal land, though often the arriving internees themselves have to help with the camp construction.

American Homefront: "Reap the Wild Wind," directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring John Wayne and Ray Milland, hits theaters today. While one of Wayne's lesser-known films, "Reap the Wild Wind" is very successful and helps to cement his status as a major Hollywood star. It also is one of Wayne's more unusual films in that he plays a very dark character that is very similar to his later role in "Wake of the Red Witch" (1948). Paulette Goddard also stars.
2020

Wednesday 25 February 1942

Searchlights and anti-aircraft fire on the morning of 25 February 1942 (25 February 1942 LA Times).

Battle of the Pacific: After hours of warnings from U.S. Naval Intelligence and many false alarms, a full-scale situation develops over Los Angeles, California, in the early morning hours of 25 February 1942. It is difficult to explain exactly what this "situation" is because there is no certainty other than that a massive barrage of anti-aircraft fire erupts around the city. The first hint of trouble is when air raid sirens sound at 02:25 throughout the Los Angeles basin. This results in a total blackout and the recall of Air Raid Wardens from their beds. At 03:16, the guns of the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade open up. In such situations, all it takes is for one gun to go off for everyone within earshot to begin firing wildly at shadows and stars and anything else in sight. The gunners themselves are not entirely to blame as there are reports from official observers of large enemy formations approaching the city. Over 1400 shells are fired from guns ranging from .50 caliber machine guns to 12.8-pound anti-aircraft guns. Given a lack of actual targets, the firing quickly dies down but spent shell fragments rain down on the city, damaging buildings, vehicles, and everything else. The "all clear" sounds at 04:14 and the blackout order is lifted at 07:21. In all, five people perish directly and five indirectly as a result of the incident.

The Los Angeles Times is full of dramatic claims about the Battle of Los Angeles.

The mysterious part about the Battle of Los Angeles is what everyone was firing at. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox is alerted and quickly claims the entire incident is a false alarm. Various spokesmen from the U.S. Army, however, provide a different theory. They say that there actually were aircraft, but not military planes. Instead, there were civilian aircraft used by enemy agents in a psyops campaign to demoralize the public. Nobody is satisfied with any of these explanations, and newspaper editorials lob feverish conspiracy theory allegations (though this term is not invented until the 1960s) about coverups and enemy attacks. These theories are lent some credence by the well-known attack by a Japanese submarine on the oil installation at Ellwood, California, on 23 February. However, the Japanese have no planes or other assets in the area, so the possibility of actual enemy involvement is virtually nil. The USAAF also denies having any planes in the air. Eventually, theories about UFOs pop up as well, a brewing topic during the war which later explodes when foo fighters also are claimed to be of extraterrestrial origin. The mystery is never solved.

The 25 February 1942 Brooklyn Eagle headlines the "Mystery Raid" at Los Angeles.

With British defenses on the Sittang River in collapse, the Japanese continue their jungle infiltration tactics with great success. There is a wide gap between major roads of about 35 miles which the Japanese use to sidestep the Burma 1st Division at Nyaunglebin and the shattered Indian 17th Division at Pegu. If the Japanese can get sufficient troops through, they can cut the Rangoon/Mandalay road and destroy the Indian blocking position. In the air, the American Volunteer Group (AVG, or "Flying Tigers") continues its successful operations, shooting down three "Nate" bombers over Rangoon at noon. At 17:00, the AVG claims a further 23 Japanese Army fighter and an Army bomber. However, the AVG can do nothing to help the ground forces because the Japanese are advancing in small groups under cover of the tree canopy.

The 25 February 1942 Los Angeles Examiner reports than "One Plane Reported Downed on Vermont Avenue by Gunfire."

In Java, the end is approaching and everyone knows it. ABDA Commander General Archibald Wavell dissolves his headquarters at 09:00 and flies back to India to concentrate on the Burma campaign. Dutch General Ter Poorten assumes the island's defense and is immediately confronted with news from a reconnaissance PBY Catalina that a Japanese invasion convoy approaching. At 11:25, he orders the entire ABDA naval force to assemble at Surabaya to repel the invasion. This is an impressive force on paper, with cruisers HMS Exeter and HMAS Perth sailing with three destroyers (Electra, Encounter, and Jupiter) sailing from Batavia for a rendezvous at sea. Admiral Doorman heads to sea at dusk from Surabaya with the heavy cruiser USS Houston and Dutch light cruisers HNMS De Ruyter and Java and seven destroyers. Doorman's mission is to intercept and repel the invasion convoy along the coast of Madoera Island. Nothing comes of this, however, and the ABDA ships all return to Surabaya to await developments. This ABDA naval fleet now becomes known as the Combined Striking Force.

With fears growing of a Japanese advance through Burma to India and corresponding Japanese naval forces in the Indian Ocean, aircraft carrier HMS Hermes flies off its planes (RAF Squadron No. 814) to act as a land-based force at Trincomalee. Destroyer Nizam also arrives at Trincomalee. In the Sunda Strait, Japanese submarine I-58 sinks 7136-ton Dutch freighter Boeroe. All 70 men aboard survive.

Life on the Eastern Front: SVT-38/40: Die Deutsche Wochenschau 25 February 1942.

Eastern Front: The Soviets are busy building up their forces in the Crimea's Kerch Peninsula for an effort to liberate the entire Crimea. They have assembled almost 100,000 men and over 1000 guns for the effort, along with 200 aircraft. Following several postponements, the offensive against the German forces on the Parpach Narrows is scheduled to begin on 27 February. The Germans, meanwhile, still have their main attention focused on Sevastopol in the west and have established a hedgehog defensive strategy in the east centered on fortified villages.


European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends a total of 61 bombers (43 Wellingtons, 12 Manchesters, 6 Stirlings) to bomb a floating drydock at Kiel. Given the difficulties of finding the target by eye, only 36 of them actually report attacking the target. The dock survives, but the bombs sink accommodation ship Monte Sarmiento, killing about 125 men. Bombs also drop in the nearby town, killing 16 people and injuring 39. The RAF loses three Wellingtons. The Germans, not knowing the military intent of the raid, view it as a sour-grapes "revenge raid" for the successful Channel Dash on 12 February. In other missions, 21 Whitleys attempt to bomb aluminum factories at Heroya and Odda but can't find them due to cloud cover, and nine Hampdens drop mines along the Dutch coast. Another three bombers drop leaflets on Lille and Paris.

Esso Copenhagen, sunk on 25 February 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-156 (Kptlt. Werner Hartenstein), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes 5685-ton British tanker La Carriere at 02:19 about 75 miles west of Guanica, Puerto Rico. Two torpedoes hit the ship and blow huge holes in the starboard side near the engine room, but the crew manages to get the engines restarted. Unfortunately for the crew, the radio is damaged in the explosion. Captain Hartenstein sees the ship resuming its voyage and surfaces with the intent of using his deck gun to finish off the laboring tanker. However, this proves unfeasible, so he submerges again and fires two more torpedoes. The tanker's crew, however, spots the tracks in the bright moonlight and the ship manages to evade them. Some of the crew attempt to lower a lifeboat to escape, but the boat capsizes, killing the occupants except for the ship's carpenter (he survives by holding onto the shattered boat and drifts ashore two days late). Meanwhile, Hartenstein surfaces again to catch up with the tanker and fires his last torpedo, which hits the starboard side again and blows off the tanker's bow. The ship finally sinks in under three minutes, but the crew manages to launch a lifeboat and the jolly-boat. There are twenty survivors in the lifeboat and four more in the jolly-boat, and they eventually make landfall at Guanica. The ship's master goes down with the ship, but then pops back to the surface and spends three days in the water clinging to debris before being picked up by US Coast Guard Cutter Unalga (WPG 53). In total, there are 15 dead and 26 survivors.

Italian submarine Luigi Torelli torpedoes and sinks 9245-ton Panamanian tanker Esso Copenhagen in the Atlantic Ocean with a full cargo of fuel oil.

"Re-conditioned rifles being inspected in the Western Desert, 25 February 1942." © IWM (E 8823).

Battle of the Mediterranean: At dawn, 50 British No. 50 Commandos on board gunboat HMS Ladybird land on the Italian-held island of Kastellorizo in Operation Abstention. They are the first of 200 Commandos and 24 attached Royal Marines invading the island. The British hope to use Kastellorizo as a forward torpedo-boat base near the Axis-held Greek Dodecanese Islands. There are only 35 Italian troops on the island and, using the power of surprise, the British quickly overpower them. The British take a dozen prisoners and wound another Italian. However, while the British act with great stealth and speed, the Italians manage to get off a message to the large garrison at Rhodes. This leads to Italian airstrikes at 08:00 and again at 09:30. They bomb the gunboat, wounding three sailors, and its captain decides to leave. Surprised at the fierce Italian response and knowing the gunboat is preparing to leave, the group of Commandos holding the radio station in the port hurriedly re-embark on the Ladybird, which immediately heads back to Haifa. This leaves the remaining British soldiers holed up in the hills and without a link to the outside. Due to the danger from the air, the British divert a follow-up force from Cyprus away from the island to Alexandria. The Italians spend the rest of the day preparing a counter-invasion.

Off Bardia, U-652 (Oblt. Georg-Werner Fraatz), on its sixth patrol out of Salamis, claims a hit on a Royal Navy corvette. However, British Admiralty records do not support this claim.

Dutch 7135-ton freighter SS Boeroe, sunk by the Japanese on 25 February 1942 south of the Sunda Strait.

Allied Relations: Due to continued Japanese expansion in Burma and the Netherlands East Indies, the ABDA command dissolves today. This is also partly due to growing tensions between the Australian and British governments about the strategic use of Australian troops. General Archibald Wavell resigns as the supreme commander. Wavell establishes in its place a Southwest Pacific command and an Indian command. The British Army takes over the Indian command (commanded by Wavell himself) while the Southwest Pacific command goes by default to the Americans. The immediate effect of this is for Wavell to absolve himself of responsibility for the deteriorating events north of Australia and leave the local forces to their own devices. The basic ABDA structure remains in some areas, most noticeably in the continued joining of local fleets under Dutch Rear-Admiral Karel Doorman. There is just a hint of Allied disunity in the demise of ABDA, but it really just reflects the changed military reality of Japan dominating the seas north of Australia and thereby isolating the major Allied power bases in India and Australia.

"Plan view, forward, of destroyer USS Helm, Mare Island Navy Yard, California, United States, 25 Feb 1942." United States National Archives 19-N-28726.

US Military: The current plan for Allied operations includes Operation Gymnast, a late-1942 invasion of North Africa centered around Casablanca. The US Army Air War Plans Division, however, today recommends that this operation be stricken from the list of proposed operations due to new commitments in the Pacific. However, Operation Gymnast is considered of great importance by the British and whether it will remain on the docket is a matter that must be resolved at the highest levels of government and the military.

Having recently established the headquarters of the US Army Forces in the British Isles (USAFBI), the commander of US Army Forces in the British Isles Major General James E. Chaney instructs VIII Air Force commander Brigadier General Ira C. Eaker and his staff to visit RAF Bomber Command headquarters to coordinate strategy. The USAAF needs to know, among other things, which airfields it can use to base the large forces that will soon be arriving.

U.S. Major General Joseph Stilwell is promoted to Lieutenant General and meets with General Wavell after the latter arrives by air in New Delhi.

The United States Coast Guard assumes responsibility for the protection of US ports.

More USAAF Fifth Air Force air units arrive at Brisbane, Australia.

Charro Days Celebration, Brownsville, Texas, Children's Parade, 25 February 1942.

British Government: A two-day debate over the conduct of the war ends in the House of Commons with signs of disunity over current war policy. The sharpest divisions come over the huge emphasis being placed on Bomber Command, with some speakers also questioning the morality of the recent decision to engage in terror bombings of the Reich. The most popular politician in England (with the possible exception of Winston Churchill), Sir Stafford Cripps, condemns what he characterizes as a mistaken priority on the bombing force as opposed to the other service branches.

Occupied Soviet Union: The German occupation authorities establish courts in the former Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania as well as in Ukraine. There are separate courts for locals and Germans.

French Homefront: The Paris Gestapo and its French auxiliaries continue rounding up individuals suspected of working against the occupation.

The 25 February 1942 Baltimore News-Post characterizes the Battle of Los Angeles as a great patriotic victory.

American Homefront: Japanese-American residents of Terminal Island, Los Angeles are given three days in which to pack their bags and leave. War fears are at a peak due to the Battle of Los Angeles during the night and there is widespread support for internment. There are seven reported cases of vigilantes executing people of Japanese ethnicity. The situation is the same all along the western seaboard up through Canada to Alaska.

Future History: Karen Trust Grassle is born in Berkeley, California. She becomes an actress in the 1960s and has her most famous role as Caroline Ingalls, the mother in "Little House on the Prairie." Karen Grassle remains active as an actress as of 2019.



February 1942

February 1, 1942: The US Navy Strikes Back
February 2, 1942: Germans Recovering in Russia
February 3, 1942: Japanese Shell and Bomb Singapore
February 4, 1942: Battle of Makassar Strait
February 5, 1942: Empress of Asia Sunk
February 6, 1942: The Christmas Island Body
February 7, 1942: The Double-V Campaign
February 8, 1942: Japan Invades Singapore
February 9, 1942: French Liner Normandie Capsizes
February 10, 1942: US Car Production Ends
February 11, 1942: Tomforce Fails on Singapore
February 12, 1942: The Channel Dash
February 13, 1942: Japanese Paratroopers In Action
February 14, 1942: RAF Orders Terror Raids
February 15, 1942: Japan Takes Singapore
February 17, 1942: Indian Troops Defect to Japanese
February 18, 1942: Battle of Badung Strait
February 19, 1942: FDR Authorizes Internment Camps
February 20, 1942: O'Hare the Hero
February 21, 1942: Crisis in Burma
February 22, 1942: Bomber Harris Takes Over
February 23, 1942: Bombardment of Ellwood, California
February 24, 1942: US Raid on Wake Island
February 25, 1942: Battle of Los Angeles
February 26, 1942: Gneisenau Eliminated
February 27, 1942: Battle of Java Sea
February 28, 1942: Battle of Sunda Strait

2020

Saturday 21 February 1942

HMS Graph during sea trials off the Clyde, 19-21 February 1942. The Graph was U-570 before being captured. © IWM (A 9817).

Battle of the Pacific: In Burma, the Japanese win the race for Sittang Bridge near Mokpalin in a chaotic scene on 21 February 1942. A hodgepodge of British units holds the bridge against attacks while retreating Allied troops try to reach it. Due to Japanese infiltration, they wind up attacking both the eastern and western ends of the bridge, stretching the defending troops. The Japanese are so strong that they beat back the 3rd and 5th Gurkhas approaching from the east in hand-to-hand combat. The day ends with the British barely holding the bridge itself but little else in the area. They are in danger of having to destroy the bridge with most of the 17th Division still on the other side.

Meanwhile, the 16th Indian Brigade and 46th Indian Infantry Brigade of the Indian 17th Division are stuck on a hot, dusty road in their retreat from the Bilin River. They are harassed by Japanese fighters strafing the road and setting vehicles alight and also short of essentials like water. The Japanese reach the division's headquarters at Kyaikto, which barely holds out while it prepared to evacuate. The retreating column loses its discipline, with some men abandoning the road and taking refuge in the nearby Bogyagi Rubber Estate. Many men form up into small units or proceed alone through the jungle, always in danger of being spotted by Japanese snipers or running into ambushes. The American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers" now operate out of Rangoon. The First Squadron successfully attacks Tak Aerodrome at Rahaeng, destroying a fighter and two bombers. In general, the AVG pilots can establish aerial superiority over critical areas when necessary. However, when they try to help out the retreating 17th Division today, the Flying Tigers mistakenly attack some of the men they are trying to help on the road, killing 160 of them and only adding to the horrific scene of blazing vehicles and dying men.

The 21 February 1942 New York Times features General MacArthur ("The Army reports that this is believed to be the most recent picture") on the front page. He is a symbol of United States resistance to Japanese aggression. Unkown to Times readers, today the War Department orders MacArthur to leave Bataan and eventually head to Australia.

In the Philippines, the fighting along the Main Line of Resistance (MLR) has died down as the Japanese bring in reinforcements for the final drive into the Bataan Peninsula. There is an eerie quiet as the Japanese pull back all of their outposts from the river in order to reorganize. General Douglas MacArthur receives orders from the War Department to follow Manuel Quezon to Mindanao and then proceed to Australia to take command of all Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific (a role now filled by default by Major General George H. Brett, Deputy Commanding General ABDA Command). MacArthur very briefly considers resigning his command and remaining as a private, but reconsiders and decides to follow orders. The Japanese have blocked most shipping from reaching Bataan, but submarines can still make the journey, and blockade runner Elcano makes it through today with half a ton of supplies for Corregidor.

Java remains the Allies' bastion in the Netherlands East Indies, but it is basically surrounded now that the Japanese have taken the islands around it. The decision of Australia to divert its men to the homeland also is reducing Allied options. General Brett tells the War Department, which still feels that the Allies can hold Java, that he is evacuating the Fifth Air Force and other troops from Java back to Australia. Today, USAAF Fifth Air Force bombers based at Surabaya, Java, attack on Japanese shipping and on Japanese positions on Bali which are thought to be preparing an invasion of Java. ABDA Commander General Archibald Wavell also informs his superiors that Java will soon be lost.

USS Growler (SS-215) off Groton, Connecticut (USA), on 21 February 1942 (Naval History and Heritage Command).

The Allies have a small success on Dutch West Timor, where Australian commandos retreating from Portuguese East Timor attack the village of Babau at dawn. After a fierce struggle, they take the village by sunset. However, this is of little strategic significance, as the Australians are fleeing from the Japanese further east and are simply trying to escape back to Allied lines.

The Sook Ching Massacre continues in Singapore. The Japanese execute an unknown number of men of Chinese ethnicity in various locations.

US Navy submarine USS Triton (Lieutenant Commander Willis A. "Pilly" Lent, SS-201), on its second patrol out of Pearl Harbor in the East China Sea, intercepts two Japanese freighters. It hits Shokyu Maru with two torpedoes but is chased off by a four-engine seaplane. Shokyu Maru sinks about sixty miles south of Quelpart (Jeju) Island.

Collier's, 21 February 1942.

Eastern Front: The Red Air Force has landed about 3000 troops inside the pocket south of Vyazma within the past couple of days. The Soviet planes fly through foul weather that the Luftwaffe considers too dangerous. These Soviet troops immediately begin consolidating their position rather than trying to expand it. The German V Panzer Corps in Vyazma watches the Soviets but does not have to do much fighting. Both sides at this time consider themselves to hold the initiative, but, somewhat perversely, neither side is acting on it. While the Germans do have sketchy control of areas all around the new Soviet arrivals, they know that the Red Army could punch through back to the East if they want to. However, the Soviet troops don't want to.

A Luftwaffe reconnaissance photo of Sevastopol, Crimea, taken on 21 February 1942. The arrow points to a Soviet Navy torpedo depot. The Red Army continues to hold Sevastopol, though it is surrounded on its landward approaches by General Manstein's 11th Army (Federal Archive Bild 168-278-017).

After considering a request for a withdrawal by Fourth Army for several days, the German Army Command (OKH) tells Fourth Army commander General Heinrici that he can begin building a fallback position on the Ugra River. However, OKH still refuses to approve giving up Yukhnov, which is the entire point of the exercise. That must await final approval from Hitler, and nobody wants to ask him. Given the unexpectedly unaggressive behavior of the Soviet paratroopers south of Vyazma, the Germans have the luxury of a long period of deliberation about this.

European Air Operations: The British learn that heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen has moved to a fjord near Trondheim, so during the day they send 15 bombers (6 Halifax, 5 Manchester, and 4 Stirling bombers) to attack Norwegian airfields. This is to prepare for a Fleet Air Arm raid by the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious on Prinz Eugen. However, the weather is poor and little is accomplished. The British lose one Manchester.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 22 Wellington and 20 Hampden bombers over Germany in search of targets of opportunity. The RAF loses two Hampdens and one Wellington.

Circe Shell, sunk on 21 February 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: Heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer, and the destroyers Richard Beitzen, Paul Jakobi, Z25, Hermann Schoemann, and Friedrich Ihn leave Brunsbüttel and head to Norway. They stop briefly at Grimstadfjord, then head further north to Trondheim. Prinz Eugen is one of the three large German warships that made the successful Channel Dash on 12 February 1942, and the British are keeping a close eye on it in an attempt to sink it and salvage some of their reputation for naval supremacy. The RAF launches airstrikes on Norwegian airfields in order to prepare for a raid on the ships.

The Kriegsmarine continues Operation Neuland in the Caribbean to great effect on 21 February 1942. While not as famous as Operation Paukenschlag along the east coast of the United States, Operation Neuland is very successful and greatly complicates the situation facing the United States Navy.

Norwegian tanker Kongsgaard, sunk on 21 February 1942.

U-67 (Kptlt. Günther Müller-Stöckheim), on its third patrol out of Lorient, sinks 9467-ton Norwegian tanker Kongsgaard about seven (11 km) miles west of Noordpunt, Curaçao. The attack takes place on the unescorted Kongsgaard at 15:32 when two torpedoes hit. The tanker immediately becomes a blazing inferno but takes several hours to sink, so U-67 fires two more torpedoes, one of which hits at 19:30. Due to the flames, the crew is only able to launch one lifeboat. There are 37 dead and nine survivors.

U-161 (Kptlt. Albrecht Achilles), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes 8207-ton British tanker Circe Shell about 20 miles northwest of Port of Spain, Trinidad. The tanker takes a long time to sink, so U-161 waits until dark when it is safe from Allied aircraft and fires a final torpedo at 01:41 on the 22nd to finish it off. There is one dead and 57 survivors.

Azalea City (shown) is lost with all hands on 21 February 1942.

U-432 (Kptlt. Heinz-Otto Schultze), on its fourth patrol out of La Pallice, torpedoes and sinks 5529-ton independent US freighter Azalea City about 125 miles southeast of Ocean City, Maryland. Two of three torpedoes fired over more than an hour hit the freighter, which quickly sinks at 02:42. There are 38 dead and no survivors. Since there are no survivors, it is only assumed that this incident involved the Azalea City, but the facts match up.

U-107 (Oblt. Harald Gelhaus), on its fifth patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and damages 10,068-ton Norwegian tanker Egda in the mid-Atlantic south of Newfoundland. The tanker has been dispersed from Convoy ON-65. Two torpedoes hit, but they only cause a list to port that is corrected by counterflooding (tankers are notoriously difficult to sink due to their unique construction). Gelhaus runs out of torpedoes after firing one more that misses, so Egda is able to continue on to Halifax. There are no dead and 40 survivors.

U-156, which opened Operation Neuland by shelling an oil installation on Aruba, docks at Vichy French port Martinique in order to offload an injured man. This causes a diplomatic incident between the United States and Vichy France (see below).

HMS Graph, formerly U-570, undergoing trials in the Clyde on 19-21 February 1942. "The casing party heaving in on the capstan." © IWM (A 9881).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Military Governor Dobbie further restricts food and fuel rations to the civilian population. He warns London in a telegram that "we have reached a critical point in the maintenance of Malta." There are several Luftwaffe attacks during the day, including attacks on Kalafrana, Hal Far, Luqa, and Ta Qali. The attacks continue throughout the day and into the night with little let-up.

US/Vichy France Relations: French Vice Premier Admiral Jean Darlan tells US Ambassador Admiral William D. Leahy USN (Retired), about the emergency visit by U-156 today to the Vichy French port of Martinique. Leahy warns Darlan (as he writes in his diary) that the United States is prepared to:

take such action in the interest of security of the Western Hemisphere as it may judge necessary and in accordance with existing inter-American obligations.

Leahy is still waiting for a reply to his request to be recalled from France, where he feels very unwanted. The United States has no plans to occupy Martinique at this time, so Leahy is bluffing when he suggests that the United States is ready to act. However, the French Navy has large ships there, including the one-off aircraft carrier Bearn, so it is keeping a close eye on the port.

The New Yorker, 21 February 1942.

Chinese/Indian Relations: Winding up a two-week trip to India, Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek prepares a farewell message for his wife (who speaks English after majoring in English literature at Wellesley) to broadcast over the radio. Chiang urges unity among the Allies:

In these horrible times of savagery and brute force, the people of China and their brethren the people of India should, for the sake of civilization and human freedom, give their united support to the principles embodied in the Atlantic Charter and in the joint declaration of the 26 nations, and ally themselves with the anti-aggression front. I hope the Indian people will wholeheartedly join the allies-namely, China, Great Britain, America, and the Soviet Union-and participate shoulder to shoulder in the struggle for survival of a free world until complete victory has been achieved and the duties incumbent upon them in these troubled times have been fully discharged.

After this speech, the couple returns to China.

US Military: With President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 in effect, Secretary of War Henry Stimson reassures Congress in a letter that the US Army is preparing to remove people of Japanese descent from the west coast of the United States. There is great concern among members of the west coast delegation that this is not being done quickly enough. Stimson has his subordinates begin drafting legislation to enforce FDR's order (it becomes Public Law 503 after being passed by Congress on 19 March and signed by the President on 21 March 1942).

Flynn's Detective Fiction, 21 February 1942.

Australian Military: Lieutenant General Vernon Sturdee, Chief of the Australian General Staff, orders Lieutenant General John Lavarack, General Officer Commanding I Australian Corps, and his staff to evacuate Java and return to Australia. This comports with a recent decision by Prime Minister John Curtin to repatriate all Australian troops not involved in actual combat to the homeland. In his instructions to ABDA Commander General Sir Archibald Wavell, Sturdee also asks for the return of Australian troops that on 18 February arrived on SS Orcades at Batavia.

British Military: The British remove Burma from the ABDA Command and it reverts to a purely British Empire war zone. The British 7th Armored Brigade arrives in Rangoon Harbor from the Middle East.

Australian Women's Weekly, 21 February 1942.

Vichy French Military: Battleship Dunkerque arrives in Toulon after repairs at Oran, Algeria.

Uruguay: President Alfredo Baldomir dissolves congress and assumes dictatorial powers.

India: A non-party conference opens in Delhi under the auspices of Tej Bahadur Sapru. The goal is to claim Dominion status through dialogue rather than through resistance, as advocated by some other Indian leaders.

Episode 2 of "This is War," broadcast on 21 February 1942.

American Homefront: Episode 2 of Norman Corwin's series "This is War" is broadcast over all four national radio networks. This episode is entitled "The White House at War" and is narrated by actor Paul Lukas.

Future History: Margarethe von Trotta is born in Berlin. She becomes an actress, with her first contribution behind the scenes to Volker Schlöndorff’s "The Sudden Wealth of the Poor People of Kombach" (1971). The two become a film team and get married, with Volker passing away in 1991. She becomes known as a "feminist filmmaker" who creates documentaries often centered around female historical figures such as Rosa Luxemburg and Hannah Arendt or fictional heroines. Usually, her heroines champion women's rights and seek to upset the status quo. Margarethe von Trotta remains active in the German film industry as of 2019.

The Saturday Evening Post of 21 February 1942, with a cover design by Rudy Arnold.

February 1942

February 1, 1942: The US Navy Strikes Back
February 2, 1942: Germans Recovering in Russia
February 3, 1942: Japanese Shell and Bomb Singapore
February 4, 1942: Battle of Makassar Strait
February 5, 1942: Empress of Asia Sunk
February 6, 1942: The Christmas Island Body
February 7, 1942: The Double-V Campaign
February 8, 1942: Japan Invades Singapore
February 9, 1942: French Liner Normandie Capsizes
February 10, 1942: US Car Production Ends
February 11, 1942: Tomforce Fails on Singapore
February 12, 1942: The Channel Dash
February 13, 1942: Japanese Paratroopers In Action
February 14, 1942: RAF Orders Terror Raids
February 15, 1942: Japan Takes Singapore
February 17, 1942: Indian Troops Defect to Japanese
February 18, 1942: Battle of Badung Strait
February 19, 1942: FDR Authorizes Internment Camps
February 20, 1942: O'Hare the Hero
February 21, 1942: Crisis in Burma
February 22, 1942: Bomber Harris Takes Over
February 23, 1942: Bombardment of Ellwood, California
February 24, 1942: US Raid on Wake Island
February 25, 1942: Battle of Los Angeles
February 26, 1942: Gneisenau Eliminated
February 27, 1942: Battle of Java Sea
February 28, 1942: Battle of Sunda Strait

2020