Wednesday 18 February 1942

Royal navy stores ship USS Pollux breaking up upon the rocks of Lawn Point, Newfoundland, 18 February 1942 (Photo by Ena Farrell Edwards via Maine Independent Journal).

Battle of the Pacific: The Battle of Bilin River in Burma ends on 18 February 1942 when the Indian 17th Infantry Division pulls out and begins heading back toward the Sittang River (Sittaung River). Brigadier Sir John Smyth's troops have put up a gallant fight, but the Bilin River is dry, offering no protection, and Japanese troops have moved through the jungle around them to cut off their lines of communication. The 17th is a new division fighting its first battle and has held out since 14 February under heavy pressure in close-quarters jungle fighting. Burma Army commander Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Jacomb Hutton makes the somewhat perilous journey to the front to give General Smyth the order directly. There is some feeling that the order has come too late and that the 17th Division cannot make it back to the Sittang River in good order, which is the last good defensible position before Rangoon and the 17th the only troops before the capital as well. This is blamed on Hutton, who has never before commanded a major formation in the field and has been a high staff officer, most recently as Chief of the General Staff in India. This will be his first and last field command. The war in Burma now comes down to a race to a critical bridge across the Sittang River between the 17th Division and the Japanese, and the Japanese actually now are closer. The British accept reality and begin evacuating Rangoon.

Rear Admiral Karel Doorman, ABDA Commander during the Battle of Badung Strait.

The Allied command (ABDA) sends naval units into the Badung Strait under the command of Dutch Admiral Karel Doorman in order to interdicts a Japanese invasion fleet sailing for Bali. This leads to the Battle of Badung Strait. Bali is critical because of its proximity to the ABDA naval base at Surabaya. US Navy submarines USS Seawolf and Truant make the first attack but score no hits. Later, the US Army Air Force sends 20 planes to bomb the invasion convoy but score only one hit on transport freighter Sagami Maru. These attacks cause the Japanese ships (after landing their troops) to retreat north with ABDA surface warships in hot pursuit. At about 22:00, cruisers HNLMS De Ruyter and Java and the destroyers USS John D. Ford, Pope, and HNLMS Piet Hein sight the fleeing Japanese ships and open fire. As the ABDA ships pass through the Strait, Japanese ships counterattack and a torpedo from destroyer Asashio hits Piet Hein, sinking it. The two forces later exchange gunfire which damages Japanese destroyer Michishio and ABDA cruiser Tromp and destroyer Stewart (Tromp heads to Sydney for repairs and thus misses the Battle of the Java Sea). The Battle of Badung Strait is considered a victory for the Japanese because they are able to drive off a larger ABDA force and inflict more damage than they sustain. The invasion of Bali proceeds without further interruption and the airfield there quickly falls to a reinforced battalion of Japanese troops.

Light cruiser Tromp, damaged during the Battle of Badung Strait on 18 February 1942 (Naval History and Heritage Command NH 80909).

The Japanese obviously have their sights on Surabaya, and a bombing raid there today sinks Dutch submarine K VII despite its being submerged in the harbor at the time. Fortunately, the submarine is operating with a skeleton crew and only the 13 men aboard - not the normal complement of 31 - perish.

The British in Java know that their fate rests in their own hands and that little help is likely before the Japanese arrive. A volunteer group departs from Batavia, Java, to Oosthaven, Sumatra, in order to salvage whatever they can find despite the island's recent occupation by the Japanese. They pull off this clandestine mission brilliantly right under the noses of the Japanese as destroyer HMS Jupiter and minesweeper Burnie evacuate the rear guard from the port. The volunteers rescue many spare parts and stores. Light cruiser Danae and destroyer Encounter evacuate 877 people from Padang. Meanwhile, overhead, P-40s of the Fifth Air Force shoot down six of nine Japanese bombers attacking Soerabaja, Java at a cost of one P-40. There are vicious dogfights over Soerbaja which result in three additional Japanese fighter losses.

A German dispatch rider on the Eastern Front on 18 February 1942. He has adapted a gas mask as face protector against temperatures as low as -40°. He is wearing sheepskins.

Eastern Front: The German situation at Demyansk deteriorates on 18 February 1942 when the 290th Infantry Division is forced to withdraw from a salient that it has been holding in the northwest section of the pocket. This "northern corner post" has been the source of much hope for the Germans within the pocket as an area close to the main German lines where a relief attempt could aim over the shortest distance. The Red Army, meanwhile, is busy trying to hem the Germans in at Demyansk and push them back into a small area where they are unable to receive air supplies and can be starved into submission. They are tightening the ring by bringing in more troops and trying to drive as much room between the pocket and the main German lines as they can. The Luftwaffe airlift continues, but it is bringing in less than half of the supplies that the trapped forces claim that they need to hold out. Time is the Germans' ally, however, as the spring thaw (Rasputitsa) is only a month away.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe is active in the North Sea, sinking 348-ton minesweeping trawler HMS Botanic and 214-ton anti-submarine trawler Warland.

RAF Bomber Command continues its leafletting missions tonight, with six or seven bombers dropping them over Paris and Lille. Another 25 Hampdens drop mines around the West Frisian Islands and off Wilhelmshaven and Heligoland. The British lose one Hampden on this mission.

French submarine Surcouf, lost on or about 18 February 1942 under mysterious circumstances.

Battle of the Atlantic: Free French submarine Surcouf disappears and is believed lost on or about 18 February 1942. The Surcouf is the largest French cruiser submarine and is headed for the Panama Canal to transit to the Pacific Theater of Operations. She left Bermuda on 12 February and loses contact late today. The Surcouf did not stop in Martinique because that island's government remains loyal to the Vichy regime. The US Navy investigates and concludes that the Surcouf sinks after a collision with US freighter Thompson Lykes about 80 miles (70 nautical miles, 130 km) north of Cristóbal, Colón, Panama. A post-war explanation based on service records is that the 6th Heavy Bomber Group operating out of Panama was the culprit. Conspiracy theories within the French Navy later claim that "friendly fire" caused the sinking, but exactly who is supposed to have fired on the submarine is left unsaid. Another possibility is that the submarine did collide with the freighter and the bombers mistakenly finished it off. The Surcouf's wreck is never located and 130 men perish, with no survivors. There is a memorial to Surcouf and its crew in Cherbourg, France.

Four-stack destroyer USS Truxtun, which is lost on 18 February 1942 with 46 survivors and 119 fatalities (Maritime History Archive, Memorial University, PF-306.984. John Cardoulis Photograph Collection.).

The weather is rough in the North Atlantic, and this causes tragic losses. US Navy destroyer USS Truxton and 7,350-ton stores ship USS Pollux both run aground in heavy gales off Newfoundland, Truxton at Chambers Cove and Pollux at Lawn Point. The ships are lost and the foul weather hampers search and rescue operations, with 110 men perishing on the Truxton and 93 on Pollux. Another ship, the Wilkes, also runs aground but is saved. Credit goes to the local inhabitants of Newfoundland for making heroic efforts to save 186 crewmen total in brutal conditions. As one man puts it, "Hardly a dozen men from both ships would have been saved had it not been for the superb work of the local residents." Memorial services have been held for this disaster on 18 February 1992 and 2012.

U-432 (Kptlt. Heinz-Otto Schultze), on its fourth patrol out of La Pallice, sinks 4053-ton Brazilian freighter Olinda about 78 miles (126 km) northeast of Norfolk, Virginia. Schultze stops the neutral freighter off Cape Hatteras with a shot across the bow and allows the crew to disembark before sinking it with gunfire and one torpedo at 21:00. All 46 men on the freighter survive, picked up on the 19th by destroyer USS Dallas (DD 199).

U-108 (KrvKpt. Klaus Scholtz), on its sixth patrol out of Lorient, gets the final (fifth) victory of the patrol southeast of Sable Island when it torpedoes and sinks 5265-ton British freighter Somme. Captain Scholtz questions the crew in their lifeboats, but they disappear. There are no survivors from the 58-man crew.

U-96 (Kptlt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock), on its third patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 5589-ton British freighter Black Osprey about 130 miles south of Iceland. There are 26 dead and 11 survivors from Black Osprey, which is a straggler from Convoy HX-107.

" Entering Drydock # Two, at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, 18 February 1942. Sunk as a result of damage received in the 7 December 1941 Japanese air raid, she was refloated on 12 February 1942. Note oil staining along her hull, marking her waterline while she was sunk. Collection of Vice Admiral Homer N. Wallin, USN (Retired). U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph."Catalog #: NH 83056.

Battle of the Mediterranean: At Malta, fuel is running low because of difficulties running tankers to the island from Alexandria due to Luftwaffe air patrols. Governor Lt. General Dobbie warns the War Office that fuel stocks will only last until the end of June, with coal and kerosene running out a little before then. Gasoline for trucks and other vehicles will run out around the first of May, while submarine diesel and furnace oil for ships is down to a two-month supply. Dobbie sums up:

Until situation in Cyrenaica radically changes difficulties of getting convoys from east will not diminish. Consider it essential to explore seriously and very urgently possibility using all other available means of getting supplies not only from east but from west also. This is all the more important if situation French North Africa is likely to deteriorate. I am sure these things are being closely considered by you but I feel it important to point out very clearly that the problem is an urgent one.

Getting convoys to Malta from the west has become vastly more difficult since Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps retook Benghazi in January.

Propaganda posters entitled "Ein Hetzer plaudert aus der Schule!" (roughly translated, "A hound howls from the school!") issued by the "Parole der Woche," a wall newspaper (Wandzeitung) published by the National Socialist Party propaganda office in Munich on 18 February 1942. Essentially, the poster portrays the man pictured as being a Communist. (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).

War Crimes: In Singapore, the occupying Japanese begin on 18 February a purge of Chinese residents who are perceived as hostile to their rule. This "cleansing operation" (Sook Ching) lasts until 4 March 1942. This is a meticulously planned and intentional operation by the occupying government, not an ad hoc massacre like many other atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers. The targeted include, inter alia, members in the China Relief, wealthy donors to the China Relief, men with tattoos (who are assumed to be triad members), anyone found with a weapon, and members of the previous British bureaucracy. However, the purge is not limited to any particular groups in some legalistic fashion, it encompasses anyone that local Japanese authorities feel is a threat to their rule. Executions take place at several locations, including Punggol Point, Changi Beach, Katong, and on ships off the coast. British POWs are ordered to bury about 300 bullet-ridden corpses that drift ashore at Belakang Beach. Estimates of victims reach as high as 100,000. The Sook Ching war crimes trial in 1947 convicts some perpetrators, but many, including leader Masanobu Tsuji, escape justice. The Sook Ching incident causes bitter animosity within the Singapore Chinese community toward both the Japanese and the British, who locals feel acted inadequately both to protect them from the Japanese and to punish the perpetrators after the war.

Propaganda: Japanese occupation troops in Singapore have Allied POWs sweep the streets for the newsreel cameras. The Japanese also begin dismantling vestiges of British rule such as statues, memorials, and signs.

Salem (Ohio) News, 18 February 1942. The headline correctly notes that "Zero Hour Nearing on East Indies Front."

Chinese/Indian Relations: Chiang Kai-shek continues his two-week visit to British India by meeting today with Mahatma Gandhi in Calcutta. Yesterday, Chiang met with Jiddah, another revolutionary. These meetings are a slap at the British, who Chiang holds in low esteem since the Tulsa incident at the end of 1941 during which the local British commanders in Burma attempted to hijack American lend-lease supplies intended for China.

British/Australian Relations: General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief ABDA Command, defies the wishes of Lieutenant General John Lavarack, General Officer Commanding I Australian Corps, and orders Australian troops aboard requisitioned passenger liner SS Orcades to land at Batavia, Java. Wavell tells the Australian Prime Minister that they are needed for the defense of the airfield. This runs counter to negotiations between the highest levels of the British and Australian governments that all available Australian troops will be returned to Australia for the defense of the homeland.

USS Pollux, one of the ships sunk off the Newfoundland coast on 18 February 1942.

US Military: U.S. Major General George H. Brett, deputy commander of the ABDA Command and the de facto commander in Australia, sends Major General Lewis H. Brereton, Commanding General 5th Air Force, to India to begin building up forces there. Brett also informs the War Department that Java is lost in the absence of an immediate major counteroffensive in Burma and China. Since there are no plans or resources for such attacks, that effectively means that Brett is wiping his hands of responsibility for Java and, by inference, all of the Netherlands East Indies.

Air units of the 91st Bombardment Squadron (light), USAAF 5th Force, begin operating out of Malang, Java. They are equipped with A-24 Dauntlesses. Their ground support remains trapped in Bataan, the Philippines.

B-17s of the 22nd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 5th Air Force, depart from Australia bound for Nandi Airport, Fiji. They are heading ultimately for their new base at Jogjakarta (Yogyakarta) Airfield, Java.

HMS Victorious at Hvalfjord, 15-18 February 1942 (© IWM (A 7678)).

Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall sends President Roosevelt a memorandum in which he emphasizes the need for "More shipping than is now in sight." He forecasts troop availability:

 By December 1942, there will be 1,800,000 troops ready for overseas service, and by the end of 1943 about three and a half million. We are now endeavoring to secure from the War Shipping Administration an additional eighteen cargo ships per month for military use, which would permit an overseas force of 750,000 by the end of 1942. This number, however, would be less than half of the troops potentially available.

Marshall warns that current shipbuilding plans will permit an overseas force only half as large as possible at the end of 1943, too. He urges "Immediate steps" to "increase the tempo of the shipbuilding program to a much higher figure."

A Fairey Albacore taking off from HMS Victorious, 15 to 18 February 1942 (© IWM (A 7677)).

US Government: Intense discussions continue in Washington, D.C., about the internment of Japanese along the west coast. Western Command leader General DeWitt's memorandum arrives at 17:00 which outlines his recommendation that American-born Japanese from Category A areas (primarily urban and military centers in Oregon and Washington State) be forcibly evacuated and removals of enemy aliens from his command begin as soon as possible.

Public sentiment is strongly in favor of tough measures. In an editorial in the Craig Empire Courier of Craig, Colorado, the editor endorses Pulitzer Prize winner Westbrook Pegler’s view that “the Japanese in California should be under armed guard to the last man and woman right now and to hell with habeas corpus until the danger is over.” This view is widespread.

South Africa: Governor-General Sir Patrick Duncan has his term extended by five years.

Air-raid shelter under construction between Hunter and Scott Streets, Newcastle, NSW, February 18, 1942.

British Homefront: For health and sanitary reasons, the government exempts miners from the soap ration.

American Homefront: Glenn Miller and his Orchestra record "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," written by Sam H. Stept, Lew Brown, and Charles Tobias. This war-themed popular tune is performed with the tried and true formula of vocals by Tex Beneke, Marion Hutton, and The Modernaires. The song goes on to spend thirteen weeks on the Billboard charts and becomes the twelfth best-selling record of the year. The Andrews Sisters also perform the song to acclaim in "Private Buckaroo" with the Harry James Orchestra. Patti Andrews later says that "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" is their most requested song.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer releases "Born to Sing," starring Virginia Weidler and Ray McDonald. The film features Mickey Rooney's father, Joe Yule Sr., Margaret Dumont, and Leo Gorcey of Bowery Boys fame.


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 7 February 1942

The Saturday Evening Post (Feb. 7, 1942), cover by Norman Rockwell – Willie Gillis at the U.S.O. (1942)  - Curtis Publishing Company.

Eastern Front: After a month of vicious fighting, on 7 February 1942, Finnish II Army Corps (General Laatikainen) recovers the town of Krivi, Maaselkä Isthmus (north of Lake Onega), from the Soviet 367th Rifle Division. Finnish reinforced 19th Brigade (Col. Kai Savonjousi) leads the final charge. The battle begins at 03:00 and lasts until 14:45. There are at least 4000 Soviet dead and only 152 prisoners, while the Finns lose 12 missing or killed. Further south, Soviet ski troops attack the town of Poventsa (Povenets) but are pushed back. These actions restore the Finnish lines from before the Red Army's winter offensive and secure the Finnish eastern flank north of the lake.

"The pilots' instrument panel and flight controls of a Short Stirling Mk I of No. 7 Squadron RAF at Oakington, Cambridgeshire, February 1942." © IWM (CH 17086).

Battle of the Pacific: The Japanese have grand ambitions in the Southwest Pacific. This is illustrated on 7 February 1942 when submarine HIJMS I-25 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane to fly over Sydney, New South Wales.

The United States Army Air Force 5th Air Force, which now controls operations in the southwest Pacific, continues to build up its presence on Java in the Netherlands East Indies. Today, four more P-40s fly from Australia and make it to Blimbing Airdrome. The USAAF command at Singosari Aerodrome on Java sends nine B-17 Flying Fortress bombers to attack shipping at Balikpapan, but they are met by Japanese fighters and driven off.

The Allies in the Bataan Peninsula, the Philippines, mount a determined attack on the Japanese pockets (the Big Pocket and the Little Pocket) just south of the Main Line of Resistance (MLR). These pockets are in the western portion of the line controlled by the I Corps, which sends the 92d Infantry of the 91st Division of the Philippine Army against them. Further south, other Philippine troops make good progress against the remaining Japanese trapped at Quinauan Point. USAAF P-40s drive off a Japanese seaborne attempt from Olongapo to reinforce and supply these and other trapped units in the South Sector.

An Italian C.R. 42 fighter that was forced to land during an encounter with RAF fighters near Sollum, Libya on 7 February 1942.

In Singapore, the Japanese continue to prepare for an invasion of the island, which the British expect will be in the northeast near the destroyed causeway. The Australian 22nd Brigade concludes two successful patrols (a third was spotted by the Japanese and eliminated) across the Johor Strait and reports their findings to Malaya Command. The Australians report large troop concentrations directly across the Strait from the northwestern shore of Singapore Island and request artillery bombardment of those positions. Malaya Command ignores the reports because they do not jibe with its expectation that the invasion will come in the northeast, not the northwest.

USS Concord (CL-10) at the Mare Island Navy Yard, 7 February 1942. Note the obsolete casement guns.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends 32 Hampden bombers on a minelaying mission to the Frisian Islands. They are attacked by Luftwaffe fighters and lose three bombers. Some histories of World War II mention that the RAF drops many mines in the English Channel prior to Operation Cerberus, the Channel Dash, but these mines are dropped far to the north of where Operation Cerberus takes place in the Frisian Islands.

British freighter Jessie Maersk, sunk by German E-boats on 7 February 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-751 (Kptlt. Gerhard Bigalk), on its fifth patrol out of St. Nazaire, France, torpedoes and sinks 6952-ton British Catapult Armed Merchant (CAM) Empire Sun just south of Halifax. The Empire Sun was carrying 9000 tons of grain. There are 54 survivors and 11 deaths.

German E-boats intercept and sink 1972-ton British freighter Jessie Maersk while traveling north from London to Blyth. There are 20 deaths.

While being refitted as a refrigerated banana boat in Halifax Harbor, 3250-ton MV Maurienne catches fire and capsizes. She is later refloated and returned to service.

Actress Loretta Young on the cover of Picturegoer Magazine [United Kingdom] (7 February 1942).

Battle of the Mediterranean: On land, both sides have settled down to garrison duty after the rapid Afrika Korps offensive past Benghazi. However, the fighting continues offshore. Royal Navy destroyers HMS Lively and Zulu, operating out of Malta and having been alerted by aerial reconnaissance, intercept and sink 316-ton Italian armed trawler Grongo about 45 miles south of Pantelleria Island. They also sink 494-ton Italian sailing freighter Aosta, which has been running supplies to Pantelleria. There are 32 survivors from the sinkings picked up by Italian motor torpedo boats Mas 560, Mas 563 and Mas 577.

Rickard, J (3 February 2018), USS Portland (CA-33) at Mare Island, 7 February 1942 (History of War).

US Government: President Roosevelt establishes the War Shipping Administration (WSA) by Executive Order No. 9054. February 7, 1942. The WSA takes charge of the production of special classes of ships being built by the Emergency Program such as Liberty Ships and Victory Ships. The United States Maritime Commission, established in 1936, remains in charge of the design and construction of other freighters for the United States Merchant Marine for the time being (the WSA will subsume the Maritime Commission later in 1942). Rear Admiral Emory S. Land, USN (ret.), the head of the Maritime Commission since 1938, now oversees both organizations, so they work very closely together from the start.

Donald M. Nelson, the new Chairman of the Office of Production Management, officially orders United States automakers to cease production of domestic passenger cars. Their factories henceforth will manufacture military items. Nelson's office guarantees the automakers' profits over and above their expenses. This offer includes a promise to sell to the auto manufacturers the $11 billion worth of new manufacturing plants to be built during the war at a steep discount after the war is won. The few automakers still making cars continue those already on the production line, with the last new cars finished on 10 February 1942.

Latin America: Uruguay defeats Argentina 1-0 to win the South American Championship of football in Montevideo. This is Uruguay's eighth title.

The symbol for the Double V campaign in the Pittsburgh Courier that begins on 7 February 1942.

The "Double-V" campaign begins. This is a special symbol adopted within the African-American community to denote the twin goals of fighting fascism overseas and conditions at home in the United States. The symbol first appears in the African-American newspaper Pittsburgh Courier on February 7, 1942. The campaign continues weekly in the Pittsburg Courier, which is the most circulated black newspaper with a national circulation of around 200,000 subscribers, until 1943.

Pittsburgh Courier on February 7, 1942, showing the Double-V symbol.

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 20 December 1941

Tanker Emidio sinking at Blunt's Reef off Point Mendocino, California, 20 December 1941.

Battle of the Pacific: Japanese submarines are lurking off the U.S. west coast. On 20 December 1941, I-17 torpedoes, shells, and sinks 6912-ton U.S. tanker Emidio about twenty miles west of the California coast at Blunt's Reef (off Cape Mendocino). The attack is made on the surface and in daylight. There are five crew deaths. The survivors reach the Blunt's Reef lightship and are later rescued by Coast Guard cutter Shawnee. A Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat searches for the submarine to no avail. The Emidio is the first US tanker definitely known to be torpedoed and lost in World War II (the Astral was lost in November 1941, but exactly how is not known with absolute certainty). The ship is abandoned and there is some hope of salvaging her, but the Emidio drifts onto the rocks off Crescent City and is wrecked. The is the closest to date that the war has gotten to the continental United States.

Another view of the sinking Emidio.

At Hong Kong Island, the invading Japanese advance through the Wong Nai Chung Gap from the north to the south coast and split the island in two. British Commonwealth troops hold out on the Stanley Peninsula east of the gap and in the western part of the island. The Japanese troops capture the island's water reservoir, making a British surrender virtually inevitable.

American artist and cartoonist James Montgomery Flagg and his daughter Faith in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania, December 20, 1941.

In Burma, the recently relocated American Volunteer Group (AVG, aka "Flying Tigers") enter their first combat east of Rangoon in their distinctive P-40B Tomahawk fighters. The unit is not officially part of the US Army Air Force and the pilots (aside from leader Major General Claire Chennault) do not hold commissions. This provides an unusual free-wheeling aspect to the operation, including $500 bounties for every Japanese plane the pilots shoot down. This date, 20 December 1941, is considered the "birth" of the Flying Tigers.

AVG Flight Leader Bob Layher, 1941-42.

The Japanese make landings on Mindanao, the Philippines. For the first time, the Japanese take heavy casualties as well-placed Filipino machine gunners of the 101st Regiment pin down the invaders. The Japanese ultimately prevail by calling inshore bombardments by 5-inch naval guns. It is a striking mirror image of events later in the war. At Clark Field, the air echelon of the 30th Bombardment Squadron, 19th BG (Heavy), no longer has any bombers to service, as they all have been sent to Australia. Thus, they are sent to Batchelor Field, given rifles, and told to serve as infantry with the 5th Interceptor Command (Provisional).

"The Joy of a Father's Homecoming," December 20, 1941, The Toronto Star Weekly.

At Wake Island, US Navy Task Force 11 (Admiral Frank Fletcher) and Task Force 14 (Admiral Wilson Brown) are sailing toward Wake Island. At Pearl Harbor, Vice Admiral William S. Pye - the Acting Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet - is very leery of the operation and keeps a close eye on any indications of a strong Japanese fleet presence in the area. A US Navy Catalina arrives at Wake bringing official mail and news of the relief expedition. The plane makes a quick turnaround and evacuates Major Walter J. Bayles, who comments:

I looked at our flag, still snapping in the breeze at the to of the pole where it had been hoisted on December 8. I looked at the cheerful, grinning faces and the confident bearing of the youngsters on the dock. As I waved a last good-bye and took my seat in the plane, my smile was as cheerful as theirs. I knew all would go well with Wake Island.

Nobody else will escape the island.

"A Fairey Albacore about to land on the deck of HMS VICTORIOUS during flying operations at Scapa Flow." 20 December 1941 (© IWM (A 6745)).

Eastern Front: Adolf Hitler, having assumed direct command of the German Army, instructs OKH chief of operations General Franz Halder how the situation around Moscow is to be handled. The troops would require a "fanatical will to fight," and this would have to be enforced by "all, even the most severe, means." Soldiers would have to "tolerate breakthroughs" and fight where they stood, as nobody had any "contracts" limiting their efforts to logistics or anything else. Winter clothing could be taken from Soviet civilians or dead Red Army soldiers. He emphasizes, "Every man must defend himself where he is."

Mrs. Paul Titus of Bucks County, Pennsylvania poses on 20 December 1941. She had signed up as an air-raid spotter on 8 December 1941. Mrs. Titus is ready to defend Pennsylvania, declaring, "I can carry a gun any time they want me to."

In the morning, General Guderian boards a light plane to fly to Fuehrer headquarters in East Prussia. The new commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge, receives a string of messages from his armies that suggest utter hopelessness. For instance, Fourth Army reports:

Enemy attacking in the army's deep flank, aiming toward Kaluga. Army has no more forces at its disposal. Combat strength sinking. Holding present positions not possible in the long run.

General Hoepner's Fourth Panzer Group sends a desperate message:

The Commanding Generals of 46 and 5 Corps have reported they cannot hold. Heavy losses of trucks and weapons in recent days. They had to be destroyed for lack of gasoline. Weapons now 25-30 percent of requirements. Only course to give orders to hold to the last man. The troops will then be gone and there will be a hole in the front.

General Strauss at Ninth Army is equally pessimistic:

Present battle area wooded and has poor visibility. If it has to hold there the army is likely to be broken through and smashed.

It is a bleak picture, but the front is holding for the time being.

The Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal of 20 December 1941 is getting closer to a realistic portrayal of the war than it and other papers had in the week following the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, its announcement of the "first big Philippine landing" is over a week late.

The desperate situation gives von Kluge a chance to settle some old scores. After dark, he calls Halder and unloads his feeling about Guderian, who has clashed with Kluge throughout the campaign (as, to be fair, Guderian has done with several other generals). Kluge reports that he has learned that Guderian has been secretly moving troops to the Oka River, which is 40 miles east of where he is supposed to be. Halder immediately calls the Fuehrer Headquarters, where Guderian already is talking to Hitler. This leads to an immediate row, with Hitler screaming at Guderian that he has planned "an insane scheme." To Guderian's face, Hitler orders Guderian to hold his line right where it is and forget about further withdrawals. It is almost surprising that Guderian returns to the front still holding his command.

The 20 December 1941 (North) Carolina Times seems to be reporting on a completely different war than the one overseas.

US Military: The US Navy continues its reorganization following the disaster at Pearl Harbor. Admiral Ernest J. King, the Atlantic Fleet commander, is designated Commander in Chief United States Fleet with headquarters in the Navy Department, Washington, D. C. While King is elevated from the Atlantic command, he maintains a fierce effort throughout the war to give adequate resources to the Pacific Theater.

German Homefront: Belatedly, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels announces a winter relief drive for the troops on the Eastern Front, "Winterhilfswerk für Wehrmacht." The public is encouraged to donate warm clothing in a gesture of "solidarity with the troops." It is never made clear how desperate the situation is, but disturbing reports reach the homefront despite the government's rather casual handling of a very real crisis.

USS Tillman (DD-641) and USS Beatty (DD-640) on the ways in Charleston, South Carolina Navy Yard on 20 December 1941. They are about to be launched. USS Tillman (DD-641) is commissioned 9 June 1942, and USS Beatty (DD-640) is commissioned 7 May 1942.

American Homefront: Glenn Miller and His Orchestra hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart with "Elmer's Tune." It is the song's only week at the top spot.  It has Ray Eberle (who later joins the military) on lead vocals and the Modernaires on backing vocals. The song is named after the music composer, Elmer Albrecht.

Charles Lindbergh writes to Chief of Army Air Forces Henry H. "Hap" Arnold requesting a commission in the military. President Roosevelt is extremely angry at Lindbergh's efforts on behalf of the America First Committee and tells Arnold to deny the request.

The Emidio sinks off the California coast.

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