Saturday 10 January 1942

MA and MB Jeeps built by Willys. Note that regular car production is continuing, which places this photo between November 1940 and before all US car production was banned on 5 February 1942 (Ron Szymanski).

USS San Diego (CL-53) in Boston Harbor on 10 January 1942, the date of its commissioning.

The War Department asks the Hawaiian commander, General Delos C. Emmons, an Air Corps officer, whether it would be feasible to relocate the entire Japanese population of Oahu to another island. Oahu, of course, is where the main naval base at Pearl Harbor is based. Emmons replies that this would not work because it would require the construction of facilities when construction units already were fully booked by the military. Emmons estimates that Oahu has a Japanese population of 118,000 that is composed of 20,000 Japanese aliens and 98,000 US citizens. These people, Emmons notes, provide the bulk of the island's skilled labor. Emmons concludes that while it would be theoretically beneficial to relocate the Japanese, in practical terms it would be almost impossible and certainly detrimental to the economy of Oahu. As an alternative, Emmons proposes that if it is deemed necessary to segregate the Japanese as a security risk, that they should be taken to the mainland for it to be done there.

Luftwaffe ace Günther Lützow on 10 January 1942. Lützow, commander of JG 3, became the second pilot (after now-deceased Werner Mölders) to notch 100 kills on 24 October 1941. It is hard to see, but Lützow has autographed the photo (Federal Archive Picture 146-2006-0126).

Eastern Front: There is a heavy blizzard in the Moscow sector that stops all movement throughout the day. Overall, the pause in operations helps the Germans, whose front is strained to the breaking point and needs time to bring in reinforcements and supplies. However, in certain places, such as the breakthrough into the German rear areas west of Ostashkov, the Red Army troops struggle through deep snow and attack isolated German outposts which have no hope of relief or reinforcement.

S.S. African Comet on 10 January 1942. It has just arrived at the Tietjen & Lang Dry Dock Co. yard in Hoboken, New Jersey. It is being converted to USS Arthur Middleton (AP-55) (Photo No. 19-N-27716 Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-19-LCM).

US Military: The U.S. Army awards Ford Motor Company a contract to build copycat versions of the Willys Jeep. The contract provides for the construction of 15,000 Ford GPWs, or General Purpose Willys. They are to be built at a cost of $14,623,900, or about $975 each. The Jeep's design was submitted by American Bantam, but it was then given to Willys-Overland to refine.

MA and MB Jeeps built by Willys. Note that regular car production is continuing, which places this photo between November 1940 and before all US car production was banned on 5 February 1942 (Ron Szymanski).

While the Army finds the Willys MB redesign acceptable, it is not required to have Willys actually build all of the Jeep (though Willys does receive a contract to build as many Jeeps as it can). The Army is hedging its bets because it does not believe that Willys has the capacity to produce enough Jeeps fast enough for the Army's needs. American Bantam, who submitted the first prototype that did eventually turn into the standard military Jeep, does not get a contract to build the Jeeps but instead gets a contract to build trailers as a sort of consolation prize.

"Bardia area, Cyrenaica, Libya. 10 January 1942. German Luftwaffe prisoners, wounded in the re-capture of Bardia, were allowed to write home at the first opportunity. They are sitting in the sunshine leaning against a building on which is painted a Mickey Mouse head, a heart with an arrow through it, an instruction to 'Please knock first' and a foaming beer mug." Australian War Memorial MED0292.

American Homefront: A day after knocking out Buddy Baer in the first round at Madison Square to defend his Heavyweight title, Boxer Joe Louis enlists in the U.S. Army. He enlists as a private at Camp Upton, Long Island. The fight against Baer had been a charity bout for the Navy Relief Society which raised $47,000 for the fund. The enlistment event naturally makes the newsreels, and they capture a soldier-clerk asking Louis his occupation. He replies, "Fighting and let us at them Jap[anese]."

"A Wren Bosun piping all hands at HMS UNICORN II, Cresent House, Dundee, 10 January 1942." Unicorn II is the Royal Navy Reserves Training Ship. © IWM (A 7026).

Louis fights occasionally for charity while in the service, but he falls deeply into debt in part because the IRS assigns to him as income the money that he "earns" for those fights which he never actually receives. This tax issue haunts Louis for the rest of his life. Joe Louis serves in the Army's Special Services Division until his honorable discharge effective 1 October 1945. He proves especially useful in recruiting African-Americans. Commenting on racial segregation in the military, Louis comments, "Lots of things wrong with America, but Hitler ain't going to fix them."

10 January 1942 New Yorker cover by Leonard Dove.

Mickey Rooney marries Ava Gardner at a Protestant church in Ballard, California. Rooney is currently headlining the top movie in the country, "Babes on Broadway" (1941), with Judy Garland. Gardner, an MGM contract player like Rooney, is still an ingenue who only broke into Hollywood in 1941 and is little known. The wedding is held in remote Ballard (in the Santa Ynez Valley) because Louis B. Mayer is concerned that a married Rooney will not be as popular at the box office, so he wants as little publicity for the marriage as possible. Rooney is 19 and subject to the draft, but his number has not come up yet.

"Wireless Telegraphists in training transcribe messages in Morse and transcribe them." HMS Unicorn III, Crescent House, Dundee, 10 January 1942. © IWM (A 7025).

"All Through the Night," starring Humphrey Bogart and Conrad Veidt, is released by Warner Bros. Bogardt and Veidt work well together and will appear again in 1942 in "Casablanca." Veidt, born in Berlin, is only in the United States because he fled Germany in 1933 due to his marriage to a Jewish woman, Ilona Prager.

Wedding of Royal Navy Lieutenant D. Campbell to Third Officer Joan Rouff. "The Bride and Bridegroom leaving the church after the wedding under a Guard of Honour of WRNS Officers holding cutlasses." © IWM (A 7000).

1942

January 1942

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

2020

Sunday 26 October 1941

A soldier with a pack Reindeer, on slippery ice, near the tiny village of Nautsi, in northern Lapland, Finland, on October 26, 1941.

Eastern Front: The weather continues to be terrible all along the central section of the Eastern Front on 26 October 1941. There is still heavy fighting, but the Wehrmacht's vehicles are struggling in the Rasputitsa mud. In addition, the Red Army defenders are fighting ferociously, so the German infantry has trouble advancing without the support of the armor. The Wehrmacht's trucks are virtually immobile, and even the panzers have difficulty because their treads are not as wide as the Soviet tanks' treads. The Germans are hardly on the defensive, but in many areas, they are able to make at most only small advances.

Masha Bruskina, just out of high school in June 1941, with fellow resistance members shortly before hanging. She was a Belarusian Jewish member of the Minsk Resistance. The placard reads "We are the partisans who shot German troops." Bruskina, whose identity was covered up until 2009, is considered a national heroine. There now is a memorial plaque at the spot of her execution. Minsk, October 26, 1941.

One area where the Germans make good progress is on the southern axis of the Operation Typhoon advance on Moscow. There, General Guderian's 2nd Panzer Army broke through the Soviet defenses at Mtsensk on the 24th by combing all of the army's panzers into one brigade and smashing through the defenses. Guderian's momentum continues today on the good road running north to Moscow. By the end of 26 October 1941, Guderian's panzers are halfway to Tula. The distance covered is an impressive 70 km advance in only a few days, possible largely because the Soviets have been focused n the western approaches and have not extended the Mozhaysk defensive line this far south. The Stavka now has remedied that oversight with Guderian about 200 km from the center of Moscow, and the panzers are forced to halt due to stiffening Red Army resistance from 50th Army and civilian volunteers. The Kremlin places Tula under a state of siege, which means the NKVD has carte blanche to stiffen the defenders' resolve using any means necessary - and Lavrentiy Beria has a lot of persuasive means at his disposal and an active imagination. By sheer force of will, inventiveness, and the timely concentration of his panzers, Guderian has created a threat to Moscow from the south. This has forced the Soviets to stretch out their defenses - a victory far more important than just the ground his forces have gained.

Major Günther Lützow, acting Kommodore of JG 51, shown with his plane which shows his 100 victories ca. 26 October 1941. Lützow was the second pilot to ever record 100 victories, a feat which he achieved on 24 October 1941.

The other major offensive on the northern portion of the main front is a Wehrmacht thrust toward Tikhvin. Tikhvin itself is not that significant as a city but is important to capture for several reasons. It sits astride the only remaining rail and road routes from Moscow to Leningrad (via Lake Ladoga), so if Tikhvin falls and the Germans can hold it, Leningrad is doomed. Pushing east above Moscow also offers the possibility of a deep encirclement of Moscow, which would doom it. The Germans also could head north from Tikhvin and link up with the Finns on the Svir River. Finally, Hitler himself has picked Tikhvin as the next Army Group North objective over the plans of his generals (who prefer the closer Volkhov), so its capture is a matter of prestige - always a major factor in the Wehrmacht.

Walter 'Gulle' Oesau (colorized). Oesau records his 100th victory on 26 October 1941, the third Luftwaffe pilot (and third pilot ever) to reach the centennial mark.

Given its sudden importance, the Red Army is shifting forces to protect Tikhvin and adjusting the commands in the area. General Fedyuninsky is a protege of Stalin's favorite general, Georgy Zhukov, so he is switched from command of the relatively dormant Leningrad front to command of the 54th Army which is directly defending Tikhvin. The commander of that army, General Mikhail Khozin, replaces Fedyuninsky in Leningrad. While at first glance this appears to be a demotion for Fedyuninsky, he is being moved to a sector in crisis in order to restore the situation. Thus, the transfer is a reflection of the high esteem in which Fedyuninsky is held in the Kremlin. Whether Fedyuninsky has the forces to hold Tikhvin, however, is very much in doubt.

Hauptmann (Captain) Gordon Mac Gollob upon his receipt of the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub (Knight's cross with oak leaves) on 26 October 1941. Gollob, the Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3, earned the decoration for his 85th victory.

Far to the south, things are proceeding well for the Wehrmacht. General von Manstein has almost cleared the Perekop Isthmus in the Crimea and is ready to break out toward the key port of Sevastopol. The German Sixth Army continues consolidating its hold on Kharkiv, while General Hoth's Seventeenth Army is eying Rostov-on-Don, the gateway to the Caucasus. The Germans are on the verge of massive success in the Army Group South sector which may finally justify the expansive projections of the spring - but only if the weather and the Red Army cooperate.

Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock awards Lt. Von Riedesel the EK I on 26 October 1941. Von Bock is holding an interim Field Marshal's baton. Even though von Bock has been a Field Marshal for well over a year at this point, the true Field Marshal batons are hand-crafted and take a lengthy amount of time to create. Many other generals were promoted to field marshal at the same time as von Bock, so production lagged behind.

October 1941

October 1, 1941: Germans and Finns Advance in USSR
October 2, 1941: Operation Typhoon Broadens
October 3, 1941: Air Battles Near Moscow
October 4, 1941: Stalin Contemplates Defeat
October 5, 1941: Hoth Goes South
October 6, 1941: First Snowfall After Dark
October 7, 1941: Stalin Gets Religion
October 8, 1941: FDR Promises Stalin Aid 
October 9, 1941: FDR Orders Atomic Bomb Research
October 10, 1941: Reichenau's Severity Order
October 11, 1941: Tank Panic in Moscow
October 12, 1941: Spanish Blue Division at the Front
October 13, 1941: Attack on Moscow
October 14, 1941: Germans Take Kalinin
October 15, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Odessa
October 16, 1941: Romanians Occupy Odessa
October 17, 1941: U-568 Torpedoes USS Kearny
October 18, 1941: Tojo Takes Tokyo
October 19, 1941: Germans Take Mozhaysk
October 20, 1941: Germans Attack Toward Tikhvin
October 21, 1941: Rasputitsa Hits Russia
October 22, 1941: Germans Into Moscow's Second Defensive Line
October 23, 1941: The Odessa Massacre
October 24, 1941: Guderian's Desperate Drive North
October 25, 1941: FDR Warns Hitler About Massacres
October 26, 1941: Guderian Drives Toward Tula
October 27, 1941: Manstein Busts Loose
October 28, 1941: Soviet Executions
October 29, 1941: Guderian Reaches Tula
October 30, 1941: Guderian Stopped at Tula
October 31, 1941: USS Reuben James Sunk
2020

Saturday 11 October 1941

Adolf Hitler decorates Günther Lützow, Kommodore of JG 3, at the Fuhrer Headquarters in East Prussia on 11 October 1941.

Eastern Front: On 11 October 1941, the Germans are still far down the road from Moscow working on reducing Soviet opposition at Bryansk. However, as described by Russian-born British war correspondent Alexander Werth, who is on the scene in Moscow, a "tank panic" is beginning to grip the city. This is based on wild rumors of panzers on the outskirts of the city. These rumors are fed by a tendency of Soviet news organizations such as TASS to describe the fighting as being "in the direction of" cities that are widely believed to already have fallen. Ordinary citizens begin fleeing to "safe" cities far to the east such as Saratov, and Stalin authorizes the evacuation of non-essential personnel such as women and children who are not engaged in war work.

Joseph Hamilton (left) and John Lawrence at Medical Physics Building (Donner Lab) construction site [at Berkeley University], taken October 11, 1941. Principal Investigator/Project: Analog Conversion Project. This is a key facility in the development of nuclear weapons in the Manhattan Project. [Photographer: Donald Cooksey] (U.S. National Archives).

As described by Russian-born British war correspondent Alexander Werth in books such as "Russia at War 1941 to 1945" (London, 1964), who is on the scene in Moscow, there are two main schools of thought regarding whether to stay in Moscow. Those staying feel that those who are leaving are being disloyal in thinking that the Soviet Red Army cannot defend the capital. Those leaving, however, say that they could not bear living under German rule and question the patriotism of those who would willingly risk that. In any event, a flood of people crowds the roads and railways heading east out of harm's way.

King Haakon of Norway visits Plymouth and the Norwegian Naval Depot and Training Establishment, 11 October 1941 (© IWM (A 5778)).

General Georgy Zhukov, in charge of Soviet West Front after being recalled from Leningrad, combines his command with General Budenny's Reserve Front to form a united command. He faces a grim situation and orders the trapped Soviet 3rd and 13th Armies at Vyazma to break out. The German cordon around the town is still weak, as the infantry is struggling to keep up with the rapid panzer advance, but already the Wehrmacht is pounding the trapped forces with artillery and Luftwaffe strikes. It is in situations like this when the German Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers are particularly effective.

Texas Christian vs. Indiana football program for 11 October 1941.

After dark, the Red Air Force makes a desperate spoiling attack on Luftwaffe airfields on the northwestern, western, and southwestern approaches to Moscow. Soviet intelligence has learned that the Luftwaffe plans a major attack for the 12th that would target airfields, railroad terminals, logistical facilities, and industrial complexes. The Soviets claim to destroy 500 Luftwaffe aircraft at airfields located at Vitebsk, Smolensk, Orel, Orsha, Siversk, and elsewhere. However, as with many claims by both sides during World War II, this appears to be a wildly inflated number which is not confirmed by Luftwaffe records.

Star Weekly, a publication of the Toronto Star, 11 October 1941. The lady is wearing a Canadian uniform.

Overall, despite the Red Air Force attacks, the Luftwaffe has aerial superiority virtually everywhere that they choose to assert it. Major Günther Lützow, Kommodore of JG 3, has 92 victories and receives at the hand of Adolf Hitler at the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair Fuhrer Headquarters) the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub under Schwerten). However, as is usually the case, with good news comes bad for the Luftwaffe. Today, 7-victory ace (Experte) Hans Schmeidler of JG 77 is lost in action.

The New Yorker, 11 October 1941.

October 1941

October 1, 1941: Germans and Finns Advance in USSR
October 2, 1941: Operation Typhoon Broadens
October 3, 1941: Air Battles Near Moscow
October 4, 1941: Stalin Contemplates Defeat
October 5, 1941: Hoth Goes South
October 6, 1941: First Snowfall After Dark
October 7, 1941: Stalin Gets Religion
October 8, 1941: FDR Promises Stalin Aid 
October 9, 1941: FDR Orders Atomic Bomb Research
October 10, 1941: Reichenau's Severity Order
October 11, 1941: Tank Panic in Moscow
October 12, 1941: Spanish Blue Division at the Front
October 13, 1941: Attack on Moscow
October 14, 1941: Germans Take Kalinin
October 15, 1941: Soviets Evacuate Odessa
October 16, 1941: Romanians Occupy Odessa
October 17, 1941: U-568 Torpedoes USS Kearny
October 18, 1941: Tojo Takes Tokyo
October 19, 1941: Germans Take Mozhaysk
October 20, 1941: Germans Attack Toward Tikhvin
October 21, 1941: Rasputitsa Hits Russia
October 22, 1941: Germans Into Moscow's Second Defensive Line
October 23, 1941: The Odessa Massacre
October 24, 1941: Guderian's Desperate Drive North
October 25, 1941: FDR Warns Hitler About Massacres
October 26, 1941: Guderian Drives Toward Tula
October 27, 1941: Manstein Busts Loose
October 28, 1941: Soviet Executions
October 29, 1941: Guderian Reaches Tula
October 30, 1941: Guderian Stopped at Tula
October 31, 1941: USS Reuben James Sunk

2020