Tuesday 17 March 1942

United States troops arrive in Australia, 17 March 1942.

Battle of the Pacific: General Douglas MacArthur completes his escape from the Philippines by arriving on 17 March 1942 at the emergency field Batchelor Airfield about 50 miles from Darwin, Australia. Arriving at 09:00 in two B-17 bombers from Mindanao, MacArthur and his group have had to leave their luggage behind because a third bomber experienced engine troubles. The bombers take off at 01:30 on the 17th with one engine spluttering due to a bad supercharger and with MacArthur sitting in the radio operator's seat. His chief of staff, Major General Richard K. Sutherland, rides out the 1500-mile flight in the cramped bomb bay.

The NY Times edition that announced the return of General MacArthur notes optimistically in its headline that "Move hailed as foreshadowing turn of [the] tide."

MacArthur's journey almost had a disastrous ending. As the two B-17s approached Darwin, the original destination, the crew learned that a Japanese air raid was in progress over the airfield. The planes are able to divert without incident to nearby Batchelor Airfield, where a very grateful General MacArthur awards Silver Stars to the crews of the two bombers. Waiting at the airfield are two Australian National Airways DC-3 transport planes. Because the general's wife, Jean MacArthur, is tired of flying, the general has the planes fly them only to the nearest railway station at Alice Springs, 1000 miles (1600 km) away. There, the general, his wife, and a few cronies spend the night on cots on a hotel verandah before later boarding a special train to Melbourne.

The Advertiser of Adelaide, Australia, of 17 March 1942 notes in its headline that the Japanese have bombed Darwin for the third time. However, there does not appear to be any mention of General MacArthur's arrival.

MacArthur's arrival receives worldwide attention. President Roosevelt issues a public statement congratulating the general on his escape:

I know that every man and woman in the United States admires with me General MacArthur's determination to fight to the finish with his men in the Philippines. But I also know that every man and woman is in agreement that all important decisions must be made with a view toward the successful termination of the war. Knowing this, I am sure that every American, if faced individually with the question as to where General MacArthur could best serve his country, could come to only one answer.

President Roosevelt quickly sends off a cable to Winston Churchill apprising him of the general's arrival in Australi with "a small staff." Roosevelt also instructs General Brett, the US commander in Australia, to propose MacArthur as the supreme commander in that region to Australian Prime Minister Curtin. This offer is immediately accepted by PM Curtin, making MacArthur the overall commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific Ocean.

The United States officially takes responsibility for the strategic defense of the Pacific Theater of Operations. The British still have a presence there, of course, but the overwhelming power lies in the hands of the Americans and this is just an acceptance of the reality of the situation.

The Hattiesburg (Mississippi) American of 17 March 1942 notes the arrival of General MacArthur but also trumpets the series of tornadoes that have devastated many nearby states from 15-17 March 1942.

The trapped men left behind in the Philippines (two-thirds of whom do not survive the war) are not quite as joyful as some others, but nobody in the outside world can hear them anyway. However, the Axis propaganda networks are trumpeting MacArthur's departure from the Philippines, a fact which makes Roosevelt urge Churchill to issue a joint press release announcing the general's escape so that the effects of such propaganda is "forestalled." MacArthur will further this effort on 20 March 1942 when he makes his famous "I shall return" speech.

US Navy submarine USS Grayback (SS-208, Lt. Cdr. W. A. Saunders) sinks 3291-ton Japanese collier Ishikari Maru six miles west of Port Lloyd, Chichi Jima, Bonin Islands. There is no indication of casualties.

US Navy submarine USS Permit is damaged by depth charges off Tayabas Bay, Luzon, but remains on patrol.

Eastern Front: Operation Raubtier, the German attempt to encircle Soviet forces that have advanced across the Volkhov River, continues to make slow but steady progress. The Germans in the north are coming very close to one of the two Soviet supply roads, codenamed "Erika." If they take it, the Soviets will have only one other supply road, codenamed "Dora," for their two armies operating to the west.

European Air Operations: A prolonged lull in major RAF operations continues. A lone Wellington bomber is sent to Essen but, due to clouds that prevent accurate navigation, drops its bombs in the Ruhr River.

Tanker San Demetrio, sunk on 17 March 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-68 (K.Kapt. Karl-Freidrich Merten), on its third patrol out of Lorient, has a big day while operating about 28 miles southwest of Cape Palmas, Ivory Coast. It sinks three ships. First, at 06:35, Merten torpedoes and later uses the deck gun to finish off independent 5755-ton British freighter Ile de Batz. There are four deaths and 39 survivors. Then, at 13:26, Merten puts two torpedoes into 4917-ton British freighter Scottish Prince. Once again, Captain Merten surfaces and the crew uses the deck gun to finish off the slowly sinking Scottish Prince. There is only one death, and the 38 survivors make it to Cape Palmas in the boats. Finally, at 21:03, Merten spots his third victim, 5081-ton British freighter Allende. Two torpedoes send the Allende to the bottom. There are five dead and 38 survivors.

U-404 (Kptlt. Otto von Bülow), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 8073-ton British tanker San Demetrio. The tanker is traveling independently northwest of Cape Charles, Virginia. There are 19 dead, and the 34 survivors spend two days in lifeboats before being picked up by passing American freighter Beta. The master, Conrad Vidot, receives the Lloyds War Medal for Bravery at sea. This is another in a series of devastating tanker losses for the Allies in early 1942  which are causing concern in Washington and London.

British freighter Allende, sunk on 17 March 1942 off the coast of Africa.

U-124 (K.Kapt. Johann Mohr), nicknamed "Edelweisseboot," on its eighth and most successful patrol, torpedoes and sinks 1698-ton Honduran freighter Ceiba off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The crew of the independent Ceiba has brought along their wives and children, and many of them are among the 44 deaths. There are only a dozen survivors.

U-71 (K.Kapt. Walter Flachsenberg) is operating about 450 miles southeast of Philadephia, Pennsylvania when it puts two torpedoes into 6355-ton Norwegian tanker Ranja at 18:58. The ship catches fire and develops a list but does not sink and even continues to make headway, so Flachsenberg puts another torpedo into it at 19:54. That does the trick and the tanker becomes a blazing wreck that soon sinks. There are 34 deaths.

Norwegian tanker Ranja, sunk on 17 March 1942.

U-373 (Kptlt. Paul-Karl Loeser), on its fourth patrol out of Brest, torpedoes and sinks independent 4292-ton Greek freighter Mount Lycabettus at 15:08 in the mid-Atlantic. All 30 men on board perish and this sinking was a mystery under post-war records were consulted. According to one source, the Lycabettus was chartered by neutral Switzerland with a Swiss cross painting and "Switzerland" prominently written on her hull, but this did not save her.

Royal Navy 630-ton rescue tug HMS Adept runs aground at Paterson's Rock near Sanda Island, Scotland, in thick fog. The sea batters the tug before it can be refloated and it is written off. There is no indication of any casualties.

British 3738-ton freighter Clare Lilley runs aground at Portuguese Cover, Halifax Harbor, and is lost. There are five deaths, and the rest of the crew is saved only due to heroic efforts by locals residents. The Clare Lilley's cargo of munitions remains a local hazard until the present day, though much of it was removed in the 1970s.

Italian submarine Guglielmotti, sunk on 17 March 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Unbeaten (captain Edward Arthur Woodward) spots Italian submarine Guglielmotti off Capo dell Armi, Sicily, At 06:40, Captain Woodward fires four torpedoes and sinks the Italian submarine. All 61 men on board perish. Guglielmotti ends its career having sunk only one vessel, 4008-ton Greek tanker Atlas on 6 September 1940. This is the second British sinking of an Italian submarine recently, with HMS Ultimatum having sunk one on 14 March 1942.

U-83 (Kptlt. Hans-Werner Kraus) torpedoes and badly damages 2590-ton British tanker Crista between Alexandria and Tobruk. There are seven deaths, but the ship does not sink. A British motor torpedo boat (MTB 266) finds it abandoned and anchors it off Bardia, Libya. It is then towed back to Alexandria, arriving on the 28th. Crista is put back into service after repairs in 1944.

Royal Navy carrier-based aircraft attack 1778-ton German freighter Achaia and send it on a frantic attempt to escape. This causes the ship to blunder into a minefield, which does sink her about 25 miles east of Tripoli, Libya. There is no record of casualties.

Heavy Axis bombing of Malta resumes after a day of rest. Numerous bombs are dropped, particularly on favored targets Luqa and Grand Harbour. There are 30 civilian deaths recorded and one Spitfire is lost, along with several planes damaged on the ground. All told, the Luftwaffe drops 79,000 kg of high explosives today on the island.

Funeral of a United States seaman on 17 March 1942 in Gillingham Cemetery, Kent. "US Marines and US Seamen standing at the salute at the graveside." © IWM (A 7813).

British Military: Air Vice Marshal Donald F. Stevenson, commanding Allied air forces, transfers his headquarters from Burma to Calcutta. India.

US Military: Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley establishes his new United States Naval Forces Europe command. This will plan joint operations with the Royal Navy. Ghormley, former commander of the USS Nevada and Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, has been President Roosevelt's Special Naval Observer in the United Kingdom since August 1940. While Ghormley has a fancy new title, his European command actually only encompasses a very few ships, at least one of which the British have "lent" the US Navy (USS Impulse, formerly the British corvette HMS Begonia, commissioned into the US Navy on 16 March 1942 at the Albert Dock.).

The US Army Air Force 9th Pursuit Squadron arrives at Darwin, Northern Territory, equipped with P-40Es. The port city has been under regular Japanese air raids and today, of course, is when General MacArthur arrives there from the Philippines.

On 17 March 1942, occupation authorities execute Serbian communist and anti-fascist militant Nada Dimić. She is executed in the Stara Gradiška concentration camp. Nada Dimić was a member of a partisan group in Croatia. She was executed for helping people escape the fascists into partisan areas.

Holocaust: At recently constructed Belzec extermination camp in Poland, daily gassings of prisoners begin. This is done quietly by experienced Aktion T4 (euthanasia program) personnel brought in under the guise of being Operation Todt construction laborers. While there have been gassings of prisoners before during the T4 euthanasia program (since ended, at least officially, due to public outcry), Belzec is the first stationary extermination camp to enter operation (Auschwitz is already functional but is not yet gassing inmates).

The Germans take great pains to conceal the camp's true purpose by creating two separate zones, or camps that are completely screened from each other. These are smaller gas chambers than are used later, made of planks and insulated with sand and rubber. It takes time to perfect the extermination process, with many rooms not functioning properly, and this quickly creates a massive backlog of thousands of people awaiting execution with more arriving daily by train. New gas chambers of brick and mortar are soon built as a result of the lessons learned from this early process. There is little time to waste, as today the Germans send the first transport trains of Jews from the cities of Lublin and Lwów (Lviv) to Belzec.

In Ilja, north of Minsk, USSR, the SS rounds up and liquidates 900 Jews. The incident is notable because the victims attempted collective resistance, but it failed.

In Kovno, 24 Jewish residents are found outside the ghetto buying food from local Lithuanians. Such "escapes" are strictly forbidden, and all 24 men are shot by the Gestapo.

The first United States wartime draft lottery takes place on 17 March 1942.

British Homefront: The recent surge in U-boat sinkings of tankers, such as the sinking of tanker San Demetrio today, leads to a painful result in Great Britain. Drastic cuts are announced by Hugh Dalton, the president of the board of trade, in parliament. The British government imposes fuel rationing of about 25%. Coal, gas, and electricity for home heating are all subject to new limits. Persistent over-consumption will lead to prosecution and a complete cut-off of supply. In addition, the government announces cuts in the civilian clothing ration in order to release 50,000 textile workers for war production. All pleasure boating also is banned in order to save fuel.

American Homefront: The Wartime Civil Control Administration of the Western Defense Command and Fourth Army announce two new steps to speed up the "voluntary" evacuation of alien and American-born Japanese from the Pacific Coast military area. These include the opening of new services centers in 64 communities in the three Pacific Coast states and Arizona. In addition, the Farm Security Administration announces a plan for continuing full production on agricultural lands to be evacuated by the departing internees.

Future History: John Wayne Gacy is born in Chicago Illinois. He becomes involved with the Illinois Democratic Party in 1960, becoming an assistant precinct captain. He then engages in a series of odd jobs, including that of a mortuary attendant. During the 1960s, Gacy is believed to have begun sexually assaulting minor boys, and for one incident he is convicted and serves time in the Anamosa State Penitentiary. During the 1970s, Gacy's sexual violence escalates and he begins a string of murders, again of minor boys. He performs at events as ""Pogo the Clown" or "Patches the Clown," which enables him to disarm his victims into thinking he is safe. Gacy is arrested on 21 December 1978 and convicted of sodomy of a teenage boy in Iowa in 1968, serves his time, and returns to Illinois. He then continues his string of murders, which leads in 1980 to convictions of 33 counts of murder. After spending 14 years on death row, John Wayne Gacy is executed by lethal injection on 10 May 1994.

The 17 March 1942 Decatur (Illinois) Daily Review features scenes of devastation from the series of hurricanes that hit the southern half of the United States in mid-March 1942.

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

Sunday 1 March 1942

HMS Exeter is hit by a torpedo fired by Japanese destroyer Inazuma during the Second Battle of the Java Sea, 1 March 1942.

Damaged during the First Battle of Java Sea, Royal Navy cruiser HMS Exeter (famous for helping to destroyer German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee in 1939) is ordered on 28 February to leave immediately from Surabaya to Ceylon for repairs. The decision comes just before the Japanese Navy sweeps the sea later that night in the Battle of Java Sea. At nightfall, Exeter and escorting destroyers HMS Encounter and USS Pope depart from the main north entrance (rather than the less obvious southern one) of the harbor due to Exeter's draft. The seas are swarming with Japanese, ships, and they spot Exeter at 04:00 on 1 March. They elude their pursuer, but the Japanese sight them again at 09:35. Heavy cruisers Haguro and Nachi, accompanied by destroyers Kawakaze and Yamakaze, approach and cause the Exeter to change course to the northeast. However, this only leads the British ships toward another group of Japanese warships (heavy cruisers Ashigara and Myōkō and destroyers Inazuma and Akebono). At 10:20, the ships begin firing at each other. At 11:20, a shell hits Exeter's boiler room, slowing it to four knots, and the Japanese cruisers close in. Exeter sinks at 11:40 about 90 miles (78 nautical miles and 140 km) northwest of Bawean. Both destroyers are sunk soon after, Encounter after her captain orders her scuttled and Pope by dive bombers. While the Japanese rescue 652 men from Exeter, 152 of them perish in Japanese custody.

HMS Exeter sinking on 1 March 1942 (U.S. Navy photo NH 91772 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command, captured by US forces on Attu Island in 1943).

Japanese Aichi D3A ("Val") dive bombers operating near Christmas Island attack and sink US Navy fuel tanker USS Pecos and damage accompanying destroyer USS Edsall. Battleships Hiei and Kirishima are alerted to the destroyer's plight and they sail to the area and sink it using gunfire. There are five survivors of the Edsall who are captured and executed by the Japanese at Kendari on Celebes Island.

With the seas now cleared of large Allied warships, the invasion of Java continues without serious interruption. The first landings begin just after midnight at around 00:15. Japanese transport ships unload troops at Bantam Bay in West Java (near Merak and Eretan Wetan) and Kragan in East Java. Facing little opposition, the Japanese in the western force quickly sets up its headquarters at Serang, while the eastern force takes Kalidjati airfield by noon. The Allied defenders send defensive forces to the landing zones during the day, but they do not arrive in numbers large enough to counterattack until 2 March.

The Second Battle in the Java Sea, 1 March 1942. Heavy cruiser Myoko and Ashigara are firing on the Exeter.

Everyone on the Allied side can see that the end is near for Java, and evacuations are in full swing. The USAAF flies its last three B-17s and an A-24 Dauntless squadron back toward Australia. Nine P-40s, six RAAF fighters, and four RNAF fighters attack the Japanese landings, losing three planes. The Japanese Air Force then counterattacks the P-40 base at Blimbing Airdrome and destroys the surviving fighters on the ground.

In the Philippines, the front is quiet but the Allied position is withering. The 34th Pursuit Squadron has been engaged in heavy fighting for two months and is down to its last two planes. The Japanese, however, also are taking heavy casualties, having lost 2700 killed and 4000 wounded. The difference between the two sides is that the Japanese can easily bring in reinforcements from the north, while the Allies are effectively blockaded by the oppressive Japanese sea and air presence.

Dutch freighter Rooseboom, sunk west of Sumatra on 1 March 1942.

Japanese submarine HIJMS I-59 (later I-159), under the command of Lieutenant Yoshimatsu, torpedoes and sinks 1035-ton Dutch freighter at 23:35 west of Sumatra. Two men are picked up by a passing Dutch freighter in the water nine days later, with well over 100 deaths. There is one other (known) survivor, and he tells quite a tale. The sinking is best remembered for the account of the events endured by the survivors in the sole lifeboat that is launched before the ship quickly capsizes told by Corporal Walter Gardiner Gibson. According to Gibson, 80 people are crowded in the boat which is designed to hold only 28 people, with many more survivors left to swim in the water. Some of the swimming men try to build a raft from flotsam, but it sinks and they all drown. There is no food or water and people in the boat begin to hallucinate, many killing themselves due to their agony. A group of survivors in the boat's bow throws the weaker ones overboard at night, and then they themselves are pushed overboard to drown. When the survivors are down to a group of two white men, a Chinese woman, and four Javanese seamen, the Javanese murder and eat the other white man. Eventually, the lifeboat grounds on an island off Sumatra, Sipora. The four Javanese sailors all perish (two disappear into the jungle). The Japanese shoot the Chinese woman as a spy and put Gibson in a POW camp. Gibson lives to write two books about his experiences, "The Boat" (1952) and "Highland Laddie" (1954).

President Polk, sunk near the Gilbert Islands on 1 March 1942.

Japanese aircraft bomb and sink 9225-ton US troopship President Polk near the Gilbert Islands. The Americans later raise the ship and return it to service.

Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25 launches its Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane "Glen" to perform reconnaissance over Hobart, Tasmania. As on its other flights, the seaplane carries out its mission without being spotted.

Destroyer USS Pope (DD-225) sinking on 1 March 1942 during the Second Battle of the Java Sea. This photo was taken from a Japanese floatplane.

Eastern Front: While the front has stabilized following the Soviet counteroffensive in December, the German position remains much shakier than anyone ever expected. General Halder, head of OKH, issues an analysis showing that total casualties are approaching half the number of men that began the campaign. While many of those men are still fighting, the winter was not the respite that the Wehrmacht expected and instead has turned into a struggle to the death. Replacements are not coming close to making up all the losses, and ammunition supplies are becoming an issue as well.

After almost two weeks of indecision about whether to even approach Hitler with the idea of another retreat, today Fourth Army General Heinrici arrives at the Fuhrer headquarters in Rastenburg to plead his case with Hitler. Hitler, however, already is thinking about operations elsewhere to regain the initiative and rescue the trapped units at Kholm and Demyansk and is not concerned about the troops near Moscow. To Heinrici's (and everyone else's) astonishment, Hitler immediately grants the withdrawal request. He explains that previously he had been "deliberately obstinate" about retreats, but the front situation has improved so much in recent weeks that he no longer cares exactly where it is. Heinrici returns to headquarters with permission to pull troops back from an exposed position at Yukhnov.

Guns of Japanese cruiser Myoko firing during the Second Battle of the Java Sea, 1 March 1942.

On the Crimea, the Soviet effort along the Parpach Narrows front now is focused on the Romanian forces at the north end of the line. They are the only sector that has given up serious ground. Today, the German 170th Infantry Division moves up and stops this threat, leaving the Red Army in possession of a bulge at the extreme northern end of the line. The Soviets land a small party at Alushta today, but it achieves nothing and quickly re-embarks, while the Soviet Navy bombards Yalta and Feodosiya to little effect. The Soviets already have lost 40 tanks during their offensive and now are achieving little, but they refuse to abandon it. Lieutenant General Dmitry Timofeyevich Kozlov prepares one last attack on the 2nd against the German strongpoint at Koi-Asan.

HMS Exeter sinking after the Second Battle of Java Sea, 1 March 1942.

European Air Operations: The RAF conducts no major missions today.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-656 (Kptlt. Ernst Kröning), on its second patrol out of Brest, is bombed and sunk by a Lockheed PBO-1 Hudson (VP-82 USN) south of Cape Race, Newfoundland. An unlucky boat, U-656 sinks or damages no ships during its career. There are no survivors of the 45 aboard. This U-boat sinking by an airplane is a rare event for this period of World War II.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Unbeaten sinks 3415-ton Vichy French tanker PLM.20 5 nautical miles east of Mehedia (Mahdia), Tunisia.

US/British Relations: Winston Churchill rightfully fears a Japanese expansion into the Indian Ocean. Today, he informs President Roosevelt of the Royal Navy's desire to land troops at Diego Suarez, Madagascar. Madagascar is under Vichy French control, and already there are Japanese submarines around India. The invasion is still tentative at this point, however, and no plans have been prepared.

Canadian Military: The Canadian Women's Army Corps receives full Army status as "a Corps of the Active Militia of Canada." Before this, the only women's units admitted to this status were the nursing sisters.

Auschwitz 2.

Holocaust: The Germans begin building the Sobibor concentration camp near the town of Włodawa (Wolzek), Poland. The location is chosen due to the nearby Chełm – Włodawa railway line connecting the General Government with the Reichskommissariat Ukraine. Local people begin the construction and are soon replaced by the forced labor of a Sonderkommando of local Jewish residents. Ultimately, well over a hundred thousand people are murdered at the camp.

Also on 1 March 1942, Auschwitz Birkenau (also known as Auschwitz 2) is established. It is intended to house Soviet prisoners of war but ultimately becomes the main extermination camp at Auschwitz.

One of the first ration books (The National WWII Museum).

American Homefront: Nationwide food rationing takes effect throughout the United Staes. Not everything is rationed - for instance, fresh fruit and vegetables are not - so everyone can always find something to eat. People also are free to grow or raise their own food. However, certain food items such as coffee and sugar must be imported and thus are rationed because the shipping is needed for other purposes.

By now, about 10,000 family members of US servicemen have been evacuated from Hawaii. About 20,000 remain to be shipped to California. They are taking up all of the shipping space, which leaves none for the proposed internment on the mainland (favored by the US Army) of Japanese-Americans. This indirectly blocks their removal from the islands.

Cornelius Vanderbilt III passes away in Miami Beach, Florida at the age of 68. He is most remembered for his interest in yachting and for serving honorably as a brigadier general in World War I.

The owners of the major league baseball clubs decide against allowing players who now are in the military from playing for their clubs when they are available, i.e., on leave or based nearby.

The Japanese 2d Division celebrates landing at Merak, Java, on 1 March 1942.

Future History: The wreck of HMS Exeter was discovered on 21 February 2007 some 60 miles (97 km) from the last position given by its commander, Captain Oliver Gordon (who survives). It was classified as a British war grave and thus was considered untouchable. However, when another diving expedition visits the location in November 2016, it finds the right spot - but the ship itself is missing. Exeter, along with the nearby wreck of destroyer Encounter and two other vessels, apparently had been illegally scavenged during the intervening decade. It must have been a major salvage operation, one of the biggest in history. How this was done without anyone knowing about it in approximately 60 meters (200 feet) of water remains a mystery, along with what was done with the wrecks (presumably scrapped).


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

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

Monday 12 January 1942

General Erwin Rommel, leader of Panzer Group Africa, with General Ludwig Cruwell, commander of Afrika Korps, near El Agheila on 12 January 1942. They are meeting with leaders of Italian Division "Pavia." Rommel begins planning a counteroffensive today (Gemini, Ernst A., Federal Archive Picture 183-1982-0927-503).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The 2nd South African Division forces the surrender of the German/Italian stronghold at Sollum on the Egyptian border early on 12 January 1942. The Sollum fortress provided an outlet to the sea for the 5,000 Italian troops holding out at Halfaya Pass, so now they are completely isolated (though the sea routes weren't very useful anyway due to Royal Navy control of the sea). The Italian defenders of the Halfaya position are dug in and determined to hold out, but they are running out of food and water and their position is hopeless. Hopeless, that is, unless Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel pulls off a miracle and stages a counteroffensive to relieve them. Such is the growing legend of Rommel that the Italians are willing to suffer extreme privations in the belief that miracles do happen and the panzers will suddenly appear on the horizon. Unbeknownst to the Italian defenders, Rommel does begin planning just such a counteroffensive today. Rommel, as is his common practice, does not inform either the Italian or German high commands. This prevents Allied codebreakers from learning of the plans. Whether the hard-pressed Italians at Halfaya can hold out until the Germans counterattack is doubtful.

German 1840-ton freighter Turkheim torpedoed and sunk by Soviet submarine S-102 on 12 January 1942. The Turkheim was sunk near Hamningberg - Vardø in northern Norway.

Just east of Cape Spartivento, Italy, British submarine HMS Unbeaten (Cdr Edward "Teddy" Woodward) spots U-374 (Oblt.z.S. Unno von Fischel) on the surface. Damaged on 10 January 1942 by Royal Navy destroyer HMS Legion and Dutch destroyer Isaac Sweers, U-374 is unable to submerge. Commander Woodward torpedoes U-374, sinking it and killing 42 men. There is one survivor that Unbeaten takes prisoner.

In this photo taken on 12 January 1942, the German battleship Tirpitz leaves Kiel and sails through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal to return to Wilhelmshaven. The Germans are making big decisions about their big ships today

Battle of the Atlantic: Adolf Hitler is losing confidence in the ability of the Kriegsmarine to operate surface ships in the Atlantic. They also are not safe in their anchorage at Brest, France, because of massive RAF bombing raids which already have caused the ships some damage. Hitler, however, sees continued use for the surface ships in the far north of Norway to intercept Allied convoys to Russia and to aid in coastal defense. For them to operate in Norway, though, the ships first need to return past England to the Baltic. This can be done in either of two ways, either in a large, dangerous loop to the west of Great Britain or an even more dangerous, but much quicker, journey straight up the narrow English Channel. Hitler chooses the latter.

German battleship Tirpitz sails through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal during its return to Wilhelmshaven on 12 January 1942.

Hitler orders Admiral Raeder to prepare plans for a "surprise break up the Channel" by the cruisers to reach the German Atlantic port of Wilhelmshaven. Raeder today opposes the plan, at least if it uses the channel route, but agrees to prepare and execute the operation as long as Hitler himself gives the final order to execute it. The Luftwaffe also opposes the plan but agrees to execute it as Unternehmen Donnerkeil (Operation Thunderbolt). It is planned for right before a new moon in early February 1942. The entire Channel Dash is given the codename Operation Cerberus, apparently because Cerberus in mythology is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld, and several German heavy cruisers (Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen) are to make the journey.

German battleship Tirpitz sails through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal during its return to Wilhelmshaven on 12 January 1942.

Battle of the Pacific: US Navy Task Force 8.6, led by heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) and light cruisers Detroit (CL-8) and Raleigh (CL-7), escorts Amulet Force to a successful landing on Amchitka Island. This is 2,000 men under the command of Brigadier General Lloyd E. Jones. During the landing, a fierce storm hits which, along with a tricky current, causes destroyer Worden to hit a submerged rock. The destroyer loses power and it eventually drifts ashore and is broken up. There are fourteen dead, but its commanding officer, Cdr William G. Pogue, is hauled out of the water unconscious but alive.

Tugs assisting German battleship Tirpitz as it sails through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal during its return to Wilhelmshaven on 12 January 1942.

With the Japanese seizing control of a large portion of the southwest Pacific, the US Army Air Force establishes a new southern route from Hawaii to Australia south of the Philippines. Three USAAF B-17 bombers complete the first flight from Hawaii to Australia today. The Combined Chiefs of Staff approve plans to garrison a chain of islands along this route that will include American Samoa, Bora Bora, Canton Island, Christmas Island, the Fiji Islands, and Palmyra Island.

Life magazine on 12 January 1942 features "Pacific Coast Defense."

The limits of British air defenses in Singapore are amply demonstrated today when a flight of 27 Japanese bombers is chased by RAAF Brewster Buffaloes after completing a mission over the island. The Japanese pilots manage to outrun the obsolete fighters, causing a RAAF pilot to comment, ""Bombers outpacing fighters. You've got to bloody-well laugh." On land, the Japanese forces stream through Kuala Lumpur and head toward Johore, where the British are planning their last stand on the Malay Peninsula.

Time magazine for 12 January 1942 features Sir Henry Pownall, "Trustee of Singapore." Pownall was the commander-in-chief of the British Far East Command in South East Asia until January 942 when it was succeeded by the short-lived ABDACOM. He is currently chief of staff to General Sir Archibald Wavell. (Ernest Hamlin Baker).

In the Philippines, the Japanese have closed up to the Allied outpost line across the neck of the Bataan Peninsula and begin major attacks. Allied forces are divided into two Corps, I Corps in the west and II Corps in the east, with II Corps being slightly more powerful because it represents the "short route" for the Japanese forces coming from the east. The Japanese make gains against the Filipino 51st Division in the western portion of the II Corps area and the Filipino 41st Division in the center of the II Corps line. In the east portion of the II Corps line, the Japanese cross the Calaguiman River and establish bridgeheads on the south bank. In the I Corps area, the Japanese use boats to seize undefended Grande Island in Manila Bay.

"The destruction around St Paul's Cathedral caused by an air raid on London is softened by a heavy dusting of snow. A mobile crane and truck can be seen at work to clear up some of the debris." January 1942. © IWM (D 6412).

At Tarakan, a triangle-shaped island less than three miles off the Borneo coast, the Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger (Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, or KNIL) garrison surrenders in the morning of 12 January. The triumphant Sakaguchi Detachment and 2nd Kure Special Naval Landing Force drown 219 POWs as retaliation for losses they suffered during the Battle of Tarakan. Most of the Dutch ships based at Tarakan manage to escape, but Japanese destroyer Yamakaze and patrol boat P-38 sink Dutch minelayer Prins van Oranje as it attempts a run for safety.

U-43 (Kptlt. Wolfgang Lüth) torpedoes and sinks 5246-ton Swedish freighter Yngaren about 600 miles west of Ireland on 12 January 1942. The Yngaren was carrying a cargo of 4696 tons copra, 3000 tons manganese ore, and 80 tons trucks and 8 aircraft. There are 38 deaths and 2 survivors.

On Celebes (Sulawesi), the Battle of Manado ends in a Japanese victory. Japanese paratroopers are dropped at the airfield at Longoan. They suffer heavy casualties but secure the field. The local Dutch commander, Captain W.C. van den Berg, retreats with his forces inland and prepares to begin a guerilla campaign. Van den Berg's men are almost all retired men who are long past normal military age. There are a few more isolated Dutch outposts left to capture and the guerilla campaign poses some problems for the Japanese, but, for all intents and purposes, the battle for Celebes is over. The Japanese always have an ace card in these situations because they effectively hold civilians hostage (including women) and have no compunctions about executing them in retaliation for Allied raids.

Oberleutnant Erbo Graf von Kageneck, a holder of the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and Staffelkapitän of the 9./JG 27 fighter unit. He dies of wounds suffered in North Africa at a Naples, Italy, hospital on 12 January 1942. Kageneck is posthumously promoted to Hauptmann and finishes with 67 victories. It is believed that Australian ace Clive Caldwell shot him down.

Eastern Front: The Soviet 51st Division on the Crimea deploys its two regiments along the new line that runs from north to south on the Parpach Narrows. The Germans have assembled four divisions for an attack on the Red Army's 51st and 44th Divisions and to recapture Feodosiya, the key port in the south. The Luftwaffe also is building up its forces to help the attack under newly formed Special Staff Crimea. It is commanded by General Robert Ritter von Greim.

"South African sappers making German Teller mines safe, 12 January 1942." © IWM (E 7602).

The Soviet advance toward Sychevka, a train stop on the critical rail line between Vyazma and Rzhev, becomes a critical problem as the day wears on. The Germans holding the town can distinctly hear the fighting just to the east. The large German presence anchored at Rzhev would become untenable if the railway line is cut, so holding Sychevka is critical. Ninth Army commander General Adolf Strauss has his headquarters at Sychevka and remains in the town. However, all telephone and telegraph lines have been cut, so the Germans in Sychevka are out of communication with the army's own units. The Soviets have broken through on both sides, but the German hope is that by holding Sychevka itself, the railway line can be secured. The railway line already is basically out of commission at this point anyway because of snowdrifts and the disappearance of the Soviet civilians who have been operating the Soviet locomotives.

Reinhard Heydrich speaking with Hermann Goering at Goering's birthday celebration, Jan. 12, 1942.

German Homefront: It is Hermann Goering's birthday, an event that is celebrated each year throughout the Reich. Among others, Reinhard Heydrich visits Goering at Karinhall, Goering's estate near Berlin.

American Homefront: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9017 establishing the National War Labor Board (NWLB). William Hammatt Davis is its first chairman. Its purpose is to prevent labor problems from interfering with the war effort. The NWLB sets wage controls for industries deemed vital to the war effort, including automobiles, shipping, railways, airlines, telegraph lines, and mining. The NWLB supersedes the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) established in 1935. The NLRB remains in existence for matters deemed less important to the war effort and eventually resumes its original mission after the NWLB is discontinued in 1945.

The US Office of Price Administration decrees that hot dogs from now on must be made from a mixture of meat and soy meal. These are to be called "victory sausages."

Having enlisted on 10 January, the day after his recent title fight against Buddy Baer, boxer Joe Louis reports for duty at Camp Upton amid a media blitz.

Children emptying their piggy banks to buy war stamps. The Times of Munster, Indiana, 12 January 1942.

1942

January 1942

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

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