Tuesday 20 January 1942

Bomb damage on 20 January 1942 to the residence in Pieta, Malta, of the Army General Commanding Major-General D.M.W. Beak. General Beak can be seen on the second floor stranded by the unexploded bomb. The general eventually escapes and the bomb is disarmed. There are heavy air attacks throughout the day, with nine people buried alive at the clothing store at Marina Pinto and only one being rescued.

Holocaust: In the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, director of the Reich Main Security Office SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich presides over a meeting on 20 January 1942 that has long-term consequences for millions of people. The meeting lasts only about ninety minutes, and in that time Heydrich speaks for about an hour, with the remainder of the time devoted to questions and informal discussion. As is typical during such meetings within the Third Reich, the conclusions and directives of the meeting have been formulated previously, and the meeting itself is more for informational purposes than arriving at a conclusion. At the conclusion of the meeting, Heydrich instructs SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) Adolf Eichmann to draft a summary (or protocol) of the meeting that would convey the gist of the meeting's conclusions without being too explicit about who said what or unnecessary details. There is unanimous approval among the fifteen participants on the program set forth. The most general conclusion of the Wannsee Conference is that European Jewry must be exterminated and that this would be accomplished under the Third Reich primarily in extermination camps located in "the East."

The site of the Wannsee Conference held on 20 January 1942.

The Wannsee Conference occurs to begin implementing the "final solution of the Jewish question" ordered by Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering in a letter dated 31 July 1941. The protocol is only a little less vague than Goering's original order but does make clear that this "final solution" would involve millions of deaths. The exact procedure is left open to future refinements, but able-bodied Jews are to be used for their labor before eventually eliminating them. The intentional vagueness of the protocol is common within the Third Reich in situations where everyone tacitly understands that horrible consequences for many fellow human beings are not only intended but to be embraced. The top leaders such as Goering, Reichsführer-SS (Reich Leader SS) Heinrich Himmler, and Reich Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop do not attend in person. Instead, they send representatives to "protect their interests," which is a common practice in staff meetings which may impinge on Third Reich fiefdoms. There is a heavy representation by the Schutzstaffel (SS), which is to be responsible for carrying out the exterminations. As is also typical, only a limited number of copies (30) of the protocol are prepared and almost all copies are destroyed before the end of the war. However, at least one copy (that of Martin Luther) survives to be discovered in 1947. Some people date the beginning of the Holocaust in its most virulent form from the Wannsee Conference.

USS S-36, which runs aground on 20 January 1942 and ultimately is lost, moored next to tender USS Canopus (AS-9) circa 1930. You can tell that it is peacetime due to the clothing hung out to dry on the submarine.

Battle of the Pacific: US Navy submarine USS S-36 (SS-141) runs aground on the Taka Bakang Reef in the Makassar Strait at 04:04. The forward battery generates chlorine gas which makes recovery attempts impossible. The crew sends out a plain-language distress call which is heard by nearby US submarine USS Sargo (SS-188). This message ultimately causes the Dutch at Makassar City to send out a launch that rescues the 42 officers and crew.

The Yoshida Battalion ambushing the retreating British troops in Parit Sulong on 20 January 1942. Credit: Takao Fusayama.

The fierce battle west of Yong Peng on the Malay Peninsula to hold open a line of retreat for Commonwealth troops further north continues on 20 January 1942. At dawn, the 3/16th Punjab Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Moorhead, launches a desperate attempt to retake a critical bridge at Parit Salong which the British had been forced to surrender on the 19th. However, there is utter confusion in the area, and by the time they reach the bridge, Moorhead's troops come under friendly fire by nearby British troops of the 53rd Brigade. The Japanese then attack. Moorhead is killed and the counterattack, leaving the bridge in Japanese hands. Meanwhile, Muar Force (primarily 45th Indian Brigade) under Australian Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Anderson approaches the bridge from the north during a very costly retreat in men and equipment without any idea that it is now held by the Japanese. Anderson and his men fight desperately throughout the day, and Anderson personally leads a bayonet charge to get through a Japanese roadblock. Muar Force plans to cross the Parit Salong bridge at daybreak on the 21st.

Japanese planes preparing for attacks on Rabaul on 20 January 1942. This is Akagi's flight deck. The photo shows Vals, Kates, and Zeros. Credit: Famous Aircraft of the World # 55 (Bunrindo Co, Ltd.,1995).

The Japanese continue pressing the Commonwealth troops all across the Malay Peninsula. The RAAF attacks Japanese troops landing at Endau with Vildebeest bombers without success. The Commonwealth troops have barely had time to establish a defensive line in Johore, but already the Japanese are attacking it. The British have built no fortifications on the Batu Pahat–Kluang–Mersing line and many troops, such as the 45th Indian Brigade, are still struggling just to reach it. The rapid Japanese advance also is causing the Allied air commands in the area problems. Major General George H. Brett, Commanding General US Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA), makes the extremely difficult decision to halt all ferry flights of aircraft from India via Java in the Netherlands East Indies due to increasing losses to Japanese fighters based in southern Burma and the Malay Peninsula. The only route left for such flights now is across the southern Pacific from the United States.

A B5N2 "Kate" from the carrier Akagi over Rabaul on 20 January 1942. The Kate carries an 800-kg bomb. CREDIT: "SAMOURAI SUR PORTE-AVIONS - Les groupes embarqués japonais et leurs porte-avions (1922-1944)," by Michel Ledet.

In Burma, the Japanese to date have made relatively small incursions. However, today they send larger forces across the Thai border and attack north Tenasserim. The defending 16th Brigade, Indian 17th Division fights a delaying battle along the Myawadi-Kawkareik road, near the Thai border east of Moulmein.

The fierce battles on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines continue primarily in the center of the line. The main Japanese attacks are on the western flank of II Corps, which defends the eastern half of the defensive line along the neck of the peninsula. In the I Corps sector to the west, the most intense fighting dies down as the Japanese pull back and prepare for a coordinated attack. However, the Japanese continue to attempt to infiltrate troops in the central Mount Silanganan area.

A Japanese D3A1 EII-206 takes off from Zuikaku on 20 January 1942 to attack Rabaul.

A large Japanese invasion fleet led by two aircraft carriers - Akagi and Kaga - under the command of Vice-Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue approaches New Ireland and New Britain in the Australian Territory of New Guinea. There are other Japanese ships already in place off the coast that have been launching constant attacks. The Japanese objective is the naval base at Rabaul. The Japanese have been attacking the port with multiple waves of aircraft every day and plan on invading on the 21st. Today, ninety Japanese planes attack, and RAAF No. 24 Squadron loses six of eight obsolete Wirraway fighters in a futile attempt to stop them.

The Japanese issue a demand for surrender to the Dutch Balikpapan, Borneo, Garrison Commander. They require that the Dutch surrender the oil refinery installation there intact. The Dutch refuse and prepare to defend it. Allied aerial reconnaissance spots a Japanese convoy in the Makassar Strait apparently heading toward Balikpapan.

"Western Desert, Egypt. 20 January 1942. Flying over Halfaya soon after the surrender of the garrison on 17 January 1942, an Air Ministry photographer took this aerial photograph which shows knocked out tanks, armored vehicles, and emplacements. To the right can be seen the graves of members of the garrison." Australian War Memorial MED0306.

Eastern Front: In the Crimea, the German 30th and 42nd Corps reach the Parpach Narrows after a brisk advance that already has recovered the port of Feodosia. The narrow front enables the Red Army troops under General Kozlov to hold here, and both sides quickly begin constructing fortifications. This ends the immediate sequence of events put into motion by the Red Army landings near Kerch in late December 1941. Both sides can claim a victory of sorts, but neither side has accomplished its main objectives (the Red Army to relieve Sevastopol, the Wehrmacht to clear the entire Crimea). Both intend to resume offensive operations after rebuilding their strength. Overall, over the last five days of the German counterstroke, the Red Army's 44th Army has lost about 6700 troops killed, lost 85 tanks, and lost about 10,000 prisoners and 177 guns. The Germans have lost 223 men killed or missing and 995 casualties overall. The recent battles have reinforced the general summer trend of the Germans winning limited objectives at a relatively small cost, but with the Red Army preventing far greater defeats at a very heavy cost. However, farther north around Moscow, the Red Army has completely turned the tables on the Germans and continues its counteroffensive.

"Vice-Admiral Sir Ralph Leatham, KCB, the new Vice Admiral for Malta, saying goodbye to Admiral Sir Wilbraham Ford, KCB, KBE (right) who is leaving Malta." 20 January 1942. © IWM (A 7230).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Having just received a large number of supplies at Tripoli on the 20th, which he has had unloaded and put into the line with his usual extreme speed, Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel now is ready to launch the counteroffensive that he has been planning in Libya. As is his usual practice, Rommel does not request permission from Rome for his attack. This prevents Allied "Ultra" codebreakers at Bletchley Park from learning of his plans. The British troops at the front do not expect a counterattack so soon after the successful Operation Crusader and are not in good defensive positions. Rommel plans to launch his attack from El Agheila early on the 21st.

"The ensign of HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, lowered to half-mast for the funeral of HRH The Duke of Connaught." 20 January 1942. © IWM (A 8016).

US Military: United States Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson notes in his diary that Pearl Harbor was "no longer a safe advance base for the Navy under the conditions of modern air and sea warfare." This reflects pessimism within the US Navy ever since Pearl Harbor about holding the Hawaiian Islands against a determined Japanese attack. Others within the US military, however, remain determined to hold Hawaii because it is the only base capable of sustaining an offensive against the Japanese. The War Department also is concerned about how to feed the 250,000 civilians on the island in addition to military personnel. Emergency food shipments have begun from San Francisco and are making headway in relieving that issue, but it remains a concern.

Shokaku's dive-bomber group leader Lt.Cmdr. Kakuichi Takahashi D3A1's EI-238 flying over Rabaul, January 20, 1942. Credit: "Famous Aircraft of the World" type 99 carrier dive-bomber #33 (Bunrindo Co, Ltd., 1992).

American Homefront: Rogers Hornsby is elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. He is the last inductee until 1946. Hornsby retired with a lifetime batting average of .358, second only to Ty Cobb's career average .367, and is considered one of the top hitters and second basemen to play the game.

President Roosevelt signs an Executive Order establishing Daylight Savings Time to go into effect on 9 February and remain in effect for the remainder of the war.

"Gun crews of the port gun turrets sponging out the barrels of the 4.5 guns. Two battleships are in line astern" Aboard HMS Victorious off Hvalfjord, Iceland on 20 January 1942. The Royal Navy is in the middle of a search for German battleship Tirpitz, which is believed to be at sea. © IWM (A 7277).

Attendees at the Wannsee Conference of 20 January 1942:

• SS-Obergruppenführer (Lieutenant-General) Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of the RSHA, Deputy Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Presiding
• SS-Gruppenführer (Major-General) Otto Hofmann, Head of the SS Race and Settlement Main Office (RuSHA)
• SS-Gruppenführer (Major-General) Heinrich Müller aka "Gestapo Müller," Chief of Amt IV (Gestapo), Reich Main Security Office (RSHA)
• SS-Oberführer (Senior Colonel) Dr. Karl Eberhard Schöngarth, Commander of the SiPo and the SD in the General Government (Polish Occupation Authority)
• SS-Oberführer (Senior Colonel) Dr. Gerhard Klopfer, Permanent Secretary, NSDAP Party Chancellery
• SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) Adolf Eichmann, Head of Referat IV B4 of the Gestapo, Recording Secretary
• SS-Sturmbannführer (Major) Dr. Rudolf Lange, Commander of the SiPo and the SD for Latvia; Deputy Commander of the SiPo and the SD for the RKO, Head of Einsatzkommando 2
• Dr. Georg Leibbrandt, Reichsamtleiter (Reich Head Office), Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
• Dr. Alfred Meyer, Gauleiter (Regional Party Leader), State Secretary, and Deputy Reich Minister, Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
• Dr. Josef Bühler, State Secretary, General Government (Polish Occupation Authority)
• Dr. Roland Freisler, State Secretary, Reich Ministry of Justice
• SS-Brigadeführer (Brigadier General) Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart, State Secretary, Reich Interior Ministry
• SS-Oberführer (Senior Colonel) Erich Neumann, State Secretary, Office of the Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan
• Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger, Permanent Secretary, Reich Chancellery
• Martin Luther, Under-Secretary, Reich Foreign Ministry

Norwegian freighter Herstein, bombed and sunk at Rabaul on 20 January 1942 by dive bombers flying from Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku.

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

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

2020

Monday 5 January 1942

"Western Desert, Egypt. 5 January 1942. En route to a raid on Halfaya, this pilot of a Bristol Blenheim bomber aircraft looks through his gunsight as the raiding aircraft sweep down on the isolated Axis positions. Ceaseless attacks are being carried out by RAF and Free French squadrons." Australian War Memorial MED0297.

Eastern Front: The Soviet leaders have been greatly surprised by the success of the counterattack around Moscow that began in early December 1941. On 5 January 1942, the political and military leaders make plans to convert the counteroffensive into a general offensive that will liberate vast sections of Soviet territory. After dark, the Politburo (political) members meet with Stavka (military) members to discuss a drive not only to relieve pressure on Moscow, but also to liberate Leningrad, the Donets Basin, and the Crimea. While the offensives in the Crimea and around Moscow already are in progress, the ones near Leningrad and in the Donets Basin are scheduled to begin on 7 January 1942 for the former and in two weeks for the latter.

Borger Daily Herald (Borger, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 38, Ed. 1 Monday, January 5, 1942. The Daily Herald headline correctly reads, "Hitler and His Generals Split as Russian Campaign Back-Fires."

Stalin presides over the meeting, as usual, and notes the reason for expanding the offensive:

The Germans are in confusion as a result of their setback at Moscow. They are badly prepared for winter. Now is the best moment to over to the general offensive.

Stalin then asks General Georgy Zhukov to speak, apparently without coordinating what Zhukov should say beforehand. Surprisingly, Zhukov disagrees with Stalin, which is extremely unusual, particularly in such an open setting. Zhukov contends that the entire effort should be made in the center of the front around Moscow and not dispersed to other areas. Another official present, member of the State Defense Committee and chief of war production Nikolai Voznesensky, then is asked to speak and basically supports Zhukov, not Stalin. Voznesensky notes that there would not be enough ammunition and weapons to sustain offensives in different places, so only one area should be chosen. It is an extraordinary display of independence among people in very vulnerable positions.

Images from a 5 January 1942 Life magazine article on life in the US Navy after Pearl Harbor.

However, Stalin is not upset, but he does have the last word. He concludes by saying:

We must pound the Germans to pieces as soon as possible so they won't be able to mount an offensive in the spring.

Stalin's plan for a general offensive in multiple places is adopted. Some members present at the meeting are surprised that Zhukov took a different position than Stalin. Martial Boris Shaposhnikov pulls Zhukov aside and chastises him for disagreeing because "the supreme commander had that question settled." Zhukov notes that he spoke his mind because his opinion had been requested, and asks why was he asked to speak it if it only supposed to be the same as Stalin's? This stumps Shaposhnikov, who lamely replies, "That, my dear fellow, I do not know."

Images from a 5 January 1942 Life magazine article on life in the US Navy after Pearl Harbor.

The Soviet counteroffensive already is making progress both in the Crimea and around Moscow. Soviet 51st Army finally reaches the Parpach Narrows today after a slow move west from Kerch, but it takes no offensive action. Further north, the Soviet 10th Army takes Belov (Belyov or Belev) south of Kaluga and southwest of Tula. The front is gradually drifting away from Moscow and freeing up large areas where the Soviets can begin rebuilding.

"A view of MASB 37 as seen from the bow. The Commanding Officer is seen directing the operation from his tiny bridge while the machine gunner is at the ready." MASB 37 in the Firth of Forth, 5 January 1942. © IWM (A 6958).

This photo of USS West Virginia (BB-48) taken on 5 January 1942 shows bomb and fire damage from the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.

Food is running low and resupply appears problematic in the Philippines, so rations for everyone are cut in half. The Allies form a new line running from Dinaluplhan on the west to Hermosa on the east. This protects the entrance to, or base of, the Bataan Peninsula from the north and east and is the center of communications in the northern portion of the peninsula. The withdrawal continues after dark, with the troops passing through Layac Junction and then blowing the bridge there. They continue to hold the junction itself until the 6th. The 71st and 72d Regiments, 71st Division, Philippine Army, the U.S. 31st Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Division, and the 26th Cavalry Regiment, Philippine Scouts form a switch line south of Layac along the west side of the Olongapo-Manila road.

With the war in the Philippines going poorly for the Allies, the US media reverts to its practices from just after Pearl Harbor and prints accounts of nonexistent victories there. Here, the New Castle (Pennsylvania) News of 5 January 1942 gives stirring tales of fabulous American victories in the Philippines while the US forces, in fact, are retreating under pressure into the Bataan Peninsula.

The US Army Air Forces continue a hurried reorganization of their deployments in the Philippines. Brigadier General Richard J. Marshall establishes the Headquarters US Army Forces Far East (USAFFE) in Bataan. The ground echelons of the 17th and 91st Bombardment Squadrons, 27th Bombardment Group transfer from Limay to Bataan. The Japanese are attacking Corregidor every day and also select targets in the Manila Bay area.

Images from a 5 January 1942 Life magazine article on life in the US Navy after Pearl Harbor.

The British are building up their presence in Burma as the Japanese consolidate their hold on the southernmost sliver of land running south to the west of Thailand. The Indian 17th Division moves into new headquarters at Moulmein at the top of the sliver of land to form a block against a Japanese advance into the heart of the country. However, only one of three brigades that constitute the division, the 16th Brigade, while two remain behind in India.

Images from a 5 January 1942 Life magazine article on life in the US Navy after Pearl Harbor.

At Singapore, the British begin planning for the worst. The Commander-in-Chief British Eastern Fleet, Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton, moves his flag (headquarters) from Singapore to Batavia, Java, Netherlands East Indies. At a conference in Segamat, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival, General Officer Commanding Malaya Command, plans for a retreat into Johore.

This situation map of the battle at Layac Junction is based on materials that came from the United States Army Center of Military History.

Further north on the Malay Peninsula, the Indian 11th Division continues to hold its main defensive line anchored at Trolak just north of the Slim River. However, it is today it comes under pressure. The British have chosen to defend a narrow roadway between heavily forested areas that are just north of the Cluny Rubber estate, where the forests have been cut down and which is just north of the Slim River. During the afternoon, the Indian 5/16th Brigade on the coast pulls back through the 12th Indian Brigade positions, which is positioned on the north bank of the Slim River. The advance guard of the Japanese 42nd Regiment following close behind then launches an attack on the 12th Indian Brigade that leaves 60 Japanese soldiers dead on the battlefield. The leader of the Japanese Regiment, Colonel Ando, then decides to await reinforcements before launching further attacks. While the Allies' line holds, the situation looks grim for them because the Japanese can bring up more troops and the Allies don't have a lot of troops to spare. In addition, and unknown to the British, the Japanese have a large number of tanks quickly heading south, while the Allies have none available at all.

Life magazine prints this picture of an unidentified US Navy cruiser in its 5 January 1942 issue.

Battle of the Mediterranean: In a rare victory by one submarine over another, British submarine HMS/M 'Upholder' (N 99, Lieutenant-Commander Malcolm David Wanklyn) torpedoes and sinks 1461-ton Italian submarine Ammiraglio Saint Bon to the north of Milazzo, Sicily. There are three survivors and 59 deaths. The Ammiraglio Saint Bon was en route from Naples to Tripoli carrying 155 tons of gasoline and ammunition, which explode when the torpedo hits the starboard side. This is a demoralizing blow to the Axis because it demonstrates that not even submarine transport is safe in the Mediterranean.

"Benghazi, Cyrenaica, Libya. 5 January 1942. The scene at El Berca airfield showing the wreckage of the many Axis aircraft destroyed and a densely filled cemetery behind." Australian War Memorial MED0274.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Following the large Luftwaffe raid on Malta on 4 January, the British intelligence service in Cairo learns that the Germans have assembled powerful dive-bomber forces in Sicily for further attacks. There also are reports from an aerial reconnaissance of an Italian battleship accompanied by other ships about 200 miles to the east. The Germans conduct several raids around mid-day which drop bombs over Gozo, Msida Creek, near Tal Qroqq, near Gudja searchlight position, and in Zabbar. The British defenses are hampered by heavy rains recently, which have made the grass airfields waterlogged and sometimes impossible to use. The RAF manages no interceptions during the day, and the Luftwaffe loses no planes nor has any damaged, a rarity for days with sustained attacks.

Time magazine, 5 January 1942 (cover photo credit: Ernest Hamlin Baker).

Western Front: RAF Bomber Command sends 89 Wellington bombers and 65 other aircraft (154 total) to attack the port area of Cherbourg and other German naval bases. The Kriegsmarine still has heavy cruisers Prinz Eugen, Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau at Cherbourg. The Germans make smoke, which successfully destroys the bombers' aim. While the warships are not hit, there is damage to the port area and large fires. The German admirals begin thinking of a way to get the large ships out of harm's way, but options are limited. One thing is sure, the Germans don't have much time to act before the raids begin causing serious damage.

Images from a 5 January 1942 Life magazine article on life in the US Navy after Pearl Harbor.

US/Japanese Relations: While Japan and the United States are at war, there are still certain diplomatic formalities to discharge. Each side is obligated to return the other's diplomats, for instance. The Japanese accept the port of Laurenzo Marques (Maputo) in Mozambique for this exchange of diplomats.

On 5 January 1942, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell, Chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Yards and Docks, is given authority from the Bureau of Navigation to recruit men from the construction trades for assignment to a Naval Construction Regiment composed of three Naval Construction Battalions. The first construction units, later nicknamed Seabees for the acronym of "Construction Battalions," are formed at a newly constructed naval bast at Davisville, Rhode Island. (Postcard from the U.S. Naval Construction Training Center, Camp Endicott, Davisville, Rhode Island. Gift of Gay Meaker, The National WWII Museum Inc., 2003.103.095).

US Military: US Forces in Australia (USFIA), which controls Far East Air Force (FEAF), is activated and redesignated US Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA). It is under the overall command of Major General George H. Brett, and its headquarters is located in the MacRobertson Girls High School in Melbourne, Victoria.

All men aged 20-44 now are required to register for the draft no later than 16 February 1942. All Japanese-American selective service registrants are classified as enemy aliens (IV-C). Many Japanese-American soldiers are discharged or assigned to menial labor such as kitchen police (KP) duty.

"A squadron of Japanese raiders speck the sky above the smoke clouds rising from the dirty work they wrought below." Images from a 5 January 1942 Life magazine article on life in the US Navy after Pearl Harbor.

The US Navy changes its regulations covering the display of national insignia on aircraft. The star returns to the upper right and the lower left wing surfaces, and there is a revised rudder striping that now has 13 red and white horizontal stripes.

"A repair and salvage party at work on a motor cutter which broke down and went ashore in a gale." Scapa Flow,  5 January 1942. © IWM (A 6951).

Australian Military: The War Cabinet in Canberra approves a British request for transfer of the Australian I Corps (6th and 7th Divisions) from the Middle East to Southeast Asia. The British also begin moving the British 18th and Indian 17th Divisions from the Middle East to Bombay, India; Ceylon; and Singapore, Malaya. These British initiatives are designed to allay Australian and New Zealand fears that the British will focus exclusively on the Middle East battles while allowing the Far East territories to remain in peril.

British Military: British General Claude E. Auchinleck, Commander in Chief Middle East Command, has his authority expanded to include Iraq and Iran. British forces in Iraq are designated British Tenth Army under Lieutenant General Edward P. Quinan, with Ninth Army covering British forces in Syria under General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson.

Images in the 5 January 1942 issue of Life magazine showing life aboard a US Navy cruiser.

Holocaust: The Dutch Council of Churches issues a public protest against the mistreatment of Jewish residents. All Dutch Jews already are required to register with occupation authorities, but mass exterminations have not begun.

American Homefront: All enemy aliens in San Francisco, California, are required to surrender by the end of the day all radio transmitters, shortwave receivers and precision cameras to the U.S. Army's Western Defense Command under Lieutenant General John DeWitt.

The cover story for the 5 January 1942 Life magazine is "Wanted: 50,000 Nurses."

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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