Tuesday 10 February 1942

"Der Adler", Nr. 3, 10 February 1942.

American Homefront: Pursuant to an order issued by Donald M. Nelson, Chairman of the War Production Board, all remaining car production in the United States ceases on 9 February 1942. In a well-publicized event, the last civilian car is completed for the duration at the River Rouge Ford Plant. This order benefits the war effort in two ways. First, automobile production consumes a huge percentage of the United States' strategically important raw materials (for instance, 51% of malleable iron, 75% of plate glass, 68% of upholstery leather, 80% of rubber). This frees the materials up for war production. Second, the production lines are rapidly being converted to military goods.

A 1942 Lincoln. As an indication of how far World War II set the automotive industry back, consider that Ford offered an automatic transmission on 1942 Lincolns and Mercurys, the "Liquamatic," as an option. Ford quickly withdrew it for reasons unknown and did not offer another automatic transmission until 1951.

Automotive production lines ultimately produce 50% of all aircraft engines, 33% of all machine guns, 80% of tanks and tank parts, 100% of all Army trucks, and 50% of all diesel engines used by the military. Perhaps the auto manufacturers' most vital contribution is the production of 27,000 complete aircraft, including most of the B-24s that enter service at the Willow Run plant. Other vital goods also flow from the auto production lines, including 20% of all munitions production.

An article in the 10 February 1942 Der Adler military magazine summarizes the war in the Pacific. On the right is a summary of Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross) winners. Medals were extremely important in the Wehrmacht and gave certain solders prestige and fame far beyond that usually accorded their rank.

Battle of the Pacific: With the Japanese holding a large swathe of northwestern Singapore, General Sir Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief ABDA, arrives by air to review the situation. He orders the island held, which the local generals do not consider very difficult, but also orders all remaining RAF personnel to fly to bases in the Netherlands East Indies. The situation on the ground continues to deteriorate for the British, with the Japanese now able to ferry across artillery and even armor to northwest Singapore. The 11th Indian Infantry Division (Major-General B. W. Key) makes a desperate counterattack against Japanese troops which have seized the heights to the south of the Causeway, but this fails. The overall commander of all Allied forces in Singapore, Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, orders a secondary defensive line behind the main defensive line around Jurong in the west, but subordinate commanders misinterpret this to mean a general withdrawal to the east. This leads to a collapse of the Kranji-Jurong Switch Line. General Wavell orders Percival to launch a quick counterattack to re-establish the line, but through muddled communications and lack of ready troops, this counterattack does not take place before the Japanese launch further attacks in the sector.

Japanese troops during the Battle of Bukit Timah, 10 February 1942. That is a Type 97 'Chi-Ha' medium tank.

In London, Prime Minister Winston Churchill is dismayed at the reports that he is receiving from Singapore. He cables General Wavell:

I think you ought to realize the way we view the situation in Singapore. It was reported to Cabinet by the CIGS [Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Alan Brooke] that Percival has over 100,000 [sic] men, of whom 33,000 are British and 17,000 Australian. It is doubtful whether the Japanese have as many in the whole Malay Peninsula ... In these circumstances, the defenders must greatly outnumber Japanese forces who have crossed the straits, and in a well-contested battle, they should destroy them. There must at this stage be no thought of saving the troops or sparing the population. The battle must be fought to the bitter end at all costs. The 18th Division has a chance to make its name in history. Commanders and senior officers should die with their troops. The honor of the British Empire and of the British Army is at stake. I rely on you to show no mercy to weakness in any form. With the Russians fighting as they are and the Americans so stubborn at Luzon, the whole reputation of our country and our race is involved. It is expected that every unit will be brought into close contact with the enemy and fight it out.

While Churchill somewhat overstates the number of Allied troops in Singapore, he is generally correct that the British outnumber the Japanese. However, the Japanese have battle-hardened, disciplined troops who have a record of victories down the length of the Malay Peninsula. The British have many service troops, bureaucrats, and unarmed troops (thanks to Japanese sinkings of supply ships). They also are victims of poor leadership and an extremely difficult defensive posture with many areas of vulnerability and little air support.

The U.S. Navy only now has gotten around on 10 February 1942 to provide official notifications to next of kin of those who perished during the Pearl Harbor attack on 7 December 1942. Here is a notice about Chicago resident and U.S. Marine Herbert A. Dreesbach. Private Dreesbach, born in 1917, enlisted on 8 October 1940 and was aboard the U.S.S. Arizona as a loader, 5" gun. As with many others who perished on USS Arizona, Private Dreesbach's body was not recovered and is believed to remain aboard the ship. This notice appeared in the Chicago Daily Tribune, 10 February 1942.

On the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines, the Allies continue attacking Japanese pockets behind the Main Line of Resistance (MLR). The main remaining pocket is on the western half of the peninsula in the I Corps sector. While these pockets do not represent true threats to the MLR, they are a major distraction for both sides. The Japanese troops under General Homma have pulled back in some areas to concentrate their forces for a final offensive.

As noted above, Private Herbert Dreesbach perished aboard the USS Arizona. His sister, Elaine H. Dreesbach, enlists in the US Marines in 1944 and is stationed in Hawaii. Chicago Daily Tribune, 25 February 1945. Born in 1919, Elaine later marries, moves to Arkansas, where she has two sons and two daughters and passes away in 2007.

The Japanese continue advancing on Borneo, taking Banjarmasin and a nearby airfield on the south coast. These are not vital areas for the Allies, but the Japanese are advancing in the direction of Java, the heart of their defenses in the Netherlands East Indies. The 5th Air Force sends some LB-30s (export B-24 Liberators) to attack Japanese shipping in the Makassar Strait. They find, bomb, and damage Japanese seaplane carrier HIJMS Chitose.

The Michigan Daily of 10 February 1942 has big news - the Regents have adopted a three-Semester school year. Oh, and over on the left is news that the Japanese have invaded Singapore Island in a night assault.

About 2000 US Army troops arrive on Christmas Island, Line Islands. The large defensive forces on Christmas Island also includes P-39s of the USAAF 7th Air Force's 12th Pursuit Squadron, 50th Pursuit Group.

Japanese submarine HIJMS I-69 once again shells Midway Island. However, this time the defending Americans strike back, sending F2A Buffalo fighters of the Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-211 to bomb it. The fighters strafe I-69, lightly damaging it and forcing the submarine to return to Kwajalein for repairs.

The Japanese bomb and sink 5236-ton American tanker Mindanao. The Japanese will raise the Mindanao later in 1942, rename it Palembang Maru, and put it into service until it is sunk by air attack on 4 March 1945 off Saigon.

HMS Eagle on 10 February 1942 (Imperial War Museum).

Eastern Front: The Wehrmacht has suffered serious losses during the winter when they had planned on building up their forces during an inactive period. This is due to the successful Red Army counteroffensive which began around Moscow and spread both north and south. Army Group Center takes 110,000 casualties during February and receives 70,000 replacements. Since the Soviet counteroffensive began in early December, the Army Group is short 227,000 troops. About a quarter of the replacements are men returning from hospitals, while many of the others are untrained men who previously have been deferred.

The Cypriot Mule Corps in the Western Desert, North Africa,10 February 1942 (Imperial War Museum).

European Air Operations: The RAF launches its major operation in February, sending 55 bombers to attack Bremen, three Whitleys to bomb Emden, and one bomber each to attack Borkum, Cuxhaven, and Wilhelmshaven. RAF Bomber Command also sends 20 bombers (12 Wellingtons and 8 Stirlings) to attack the German naval base at Brest, but the area is covered by heavy clouds and little is accomplished there. The RAF incurs no losses in these operations.

An article in the 10 February 1942 Der Adler about combat in Finnland.

The British still are completely unaware that the Kriegsmarine is planning its Channel Dash (Operation Cerberus) to begin from Brest after dark on 11 February. Adolf Galland, in overall command of the critical air portion of the operation, completes the last of eight rehearsals for the operation. His plan is to have fighters circling very low around the ships as they dash up the channel, avoiding British radar until the ships are sighted and the RAF appears. Everything is meticulously planned, and the air portion of the Channel Dash has the codename Unternehmen Donnerkeil (Operation Thunderbolt).

The Luftwaffe continues its operations against British shipping, damaging 3176-ton British freighter Lieutenant Robert Mory about five miles west of Trevose Head.

A helpful article on 10 February 1942 Der Adler discusses the mascots of Luftwaffe units. These could be cartoon characters, animals, or abstract symbols. For instance, the man with the cane in the middle-right of the left page is the cartoon character Adamson, used in the 4th, then 8th Staffel of elite fighter squadron JG 26. JG 26 was perhaps the Luftwaffe unit best known to Allied fighter pilots, as it served on the Channel front throughout the war.

Battle of the Atlantic: A mine sinks 3648-ton German freighter off Borkum, west of Vlieland, the Netherlands. This sinking sometimes is attributed to a torpedo from an unknown source, but a mine seems more likely, especially considering that RAF recently has dropped numerous mines in the general vicinity.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The two sides have settled down to garrison duty after the Afrika Korps' rapid advance past Benghazi. Off the coast, U-652 (Oblt. Georg-Werner Fraatz), on its fifth patrol out of La Spezia, attacks a British tanker off Sidi Barrani but misses. After dark, a Luftwaffe attack on the village of Qormi, which is packed with refugees, kills 16 people and destroys 30 houses.

A good view of the Adamson character used on planes in 8/JG 26.

German/Romanian Relations: Romanian dictator (Conducător) Ion Antonescu arrives in Rastenburg, East Prussia, for a two-day visit with Adolf Hitler. Romania is the Reich's only source of natural oil and also has a well-respected army which incurred heavy casualties taking Odessa in 1941. Hitler already is thinking ahead to the summer campaign and presses Antonescu to provide large formations for a major offensive in the Army Group South sector. Antonescu agrees but asks for modern weaponry and the transfer of northern Transylvania from Hungary, which would reverse the Second Vienna Award of 30 October 1940. Hitler basically replies that he will think about both requests but he ultimately never grants them. This is a reminder to everyone that Romania and Hungary are almost more interested in fighting each other over their conflicting claims in Eastern Europe as they are in defeating the Soviet Union. Throughout the war, Romanian and Hungarian units are always separated by Wehrmacht formations.

Death notices are a fact of life... and death ... during wartime. Here is one from the 10 February 1942 LA Daily World regarding a US Marine, Russell John Durio, killed in action at Pearl Harbor. He was born in 1922, had enlisted on 12 October 1940, and was aboard the USS Arizona. His body is believed to be still aboard USS Arizona.

Finnish Military: The Finnish Army upgrades its Tank Battalion to an armored brigade.

US Military: The Fifth Air continues redeploying its forces. It sends the air echelon (B-17s) of the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy), 7th BG (Heavy) from Hickam Field, Hawaii, to Fiji.

British Homefront: Soap rationing begins in Great Britain.

Look magazine, 10 February 1942. "Why America Can't Lose" is a feature article. The lady pictured on the cover is actress Elyse Knox, future wife of football star Tom Harmon. Mrs. Harmon passed away in 2012.

February 1942

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

2020

Sunday 8 February 1942

Firefighters in Singapore battle a fire set by Japanese bombs on 8 February 1942.

Battle of the Pacific: After hours of preliminary bombardment by Japanese artillery, on 8 February 1942 the invasion of Singapore Island at Lim Chu Kang begins at 20:30 when Japanese boats carrying troops approach northwest Singapore. The Japanese troops of the 5th and 18th Divisions land at Sarimbun Beach, which is defended by just three battalions Australian 22nd Brigade. The Japanese gradually expand their foothold throughout the night, eventually landing 4000 troops. By midnight, the Japanese invaders have local ascendancy and the overwhelmed Australian troops have lost communication with each other and are in full retreat.

A map of the Battle of Sarimbun, the invasion of Singapore Island. Shown as blue circles are troops of the Australian 22nd Brigade, with the red arrows indicating Japanese landings. The Australian troops are positioned at the shoreline but are overwhelmed and in retreat, before 8 February 1942 is done.

In the Philippines, Lieutenant General Homma Masaharu, the Commander of the Japanese 14th Army, is alarmed by reports that the Allies are exerting massive pressure on several pockets of Japanese Army troops behind the Main Line of Resistance (MLR). Homma suspends all offensive operations and orders withdrawal of his most exposed forces for rest and reinforcement. On the Allied side, US I Corps on the western half of the MLR makes good progress against two pockets, completely cutting off the Japanese. After dark, one of the Japanese forces, the one in the "Little Pocket," escapes through the jungle back to Japanese lines, thus ending resistance there. Further south, the Allies achieve a major victory when they eliminate a small Japanese pocket at Quinauan Point. This attack is assisted by men from US Navy submarine tender USS Canopus, who land on the beach in a motor launch and hem in the Japanese. The Japanese are squeezed between these men and units of the Philippine Army Scouts and 57th Infantry Regiment. All but 34 Japanese, who escape by sea, are killed or captured.

Japanese troops crossing the Singapore Strait to invade Singapore ca. 8 February 1942 (Australian War Memorial 129751).

The Japanese continue their gradual occupation of Borneo today when they land at Bandjermasin in southeast Borneo. US Army Force Fifth Air Force bombers based at Singosari Aerodrome, Java, mounts a raid on  Kendari II Airdrome on Celebes. The defending dozen Japanese fighters spot the force early and shoot down two of nine B-17 bombers and damage a third. The surviving bombers abort the mission and return to base.

Continuing a rather trendless pointless trend of the first few months after the Pearl Harbor attack, a Japanese submarine surfaces. It shells Allied installations. HIJMS I-69, which has been in the vicinity of Midway since 21 January 1942 and whose crew may simply be bored, shells Midway atoll to little purpose.

A Soviet Aerosan RF-8/GAZ-98 snowmobile in action, February 1942. They are powered by a propeller (not shown) in the rear, like an airboat in the Everglades.

Eastern Front: While the German troops in Demyansk have been isolated for some time, 8 February 1942 is regarded as the date on which the pocket there forms. The Soviets are under the command of General Kurochkin. Encircled are about 90,000 Wehrmacht troops and around 10,000 auxiliaries under the command of II Corps (General Walter von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt). These men are members of the 12th, 30th, 32nd, 123rd and 290th infantry divisions, and the SS Division Totenkopf, as well as the Reich Labour Service, Ordnungspolizei (uniformed police), Organisation Todt, and other auxiliary units. Many have been swept into the pocket by the advance of the Soviet Northwest Front under the command of General Lieutenant Pavel Kurochkin. The Red Army successfully has severed the Demyansk position, which has been forbidden to withdraw due to Hitler's "stand fast" orders, from its railhead at Staraya Russa south of Lake Ilmen. While the Soviet advance has severed the German lines of communication, it has not captured any major German fortified positions, and eliminating the Demyansk pocket turns into their best chance to do that. The Luftwaffe already has an air supply to Demyansk in progress under the command of Luftflotte 1. Unlike some later and notorious airlifts, the Demyansk airlift (and the contemporaneous one to the smaller trapped garrison about 62 miles (100 km) to the south at Kholm) is successful. This is because it benefits from relatively short flights and a lack of concentrated Red Army anti-aircraft fire in the forested areas surrounding the pocket.

A Flak 88 artillery piece in the Demyansk pocket, February 1942.

European Air Operations: Weather conditions are poor, so an RAF mission by four Blenheim Intruders to the Netherlands is recalled while still over the English Channel.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-108 (KrvKpt. Klaus Scholtz), on its sixth patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 7174-ton British freighter Ocean Venture about 100 miles northeast of Norfolk, Virginia (near Cape Hatteras). There are a dozen survivors and 31 deaths.

The ships which are slated to be involved in German Operation Cerberus, the Channel Dash, continue working up their seaworthiness after a year of inactivity at Brest, France. Adolf Galland, Luftwaffe Inspector of Fighters, prepares air cover for the mission. Operation Cerberus is scheduled for the night of 11 February due to lunar conditions.

SS Duino, sunk on 8 February 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS Proteus collides with Italian torpedo boat Sagittario off the North African coast. Both ships make it back to port, the Proteus with bent hydroplanes.

1334-ton Italian freighter SS Duino hits a mine and sinks off Cape San Vito, near Bari, Italy. This sinking is sometimes credited to HMS Upholder, but it is usually attributed to a mine. Italian 2710-ton freighter Salpi is also damaged and perhaps sunk in this incident.

The Demyansk and Kholm pockets.

US/Philippine Relations: Philippine President Manuel Quezon asks President Franklin Roosevelt to grant his country independence and declare it a neutral area. Roosevelt ignores the request but gives the US area commander, General Douglas MacArthur, permission to surrender Filipino troops if he sees fit. This, of course, is not something the Filipino troops or MacArthur have any desire to do, as rumors of Japanese atrocities are floating throughout the theater.

US Military: A fire at Camp Edwards, Cape Cod, destroys 125 vehicles and causes an estimated $250,000 in damage. There are no injuries or deaths.

Canadian Military: The third contingent of Canadian troops lands in Great Britain.

A Todt Organisation fortification at Cap Gris Nez, France, in 1942/43 (Maier, Federal Archive Bild 146-1973-036-01).

German Government: Having spent an extended period at the Wolfsschanze ("Wolf's Lair") near Rastenburg in East Prussia, Dr. Fritz Todt perishes in an aircraft accident shortly after takeoff on 8 February 1942. Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition Todt recently had acquired new powers over the economy to improve war production. These powers would have impinged upon the fiefdoms of other top German officials, most significantly those of Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, whose Reich Air Ministry investigates the crash and flatly denied "the possibility of sabotage." Regardless, there are suspicions of assassination. Todt's is one in a series of mysterious transport plane crashes, including those of General der Jagdflieger Werner Mölders and General Hans-Valentin Hube, which remove promising leaders of the Third Reich. Todt's name remains on structures throughout Europe by virtue of inscriptions commemorating their erection by military engineering company Organisation Todt.

Albert Speer, right, with Adolf Hitler.

Albert Speer, Adolf Hitler's favorite architect who has been working on civic improvements in Berlin, just happens to be at the Wolfsschanze. He arrived there the previous evening in order to accompany Todt back to Berlin. However, Speer canceled this trip with Todt a few hours before takeoff, claiming fatigue from a late-night discussion with Hitler. Upon learning of the crash, Hitler instantly offers the position to Speer., who accepts. There is speculation that Hitler made this uncharacteristically quick decision in order to forestall a major battle within his inner circle over the Ministry and its immense power over the Reich economy. In particular, Goering was known to covet the Ministry, which would solidify his growing empire of factories throughout Austra and the Balkans (the "Hermann Goering Works"). Hitler also appoints Speer to replace Todt as head of the Organisation Todt, which is tasked with building fortifications throughout Europe.

Albert Speer, left, famously accompanied Adolf Hitler, center, on an early-morning visit to Paris in mid-1940. Speer was there as Hitler's friend and architect, not for any military reason.

Everyone, on both sides of the conflict, ultimately agrees that this choice of Speer to replace Todt is among Hitler's most inspired appointments. An architect by training, Alber Speer has virtually no experience in the management of armaments. What he does have in abundance, though, is common sense and few scruples about fulfilling Hitler's wishes. Speer certainly has his detractors within the Reich leadership, where he is disparaged and lazy and not fully committed to ultimate victory. However, Albert Speer is ambitious and savvy enough to use his close relationship with Hitler (whom he has known since before Hitler became Chancellor when he was hired to renovate the Berlin NSDAP headquarters) to defend and even expand his powers. Speer ultimately may have cause to regret his appointment, as he is found guilty after the war of using slave labor and spends 20 years in prison. However, on 8 February 1942, Speer is merely one of Hitler's old cronies who finds himself with vast new powers through a stroke of fortune.

A Luftwaffe Junkers Ju-52 flying in the Demyansk airbridge operation, 1942.

New Zealand: The government of New Zealand announces a potato shortage.

Holocaust: Dawid Rubinowicz, a 12-year-old Jewish boy in Occupied Poland, records in his diary an incident that he is told by another boy. He writes that a German soldier had entered a Jewish family's house and:

turned everyone out of the place. He’d then ordered the snow to be shoveled into the house because it was so dirty inside. I didn’t believe it. In the evening, however, I went and saw with my own eyes that it was really true, what he’d told me in the morning. Everyone was terrified, as you can well imagine.

While not as famous as Anne Frank's diary, the stories in the Rubinowicz diary are just as tragic.

Separately, a transport train of 96 Soviet POWs arrives today at Auschwitz. Ultimately, about 15,000 Red Army POWs are sent there, and most perish.

American Homefront: Japanese nationals already are heading toward inland internment camps. As recalled by Toyojiro Suzuki, a member of the Japanese fishing settlement on Terminal Island in Los Angeles Harbor, he was imprisoned on 2 February by members of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation before being embarked on a train east on 6 February. His train arrives today, 8 February 1942, in Missoula, Montana en route to a destination unknown. With him are approximately 150 other future internees. They are being taken to a camp outside Bismarck, North Dakota, where they arrive on 9 February.

Times Square, New York City, February 1942 (John Vachon for Office of War Information).

February 1942

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

2020