Tuesday 6 January 1942

President Roosevelt gives his State of the Union Address to a Joint Session of Congress on 6 January 1942.

Battle of the Pacific: Japanese pressure on Commonwealth troops defending the Slim River line continues on 6 January 1942. The Indian 11th Division has to defend both its north-facing main front on the western half of the Malay Peninsula and also its rear line of communications because Japanese forces have infiltrated behind it. The Indian 6/15 Brigade Group reaches the Batang Berjuntai area in an attempt to block one this flanking move. Here, south of the Selangor River, they dig in to oppose a Japanese advance from the west. Meanwhile, on the eastern side of the Malay Peninsula, the British Kuantan Force withdraws through Jerantut after dark and moves west toward Raub.

Artillery in action in North Africa, 6 January 1942.

In the Philippines, the Allied troops have withdrawn to a short line across the neck of the Bataan Peninsula. The Main Battle Line runs from Abucay to Mount Natib to Mauban. The Allies have a switch position south of Layac Junction, and Japanese attacks today take Dinalupihan after the Allies evacuate it. The Japanese have brought up artillery which is made more effective by their dominance in the air, where Japanese observers act as artillery spotters. During the day, Major Toyosaku Shimada brings his assault force of about 17 Type 97 medium tanks and 3 Type 95 Ha-Go Light Tanks forward. He requests permission for a night attack, which is unusual in the Japanese Army, and the local commander, Colonel Ando, approves the request. This will be a head-on assault, not a flanking attack and with no diversions, which also is unusual. The attack is planned for 03:30 on 7 January. Elsewhere, a week-long Japanese aerial campaign against the fortress island of Corregidor ends with little to show for it, as the island's extensive pre-war fortifications are mainly deep underground and remain undamaged.

In the Netherlands East Indies, a Japanese amphibious force lands at Brunei Bay, British Borneo. Seven Japanese flying boats attack Ambon Island's Laha Airfield during the night, scoring hits on two RAAF Hudson and a Brewster Buffalo.

Gene Tierney on the cover of Pic Magazine, 6 January 1942. She is promoting "The Shanghai Gesture" (1941), an early film about (among other things) addiction.

The Second Marine Brigade of the United States Marines under the command of General Henry L. Larsen has been ordered to transfer to Pago Pago, American Samoa. The Marines go aboard Matson Line passenger liners which recently have been used to evacuate non-essential military personnel and civilians from the Hawaiian Islands. The liners are SS Lurline, Matsonia, and Monterey, and they are accompanied by freighter USS Jupiter and ammunition ship Lassen. US Navy Task Force 17, which includes aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, heavy cruiser Louisville, light cruiser St. Louis, and three destroyers, serves as the Marines' escort.

"Bardia, Cyrenaica, Libya. 6 January 1942. An aerial view taken on the day that Bardia fell shows a long line of prisoners stretching down the road being rounded up by the Allied land forces and transported in the back of trucks." Australian War Memorial MED0280.

Japanese submarine I-7 remains lurking off Hawaii as it has since the war began. It sent its seaplane on a daring reconnaissance mission over Pearl Harbor on 18 December, and today it sends it on another mission over the US naval base after dark. The Americans never detect either flight and do not even know that they happened until after the war.

Christmas service (January 6, 1942) in the monastery church in Kharkov (Herber, Federal Archive Bild 183-B16165).

Eastern Front: The Soviets have committed to a General Offensive beginning on 7 January, so 6 January is fairly quiet as they position their troops and plan their strategy. The German position outside Moscow is more tenuous than it appears on a map because it is composed of often isolated groupings connected by long stretches of vulnerable roads and railways. Fourth Army, for instance, relies on one good road - the Rollbahn - for virtually all of its supplies Yukhnov. The road runs parallel to the front and the Red Army is only a few miles away from it. The Fourth Army chief of staff already has noted to OKH operations chief General Franz Halder that "If the Russian thrust gets through to it, it will be deadly." It would only require an advance of a few miles there and elsewhere for the Red Army to cause the Wehrmacht extreme problems that could lead to catastrophic losses. However, the Soviet effort could come to little if the attacks are poorly made or in the wrong places, so the degree of success depends upon good execution and clever strategy.

"Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville, KCB, DSO, leaving HMS HERMIONE." This was following Somerville's Farewell Address on 6 January 1942. Somerville, commander of Force H, has been appointed  Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Fleet with his flag in the battleship HMS Warspite. © IWM (A 6851).

Western Front: After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends another attack against the German warships at Cherbourg. The 31 Wellington bombers score a close miss on heavy cruiser Gneisenau that floods two compartments. A couple of the bombers bomb the port facilities. In other attacks, 11 Whitley bombers attack Stavanger Airfield in southern Norway and small groups of Hampden bombers attack a potpourri of German cities: five bomb Essen, three attack Munster, two each hit Cologne and Emden, and one each attack Aachen and Oldenburg.

"V Corps Operations in the ETO: 6 Jan. 1942 - 9 May 1945" by Lt. Col. Edgar Wilkerson et al chronicles the experiences of the first US Army troops deployed to Europe during World War II.

V Corps of the United States Army deploys the first American soldiers to the European Theater of Operations today. This force is known as the U.S. Army Northern Ireland Force or MAGNET. The V Corps troops are fated to be in the first wave on Omaha Beach on 6 June 1944.

"Bardia, Cyrenaica, Libya. 6 January 1942. Aerial view of Bardia taken on the day that the town was re-captured by Allied forces. The town sits on the end of a high and long rocky outcrop." Australian War Memorial MED0281.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The final surrender of the isolated Axis garrison of Bardia in North Africa, already agreed to, concludes today. The last of about 7000 Axis troops march into captivity. Other Axis troops remain nearby in Halfaya Pass, but they have little hope of relief and are running out of basic necessities like food and water.

"U-boat prisoners being landed from a tender. They are wearing clothing supplied by their captors." Greenock, 6 January 1942. © IWM (A 7073).

US/Chinese Relations: The recent Tulsa Incident in Rangoon, which badly strained Allied relations in the Far East, has been resolved to China's satisfaction. This has been due to US Secretary of State Cordell Hull intervening in a local dispute in which a British officer ordered the confiscation of US Lend-Lease supplies intended for China by declaring that they are Chinese property and not subject to confiscation. The US then nominated Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek as the Supreme Commander of an Allied China Theater. To return the favor, Chiang requests that a senior US officer act as his chief of staff. Chiang remains very upset at the British for their attempt to take "his" supplies, so this is both a gesture of gratitude toward the Americans and a slap at the British, who actually maintain a vastly greater presence in the Theater.

Messerschmitt Bf 109Es of I.(J)/LG 2) of JG 77 at Kecskemét Airfield, Hungary 1941. The nearest plane is that of Hauptmann Herbert Ihlefeld, Gruppenkommandeur of this unit during the period 30 August 1940 – 6 January 1942, until the squadron was reorganized and he took over I./JG 77. Ihlefeld became an "ace in a day" on 30 August 1940. While Ihlefeld was in command of I./JG 77, the unit was credited with 323 enemy aircraft downed for the loss of only 17 Bf 109s. If you look closely, you can see the victory markings on the tail of Ihlefeld's plane.

US Government: President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his annual State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress. He begins by noting the country's determination to win the war:

In fulfilling my duty to report upon the State of the Union, I am proud to say to you that the spirit of the American people was never higher than it is today—the Union was never more closely knit together—this country was never more deeply determined to face the solemn tasks before it.

This is the President's first speech to Congress since the war began, and he calls for massive new spending. The President's budget for the Fiscal Year 1943, which begins on October 1, 1942, is $59 billion. This will fund the construction of 45,000 aircraft, 45,000 tanks, 20,000 antiaircraft guns, and 8 million tons of new shipping. The figures are all unprecedented, but Roosevelt says they are necessary:

These figures and similar figures for a multitude of other implements of war will give the Japanese and Nazis a little idea of just what they accomplished.

Roosevelt's requests are certain to be passed, as his party has healthy majorities in both houses of Congress and the nation is gripped by a patriotic determination to win the war at any cost.

The U.S. Navy troop transport USS Wharton (AP-7) off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California (USA), 6 January 1942. Photograph 19-N-26645 from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

American Homefront: The issue of what to do about Japanese-Americans remains a very hot topic on the West Coast of the United States. Congressman Leland Ford of California sends a telegram to US Secretary of State Cordell Hull requesting their internment, stating:

I do not believe that we could be any too strict in our consideration of the Japanese in the face of the treacherous way in which they do things.

Congressman Ford's feelings are shared by many who greatly fear attacks from Japan such as those experienced at Pearl Harbor.

Pan American Airways Boeing B-314A, MSN 2083, registered NC18609 and named "Pacific Clipper." arrives in New York City after making an unprecedented journey for a commercial flight. Having flown from the United States to Auckland, New Zealand before the war, the Pacific Clipper was directed to fly back across the Indian Ocean rather than return across the unsafe Pacific (which typically would include stops at Midway and Wake Islands). The plane's journey totals 31,500 miles via Australia, the East Indies, India, Africa, South America, and Trinidad.

Emma Calvé.

French Homefront: French soprano Emma Calvé (15 August 1858-6 January 1942), perhaps the most famous French female opera singer of the Belle Époque, passes away in a clinic in Montpelier, aged 83.

Ecran Magazine, Chile, 6 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

Thursday 18 December 1941

The Japanese 10th Independent Artillery Brigade attacking North Point Power Station, Hong Kong, on December 18, 1941.

Eastern Front: After two days of deliberation and introspection, Adolf Hitler on 18 December 1941 issues an order to Army Group Center which sets for how the Wehrmacht shall respond to the unrelenting Soviet counteroffensive. The order reads:

The Fuehrer has ordered: Larger evasive movements cannot be made. They will lead to a total loss of heavy weapons and equipment. Commanding generals, commanders, and officers are to intervene in person to compel the troops to fanatical resistance in their positions without regard to enemy broken through [sic] on the flanks or in the rear. This is the only way to gain the time necessary to bring up the reinforcements from Germany and the West that I have ordered. Only if reserves have moved into rearward positions can thought be given to withdrawing to those positions.

This is not the order that the commanders at the front desired. The entire front is in motion, and the question now becomes whether it can even be stopped, much less hold a new line where it is.

Adolf Hitler hosts a Christmas party for German soldiers at the Lowenbraukeller restaurant in Munich on 18 December 1941. There is some doubt whether this series of pictures is from 1941 and not actually from the 1930s, but they are identified in the original sources as being from 1941, so that is why they are placed here (Photographer Hugo Jaeger dated these photos as being from 18 December 1941).

Field Marshal Fedor von Bock sends the order along to his army commands without comment. When General Erich Hoepner protests that the order cannot be followed, von Bock curtly tells him to "hold your fist in the backs of these people." General Guderian responds to the Army Group Center chief of staff:

The situation is more serious than one could imagine. If something does not happen soon, things will occur that the German armed forces have never before experienced. I will take these orders and file them. I will not pass them on even under threat of court-martial. I want at least to give my career a respectable ending.

Guderian then arranges a flight to the Wolfsschanze to argue his case directly with Hitler. Von Bock himself has fallen out of favor at the Fuehrer headquarters, which directs him to submit an immediate request for medical leave and relinquish his command to Field Marshal Günther von Kluge. Von Bock remains in good standing and will be put on the "Fuehrer Reserve" (Führerreserve) for future assignments.

The New Castle News of New Castle, Pennsylvania is full of good war news on 18 December 1941.

Battle of the Pacific: The Japanese Navy is hungry for information about the damage caused at Pearl Harbor and decides to take a chance to find out. Submarine 1-7 launches a floatplane that flies over Pearl Harbor at dawn on 18 December to find out. The plane apparently is not detected, showing that whatever security improvements the Americans have put in place have not been completely effective. This reconnaissance information leads to a Japanese Navy communique on 19 December that announces that 8 battleships, 4 cruisers, and 2 destroyers have been sunk or heavily damaged, and lesser damage has been done to another battleship and 4 more cruisers. The communique also claims that 450 US planes were destroyed on the ground and 14 shot down. These claims, particularly those related to aircraft, are inflated but not complete fantasy. The figures appear to stem more from enemy prewar overestimates of Hawaiian air strength than to the damage actually done, bad as it was.

Late in the day, Japanese forces cross the waterway to the north shore of Hong Kong Island and land on the island's northeastern shoreline. They consolidate their position and prepare to advance inland in the morning. They capture about 20 Commonwealth gunners of the Sai Wan Battery (5th Anti-Aircraft Battery of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defense Corps) and also roughly the same number of medical staff in the Salesian Mission on Chai Wan Road and execute almost all of them on the morning of the 19th.

While the Third Reich celebrated Christmas, they renamed it Julfest and claimed that its origins predated Jesus Christ and in fact simply celebrated the winter solstice. In any event, at this Christmas party, Hitler seems pensive and out of sorts, as do others at the party, such as Reich Commissioner for Social House-Building Robert Ley sitting next to him. 18 December 1941 (Hugo Jaeger).

On Borneo, the Japanese landing forces begin to fan out from their beachhead positions. The Dutch send Martin B-10 Bombers to slow them down. The Japanese apparently don't know where the Dutch Singkawang II airfield is, so it remains in Dutch possession despite the nearby Japanese forces.

Attendees at Hitler's 18 December 1941 Christmas party in Munich (Hugo Jaeger).

On the Malay Peninsula, the Indian 11th Division completes its withdrawal behind the Krian River and proceeds to the Taiping region. The British plan on making a stand along the river and the Grik road, but commanding Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur E. Percival contemplates another withdrawal to the Perak River. The Japanese consolidate their advances and occupy Penang, which the British abandoned on the 17th. The RAAF orders all planes that can fly to proceed to Singapore.

In the Philippines, the Japanese advance from Legaspi, southeast of Manila, continues. The troops reach Naga after brushing off light resistance from the Filipino Army.

A typical 1941 blood chit. This would be pinned to the back of a pilot's flight jacket.

In China and Burma, the American Volunteer Group (AVG, or "Flying Tigers") are fighting hard. However, the American pilots are concerned about how they will be treated by Chinese civilians if they are forced to parachute to safety. These concerns have been exacerbated by difficulties encountered by pilot Eriksen Shilling and local Chinese fighters who treat him roughly. The Chinese Intelligence Service allays these concerns by printing pictures on silk and then stitching these onto the back of the pilots' jackets. These are called "blood chits" and have pictures such as the flag and a promise of a reward for safe return to authorities of the pilot.

Attendees at Hitler's 18 December 1941 Christmas party in Munich seem ill at ease, perhaps because the Fuehrer himself seems preoccupied (Hugo Jaeger).

American Homefront: Just as happened during the Civil War, the government asserts broad new authoritarian powers over citizens and companies. These powers are in the War Powers Act of 1941 and, among other things, permit censorship of all communications entering and leaving the United States. The director of censorship, Byron Price, generally follows a laissez-faire approach to censorship, relying on the threat of censorship to do his work for him. However, Price does not hesitate to intervene at times, such as when his office bars publication of photographs of US military war dead.

The decorations at the 18 December 1941 Christmas Party celebrate the Third Reich more than Christmas (Hugo Jaeger).

President Roosevelt signs an executive order, No. 8984, establishing the Roberts Commission. This commission will be headed by Supreme Court Associate Justice Owen J. Roberts and will investigate the defenses of Pearl Harbor prior to its attack on 7 December 1941. The order provides that the Roberts Commission is to:

ascertain and report the facts relating to the attack made by the Japanese armed forces upon the Territory of Hawaii on 7 December 1941...to provide bases for sound decisions whether any derelictions of duty or errors of judgment on the part of United States Army or Navy personnel contributed to such successes as were achieved by the enemy on the occasion mentioned; and if so, what these derelictions or errors were, and who were responsible therefor.

Recently fired Admiral Husband Kimmel and General Short, in command at Hawaii, will be star witnesses before the Roberts Commission.

Hitler can't seem to take his mind on the festivities at his 18 December 1941 Christmas party (Hugo Jaeger).

The US State Department announces that all French possessions in the Caribbean have been neutralized. The French have large naval forces based at Martinique in the French West Indies. Rear Admiral Frederick J. Horne and Admiral Georges Robert, French High Commissioner at Martinique, reach this agreement which prevents the need for any military intervention there by the United States Navy.

"Woody Herman In Disco Order, Volume 12" features recordings between 5 September 1941 and 18 December 1941.

December 1941

December 1, 1941: Hitler Fires von Rundstedt
December 2, 1941: Climb Mount Niitaka
December 3, 1941: Hints of Trouble in the Pacific
December 4, 1941: Soviets Plan Counteroffensive
December 5, 1941: Soviets Counterattack at Kalinin
December 6, 1941: Soviet Counterattack at Moscow Broadens
December 7, 1941: Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
December 8, 1941: US Enters World War II
December 9, 1941: German Retreat At Moscow
December 10, 1941: HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse Sunk
December 11, 1941: Hitler Declares War on the US
December 12, 1941: Japanese in Burma
December 13, 1941: Battle of Cape Bon
December 14, 1941: Hitler Forbids Withdrawals
December 15, 1941: The Liepaja Massacre
December 16, 1941: Japan Invades Borneo
December 17, 1941: US Military Shakeup
December 18, 1941: Hitler Lays Down the Law
December 19, 1941: Brauchitsch Goes Home
December 20, 1941: Flying Tigers in Action
December 21, 1941: The Bogdanovka Massacre
December 22, 1941: Major Japanese Landings North of Manila
December 23, 1941: Wake Island Falls to Japan
December 24, 1941: Atrocities in Hong Kong
December 25, 1941: Japan Takes Hong Kong
December 26, 1941: Soviets Land in the Crimea
December 27, 1941: Commandos Raid Norway
December 28, 1941: Operation Anthropoid Begins
December 29, 1941: Soviet Landings at Feodosia
December 30, 1941: Race for Bataan
December 31, 1941: Nimitz in Charge

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