Battle of the Mediterranean: The final result of British Operation Crusader occurs on 17 January 1942 when an Italian garrison at Halfaya Pass finally surrenders to British 30 Corps. Despite being heavily fortified, the Halfaya Pass position has had no sources of supply other than occasional airdrops since the Axis garrison at Sollum fell on 12 January. About 5500 Axis troops, mostly men from the 55th Savona Infantry Division under the command of General Fedele de Giorgis, go into captivity. General Erwin Rommel, who already is preparing a counterattack 500 miles to the west at El Agheila, comments that "Superb leadership was shown by the Italian General de Giorgis, who commanded this German-Italian force in its two months’ struggle." With the loss of Halfaya Pass, the Afrika has lost about a third of its troop strength that it had on hand at the start of Operation Crusader in November 1941. However, Axis convoys recently have been getting through from Naples to Tripoli again while British forces have been diverted to the Far East. In a sign of renewed Axis vigor at sea, U-133 (Oblt. Hermann Hesse), on its third patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks Royal Navy destroyer HMS Gurkha (9 casualties) off Sidi Barrani today. This is beginning to alter the balance of power in North Africa once again.
I-60, shown, is sunk on 17 January 1942 by HMS Jupiter. I-60 is a KD3A/B type submarine. The wreck is found many years later about 25 miles northwest of Krakatoa, Java.
Battle of the Pacific: On the Malay Peninsula, the British shift two battalions, one from West Force at Segamat and the other from East Force at Jemaluang, to block the new Japanese bridgehead at Muar. They, along with the remnants of the shattered 45th Indian Brigade, set up a camp at Bakri. The Allies plan an attack toward Muar on the 18th, but the Japanese are planning an attack of their own toward Bakri. The Japanese continue their daily bombing of Singapore, with 27 bombers wrecking Sembawang Airfield in the extreme north of the island. This increases pressure on the RAAF to transfer its planes from Singapore across the Malacca Strait to Sumatra.
The Daily Express, 17 January 1942, is full of news about the battles in the Philippines.
In the Philippines, the Allies on Bataan Peninsula counterattack in the eastern II Corps sector to restore their line previously held by the 51st Filipino Division. The US 31st Infantry Division moves north from its base near Abucay Hacienda to the Balantay River area and manages some progress on its left. To the west in the I Corps sector, Japanese troops advance south along the Abo-Abo River toward Orion. The Allies, having temporarily taken it on the 16th with the last cavalry charge in US military history, give up the town of Moron (Morong) on the west coast and form a new line along a ridgeline southeast of the town.
Kapitänleutnant Heinrich "Ajax" Bleichrodt.
Battle of the Atlantic: Admiral Karl Doenitz has expanded his U-boats' operations to the Atlantic coast of the United States and also the Arctic. As part of Operation Drumbeat, U-109 (Kptlt Heinrich "Ajax" Bleichrodt) arrives off Cape Sable, Nova Scotia and heads south toward the Gulf of Maine. As part of new German efforts to interrupt the Lend-Lease shipments to Stalin, Wolfpack Ulan is in place off the northern coast of Norway. The Kriegsmarine hopes to block Allied convoys to the Soviet Union, and today U-454 (Kptlt Burckhard Hackländer), on its first patrol out of Kirkenes, attacks Convoy PQ-8. Hackländer sinks two ships, 557-ton Soviet patrol boat RT-68 Enisej and 1870-ton Royal Navy destroyer HMS Matabele, and damages a third, 5395-ton British freighter Harmatris. The British destroyer remains afloat for a few hours, at which point Hackländer tires of waiting and pumps another torpedo into it, causing it to explode. There are only three survivors. This is the first successful Kriegsmarine attack on an Arctic convoy.
U-87 (Kptlt. Joachim Berger) torpedoes and sinks independent Norwegian tanker Nyholt (shown) about 180 miles south of Cape Race after a wild chase. The U-boat, part of wolfpack Ziethen, hits the tanker with one torpedo at 03:59, but it continues sailing for port while pursuing a zig-zagging course. U-87 fires and misses with four more torpedoes. The tanker then tries to ram the U-boat but misses. U-87 then fires two more torpedoes, one of which hits. The tanker finally is sunk with 120 shells from the deck gun. The men take to two lifeboats, one of which disappears. There are 22 survivors out of about 40 people on board.
Eastern Front: Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau, commander of Army Group South, perishes after having suffered a stroke on the 14th. Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, already chosen as his successor, boards a train to Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia to receive his command and confer with the Fuehrer. After he arrives on the 18th, Von Bock later complains to Hitler about the decrepit state of the train, a problem which is getting worse due to lack of maintenance due to the war.
The New Yorker, 17 January 1942.
In the Crimea, the German offensive at the Parpach Narrows continues. The German 32nd Infantry Division attacks the port city of Feodosia, supported by heavy Stuka attacks. The Soviets attempt to evacuate the Soviet 236th Rifle Division in the port using the Black Sea Fleet, but they are too late. The Germans take the port and 5300 prisoners. The Soviet officer in command of the division manages to escape but is later convicted of cowardice and executed.
A camouflaged Type 97 Te-Ke in the Battle of Muar, 17 January 1942.
Future History: Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. is born in Louisville, Kentucky. He takes up boxing at the age of 12 after being advised to by a Louisville police officer and boxing coach, Joe. E. Martin. Clay makes his amateur boxing debut in 1954 and quickly becomes a top boxer, earning the Light Heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He goes on to win the World Heavyweight Title on 25 February 1964. After that, Clay changes his name to Muhammad Ali for religious reasons and goes on to remain Heavyweight Champion off-and-on until his retirement from boxing on 27 July 1979. Muhammad Ali passes away on 3 June 2016 at age 74.
Mickey Rooney on the cover of Liberty magazine, 17 January 1942. He is riding high at the box office right now and just married Ava Gardner.
MA and MB Jeeps built by Willys. Note that regular car production is continuing, which places this photo between November 1940 and before all US car production was banned on 5 February 1942 (Ron Szymanski).
Battle of the Pacific: The Allies continue falling back on the Malay Peninsula on 10 January 1942. They abandon Port Swettenham, 24 miles southwest of Kuala Lumpur. The British still hold Kuala Lumpur but have no hopes of holding it. The divisions formerly holding the Slim River line now are all in full retreat toward Johore, the province immediately to the north of Singapore. Throughout the day, the British evacuate KL using whatever transportation they can commandeer. This includes, motorcycles, private cars, 11 steamrollers, and even two fire engines. By the end of the day, only rear-guard troops are left there.
USS San Diego (CL-53) in Boston Harbor on 10 January 1942, the date of its commissioning.
The War Department asks the Hawaiian commander, General Delos C. Emmons, an Air Corps officer, whether it would be feasible to relocate the entire Japanese population of Oahu to another island. Oahu, of course, is where the main naval base at Pearl Harbor is based. Emmons replies that this would not work because it would require the construction of facilities when construction units already were fully booked by the military. Emmons estimates that Oahu has a Japanese population of 118,000 that is composed of 20,000 Japanese aliens and 98,000 US citizens. These people, Emmons notes, provide the bulk of the island's skilled labor. Emmons concludes that while it would be theoretically beneficial to relocate the Japanese, in practical terms it would be almost impossible and certainly detrimental to the economy of Oahu. As an alternative, Emmons proposes that if it is deemed necessary to segregate the Japanese as a security risk, that they should be taken to the mainland for it to be done there.
Luftwaffe ace Günther Lützow on 10 January 1942. Lützow, commander of JG 3, became the second pilot (after now-deceased Werner Mölders) to notch 100 kills on 24 October 1941. It is hard to see, but Lützow has autographed the photo (Federal Archive Picture 146-2006-0126).
Eastern Front: There is a heavy blizzard in the Moscow sector that stops all movement throughout the day. Overall, the pause in operations helps the Germans, whose front is strained to the breaking point and needs time to bring in reinforcements and supplies. However, in certain places, such as the breakthrough into the German rear areas west of Ostashkov, the Red Army troops struggle through deep snow and attack isolated German outposts which have no hope of relief or reinforcement.
S.S. African Comet on 10 January 1942. It has just arrived at the Tietjen & Lang Dry Dock Co. yard in Hoboken, New Jersey. It is being converted to USS Arthur Middleton (AP-55) (Photo No. 19-N-27716 Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-19-LCM).
US Military: The U.S. Army awards Ford Motor Company a contract to build copycat versions of the Willys Jeep. The contract provides for the construction of 15,000 Ford GPWs, or General Purpose Willys. They are to be built at a cost of $14,623,900, or about $975 each. The Jeep's design was submitted by American Bantam, but it was then given to Willys-Overland to refine.
MA and MB Jeeps built by Willys. Note that regular car production is continuing, which places this photo between November 1940 and before all US car production was banned on 5 February 1942 (Ron Szymanski).
While the Army finds the Willys MB redesign acceptable, it is not required to have Willys actually build all of the Jeep (though Willys does receive a contract to build as many Jeeps as it can). The Army is hedging its bets because it does not believe that Willys has the capacity to produce enough Jeeps fast enough for the Army's needs. American Bantam, who submitted the first prototype that did eventually turn into the standard military Jeep, does not get a contract to build the Jeeps but instead gets a contract to build trailers as a sort of consolation prize.
"Bardia area, Cyrenaica, Libya. 10 January 1942. German Luftwaffe prisoners, wounded in the re-capture of Bardia, were allowed to write home at the first opportunity. They are sitting in the sunshine leaning against a building on which is painted a Mickey Mouse head, a heart with an arrow through it, an instruction to 'Please knock first' and a foaming beer mug." Australian War Memorial MED0292.
American Homefront: A day after knocking out Buddy Baer in the first round at Madison Square to defend his Heavyweight title, Boxer Joe Louis enlists in the U.S. Army. He enlists as a private at Camp Upton, Long Island. The fight against Baer had been a charity bout for the Navy Relief Society which raised $47,000 for the fund. The enlistment event naturally makes the newsreels, and they capture a soldier-clerk asking Louis his occupation. He replies, "Fighting and let us at them Jap[anese]."
Louis fights occasionally for charity while in the service, but he falls deeply into debt in part because the IRS assigns to him as income the money that he "earns" for those fights which he never actually receives. This tax issue haunts Louis for the rest of his life. Joe Louis serves in the Army's Special Services Division until his honorable discharge effective 1 October 1945. He proves especially useful in recruiting African-Americans. Commenting on racial segregation in the military, Louis comments, "Lots of things wrong with America, but Hitler ain't going to fix them."
10 January 1942 New Yorker cover by Leonard Dove.
Mickey Rooney marries Ava Gardner at a Protestant church in Ballard, California. Rooney is currently headlining the top movie in the country, "Babes on Broadway" (1941), with Judy Garland. Gardner, an MGM contract player like Rooney, is still an ingenue who only broke into Hollywood in 1941 and is little known. The wedding is held in remote Ballard (in the Santa Ynez Valley) because Louis B. Mayer is concerned that a married Rooney will not be as popular at the box office, so he wants as little publicity for the marriage as possible. Rooney is 19 and subject to the draft, but his number has not come up yet.
"All Through the Night," starring Humphrey Bogart and Conrad Veidt, is released by Warner Bros. Bogardt and Veidt work well together and will appear again in 1942 in "Casablanca." Veidt, born in Berlin, is only in the United States because he fled Germany in 1933 due to his marriage to a Jewish woman, Ilona Prager.
Rita Hayworth in the 11 August 1941 issue of Life magazine. This shot by Bob Landry (there are a couple of slightly different versions) becomes a classic pin-up of World War II soldiers, second only to a Betty Grable photo from 1943.
Eastern Front: Adolf Hitler on 11 August 1941 reiterates that he wants the Wehrmacht to take Kiev before advancing on Moscow. To do this, Army Group Center is to divert forces to the south. With much grumbling and half-hearted cooperation, General Guderian and the other generals comply.
In the Far North sector, Finnish 15th Division, with 10th Division, capture Khitola (Khityola) just northwest of Lake Ladoga. This forces Soviet 142nd Rifle and 198th Motorized Division to withdraw into a "motti" (surrounded fortress) on the shores of Lake Ladoga. The Soviets there can serve as a thorn in the side of the Finnish advance toward Leningrad, with the availability of escape over the lake. In the center of the Karelian Isthmus, Finnish troops of IV Corps take Vuosalmi.
Finnish Group J of III Corps continues a rapid advance from Kestenga toward the Murmansk railway. Today, following the embankment of a spur line of the railway, it reaches the vicinity of the narrows between Yelovoye Lake and Lebedevo Lake. At this point, about 20 miles southwest of Loukhi, the Soviets make a stand and bring the Finns to a grinding halt. The Soviets are bringing in the 88th Rifle Division from Archangel (Arkhangelsk). Ordinarily, the arrival of one rifle division on the main front would mean little, but in the far north, it can have a huge impact. The Germans know something is up because they have been monitoring frantic Soviet radio traffic in the area, but they don't know what. The only question is if the Soviet defenders on the spot can hold out until the reinforcements arrive in a few days.
Another Finnish advance by Group F a little further south has become stalled at the Kis Kis River line on the Korpiyarvi-Ukhta Road. The Finns are attempting some probing attacks, but there are no signs of weakness.
In the Army Group North sector, the Germans continue pushing across the Luga River toward Leningrad.
In the Army Group Center sector, Red Army counterattacks continue at Yelnya. Guderian continues sending his panzers south to Gomel.
In the Army Group South sector, the Hungarian air force attacks Nikolayev. They manage to destroy a key bridge which eliminates a prime escape route for retreating Soviet soldiers (there are only three crossings on the entire southern section of the Dnepr River).
Soviet auxiliary river gunboats Issa, Plyussa, and Surop are lost today while in action on rivers within the Soviet Union. Soviet monitor SB-37 (Zhemchuzin) is heavily damaged by German panzers and artillery on the Dnepr River. SB-37 is a total write-off and scuttled on the 12th. Incidentally, there is some confusion about this sinking of SB-37. It often is confused with a completely separate Soviet warship sunk in the Arctic Ocean by U-451 on 10 August (that one is Soviet corvette Zhemchug No. 27).
Newsweek, 11 August 1941. "U.S. Women Answer Call of National Defense."
European Air Operations: There is little activity during the day aside from training and the usual reconnaissance.
After dark, RAF Bomber Command attacks Rotterdam, Krefeld, and Monchengladbach.
The Rotterdam raid is completed with 31 Hampden and 3 Wellington bombers. They target the dockyards. All of the bombers, including another bomber that goes to Antwerp, return safely. This raid is notable because Hampdens of RAF No. 50 Squadron drop 500 pounds of teas intended for civilians as a "gift" from the Dutch East Indies.
The Krefeld raid is made with 20 Hampdens and 9 Whitleys. They target railway marshaling yards. Bombing accuracy is terrible due to clouds over the target, and only one bomber even claims to hit the target. All of the planes return safely.
The Monchengladbach raid is completed with 29 Wellington bombers. This raid is almost identical to the Krefeld raid, as the bombers target railway yards, find cloud cover, and bomb at random.
The RAF uses two Wellington bombers to test out the new Gee navigational device during this raid. The test is a success, and plans are made to perform further tests over the next two nights.
Time, 11 August 1941. "[Sumner] Welles, Under Secretary of State."
Battle of the Baltic: Soviet minesweeper T-213 "Krambol" hits a mine and sinks off Cape Yuminda.
The Soviets use motor torpedo boats to intentionally sink Soviet destroyer Karl Marx at Loxa Bight, Estonia. It was damaged by the Luftwaffe on 8 August 1941.
Before dawn, German 2nd S-Boat Flotilla lays 24 mines in minefield Allirahu in Riga Bay. After dark, German 5th M-Boat Flotilla lays 45 EMC mines in minefield Pinnassi I, Pinnassi II, and Pinnassi III off Cape Domesnas.
Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe (a Focke-Wulf FW-200 of I,/KG40) attacks and sinks 2852-ton British freighter Empire Hurst in the Atlantic about 100 miles southwest of the southern tip of Portugal. Empire Hurst had fallen behind Convoy HG-70 and was being escorted by anti-submarine trawler HMS Lady Hogarth. There are 26 deaths and nine survivors.
Italian submarine Guglielmo Marconi I (Lt Cdr Pollina) attacks Convoy HG-70 about 100 miles off the southern Portuguese coast. It misses and then is attacked by Royal Navy corvette Convolvulus and sloop Deptford, but the submarine escapes.
German E-boats attack shipping in the Thames Estuary. S-49 (LtzS Günther) of the 4th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla sinks 1548-ton British freighter Sir Russell near No. 10 Buoy. Everyone survives. S-20 also claims to sink a freighter, but there is no confirmation of this.
Norwegian 124-ton wooden transport Cito hits a mine and sinks in the Sognefjord (north of Bergen). This apparently is a German mine left over from the Battle of Norway in 1940, though it may also have been a defensive mine laid later.
U-93 and U-94 intercept Convoy HG-69 west of Gibraltar, but the escorts force them to abandon any attacks.
U-501, operating west of Ireland, spots outbound convoy ONS-4 and reports it to BdU in Paris.
An RAF De Havilland DH.91 Albatross AX903 on a cargo flight from Ayr, Scotland to Reykjavik, Iceland spots a U-boat on the way and reports its position to Reykjavik. After landing and while slowing, the Albatross' landing gear collapses and the plane skids off the airfield and hits a Fairy Battle aircraft parked by the runway. The Albatross is written off, but the crew survives.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Tigris is based in Murmansk for the time being. Today, it leaves on patrol.
Minelayer Port Quebec lays minefield SN.22A in the North Sea.
Convoy ON-6 departs from Liverpool.
Royal Navy corvette HMS Bellwort and minesweeper Ipswich are launched and submarine Unsparing is laid down.
Canadian minesweepers Gananoque and Nipigon are commissioned, corvette Moncton is launched.
US Navy cruisers USS Belleau Wood and Independence are laid down as Cleveland-class cruisers. They are later diverted into becoming light fleet carriers.
U-655 (Kapitänleutnant Adolf Dumrese) is commissioned and U-416 is laid down.
"Exterior view of Rubber Products Co. at 114 East G Street, in Wilmington." [photo dated August 11, 1941]. Note the vintage hot rod in the drive and the Wilmington Oil Field rig in the background, a common sight in Los Angeles, California then. Source: waterandpower.org.
The same building as seen on Google street view, 31 May 2018. It looks like the building behind the old rubber store has survived and the power lines, too. The oil rig is long gone, though.
Battle of the Mediterranean: The Luftwaffe bombs and badly damages Royal Navy net-layer Protector with an aerial torpedo while en route from Port Said to Alexandria. Corvette HMS Salvia takes Protector in tow back to Port Said, where they arrive in the evening.
The Red Sea is full of German mines, and US ships have been traversing it since the last Italian port in East Africa fell. Today, one of those US freighters, 5685-ton Iberville, hits one and is damaged. It makes it to port.
Operation Guillotine, the British reinforcement of Cyprus, continues as Australian sloop HMAS Parramatta departs from Port Said for Famagusta.
At Malta, Luftwaffe Junkers Ju-87 reappear over Malta for the first time in weeks. Nine Stukas attack the Ta Qali area and Grand Harbour, damaging some warehouses and private dwellings. The RAF claims two of the Stukas. Rome radio claims that this small raid is a massive success, stating "A veritable shower of bombs was rained down on [Luqa] aerodrome" and "The attack on the naval base of Valletta was extremely effective. Loud explosions were heard and huge fires visible from a great distance were started."
Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet submarines M-33, SHCH-211, and SHCH-301 are all in operation today. M-33 unsuccessfully attacks Romanian submarine Delfinul off Constanza, SHCH-211 (Lt Cdr Devyatko) lands two spies off Varna, Bulgaria, and SHCH-301 (Lt Cdr Grashchev) unsuccessfully attacks Romanian convoys off Landsort, Romania.
War Crimes: RAF Fairey Swordfish torpedo-bombers of RAF No. 830 Squadron based on Malta attack shipping in Syracuse harbor on Sicily. This is a standard target for the RAF which they hit every week, and sometimes daily. This attack is slightly different than the norm because one of the torpedoes sink 13,060-ton Italian hospital ship California (formerly SS Albania pre-1930). The wreck is in 30 feet of water.
While all sorts of factors are usually taken into account to "define away" war crimes ("It was a mistake" "I was aiming at something else") and they seldom are prosecuted, sinking a hospital ship - they are clearly marked - is a war crime.
Rita Hayworth.
Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill spend their third day (second official day of the Atlantic Conference) conferring at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland. They meet twice aboard Roosevelt's ship USS Augusta (CA-31). The British War Cabinet is kept apprised of developments and writes in the Minutes:
America is as yet far from being prepared for active operations on a war footing. While the American Navy is in a more advanced state of readiness, the building up, training and equipping of the American army and air corps is still in embryo and the shortage of equipment is acute.
The bottom line, the Minutes reveal, is that American needs come first, and then surplus production will be sent to Great Britain.
Most of the real work of the meeting, of course, is being done by their staff throughout the day.
Life magazine, 11 August 1941. This is the issue that contains the famous Rita Hayworth pin-up that adorns countless barracks around the world.
British Military: King George VI, who arrived at Scapa Flow on 9 August, continues his inspection tour of the naval base. Today, he visits destroyers, including HMS Charlestown and Eclipse, and also destroyer depot ship Tyne. He then boards on destroyer Inglefield at 12:30 to Scrabster, returning to Scapa Flow later in the day.
Japanese Military: The new chief of staff of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet is Matome Ugaki.
Rita in an out-take from her Life photo-shoot. I don't know, I kind of like this one better than the cover version they chose.
French Military: General Huntziger, Minister of War who signed the armistice with Germany in 1940, becomes Commander-in-Chief of Vichy French ground forces.
US Military: Lieutenant Colonel Harold D. Shannon, executive officer of the US Marine Corps 6th Defense Battalion, arrives at Midway. He is there to prepare for his battalion to relieve the 3rd Defense Battalion.
A barracks on Adak Islands, Aleutians, 1943 (Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures: Getty Images).
Polish Army: General Wladyslaw Anders, released from the Soviet Lubianka prison in Moscow on 4 August, is made commander of a new Polish Army in the Soviet Union and begins collecting Polish POWs in Buzuluk and Totskoye. It is estimated that 1.7 million men are POWs, but, in fact, about a third of those are dead from mistreatment. Those that survive and are able to serve, about 400,000 men, are given amnesty and struggle to get to the collection points in rags and using whatever transportation they can find. The Poles forming the army notice a surprising absence of officers among the released Polish POWs. Poles in the prison camps who are not soldiers are sent to work on collective farms (Kolkhoz) in Tashkent and Bukhara and the southern Aral regions.
China: Japanese bombers attack Chungking again. The Japanese lose another three out of four I-153 fighters sent up to intercept them. In a subsequent action, the last of the I-153 fighters is destroyed. The Chinese manage to shoot down one plane.
Holocaust: Vichy France forbids Jews from serving as doctors.
Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in production on MGM's "Babes On Broadway," 11 August 1941 (The Judy Garland Experience).
American Homefront: Glenn Miller and his Orchestra record "Elmer's Tune," written by Elmer Albrecht, Dick Jurgens, and Sammy Gallop. Previous versions of the song did not have lyrics, so Miller has the song's publisher, Robbins Music Company, hire Sammy Gallop to write some lyrics. Ray Eberle does the lead vocals, backed by the Modernairnes. Released later in the year, it hits No. 1 on the Billboard Best Selling Retail Records chart of 13 December 1941 and spends 20 weeks in total on the chart. It becomes a classic of the big band era.
Actress Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino) appears in a classic spread in Life magazine. One of the shots inside, of Rita on a bed dressed in a satin negligee and black lace bodice sitting on a bed, becomes the most requested pin-up for GI's during World War II until a 1943 shot of actress Betty Grable appears. Hayworth broke through as a major film star with "Only Angels Have Wings" (1939) and is at the peak of her fame during World War II. Incidentally, that nightgown in the photo is preserved and sold for $26,888 in 2002.
Adak island barracks in the Aleutians, 1943, showing typical pin-ups. That appears to be a different Rita Hayworth pin-up on the right (Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures: Getty Images).
