Saturday 28 February 1942

" USS Pope (DD-225) under attack from gunfire from IJN Myoko and Ashigara, air attacks, and scuttling charges during the evacuation of Java, 28 February 1942. She later sank on 1 March. Photograph originally from a Japanese propaganda booklet Victory on the March. U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. (7/24/2013)." National Museum of the U.S. Navy 80-G-179003: USS Pope (DD 225) under attack, February 28, 1942.

Captain Albert Harold Rooks of the USS Houston, who goes down with his ship on 28 February 1942. He posthumously receives a Medal of Honor - the highest honor for any US serviceman - for his actions during the period 4 to February 27, 1942. "Photograph was taken circa 1940. This view was released by the Bureau of Personnel on 14 October 1966. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command." NH 97916 Captain Albert H. Rooks, USN.

Royal Navy cruiser HMS Exeter, badly damaged at the Battle of Java Sea, also tries to escape even though it is badly damaged. It leaves Surabaya for Ceylon at sunset escorted by destroyers HMS Encounter and USS Pope. They are sailing into seas full of Japanese warships, though, and meet their own fates on the morning of 1 March. Four US Navy destroyers (John D. Edwards, John D. Ford, Alden, and Paul Jones) also depart Surabaya at sunset but manage to evade detection.

With the Allies completely defenseless at sea, the Japanese begin landing troops at three places in Java. These are Bantam near Batavia, at Indramayu (mid-Java), and at Rembang (110 miles from Surabaya). Rembang houses a large oil refinery that is vital to Japanese plans.

The NY Times highlights the Battle of Java Sea in its 28 February 1942. Nobody knows the outcome of these battles right away.

In Burma, British defenders are under extreme pressure outside of Rangoon. They retreat to Pegu from Payagyi and Waw as the Japanese continue to sidestep them through the jungles. The Japanese cut the main road 50 miles north of Rangoon as they continue to pour across the Sittang River.

General Gordon Bennett becomes one of the few top officers to successfully escape from Singapore when he reaches Australia today. He is the most senior officer to evade capture or death. Bennett is extremely pessimistic and believes that an invasion of Australia itself is imminent. He heads for Sydney to report to the government.

T1E2 after arrival on Aberdeen Proving Ground, 28 February 1942. This is a typical pre-war United States Army tank design with an array of guns designed for different purposes. That's a 37 mm anti-tank gun in the turret above the 76.2 mm main gun, for instance. This tank was designated the Heavy Tank M6, was produced in small numbers (40), and never saw combat. The Army preferred to go with the new M4 Sherman for all purposes instead. The M6 was declared obsolete on 14 December 1944. There is one remaining T1 on display at the Aberdeen, Maryland, Ordnance Museum.

Japanese aircraft raid Port Moresby, New Guinea. They drop 130 bombs and injure ten people. Among the damage is the sinking of two PBY Catalina flying boats at Napa Napa. One A6M2 Zero pilot bails out and is captured, still a rarity at this stage of the war. The pilot, Lt. Nagatoma, becomes the first Japanese POW taken in Australian territory.

Japanese submarine I-4 torpedoes and sinks 1693-ton Dutch freighter Ban Ho Guan south of Bali, while Japanese patrol boats sink 983-ton Dutch freighter Tomohon off Tjilatjap. All 30 men on the Tomohon survive. Japanese fighters shoot down British Overseas Airways Corp. (BOAC) Short S-23 C-Class Empire Boat, msn S-842, registered G-AETZ, after it takes off from Tjilatjap, Java, bound for Australia.

"Commandos in a landing craft taking them ashore during training in Scotland, 28 February 1942." © IWM (H 17472).

Eastern Front: The Soviets conclude their airborne landings behind Wehrmacht lines south of Vyazma. The landings are unopposed by the Germans, who often are able to see the Soviet transport planes landing in the distance. Since the Germans control thinly held lines all around this forested area, in essence, the Soviet troops are flying into a pocket. Today, the airborne troops are able to link up with Soviet 50th Army, which also is trapped. The Germans are content to keep these Soviet forces under observation and conclude that the new troops don't have a clear objective. They focus more on self-protection and securing their supplies rather than making any aggressive moves.

"Squadron Leader Percy Pickard, Commanding Officer of No. 51 Squadron RAF, inspects a captured German helmet with parachute troops after the Bruneval raid, 28 February 1942. On the night of 27/28 February Pickard's squadron of Whitleys dropped 'C' Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion (commanded by Major J D Frost) near a German Wurzburg radar site at Bruneval near Le Havre in northern France - its objective to seize components of the radar and then evacuate them by sea." © IWM (H 17347).

In the Crimea, Lieutenant General Dmitry Timofeyevich Kozlov continues his offensive along the Parpach Narrows. There is bitter fighting, but the Red Army attack loses momentum after advancing five kilometers as two important German strongpoints hold out. Gruppe Hitzfeld from the German 73rd Infantry Division, under the command of Otto Hitzfeld, mounts a counterattack and recovers some ground lost by Romanian troops, retaking Kiet. The Soviets are reorienting their attack to focus on Romanian troops because they prove weaker than nearby German units. This is a Red Army practice that increases throughout the war, with areas held by Romanians easy to identify due to their different and distinctive helmets. The Germans bring up their 170th Infantry Division to secure the Romanian portion of the line in the north.

European Air Operations: Operations are light. RAF Bomber Command sends six Blenheims with a fighter escort to attack north German ports. They return without loss.

A newspaper clipping showing "Ill-fated U.S. Destroyer" Jacob Jones, sunk on 28 February 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-578 (KrvKpt. Ernst-August Rehwinkel), on its third patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks 1090-ton US Navy destroyer USS Jacob Jones (DD 130) off Cape May, New Jersey, and the Delaware Capes (about 38 miles (61 km) northeast of Ocean City, Maryland). One of the two torpedoes that hit ignites the destroyer's magazine, causing a huge explosion, while the second torpedo blows off the stern. While many men are able to abandon ship, the destroyer's depth charges explode as it sinks, killing many of the men in the water. There are 138 dead and only 11 survivors.

U-129 (Kptlt. Asmus Nicolai Clausen), on its fourth patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes 2605-ton Panamanian freighter Bayou at 07:45 about 140 miles north of Paramaribo, Suriname. The ship sinks immediately, within 25 seconds according to the U-boat commander. This concludes an 18-hour chase by U-129. There is only one survivor and 24 dead.

Norwegian freighter Leif, sunk on 28 February 1942.

U-653 (Kptlt. Gerhard Feiler), on its second patrol out of Brest, torpedoes independent 1582-ton Norwegian freighter Leif east of Cape Hatteras. The two torpedoes blow off Leif's bows and it sinks within 11 minutes. The crew abandons ship, but the weather is rough and one of two lifeboats disappears and is never found. There are ten survivors and 15 deaths.

U-156 (Kptlt. Werner Hartenstein), on its second patrol out of Lorient, concludes an outstanding patrol today by using gunfire to sink independent 7017-ton US tanker Oregon. Hartenstein is out of torpedoes and on his way home, but when he spots Oregon 130 miles north of the Mona Passage (170 miles (274 km) northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico) he can't resist attacking despite the fact that his gun is in poor condition, too, due to an accident off Aruba. U-156 approaches to within 900 meters and opens fire, immediately scoring hits. The second shell hits the bridge, killing the entire bridge crew including Master Ingvald C. Nilsen. This causes the tanker to sail out of control, hitting U-156 but not seriously damaging the U-boat. Hartenstein then pumps the rest of his deck gun's shells into the tanker at point-blank range, sinking it. The tanker's crew is able to abandon ship and there are six dead and 30 survivors. Some of the crew later claim that Hartenstein intentionally tried to kill them as they lowered a lifeboat and then again in the water, but there is no proof of that. Hartenstein's U-156 has sunk a total of five ships and damaged two others for a total of 22,723-tons sunk and 10,769-tons damaged.

Italian submarine Da Vinci torpedoes and sinks 3644-ton Latvian freighter Everasma in the mid-Atlantic east of Guadeloupe. There are 15 survivors.

Destroyer USS Jacob Jones, 1930s, lost on 28 February 1942 (US Navy photo).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Abstention, the British attempt to seize the island of Kastellorizo from the Italians, comes to an inglorious conclusion. Royal Navy destroyers HMS Decoy and Hero land a party on the island and find the Commandos there on the run, with abandoned and wrecked equipment on the landing ground. Some of the Commandos who have retreated to a plateau east of the port make it back to the beach and are withdrawn, while others surrender to the Italians. There is a brief naval battle offshore between Royal Navy destroyer Jaguar and Italian destroyer Crispi during which Jaguar is lightly damaged. The Royal Navy opens a Board of Inquiry about the botched operation and concludes that a major factor in the defeat is complete Italian control of the air and an insufficient amount of aggressiveness by the commander of the destroyer (Hereward) that first landed the troops. Total British casualties are three dead, eleven wounded, and 27 men missing (most taken captive) while the Italians lost eight men killed, eleven wounded, and ten men missing. It is a bitter British defeat.

Reinhard Hardegen in "before and after" photos following his return to France on the cover of the “Toute la vie,” 28 February 1942. Hardegen at this time is the commander of U-123, one of the first U-boats operating off the United States' east coast during World War II - thus the headling about seeing New York City through his periscope (he saw Brooklyn). Reinhard Hardegen survived the war and passed away on 8 June 2018 in Bremen at the age of 105.

Japanese/Soviet Relations: Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander of the Combined Fleet, issues Navy Directive No. 60. This directs the Japanese Navy to treat Soviet ships as "absolutely neutral." This prevents a war from breaking out between the two powers, which Japan does not want, but also leaves opens a huge source of supply to the Soviet Pacific port of Vladivostok.

US/French Relations: The U.S. Consul-General in New Caledonia officially recognizes the authority of Free French forces over French islands in the Pacific. This is announced on 12 March.

US Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet. " View is at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, 28 February 1942. Close-up of the starboard side of the Island. Note camouflage; raft stowage; Island; underway refueling rig (R)." Naval History and Heritage Command 19-N-29065 USS HORNET (CV-8).

US Military: The United States Army Services of Supply or "SOS" branch of the U.S. Army is created.

US Government: The Dies Committee (which later becomes the House Un-American Activities Committee) issues a report on pre-war espionage in the United States by the Japanese. This widely anticipated "Yellow Paper" concludes that there was a wide-spread spy ring of about 150,000 members in the United States. This provides a foundation for the internment of Japanese Americans.

The Carolina Times for 28 February 1942. This newspaper (which remains in existence) focuses on news from a racial equality viewpoint.

Iran: The Iranian Cabinet resigns and a new government must be formed. This proves difficult and takes over a week.

India: From Berlin, Subhas Chandra Bose makes a radio broadcast affirming his support of the goals of the Third Reich and expressing his wish for an independent India. This is the first of two such broadcasts that he makes, the second is on 11 March.

Holocaust: There are mass killings at the Chelmno concentration camp in Poland. While it is impossible to single out many deaths, today Stanislaw Kaszyński, the secretary of the local Polish council, is put to death along with his wife. Kaszyński has been trying to publicize the exterminations at the camp. An obelisk to his memory is dedicated on 7 August 1991 at Chelmno.

"Changing the 16-inch guns on HMS RODNEY at Cammel Laird shipyard, Birkenhead. Lowering a gun into position in "A" turret." 28 February 1942. © IWM (A 7690).

German Homefront: Due to a growing fuel crisis, the government bans the use of private automobiles other than for war work.

American Homefront: "Moonlight Cocktail" by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra and written by Luckey Robers with lyrics by Kim Gannon hits No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart. It remains on top for ten weeks, taking over from Miller's own "String of Pearls." The record was recorded on 8 December 1941 with vocals by Ray Eberle and The Modernaires. However, not everybody enjoys "Moonlight Cocktail," as the BBC bans it in August 1942 as "sentimental slush" that does not aid the war effort. "Moonlight Cocktail" becomes the number two record of 1942, behind only Bing Crosby's classic "White Christmas."

Picture Post magazine, 28 February 1942. At this point in the war, India considered very much in jeopardy.

Future History: Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones is born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. His father was a piano teacher when not working as an aeronautical engineer, while his mother plays piano and organ in the choir of her local church. Brian persuades his parents to buy him a saxophone in 1957 and then a guitar in 1959. He leaves home later that year to bum his way through Europe but eventually returns home. In 1962, Jones (who now goes by Brian Jones) places an advertisement in Jazz News for musicians to audition to form a rock group. Ian Stewart and Mick Jagger appear, and Mick eventually brings along his childhood friend Keith Richards. Jones then comes up with a name for the nascent group, the "Rollin' Stones," which more formally becomes the band's name as The Rolling Stones. They have their first appearance at the Marquee Club in London on 12 July 1962 and in January 1963 convince drummer Charlie Watts to join. After that, The Rolling Stones begin releasing albums and become one of the iconic rock groups of all time. Jones, however, becomes estranged from the others in the group and last records with them in 1968, finally leaving the group on 9 June 1969. Less than a month later, on the night of 2-3 July 1969, Brian Jones is found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool at the age of 27 - a notoriously common age for the deaths of rock stars, a "trend" that Jones starts.


February 1942

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

March 1942

March 1, 1942: Second Battle of Java Sea
March 2, 1942: Huge Allied Shipping Losses at Java
March 3, 1942: Japan Raids Western Australia
March 4, 1942: Second Raid On Hawaii
March 5, 1942: Japan Takes Batavia
March 6, 1942: Churchill Assaults Free Speech
March 7, 1942: British Defeat in Burma
March 8, 1942: Rangoon Falls to Japan
March 9, 1942: Japanese Conquest of Dutch East Indies
March 10, 1942:US Navy attacks Japanese Landings at Lae
March 11, 1942: Warren Buffett's First Stock Trade
March 12, 1942: Japan Takes Java
March 13, 1942: Soviets Attack In Crimea Again 
March 14, 1942: The US Leans Toward Europe
March 15, 1942: Operation Raubtier Begins
March 16, 1942: General MacArthur Gets His Ride
March 17, 1942: MacArthur Arrives in Australia
March 18, 1942: Japan Attacks In Burma
March 19, 1942: Soviets Encircled on the Volkhov
March 20, 1942: "I Shall Return," Says MacArthur
March 21, 1942: Germans Attack Toward Demyansk
March 22, 1942: Second Battle of Sirte
March 23, 1942: Hitler's Insecurity Builds
March 24, 1942: Bataan Bombarded
March 25, 1942: Chinese Under Pressure in Burma
March 26, 1942: Win Or Die, Vows MacArthur
March 27, 1942: The Battle of Suusari
March 28, 1942: The St. Nazaire Commando Raid
March 29, 1942: The Free Republic of Nias
March 30, 1942: Japanese-Americans Off Bainbridge Island
March 31, 1942: Japanese Seize Christmas Island

2020

Friday 27 February 1942

HMS Exeter (right, barely visible under the spray) and Australian cruiser HMAS Hobart (D63) under aerial attack by Japanese aircraft in the Battle of Java Sea. The date of this picture has not been positively established may be from 27 February 1942. Or, it may be from an earlier incident on 14-15 February 1942.

Battle of the Pacific: Admiral Karel Doorman has his fleet at sea east of Surabaya in search of a reported Japanese invasion fleet heading for Java on 27 February 1942. After spending all night and all morning in a fruitless search, his ships spot the Japanese ships at about 16:00. within about fifteen minutes, the two fleets are firing guns and torpedoes at each other. Allied cruiser HMS Exeter is hit in the boiler room by a Japanese shell and heads back to Surabaya, and destroyer HNMLS Kortenaer sinks quickly after being hit by a torpedo. A gun battle between Royal Navy destroyer Electra and Japanese light cruiser Jintsū and destroyer Asagumo leads to the loss of Electra (Asagumo is damaged and withdraws). At 18:00, having lost two ships with a third badly damaged, Doorman breaks off the battle and heads west in an attempt to intercept the invasion transport ships. However, on the way, Royal Navy destroyer Jupiter hits a mine and sinks, compounding the damage. The Japanese pursue Doorman and there is another furious gun-and-torpedo battle which leads to the sinking of Dutch cruisers De Ruyter and Java. Doorman goes down with his ship, and only 111 men survive from both ships. Following orders, the only two surviving Allied ships, cruisers Perth and Houston, retreat back to Tanjung Priok.

Dutch flagship De Ruyter, sunk on 27 February 1942.

The Battle of the Java Sea is decisive for the fate of the Netherlands East Indies. While the battle delays the Japanese invasion by the day, that comes at a cost to the Allies of virtually their entire fleet in the Netherlands East Indies (Japanese losses are not known with precision but apparently are very light). The fate of Java is now sealed and the Allies have almost no naval forces left in the region aside from the battered Exeter and a few destroyers. This arguably is the height of Japanese naval power in the Pacific, though a lot of fighting remains.

In this perfectly timed photo, the U.S. Navy seaplane tender USS Langley (AV-3) is torpedoed by USS Whipple (DD-217), after being abandoned, south of Java, 27 February 1942. Naval History and Heritage Command NH 92476 USS LANGLEY (AV-3)

Allied woes at sea on 27 February 1942 do not end there, however. US Navy aircraft carrier USS Langley, the country's first aircraft carrier and now serving as a seaplane tender, is attacked early in the day south of Tjilatjap (Cilacap), West Java, along with US destroyers Whipple and Edsall by sixteen Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers. They are flying out of Denpasar airfield on Bali and are escorted by 15 A6M Reisen "Zero" fighters. While Langley (which is carrying 32 P-40s) evades two bombing runs, it takes five 60- and 250-kg bombs on the third pass and bursts into flames. At 13:32, the crew abandons ship, and the escorting destroyers put two torpedoes into Langley to make sure that the Japanese don't salvage it. The tragedy of the Langley does not end there, either, as many of her surviving crew are on another ship, USS Pecos, when it is sunk while en route to Australia.

Polish soldiers in London, 27 February 1942 (Imperial War Museum).

Eastern Front: In the Crimea, Soviet Lieutenant General Dmitry Timofeyevich Kozlov launches an offensive along a section of the front at the Parpach Narrows at 06:30. The Red Army has 93,804 troops, 1,195 guns and mortars, 125 anti-tank guns, 194 tanks, and 200 aircraft. The offensive begins with a 230-gun artillery barrage, but the shelling is poorly aimed and does little to disrupt the German defenses. The Germans have their 46th and 132nd Infantry Divisions on the 42 Corps front along with the Romanian 18th Infantry Division. The Germans also have Gruppe Hitzfeld in reserve.

The crew of destroyer USS Whipple (DD-217) watches as its torpedo (fired to prevent the ship from falling into enemy hands) strikes USS Langley south of Java (Naval History and Heritage Command NH 92475 USS LANGLEY (AV-3)).

The Germans rely on a hedgehog defense of fortified strongpoints at the villages of Tulumchak, Korpech’, and Koi-Asan. They have built strong fortifications all along the front, and they are aided by warm weather which creates muddy conditions benefiting the defense. The Soviets must advance across a flat, 80-square kilometer plain which exposes them to brutal counter-fire. Soviet tanks, particularly the heavy KV-1s which are slow and make good targets, sink in the mud. Still, the Red Army soldiers take Tulumchak, which is held by the Romanian 18th Infantry Regiment. However, the Germans hold their other two strongpoints at Korpech’ and Koi-Asan after brutal fighting. The Luftwaffe makes 40 Stuka sorties which help to knock out 93 Soviet tanks in total, including 28 KV-1s. The Soviets do make minor gains but at a brutal cost.

Sergeant Hajime Toyoshima (left), Australia’s first Japanese prisoner of war, Bathurst Island, 27 February 1942. Toyoshima piloted of a Zero fighter damaged during the 19 February air raid on Darwin. After being forced to crash-land on Melville Island, Toyoshima was disarmed and captured by Aborigines who took him to Bathurst Island to hand over to Sergeant Leslie Powell (right), 23rd Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers. Powell, who had been sent to maintain demolition installations on the island and was unarmed, used Toyoshima’s service pistol to escort him into captivity.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends 68 bombers (33 Wellingtons, 17 Manchesters, and 18 Hampdens) to bomb the Kiel drydock again where Gneisenau is being repaired. However, the weather is cloudy and only 50 bombers even drop their bombs - but where they drop is a mystery because there is no report of damage in Kiel. In another mission, 33 bombers (three Whitleys are lost) attack Wilhelmshaven and heavy cruiser Scharnhorst, but again the weather is poor and only 26 bombers drop their bombs - somewhere - to no effect. Another 15 bombers (11 Hampdens and 4 Manchesters) lay mines off the Frisian Islands.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 269-ton British coaster Fernside off Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Tanker R.P. Resor, sunk on 27 February 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-578 (KrvKpt. Ernst-August Rehwinkel), on its third patrol out of St. Nazaire, torpedoes and sinks 7451-ton tanker R.P. Resor about 20 miles east of Manasquan Inlet, New Jersey. The torpedo hits at 06:36 and ignites oil which sprays into all along the ship. The flames make abandoning ship almost impossible, and the sole lifeboat that can be launched is burned up. There are only two survivors of the 50 men on board. The ship stays afloat at an extreme angle, but the stern grounds in 122 feet of water when it is taken under tow and the ship sinks on 1 March.

U-432 (Kptlt. Heinz-Otto Schultze), on its fourth patrol out of La Pallice, torpedoes and sinks independent 8215-ton US tanker Marore about 3.5 miles off Wimble Shoals near Cape Hatteras. Captain Schultze then surfaces and begins the shelling the ship. The crew of the Marore abandons ship just in time. All 39 men survive.

U-156 (Kptlt. Werner Hartenstein), on its second patrol out of Lorient, uses its damaged deck gun (which exploded during a surface attack on the island of Aruba) sinks 2498-ton British freighter Macgregor about 15 miles northeast of Cabo Frances Viejo, Dominican Republic. Hartenstein follows the freighter for 16 hours until moonrise allows him to make his attack. The U-boat's gun erupts from 1600 yards at 22:35 and the first shot kills or wounds the freighter's gun crew. The Macgregor is able to send a distress signal before the guns destroy the freighter's bridge. After 35 minutes, the freighter is ablaze and the crew abandons ship. Amazingly, only one man on the Macgregor perishes, hit by the opening shot from U-156. There are 30 survivors.

Italian freighter Tembien, sunk off Tripoli on 27 February 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Italian forces based on Rhodes launch a major counterattack against British commandos trying to take Kastelorizo in Operation Abstention. The weather is poor, making the landings difficult, but Ammiraglio di Divisione (Vice Admiral) Luigi Biancheri manages to land enough troops from gunboats Lupo, Lince, MAS 546, and MAS 561to isolate the poorly equipped British troops. During the afternoon, destroyers Crispi and Sella also land more troops to bring the total Italian Army presence to 258 soldiers and 80 marines. Now outnumbered, the commandos retreat to Nifti Point, harassed by naval gunfire by Lupo. Offshore, the Royal Navy makes a half-hearted attempt to intervene but can't locate the Italian ships. The British intend to land reinforcements on destroyer Rosaura, but the heavy Italian naval presence is calling that into doubt. Operation Abstention has become a muddled fiasco, but the British are determined to take the island and thus send more troops from Alexandria to land on the 28th.

Royal Navy Submarine HMS Upholder torpedoes and sinks 5584-ton Italian freighter Tembien about 24 miles (40 km) from the Tripoli lighthouse.

The Bruneval radar station.

Special Operations: The British execute Operation Biting, an overnight raid on German coastal radar installations in northern France. After several days of poor weather, conditions are right for aircraft of RAF No. 51 Squadron based at RAF Thruxton to drop "C" Company of the 2nd Parachute Battalion at Bruneval, France. The Commandos take the cutting-edge Wurzburg radar installation by force, killing one German guard and taking two others as prisoners. Rather than destroying the equipment, the Commandos remove it and take key pieces to the nearby beach on special trolleys. However, the Commandos find the beach to be under enemy fire, so they return to the installation and, after a fierce firefight with German troops, re-occupy it while other troops clear the beach. Six Royal Navy landing craft then appear on schedule and the entire force (less six Commandos who get lost) board and return to England. The Commandos lose two killed and eight wounded, while the Germans lose 5 killed, two wounded, and five missing men. The raid is both a technical and propaganda success for the British and leads to the expansion of British airborne forces. British scientists use the equipment to develop radar countermeasures, including "Window" (chaff), that are highly effective in later air raids. The British will erect a memorial to the Biting raid at Bruneval.

Short S23 C-Class S.849, Empire Flying Boat, A18-12 G-AEUG "Coogee" VH-ABC (see above photo) of 33 Squadron RAAF crashes on landing in Cleveland Bay near Townsville on 27 February 1942. Six RAAF crew perish and are buried at Townsville War Cemetery.

US/Mexican Relations: President Roosevelt signs an executive order establishing a Joint Mexican-U.S. Defense Commission.

British/Venezuelan Relations: Great Britain cedes Patos Island to Venezuela. This is one of Britain's oldest possessions in the New World, dating to 1628 and being part of the colony of Trinidad and Tobago. In exchange, the Venezuela government gives Trinidad and Tobago Soldado Rock. The two islands are or will become national parks and are of no strategic importance.

HMS Duke of York at sea, 27 February 1942. © IWM (A 7556).

US Military: US Navy ship Sea Witch deposits 27 crated P-40s at Tjilatjap, Java. With the Japanese about to invade, it is doubtful that they can be prepared in time to enter combat.

US Government: There is a tense Cabinet meeting at the White House about Japanese internment. At the meeting, representatives of the US Army claim that ethnic Japanese in the Hawaiian Islands will all have to be brought to the mainland for internment. President Roosevelt disagrees and wishes them to be interned on Molokai. The issue is left unresolved, but eventually, the Army's position will prevail.

A formation of Japanese bombers attacking warships during the Battle of the Java Sea, as seen from the Australian cruiser, HMAS Hobart, February 1942. Australian War Memorial P02620.005.

British Homefront: British physicist and radio astronomer James Stanley Hey discovers radio emissions coming from the Sun. This is a major development in the field of radio astronomy - the study of celestial objects at radio frequencies. Hey's discovery is related directly to the war, as he realizes today that complaints from the RAF of jamming of anti-aircraft radars are not the result of German actions, but are natural phenomenon from the Sun.

American Homefront: Scientist Edwin Hubble publishes an article, "The Problem of the Expanding Universe," in Science magazine. Hubble writes that he has validated scientist Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity by proving that light takes longer than it should to arrive at earth from distant galaxies. The reason is that the universe is expanding. The theory of the expanding universe is one of the cornerstones of modern cosmology. The question of how fast the universe is expanding remains unresolved to this day.

Armorers reloading a Messerschmitt Bf 109E of Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG27), North Africa, February 1942.

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

Wednesday 25 February 1942

Searchlights and anti-aircraft fire on the morning of 25 February 1942 (25 February 1942 LA Times).

Battle of the Pacific: After hours of warnings from U.S. Naval Intelligence and many false alarms, a full-scale situation develops over Los Angeles, California, in the early morning hours of 25 February 1942. It is difficult to explain exactly what this "situation" is because there is no certainty other than that a massive barrage of anti-aircraft fire erupts around the city. The first hint of trouble is when air raid sirens sound at 02:25 throughout the Los Angeles basin. This results in a total blackout and the recall of Air Raid Wardens from their beds. At 03:16, the guns of the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade open up. In such situations, all it takes is for one gun to go off for everyone within earshot to begin firing wildly at shadows and stars and anything else in sight. The gunners themselves are not entirely to blame as there are reports from official observers of large enemy formations approaching the city. Over 1400 shells are fired from guns ranging from .50 caliber machine guns to 12.8-pound anti-aircraft guns. Given a lack of actual targets, the firing quickly dies down but spent shell fragments rain down on the city, damaging buildings, vehicles, and everything else. The "all clear" sounds at 04:14 and the blackout order is lifted at 07:21. In all, five people perish directly and five indirectly as a result of the incident.

The Los Angeles Times is full of dramatic claims about the Battle of Los Angeles.

The mysterious part about the Battle of Los Angeles is what everyone was firing at. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox is alerted and quickly claims the entire incident is a false alarm. Various spokesmen from the U.S. Army, however, provide a different theory. They say that there actually were aircraft, but not military planes. Instead, there were civilian aircraft used by enemy agents in a psyops campaign to demoralize the public. Nobody is satisfied with any of these explanations, and newspaper editorials lob feverish conspiracy theory allegations (though this term is not invented until the 1960s) about coverups and enemy attacks. These theories are lent some credence by the well-known attack by a Japanese submarine on the oil installation at Ellwood, California, on 23 February. However, the Japanese have no planes or other assets in the area, so the possibility of actual enemy involvement is virtually nil. The USAAF also denies having any planes in the air. Eventually, theories about UFOs pop up as well, a brewing topic during the war which later explodes when foo fighters also are claimed to be of extraterrestrial origin. The mystery is never solved.

The 25 February 1942 Brooklyn Eagle headlines the "Mystery Raid" at Los Angeles.

With British defenses on the Sittang River in collapse, the Japanese continue their jungle infiltration tactics with great success. There is a wide gap between major roads of about 35 miles which the Japanese use to sidestep the Burma 1st Division at Nyaunglebin and the shattered Indian 17th Division at Pegu. If the Japanese can get sufficient troops through, they can cut the Rangoon/Mandalay road and destroy the Indian blocking position. In the air, the American Volunteer Group (AVG, or "Flying Tigers") continues its successful operations, shooting down three "Nate" bombers over Rangoon at noon. At 17:00, the AVG claims a further 23 Japanese Army fighter and an Army bomber. However, the AVG can do nothing to help the ground forces because the Japanese are advancing in small groups under cover of the tree canopy.

The 25 February 1942 Los Angeles Examiner reports than "One Plane Reported Downed on Vermont Avenue by Gunfire."

In Java, the end is approaching and everyone knows it. ABDA Commander General Archibald Wavell dissolves his headquarters at 09:00 and flies back to India to concentrate on the Burma campaign. Dutch General Ter Poorten assumes the island's defense and is immediately confronted with news from a reconnaissance PBY Catalina that a Japanese invasion convoy approaching. At 11:25, he orders the entire ABDA naval force to assemble at Surabaya to repel the invasion. This is an impressive force on paper, with cruisers HMS Exeter and HMAS Perth sailing with three destroyers (Electra, Encounter, and Jupiter) sailing from Batavia for a rendezvous at sea. Admiral Doorman heads to sea at dusk from Surabaya with the heavy cruiser USS Houston and Dutch light cruisers HNMS De Ruyter and Java and seven destroyers. Doorman's mission is to intercept and repel the invasion convoy along the coast of Madoera Island. Nothing comes of this, however, and the ABDA ships all return to Surabaya to await developments. This ABDA naval fleet now becomes known as the Combined Striking Force.

With fears growing of a Japanese advance through Burma to India and corresponding Japanese naval forces in the Indian Ocean, aircraft carrier HMS Hermes flies off its planes (RAF Squadron No. 814) to act as a land-based force at Trincomalee. Destroyer Nizam also arrives at Trincomalee. In the Sunda Strait, Japanese submarine I-58 sinks 7136-ton Dutch freighter Boeroe. All 70 men aboard survive.

Life on the Eastern Front: SVT-38/40: Die Deutsche Wochenschau 25 February 1942.

Eastern Front: The Soviets are busy building up their forces in the Crimea's Kerch Peninsula for an effort to liberate the entire Crimea. They have assembled almost 100,000 men and over 1000 guns for the effort, along with 200 aircraft. Following several postponements, the offensive against the German forces on the Parpach Narrows is scheduled to begin on 27 February. The Germans, meanwhile, still have their main attention focused on Sevastopol in the west and have established a hedgehog defensive strategy in the east centered on fortified villages.


European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command sends a total of 61 bombers (43 Wellingtons, 12 Manchesters, 6 Stirlings) to bomb a floating drydock at Kiel. Given the difficulties of finding the target by eye, only 36 of them actually report attacking the target. The dock survives, but the bombs sink accommodation ship Monte Sarmiento, killing about 125 men. Bombs also drop in the nearby town, killing 16 people and injuring 39. The RAF loses three Wellingtons. The Germans, not knowing the military intent of the raid, view it as a sour-grapes "revenge raid" for the successful Channel Dash on 12 February. In other missions, 21 Whitleys attempt to bomb aluminum factories at Heroya and Odda but can't find them due to cloud cover, and nine Hampdens drop mines along the Dutch coast. Another three bombers drop leaflets on Lille and Paris.

Esso Copenhagen, sunk on 25 February 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-156 (Kptlt. Werner Hartenstein), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes 5685-ton British tanker La Carriere at 02:19 about 75 miles west of Guanica, Puerto Rico. Two torpedoes hit the ship and blow huge holes in the starboard side near the engine room, but the crew manages to get the engines restarted. Unfortunately for the crew, the radio is damaged in the explosion. Captain Hartenstein sees the ship resuming its voyage and surfaces with the intent of using his deck gun to finish off the laboring tanker. However, this proves unfeasible, so he submerges again and fires two more torpedoes. The tanker's crew, however, spots the tracks in the bright moonlight and the ship manages to evade them. Some of the crew attempt to lower a lifeboat to escape, but the boat capsizes, killing the occupants except for the ship's carpenter (he survives by holding onto the shattered boat and drifts ashore two days late). Meanwhile, Hartenstein surfaces again to catch up with the tanker and fires his last torpedo, which hits the starboard side again and blows off the tanker's bow. The ship finally sinks in under three minutes, but the crew manages to launch a lifeboat and the jolly-boat. There are twenty survivors in the lifeboat and four more in the jolly-boat, and they eventually make landfall at Guanica. The ship's master goes down with the ship, but then pops back to the surface and spends three days in the water clinging to debris before being picked up by US Coast Guard Cutter Unalga (WPG 53). In total, there are 15 dead and 26 survivors.

Italian submarine Luigi Torelli torpedoes and sinks 9245-ton Panamanian tanker Esso Copenhagen in the Atlantic Ocean with a full cargo of fuel oil.

"Re-conditioned rifles being inspected in the Western Desert, 25 February 1942." © IWM (E 8823).

Battle of the Mediterranean: At dawn, 50 British No. 50 Commandos on board gunboat HMS Ladybird land on the Italian-held island of Kastellorizo in Operation Abstention. They are the first of 200 Commandos and 24 attached Royal Marines invading the island. The British hope to use Kastellorizo as a forward torpedo-boat base near the Axis-held Greek Dodecanese Islands. There are only 35 Italian troops on the island and, using the power of surprise, the British quickly overpower them. The British take a dozen prisoners and wound another Italian. However, while the British act with great stealth and speed, the Italians manage to get off a message to the large garrison at Rhodes. This leads to Italian airstrikes at 08:00 and again at 09:30. They bomb the gunboat, wounding three sailors, and its captain decides to leave. Surprised at the fierce Italian response and knowing the gunboat is preparing to leave, the group of Commandos holding the radio station in the port hurriedly re-embark on the Ladybird, which immediately heads back to Haifa. This leaves the remaining British soldiers holed up in the hills and without a link to the outside. Due to the danger from the air, the British divert a follow-up force from Cyprus away from the island to Alexandria. The Italians spend the rest of the day preparing a counter-invasion.

Off Bardia, U-652 (Oblt. Georg-Werner Fraatz), on its sixth patrol out of Salamis, claims a hit on a Royal Navy corvette. However, British Admiralty records do not support this claim.

Dutch 7135-ton freighter SS Boeroe, sunk by the Japanese on 25 February 1942 south of the Sunda Strait.

Allied Relations: Due to continued Japanese expansion in Burma and the Netherlands East Indies, the ABDA command dissolves today. This is also partly due to growing tensions between the Australian and British governments about the strategic use of Australian troops. General Archibald Wavell resigns as the supreme commander. Wavell establishes in its place a Southwest Pacific command and an Indian command. The British Army takes over the Indian command (commanded by Wavell himself) while the Southwest Pacific command goes by default to the Americans. The immediate effect of this is for Wavell to absolve himself of responsibility for the deteriorating events north of Australia and leave the local forces to their own devices. The basic ABDA structure remains in some areas, most noticeably in the continued joining of local fleets under Dutch Rear-Admiral Karel Doorman. There is just a hint of Allied disunity in the demise of ABDA, but it really just reflects the changed military reality of Japan dominating the seas north of Australia and thereby isolating the major Allied power bases in India and Australia.

"Plan view, forward, of destroyer USS Helm, Mare Island Navy Yard, California, United States, 25 Feb 1942." United States National Archives 19-N-28726.

US Military: The current plan for Allied operations includes Operation Gymnast, a late-1942 invasion of North Africa centered around Casablanca. The US Army Air War Plans Division, however, today recommends that this operation be stricken from the list of proposed operations due to new commitments in the Pacific. However, Operation Gymnast is considered of great importance by the British and whether it will remain on the docket is a matter that must be resolved at the highest levels of government and the military.

Having recently established the headquarters of the US Army Forces in the British Isles (USAFBI), the commander of US Army Forces in the British Isles Major General James E. Chaney instructs VIII Air Force commander Brigadier General Ira C. Eaker and his staff to visit RAF Bomber Command headquarters to coordinate strategy. The USAAF needs to know, among other things, which airfields it can use to base the large forces that will soon be arriving.

U.S. Major General Joseph Stilwell is promoted to Lieutenant General and meets with General Wavell after the latter arrives by air in New Delhi.

The United States Coast Guard assumes responsibility for the protection of US ports.

More USAAF Fifth Air Force air units arrive at Brisbane, Australia.

Charro Days Celebration, Brownsville, Texas, Children's Parade, 25 February 1942.

British Government: A two-day debate over the conduct of the war ends in the House of Commons with signs of disunity over current war policy. The sharpest divisions come over the huge emphasis being placed on Bomber Command, with some speakers also questioning the morality of the recent decision to engage in terror bombings of the Reich. The most popular politician in England (with the possible exception of Winston Churchill), Sir Stafford Cripps, condemns what he characterizes as a mistaken priority on the bombing force as opposed to the other service branches.

Occupied Soviet Union: The German occupation authorities establish courts in the former Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania as well as in Ukraine. There are separate courts for locals and Germans.

French Homefront: The Paris Gestapo and its French auxiliaries continue rounding up individuals suspected of working against the occupation.

The 25 February 1942 Baltimore News-Post characterizes the Battle of Los Angeles as a great patriotic victory.

American Homefront: Japanese-American residents of Terminal Island, Los Angeles are given three days in which to pack their bags and leave. War fears are at a peak due to the Battle of Los Angeles during the night and there is widespread support for internment. There are seven reported cases of vigilantes executing people of Japanese ethnicity. The situation is the same all along the western seaboard up through Canada to Alaska.

Future History: Karen Trust Grassle is born in Berkeley, California. She becomes an actress in the 1960s and has her most famous role as Caroline Ingalls, the mother in "Little House on the Prairie." Karen Grassle remains active as an actress as of 2019.



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