Saturday 17 January 1942

"Oerlikon gunner in HMS DIDO getting a light from a pal between bombing attacks." Eastern Mediterranean, 17 to 19 January 1942. © IWM (A 9576).

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.

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

Tuesday 16 December 1941

Japanese troops landing in the Philippines, 16 December 1941.

Battle of the Pacific: As of 16 December 1941, the brunt of the fighting by US forces against the advancing Japanese has been carried out in the air. Even there, the successes have been few and far between, but at least there have been some successes and even outright heroism. Today, 1st Lieutenant Boyd D. Wagner of the 17th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor), 24th Pursuit Group (Interceptor), becomes the first US Army Air Force "Ace" of World War II. Wagner accomplishes this during a dive-bombing raid on the Japanese airfield at Vigan, the Philippines.

The Lima (Ohio) News trumpets that "U.S. Takes Offensive in Luzon." As with many headlines at this stage of the war, this is complete fantasy. The Japanese remain on the offensive and are advancing on Manila. However, the rest of the front page is much more accurate.

At dawn in Borneo, part of the Japanese 16th Division lands at Miri and Seria. Later in the morning, forces also land at Lutong. The Japanese invasion forces are not large, but they don't need to be - there is virtually no opposition. The first objective of all three landings are some nearby airfields where the Japanese want to base their aircraft. Dutch forces in the area retain control of their airfield near Miri and have relatively large aerial forces there that plan to bomb the Japanese land positions and offshore naval support on the 17th. This begins the Battle of Borneo.

On the Malay Peninsula, the tenuous British line anchored at Gurun dissolves after only a day or two of fighting. the 11th Indian Division under the command of Major-General Murray-Lyon resumes its march south toward Singapore with the Japanese 5th Infantry Division (Takuma Nishimura) in hot pursuit.

At Hong Kong, the Japanese control the mainland while the Commonwealth forces are completely isolated on Hong Kong Island. The Japanese prepare to make landings on the island in a couple of days. The British know their position is essentially hopeless, but they have nowhere to go and Her Majesty's Government expects its possessions to be defended.

Having just returned from a brief visit to Hawaii, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox reveals to reporters a few more details of the wreckage at Pearl Harbor. Overall, however, the media has little real news to report and the government is keeping the full extent of damage a secret. Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), 16 December 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: General Erwin Rommel oversees a withdrawal by Afrika Korps from the Gazala line to El Agheila. The 15th Panzer Division, down to eight tanks, moves quickly enough to block an attempt by the British 4th Armored Brigade to cut off their retreat from the south. The British do have opportunities to advance anyway, but they only send a small unit north which finds 15th Panzer's rear echelon troops but not the main force. The rest of the British tanks head south to refuel, giving the panzers just enough time to get in position to block any further British attempts to block the retreat. With the Axis retreating in good order to a new line between Ajedabia and El Haseia and the British unable to pursue, this is generally considered the end of British Operation Crusader. It has been a close-run and limited success which achieved its main objective of relieving Tobruk but failed to trap and destroy the Afrika Korps despite several tempting chances to do so. General Rommel, meanwhile, has had to abandon large German forces near the frontier at Bardia and Sollum which continue to hold out but whose situation is hopeless. It is the first real British land victory over the Afrika Korps.

The big issue on land for the Axis is whether convoys can successfully supply Rommel's panzers and bring reinforcements. To this end, a major Italian supply convoy departs from Naples bound for Axis headquarters in Tripoli. Aerial reconnaissance has spotted two British battleships in Grand Harbor at Malta, so the Italian fleet swings into action. The force includes a massive (but fairly distant) escort of four battleships, five cruisers, and 21 destroyers - one of the largest Italian fleet movements of the entire war. In command is Admiral Iachino. As with most Axis convoys to North Africa, the first stop is Palermo, Sicily.

S.S. Corregidor hits a mine late on 16 December 1941 and sinks in the early morning hours of 17 December near its namesake Corregidor Island. There is a great loss of life estimated at 900-1200 (about 150 survivors), but the incident receives very little media attention and is never investigated due to the Japanese invasion. The passengers are Filipino citizens trying to escape to the southern Philippines and members of the Visayan-Mindanao Force of the Philippine Army. The U.S. minefield at the entrance to the harbor was well known, but the ship's captain fails to ask for clearance to leave the harbor and accidentally strayed into it. There is widespread speculation that the seaward defense commander, Colonel Paul Bunker, intentionally allowed the ship to blunder into the minefield (he could have ordered the electrically controlled mines disarmed) in order to "teach the Filipinos a lesson" about asking for permission to enter and exit the channel - a lesson which was well-learned and taken to heart after this.

Eastern Front: After a fairly long stay in Berlin, Adolf Hitler returns to the Wolfsschanze in East Prussia. Field Marshal Ritter von Leeb, commander of Army Group North, is there to meet him. Hitler uncharacteristically gives von Leeb permission to withdraw from the entire Tikhvin salient and blames the retreat on bad advice from the OKH. At noon, Hitler turns his attention to Army Group Center. He has General Franz Halder, OKH Operations Chief, telephone Field Marshal Fedor von Bock at Smolensk and also give Ninth Army, Third Panzer Group, and Fourth Panzer Group permission to retreat. One thing is made abundantly clear to everyone: Army Commander Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch is no longer in the chain of command, and Hitler personally is making all the decisions. Rather than contact von Brauchitsch, von Bock from now on is to communicate with Hitler's aide, Generalmajor Rudolf Schmundt. Schmundt privately tells von Bock's chief of staff, General Greiffenberg, that Hitler is "taking everything into his own hands."

Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious showing damage sustained during a moderate storm from a collision with sister ship HMS Formidable, 16 December 1941. Illustrious sustains the damage during its return to England following lengthy repairs in Norfolk, Virginia. Illustrious continues on to England despite the damage and requires repairs at Cammell Laird's shipyard in Birkenhead lasting until late February 1942.

After his conversation with von Bock, Schmundt calls Hitler and gives him a full picture of the front. At midnight, Hitler, at his evening conference, calls von Bock and changes all previous orders. From now on, the Army Group Center is:

not to go a step back to close the gaps and hold.

Hitler promises infantry and air reinforcements. Von Bock knows that such promises are easy to make but hard to keep and protests that it may take too long for any help to arrive and the front "could rip open at any hour." The Fuehrer replies:

I will have to take that chance into the bargain.

Hitler then hangs up.

Look magazine for 16 December 1941 is completely bereft of war news, perhaps the last major publication to miss war coverage. The cover photo features The Flexible Flyer "Airline" sleds, the standard sled for decades to come.

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 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

2020

Thursday 4 December 1941

"A U.S. Navy Vought SB2U Vindicator (42-S-17) of Scouting Squadron 42 (VS-42) returning to the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV-4) on 4 December 1941. Ranger was escorting a convoy in the Atlantic." (US Navy).

Eastern Front: There have been many Soviet counteroffensives on the Eastern Front since the Germans invaded in June. On the whole, they have been futile, though one or two, such as at Yelnya in September, pushed the Wehrmacht back a bit. General Georgy Zhukov now has come up with one of the more ambitious plans, an attack by Red Army units both north and south of Moscow to drive the Germans back about 60 miles, but it requires Stalin's approval. In his memoirs, General Vasily Danilovich Sokolovsky, chief of staff of the Western Front, recalls that the final Stavka decision to mount this counteroffensive is made on 4 December 1941. As Zhukov recalls, the decision is made in a very off-handed way. Zhukov has a late-night telephone conversation with Joseph Stalin about general matters during which Stalin "reminds" Zhukov that the Kalinin Front would be going over to the counteroffensive on the 5th, while Southwest Front would follow the next day. This is the first that Zhukov, who more-or-less has been running the Red Army's operations, hears of it. And that is how the Moscow counteroffensive comes about.

"An anti-aircraft gunners at Action Stations during a mock air raid, while stores are being loaded from a transport." During combined landing exercises held on 3 and 4 December 1941 at Skipness, Scotland and aboard transport ship Winchester Castle. © IWM (A 6495).

Conditions are ripe for a Soviet counteroffensive coming out of Moscow. The German troops have lost their momentum and they and their weapons are suffering from the extreme cold. While it is cold for the Soviet troops as well, they and their equipment are better prepared for it. In the morning, there are heavy snowfalls everywhere from the day and night before and the temperature stands at -4 °F, and Field Marshal Fedor von Bock records in his diary that it is "icy cold." After dark, the temperature drops to -25 °F, and a German regiment on a night march records over three hundred frostbite casualties and several wounded men freezing to death. In such conditions, the equipment that the Germans have used to get to Moscow and which for many serves as their home-on-wheels freeze. Their engines won't turn over, the guns won't fire because lubricants congeal, and hot food is impossible to serve in outdoor canteens. The Red Army has very small, but telling, advantages in all of these areas in part because the Germans are inhabiting areas that have been destroyed by fighting and supplied over unreliable lines of communication. The Red Army, on the other hand, holds positions that have not yet been fought over and which are served by longstanding and intact supply lines. So, the colder and frostier it gets, the more the balance of power swings to the Soviets.

"Western Desert, North Africa. 4 December 1941. Aircrew members of an RAF Squadron operating Glenn Martin Maryland bomber aircraft climb all over a British tank to examine it. Co-operation between the Allied air and land forces in the North African offensive has been excellent." (Australian War Memorial MED0155).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The winner of the multi-week battle begun by the British Operation Crusader remains uncertain as of 4 December 1941. After some brilliant maneuvering by General Erwin Rommel, the German Afrika Korps has managed to push the bulk of the British Eighth Army back toward the Egyptian border. The British are far from defeated, however, and British 30th Corps to the south of Rommel's most advanced positions near Tobruk remains a deadly threat. Rommel spends the morning dividing his forces, sending 15th Panzer Division and Italian Ariete Division south toward the border while sending other troops against the British entrenched to the north at Ed Duda.

"Unloading petrol by means of a roller runway." Combined landing exercise held at Skipness, Scotland and aboard transport ship Winchester Castle. © IWM (A 6505).

Neither attack succeeds. The British 70th Division's 14th Infantry Brigade at Ed Duda does not yield. The attack to the south alarms British Eighth Army headquarters, which orders British 4th Armored Brigade to the east (and weakens the British effort around Tobruk. However, the German/Italian attack stops after only a small advance at Gasr el Arid. At this point, Rommel decides to concentrate his forces in the south in order to hold off the main British power base. While the British at Ed Duda south of Tobruk remain a problem, he figures that if Afrika Korps can push the British back into Egypt, the Tobruk pocket will still be a pocket, albeit a much bigger one. That can be dealt with later. Meanwhile, the Italian Pavia and Trento Divisions on the Tobruk perimeter launch their own counterattacks against the 70th Division at Ed Duda which gain ground at the "Plonk" and "Doc" bunkers.

"Western Desert, North Africa. 4 December 1941. Remains of an Italian aircraft shot down near Qur el Beid being searched by a large number of Allied troops. The aircraft had been shot down during the second British Libyan offensive - Operation Crusader." (Australian War Memorial MED0153).

US Military: United States aircraft carrier USS Enterprise concludes a ferry operation to Wake Island, launching from 175 miles offshore to the north of Wake Island the last F4F Wildcats that it has brought to the island. It then turns back toward Hawaii, planning to arrive at Pearl Harbor on 6 December. Another dozen F4F-3 fighters of US Marine Squadron 211 also arrive at Wake Island today. The Americans don't know it, but the Japanese carrier striking force, Kido Butai, is steaming toward the east even further to the north of Wake Island and has its own aircraft nearby secretly observing the US air activities there. In the Philippines, General MacArthur orders General Lewis Hyde Brereton, the commander of the Far East Air Force who has just returned from twelve days in Australia, to institute air patrols north of Luzon. Brereton does this using short-range fighter planes which cannot patrol very far.

"Western Desert, North Africa. 4 December 1941. An RAF flying officer with a bandaged right arm, returned from a battle over Libya in which he shot down an Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM79 Sparviero bomber aircraft and a German Messerschmitt Bf109 fighter aircraft, with American correspondent Miss Morley Brook Lister." (Australian War Memorial MED0157).

Japanese Military: A US PBY Catalina has been patrolling over French Indochina. Yesterday, it observed 30 Japanese troop transport ships in Cam Ranh Bay. Today, it sees none. The Japanese are heading south. In fact, Japanese forces leave today from many ports in order to get in position to invade multiple landing beaches in Malaya and Thailand.

Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's carrier striking force, Kido Butai, continues heading east in foul weather. The conditions help to keep the massive fleet safe from prying eyes. Kido Butai is following a virtually unused route to Hawaii that is far from the usual lanes to the south. Nagumo eventually will have to turn to the southeast in order to park about 200 miles north of Oahu. He plans on one more stop to refuel before making this turn.

"A Step In Front," a cartoon by Bill Mahony in the 4 December 1941 Sydney Daily Telegraph. It shows a bulldog sitting on a step (Singapore) looking out to sea under darkening skies. The Royal Navy is based at Singapore and is considered Australia's first line of defense.

US Government: Congress adjourns as usual for the weekend. President Roosevelt is debating how to make one last plea to the Japanese to restart the moribund peace negotiations. Ambassadors Nomura and Kurusu continue meeting with Secretary of State Cordell Hull, but no progress at all is made.

Holocaust: At the newly opened Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in Czechoslovakia, Adolf Eichmann, leader of the RSHA section IV B 4 (Jewish Affairs), begins making the camp more efficient for its purpose as a transit camp. The German Generalplan Ost provides that all Jewish citizens of the Reich are to be sent to the East through processing camps such as Theresienstadt. Today, Eichmann appoints Prague native Jacob Edelstein, one of the early arrivals, to be the chairman of the Council of Jewish Elders (Judenrat) at Theresienstadt.

These are three of the twelve F4F-3 aircraft launched from USS Enterprise to land on Wake Island on 4 December 1941. While they are painted in peacetime conditions in this photo, during the journey to Wake they are repainted in a military scheme (US Naval History and Heritage Command).

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 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

2020

Tuesday 2 December 1941

"HMS 'Prince of Wales', the flagship of Force Z, approaching her berth at the Singapore naval base, 2 December 1941." The Prince of Wales was the victor in the North Atlantic against the Bismarck, and the Admiralty has sent it to Singapore along with cruiser Repulse in a show of force. This is Task Force Z under the command of Vice-Admiral Tom Phillips. © IWM (FE 485).

Japanese Military: The Japanese carrier strike force is proceeding east toward the United States on a course that is well to the north of established trade routes. So far, this has been successful in maintaining the fleet's secrecy from any passing ships. As it refuels in the North Pacific at 42°N 170°E, about a third of the way to Hawaii, Admiral Yamamoto aboard battleship Nagato in Tokyo Bay radios Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, the commander of Kido Butai. The message is:

Climb Mount Niitaka.

Nagumo does not have to look at his codebook to know what this means. It provides official authorization to proceed with the attack on Pearl Harbor as planned.

"It was an event of first-class importance when key men from England, Australia, China, Thailand, Malaya, and the Far East Command met in conference at Singapore. These representatives were Sir Robert Brooke-Popham (Commander-in-Chief, Far East); Mr. Alfred Duff Cooper (England); Sir Earle Page (Australia); Sir Archibald Clarke-Kerr (British Ambassador, Chungking); Sir Shenton Thomas (Governor of Malaya); Sir Geoffrey Layton (Commander-in-Chief, China Station); and Sir Josiah Crosby (British Minister to Thailand). They are here pictured (in the above order) before the conference. Sir Josiah Crosby being temporarily absent." 2 December 1941. © IWM (K 1253).

The message as decoded states that the attack on Pearl Harbor, Operation Z, is authorized to take place any time after midnight on 7 December 1941. The fleet is maintaining Tokyo time, which is a day ahead of local Hawaiian time, and ignoring progressive time changes as it proceeds east (sunsets are happening earlier and earlier, so the men are going to sleep well after dark sleeping well into the daylight). The strike thus may take place at the earliest sometime early on 7 December 1941 according to United States time zones. If the attack takes place soon after the window of authorization opens, it would be in the middle of the night as experienced by the Japanese pilots even though it mid-morning for locals.

Japanese battleship Nagato, from which the message to attack Pearl Harbor was sent on 2 December 1941. When the war ends, it will be the only Japanese battleship afloat.

The strike force does not break radio silence to confirm the order. Later, at 20:00, Nagato sends the further code "Niitaka Yama Noboru 1208," which indicates that the strike is to take place on 8 December 1941 Tokyo time and 7 December 1941, i.e., on the first day planned. Since the attack has been planned to take place at or shortly after dawn, this means that hostilities will commence on the morning of 7 December 1941. The die is now cast unless a recall order is sent by Tokyo.

"New Zealand infantry greets a Matilda tank crew after the meeting of the Tobruk garrison and relieving forces, 2 December 1941." © IWM (E 6920).

Battle of the Mediterranean: With weather conditions deteriorating rapidly on the all-important Eastern Front, Adolf Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 38. This provides in general for reinforcement of Axis air power in the Mediterranean theater, which was stripped in June in preparation for Operation Barbarossa. The order states in part:

I order, in agreement with The Duce, that part of the German Airforce no longer required in the east be transferred to the southern Italian and North African areas, in the strength of about one Air Corps with the necessary antiaircraft defenses.

The order also appoints Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, recently transferred from the Eastern Front to Rome, Commander-in-Chief South. Kesselring has only his Luftflotte 2 staff and does not bring the entire Air Fleet with him. He will operate with this small staff until January 1943 to control all Axis operations in the entire Mediterranean theater. While the Directive is very general about his responsibilities ("paralyze enemy traffic through the Mediterranean Sea"), Kesselring's primary at this time is to get supplies through to General Erwin Rommel's forces in Libya, which are struggling against the British Eighth Army. An unstated but likely important objective is to rein in General Rommel, who has been operating virtually as a crusading baron with no oversight from anyone.

"After some of the heaviest fighting of the North African campaign, the infantry of the 2nd New Zealand Division link up with Matilda tanks of the Tobruk garrison. The New Zealanders had fought along the coast road to relieve Tobruk and end the eight-month siege." 2 December 1941. © IWM (E 6918).

In Libya, the British Operation Crusader is now exactly two weeks old. The ultimate outcome remains very much in doubt, as the British had established a corridor to Tobruk early on 27 November but lost contact again on 1 December. Today, Rommel sends armored forces (the Geissler Advance Guard and the Knabe Advanced Guard battalion groups) southeast to reestablish his pre-battle line and relieve some border strongpoints. This extends his forces and opens them up to British counter-attack because the Eighth Army tanks have been pushed back but not eliminated. The 5th New Zealand Brigade is waiting for them along the Bardia road near Monastir, but contact is not made until 3 December. The 2nd New Zealand Division, meanwhile, links up again with the Tobruk garrison on the coast road, reflecting the chaotic nature of the North African situation in early December. However, depending upon Rommel's further moves, the New Zealanders may just be cut off along with Tobruk garrison.

British troops in North Africa look over a captured Junkers Ju 87R-2 Stuka (T6+AN) of 5/StG 2 which was captured after making an emergency landing during December 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-43 (Kptlt. Wolfgang Lüth), on its ninth patrol out of Lorient, is operating with Wolfpack Steuben (named somewhat ironically after Baron von Steuben, a top general in George Washington's Continental Army during the War of Independence) near the Azores in the North Atlantic. It is a full moon, and Captain Lüth spots an "independent" tanker just after midnight. An initial salvo of torpedoes misses. The tanker immediately picks up speed and begins zig-zagging. Lüth then spends hours maneuvering into a better attack position, and at 09:24 he tries again. This time, U-43's two torpedoes hit the tanker, one in the stern and one amidships, and sink it within minutes. The tanker is 7,542-ton tanker Astral. All 37 aboard (including 8 officers) perish. U-575 (Kptlt. Günther Heydemann) had spotted the Astral on the 1st, but let it go after seeing the painted US flag on its side. Lüth either did not see the flag or did not care. The Astral is the third of four US merchantmen sunk by U-boats prior to war being declared.

A mobile kitchen in Chatham, England, 2 December 1941. © IWM (A 6443).

Manhattan Project: German theoretical physicist Klaus Fuchs, who applied to become a British citizen in August 1939 (not granted until 7 August 1942), has been working on the British atomic bombs research project. This operation has been known to date as the "Tube Alloys" program. Today, Fuchs arrives in New York along with 14 other atomic scientists for information exchanges. Thus, Klaus Fuchs is in at the very inception of the Manhattan Project (though it is not known by that name yet). Fuchs will return to Edinburgh in January 1942 to resume his work. Unknown to everyone, Fuchs will develop a secret allegiance to the Soviet Union and serve as their inside spy on the Manhattan Project, but this will not become known until 1949.

Louis "Lepke" Buchalter in a New York court for sentencing, 2 December 1941. Buchalter will be executed in "Old Sparky" in Sing Sing Prison on 4 March 1944 after a final appeal to the US Supreme Court (319 U.S. 427 (1943) fails 7-0 with two abstentions. He is buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Flushing, Queens.

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 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

2020

Monday 1 December 1941

A Wehrmacht soldier surrender at Solnechnogorsk, northwest of Moscow, on 1 December 1941 (Samaryi Guraryi).

Eastern Front: After stewing about the unauthorized retreat from Rostov for 36 hours and trying in vain to stop the troops in their tracks, Adolf Hitler fires the Army Group South commander, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, early on 1 December 1941. Named as his replacement in the teletype to the Army Group headquarters is the commander of Sixth Army, Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau, who is present on the scene and able to take over quickly. In a pattern that repeats itself throughout the course of the war on the Eastern Front, the new commander immediately ratifies the decisions taken by his predecessor and even expands upon them. In the evening, after paying lip service to what Hitler wants, Reichenau allows the fleeing troops to continue west to the new Mius River line. Field Marshal von Rundstedt, meanwhile, departs from his headquarter with his rank intact aboard his personal command train, his reputation and esteem intact despite his dismissal.

Soviet troops marching on Gorky Street, Moscow, Russia, 1 December 1941. Credit: RIAN, Oleg Ignatovich.

While the firing of von Rundstedt is not a decisive event in the course of Operation Barbarossa, it is a very significant sign of deeper troubles in the German invasion. Von Rundstedt is the first army group commander to be relieved, but the other two - Fedor von Bock at Army Group Center and Ritter von Leeb at Army Group North - also are in peril. All three have faced the same extremely difficult decisions about trying to bring overly aggressive operations in line with dwindling capabilities as winter closes in. Stopped at Leningrad, von Leeb has ordered his advance troops at Tikhvin to march north to Lake Ladoga, but today the Red Army stops this advance as well at Volkhov, 35 miles south of the Lake. Field Marshal von Bock, for his part, sends Germany Army commander Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch a teletype early in the morning reiterating his concerns expressed in a telephone conversation on 30 November and adds the conclusion that they could expect an impending Red Army collapse "a fantasy." Furthermore, Operation Typhoon, the final offensive on Moscow, had lost "all sense and purpose" and it was time to end it because the troops were exhausted. The bottom line, he concludes, is that that Army Group North was going to be forced to spend the winter out in the open "at the gates of Moscow" and this was a very real problem that had to be addressed.

General Anders (right) and General Sikorski (second from left) at a conference in Moscow on 1 December 1941. They are negotiating a joint declaration of friendship between the Polish government in exile and the Soviet Union. This is a relationship that goes through many severe twists and turns throughout World War II and thereafter. Visible in the background are (from left to right) M. Kot, Polish Ambassador in Russia, M. Vyshinsky, Deputy People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and M. Kalinin, the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (Rickard, J (8 April 2008), General Anders and General Sikorski in Moscow, 1 December 1941).

The Soviet generals at the Stavka also are seeing a shift in the balance of power and spend 1 December 1941 drafting up plans for a counteroffensive. However, the pleas of the German generals are undercut somewhat by some meager gains on the ground. To the west of Moscow, Fourth Army's 25th Infantry Division makes a sudden breakthrough south of the Moscow-Smolensk highway. General Guderian to the south of the Soviet capital also is planning one last attempt to shatter the so-far solid Red Army defenses at Tula and resume his drive north. He orders the 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions along with Grossdeutschland to attack early on the 2nd. Thus, despite their growing problems all across the front, German commanders continue to hold out hope that the sheer superiority of Wehrmacht weapons and willpower can overpower a very stubborn enemy.

"A Matilda tank crew overhauling their vehicle in preparation for the next phase of battle near Tobruk, 1 December 1941." © IWM (E 6864).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Following General Erwin Rommel's orders, the 15th Panzer Division jumps off at 06:15 toward Belhamed. Their objective is to cut the lifeline the British have established to Tobruk during Operation Crusader. The Germans only have about 40 panzers left, but they quickly overrun the weary troops of the 2nd New Zealand Division. The British quickly move the 7th Armored Division forward to Belhamed, and they support the withdrawal of the New Zealand troops to Zaafran, about five miles east of Belhamed and northeast of Sidi Rezegh. New Zealand commander General Bernard Freyberg orders a further withdrawal to the east based upon his assessment that the British are not fully committed to holding the supply corridor to Tobruk. After resupplying, 15th Panzer combines with the Italian Trieste division to finally cut the Tobruk corridor at 16:30. The New Zealand force takes heavy casualties but withdraws its 3500 troops and 700 vehicles in good order to British lines. At this moment, it appears that British Operation Crusader has failed and that General Rommel's Afrika Korps somehow has prevailed in a dramatic defensive victory despite being woefully undersupplied and understrength. However, the battle is not yet over and the British retain a formidable concentration of forces near the Egyptian border.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Harvester (left) closes in on USS Excalibur, a freighter, west of Gibraltar, on 1 December 1941. The captain of Harvester wants to check the freighter's papers, which are in order. This photo was taken from destroyer HMS Blackney (© IWM (A 6922)).

Japanese Government: In Tokyo at the Imperial Conference held on 1 December 1941, Emperor Showa reviews the decisions made at the Liaison Conference on 29 November. Prime Minister Tojo presides over this conference, which formalizes the decisions already made by the military. The meeting record recites:

Our negotiations with the United States regarding the execution of our national policy, adopted 5 November, have finally failed. Japan will open hostilities against the United States, Great Britain, and the Netherlands.

While Hirohito has broken established rules of Imperial protocol at previous meetings to question the wisdom of war, he does not do so at this conference. His complete silence is an assent to the outbreak of war. It is decided that there will be no declaration of war, only an ambiguous note given to the United States shortly before hostilities begin breaking off relations. The date set for the attack is 8 December 1941, Japanese Standard Time, which would be 7 December 1941 in the United States.

Life magazine, 1 December 1941.

November 1941

November 1, 1941: Finns Attack Toward Murmansk Railway
November 2, 1941: Manstein Isolates Sevastopol
November 3, 1941: Japan Prepares to Attack
November 4, 1941: German Advances in the South
November 5, 1941: Last Peace Effort By Japan
November 6, 1941: Stalin Casts Blame in an Unexpected Direction
November 7, 1941: Stalin's Big Parade
November 8, 1941: Germans Take Tikhvin
November 9, 1941: Duisburg Convoy Destruction
November 10, 1941: Manstein Attacks Sevastopol
November 11, 1941: Finland's Double Game Erupts
November 12, 1941: T-34 Tanks Take Charge
November 13, 1941: German Orsha Conference
November 14, 1941: German Supply Network Breaking Down
November 15, 1941: Operation Typhoon Resumes
November 16, 1941: Manstein Captures Kerch
November 17, 1941: Finland Halts Operations
November 18, 1941: British Operation Crusader
November 19, 1941: Sydney vs. Kormoran Duel
November 20, 1941: The US Rejects Final Japanese Demand
November 21, 1941: Germans Take Rostov
November 22, 1941: Kleist in Trouble at Rostov
November 23, 1941: Germans Take Klin, Huge Battle in North Africa
November 24, 1941: Rommel Counterattacks
November 25, 1941: HMS Barham Sunk
November 26, 1941: Japanese Fleet Sails
November 27, 1941: British Relieve Tobruk
November 28, 1941: Rostov Evacuated, German Closest Approach to Moscow
November 29, 1941: Hitler Furious About Retreat
November 30, 1941: Japan Sets the Date for its Attack

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 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

2020