Saturday 21 March 1942

The German relief force attacking toward the Demyansk pocket, 21 March 1942.

Eastern Front: Having made a rapid shift of forces, primarily Luftwaffe planes, from the successful Volkhov operation, the Wehrmacht opens a vital relief attack toward the encircled garrison at Demyansk. Operation Brueckenschlag ("Bridge-building") begins at daylight through a wilderness of trees and snow. The Soviet defenders are taken by surprise and in some spots fall back in confusion. The Germans have four divisions to cover the 25 miles to the pocket and must cross the Lovat River five miles from it. The trapped men in the pocket are barely holding off the Soviet attacks and cannot hold out much longer.

The Red Army fights desperately to open a supply corridor to the 130,000 troops now trapped on the west side of the Volkhov River due to the Germans' Operation Raubtier. The Soviets manage to open a small corridor for a short time, through which General Kirill A. Meretskov (undoubtedly under orders) personally enters the pocket to take command of the 2nd Shock Army. The Red Army troops in the pocket end their offensive toward Lyuban and Chudovo and prepare to defend the ground where they stand. The Soviets know better than to break out to the East without orders, as troops that did that during the Winter War were disciplined and sometimes executed. Stalin has not issued orders to retreat.

In Crimea, operations have ceased again as both sides have failed in recent attempts to end the stalemate on the Parpach Narrows. General Kozlov, commander of the Soviet forces, is building up his forces for a third attempt on the strong German base at Koi-Asan. General Manstein, meanwhile, is helped by a continuing Luftwaffe building as units return from the Reich after badly needed refits.

Germans using a captured Soviet T-60 light tank in defense of the Kholm pocket (Kampfgruppe Scherer) during spring 1942 (Muck, Richard, Federal Archive Figure 183-J19893).

Battle of the Pacific: General MacArthur and his party, including his wife and young son, arrive at Adelaide on 21 March 1942. Among those greeting MacArthur are the Australian Minister for the Army, Frank Forde, and senior US officers including Brigadier-General Patrick Hurley of the US Army. MacArthur now has supreme command of all Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific. MacArthur's escape has attracted worldwide attention by both sides. Incidentally, MacArthur already has made his famous "I Shall Return" speech while changing trains on the 20th, and he has nothing remotely as consequential to add today. MacArthur now changes to a special carriage on the Adelaide Express for the final run into Melbourne, where he will arrive on the 22nd.

MacArthur quickly sets to work establishing his General Headquarters (GHQ) Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA). He staffs it with his fellow escapees from Corregidor, and they become known as the "Bataan Gang." This headquarters becomes known for its fanatical loyalty to MacArthur and its insularity. Lieutenant (junior grade) John D. Bulkeley, who led the PT boats that brought MacArthur out of the Philippines, goes on to a brilliant US Navy career and becomes MacArthur's biggest cheerleader, calling him "the greatest general as well as statesman since George Washington."

The Brooklyn Eagle, 21 March 1942. General MacArthur's escape receives worldwide attention.

MacArthur learns officially (he already has been told this unofficially at Batchelor Airfield) that he has little to work with. There is not a single tank in Australia and only 32,000 Allied troops - and most of these service troops. The only combat-ready unit is one brigade of the Australian 6th Division. Official Australian strategy in the event of a Japanese invasion is to withdraw immediately to the "Brisbane Line" in order to hold the populated areas along the eastern and southern coasts. In other words, Darwin is ripe for the taking. MacArthur calls this his greatest shock and surprise of the entire war.

At Taungoo, Burma, about 60 Sikh sowars of the Burma Frontier Force make a desperate and futile cavalry charge against advancing Japanese infantry. This is the last British cavalry charge in history. The Japanese 112th Regiment is still assembling its forces for a major attack on the Oktwin position. The Chinese 200th Division today complete their defenses at Oktwin and Toungoo, helped by the time gained by the sacrificial cavalry charges. The Japanese, having finally overcome these delaying tactics, today close up on the 200th Division outposts at Oktwin and prepares for a set-piece attack. In a formality, the Chinese Expeditionary Force under Lt. General Joseph Stilwell and Chinese Lt. General Lin Wie officially becomes operational today.

Japanese aircraft raid the Magwe Airdrome at 14:30 and destroy nine RAF Blenheim Mk IV bombers and three American Volunteer Group P-40s on the ground, and three Hawker Hurricane Mk. II fighters in the air. Magwe now is the home base of the AVG "Flying Tigers." The defending AVG shoots down two "Nate" bombers.

"The Lord Mayor of London (back to camera) inspecting the Naval Guard of Honour at the opening ceremony." Warship Week Opening Ceremony in Trafalgar Square, 21 March 1942 (© IWM A 7981).

The Japanese have been raiding northern Australia repeatedly recently. Today, they send a Mitsubishi Ki-15 Army Type 97 Command Reconnaissance aircraft from Koepang, Timor, over Darwin to scout out new targets. A US Army Air Force P-40 of the 9th Pursuit Squadron shoots it down after an alert from a coast watcher on Bathurst Island. Later in the day, the Japanese bomb Katherine, Australia, about 200 miles (322 km) south of Darwin, with little result.

Before invading Australia, the Japanese want to completely secure New Guinea. The RAAF today sends four Curtiss Kittyhawks Mk. IAs of RAAF No. 75 Squadron to help defend Port Moresby there. However, nervous antiaircraft gunners there mistake the planes for Japanese attackers and open fire. Three of the four planes are damaged, one irreparably, but manage to land at Seven Mile Aerodrome.

In the Philippines, the Allied forces on the Bataan Peninsula continue to hold out against the Japanese following MacArthur's escape. Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright, commander of U.S. Forces in the Philippines (USFIP), organizes his command on Corregidor Island. He appoints Major General Lewis Beebe his chief of staff. Major General Edward P. King, Jr., is named commander of Luzon Force. Today, General Yamashita sends a surrender demand to General Wainwright that is ignored. The US forces make a small raid on Mindanao to keep the Japanese busy.

The Warship Week opening ceremony in Trafalgar Square, 21 March 1942. Note that nobody seems particularly concerned about air attack. © IWM A 7980.

European Air Operations: An extended lull in operations on the Channel Front continues today. RAF Bomber Command sends one Wellington bomber to attack Essen, but it returns early due to weather conditions.

Battle of the Atlantic:  U-124 (Kptlt. Johann Mohr), on its eighth patrol out of Lorient, continues a very successful patrol off of the East coast of the United States by torpedoing two ships:

• 7934-ton US tanker Esso Nashville
• 11,355-ton US tanker Atlantic Sun

These add to the Allies' miseries of losing many tankers recently. However, neither tanker sinks completely. Esso Nashville, hit at 06:08 by one torpedo about 16 miles northeast of Frying Pan Lightship Buoy, breaks in two, with the bow section sinking but the stern section towed into Morehead City (it ultimately is repaired and returned to service). Atlantic Sun, carrying a full load of crude oil, suffers only minor damage from one torpedo fired under non-ideal circumstances and makes it to Beaufort, North Carolina, under its own power.

The weather in the Atlantic is rough today, causing 598-ton Panamanian Lumberboat Vamar to capsize off Port Saint Joseph, Florida, in 25 feet of water. The ship was carrying building materials for the Naval Base to be built at Guantanamo Bay. This wreck becomes a favorite spot for sport divers known as the "Lumberboat" or "Lumbership wreck." Previously named Eleanor Boling, the Vamar had served as Admiral Byrd's research vessel and supply ship during his quest to circumnavigate the South Pole in 1928. During this service, the ship brought the first mechanized vehicles (converted Model T Fords) to Antarctica.

German Kriegsmarine submarine commissionings continue to outpace the occasional losses. Today, U-442 (F.Kapt. Hans-Joachim Hesse) and U-517 (Kptlt. Paul Hartwig) are commissioned. The new boats have longer range and capabilities than most of the submarines the Reich began the war with. The new submarines are sent to training flotilla to work up.

Adolf Hitler personally gives General Erwin Rommel the Oak Leaves with Swords to the Cross of the Iron Cross at Rastenburg on 21 March 1942 (they were awarded on 20 January 1942, but Rommel was busy in North Africa). Rommel is the 10th recipient of this award.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Italians have become aware of the Royal Navy supply convoys heading for Malta from both east and west. To stop them, Italian Vice Admiral Angelo Iachino sails from Taranto, Italy, aboard battleship Littorio accompanied by four destroyers. In addition, Rear-Admiral Angelo Parona sets sail from Messina with the heavy cruisers Gorizia and Trento, the light cruiser Bande Nere, and four destroyers. The plan is to intercept the British ships sailing west from Alexandria near the Gulf of Sirte. The British Force H, meanwhile, launches 16 Spitfires for Malta from the convoy heading east from Gibraltar.

In a continuing effort to distract the Germans from events at sea, the British Eighth Army launches more harassing attacks against Axis forces near Benghazi. This keeps the Axis reconnaissance aircraft occupied over the land rather than scouting out at sea where they might spot the numerous British ships. However, Italian submarines Onice and Platino both spot British convoy MW 10 and report its position. The Axis command in Rome orders Italian submarines Perla, Acciaio, and Galatea and German submarines U.73, U-205, and U-403 to the area. Commando Supremo also readies the Italian 4th Air Fleet and German II Air Corps for attacks. The Axis air forces get their first victim when 6 Italian Fiat CR-42 bombers sink British motor launch boat ML-129 between Gibraltar and Malta. There are seven deaths.

Axis air attacks on Malta continue today without let-up. The main German target, the RAF field at Ta Qali, suffers repeated attacks, as do the communities near it. Dozens of people are killed.

Battle of the Black Sea: German aircraft sink 2482-ton Soviet transport ship SS Georgi Dimitrov (Георгий Димитров) in Sevastopol Harbor. There are no casualties.

"Bristol Bombay in a street in Hollywood, Northern Ireland, after a forced landing at Clandeboye." 21 March 1942 (© IWM HU 110308).

Partisans: Václav Morávek, a Czech officer, has been a member of the "Three Kings" partisan movement. He has had a reputation for daring, even foolhardy, exploits against the occupying Germans. Today, that comes to an end when the Gestapo arrests his colleague Václav Řehák. Morávek tries to intervene and the Gestapo guns him down. He is not forgotten, however, as he is posthumously promoted to Brigadier General and becomes famous in a Czech television series about the Three Kings. The death of Václav Morávek basically ends the Three Kings.

Despite the loss of the Three Kings, the Czechs have real trouble brewing for the Germans. The British SOE has had agents embedded in the Prague vicinity since late December looking for an opportunity to assassinate Gauleiter Reinhard Heydrich. This is Operation Anthropoid.

US/Chinese Relations: The United States agrees to provide US$500 million in aid to China. This is a very strategic move as Chinese troops now are carrying most of the burden of fighting in Burma as the battered British forces there try to regroup.

The New Yorker, 21 March 1942.

US Military: The Assam-Burma-China Ferry Command is activated. It commands 25 Pan-American World Airways DC-3 transports. Their main mission is to take supplies to China over the Himalayas (the "Hump") but first they must supply the Allied troops under pressure in Burma.

Japanese Military: In a curious incident, Rear Admiral Sosa Tanetsuga writes an article in the Japan Times warning of the vulnerability of the Japanese homeland to air attack from the Aleutian Island chain. The Aleutians have been watched closely by both sides for the same reason - their possible use for air attack - but why a Japanese officer chooses a newspaper to broadcast this is a mystery.

German Government: Fritz Sauckel, one of Hitler's old "street fighter" comrades, is appointed Reich Plenipotentiary General for Labor Mobilization. Sauckel's portfolio includes the power, in Hitler's name, to ship laborers from all across occupied Europe to Reich labor squads by any means necessary. This includes "shanghaiing" men off the streets. However, Sauckel cannot (under current practices) use the thousands of Jews now being deported from Eastern Galicia to the new death camp at Belzec (this will change in the near future). Sauckel, whose appointment is a sign of German recognition that the war in the Soviet Union is going to be harder and longer than anticipated, will receive the death penalty at Nuremberg for his treatment of laborers.

The Winnipeg Tribune reports in its 21 March 1942 edition that the "Women's Land Army Has 21,000 Workers Throughout The Counties of England."

American Homefront: "Secret Agent of Japan" from 20th Century Fox premieres at the Globe Theater in New York City. It is the first motion picture to depict the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor - which, for most Americans, is still shrouded in secrecy and misinformation. "Secret Agent of Japan," directed by Irving Pichel, is a typical wartime espionage thriller starring Preston Foster and Lynn Bari.

Future History: Ali Abdullah Saleh is born in Al-Ahmar, Yemen He will serve as the 1st President of Yemen from 22 May 1990 to 25 February 2012. Notable for developing deeper ties with Western powers, particularly in the war on terror, Saleh passes away on 4 December 2017.

Françoise Dorléac is born in Paris, France. The sister of famous actress Catherine Deneuve, Françoise also becomes an actress primarily in Europe. Françoise Dorléac dies tragically on the cusp of stardom on 26 June 1967 in a car accident.

The Australian Women's Weekly, 21 March 1942.

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

Monday 12 January 1942

General Erwin Rommel, leader of Panzer Group Africa, with General Ludwig Cruwell, commander of Afrika Korps, near El Agheila on 12 January 1942. They are meeting with leaders of Italian Division "Pavia." Rommel begins planning a counteroffensive today (Gemini, Ernst A., Federal Archive Picture 183-1982-0927-503).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The 2nd South African Division forces the surrender of the German/Italian stronghold at Sollum on the Egyptian border early on 12 January 1942. The Sollum fortress provided an outlet to the sea for the 5,000 Italian troops holding out at Halfaya Pass, so now they are completely isolated (though the sea routes weren't very useful anyway due to Royal Navy control of the sea). The Italian defenders of the Halfaya position are dug in and determined to hold out, but they are running out of food and water and their position is hopeless. Hopeless, that is, unless Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel pulls off a miracle and stages a counteroffensive to relieve them. Such is the growing legend of Rommel that the Italians are willing to suffer extreme privations in the belief that miracles do happen and the panzers will suddenly appear on the horizon. Unbeknownst to the Italian defenders, Rommel does begin planning just such a counteroffensive today. Rommel, as is his common practice, does not inform either the Italian or German high commands. This prevents Allied codebreakers from learning of the plans. Whether the hard-pressed Italians at Halfaya can hold out until the Germans counterattack is doubtful.

German 1840-ton freighter Turkheim torpedoed and sunk by Soviet submarine S-102 on 12 January 1942. The Turkheim was sunk near Hamningberg - Vardø in northern Norway.

Just east of Cape Spartivento, Italy, British submarine HMS Unbeaten (Cdr Edward "Teddy" Woodward) spots U-374 (Oblt.z.S. Unno von Fischel) on the surface. Damaged on 10 January 1942 by Royal Navy destroyer HMS Legion and Dutch destroyer Isaac Sweers, U-374 is unable to submerge. Commander Woodward torpedoes U-374, sinking it and killing 42 men. There is one survivor that Unbeaten takes prisoner.

In this photo taken on 12 January 1942, the German battleship Tirpitz leaves Kiel and sails through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal to return to Wilhelmshaven. The Germans are making big decisions about their big ships today

Battle of the Atlantic: Adolf Hitler is losing confidence in the ability of the Kriegsmarine to operate surface ships in the Atlantic. They also are not safe in their anchorage at Brest, France, because of massive RAF bombing raids which already have caused the ships some damage. Hitler, however, sees continued use for the surface ships in the far north of Norway to intercept Allied convoys to Russia and to aid in coastal defense. For them to operate in Norway, though, the ships first need to return past England to the Baltic. This can be done in either of two ways, either in a large, dangerous loop to the west of Great Britain or an even more dangerous, but much quicker, journey straight up the narrow English Channel. Hitler chooses the latter.

German battleship Tirpitz sails through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal during its return to Wilhelmshaven on 12 January 1942.

Hitler orders Admiral Raeder to prepare plans for a "surprise break up the Channel" by the cruisers to reach the German Atlantic port of Wilhelmshaven. Raeder today opposes the plan, at least if it uses the channel route, but agrees to prepare and execute the operation as long as Hitler himself gives the final order to execute it. The Luftwaffe also opposes the plan but agrees to execute it as Unternehmen Donnerkeil (Operation Thunderbolt). It is planned for right before a new moon in early February 1942. The entire Channel Dash is given the codename Operation Cerberus, apparently because Cerberus in mythology is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld, and several German heavy cruisers (Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen) are to make the journey.

German battleship Tirpitz sails through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal during its return to Wilhelmshaven on 12 January 1942.

Battle of the Pacific: US Navy Task Force 8.6, led by heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) and light cruisers Detroit (CL-8) and Raleigh (CL-7), escorts Amulet Force to a successful landing on Amchitka Island. This is 2,000 men under the command of Brigadier General Lloyd E. Jones. During the landing, a fierce storm hits which, along with a tricky current, causes destroyer Worden to hit a submerged rock. The destroyer loses power and it eventually drifts ashore and is broken up. There are fourteen dead, but its commanding officer, Cdr William G. Pogue, is hauled out of the water unconscious but alive.

Tugs assisting German battleship Tirpitz as it sails through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal during its return to Wilhelmshaven on 12 January 1942.

With the Japanese seizing control of a large portion of the southwest Pacific, the US Army Air Force establishes a new southern route from Hawaii to Australia south of the Philippines. Three USAAF B-17 bombers complete the first flight from Hawaii to Australia today. The Combined Chiefs of Staff approve plans to garrison a chain of islands along this route that will include American Samoa, Bora Bora, Canton Island, Christmas Island, the Fiji Islands, and Palmyra Island.

Life magazine on 12 January 1942 features "Pacific Coast Defense."

The limits of British air defenses in Singapore are amply demonstrated today when a flight of 27 Japanese bombers is chased by RAAF Brewster Buffaloes after completing a mission over the island. The Japanese pilots manage to outrun the obsolete fighters, causing a RAAF pilot to comment, ""Bombers outpacing fighters. You've got to bloody-well laugh." On land, the Japanese forces stream through Kuala Lumpur and head toward Johore, where the British are planning their last stand on the Malay Peninsula.

Time magazine for 12 January 1942 features Sir Henry Pownall, "Trustee of Singapore." Pownall was the commander-in-chief of the British Far East Command in South East Asia until January 942 when it was succeeded by the short-lived ABDACOM. He is currently chief of staff to General Sir Archibald Wavell. (Ernest Hamlin Baker).

In the Philippines, the Japanese have closed up to the Allied outpost line across the neck of the Bataan Peninsula and begin major attacks. Allied forces are divided into two Corps, I Corps in the west and II Corps in the east, with II Corps being slightly more powerful because it represents the "short route" for the Japanese forces coming from the east. The Japanese make gains against the Filipino 51st Division in the western portion of the II Corps area and the Filipino 41st Division in the center of the II Corps line. In the east portion of the II Corps line, the Japanese cross the Calaguiman River and establish bridgeheads on the south bank. In the I Corps area, the Japanese use boats to seize undefended Grande Island in Manila Bay.

"The destruction around St Paul's Cathedral caused by an air raid on London is softened by a heavy dusting of snow. A mobile crane and truck can be seen at work to clear up some of the debris." January 1942. © IWM (D 6412).

At Tarakan, a triangle-shaped island less than three miles off the Borneo coast, the Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger (Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, or KNIL) garrison surrenders in the morning of 12 January. The triumphant Sakaguchi Detachment and 2nd Kure Special Naval Landing Force drown 219 POWs as retaliation for losses they suffered during the Battle of Tarakan. Most of the Dutch ships based at Tarakan manage to escape, but Japanese destroyer Yamakaze and patrol boat P-38 sink Dutch minelayer Prins van Oranje as it attempts a run for safety.

U-43 (Kptlt. Wolfgang Lüth) torpedoes and sinks 5246-ton Swedish freighter Yngaren about 600 miles west of Ireland on 12 January 1942. The Yngaren was carrying a cargo of 4696 tons copra, 3000 tons manganese ore, and 80 tons trucks and 8 aircraft. There are 38 deaths and 2 survivors.

On Celebes (Sulawesi), the Battle of Manado ends in a Japanese victory. Japanese paratroopers are dropped at the airfield at Longoan. They suffer heavy casualties but secure the field. The local Dutch commander, Captain W.C. van den Berg, retreats with his forces inland and prepares to begin a guerilla campaign. Van den Berg's men are almost all retired men who are long past normal military age. There are a few more isolated Dutch outposts left to capture and the guerilla campaign poses some problems for the Japanese, but, for all intents and purposes, the battle for Celebes is over. The Japanese always have an ace card in these situations because they effectively hold civilians hostage (including women) and have no compunctions about executing them in retaliation for Allied raids.

Oberleutnant Erbo Graf von Kageneck, a holder of the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and Staffelkapitän of the 9./JG 27 fighter unit. He dies of wounds suffered in North Africa at a Naples, Italy, hospital on 12 January 1942. Kageneck is posthumously promoted to Hauptmann and finishes with 67 victories. It is believed that Australian ace Clive Caldwell shot him down.

Eastern Front: The Soviet 51st Division on the Crimea deploys its two regiments along the new line that runs from north to south on the Parpach Narrows. The Germans have assembled four divisions for an attack on the Red Army's 51st and 44th Divisions and to recapture Feodosiya, the key port in the south. The Luftwaffe also is building up its forces to help the attack under newly formed Special Staff Crimea. It is commanded by General Robert Ritter von Greim.

"South African sappers making German Teller mines safe, 12 January 1942." © IWM (E 7602).

The Soviet advance toward Sychevka, a train stop on the critical rail line between Vyazma and Rzhev, becomes a critical problem as the day wears on. The Germans holding the town can distinctly hear the fighting just to the east. The large German presence anchored at Rzhev would become untenable if the railway line is cut, so holding Sychevka is critical. Ninth Army commander General Adolf Strauss has his headquarters at Sychevka and remains in the town. However, all telephone and telegraph lines have been cut, so the Germans in Sychevka are out of communication with the army's own units. The Soviets have broken through on both sides, but the German hope is that by holding Sychevka itself, the railway line can be secured. The railway line already is basically out of commission at this point anyway because of snowdrifts and the disappearance of the Soviet civilians who have been operating the Soviet locomotives.

Reinhard Heydrich speaking with Hermann Goering at Goering's birthday celebration, Jan. 12, 1942.

German Homefront: It is Hermann Goering's birthday, an event that is celebrated each year throughout the Reich. Among others, Reinhard Heydrich visits Goering at Karinhall, Goering's estate near Berlin.

American Homefront: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9017 establishing the National War Labor Board (NWLB). William Hammatt Davis is its first chairman. Its purpose is to prevent labor problems from interfering with the war effort. The NWLB sets wage controls for industries deemed vital to the war effort, including automobiles, shipping, railways, airlines, telegraph lines, and mining. The NWLB supersedes the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) established in 1935. The NLRB remains in existence for matters deemed less important to the war effort and eventually resumes its original mission after the NWLB is discontinued in 1945.

The US Office of Price Administration decrees that hot dogs from now on must be made from a mixture of meat and soy meal. These are to be called "victory sausages."

Having enlisted on 10 January, the day after his recent title fight against Buddy Baer, boxer Joe Louis reports for duty at Camp Upton amid a media blitz.

Children emptying their piggy banks to buy war stamps. The Times of Munster, Indiana, 12 January 1942.

1942

January 1942

January 1, 1942: Declaration By United Nations
January 2, 1941: Manila Falls to Japan
January 3, 1942: ABDA Command Announced
January 4, 1942: MacArthur on His Own in the Philippines
January 5, 1942: Soviets Plan General Offensive
January 6, 1942: US Army in Europe
January 7, 1942: Soviet General Offensive Opens
January 8, 1942: Hitler Sacks Hoepner
January 9, 1942: Battle of Dražgoše
January 10, 1942: Building the Jeep
January 11, 1942: Japan Takes Kuala Lumpur
January 12, 1941: Rommel Plans Counterattack
January 13, 1942: First Ejection Seat Use
January 14, 1942: Operation Drumbeat First Sinking
January 15, 1942: U-Boat Off NYC
January 16, 1942: Carole Lombard Crash
January 17, 1942: British Take Halfaya Pass
January 18, 1942: Soviet Paratroopers in Action
January 19, 1942: FDR Approves Atomic Bomb
January 20, 1942: The Wannsee Conference
January 21, 1942: Parit Sulong Bridge Battle
January 22, 1942: Parit Sulong Massacre
January 23, 1942: Japan Takes Rabaul
January 24, 1942: Battle of Makassar Strait
January 25, 1942: Kholm Surrounded
January 26, 1942: GIs Land in Europe
January 27, 1942: Battle of Endau
January 28, 1942: Rommel Takes Benghazi
January 29, 1942: First US Coast Guard Ship Sunk
January 30, 1942: Singapore Isolated
January 31, 1942: Army Group South Averts Disaster

2020

Saturday 6 December 1941

Aboard Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga northwest of Hawaii, pilots and aircrew receive a final briefing on 6 December 1941. Note the map drawn on the deck.

December 6, 1941, is the last day of the old world, where wars between great powers are isolated geographically and containable. World affairs already, however, are hurtling in the direction that they will after that date, just not as quickly. For instance, the Red Army on 6 December 1941 is counterattacking at Moscow and, soon, all across the Eastern Front. The Wehrmacht is in retreat, though that retreat has barely begun. The United States is re-arming at a furious pace and is arming all of the current belligerents is soon to join. Taken in its broadest context, the events that follow 6 December 1941 accelerate the pace of change but do not change a direction that already is well established. But it is still a last goodbye to a world where the starkest confrontations that will bedevil the world for decades have yet to be made.

Bulgarian Arado Ar-196 aircraft operating with submarine chasers Belomorets and Chernomorets sink Soviet submarine ShCh-204 (Captain Gricenko) on or about 6 December 1941 (exact date presumed) off the Bulgarian coast 20 miles south-southeast of Varna and near Cape Emine. There are no survivors of the crew of about 38 men. The wreck is rediscovered in 1984.

US Government: President Roosevelt drafts a last-minute personal appeal to Emperor Hirohito requesting a time to restart negotiations. The United States, however, does not make any new substantive proposals.

Fighter pilots aboard Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku pose for ceremonial final portraits, 6 December 1941. Flight leader Lt. Masao Sato is in the second row, third from right. This group will be in the first wave of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Japanese Government: The Japanese government Liaison Conference in Tokyo directs Ambassador to the United States Nomura to deliver Japan's final statement on the state of relations with the United States to US Secretary of State Cordell Hull. This is to be done precisely at 13:00 local time. The Japanese note is in 14 long sections and only begins arriving for decoding and translation late today. The Japanese embassy staff works late into the night on this massive project but falls behind schedule quickly in its efforts to retype the message in English on the appropriate stationery. The Imperial Navy attack on Pearl Harbor is scheduled to begin at 13:30 local time, so timing is critical to get the note into the hands of US authorities as scheduled, before the attack. The note does not contain an explicit declaration of war, but its tone is extremely hostile. Japanese representatives in Washington are burning official documents.

Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi, battleship Hiei, and battleship Kirishima on their way to Hawaii, on or about 6 December 1941.

Japanese Military: Kido Butai, the main Japanese carrier strike force heading for Hawaii, finishes refueling and turns southeast toward Pearl Harbor on the last leg of its journey. The fleet ends the day (east coast time) roughly 600 miles north of Oahu and the plan is to park about 200 miles from it. It is on schedule and there have been no security breaches during the long journey from Japan.

"Nakajima B5N aircrews pose in front of one of their aircraft on the Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Kaga the day before the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941. In the first row, the fourth position is PO3c Akamatsu Yuji; the second row, the third position is Lieutenant Ichiro Kitajima; the fourth position is Lieutenant Fukuda Minoru; the fifth position is WO Morinaga Takayoshi. The fourth row, the sixth position is PO2c Takeshi Maeda." 6 December 1941 (Werneth, Ron, Beyond Pearl Harbor: The Untold Stories of Japan's Naval Airmen, Schiffer Military History, Atglen, PA, 2008, p. 265. Werneth's book states that the photo is from the Yoshino Collection.).

On Formosa, Imperial Japanese Air Force planes prepare for an attack on the US Army Air Force bases on the Philippines. Troop transports are heading toward the Philippines from Formosa and the Pescadores. Another invasion force is making final preparations on the island of Rota to invade the US fleet base at Guam, while another is preparing on Kwajalein to invade Wake Island. Troop transports are heading south from Hainan, China and French Indochina for landing beaches in Thailand and Kota Baru in British Malaya.

"Motorcyclists of 59th Battalion, Reconnaissance Corps at Ballykinlar in Northern Ireland, 6 December 1941." © IWM (H 16470).

Eastern Front: The Soviet counteroffensive that began on 5 December with an isolated attack on German forces near Kalinin broadens to encompass the entire Moscow perimeter on the 6th. In the morning, the temperature bottoms out around -38 °F, which is cold even for the frigid conditions on the front to date. Field Marshal Fedor von Bock approves General Guderian's request to withdraw from the Tula salient before dawn, and he also tells the commanders of the other two Panzer Armies on the Moscow front, 3rd (Reinhardt) and 4th (Hoepner), that they are free to "adjust" their deployments in a westerly direction. Von Bock also directs General der Panzertruppen Rudolf Schmidt to stop Second Army's advance toward Yelets because, if current events continue, Schmidt will be left with no flank protection. Still, Second Army advances just enough to take Yelets, perhaps the final German advance of Operation Typhoon.

British 1281-ton freighter SS Greenland (note name on the bow) hits a mine and sinks after striking a German mine while traveling from London to Grangemouth. There are 8-10 casualties, no survivors.

The Soviet offensive gets off to a ragged start. At Third Panzer Army northwest of Moscow, the Soviet 30th Army scores a breakthrough on the German right flank northeast of Klin and advances eight miles. Soviet Twentieth Army makes a small gain at Krasnaya Polyana near Yakhroma, but attacks nearby by First Shock and Twentieth Army are stopped cold.

Conductor Hermann Abendroth of the Paris Conservatory arrives for a Mozart concert, 6 December 1941 (Fulgur (Pala), Federal Archive Picture 183-10820-0041).

The initial results of the Soviet offensive are not overwhelming. However, they are just enough to leverage the Wehrmacht out of its front-line positions. Once on the move, with no prepared defenses, the freezing German soldiers with their balky equipment are much more vulnerable. General Reinhardt informs von Bock during the day that he will begin pulling Third Panzer Army back on his southern flank to try to concentrate his forces against the dangerous thrust by Soviet 30th Army. This will necessarily uncover the flank of German 4th Panzer to its south - requiring it to withdrawal as well. While the pace of the Soviet attack slackens a bit in the afternoon, the German generals only view this as an opportunity to save more of their equipment and forces during the retreat. Thus, a chain reaction begins on the 6th, with small German withdrawals requiring others that have the possibility of snowballing into a massive retreat unless the Soviet counteroffensive is brought to a quick halt.

Dive-bomber Pilots aboard Zuikaku posing for a ceremonial last portrait before their Pearl Harbor attack, 6 December 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: German General Crüwell, commander of the Afrika Korps, spends most of the day trying to decide which way to attack with his leading forces. To his credit, Crüwell does not needlessly expose his men to further danger, but he also misses some nearby British vulnerability. General Rommel, commander of Panzergroup Africa and Crüwell's superior, begins to see the extreme danger to Crüwell's forces of the massive British Eighth Army armored formations to his south and orders a retreat westward. This decision saves the panzers but abandons the Italian Savona Division in the border area around Bardia, Halfaya, and Sollum. The British 70th Division takes advantage of the German withdrawal and occupies the German "Walter" and "Freddy" strong points. The Italians fight with desperation and inflict heavy casualties on the 2nd Durham Light Infantry before surrendering around midnight. The events of 6 December 1941 basically decide the outcome of Operation Crusader as a British victory, but it has come at a very heavy cost (to both sides). Still to be decided is exactly how far the Axis forces will be pushed back, but Tobruk's relief is confirmed and further actions in the vicinity of the port mostly involve British mopping up Axis remnants.

British submarine HMS Perseus strikes a mine and sinks five miles off the coast of the Greek island of Cephalonia. It comes to rest in 171 feet of water. All 61 men aboard immediately perish except for four men who manage to exit through an escape hatch. Only one of the men, a passenger named John Capes, successfully reaches the surface. Badly afflicted with the bends, Capes swims to the island, where he is found on the beach by Greek fishermen. Capes spends the next 18 months hiding on the island from its occupying Italian troops before being smuggled to Alexandria. While Capes is awarded a medal for his heroism, many doubt his story, and he passes away in obscurity in 1985. In 1997, a diving party finds the Perseus and verifies every aspect of Capes' story.

Author Dale Carnegie ("How to Win Friends and Influence People") arrives in New York City after flying from Toronto on a Trans Canada Air Lines flight, 6 December 1941.

December 1941

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

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