Finnish T-28 crewmen in Karhumäki in -40° weather, December 1941 (SA-Kuva).
Battle of the Pacific: On New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago, Australian National Airlines (ANA) begins evacuating dependents from the naval base at Rabaul on 28 December 1941. The Japanese already have this key naval base in their sites and are preparing Operation R for early 1942. Plan R is planned to be undertaken by the Japanese South Seas Detachment under Major General Tomitaro Horii once it secures Guam.
Muslims in the Indian Army celebrate Id-ul-Adha at Woking Mosque, 28 December 1941 (Islamic Review, September 1942, 293-294, via Woking Mission).
The Japanese Navy considers Rabaul vital for control of the nearby Caroline Islands, which includes a key Imperial Japanese naval base at Truk. It also is strategically located along Allied convoy routes from the United States to Australia and New Zealand. The Allies also consider Rabaul important as the capital of the Australian-administered Territory of New Guinea and a secure fleet anchorage, but the Australians only first garrisoned it in March 1941. As of 28 December 1941, Rabaul only has about 1400 soldiers there in "Lark Force." The Japanese place much more strategic importance on Rabaul than do the Allies. They are determined to capture New Britain to use Rabaul as a springboard for their ambitions to the west and south.
Destroyer tender USS Melville in a photo taken on 28 December 1941. It services neutrality patrol ships in the North Atlantic at Bermuda and occasionally sails to Europe.
In the Philippines, the Japanese advance in southern Luzon, crossing the Agno River and approaching Cabanatuan. The Filipino 52nd Infantry Regiment retreats to Tiaong, and the Filipino 51st Division receives orders to withdraw into the Bataan Peninsula. The Japanese in the area advance along Route 1 and seize Luisiana, forcing the Filipino 1st Infantry Regiment to withdraw. The US Army Air Forces in the region continue to withdraw, with the 17th Bombardment Squadron withdrawing from Cabcaben to Limay, Luzon.
The Florence (South Carolina) Morning News for 28 December 1941 headlines "Undefended Manila Set Afire In Three-Hour Bombing."
Dutch B-10 bombers fly from Singapore to bomb the Japanese at Kuching, Borneo. The Japanese are approaching Singawang while retreating Dutch and British troops head into the jungle toward Sampit and Pangkalanbun. There is a Dutch airfield near there at Kotawaringin which the Allied troops hope to protect and at which supplies can be received.
At Midway Island, which has recently been reinforced with troops and equipment originally destined for Wake Island, the seaplane tender USS Tangier and its accompanying ships depart. They carry with them 850 civilian construction contractors.
The London Margarine Factory (the white building) at Wormerveer Noorddijk, the Netherlands (just northwest of Amsterdam), burns down on 28 December 1941.
Battle of the Mediterranean: Off of the Egyptian coast near Mersa Matruh, U-75 (Kptlt. Helmuth Ringelmann) torpedoes and sinks 1587-ton British freighter Volo. Royal Navy destroyer HMS Kipling, guarding Convoy AT-6, chases down U-75 and sinks it with depth charges. There are 30 survivors and 14 men perish.
With Soviet troops having taken Naro-Fominsk near Moscow, Soviet engineers build a bridge near there on 28 December 1941. Photo: Soviet news agency RIAN.
Eastern Front: The German plan to combat the Red Army landings near Kerch is to eliminate the bridgeheads one at a time. This strategy is forced upon them because of their lack of troops in the Kerch Peninsula. Lieutenant General Kurt Himer, commander of the German 46th Infantry Division in Lieutenant General Hans Graf von Sponeck's 42nd Army Corps, uses troops recalled from the port of Feodosiya as part of a renewed effort to eliminate the three main Soviet bridgeheads near Kerch. The 1st and 3rd Infantry battalions of Infantry Regiment 97 attack at dawn. Supported by two 10.5 cm howitzers, six Heinkel He 111 bombers and a handful of Stukas, the German troops wipe out the Soviet bridgehead at Zyuk by noontime. The two battalions take 458 prisoners and count about 300 Red Army troops killed at a cost of only 40 casualties. Another German attack at Cape Khroni by Infantry Regiment 72 also wipes a Red Army bridgehead. These are stunningly successful operations that illustrate the fragility of a bridgehead if attacked quickly. Overall, the two operations take about 1700 prisoners. Sponeck and Himer now turn their attention to the Bulganak Bay bridgehead, where about 1000 Red Army troops are trying to consolidate. Once this is eliminated, it appears the Soviet landings would have been completely repulsed.
Around Moscow, German troop strength is declining fast both due to combat casualties and frostbite. The low temperatures and heavy snow are making aerial reconnaissance impossible, which, as Second Army commander General Rudolf Schmidt reports, leaves his troops "blind." General Ludwig Kuebler at Fourth Army - Army Group Center commander Field Marshal Hans Guenther von Kluge's former command - warns that even his own headquarters now is almost in the front lines. Soviet cavalry is across the Sukhinichi/Kaluga railroad and roaming far to the rear, virtually unimpeded no matter how far west they choose to go.
Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, landing in the Protectorate in the night between 28 and 29 December 1941, carried out the successful assassination of the Deputy/Acting Reich-Protector Reinhard Heydrich.
Special Operations: After extensive training funded by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile, Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík parachute into Czechoslovakia (the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia) from a Handley Page Halifax on 28 December 1941. This is the start of Operation Anthropoid. There, the two men find a local priest, František Samek, who helps them to go into hiding for several months. Their mission is to assassinate the province's Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich, the ruthless SS-Gruppenführer who is a key figure behind the "Final Solution" and who ruthlessly suppresses all dissent. December 28 is remembered every year in the village of Nahvizdy in central Bohemia for the arrival nearby of the two agents.
Australian/US Relations: The first of several Allied conferences takes place at RAAF Base Amberley Field southwest of Brisbane. This is a follow-up to Prime Minister John Curtin's New Year's Message released on 27 December 1941 in which he characterized the United States as his country's chief protector. The Australian and the United States militaries reach some formal agreements for the conduct of the war. These include building bases on a line between Brisbane and Darwin which contain refueling depots at Charleville, Cloncurry, Daly Waters, and Darwin. This is to provide for servicing of routine air traffic. In addition, Royal Australian Air Force pilots will train new US Army Air Force pilots for B-24 crews at Archerfield and for P-40 pilots at Amberley. The prescribed course will teach night flying, dive-bombing, and aerial gunnery. These Amberley Field conferences build a close working relationship between the Royal Australian Air Force and the USAAF throughout the war.
A US military Diamond-T 969A 4 ton Wrecker, built to military specifications. This photo was taken on 28 December 1941.
US Military: Rather than use vulnerable civilian construction workers who now are being captured all across the Pacific Theater, the US Navy decides that it would be best to form a separate construction service. US Navy Chief of Bureau of Yards and Docks Vice Admiral Ben Moreell places a formal request with the Bureau of Navigation for such units. This is the birth of the Naval Construction Battalion, more colloquially known as the Seabees for the acronym of its name.
New Zealand Military: The tiny New Zealand military has its 2nd Division fighting in Libya with great distinction. However, it now finds that it has few troops on hand to defend against a potential Japanese attack. There is little war industry in New Zealand and a complete lack of tanks, artillery, and other instruments of modern warfare. However, the time has come to start worrying about the homeland. The military begins raising three battalions and the New Zealand Navy recently has sent minesweeper HMNZS Gale to Fiji. More minesweepers are to be sent to Fiji to form a minesweeping flotilla. These can serve as troop-convoy escorts.
A group photo of No. 2 Platoon, D Company at Burnham Camp in New Zealand. This is the largest military base in New Zealand's South Island.
British Homefront: William Joyce, aka Lord Haw-Haw, delivers his typical English-language propaganda broadcast on behalf of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment from Hamburg, Germany. This broadcast is recorded and preserved. Joyce urges listeners to "Tell Roosevelt to keep his hands off the Royal Navy."
German troops by a knocked out Soviet T-34 tank in Tikhvin after taking the town on 8 November 1941.
Eastern Front: As dawn breaks on 8 November 1941, the German 12th Panzer Division (General Josef Harpe), supported by a reinforced regiment of the 18th Motorized Division and a combat group from the 8th Panzer Division (General Brandenburger), stands seven kilometers from Tikhvin. The town is defended by elements of four rifle divisions commanded personally by General Vzevolod Fedorovich Iakovlev, commander of the 4th Independent Army. A fierce snowstorm beats down, but Harpe sends his panzers forward.
The snow aids the German attack by obscuring the vision of the defending Soviet troops. The anti-tank gunners on the outskirts of Tikhvin do not see the panzers until the last moment, and then they open fire and destroy several vehicles. However, the German infantry quickly catches up and eliminates the guns, enabling the attack to continue. The panzers break into Tikhvin, where the Red Army defenders defend each house. The going is slow because the panzers are of less value in the city streets, but at midday, the combat group from the 8th Panzer division makes good progress. General Iakovlev and his staff barely escape with their lives - for Iakovlev it becomes a bittersweet escape because he is immediately replaced as commander of the 4th Independent Army by General Kiril Afanasevich Meretskov.
Since it is a Saturday in November, that means in the United States it is time for college football! Here is a copy of the 8 November 1941 Navy vs. Notre Dame football program. These were very complete programs and included pictures of all the players and team histories.
By the early sunset, the Germans hold Tikhvin. Both sides have taken heavy casualties, with the Soviets losing 20,000 men as prisoners and an untold number of other casualties. In the 12th Panzer Division, each rifle company is down from its normal complement of about 100 men. While Hitler had selected Tikhvin as the objective (rather than the nearer Volkhov preferred by his generals), he is not satisfied by its capture. He quickly sends a message to General Rudolf Schmidt, commander of 39thArmy Corps (motorized), setting Volgada as the next objective. This would entail an advance of another 400 km and take the unit further east than any other. Schmidt quickly replies that a further advance in the winter snow is impossible.
A view at Pearl Harbor of the USS Arizona in the distance on 8 November 1941, when she was undergoing repairs in Drydock #1 due to a collision with USS Oklahoma (US Navy).
The capture of Tikhvin is an astonishing achievement. It opens up many strategic possibilities for the Wehrmacht, including joining the Finns to the north at the Svir River or, as Hitler suggests, making a deep encirclement of Moscow. Most importantly, having Tikhvin cuts the last supply roads and railway lines to Leningrad (via Lake Ladoga). If the Germans can hold Tikhvin, Leningrad cannot hold out for very long at all. Hitler, safe in his warm command headquarters, sees the possibilities and wants to make the most of them.
The New Yorker, 8 November 1941 (cover by Peter Arno).
There are several problems with Hitler's plans, however. For one, the weather north of Moscow is getting worse every day. Temperatures are at 20 degrees below zero Fahrenheit and soon fall to -40. The Wehrmacht soldiers are not properly equipped for such conditions, and even if they were, their equipment is not. The panzers have to be run almost constantly to keep them from freezing, and the supply route from the Volkhov River is tenuous at best. Most significantly, the Red Army has been pushed back, but hardly has been beaten. General Meretskov immediately begins planned a riposte against Schmidt's depleted and freezing forces in the town.
A destroyed Pz.Kpfw.IV Aust-E.№-8 tank of the 15 Panzer Division in Libya, November 1941.
German Government: As he does each year on the anniversary of the 1923 Putsch, Adolf Hitler gives a speech in the Löwenbräukeller Munich to his party faithful. He does not mention the day's big success at Tikhvin for some reason, perhaps because he is not sure if the victory is complete at the time of the speech. However, Hitler has a lot to say about England, describing Winston Churchill as a "whiskey-happy gentleman" who had been counting on the Soviet Union to save Great Britain. Leningrad, he claims, is about to "fall into our hands" as a "heap of ruins." He further claims that Germany has taken 3.6 million Soviet prisoners so far and inflicted "an absolute loss of at least eight to ten million" men on the Soviet Red Army. In this, Hitler seems to be competing with Stalin, who on the evening of the 6th claimed to have inflicted over 4 million casualties on the Wehrmacht, figures which Hitler sneeringly recites and then refutes. The Soviet Union he describes as a "Mongolian state of a second Genghis Khan."
Launching of the Glenn L. Martin Company's prototype XPB2M-1 Mars at its launching on 8 November 1941. This is the prototype for the PBM Mariner patrol bomber. This prototype will be used for ground runs. Production will be delayed due to an engine fire and changing military requirements, and the first production model for the US Navy will not be delivered until June 1945 (US Navy).
Perhaps Hitler's most interesting comments concern the United States, about which he has not spoken overly much in previous speeches. Hitler blames President Roosevelt for "Poland's entry into the war" - apparently forgetting that it was Germany that invaded Poland. Hitler continues:
I have ordered German ships, if they sight American ones, not to fire, but to defend themselves if they are attacked. A German officer who does not defend himself will be court-martialed by me. If, on the President’s order, an American ship fires, then it does this at its own risk. The German ship will defend itself, and our torpedoes will not miss.
There is little question that both sides, Germany and the United States, are edging toward war. The looming question that remains, however, is what will turn this simmering conflict at sea into an all-out shooting war.
The XPB2M-1 as it is launched on 8 November 1941 (US Air Force).
German tanks (a Panzer III in the foreground with a Panzer IV behind it, I'm not sure of the third vehicle but perhaps another Panzer III) of the 19th Panzer Division in northern Russia stuck in the mud on or about 20 October 1941. Note that these tanks have not been abandoned, as there is an officer poking his head out of the turret of the Panzer III.
Eastern Front: With most of the world's attention focused on the defense of Moscow on 20 October 1941, the Germans remind everyone that they are a threat all along the Eastern Front by launching a surprise attack east from the vicinity of Leningrad. Despite having lost his armored formations to Army Group Center for Operation Typhoon, the attack on Moscow, Army Group North commander Ritter von Leeb has been working on this attack for weeks. The main objective is the town of Tikhvin, a key Soviet road and rail junction.
This attack was originally planned to begin on 6 October but was called off pending the arrival of fresh divisions. While von Leeb wanted to attack in the direction of Volkhov, Hitler ordered him to aim his offensive a little further south, from the vicinity of Chudovo toward Tikhvin. Once that city was taken, von Leeb could turn north along the railroad tracks and take Volkhov. Thus, it was a slightly more ambitious plan than von Leeb had in mind.
Field Marshal von Leeb has General Rudolf Schmidt’s 39th Army Corps (motorized), composed of 8th and 12th Panzer and 18th and 20th Motorized, attack toward Tikhvin. They are supported by the I Army Corps (11th, 21st, 126th, and 254th Infantry Divisions under the command of General Hans-Kuno von Both). They are opposed by Leningrad Front, commanded by Soviet Col. Gen. Ivan Ivanovich Fedyuninsky. Fedyuninsky is a protege of Stalin's favorite general, Georgy Zhukov, and leads 70,000 troops supported by 97 tanks.
Tikhvin in 1941 is an unprepossessing town but a vital Soviet road and rail connection between Moscow and the shores of Lake Ladoga. The supplies sent through Tikhvin (and thence through Volkhov) are ferried across Lake Ladoga and are absolutely critical to sustaining it. Tikhvin is part of the "Road of Life" during World War II due to its peculiar importance to Leningrad's survival and also a status as an escape route for starving Leningrad inhabitants. Thus, Tikhvin is the key to Leningrad, and thus the Soviets are forced to defend it. If the Germans can take Tikhvin, they can starve Leningrad into submission.
Japanese battleship Yamato during its sea trials near Bungo Strait, 20 October 1941. It is the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleship in the world, displacing 72,000 tons at full load. Those are nine 46 cm (18.1-inch) main guns. The wreck of Yamato in the East China Sea was not discovered until 1982. There has been some discussion in Japan about raising the wreck (Yamato Museum in Kure).
Field Marshal von Leeb's attack begins in the early hours of 16 October. It is preceded by a brief artillery barrage and achieves complete surprise, as the Soviets are focused on Leningrad and Moscow, not the area in between. The order “Kompanie vorwarts" ("Troops forward!") is issued, and the main German assault led by General von Both's infantry hits between Gruzino and Kirishi. General Otto Sponheimer’s 21st Infantry Division quickly crosses the 300-meter wide Volkhov River at Gruzino, and by the end of the day is entirely on the east bank. At Kirishi, General Herbert von Böckmann’s 11th Infantry Division also gets across the Volkhov River without any problems. It is a smashing success and the leaders at both German bridgeheads plan to expand their firm grips on the east bank on the 17th.
German soldiers leading Serbian civilians out of the town of Kragujevac, Serbia on 20 October 1941. The roughly 2300 Serbian men were executed in a reprisal action. The people shot include about 300 boys taken from the First Boys High School, along with their 18 teachers. All were shot on the outskirts of town. In such actions, the Germans typically do not tell the victims what is in store for them, and they may have thought they were simply being deported.
Partisans: German occupation troops in Kragujevac, Serbia commit an atrocity against local civilians. They round up about 2300 men and boys and execute them on the outskirts of town. The Wehrmacht later issues the following statement:
The cowardly and treacherous surprise attacks on German soldiers during the previous week, on which occasion 10 German soldiers were killed and 26 wounded, had to be punished. For that reason, 100 people were shot for each killed German soldier, and for each wounded 50, mainly communists, bandits, and their siders, 2300 altogether. Every similar case, even if it only sabotage, will be dealt with the same severity.
Chief of Local Command
This massacre is intended as a warning to other partisans in Serbia, of which there are many. There are many other such atrocities in the area during World War II, as the Serbians are hostile to German rule.
A rainy day in Amsterdam, New York (northwest of Albany), 20 October 1941 (photo by John Collier).
