Eastern Front: The Battle of Suursaari begins in earnest at 04:00 on 27 March 1942 when Finnish artillery opens fire on Soviet positions on Gogland. The Finns are able to attack across the ice between the mainland and the island, making for an unusual battle where the Soviets essentially are defending the island against a land attack. The Soviets block one entry point to Gogland but the Finns successfully enter via another route. Two Finnish battalions secure much of Gogland by nightfall, with some Soviet holdouts fleeing across the ice around midnight. There remain isolated pockets of Soviet troops that fight ferociously for two more days. Fierce air battles rage over the island throughout the battle, with Finnish Air Force Fokker D.XXI, Curtiss P-36 Hawk, and Brewster F2A Buffalo fighters reporting kills of a total of 27 Soviet Polikarpov I-153 and Polikarpov I-16 fighters.

Battle of the Pacific: US submarine USS Gudgeon (SS-211) torpedoes and sinks 6526-ton Japanese freighter Nissho Maru southeast of Kumun Island. The ship is later salvaged after the war and re-enters service.

Japanese 7952-ton ocean liner Kitano Maru hits a Japanese mine and sinks off Mabilao, Lingayen Gulf, Philippines. There are three dead soldiers among the 650 being transported.

Dutch planes based in Australia sink 4109-ton Japanese collier Ubari Maru off Koepang, Timor.

The Marion Star, 27 March 1942, headlines the RAF attacks on Essen of the previous two nights. The attacks were the first major efforts in weeks but accomplished little.

European Air Operations: During the day, the RAF sends a dozen Boston bombers to attack the Ostend power station. However, the bombs are all dropped in fields short of the target. After two nights of attacks on Essen, RAF Bomber Command switches to St. Nazaire. It sends 35 Whitleys and 27 Wellington bombers to support Operation Chariot, the Commando raid on the dry-dock gates in the port. Due to poor weather conditions, only four bombers bomb the port, while six drop bombs on other targets. The RAF loses one Whitley. Secondary operations are 8 Blenheims sent to Holland (Schipol and Soesterburg) and 15 Hampdens laying mines (13 successfully) off the northwest German coast. The RAF loses one Blenheim and three Hampdens on these missions.

The Luftwaffe sinks 496-ton British collier Staghound off Torquay. The Staghound later is salved for use as a practice bombing target and eventually is sunk again off St. Thomas' Head while being used for that purpose.

German 482-ton coastal vessel Sperrbrecher 147 Koert (requisitioned Dutch vessel Raket) hits a mine and sinks after an explosion off the Dutch coast. 

 

Battle of the Atlantic: The Action of 27 March 1942 is fought. While patrolling 300 miles off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, 6610-ton Q-ship USS Atik is torpedoed by U-123 (Kapitänleutnant Reinhard Hardegen). U-123, on its eighth patrol out of Lorient, is in the midst of the most successful U-boat war patrols as part of Operation Paukenschlag. The Q-ship is damaged but does not sink immediately, so this begins an unusual surface action between U-123 and the Atik in which the US ship uses all of its many weapons against the surfaced U-boat. Captain Hardegan responds to the US salvos, which only slightly damage the U-boat's bridge, with his own deck gun. The Americans finally abandon ship after U-123 submerges and pumps another torpedo into the ship.

Hardegan then surfaces again and watches the ship explode, killing all 141 US sailors at the cost of one German midshipman killed. All that is found of the Atik is some wreckage and five empty lifeboats. This is another example of a lesson the Royal Navy learned long ago, that Q-ships simply become targets themselves.

The Allies "get one back" when British warships spot U-587 (Kptlt. Ulrich Borcherdt), on its second war patrol out of St. Nazaire. Royal Navy vessels HMS Grove, Aldenham, Volunteer, and Leamington (formerly USS Twiggs) are covering Convoy WS-17 when they use depth charges to sink U-587 a few hundred miles southwest of Ireland. There are no survivors. U-587 ends its patrol and career having sunk five ships of 23,389 tons.

U-105 (Korvettenkapitän Heinrich Schuch), on its sixth patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 7616-ton Norwegian tanker Svenør about 300 miles east of Cape Hatteras. Captain Schuch surfaces and uses his deck gun to fire 76 round when the tanker does not sink right away. There are eight dead and 29 survivors. As Schuch sails away, he spots another ship, the Portuguese (neutral) freighter Cunene. He stops the Portuguese ship and directs it to the location of the Svenør's lifeboats, where the survivors are picked up and taken to Philadelphia on 31 March.

Freighter Equipoise, sunk on 27 March 1942.

U-160 (Kptlt. Georg Lassen), on its first patrol out of Helgoland, torpedoes and sinks 6210-ton Panamanian-flagged SS Equipoise about 60 miles southeast of Cape Henry, Virginia. There are 13 survivors and 41 deaths. All 8 Americans on board perish. This is the first of 26 victories for U-160.

Rough weather in the North Atlantic is no joke, and the danger to all is proven once again. Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox, Jr., is the commander of a task force heading toward the Arctic Convoy routes aboard battleship USS Washington when disaster strikes. He falls or is swept overboard off Sable Island and spotted face down about 80 minutes later. His body is never recovered, and an SB2U-2 Vindicator crashes during the search, killing its two-man crew. A board of inquiry is convened the same day. Since nobody saw him fall overboard, rumors spread that the death was not entirely accidental. Nothing untoward is ever proven, and the death is ruled accidental. Wilcox becomes the first US admiral lost at sea. There is a cenotaph to Admiral Wilcox located at Memory Hill Cemetery in Milledgeville, Georgia.

The rough weather also claims 63-ton Canadian sailing vessel Tatagamouche off Nova Scotia.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Fierce Axis air attacks on Malta continue. They finish off British 9776-ton ocean liner MV Breconshire, which was damaged during the Second Battle of Sirte and never repaired while anchored at Marsaxlokk.

Italian 2606-ton freighter Oreste hits a mine and sinks about 13 nautical miles off Cape Platamone (south of Cattaro/Kotor) in Montenegro.

Special Operations: The Royal Navy and Commando forces en route to St. Nazaire for Operation Chariot come upon two French fishing trawlers (La Slack and Nungesser et Coli). So as not to give away the operation's secrecy, the Royal Navy evacuates the crews and sinks the two trawlers. The crews of these ships are pro-Allies and eventually join the Free French.

The attack convoy heads in toward the target, with the Germans presumably distracted from its approach by a major RAF raid on the port. The Commando attack is planned for early on 28th March.

US Military: The US Army War Plans Division is busy mapping out future operations. Today, it issues "Plan for Operations in Northwest Europe," which provides for a limited cross-Channel operation in the summer of 1942 (Operation Sledgehammer). If Sledgehammer is not conducted, then a larger cross-Channel invasion is planned for early 1943 (Operation Roundup). The buildup of supplies for an eventual invasion is given the codename Operation Bolero.

A mysterious group of B-25 bombers is at Sacramento (California) Air Depot undergoing a flurry of modifications and training flights. Their special equipment has not been tested and many items such as practice bombs have to be tracked down on short notice from supply officers who have no idea that there is any urgency.  In fact, there is tremendous urgency because these are the bombers preparing for the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo that is due to begin shortly.

Holocaust: The Germans begin the first of more than 65,000 deportations from Drancy, France, to Auschwitz and other concentration camps.

Australian Homefront: A state of emergency is declared in the northern territories.

American Homefront: Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis technically knocks out Abe Simon in the sixth round at Madison Square Garden. This is Louis' first fight for the US Army and he receives no purse, as all proceeds go to the Army Relief Fund. Simon loses for the second time to Louis and later develops a successful acting career that includes roles in "On the Waterfront" and "Requiem for a Heavyweight." Simon passes away on 24 October 1969.

Future History: Michael Hugh Johnson is born in Fulmer, Buckinghamshire, England. After graduating from Oxford, embarks on a career in acting and changes his name. As Michael York, he first acts on stage and has his first film role as Lucentio in "The Taming of the Shrew" (1967). He goes on to a legendary career in the cinema that includes starring roles in "Romeo and Juliet" (1968), "Cabaret" (1972), and "Logan's Run" (1976), and the Austin Powers film (1997-2002), among many others. Michael York apparently is retired as of this writing in 2020.

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

Tuesday 24 March 1942

Japanese soldiers setting out on a mission, Nippon News, Number 094, Nippon News, No. 094, March 24, 1942.

Battle of the Pacific: Chinese infantry in Burma is falling back on 24 March 1942 as Allied defenses continue to crumble. A determined Japanese attack by the 55th Division along the Yunnan-Burma Road north of the Kan River takes the Toungoo airfield and a nearby railroad station. This compels the Chinese 200th Division to evacuate fortified positions at Oktwin and fall back on Toungoo. The 112th Japanese Regiment follows close behind in the jungle and wooded area. The Chinese take advantage of the city walls of Toungoo but have a tenuous supply line to the east. The Burma 1st Division, meanwhile, was helping the defense of Toungoo but is forced to withdraw to the Irrawaddy River. The Japanese plan an assault on Toungoo for the morning of the 25th.

The Japanese are eager to set their final conquest of the Philippines in motion, and General Masaharu Homma is under heavy pressure to move fast. Today, the Japanese begin a concentrated air and artillery bombardment of the Allied positions on Bataan and Corregidor. Japanese bombers also attack at night for the first time. All is not bad for the Allies, however. Fortuitously, a Filipino patrol captures orders from a dead Japanese officer. They spell out a plan to take Mount Samac on 26 March. This geographical feature divides the 1st and 2nd US Corps sectors and is a potential weak spot in the line. Having this warning enables the US Army to prepare its defenses in the area.

The Los Angeles Examiner of 24 March 1942 trumpets the relocation scheme for Japanese-Americans which is just starting to gear up.

Ten P-40s of the 1st Fighter Squadron of the Flying Tigers (AVG) conduct a long-range mission from Kunming Aerodrome, China, against Chiengmai Aerodrome in Thailand. This requires staging through Loiwing and Namsang, Burma. The Japanese are taken completely by surprise by the air raid, which is from 07:10 to 07:25. The AVG fighters strafe the airfield and destroy fifteen Japanese bombers on the ground at a cost of two P-40s lost to ground fire. One of the AVG pilots perishes and the other eventually is taken prisoner after eluding capture for four weeks.

In the Solomon Islands, Australian coastwatchers Don McFarland, Martin Clemens, and Ken Hay set up a post on the isolated west coast of Guadalcanal at the town of Lavor.

Western media remains quite positive about the war situation despite a very grim actual situation. Kingston (Jamaica) Gleaner, 24 March 1942.

Eastern Front: The German relief attempt, Operation Brueckenschlag, to rescue the almost 100,000 troops trapped at Demyansk makes more progress today. General Seydlitz's men reach the Redya River, halfway to the Lovat. The weather has warmed up sufficiently for the ground to turn to slush. The Soviets are bringing in major reinforcements from the north and south in the valleys of both the Redya and the Lovat. In addition, a Soviet parachute brigade has landed within the pocket itself, though it is accomplishing little. This has been the easiest part of the advance for the Germans, however, as the forests between the Redya and Lovat are extremely dense and roadless.

The German 11th Army is still locked in a tight stalemate with General Kozlov's 51st Army on the Kerch Peninsula of the Crimea. The weather has improved enough for the Luftwaffe to build up its forces after replenishment back in the Reich. Today, KG 51 attacks Tuapse again to try to isolate Kozlov's troops. The Junkers Ju 88s sink transports Yalta and Neva. Despite this, Kozlov is preparing a third offensive to break through the Parpach Narrows. This is planned for 26 March 1942.

Pravda, 24 March 1942.

European Air Operations: A winter lull is still in effect, but things are slowly starting to pick up. During the day, a dozen Bostons attack the Comines power station and another half-dozen attack the Abbeville railway station. The Abbeville raid is probably designed to entice up JG-26, which is stationed there, for combat, but it doesn't result in any action. After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 35 bombers to lay mines off the submarine pens at Lorient. A Hampden and a Lancaster (RAF No. 44 Squadron) are lost, the first RAF losses in 11 days and nights. This is the first Lancaster lost on an operation.

Training and routine patrols often lead to losses for a variety of reasons: fatigue, poor maintenance, bad weather, inexperience, etc. Today, an RAF No. 820 Squadron Albacore crashes on takeoff at Habston in the Orkneys. The three crewmen are lost.

Staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission headquarters in Philadelphia, March 24, 1942.

Battle of the Atlantic: In the Barents Sea, Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Sharpshooter spots a U-boat southeast of Bear Island and rams it. It is U-655 (KrvKpt. Adolf Dumrese), on its first patrol out of Helgoland. U-655 does not sink or damage any ships during its brief career. All 45 men aboard perish.

U-123 (Kptlt. Reinhard Hardegen), on its 8th patrol out of Lorient, continues a very successful patrol. At 03:01, U-123 torpedoes and sinks 8138-ton British tanker Empire Steel northeast of Bermuda (east of Delaware). This follows a 5-hour pursuit of the tanker. Hardegen gets impatient when the tanker refuses to sinks and surfaces to fire nine rounds from his deck gun. There are 39 deaths and eight survivors, who are picked up by the US tug Edmund J. Moran, which spots them while towing another vessel, 5184-ton passenger vessel Robert E. Lee.

German minesweeper M-3615 hits a mine and sinks just outside the port of Ostend. There are 15 deaths. The wreck was salvaged and scrapped in 1950.

Everything is okay on that pesky war front, with the Japanese already losing according to the 24 March 1942 Nassau (Long Island, NY) Daily Review-Star.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy destroyer Southwold (Cdr C T Jellicoe), returning from the Second Battle of Sirte, sinks just under two miles off Malta due to an accident involving a British mine. There are five deaths. The wreck is still visible but is too deep for sport diving at 70 meters (230 feet).

Anglo/Sino Relations: Relations between the British and Chinese remain tense due to the Tulsa Incident, but British General Harold Alexander, General Officer Commanding Burma Army, and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek meet to talk things over.

Here is the real front-page hot story from the Long Island newspaper: "Vito Gurino, formerly of Brooklyn's famous Murder, Inc., is seen on the left as he appeared when he was brought to Nassau county court yesterday to plead guilty to second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of John Bagdonowiz in Albertson in 1933. He is shown handcuffed to Detective Sergeant Charles Snyder of the Nassau County warrant squad." (Page 1, Nassau Daily Review-Star, 24 March 1942).

US Military: The Combined Joint Chiefs of Staff institutionalize a decision made previously between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill and formally give control of the Pacific Theater of Operations to the United States.

The 23rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) of the 7th Air Force transfers within Hawaii from Hickam Field to Mokuleia. The B-17s will fly patrols from there.

The 91st Bombardment Squadron, 27 Bomber Group begins moving its A-24s from Brisbane, Australia, to Charters Towers. The ground echelon for this unit remains trapped in Bataan.

American Homefront: In San Diego, 20th Century Fox premieres "To the Shores of Tripoli" directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring John Payne, Maureen O'Hara, and Randolph Scott. The film is notable for being shot in Technicolor and having portions of the film shot at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. The film is a success and greatly aids Marine recruiting during World War II.

Look magazine, 24 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

Sunday 22 March 1942

An ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) recruiting parade in Rishon le-Zion (Rishon LeTsiyon) on March 22, 1942 (Esther Herlitz, Jewish Women's Archive).

Battle of the Pacific: In Burma (Myanmar), the British Burma Corps under Lieutenant General William Slim gives up its biggest remaining foothold when they abandon the airfield at Magwe (Magway) on 22 March 1942. This opens up the Irrawaddy River valley, where the Japanese are eager to occupy the Yenangyaung oil fields. It will take the Japanese a few weeks to bring the 33rd Division into position for a set-piece attack on the oil field. The British are short of supplies, especially water, and are counting on newly arrived Chinese troops to help hold the oil.

Japanese General Yamashita, leader in the Philippines, on the cover of the 22 March 1942 Time magazine.

Eastern Front: The stalemate on the Kerch Peninsula in the Crimea continues. Two Soviet attacks to break it have failed, while the most recent attempt by the German 22nd Panzer Division also has failed. Soviet General Kozlov is preparing for a third attack on the German strongpoint at Koi-Asan which is scheduled to begin on 26 March. Both sides have taken heavy casualties during these battles, but the unsuccessful Soviet attacks have been particularly hard on their own forces. However, Stalin is insistent that the attacks continue because he sees this as a continuation of the successful winter counteroffensives even though winter is rapidly turning into spring this far south.

The temperature rises above freezing on the front north of Moscow, where the German Operation Brueckenschlag enters its second day toward the pocket at Demyansk. The Germans make good progress against spotty Soviet resistance. The first objective, the Redyat River, is coming within sight, but the snow is turning to slush, which favors the defense. The Soviets are determined to take the pocket before it is relieved and are sending in reinforcements from both the north and south. They also are preparing two paratrooper brigades to land in the Demyansk pocket and take it from within.

European Air Operations: It is a quiet day on the Channel front, with no major operations.

"Navy Asks For More Men For Production" is a headline in the 22 March 1942 Greenville (South Carolina) News.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-123 (Kptlt. Reinhard Hardegen), on its eighth patrol out of Lorient, gets its first success of a highly successful cruise off the east coast of the United States. Hardegen puts one torpedo into 7034-ton U.S. tanker Muskogee about 335 miles north-northeast of Bermuda. The torpedo hits the engine room and the tanker sinks quickly. While ten survivors make it onto rafts and are questioned by Hardegen, all 34 men aboard the Muskogee disappear and never see land again.

U-373 (Oblt. Paul-Karl Loeser), on its fourth patrol out of La Pallice, torpedoes and sinks 5575-ton British freighter Thursobank about 200 miles southeast of Nantucket. There are 30 dead and 34 survivors. This incident has a peculiar case of mutiny after the sinking when Chinese crewmen, who outnumber the British survivors, refuse to share their food with the British. The Chinese crewmen are arrested when rescued after three days by passing tanker Havsten.

Seas are rough along the North Atlantic convoy routes. One ship, 5786-ton Norwegian tanker Nueva Andalucia, runs aground off Mars Rock, Halifax Harbor. It is ultimately is towed to port but not repaired until 1947. All 39 men aboard survive.

Bomb damage in Malta on or about 22 March 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: As a Royal Navy convoy approaches Malta, it is attacked by sustained Axis air power and also aggressive moves by the Italian Navy. The Italian battleship Littorio and several Italian cruisers keep the British on the defensive. Littorio damages Royal Navy destroyer HMS Havock with a near-miss. Destroyer Kingston also is badly damaged. Three of four freighters ultimately make it to Valletta but the port itself comes under heavy air attack. The Italians, though having the advantage, break off the attack at nightfall and head back to port. The battle is considered an Italian tactical victory but a Royal Navy strategic victory because the Italians fail at their objective of destroying or turning back the convoy.

Propaganda/Partisans: The BBC begins sending news in Morse Code to resistance fighters on the Continent.

British/Indian Relations: Sir Stafford Cripps is in India (the "Cripps Mission") attempting to arrange a settlement with Indian nationalists. Cripps is friends with Jawaharlal Nehru, but he has an unclear mandate from the British government. The British viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, is hostile to the Cripps Mission, and with good reason - one of Cripps' proposals is to remove Linlithgow. Cripps is only able to promise what the Indian Nationalists want - Dominion Status and ultimately full independence - after the war. Ultimately, the Cripps Mission fails. Mahatma Gandhi comments sarcastically that Cripps' promise of Dominion Status after the war was a "post-dated cheque drawn on a failing bank."

Dr. Frank Thone poses an interesting question about solar power in the 22 March 1942 Galveston (Texas) Daily News.

American Homefront: The Japanese-American internment camp at Manzanar officially opens pursuant to Executive Order 9066 of 19 February 1942 signed by President Franklin Roosevelt. This is the first internment camp to open. At first, Manzanar is known euphemistically as the "Owens Valley Reception Center." It will acquire its better-known name of the Manzanar War Relocation Center on 1 June 1942. The first Japanese-Americans that arrive help to build the camp under the auspices of the US Army's Wartime Civilian Control Administration (WCCA).

All production of automobiles has been halted due to the war situation. So, with no 1942 models to sell, dealerships are selling whatever they can find. In this case, it is  1940 Chevrolet with "lovely mohair upholstery". Lewiston (Idaho) Tribune, March 22, 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 23 February 1942

A Japanese propaganda photo (including a helpful map of the target in the upper right) of the 23 February 1942 attack on California by I-17. Is this an actual photo of I-17 firing its gun that night? It purports to be but probably is a "recreation."

Battle of the Pacific: Residents of Ellwood, California (near Santa Barbara), get a shock not long after dark on 23 February 1942 when Imperial Japanese Navy submarine HIJMS I-17 (Captain Kozo Nishino) starts lobbing shells at them. This attack at about 19:15 is a very rare attack by Axis forces on the United States mainland (this is not the only one). The area is the site of the Ellwood Oil Field, which Nishino once visited in peacetime. Standing just offshore, I-17 pumps about two dozen 5.5-inch (140 mm) shells at oil storage tanks and derricks. After causing some minor damage to things like catwalks, Nishino turns west and heads back to Japan. This attack receives a lot of publicity and causes many frightened residents to flee inland. This incident also stokes anti-Japanese feelings because witnesses claim to see the submarine flashing signals to allies onshore (which apparently is just a mistake by the witnesses). Since this comes very soon after President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, it gives new impetus to efforts to remove people of Japanese descent from the West Coast and put them in internment camps.

U-751 arrives at St. Nazaire, 23 February 1942 (Sheep, Federal Archive Picture 101II-MW-3691-05).

In Burma, the Japanese establish a strong bridgehead across the Sittang River despite the British blowing a key bridge. Remnants of the Indian 17th Division which fought unsuccessfully on the Bilin River cross the Sittang on boats or by swimming. They must leave all their equipment on the far shore and the division's fighting ability is destroyed. Only 1420 soldiers out of 3404 enlisted men and 80 officers even have rifles. Many also have lost their boots and some have even lost their uniforms due to having to swim the river, but the division remains in action. Since they are the only large force remaining between the Japanese and Rangoon, the city is in a lot of trouble. The Battle of Sittang River decides the fate of Burma in favor of the Japanese. The British are hurriedly evacuating Rangoon and having to decide either to ship out supplies destined for China immediately and at great risk or destroy them. The recently arrived British 7th Armored Brigade, which is completely unfamiliar with Burma and not fully equipped, proceeds immediately from its port of disembarkation to Rangoon in a last-ditch attempt to hold the capital.

The 23 February 1942 Adelaide, Australia, The Advertiser highlights Japanese losses off Bali. The truth is far grimmer, but people would rather read positive stories.

Despite fervent vows by the ABDA command to hold Java, it is becoming clear to everyone that the Allies cannot stay there for long. Evacuations begin despite the fact that many units have arrived on Java only recently. General Sir Archibald Wavell, Command in Chief ABDA Command, is ordered by the Combined Chiefs of Staff to move his headquarters from Java to Australia. The future for any Allied troops left on Java when the Japanese arrive is illustrated in Portuguese East Timor, where the Australian 2/2 Independent Company begins guerrilla operations with no hope of rescue or supply, and in Dutch West Timor, where the Australian 2/40th Battalion surrenders.

Early in the morning of the 23rd, six B-17s in two flights of 3 of the Kangaroo Squadron (435th Bomb Squadron of the 19th Bomb Group) based at  Garbutt Field, Townsville, Australia, bomb the Japanese fortress at Rabaul. This is the first such bombing mission. Only two of the bombers actually drop their bombs. One of these two B-17s is "Swamp Ghost." Due to weather and mechanical issues, only one bomber actually hits the target. "Swamp Ghost" has mechanical issues that prevent its bomb bay doors from opening on its first run, so it makes another pass and successfully drops its bombs. However, this second pass exposes "Swamp Ghost" to ground fire. It takes heavy damage (121 bullet holes) which forces its crew to crash-land in a swamp eight miles from the northern Papua New Guinea coast.

The "Swamp Ghost" crew survives an arduous six-week trek out of the swamp. The plane is left there virtually intact until being rediscovered by Australian Army troops in a helicopter in 1972. In 2006, "Swamp Ghost" is removed from the swamp by cargo helicopter and currently is on display in Hangar 19 at Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Reinhard Heydrich is on the cover of the 23 February 1942 Time magazine. Unknown to Time readers, an Allied plot to assassinate Heydrich, Operation Anthropoid, already is in progress (cover: Boris Artzybasheff).

Eastern Front: It is Red Army Day (the 24th) in the Soviet Union, so Joseph Stalin makes a radio broadcast to celebrate the occasion. He states that the Soviet People will have a "tremendous and hard fight" to evict the Germans from Russia, but their transient advantages such as the "element of surprise" are now gone. He promises that "the Red banner will fly everywhere it has flown before." Stalin also for the first time makes a distinction between the "Hitler clique" and the German people, a distinction which will become practically a Red Army battle cry. The Germans, meanwhile, well know this is a special day for the Soviets and are surprised that the fighting is fairly quiet on the Eastern Front. There are no new attacks and the German pockets at Demyansk and Kholm are holding their own. This gives many Germans confidence that the Red Army is the one that has lost its momentum after the surprising counteroffensive before Moscow and that the Wehrmacht can "run the table" over the coming summer.

Comrade Stalin is on the front page of the Moscow Bolshevik for 23 February 1942.

While there are no major Soviet attacks, there is some movement. The USSR announces that Red Army troops have taken Dorogobuzh, a village on the upper Dneipr River. It is another strategically non-essential place in German eyes, far from any main roads and not threatening any major German-held cities, but it is important enough to the Soviets for them to mention it. The Wehrmacht is happy to let the Soviets fritter away their momentum taking such outposts in the middle of nowhere while they maintain their supply lines along the highways.

European Air Operations: The RAF has a fairly light day of activity, sending only 23 Hampdens to drop mines off Wilhelmshaven and Heligoland, as new commander General Arthur "Bomber" Harris gets familiar with his forces. Harris has a mandate to turn the RAF as an instrument of vengeance against the Reich by launching terror raids against population centers rather than focusing on military targets as has been the case to date.

U-751 arrives at St. Nazaire, 23 February 1942. It is tieing up inboard of U-85 (right). (Sheep, Federal Archive Picture 101II-MW-3691-12).

Battle of the Atlantic: The British have known for several days that the Germans have sent a battle group of large ships to northern Norway. Attempts to attack the ships with aircraft have failed due to rough weather. However, today the British succeed through other means when HMS Trident (Cmdr. Sladen) spots the ships in the North Sea off the Trondheimsfjord. The ships are just on a normal patrol and are not heading out on a raiding mission. Sladen fires three torpedoes, one of which hits Prinz Eugen in the stern and seriously damages its rudder. The Germans take Prinz Eugen to Lo Fjord at Drontheim for temporary repairs. Eventually, Prinz Eugen must head back to Germany for full repairs and is out of service until October 1942.

U-129 (Kptlt. Asmus Nicolai Clausen), on its fourth patrol out of Lorient, has a big day northeast of Barima, Venezuela. Attacking at 01:20, the submarine sinks 1754-ton Canadian freighter George L. Torian (15 deaths, 4 survivors). At 04:43, it spots and sinks 5658-ton US freighter West Zeda (all 35 survive). Then, at 15:04, Clausen torpedoes and sinks 1904-ton Canadian freighter Lennox (2 deaths and 18 survivors). All of these ships are independents, as convoys have not yet been organized this far south.

HMAS Ping Wo. A 3105-ton Chinese river steamer, Ping Wo is used on 23 February 1942 to tow the disabled HMAS Vendetta from the Javan port of Tanjung Priok to Fremantle, Western Australia. This is part of the general evacuation of Java. The tow to Fremantle takes 62 days, or 72 days if you count an additional tow to Port Phillip Bay (Royal Australian Navy).

U-502 (Kptlt. Jürgen von Rosenstiel), on its second patrol out of Lorient, also has a big day about 75 miles north of Aruba. After missing with two torpedoes, U-502 finally hits 8329-ton Panamanian tanker Thalia with a third at 10:32. Tankers are hard to sink, though, and another two torpedoes fail to sink it. Finally, von Rosenstiel surfaces and rakes the burning tanker with 103 rounds from his deck gun. This does the trick. There are 40 survivors and one dead. At 16:43, von Rosenstiel strikes again, torpedoing 9002-ton US tanker Sun (carrying only water ballast) with one torpedo. The explosion causes extensive damage that would sink a freighter, and the crew abandons ship. However, the compartmentalized structure of the tanker saves it, and the crew reboards it and they take she battered ship to an anchorage and eventually to Aruba.

U-161 (Kptlt. Albrecht Achilles), on its second patrol out of Lorient, torpedoes and sinks 7001-ton US freighter Lihue about 275 miles west of Martinique. Lihue is another independent, which U-boat captains have found are easy targets. U-161 surfaces after hitting the Lihue with a single torpedo at 06:43 and engages in a brief gun duel with the freighter before submerging again and waiting for it to sink. All 45 men on board survive.

The 23 February 1942 Life magazine features guns at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on the cover.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy submarine HMS P38 (Lieutenant Rowland Hemingway DSC, RN) spots a large Axis supply convoy heading from Naples to Tripoli about 90 nautical miles (170 km) east of Tripoli. It and moves into position to attack. However, before Lt. Hemingway can attack, the Italian escorts spot P38 with sonar and move into the attack with depth charges. Italian torpedo boat Circe launches all of its depth charges and forces P38 to broach the surface before settling back down. After further attacks, P38 rises again, stern first, before sinking. All 32 men aboard P38 perish. The Royal Navy knew about this convoy from intercepts or spies and specifically sent P38 from Malta to attack it, so this is a good example of one side having solid intelligence on exactly what has to be done, but being unable to do it.

British/Australian Relations: After urgent demands by Australian Prime Minister John Curtin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill confirms that the Australian 6th and 7th Divisions which are at sea will be returned to Australia for the defense of the homeland.

Allied Relations: The United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand reach an agreement (Master Mutual Aid Agreement) regarding the conduct of the war in the Southwest Pacific.

On Malta, sailors draw their rum rations. "Wherever they find themselves the ratings draw their issue. In this case on the top of the RN Signal Station at Valletta Palace." 23 February 1942. © IWM (A 9244).

US Military: The US Navy reorganizes its pilot training program, dividing up pilots by the type of aircraft they will be flying. Pilots of one- or two-engine aircraft are to be put into a special 11-month program, while those destined for four-engine bombers are to go into a 12-month program. The latter group has four equal subdivisions of three months each: periods spent at Induction Centers, then Primary training, Intermediate Training, and finally Operational Training.

USAAF General Ira C. Eaker establishes the headquarters of his VIII Bomber Command at Daws Hill Lodge, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England.

Major General Lewis H Brereton, Commanding General USAAF 5th Air Force, departs from Australia to India. ABDA Vice Commander Major General George H. Brett assumes control of 5th Air Force Operations in Brereton's absence. Brett today flies from Java back to Australia as part of a broader evacuation of the island. Brereton's mission in New Delhi, India, is to begin to organize the new Tenth Air Force, which includes preparation for the famous "Hump" Airlift to China.

U-123 (28-year-old German Captain Reinhard Hardegen) returns to Lorient after a successful patrol off the east coast of the United States, February 1942 (Dietrich, Federal Archive Bild 101II-MW-3983-23).

Holocaust: The Italian government establishes a concentration camp near Gonars, Italy (near Trieste). It is primarily devoted to housing prisoners from Italy's sphere of influence in the Balkans (Slovenia and Croatia). Mussolini is not obsessed with putting Jewish people in concentration camps like his German allies, but hundreds of people die here of starvation and torture just like in Third Reich work camps. The Gonars camp never receives the notoriety of death camps like Auschwitz and Mauthausen but is quite brutal despite eventually fading away into obscurity.

Italian Homefront: It is a day of speeches by leaders around the world, and that includes Benito Mussolini. In Rome, he gives a typical lengthy speech during which he states:

We call bread, bread and wine, wine, and when the enemy wins a battle it is useless and ridiculous to seek, as the English do in their incomparable hypocrisy, to deny or diminish it.

Mussolini is expressing a common theme of the Axis leaders that the world media is not giving due credit for their successes, a refrain also heard often from Hitler. Of course, the media they are concerned about is the Western media, and it is difficult to imagine them saying anything positive about Axis successes.

President Roosevelt during his fireside chat on 23 February 1942. While the chat is only broadcast over the radio, FDR asks listeners to pull out a map - then gestures during his speech toward the places that he is talking about on his own map (Libary of Congress).

American Homefront: It is George Washington's birthday, so President Franklin D. Roosevelt makes one of his popular "fireside chats." He admits that the first few months of the war have been difficult:

We have most certainly suffered losses – from Hitler's U-Boats in the Atlantic as well as from the Japanese in the Pacific – and we shall suffer more of them before the turn of the tide. But, speaking for the United States of America, let me say once and for all to the people of the world: We Americans have been compelled to yield ground, but we will regain it. We and the other United Nations are committed to the destruction of the militarism of Japan and Germany. We are daily increasing our strength. Soon, we and not our enemies will have the offensive; we, not they, will win the final battles; and we, not they, will make the final peace."

President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, which authorizes the internment of anyone of Japanese ancestry, arrives at Lt. General John L. Dewitt's West Coast headquarters of the Western Defense Command. He is now free to intern practically anyone he sees fit.

On 23 February 1942, USAAF Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress (41-2446) ditched in Agaiambo swamp, Papua New Guinea after running out of fuel. It was rediscovered in 1972 and removed from the swamp in 2006. Swamp Ghost is now on display in the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor.

February 1942

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

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