Wednesday 24 December 1941

President Roosevelt addresses the crowd at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony from the White House South Portico on December 24, 1941. Winston Churchill, who is visiting during the Arcadia Conference, is at the right. This is the first Christmas Tree lighting ceremony ever held inside the White House grounds (FDR Presidential Library).

Battle of the Pacific: On Hong Kong Island, the British situation is growing increasingly desperate by 24 December 1941. The Japanese have split the island in two at Wong Nai Chung Gap and control the entire island's water supplies, but the British and Canadian troops have greater worries, as reports of Japanese atrocities are growing. After dark, the Japanese approach St. Stephen's College, which is being used as a hospital on the front line, and massacre many injured men and doctors.

About 1,300 Japanese Americans pledge their allegiance to the United States at a newly dedicated Buddhist church in Seattle, Washington, 24 December 1941 (The Associated Press).

Massacres on Hong Kong Island are not isolated incidents, but the norm. For instance, during the closing days of the campaign the Japanese have:

• massacred around two dozen members of the 5th Anti-Aircraft Battery of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defense Corps (HKVDC) at Sai Wan Hill;
• killed many men at the Salesian Mission at Shau Kei Wan
• massacred eight Canadian soldiers after the battle of Jardine's Lookout;
• murdered three prisoners at Causeway Bay, including a female air raid warden with the local Air Raid Precautions (ARP);
• killed four soldiers at a house on Blue Pool Road known as the "Black Hole of Hong Kong," including two Canadian officers;
• massacred 30 civilians at Blue Pool Road;
• killed at least 47 British POWs at The Ridge;
• killed at least 14 prisoners at Overbays;
• killed 7 men at Eucliffe;
• killed an additional 36 men near The Ridge;
• possibly killed six soldiers of the Middlesex Regiment at Deepwater Bay Ride (it is unclear if they had surrendered);
• murdered eight or twelve British soldiers at the Maryknoll Mission;
• executed 26 prisoners at Brick Hill.

Other incidents are known to have happened because some men simply disappeared without a trace - meaning some perpetrators covered their tracks quite well.

Volunteers at a special station to coordinate Los Angeles air defenses in December 1941. Fears of a Japanese air attack on the city continue well into 1942.

The most horrible atrocity on Hong Kong Island happens at St. Stephens, where an unknown number of victims variously estimated at from 13-99 are executed and then cremated. In the most notorious incident there, the Japanese rape three British and four Chinese nurses before killing them. Canadian Captain Overton Stark Hickey of the RCASC is shot while trying to help the nurses. The rest of the victims are doctors and wounded POWs (or at least patients who should have been treated as POWs). Unfortunately, the full scope of the St. Stephens massacre is impossible to prove later because the Japanese efficiently dispose of the evidence. Atrocities or not, the Commonwealth troops cannot hold out much longer on Hong Kong Island without water.

Damage caused by a Japanese air raid on the Manila port area. This photo was taken on 24 December 1941.

In the Philippines, Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur invokes War Plan Orange 3 (WPO-3) as he continues evacuating Manila. The WPO-3 plan calls for delaying actions in central Luzon while Allied forces retreat into the Bataan Peninsula. The 26th Cavalry Regiment attempts this difficult mission against overwhelming Japanese numerical strength under the command of South Luzon Force. The Americans begin using barges to move supplies from Manila warehouses into the Bataan in the hopes that it can be turned into a redoubt for US and Filipino soldiers and refugees.

Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma, 14th Army commander, coming ashore at Lingayen Gulf, 24 December 1941.

At dawn at Mauban on Lamon Bay southeast of Manila, the Japanese land the 2nd Battalion of the 20th Infantry Regiment (Lt. Col. Nariyoshi Tsunehiro). Other landings occur a little further south at Siain and Atimonan. The Philippine 1st Infantry Division is dug in at the Mauban beach and slows the Japanese down there. The invasion succeeds in getting three bridgeheads, however, and by nightfall, the Japanese have made good progress of about five miles inland at Mauban and even further advances at Atimonan and Siain. These landings put the Japanese within striking distance of the eastern approaches to the Bataan Peninsula. Maneuvering his forces to protect the exposed entry points in Bataan, MacArthur stations troops at San Fernando, the steel bridges at Calumpit over the Pampanga River, and Plaridel north of Manila. Admiral Thomas C. Hart sends the 4th Marine Regiment from Olongapo to Corregidor to secure it as the last bastion should the defense of Bataan fail. In the air, three B-17s based on Del Monte Field, Mindanao, raid Japanese shipping at Davao and then fly south to Darwin.

"Members of the gun crew overhauling their pom-poms while in the harbor." The Isaac Sweers in Alexandria Harbor, 24 December 1941. © IWM (A 7265).

In the Malay Peninsula, Commander Australian Imperial Force Malaya, Major General Gordon Bennett (General Office Commanding Australian 8th Division), tries to organize a defense in depth. The Australian 27th Brigade Group, 8th Division occupies North Johore, while the Indian 11th Division (which controls all remaining Indian III Corps troops north of the Slim and Bernam Rivers) concentrates around Kampar and along the Slim River. The British are hampered by dwindling air support and the Japanese are becoming dominant in the air.

The United States Navy is still determining the extent of the damage at Pearl Harbor from the raid on 7 December 1941. Shown is damage to US Navy light cruiser USS Helena (CL-50) at left, with construction materials to fix it. This photo was attached to the 14th Naval District report, serial 01451 of 24 December 1941 (Naval History and Heritage Command).

Japanese submarine attacks against US shipping along the west coast of the United States continue. Japanese submarine I-19 (some sources say I-17) surfaces and shells 5695-ton US freighter Absaroka about 19 nautical miles (36 km) northwest of Catalina Island, while I-23 does the same to 2119-ton US freighter Dorothy Philips off Monterey Bay south of San Francisco. Meanwhile, at Midway Island, US Marines of Batteries A and C of 4th Defense Battalions land after a hazardous journey aboard seaplane tender USS Wright.

"Commander Houtsmuller, Captain of HNMS ISAAC SWEERS coming on board his ship." Alexandria, 24 December 1941. © IWM (A 7262).

In Borneo, the Dutch send Martin B-10 bombers against the Japanese forces that took Kuching late on 23 December. The Dutch withdraw their aircraft from Singkawang, Borneo, to Palembang, Sumatra, but they still hold Kuching Airfield because the Japanese forces close by haven't spotted it yet. The British "SARFOR" (Sarawak Force) garrison of Kuching, composed of just over 1000 men of the 2nd Battalion, 15th Punjab Regiment and the 35th Fortress Company and about 1500 local tribesmen, begins a delaying action as it moves inland toward Dutch Borneo. The Japanese main objectives are the oilfields at Miri and Seria and the refinery at Lutong.

Luftwaffe reconnaissance of Malta, 24 December 1941 (Federal Archive Bild 168-116-012).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Germans secretly evacuate Benghazi on 24 December 1941. Later in the day, the 7th Armored Division of the XIII Corps, British Eighth Army attacks the city and is pleasantly surprised to find it deserted. Troops of the Royal Dragoons are given the honor of being the first into Benghazi. Off Alexandria, U-568 (Kptlt. Joachim Preuss) torpedoes and sinks 925-ton Royal Navy corvette HMS Salvia (K-97) about 104 nautical miles (193 km) northwest of Alexandria. All 106 men aboard the British ship, which has been returning to base with convoy TA-5, perish.

A Christmas Eve service somewhere in the Soviet Union, 24 December 1941 (Federal Archive Bild 169-0875).

Eastern Front: The lingering feud between the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge, and General Guderian, commander of 2nd Panzer Army, continues to simmer. Kluge complains to the OKH operations chief, General Franz Halder, about Guderian allowing the 296th Infantry Division to withdraw even further than first thought without orders (and thereby saving it). In addition, Kluge notes that Guderian has pulled 47th Panzer Corps back as well in defiance of Hitler's stand-fast orders. When Halder suggests that Guderian should be court-martialled, Kluge equivocates, rationalizing that the withdrawals had been done "under the compulsion of circumstance." Halder himself then sends a direct order to Guderian to stop the withdrawals, send a division to Belev, and report in detail his troop locations before Hitler's midnight conference.

"German Luftwaffe pilot Erbo Graf Von Kageneck, holder of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, standing in front of his Messerschmitt Bf 109 E whilst being assisted by two ground crew personnel. Von Kageneck, responsible for the destruction of 69 allied aircraft, was later shot down by RAAF pilot, Flying Officer Clive R Caldwell, (who was attached to 250 Squadron, Royal Air Force) on the afternoon of 24 December 1941 near Derna in Libya. Kageneck later died in a Luftwaffe hospital in Naples. Australian War Memorial P00323.001.

While there is a lot of drama behind the scenes on the German side, things aren't much better at the front. Second Army, which is holding the line to Guderian's immediate right, has to withdraw along with Guderian's troops in order to not expose its own flank. The lack of reserves near the front compels these kinds of reflexive movements when one unit begins to retreat. There is blowing snow and low visibility, and nobody is really sure where any other units are. He announces that he will abandon Novosil and Livny, also in defiance of Hitler's orders. Before midnight, Guderian responds to a telephoned order from von Kluge to stop his retreat by requesting to be relieved and court-martialed. Kluge immediately gets on the phone to Halder and tells Halder, while apologizing for "ruining your Christmas spirit, which probably was not very rosy anyway." Halder then passes this information on to Hitler in East Prussia, who is just about to begin his midnight command conference.

You can catch a special Christmas Eve 24 December 1941 train/steamer combo From Boston to Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard if you catch the 17:00 train.

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

Saturday 13 December 1941

U-126 returning to its port of Lorient, France, 13 December 1941 (Tölle, Alwin, Federal Archive Bild 101II-MW-4362-40).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Events on land in the Mediterranean basin invariably revolve around sea battles. General Erwin Rommel has been frantic to get more supplies delivered from Naples to Tripoli via Palermo. In the early morning hours of 13 December 1941, the Italians send the cruisers Alberto da Barbiano and Alberico di Giussano across the Strait of Sicily.

Italian cruisers Alberico Da Barbiano and Alberto Di Giussano docked side by side in the 1930s. These are the two ships sunk by the Royal Navy on 13 December 1941.

The cruisers are packed with fuel barrels on deck that carry 100 tons of aviation fuel, 250 tons of gasoline, and 600 tons of naphtha, among other supplies. Also making the crossing are 135 ratings. The cruisers are not meant to serve as cargo ships, so the fuel barrels are stacked high and limit the ability to fire the main guns. The British, meanwhile, have learned of the convoy via their Ultra service and have sent the 4th Destroyer Flotilla to intercept them. The stage is set for a deadly confrontation.

Commander Lieutenant Ernst Bauer of U-126 shortly after returning to Lorient, France on 13 December 1941 (Tölle, Alwin, Federal Archive Picture 101II-MW-4363-06).

The Royal Navy ships, knowing exactly where to look for them and lying in wait, spot the two unaware Italian cruisers near Cape Bon, Tunisia around 02:30. Hugging the coast, which causes them to blend into the background, the British destroyers remain undetected until they are close enough to launch torpedoes and open fire with their main guns. The outcome is extremely similar to that of the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941. Once they become aware of the British trap, the Italian ships immediately reverse course, but Barbiano is hit by a torpedo, bursts into flames due to the fuel barrels being hit, and then is hit with several more torpedoes. Meanwhile, Giussano also is hit by gunfire and a torpedo, leaving her dead in the water. Neither ship has a chance. Barbiano sinks at 03:35 and Giussano at 04:20. The Italians lose 817 men. Italian destroyer Cigno picks up about 500 men in the water, Italian torpedo boats rescue another 145, and other men manage to swim to shore. All of the fuel for Rommel's tanks goes to the bottom.

The bottom line? Knowing ahead of time what your enemy is about to do gives you lots of ways to beat them.

U-126 approaching the dock in Lorient, France after a patrol on 13 December 1941. That is likely Admiral Doenitz on the dock saluting, he often personally greeted returning submarines (Tölle, Alwin, Federal Archive Picture 101II-MW-4362-37).

On land, the New Zealand 5th Brigade attacks the new Afrika Corps Gazala line along an 8-mile front while the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade makes a flanking attack against the Italian Trieste Division at Alem Hamza. The New Zealand troops make some headway, taking point 204 a few miles west of Alem Hamza, but the Germans quickly counterattack with 39 panzers and accompanying infantry. Both sides take heavy casualties (the Germans lose 15 panzers), but the New Zealand troops hold their exposed position. The British plan to reinforce them on the 14th and attack again early on the 15th.

U-126 approaching the dock on 13 December 1941, crew lined up on deck, commander Bauer saluting (Tölle, Alwin, Federal Archive Picture 101II-MW-4362-38).

Eastern Front: Faced with frantic calls for help from the Moscow front, German Army commander Field Marshal Walther Brauchitsch arrives at Army Group Center headquarters in Smolensk shortly before noon. He listens as Field Marshal Fedor von Bock and the generals advise that further withdrawals are necessary, to a line centered on Rzhev-Gzhatsk-Orel-Kursk. Supported by Field Marshal von Kluge, who is overseeing Third and Fourth Panzer Armies, and General Adolf Strauss of Ninth Army, von Bock warns that the entire German front may be "smashed to pieces" without a timely withdrawal. Brauchitsch does not make any decisions today, as they are being made without him, but plans on talking to General Guderian (who, having withdrawn from Tula, now is having trouble holding his new line further west) and other generals on the 14th.

The Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky Courier-Journal of 13 December 1941. Buried deep under the Pacific war news is a headline stating "Reds Claim Total Victory in Battle for Moscow," which is quite accurate at this point and much more significant than anything else on the page.

Battle of the Pacific: In the Hawaiian Islands, a bizarre postscript to the attack on Pearl Harbor ends on 13 December 1941 when a Japanese pilot, Airman First Class Shigenori Nishikaichi, who crash-landed during the attack, is killed on Niihau Island. This becomes known as the "Niihau incident." Nishikaichi has remained at large on the island for the past five days because there are no radios and also because he has gained some allies. However, after a wild melee, island residents overcome the mini-rebellion in hand-to-hand combat. One woman, Irene Harada (of Japanese descent), is imprisoned until June 1944 for helping the Japanese pilot but never convicted of any crimes. The incident contributes to fears that Japanese residents in the United States may secretly aid the Imperial Japanese government, as indicated in a 26 January 1942 Navy report by Lieutenant C.B. Baldwin.

German Jews being deported from Muenster, Germany to the Ghetto at Riga, Latvia. The Riga Ghetto has recently had space freed up due to mass exterminations there (Yad Vashem Photo Archives 4981/46).

The Japanese advance on the Malay Peninsula continues as the Japanese take Jitra. The 11th Indian Division successfully withdraws late on the 13th, but it is poorly executed and many advanced units remain while the bulk of the division leaves after dark. The area commander, General Percival, later writes:

This withdrawal would have been difficult under the most favourable conditions. With the troops tired, units mixed as the result of the fighting, communications broken and the night dark, it was inevitable that orders should be delayed and that in some cases they should never reach the addressees. This is what in fact occurred. Some units and sub-units withdrew without incident. Others, finding themselves unable to use the only road, had to make their way as best they could across country.

Going "across the country" means troops hauling whatever equipment they can carry, struggling through jungles with no roads and finding many natural obstacles. The withdrawing Indian troops reach the south bank of the River Kedah around midnight, but the division has taken very heavy losses both from combat and the botched withdrawal. The Indian troops know they cannot hold this position for long, so they begin retreating to a position 30 miles south of Jidrah in southern Kedah.

"USS Helena (CL-50), December 1941. The image shows the torpedo damage received on December 7, 1941, during the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. Specifically shown is between frames 69.5 and 80.5 starboard side below armor belt. Note that the bilge keel is split along a line of rivets. Photographed at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, December 13, 1941. Official Bureau of Ships Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. (2015/2/18)." National Museum of the U.S. Navy.

At Hong Kong, the last Commonwealth troops, the 5/7 Rajputs of the Indian Army under the command of Lieutenant R. Cadogan-Rawlinson, evacuate to Hong Kong Island. The Japanese close in on the Kowloon waterfront and make their first surrender demand, which is rejected by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Aitchison Young. The British organize their defense into a West Brigade (Canadian Brigadier J.K. Lawson) and an East Brigade (British Brigadier C. Wallis). The officer commanding in Hong Kong, British Major General Christopher Maltby, fears a seaborne invasion, so he deploys many troops on the southern beaches when the real threat emanates from the north.

A burning building along Taft Avenue which was hit during the Japanese air raid in Barrio, Paranque, December 13, 1941, the Philippine Islands (Libary of Congress)

In the Philippines, the Japanese Air Force continues devastating raids on Clark, Del Carmen, and Nichols airfields, destroying many more aircraft on the ground. The US Army Air Force is fighting back and scores some successes. First Lieutenant Boyd D "Buzz" Wagner of the 17th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor), 24th Pursuit Group (Interceptor), shoots down four Japanese airplanes near Aparri while on a reconnaissance mission over the Japanese invaders in northern Luzon. In doing so, Wagner apparently violates orders to avoid combat, later claiming that he "accidentally" stumbled into the dozen Japanese fighters. However, the fleet of bombers with which the Americans began the campaign is virtually gone and few fighters remain.

"Picture Post" magazine for 13 December 1941. The cover features General Martel, "The man against Hitler's tanks."

In Burma, a small Japanese force makes rapid progress against token opposition. The RAF is forced to evacuate an airfield at Victoria Point on the Kra Isthmus, which the Japanese quickly take and use. While Victoria Point is far to the south of Rangoon, the airfield is perfectly positioned for the Japanese to use for missions both over Burma and south toward Singapore.

Liberty magazine of 13 December 1941 poses the question, "Is the President A Well Man Today?" That actually is an excellent question, because President Roosevelt, in fact, is much sicker than this commonly known. However, he still is able to hide it very well.

American Homefront: The US Department of Justice is working fast to intern suspected foreign sympathizers. To date, it has imprisoned 585 Japanese and 187 German citizens. The US Congress passes an amendment to the Selective Service laws which authorizes the military to keep soldiers enlisted beyond their scheduled expiration date - meaning, until things change, everyone is in for the duration as the military sees fit.

"Love Story Magazine" for 13 December 1941. This includes articles such as "The Technique of Make-up," "Your Stars and You," and "Married in Haste."

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