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

Friday 20 March 1942

The MacArthur family (Jean, Arthur, and Douglas) at the Terowie train station on 20 March 1942 (Photo - Terowie Citizens' Ass. Inc.).

The President of the United States ordered me to break through the Japanese lines and proceed from Corregidor to Australia for the purpose, as I understand it, of organizing the American offensive against Japan, a primary object of which is the relief of the Philippines. I came through and I shall return.

The phrase "I shall return" becomes a battle cry for many in the Pacific Theater of Operations. MacArthur does not spend much time at Terowie, where he and his party are only changing trains, but his remarks are broadcast around the world. He has had a long, lonely ride to think up what to say, and he does it right.

"Burma. 20 March 1942. General Sir Archibald Wavell (right) is greeted by General T. J. Hutton, General Officer Commanding in Chief of Burma, upon his arrival at an RAF airfield." Australian War Memorial P02491.106.

Elsewhere, the Japanese remain on the attack. In Burma, the Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road continues with the beginning of the Battle of Oktwin. The Japanese 143rd Regiment, reinforced with cavalry units of the 55th Division, attacks the positions of the Chinese 5th Army Cavalry Regiment north of the Kan River. The Chinese quickly pull back to the north of Toungoo, leaving only one company to keep tabs on the advancing Japanese. There is little to delay the Japanese advance on Toungoo, but the 200th Chinese Division now has had enough time to build defensive positions in the Toungoo area which may be useful. The Japanese have the fresh 18th and 56th divisions, which just arrived by sea at Rangoon over the past few days, available.

The Japanese attempt to neutralize the strong Allied air power in Burma by attacking the American Volunteer Group (AVG) base at Magwe. They also attack "Burwing" (the RAF command in Burma). The British pull back from Tharrawaddy.

The 20 March 1942 Brooklyn Eagle is full of optimism due to the stirring words of General MacArthur in Australia.

In the Philippines, Major General Jonathan Wainwright learns that he has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General. He now is given command of all U.S. forces in the Philippines (USFIP).

Japanese Mitsubishi G4M Navy Type 1 "Betty" bombers attack Broome Airfield in Western Australia. They attack from high altitude and do not cause any damage because most of the bombs miss the airfield completely. One nearby aboriginal is killed by a bomb splinter.

USS South Dakota (BB-57) is commissioned in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It will see heavy action in the Pacific during the second half of 1942 and later serve in the Atlantic for a while before returning to the Pacific.

"USS_Grunion (SS-216), stern view at rest. March 20, 1942, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT. In a little less than 6 months, the boat and all her crew would be M.I.A." (U.S. Navy).

Eastern Front: General Erich von Manstein, commander of the German 11th Army in Crimea, launches a minor counterattack to recover ground lost during the recent Soviet offensives on the Parpach Narrows. The attack is aimed to recover Korpech', a German strongpoint which was the only major Red Army gain in the recent battles. The spearhead of the German/Romanian advance is the 22nd Panzer Division, which is inexperienced and equipped with weak Czech-built Panzer 38(t)s.

The attack goes wrong right from the start, with some of the panzers running into a minefield and others being slowed by thick fog. The Red Army reacts quickly and blocks the advance with a battalion of T-26 tanks and four heavy KV-1 tanks of the 55th Tank Brigade. After losing 32 of 152 tanks damaged or destroyed, Manstein calls off the attack. The one success of the attack is that it disrupts the Soviets' own planned attack in the same area, so it serves as an unintended spoiling attack.

The first flight of Mitsubishi J2M1 Raiden "Jack" was on 20 March 1942. It will make its combat debut in June 1944 at the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The Raiden became a mainstay of the Japanese Air Force in the last year of the war.

On the Volkhov River, the Germans participating in Operation Raubtier have cut off 130,000 Soviet troops to the west. The Red Army finally realizes the danger and General Kirill A. Meretskov’s Volkhov Front launches a determined attempt to relieve the pocket. This bears some fruit and a small opening is achieved through which a limited number of men and supplies can be funneled. However, the Germans are determined to seal their victory and the fierce battle along the river continues. The Soviet relief attempt is insufficient for the trapped Soviet forces to escape, and, in any event, they do not have permission to retreat back across the Volkhov even were that possible.

With Operation Raubtier having accomplished its main mission, the Wehrmacht quickly shifts to the next operation on the docket. This is Operation Brueckenschlag ("Bridge-building"), an attempt to relieve the Demyansk pocket.  There is some doubt whether the trapped men in the Demyansk Pocket can hold out through the Spring thaw ("Rasputitsa"), which is fast approaching, so every day is precious. German resources, especially in the air, are so light that they cannot do even these small operations contemporaneously, but only in sequence. Adolf Hitler personally is ordering these shifts from East Prussia, keeping a close eye on daily developments. The Luftwaffe spends today shifting its units from the Volkhov to the Demyansk area, and Generalmajor Walter von Seydlitz-Kurzbach shifts his attack units into position on the X Corps line. The relief attack is scheduled to begin at daylight on the 21st.

"Seaman James Sweeney with his Lewis gun." A gunner on board the trawler HMS Cornelian, 20 March 1942. © IWM (A 8009).

European Air Operations: A prolonged lull in operations continues today on the Channel Front. During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 13 Manchesters and 6 Lancasters to lay mines in the Frisian Islands. Due to poor weather, only 11 manage to lay their mines in the proper area. The RAF also sends two bombers to attack Essen, but they return without completing their mission due to weather conditions.

"Plan for Initiation of U.S. Army Bombardment Operations in the British Isles" is released by the US Army Air Force. It spells out an agenda of using the British Isles to bomb German infrastructure on the Continent. Major General Ira C Eaker submits a report to Major General James E Chaney, requested on 25 February 1942, analyzing the best methods for this air offensive. It concludes that an effective campaign can be waged by combining USAAF daylight precision bombing with RAF night area bombing. The effects of the bombing campaign can be enhanced by close coordination between the two air forces.

"Launch of the U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Birmingham (CL-62) at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company shipyard, Newport News, Virginia (USA), on 20 March 1942." US Naval History and Heritage Command NH 75592.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-71 (Kptlt. Walter Flachsenberg), on its fifth patrol out of St. Nazaire, uses its machine gun to stop 5766-ton US freighter Oakmar about 300 miles east of Cape Hatteras. Oakmar is unarmed, so the U-boat's machine gun alone is sufficient to force the crew to abandon ship (the seas are too rough to use the deck gun). Flachsenberg then fires a torpedo that misses due to the rough seas, but a second at 21:39 hit forward of the bridge, causing the ship to sink. There are six dead and 30 survivors, with several of the crew lost due to the rough weather.

Italian submarine Enrico Tazzoli (Cmdr Carlo Fecia di Cossato) spots British tanker Davila while heading back to Bordeaux but cannot attack because of previous war damage on its patrol. However, the crew of the Davila spots the submarine and decides to attack it. Cossata dives when the Davila begins firing at him. Both ships escape without damage. This is a rare instance of a tanker attacking a submarine instead of vice versa.

Norwegian 823-ton freighter Risøy is attacked by three aircraft and sunk near Trevose Head, Cornwall, England. There is one death.

British tanker Davila, which attacked the Italian submarine Enrico Tazzoli on 20 March 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: U-652 (Oblt. Georg-Werner Fraatz), on its eighth patrol out of Salamis, Greece, when its crew spots 1050-ton British destroyer HMS Heythrop (L 85) about 40 miles northeast of Bardia. At 10:54, Fraatz fires four torpedoes, one of which hits destroyer Heythrop. HMS Eridge (L 68) takes Heythrop in tow, but it sinks on the way to Alexandria. There are 16 dead and 150 survivors.

The Royal Navy is running another major convoy operation to Malta from Gibraltar. Force H brings a flight of Spitfires to replace the planes lost in the recent Luftwaffe onslaught on the island. This is operation MG 1. A separate convoy of four freighters, MW-10, also departs from Alexandria bound for Malta. The Royal Navy positions six submarines in the Gulf of Taranto in case the Italian Fleet decides to intervene. With all of these ships in motion, the possibility of a major battle is likely, and this leads eventually to the Second Battle of Sirte.

Luftwaffe Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, who has brought his headquarters of Luftflotte 2 to Italy from the Eastern Front, begins a massive aerial assault on Malta. Kesselring considers Malta the key to control of the central Mediterranean and asks Hitler around this time to invade it, to which Hitler replies, "I will, Field Marshal, I will!"

British destroyer Heythrop, sunk by U-652 off Bardia on 20 March 1942.

As a decoy for the naval operations, the British Eighth Army is tasked with drawing German attention to land operations. It launches raids against German landing grounds in the Derna and Benghazi area after dark.

Malta itself remains under heavy air attack. Bombs land all over the island, and there are several mass air raids involving many dozens of Luftwaffe aircraft. The Germans also increasingly are strafing civilian areas with cannon fire. Ta Qali airfield is so badly damaged that the Army must be called to repair it.

Rhodesian Pilot Officer Douglas Leggo, shown here before his commission, was shot down and perished on 20 March 1942. The message on the plane is written in Shona (Media Drum World).

Partisans: Operation Munich, an anti-partisan operation in the Yelnya-Dorogobuzh area that began on 19 March, continues today. The partisans sometimes make a stand and fight ferociously, but more often they just melt away into the forests and towns and blend in with innocent townspeople. The Red Army has reinforced the partisan forces with trained soldiers who provide organizational and weapons skills.

At the Polish town of Zgierz, the German occupation forces decide to enforce draconian new rules for taking reprisals against partisans. The Germans round up 100 Poles from a nearby labor camp and execute them in front of an assembled crowd of 6000 from Zgierz and the surrounding area.

US tanker Oakmar, sunk by U-71 on 20 March 1942.

Soviet/Japanese Relations: While both nations are engaged in fights to the death, Japan and the USSR maintain eerily normal relations. Today, their representatives sign an extension of the 1928 Russo-Japanese Fishing Convention in Kuibyshev (the location of most of the bureaucracy of the Soviet government).

US Military: New US Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) arrives in San Diego after transiting the Panama Canal. It will soon begin carrier qualifications. The Hornet has been experimenting with launching B-25B bombers in anticipation of a bombing raid on a target yet to be disclosed to anyone on board the ship. Sixteen B-25s are being prepared for this mysterious mission by stripping them of everything not deemed essential.

British Government: Sir Stafford Cripps, on his way to India to talk to Mahatma Gandhi and other Indian nationalists, stops off in Cairo to receive a briefing.

Railroad Magazine, March 1942.

Holocaust: Adolf Hitler discusses the Final Solution with Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels at Rastenburg. Goebbels notes in his diary:

Here, the Fuhrer is as uncompromising as ever. The Jews must be got out of Europe, if necessary by applying the most brutal methods.

It is not only the Jews, of course, who are the recipients of the "most brutal methods." Hitler's first objective, though, is to obtain slave laborers for the Reich's war needs.

An English translation of a dispatch in which the Chilean consul in Prague, Gonzalo Montt Rivas discusses the Holocaust winds up in American files by 20 March 1942. This is the earliest proof that American authorities had reason to know the Holocaust was in progress. In the memo, Rivas tells his colleagues about a German decree that Jews living abroad could no longer be German subjects and that their property would be confiscated. Writing in Spanish, Rivas says:

The Jew [residing abroad] loses German nationality immediately... The fortune which the Reich obtains in this manner will serve to solve the questions in connection with Jews

Rivas notes that "The German triumph [in the war] will leave Europe freed of Semites."

The first mass transport of Jews to the Auschwitz death camp begins on 20 March 1942. Occupation authorities in Poprad, Slovakia, tell local unmarried Jewish women and girls to assemble at the local school at 8 a.m. to be taken to do war work. The Hlinka guard, the military arm of Catholic priest Jozef Tiso’s First Slovak Republic, loads them into windowless cattle cars. The car is empty save for a vegetable tin to serve as a toilet. Within a week, the 800 victims, joined by others along the way, are inmates at Auschwitz.

American Homefront: With fuel rationing in effect, companies are finding creative ways to get their employees to work. Today, the Chief of Transportation at Redstone Ordnance Plant (later Redstone Arsenal) in Madison County, Alabama, establishes a Share-A-Ride program. The Army provides gasoline to drivers with cars who are willing and able to drive other employees to and from work. A growing fraction of these employees, incidentally, are women.

''Li'l Abner'' Comic Strip From 20 March 1942 Featuring Li'l Abner & Mammy Yokum -- Drawn & Signed by Al Capp.

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 22 December 1941

"Italian troops surrendering to a patrol of the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifles Brigade on the road south-west of Gazala, Libya, 22 December 1941. One of the prisoners even brought his bicycle with him." © IWM (E 7301).

Battle of the Pacific: In the Philippines, the Japanese make their main landings on the east coast of Lingayen Gulf during the morning of 22 December 1941. The Japanese have 43,110 troops of the 48th Division and a regiment of the 16th Division, supported by about 90 light tanks and artillery. US commander General Wainwright sends the 11th and 71st Filipino Divisions in a futile counterattack. The Japanese win a brief battle at the coastal town of Rosario against the 26th Cavalry Division of the Filipino Army, which withdraws south toward Manila. Offshore, US submarine USS S-38, sailing out of Manila, torpedoes 5445-ton Japanese transport Hayo Maru. The transport quickly sinks in the Lingayen Gulf. This is S-38's first war patrol and the first US submarine success of the war.

Life Magazine's 22 December 1941 issue provides a guide to telling Japanese and Chinese citizens apart.

A US Navy relief operation to Wake Island was organized by Admiral Husband Kimmel before his dismissal. On 22 December 1941 Task Force 14 (Admiral Wilson Brown), supported by Task Force 14 (Admiral Frank Fletcher) is approaching the beleaguered US Marines there. However, at 21:00, the acting commander in chief of the US Pacific Fleet, Vice Admiral William S. Pye, recalls Task Force 11. He bases this on reconnaissance that reveals the presence of two Japanese aircraft carriers and two battleships around the island. While there aren't any battleships, there definitely are two modern aircraft carriers, but the real opponent at this stage of the war is simply the unknown. The Americans don't know where all the Japanese carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor went, and the remaining US carriers are too precious to risk with naval forces so vastly reduced by the attack on Pearl Harbor. Pye instead plans on sending F2A Brewster Buffaloes from USS Saratoga at extreme range to land on the island on the 23rd, supported by a quick run to the island by seaplane tender USS Tangier. However, it is unclear how long the island can hold out against vastly superior Japanese forces.

On Wake Island itself, the US Marines suffer from two Japanese raids launched from carriers Hiryu and Soryu. There are only two operational USMC F4F Wildcats left on the island, and one is shot down and the other badly damaged.

"Japan's Aggressor, Admiral Yamamoto" is the cover story for the 22 December 1941 Time Magazine. The cover portrait by Arthur Szyk shows Yamamoto as vaguely human but definitely menacing.

On the Malay Peninsula, fierce air battles develop over Kuala Lumpur. Sergeant Malcolm Neville Read of RAAF No. 453 Squadron rams his Brewster Buffalo fighter into a Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar" fighter of 64th Sentai and perishes. The Indian 11th Division continues its retreat behind the Perak River, while the Indian 9th Division establishes a strong position around Kuantan airfield that also protects the east flank of the 11th Division.

The situation in Burma is deteriorating rapidly, with Japanese forces making good progress in the extreme south. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek realizes that his best supply route runs through Burma, so he gives General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief, India, ground forces. He sends the Chinese 6th Army's 93rd Division and a regiment of the 49th Division, with the promise of more to come. The American Volunteer Group (AVG, aka "Flying Tigers") are operating east of Rangoon, but there is a serious lack of Allied ground troops in the country which Chiang can remedy faster than the British.

USAT Willard H. Holbrook arrives in Brisbane, Australia, 22 December 1941. It is part of the United States Navy's "Pensacola" Convoy that includes heavy cruiser USS Pensacola, gunboat Niagara, naval transports Chaumont and Republic, Army transports Holbrook and Meigs, and three freighters. They carry the first US troop units to arrive in Australia from the United States.

A Japanese convoy leaves Miri, Borneo for Kuching. A Dutch flying boat X-35 radios a warning to HNLMS K XIV (Lt. Cdr. Carel A.J. van Groeneveld), which heads to intercept it on the 23rd.

Newsweek, 22 December 1941, features Navy dive bombers.

About 15 nautical miles off the coast of California southwest of Lompoc, Japanese submarine I-19 uses its deck gun against 10,763-ton American tanker H.M. Storey. The recent spate of Japanese submarine attacks off the coast has attracted a great deal of attention, and a US Navy aircraft swiftly arrives and drops a depth charge. This provides enough of a distraction for the tanker to escape.

"A 25-pdr field gun and 'Quad' artillery tractor, 22 December 1941" North Africa. (© IWM (E 7245)).

Battle of the Mediterranean: In North Africa, the British Commonwealth forces continue pressing against the Afrika Corps, which has retreated to Beda Fomm and now is evacuating from Benghazi. The Germans have received some reinforcements from Tripoli and manage to stop the British by deploying 30 panzers. General Erwin Rommel, commander of Panzer Group Africa, sends a battle report to German General Headquarters in Rome for translation to Mussolini which notes "the extraordinarily strong enemy air superiority."

"Universal carrier of 40th Royal Tank Regiment, 8th Armoured Division being recovered from a hole at Warren Camp, Crowborough in Sussex, 22 December 1941. The regiment was about to embark for the Middle East, hence the desert camouflage." © IWM (H 16283).

Eastern Front: Having taken a somewhat leisurely drive from his former headquarters in Smolensk to East Prussia, Field Marshal Fedor von Bock arrives at the Fuhrer Headquarters in Rastenburg. After a brief visit with Hitler, during which the Fuehrer assures him that he understands the dire situation at the front, von Bock continues on to Berlin. It is an odd interlude because von Bock is not actually sick, but Hitler tells him to report back when he is "recovered."

Four Polikarpov I-15 biplanes ("Chaika," or seagull) under repair in Moscow, 22 Dec 1941.

At the front around Moscow, things are not quite so pleasant. In a driving snowstorm, Soviet 49th Army attacks at Tarusa and scores a quick breakthrough against the German Fourth Army. This separates the German 43rd Corps from the rest of the army and sets up a possible encirclement. The Army Group commander, Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge, follows standing orders and tells the corps to stand fast. However, von Kluge warns Fuehrer Headquarters of the danger. At Chekalin, Soviet sled troops surprise a German construction unit, which cannot be reinforced because of the snow and push it back. General Guderian spends the day at the front south of Moscow and is dismayed. He finds that the Soviets have broken through 296th Infantry Division at several points. He also warns Fuehrer Headquarters that he will lose the division entirely if it is required to hold its position.

President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in Washington, D.C., 22 December 1941.

US/British Relations: The Arcadia Conference ("Arcadia" being the official code name for it), also known as the First Washington Conference, begins in Washington, D.C. on 22 December 1941. This is a meeting of top British and United States political and military leaders. Winston Churchill makes the hazardous ten-day journey across the Atlantic in battleship HMS Duke of York. This is the first of many military conferences between the two powers while both are at war. The conference lasts until 14 January 1942 and establishes the defeat of Germany as the top priority of the alliance. This comports with the established US military Rainbow 5 plan which already is in effect. Other agreements reached at the Arcadia Conference include establishing a Combined Chiefs of Staff, based in Washington, limiting resources to be sent to the Pacific Theater, and a "Declaration by United Nations" which establishes the principle of no separate peace with the Axis. The Arcadia Conference projects the first combined offensive action by the two powers as an invasion of North Africa, creates a unified American/British/Dutch/Australian Command (ABDA) in the Far East and establishes that military resources will be combined for the common benefit in the European Theater of Operations (ETO).

"Western Desert, Libya. 22 December 1941. The fierce attacks upon enemy aerodromes by the Allied Air Forces destroyed many aircraft which never had a chance of taking the air." Australian War Memorial MED0221.

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

Sunday 21 December 1941

The site of the Bogdanovka massacre, where executions of over 40,000 people were carried out from 21 December 1941 to 9 January 1942 (The National Archives for Photos and Films, Kiev, copy Yad Vashem Archive, Photo Collection 4147/18).

Battle of the Pacific: About 20 miles off Monterey Bay, California, Japanese Navy submarine I-23 surfaces on 21 December 1941 and fires eight or nine shells at 6771-ton Richfield Oil Company tanker Agwiworld. The captain of the Agwiworld manages to evade the shells using a zigzag pattern and makes it to port.

As shown in the 21 December 1941 headline of The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, the Japanese submarine attacks off the California coast have become a new problem for the US Navy.

In the Philippines, the Japanese increase their military presence by sending three convoys from Formosa and the Pescadores bearing troops of the 14th Army assault group. The convoys carry 43,110 men of the 48th Division and one regiment of the 16th Division, supported by about 90 light tanks and artillery. They land at three points in Lingayen Gulf on the northeast coast of Luzon during the night of 21/22 December 1941.

The LA Times for 21 December 1941 headlines the Japanese submarines operating off the California coast.

The US attempt to counterattack with a few B-17s flying all the way from Australia and also some submarines in the vicinity, but they accomplish nothing. General Wainwright sends the 11th and 71st Divisions of the Philippine Army to launch counterattacks on 22 December. A bit further north at Bacnotan, the Japanese forces that landed earlier advance down the coast and make contact with the Filipino 11th Division. Another Japanese invasion force which left from Taiwan is at sea heading toward Lamon Bay on the eastern shore of Manila, south of Manila. It is obvious to all that the Japanese are heading for Manila, so local naval defense commander Rear Admiral F.W. Rockwell transfers his headquarters to the fortress island of Corregidor.

Texas soldier Juan Lugo Martinez at Camp Roberts, California, 21 December 1941. He enlisted after Pearl Harbor and entered active service on 10 December 1941. Mr. Martinez survived the war and passed away in 1999. (Voces).

At Wake Island, the last plane to leave, a PBY-5 Catalina, departs at 07:00. It carries Major Walter J. Bayler of Marine Aircraft Group 21, who comes to be known as the "last man off Wake." Shortly after, at 08:50, Japanese aircraft carriers Hiryu and Soryu launch 29 bombers escorted by 18 Zero fighters to attack the Marines holding out on the island. Around noontime, 33 "Nell" bombers from Roi Aerodrome on Kwajalein, Marshall Islands also attack. Meanwhile, US Navy Task Force 14 is approaching Wake Island from the southeast but is still 600 nautical miles away.

U-552 - U-567 and U-93 St. Nazaire in September 1941. U-567 is sunk on 21 December 1941 in the North Atlantic north-east of the Azores by Royal Navy sloop HMS Deptford and corvette Samphire. All 47 men aboard perished.

US Naval Task Force 14 has overwhelming firepower that includes aircraft carriers USS Lexington and Saratoga and heavy cruisers Astoria, Minneapolis, and San Francisco, but nobody knows where the Japanese fleet is and the task force comprises a large fraction of remaining US seapower in the Pacific. Thus, risking it at this stage of the war in an unknown situation concerns Vice Admiral William S. Pye, the temporary commander of the Pacific Fleet. However, at this time Pye allows TF 14 and nearby Task Force 11 (Admiral Frank Fletcher) to continue their attempt to relieve the Marines on Wake.

U-boat ace Engelbert Endrass, commander of U-567, KIA 21 December 1941.

On the Malay Peninsula, the Indian 11th Division (Major-General David Murray-Lyon) assumes command over all Commonwealth troops west of the Perak River, including those on the Grik road. The division orders a general withdrawal behind the Perak River. With units widely dispersed across the peninsula in dense jungles, many units do not receive the order or otherwise have great difficulty retreating.

Dutch submarine K XVII runs into the same minefield that claimed fellow Dutch submarine O 16 on 15 December 1942. It hits a mine about 22 miles off the coast of Malaysia's Tioman Island. All 36 men on board perish. The wreck is discovered in 1978 and identified in 1982, being declared a war grave. However, like the wreck of O 16, it since has disappeared, likely due to illegal salvaging operations.

The Flyin' Jenny (Virginia Dare) comic strip from the Baltimore Sun, 21 December 1941. This strip was the creation of Russell Keaton.

Eastern Front: The disarray within the Wehrmacht continues on 21 December 1941. In the morning, General Adolf Strass, commander of Ninth Army northwest of Moscow between Kalinin and Staritsa, flies to the Army Group Center headquarters in Smolensk. He pleads with the commander of Army Group Center, Guenther von Kluge, to permit continued withdrawals past Staritsa. His plan is to form a defensive line he dubs the "K-Line" (Koenigsberg Line) on a line including Rzhev, Gzhatsk, Orel, and Kursk. This is the same line that recently deposed army group commander Field Marshal Fedor von Bock had proposed. Kluge denies the request, referring to Hitler's "definitive" order to stand fast at Staritsa. On the other side, Soviet General Leytenant I.I. Maslennikov, Commanding General, 39th Army, deploys two divisions east of Staritsa to join a planned offensive toward Rzhev. Maslennikov also has an additional six divisions in reserve to exploit any initial successes.

A picture that was taken of a pilot class at the airfield at Sky Harbour, Ontario (Goderich Airport) on 21 December 1941 (Huron County Museum via Flickr).

Holocaust: At the Bogdanovka, Domanovka, and Acmecetca concentration camps on the Southern Bug river, in the Golta district, Transnistria, the German advisor to the Romanian administration of the district and the Romanian District Commissioner order an Aktion. They are concerned about sickness at the camps, which are unheated and poorly provisioned. The camps are located about 200 km northeast of Odessa. The Bogdanovka Massacre is the organized execution of more than 40,000 primarily Jewish inmates evacuated from Odessa and Romania that extends to 9 January 1942. The Aktion is carried out by Romanian soldiers, gendarmes, Ukrainian police, civilians from the district, and local ethnic Germans (Selbstschutz) under the commander of the Ukrainian regular police, Kazachievici, and the Romanian Prefect of the area, Modest Isopescu. Some of the inmates are locked in two stables which are then set afire, while others are executed by the standard practice of forcing them to march to ravines outside of town and shot there. Some others are forced to dig pits in the nearby forest with their bare hands and bury corpses before they, too, are executed.

This Pass Out Check will get you into the 21 December 1941 NFL Championship Game.

American Homefront: In the NFL Championship Game held at Wrigley Field in Chicago, the Chicago Bears beat the New York Giants 37-9. The audience is only 13,341, the smallest ever to attend an NFL championship game.

Alaska Territorial Governor Ernest Gruening orders all Alaskan flags to fly at half-mast today in honor of Ketchikan native Navy Ensign Irvin Thompson, 24. Ensign Thompson perished aboard battleship USS Oklahoma during the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the first Alaskan serviceman casualty of World War II.

The official game program for the 21 December 1941 NFL Championship Game held at Wrigley Field between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants. The Bears defeat the Giants, 37-9.

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