Saturday 3 January 1942

"A British Matilda tank in the Western Desert, recaptured from the Germans who had used it against the British in Bardia, 3 January 1942." © IWM (E 7482).

Battle of the Pacific: On the Malay Peninsula, the Indian 11th Division moves behind the Slim River on 3 January 1942. The Allied troops on the east coast also withdraw under pressure. Reinforcements arrive in Singapore, but these are newly formed units (45th Indian Brigade and an Indian Pioneer battalion) of little value. Of greater value are 51 disassembled Hurricane Mk IIBs that arrive with them along with 24 pilots (many of whom were veterans of the Battle of Britain). The 151st Maintenance Unit begins assembling the planes at breakneck speed. They are badly needed in Singapore and over the Malay Peninsula, where the Japanese have established aerial supremacy.

Arthur Edward Cûmming.

Arthur Edward Cûmming, a 45-year-old lieutenant colonel commanding the 2/12th Frontier Force Regiment in the Indian Army, counterattacks with a small party of men near Kuantan after the Japanese penetrate into their position. Despite receiving two bayonet wounds to the stomach and all of his other men also being wounded, Cûmming manages to stabilize the situation. He later drives an armored personnel carrier to rescue parties of his men who have been unable to withdraw and again is wounded, but rescues the men. For his valor, Cûmming is awarded the Victoria Cross. It is on display at the National Army Museum, Chelsea. Arthur Cûmming passes away in 1971.

Stern view of USS Runner (SS-275) from the south catwalk, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, 3 January 1942. It is a Gato-class submarine.

In British Borneo, the Japanese invade Labuan Island in Brunei Bay. The British have withdrawn in the mainland jungles, so there is no opposition. Later, the Japanese sail to the mainland at Mempakul and spread out from there.

In the Philippines, the Japanese continue advancing in Luzon toward the Bataan Peninsula. The Filipino 21st Army Division makes a stand near Pio, but the Japanese advance near Guagua.

USS Fitch (DD-462) under construction at the Boston Navy Yard, 3 January 1942. (Boston Navy Yard photograph 116-42, Boston National Historical Park Collection, NPS Cat. No. BOSTS-11125 via NavSource).

Eastern Front: German command problems continue on 3 January 1942 as the Red Army counteroffensive broadens. Already, two army group commanders and numerous generals such as Heinz Guderian have been sacked. The generals now are fighting over retaining control over units the OKH and Hitler want to be transferred between commands. General Georg-Hans Reinhardt, commander of 3rd Panzer Army, refuses an order from General Adolf Strauß at Ninth Army, who has been given control over the 3rd Panzer Army. The situation in Army Group Center always has had these ad hoc commands, where one army is given command of another, but Reinhardt is upset about the refusal of Strauß to give him command over V Panzer Corps, which had been transferred to his sector. Army Group Center commander Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge finally has to threaten Reinhardt with a court-martial if he does not obey Ninth Army's orders. This is a prime example of the diva-ish behavior that regularly breaks out within the upper ranks of the Wehrmacht.

"Vertical aerial reconnaissance view of Castelvetrano airfield, Sicily, the day before a successful attack was made on it by Malta-based Bristol Blenheims of Nos. 18 and 107 Squadrons RAF. A number of Junkers Ju 52 and Savoia Marchetti SM 82 transport aircraft, many of which were destroyed during the raid, can be seen parked around the airfield perimeter." This photo was taken on 3 January 1942. © IWM (C 4183).

Soviet troops are advancing Rzhev, which had been far behind the front lines a few weeks ago. The Luftwaffe manages to operate despite -40 °F temperatures and flies in a battalion of reinforcements. The Germans have requisitioned winter clothing from the local inhabitants and learned ways to keep their machine guns and other automatic weapons working. This gives them a fighting chance to hold Rzhev, which is an important railhead and the entrance to the "land bridge" to Moscow.

SS Langkoeas, a 7395-ton Dutch freighter that is torpedoed and sunk in the Java Sea north of Bawean, Dutch East Indies, by I-58 on 3 January 1942. The crew takes to lifeboats. I-58 surfaces and rams a lifeboat and machine-guns almost all fo the survivors. The Japanese then take three survivors aboard the submarine, where Lt. Cdr Kitamura interrogates them and then has them thrown back into the sea. The three men cling to a raft for four or five days until they wash ashore on Bawean Island. A Dutch PBY Catalina later arrives and takes them to Surabaya.

Further south, Junkers Ju 87 Stukas of StG 77 attack Soviet shipping off the Kerch Peninsula. They bomb and badly damage Soviet cruiser Krasnyi Kavkaz. It is under repair until October 1942. On land, the Germans begin building up forces for a counterattack along a line about 10 miles west of Feodosia while the Soviet 51st, which has occupied the entire Kerch Peninsula, begins moving slowly west to reinforce the 44th Army. General Erich von Manstein, commander of 11th Army, sends 30 Corps under the command of Generalmajor Maximilian Fretter-Pico and also two other divisions from the Sevastopol perimeter to buttress the new line in the east. The Germans plan a counterattack as quickly as possible but it will take a couple of weeks to launch.

"Mr. Churchill, complete in his air-raid suit, which he announced to the press and cinema men present was his "siren suit", demonstrates how he runs to the air-raid shelter." At the White House in Washington, D.C., 3 January 1942. © IWM (A 6919).

Allied Relations: At the Arcadia Conference in Washington, D.C., the Allies announce their formation of the American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA, or ABDACOM) command. British General Sir Archibald P. Wavell is the overall commander, with US Major General George Brett his deputy. Wavell's task is to stop the Japanese advance, restore communications with the Philippines, and save Australia, Singapore, and Burma.

The American Dancer, Vol. 15, no. 3, January 1942.

1942

January 1942

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

2020

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

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