Tuesday 24 February 1942

Douglas SBD-3 Dauntlesses on the deck of USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6) prepare for the Wake Island Raid, 24 February 1942. USS Northampton is visible in the background (colorized, US Navy).

Battle of the Pacific: The evacuation of Java picks up steam on 24 February 1942 as reports flood in of a Japanese convoy heading southwest in the Strait of Makassar. All US Army Air Force bombers are ordered to fly to Australia, and any that cannot fly are to be destroyed. The order comes none too soon, as during the day Japanese bombers attack the Bandoeng airfield and destroy three B-17 Flying Fortresses on the ground. Japanese bombers are in action and they sink 7117-ton Dutch freighter Kota Radja at Surabaya and lightly damage Royal Navy heavy cruiser HMS Exeter and Australian light cruiser HMAS Hobart.

"View taken aboard USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6) showing Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats preparing for takeoff." Naval History and Heritage Command.

US Navy Task Force 16 (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey) raids Wake Island. Bombing Squadron Six and Torpedo Squadron Six send their SBD Dauntlesses and TBD Devastators from USS Enterprise. Heavy cruisers USS Northampton and Salt Lake City chip in some SOC-1 Seagulls to bomb the island. Northampton and Salt Lake City stand offshore and shell the atoll under the command of Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. The attack sinks two Japanese patrol boats and two Kawanishi H6K4 Navy Type 97 Flying Boats. In the air, F4F Wildcats shoot down a third Kawanishi flying boat. There are still many American POWs on Wake Island, and to their number is added the crew of an SBD Dauntless that is shot down over the island. For security reasons, this raid is not announced by the Navy until 25 March.

US Navy submarine USS Swordfish continues its evacuation of highly placed individuals in the Philippines. Having already evacuated Manuel Quezon, today it embarks U.S. High Commissioner to the Philippine Islands Francis B. Sayre and his party of 12, plus five sailors, at Manila Bay. Swordfish heads for Fremantle, Western Australia, due to the ongoing evacuation at Java.

"Wake Island Raid, 24 February 1942. Crewman readies rear-cockpit 30 Cal MG. Mount on a Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless prior to the launching of airstrikes against Wake. View taken on board USS Enterprise (CV 6)." National Archives photograph, 80-G-66279.

The after-effects of the 19 February air raid are still being felt in Darwin, Australia. Three-masted 1894-ton iron sailing ship Kelat, requisitioned by the Australian Navy and used as a collier, sinks unexpectedly at anchor. This sinking comes as a surprise and is likely due to everyone involved being fully engaged in repairing other damage and simply forgetting to run the ship's pumps.

As they have done previously, the Japanese perform some surreptitious aerial reconnaissance over Pearl Harbor. Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 sends its Yokosuka E14Y1 Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane over the naval base. As in previous overflights, this one goes undetected by the US military.

The Melbourne, Australia, Argus reports on the recent Darwin air aid, 24 February 1942.

Eastern Front: The weather is improving on 24 February 1942, and this helps the Luftwaffe airlift to the Demyansk and Kholm pockets. The Luftwaffe is using all of its transport planes and many bombers in this airlift, and the supplies are just barely keeping the garrisons fighting. Neither side really has the initiative at this point, but, strangely, both sides think they have it.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends 42 Hampdens and 9 Manchester bombers on minelaying operations near the Frisian Islands and off Whilehlmshaven and Heligoland. Two Hampdens fail to return. An additional five bombers drop leaflets on France and Belgium.

The wrecks of Luftwaffe aircraft in a British scrapyard, 24 February 1942. Types visible are Junkers Ju 88, Heinkel He 111 and Messerschmitt Bf 109E (Dennis Richards: Royal Air Force 1939–1945. Volume I: The Fight at Odds; London, HMSO, 1953).

Battle of the Atlantic: U-boats have a big day in the North Atlantic on the Convoy routes. About 420 miles southeast of St. John's, Newfoundland, several U-boats spot Convoys ONS-67 and ON-66. They are part of Wolfpack Rochen. It is a very confusing day in the North Atlantic, with multiple U-boats firing torpedo spreads into different convoys and many hits scored - but which ships are hit by which U-boat can be difficult to pin down. Different sources may give different U-boats credit for some sinkings.

U-158 (Kptlt. Erwin Rostin), on its first patrol out of Heligoland, attacks ONS-67 at 08:55. His victim is the 8032-ton British tanker Empire Celt, which is hit by two torpedoes. There are six dead and 47 survivors. The Empire Celt eventually breaks in two, with the stern portion remaining afloat at least until 4 March. U-158 later damages 8146-ton British tanker Diloma at 10:35 with one torpedo, but the tanker is able to make it to Halifax under reduced power. All 60 people on Diloma survive.

MV Eidanger, sunk on 24 February 1942.

U-558 (Kptlt. Günther Krech), on its sixth patrol out of Brest, joins the party at 06:51 and ultimately sinks two ships and damages a third (which another U-boat later sinks):

• 8009-ton British tanker Anadara (damaged, then sunk)
• 5578-ton British freighter Inverarder
• 9432-ton Norwegian tanker Eidanger

U-558's first attack is on Eidanger, which is hit by one torpedo but remains afloat. At 09:50, it attacks the convoy again and damages 8009-ton British tanker Anadara, sinks 5578-ton freighter Inverarder, and put another torpedo into 9432-ton tanker Eidanger. All 62 people on the Anadara perish when it is finished off by U-587 (Kptlt. Ulrich Borcherdt) later in the day. Tanker Eidanger takes hours to sink, so U-558 puts another two torpedoes into it at 15:40 to finish it off. Meanwhile, all 42 people on Inverarder survive despite the fact that it sinks fairly quickly. All 39 people on the Eidanger survive. Those are how things break in the North Atlantic, whether you survive depends on which ship you are on, and not whether it sinks right away.

7005-ton freighter Empire Hail is torpedoed and sunk at 01:45 east of St. John's. This sinking is usually ascribed to U-94 (Kptlt. Herbert Kuppisch), but this may not be accurate. In any event, all 49 men on board perish. These convoy battles can become quite difficult to break down and figure out exactly which U-boat sank which ship. Empire Hail either is a straggler or has been dispersed from Convoy ON-66.

Norlavore, sunk on or about 24 February 1942.

U-432 (Kptlt. Heinz-Otto Schultze) on its fourth patrol out of La Pallice, might be the U-boat that sinks 2713-ton US freighter Norlavore off the east coast of the United States (this sinking is a mystery). Norlavore, on a journey between Baltimore and Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela, is reported missing on 24 February 1942. There is heavy weather in the area, so the sinking may be related to that. Nobody survives, and it is not certain how many were aboard.

U-752 (Kptlt. Karl-Ernst Schroeter), on its fourth patrol and en route from Bergen to La Pallice, reports torpedoing a tanker in Convoy HX 175. However, it is unclear which ship is involved, if any.

Paris-soir newspaper, 24 February 1942.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Fighting on land has quieted down, but the war at sea is never-ending. RAF Squadron No. 830, based on Malta, attacks Axis shipping off Tripoli. No ships are damaged or sunk, but the British lose a Swordfish when it is shot down. The crew perishes.

Battle of the Black Sea: Soviet submarine Shch-213 sinks two ships near the mouth of the Bosphorus. One is the Struma, discussed below. The other is 454-ton Turkish naval auxiliary Cancaya, off Kara Burnu. Everyone survives.

Stjepan Filipovićin on the gallows (United States Holocaust Museum).

Partisans: Axis forces capture Yugoslav communist Stjepan Filipovićin in Valjevo (now Serbia). After a quick trial, he is hanged on 27 March 1942, aged 26. He is named a National Hero of Yugoslavia on 14 December 1949. He is best remembered for his defiant stance on the gallows when he holds his arms up high and shouts (in his native language) "Death to fascism, freedom to the people!"

Spy Stuff: The Soviets and Germans have been vying for the support of Turkey, and today the Soviet NKVD decides to do something about it in a very roundabout way. They sponsor a Macedonian student in Ankara to assassinate German Ambassador to Turkey Franz von Papen. Exactly why the Soviets want to assassinate von Papen is a mystery, because he is not particularly influential within the Third Reich's upper reaches, but maybe they don't know that. The Soviets may be trying to impress the Turks with their ability to affect events in Turkey. Perhaps they just figure that a former German Chancellor (for about five months in 1932) is a worthy target. The student, in a scene somewhat foreshadowing a latter assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich, first tries to shoot von Papen. When that fails, he tries to blow von Papen up. Unfortunately for the student and the Soviets, the student mistimes his throw of the bomb and it explodes in his hand, killing him. Von Papen thus continues on as ambassador and is credited with some diplomatic moves that don't sway the Turks to the Axis but do at least keep it neutral.

A Luftwaffe aerial reconnaissance photo of Sevastopol on 24 February 1942. The Red Army continues to hold out in Sevastopol against General Manstein's 11th Army (Federal Archive Picture 168-278-015).

Propaganda: Voice of America (VOA) makes its first broadcast from New York City via short-wave radio. This first show by announcer William Harlan Hale is in German, who opens it by saying:

Here speaks a voice from America. Every day at this time we will bring you the news of the war. The news may be good. The news may be bad. We shall tell you the truth.

VOA is intended for non-US audiences and is designed to give the Allied version of facts and to counter enemy propaganda. While perhaps not as influential as the nightly BBC broadcasts to Occupied Europe, VOA at least provides a face to the United States war effort there. This begins a long history of VOA throughout the Cold War that continues to this day, now broadcast in English and fifty-two other languages.

Applied Technology: Apparently for the first time, the US military becomes interested in the new medium of television. The Bureau of Aeronautics of the US Navy begins the process of procuring television equipment that is capable of operating from airplanes. The Navy isn't quite sure what to do with television but has vague plans to use it for radio-controlled remote operation of weapons and aircraft.

Third Officer John Norie and the senior cadet of the motor tanker Anadara. Later sunk with the loss of all hands (Wreck Site).

US/British Relations: Brand new (launched on 18 July 1942) escort carrier USS St. George (CVE-17) is transferred under Lend-Lease to the Royal Navy, which renames it HMS Pursuer (D73).

US Military: Major General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Forces, China, Burma, and India, completes his journey from the United States to Karachi (now in Pakistan).

Under orders to head to India, U.S. Major General Lewis Brereton and his staff board two bombers and depart Melbourne, Victoria. Brereton's new position is as commander of the10th Air Force.

The USAAF makes big progress in building up its assets in Australia.

• Headquarters, 3rd Bombardment Group (8th, 13th, 89th, and 90th Bombardment Squadrons) arrives in Brisbane, Australia with A-20s. 
• Headquarters, the 22nd Bombardment Group (Medium) (2nd, 19th, and 33rd Squadrons and 10th Reconnaissance Squadron) with B-26s;
• Headquarters, 38th Bombardment Group (Medium) (70th and 71st Squadrons and 15th Reconnaissance Squadron with B-26s)
• 35th and 39th Pursuit Squadrons (both Interceptor), flying P-39s.

USAAF forces in Australia at this time are under the command of U.S. Major General George H. Brett, deputy commander of the ABDA Command.

The 503rd and 504th Parachute Infantry Battalions are joined together to form the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. This unit later becomes famous in England as the "Red Devils." As a result of its renown, it will be allowed to wear a distinctive maroon beret that ultimately becomes standard wear for all paratroopers.

Troops of one of the Indian mule pack companies watering their mules at drinking troughs in a camp in Lebanon, 24 February 1942. Exact location unknown. © IWM (E 8771).

Chinese Government: Following his two-week visit to India with his wife, Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek arrives in Kunming on his way back to Chungking.

Holocaust: About 781 (this number has changed over time due to scholarship) Jewish refugees are drifting in the Black Sea off Yam Burnu in 240-ton Panamanian freighter MV Struma en route from Romania to Mandatory Palestine when disaster strikes. Soviet submarine Shch-213 torpedoes Struma, whose engines have failed, killing all of the refugees but one (David Stoliar) plus all 10 crewmen. The Soviet sub is under secret orders to sink all neutral and enemy shipping entering the Black Sea as part of a blockade of the region. Stollar eventually makes it to Palestine and passes away in 2014. Among other things, the Struma disaster becomes a rallying cry within Israel (after it is established) and a subject of recriminations within the British government.

"The wrecks of Luftwaffe aircraft in a British scrapyard, 24 February 1942. The fuselage of a Junkers Ju 88 is being lifted by a crane." © IWM (E (MOS) 56).

Norwegian Homefront: Norwegian satrap Vidkun Quisling is finding resistance to his rule in unusual places. His government has demanded that the bishops of the Lutheran Church publicly proclaim their allegiance to Quisling's puppet government. Rather than accede to this demand, the bishops begin to resign on 24 February 1942. They are led by Dr. Berggray, Bishop of Oslo, who resigns today, and all others follow on 2 March 1942. Displeased, Quisling suspends the bishops (which is overkill, as they have resigned) and appoints loyalists in their places. This is a key step in a long battle between the leaders of the local church, the judiciary, and other prestigious organizations to Quisling's rule.

German Homefront: Anton Drexler, who founded the German Worker's Party (DAP) which ultimately became the NSDAP on 24 February 1920, passes away from natural causes in Munich on 24 February 1942. Drexler, an almost forgotten historical figure, was the co-founder of the DAP in Munich on 5 January 1919. In September 1919, Drexler noticed a new member in the audience who got into a loud argument with another attendee. Impressed by this stranger, Drexler went up to the man, gave him a pamphlet, and encouraged him to join the DAP. The man was Adolf Hitler, and this was his first contact with the organization. Hitler received approval from his army superiors to join the DAP and quickly began raising its profile. Hitler did not replace Drexler as leader until July 1921. After that, Drexler left the party completely in 1923 and faded into obscurity. However, Drexler did later reestablish a minor connection with the NSDAP, though he never again attained any power.

Moses Anger, who is registered at Auschwitz on 24 February 1942. He will perish there on 3 March 1942 (Auschwitz Memorial).

American Homefront: Just as automobile manufacturers have converted to production of military vehicles, gun manufacturers cease all production today of civilian 12-gauge shotguns and retool for military production.

Future History: Joseph Isadore Lieberman is born in Stamford, Connecticut. After graduating from Yale University Law School, Joe (as everyone calls him) embarks on a legal career, then embarks on a political career. He is elected to the Connecticut Senate in 1970, where he serves for a decade, then serves as Connecticut Attorney General from 1983 to 1989. After that, Lieberman serves as US Senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. Lieberman wins the 2006 Senate race running as an Independent rather than on his typical Democratic Party line. Lieberman is instrumental in the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2002. Since leaving the Senate, Joe Lieberman has remained active in politics.

Paul Pond is born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. As Paul Jones, he becomes a popular radio personality in Great Britain, including presenting "The Blues Show" on BBC Radio 2 for 32 years up until April 2018. Paul Jones also records numerous albums, from "My Way" in 1966 (including the hit song "High Time") to "Suddenly I Like It" in 2015. Paul Jones remains active as of 2019.

Patricia Joanne "Jenny" O'Hara is born in Sonora, California. She becomes a noted stage, film, and television actress in the United States. She is particularly noted for being on numerous popular television series beginning in 1975 and continuing up to the time of this writing, though never becoming a celebrity. Jenny O'Hara remains active as an actress.

Abraham Bienenstock, registered at Auschwitz on 24 February 1942. He will perish there on 28 February 1942.

February 1942

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

2020

Thursday 22 January 1942

"A view of St Paul's Cathedral through bomb damage and snow." January 1942. © IWM (D 6418).

Battle of the Pacific: In the Malay Peninsula, the day 22 January 1942 begins with Lieutenant Colonel Charles Anderson and his 45h Indian Brigade trapped on the wrong side of the Parit Sulong Bridge. As promised, the RAF sends two Fairey Albacores accompanied by three RAAF Brewster Buffaloes to drop supplies and then attack the Japanese holding the bridge. However, the Japanese have tanks and numerical superiority which resume their attack once the planes are gone. Major General Gordon Bennett, in overall command of the area, then sends Anderson an understated farewell message:

Sorry unable help after your heroic effort. Good luck.

After trying once more to force his way across the Parit Sulong Bridge, Anderson orders the troops to destroy all remaining guns and vehicles. At 09:00, everyone who can walk heads eastward into the swamps and jungles toward Yong Peng about 5 km to the east, which the British still hold. About 150 defenseless men are left behind to surrender. This concludes the battle of Muar, a brutal Japanese victory.

The United States media continues to take an inventive approach to their reporting on events overseas. The 22 January 1942 Yuma (Arizona) Daily Sun, for instance, trumpets, "British Open Offensive in Malaya" when, in fact, the Allies are running as fast as they can for refuge in Singapore.

About 500 Australians and 400 Indians eventually make it to safety, but there is no safety for those left behind. The Japanese mistreat and massacre virtually everyone they capture, with only two men surviving to tell the tale. The Japanese herd the men into a hut at Parit Sulong village and then refuse to give them food or water. With extreme brutality at every step of the process, the Japanese bayonet, shoot, and behead the prisoners, then burn the bodies of the living and the dead alike. Lieutenant Ben Hackney of the 2/29th Australian Battalion and Sergeant Ron Croft manage to slip away, Croft still soaked in the petrol used to burn the others. Hackney and Croft at first find refuge with some native Malays, but Croft eventually perishes and the natives carry Hackney out into the jungle and leave him. Eventually, after 36 days, the locals give Hackney to the Japanese, who mistreat him but allow him to live. Hackney survives the war to give evidence against Japanese commander General Takuma Nishimura, who is sentenced to death for the Parit Sulong Massacre.

The Allied line is centered around Mersing, which the Japanese bomb today. The Australian 2/18th Battalion sets up its headquarters at the Nittsdale Estate. The Japanese attempt to bypass the British there to the west.

About 1900 new Australian reinforcements are now ready for deployment in Singapore after 11 weeks at sea. They have had only seven days of serious training and many have never fired a rifle. Supplies are in short supply and the new troops do not even have tropical clothing.

In Singapore, General Percival creates "Westforce" to hold northwest Johore. It is commanded by Brigadier H.C. Duncan and is composed of the Australian 27th Brigade, 9th Indian Division, and the newly arrived 45th Indian Brigade. "Eastforce" is to hold the rest of the peninsula all the way to the east coast of Malaya. The 18th British Division (just arrived) is held in reserve as a counterattack force.

U-553 (Kptlt. Karl Thurmann) torpedoes and sinks 8260-ton Norwegian tanker Innerøy on 22 January 1942. Traveling as an independent, the Innerøy sinks just before midnight south of Nova Scotia. There are 36 deaths and five survivors.

The main Japanese objective in the Bismarck Sea is the large Australian naval base of Rabaul on New Britain, and on 22 January 1942, the Japanese begin their methodical plan to conquer it. Early in the morning, between 3,000 and 4,000 troops land near the main town of Kavieng on New Ireland, just to the north of Rabaul. The Australians have sent a few commandos of the 2/1st Independent Company to the area, but the Japanese quickly brush them aside and secure Kavieng and the nearby airfield. The Australians withdraw toward the Sook River but have no hope of holding the island. After dark, the Japanese send about 5500 troops of the 144th Infantry Regiment (Colonel Masao Kusunose) toward Simpson Harbour, where Rabaul itself is located on New Britain, for landings on the 23rd. During the day, Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi and Kaga send airstrikes against Rabaul for the third straight day. The Japanese also land troops on Mussau Island in the Saint Matthias group about 113 miles northwest of Kavieng.

1344-ton Norwegian freighter SS William Hansen, shown, is transporting military stores from Hoboken, New Jersey, bound for Argenta, Newfoundland and thence St. John's when U-754 (Kptlt. Hans Oestermann), on its first patrol and operating with Wolfpack Ziethen, spots it. The U-boat torpedoes and sinks the William Hansen south of Newfoundland on 22 January 1942. There are eight survivors, but five of them die of their exposure on the rescue ship.

On the southeast coast of Borneo, west of Manggar and Sepiinggang, the Japanese at Sandakan, British North Borneo, plan an attack on the Balikpapan refining and oil center. These facilities are critical objectives of the Japanese war effort because they can supply about a third of Japanese oil needs.

In the Philippines, the Japanese begin an offensive in the eastern II Corps sector of the line. The Philippine Division falls back to a line east and south of Abucay Hacienda, relinquishing all gains during its recent counterattack. In the western I Corps sector, a determined Allied counterattack against Japanese behind the main front on West Road fails. The Allied 1st Division, further north at the front, remains cut off from supply and reinforcement but is not in immediate danger. After dark, the Japanese send an amphibious force from Moron (Morong) which heads toward Caibobo Point, near Bagac. US Navy torpedo boats attack the force and PT-34 (Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley) sinks two of the landing barges.

The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Conyngham (DD-371) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California (USA), 22 January 1942. Note that she still has her number three 5/38 gun (Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives 19-N-27127).

With Wake Island in Japanese hands, it becomes a favorite target for US Navy live-fire exercises. The first such mission begins on 22 January 1942, when USS Lexington (Task Force 11, Admiral Wilson Brown, Jr.) departs from Pearl Harbor to attack the island. There are no plans now or later to recapture Wake Island, as it is of virtually no use to anyone so long as the Americans keep an eye on it.

The Kingston, Jamaica Daily Gleaner has good news about the Eastern Front.

Eastern Front: Civilians are starving in Leningrad, which, despite the continuing Red Army counteroffensive, remains cut off from all land approaches. The only way in or out, aside from hazardous flights, is on the "ice road" across Lake Ladoga. The Soviet authorities begin evacuating the first of 440,000 residents over the next 50 days. Further south below Lake Ilmen, Second Shock Army under General Vlasov holds a small bridgehead of about three-by-five miles across the Volkhov River that has the potential to break the Leningrad siege. It makes good progress of several miles today to the west. However, the Red Army troops are still seventy miles south of Leningrad and are operating in the middle of forests with no strategic objectives nearby. The Soviet counteroffensive continues, but it is attenuating as it spreads out in all directions.

American Homefront: MGM releases (wide release, the premiere was 18 December 1941) "Kathleen," starring Shirley Temple and Laraine Day and directed by Harold S. Bucquet. It is Temple's only film for MGM and fails at the box office. This leads the parties to cancel her contract with the studio "by mutual consent." It is the beginning of a lengthy downturn in Shirley Temple's career as she approaches puberty.

The poster for "Kathleen," an MGM film starring Shirley Temple that is released on 22 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

Tuesday 23 December 1941

Wrecked US Marine Corps Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighters at Wake Island on or after 23 December 1941. There are about seven planes in this view. Following standard practice at all forward airfields, parts from damaged planes were used to repair other planes. The plane in the foreground is "211-F-11," Captain Henry T. Elrod's mount which he used to sink Japanese destroyer Kisaragi (National Archives via US Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-179006).

Battle of the Pacific: With Vice Admiral William S. Pye, Acting Commander in Chief US Pacific Fleet, having recalled the relief force for Wake Island, there is little hope for the US Marines and civilian contractors stranded there on 23 December 1941. At 02:35, about 1500 Japanese marines land after a powerful preliminary bombardment. Supported by air strikes from aircraft carriers Hiryu and Soryu, the Japanese marines overwhelm the garrison.

A 1943 aerial photograph of Wake Island marked to show key points during the 23 December 1941 invasion of the island. The two Japanese destroyers used as landing craft are still beached off the island, and the Japanese have constructed an airfield (using US civilian contractors captured during the raid) nearby.

The US marines destroy Japanese landing craft Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33, which are beached, but they have no air support and their artillery quickly is silenced. The fighting rages through the morning, but the situation is hopeless. The US Marines have 49 dead, two missing, and 49 wounded overall during the siege. In addition, over 70 US civilian contractors perish and a dozen are wounded. Overall, the Japanese capture 433 American men at a cost of 144 Japanese casualties. A huge fraction of the US civilian contractors will be executed by the Japanese during the war.

HIJMS Patrol Boat No.32 (left) and Patrol Boat No.33 (right), badly damaged during the invasion of Wake Island on 23 December 1941 but which managed to reach shore and beach themselves (United States Navy or United States Marine Corps).

While a major propaganda victory, the Japanese gain little by occupying Wake Island. They force the captured Americans to fortify the island, including bringing in an 8-inch (200 mm) naval gun, but the isolated location offers so few possibilities that the US Navy makes no plans to recapture it. In fact, its location on the route from Pearl Harbor toward Japanese possessions further west turns the island of Wake into the perfect live-fire training ground for US naval airmen and gunners. With so many US Navy ships in the vicinity, the Japanese find it impossible to supply the small garrison there with food, much less with airplanes or other offensive weapons. As an ideal training for US Navy pilots like future President George H.W. Bush, the US Pacific Fleet is content to simply keep an eye on it while pumping a few shells at the Japanese installations as ships pass on to more important destinations. The Japanese flag flies at Wake Island until 4 September 1945.

"Wake Island, December 23, 1941. Japanese troops pay homage to a memorial erected to unit commander Uchida, who was killed in the landing on Wake Island, 23 December 1941. Copied from a Japanese picture book. U.S. Marine Corps photograph." (National Museum of the U.S. Navy #USMC 315175).

In Manila, Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General US Army Forces Far East and a Field Marshal in the Filipino Army, notes the Japanese invasion force that landed just north of Manila on the 22nd and declares it an open city. The Japanese in Rosario advance ten miles (16 km) south toward Manila by dusk. The US forces begin withdrawing south into the Bataan peninsula. This is an easily defended region where the US Army has stored nearly one million US gallons of gasoline. The retreat is orderly and not made under Japanese pressure. Late in the day, a 7000-man Japanese force from the Ryukyu Islands lands in Lamon Bay. The US Army Air Force still has some B-17 Flying Fortresses at Del Monte Field on Mindanao, and they attack Japanese shipping in Lingayen Gulf, damaging a destroyer and a minesweeper. The Japanese send troops from Mindanao Island to land on Jolo Island in the Sulu Archipelago, indicating that they aren't too worried about the remaining US presence in the Philippines.

"Western Desert. Armorers working on a [Curtiss] Tomahawk fighter aircraft of No 3 Squadron RAAF." 23 December 1941 (Australian War Memorial 010926)

Japanese submarine attacks on US shipping off the west coast continue, with I-21 torpedoing and sinking 8272-ton US tanker Montebello four miles off of Cambria, California and later using its deck gun to damage 6418-ton tanker Idaho. Submarine I-17 uses its deck gun to damage 7038-ton American tanker Larry Doheny about 62 nautical miles southwest of Eureka, California. As experience in the Atlantic has proven in the war to date, tankers are extremely difficult to sink due to their compartmentalized construction. In addition, Japanese submarines I-71 and I-72 shell US-held Palmyra Island, which is about 960 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu.

Japanese artillery based on Jardine's Lookout in action, with Wong Nei Chong Gap in front of them. Late December 1941 (©IWM SIT3571).

On Hong Kong Island, the Japanese have split the island in two and are gradually restricting the remaining British presence. The Canadian Royal Rifles, a unit that had only embarked for the territory on 27 October 1941, withdraws into Hong Kong's Stanley Peninsula to make a last stand. The fighting is extremely savage, and there are reports of Japanese atrocities.

HMAS Karangi. Commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy on 23 December 1941, the Karangi was the third Boom Defence Vessel constructed by Cockatoo Island Dockyard. It serves in the Australian Navy until 1964.

The British remove Major-General David Murray-Lyon of the Indian 11th Infantry Division from his command on 23 December 1941 due to the unit's rocky withdrawal south toward Kuala Lumpur. He thus becomes the campaign's first scapegoat, but not the last. The Indian III Corps completes its withdrawal behind the Perak River after dark. The Japanese aircraft in the region shift their attention from attacking British airfields north of Singapore, all of which have been abandoned, to assisting ground troops.

One of the two Japanese landing craft beached at Wake Island on 23 December 1941.

The war at sea is picking up quickly. On Borneo, the Dutch naval forces detect a Japanese naval convoy sailing from Miri for Kuching and send submarines to intercept it. HNLMS K XIV sinks Japanese Army transports Hiyoshi Maru and Katori Maru, while Hokkai Maru is beached to prevent it from sinking. Most of the Japanese troops get through to the target, however, and they take Kuching by mid-afternoon. The 15th Punjab Regiment retreats up the nearby river. During the night, Dutch submarine HNLMS K XVI torpedoes and sinks Japanese destroyer Sagiri about 30 miles north of Kuching, notching the first Allied submarine victory over a Japanese warship. However, the crew of K XVI doesn't have long to celebrate, as Japanese submarine I-66 spots it and sinks it with all hands shortly thereafter. Off Badoc, US submarine SEAL sinks 856-ton Japanese freighter Soryu Maru.

Japanese photo showing the bombing of Rangoon on 23 December 1941.

In Burma, 80 Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-21 bombers escorted by 30 fighters bomb Mingaladon and downtown Rangoon for the first time. Casualties are unknown but there are an estimated 2000 civilian deaths. The American Volunteer Group (AVG aka "Flying Tigers") and Royal Air Force Brewster Buffaloes intervene but cannot prevent the attack. The Japanese use both high explosive and incendiary bombs. Combined with a similar attack on 25 December 1941, the Japanese destroy 60% of the wooden buildings in the entire downtown area from Pazundaung to Ahlone. This bombing begins a desperate flight from Rangoon of Indians, Burmese, Anglo-Burmese, Europeans, Chinese, Karens, and others.

Soviet scouts outside Moscow near Yasnaya Polyana, December 1941. The Red Army advance often involved soldiers like this attacking isolated German outposts where the Germans had taken over peasant buildings. Notice how well the Red Army men are dressed for operating outdoors, with felt boots and caps with earflaps. General Guderian had his headquarters in Yasnaya Polyana.

Eastern Front: German withdrawals continue around Moscow. In General Guderian's Second Panzer Army, the 296th Infantry Division escapes from a potential encirclement and by falling back to the Oka River at Belev. Its neighbor, the 167th Infantry Division, is not as fortunate and is smashed by the Soviets. Guderian requests permission to take his entire front behind the Oka River, but Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge denies the request because of Hitler's "stand fast" order and cautions that further retreats cannot be made "under any circumstances" without the Fuehrer's permission.

Western Desert, Libya. 23 December 1941. This is known as the Graveyard of the Stukas, some of the German dive-bomber aircraft destroyed by the Allied Air Forces (Australian War Memorial MED0220).

Battle of the Mediterranean: Much of the action is taking place at sea along the Axis supply routes to the Afrika Korps in Libya and the British convoys to Tobruk. The Royal Navy sends Convoy AT-5 to Tobruk, and that leads to a lot of action. U-559 torpedoes and sinks 3059-ton British freighter Shuntien east of Tobruk. It is carrying 850 mostly Italian prisoners of war and has a crew of seventy. Casualties are unclear because corvette HMS Salvia, which rescues as many people as it can, is lost itself on 24 December and virtually everyone on it perishes. So, ultimately, very few people on board the Shuntien ever set foot on land again. Meanwhile, convoy escorts Hasty and Hotspur use depth charges to sink U-79 off Bardia about 69 nautical miles (129 km) east of Tobruk. The U-boats crew is fortunate, however, as the Captain, three officers, and forty ratings and nobody perishes.

SS Shuntien, sunk on 23 December 1941 with great loss of life off Tobruk.

On land, the British advance by XIII Corps comes to a halt due to stiffening Axis resistance and supply issues. The Germans are gradually consolidating their position in western Libya, so the Indian 4th Division takes Barce. The Germans at Antelat retreat to Agedabia under pressure from the British 7th Armored Division.

An early production model of the C-47 Skytrain transport under production at the Douglas Aircraft Company plant at Long Beach ca. 1941. Douglas produced 13 C-47s a day at this facility. (Library of Congress).

US Military: Today is the first flight of the first C-47 Skytrain, 41-7722, the first DC-3 variant built specifically as a military transport. It flies at Daugherty Field, Long Beach, California. The US Army Air Force already has purchased hundreds of DC-3-type airplanes, most notably as the personal transport of the Chief of Staff of the USAAF, General Henry "Hap" Arnold, but those were civilian versions. The military version has a cargo door on the left side of the fuselage, a strengthened cargo floor, a navigator's Astrodome, and provisions for glider towing. The C-47 Skytrain generally is considered the most successful military transport ever.

SS Montebello at her launching at Eat San Pedro in 1921. Japanese submarine I-21 hits the Montebello, which had departed from Port San Luis early in the morning, with one torpedo on 23 December 1941 near Piedras Blancas Point (off Cambria, California). All 39 crewmen take to the boats as I-21 surfaces and fires with its deck gun. The tanker finally sinks bow first. Everyone survives.

French Military: In a rare military land action in North America, Free French forces land on St. Pierre and Miquelon and seize them without much trouble. Vichy officials have been governing the islands off of Newfoundland until now. This eliminates the last Vichy French military presence in the Americas, as the French outpost at Martinique already has entered into an armistice agreement with the United States.

American Homefront: Californians feel increasingly threatened by the recent spate Japanese attacks just off the coast, and there aren't many US Army troops defending the coastline. Lieutenant General John DeWitt, Commanding General Fourth Army and also Commanding General Western Defense Command, decides it is time to impose some discipline. He induces California Governor Culbert Olson to ban the sale of liquor to any person in uniform except during "Happy Hour" and the evening, from 1800-2200.

A 1930s postcard showing a bronze statue by Louis Auguste Hiolin in the Park des Les Buttes Chaumont called "Au Loop." The statue portrays a young shepherd chasing a wolf away from his lambs. A 23 December 1941 article in Figaro notes that the Germans had seized the statue to melt it down. The statue has never been replaced but the pedestal remains in place, empty. It is a very pretty spot and many park-goers enjoy sitting on the pedestal.

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

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