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Pacific Historian
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Far East Air Force): HQ 19th Bombardment Group and the air echelon of it's 28th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) transfer from Batchelor Field to Singosari, Java, Netherlands East Indies with B-17's. The ground echelon of the 28th is on Luzon and Mindanao. The air echelon of the 14th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy), transfers from Batchelor Field to Singosari, Java with B-17's. The ground echelon is on Luzon.
EAST INDIES: The air echelons of two USAAF Far East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress squadrons arrive at Sinosari, Java, Netherlands East Indies, from Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
BORNEO - Fifteen days of vicious fighting in Borneo ends with the Japanese in control of the country and heavy Allied losses.
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-1 shells Hilo on the island of Hawaii with her 5.5-inch (14.0 centimeter) gun. The USN seaplane tender (destroyer) USS Hulbert (AVD-6), moored to a pier adjacent to the pier damaged by the bombardment, is not hit.
MALAYA: The Japanese maintain pressure against the Kampar position in western Malaya; on the east coast they threaten Kuantan from the north in greater strength. The Kuantan defense force is in the process of concentrating west of the Kuantan River, which is crossed by a single
ferry. Two Japanese battalions land at Kota Bharu and begin a march down the east coast.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 torpedoes and damages a 5,695 ton unarmed U.S. freighter off the coast of California about 26 nautical miles (48 kilometers) off San Pedro. Although damaged, the freighter escapes.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The North Luzon Force is unable to hold the Japanese on the line Cabanatuan-Tarlac and begins a withdrawal southward toward the final defense positions before Bataan. From Cabanatuan, the 91st
Division [Philippine Army (PA)] withdraws along Route 5 through Gapan toward Baliuag, northeast of Calumpit. Tank battalions are ordered to the Plaridel-Baliuag area to defend the vital Calumpit bridge over the Pampanga River, across which the South Luzon Force must withdraw to reach
San Fernando and the road leading into Bataan, and 71st Division (PA) is dispatched to Baliuag. In the center, the 11th Division (PA) succeeds in delaying a Japanese column heading for Tarlac from Cabanatuan.
The 21st Division (PA) falls back from Tarlac along Route 3 toward the line Bamban- Arayat. The South Luzon Force, ordered to delay the Japanese, halts at Santiago, where an ambush is arranged, but because of reverses of the North Luzon Force is directed in the evening to continue their withdrawal and cross the Calumpit bridge not later than 0600 hours on 1 January.
The Philippine Army's 51st Infantry Regiment and a battery of the 51st Field Artillery Regiment are dispatched to assist in the defense of the Calumpit bridge. The 2d Philippine Constabulary Regiment covers the withdrawal while the main body moves toward Bataan.
Philippine President Manuel Quezon is inaugurated on
Corregidor.
USN-commandeered tug SS Ranger lands a volunteer raiding party on Sangley Point, located on a peninsula jutting into Manila Bay approximately 8 miles (13 kilometers) southwest of Manila. The sailors bring out
diesel generators and diesel oil needed on Corregidor to provide auxiliary power.
UNITED STATES: Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are given the authority to search the homes of enemy aliens if there is a reason to suspect there is contraband on the premises. Admiral Ernest J. King assumes duties as Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet (CINCUS). To avoid use of what he considers the pejorative acronym CINCUS ("Sink Us"), he introduces COMINCH ("Comm Inch" or Command in Chief).
EAST INDIES: The air echelons of two USAAF Far East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress squadrons arrive at Sinosari, Java, Netherlands East Indies, from Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
BORNEO - Fifteen days of vicious fighting in Borneo ends with the Japanese in control of the country and heavy Allied losses.
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-1 shells Hilo on the island of Hawaii with her 5.5-inch (14.0 centimeter) gun. The USN seaplane tender (destroyer) USS Hulbert (AVD-6), moored to a pier adjacent to the pier damaged by the bombardment, is not hit.
MALAYA: The Japanese maintain pressure against the Kampar position in western Malaya; on the east coast they threaten Kuantan from the north in greater strength. The Kuantan defense force is in the process of concentrating west of the Kuantan River, which is crossed by a single
ferry. Two Japanese battalions land at Kota Bharu and begin a march down the east coast.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 torpedoes and damages a 5,695 ton unarmed U.S. freighter off the coast of California about 26 nautical miles (48 kilometers) off San Pedro. Although damaged, the freighter escapes.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The North Luzon Force is unable to hold the Japanese on the line Cabanatuan-Tarlac and begins a withdrawal southward toward the final defense positions before Bataan. From Cabanatuan, the 91st
Division [Philippine Army (PA)] withdraws along Route 5 through Gapan toward Baliuag, northeast of Calumpit. Tank battalions are ordered to the Plaridel-Baliuag area to defend the vital Calumpit bridge over the Pampanga River, across which the South Luzon Force must withdraw to reach
San Fernando and the road leading into Bataan, and 71st Division (PA) is dispatched to Baliuag. In the center, the 11th Division (PA) succeeds in delaying a Japanese column heading for Tarlac from Cabanatuan.
The 21st Division (PA) falls back from Tarlac along Route 3 toward the line Bamban- Arayat. The South Luzon Force, ordered to delay the Japanese, halts at Santiago, where an ambush is arranged, but because of reverses of the North Luzon Force is directed in the evening to continue their withdrawal and cross the Calumpit bridge not later than 0600 hours on 1 January.
The Philippine Army's 51st Infantry Regiment and a battery of the 51st Field Artillery Regiment are dispatched to assist in the defense of the Calumpit bridge. The 2d Philippine Constabulary Regiment covers the withdrawal while the main body moves toward Bataan.
Philippine President Manuel Quezon is inaugurated on
Corregidor.
USN-commandeered tug SS Ranger lands a volunteer raiding party on Sangley Point, located on a peninsula jutting into Manila Bay approximately 8 miles (13 kilometers) southwest of Manila. The sailors bring out
diesel generators and diesel oil needed on Corregidor to provide auxiliary power.
UNITED STATES: Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are given the authority to search the homes of enemy aliens if there is a reason to suspect there is contraband on the premises. Admiral Ernest J. King assumes duties as Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet (CINCUS). To avoid use of what he considers the pejorative acronym CINCUS ("Sink Us"), he introduces COMINCH ("Comm Inch" or Command in Chief).
