Hong Kong: Japanese troops force landings on Hong Kong island.
This day in the war in the Pacific 65 years ago.
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syscom3
Pacific Historian
USN - The Naval Research Laboratory reported that flight tests in a PBY of radar utilizing a duplexing antenna switch had been conducted with satisfactory results. The duplexing switch made it possible to use a single antenna for both transmission of the radar pulse and reception of its echo; thereby, the necessity for cumbersome "yagi" antenna no longer existed, a factor which contributed substantially to the reliability, and hence the effectiveness, of World War II airborne radar.
AUSTRALIA: USAAF Far East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, evacuating Luzon, Philippine Islands, begin arriving at Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory. A plan is drawn up for using Australia as an Allied supply base under command of Major General George H. Brett, USA.
EAST INDIES: The Australian "Gull Force" lands on Ambon Island, Netherlands East Indies. This force is comprised of the 2/21st Battalion of the 23rd Brigade, "C" Troop of the 18th Antitank Battery, a section of 2/11th Field Company and various other support units. The force had been transported from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, to Ambon in three Dutch merchant ships escorted by an Australian light cruiser and corvette.
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: In a command shakeup, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel is replaced by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz as Commander-in- Chief, Pacific Fleet; Lieutenant General Walter C. Short, Commanding General Hawaiian Department is replaced by Lieutenant General Delos C. Emmons; and Major General Frederick L. Martin is replaced by Brigadier General Clarence L Tinker as Commanding General, Hawaiian Air Force.
A Japanese "Glen" seaplane (Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane) makes its operational debut when the submarine HIJMS I-7 launches the aircraft for a dawn reconnaissance over Pearl Harbor to determine the damage caused by the attack of 7 December.
HONG KONG: The Japanese control the north side of Hong Kong Harbor, the British Hong Kong Island. After a week of air bombardment, Japanese Lieutenant General SANO Tadayoshi, commanding the 38th Division, sends a captured British civilian woman (and her two dogs) across the harbor to demand surrender from British Governor Sir Mark Young. Sir Mark himself "declines absolutely to enter into negotiations for the surrender of Hong Kong."
MALAYA: Hard fighting continues on the Grik road. A weak defense detachment is reinforced but falls back under pressure of the superior Japanese forces. The Indian 12th Brigade Group is ordered to Kuala Kangsar. British Lieutenant General Sir Arthur E. Percival, General Officer Commanding Malaya Command, gives the Indian III Corps permission to withdraw to the Perak River line if necessary. The Perak Flotilla is formed to prevent the Japanese from landing on the west coast between Knan and Bernam Rivers.
MIDWAY ISLANDS: Seventeen SB2U-3 Vindicators of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron Two Hundred Thirty One complete a record 9 hour and 45 minute flight from Hawaii to Midway, bolstering U.S. positions there. The aircraft were led by a plane-guarding PBY-4 Catalina of Patrol Squadron Twenty One (no ships are available to plane-guard the flight) on this longest over-water massed flight (1,137 miles or 1 830 kilometers) by single-engine aircraft. VMSB-231 was the same squadron that was en route to Midway on 7 December aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2) when reports of the attack on Pearl Harbor forced the carrier to turn back short of her goal.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-15 surfaces to charge batteries near the Farallon Islands about 29 nautical miles west of San Francisco, California. Seeing the lights of the city, Captain IMAZATO Hiroshi jokes to the crew that it was a good time to visit the famous city of San Francisco.
Japanese submarine HIJMS I-175 torpedoes and sinks a 3,283 ton unarmed U.S. freighter about 222 nautical miles SSE of Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. The survivors are rescued on 27 and 28 December.
In the South China Sea, the Japanese destroyer HIJMS Shinonome, part of a convoy of troop transports, heading towards the Malayan Peninsula, is sunk near Seria, 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Miri, Sarawak,by two bombs from a Dutch three engine Dornier Do-24K flying boat of the Dutch Naval Air Group based on the island of Tarakan. The crew of the Dornier drop three bombs, two making direct hits, the third a near miss. The destroyer blows apart in an enormous explosion causing fires to break out on the vessel. It takes only a few minutes for the destroyer to roll over and sink. There are no survivors; all 229 crewmen are lost.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The Japanese Legaspi force, advancing northwest on Luzon along Route 1 toward Naga, makes its first contact with Filipino forces near Ragay.
Japanese Ships Sunk:
RO-66 SS near WAKE by OTHER
SHINONOME DD BRUNEI by MINE
AUSTRALIA: USAAF Far East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, evacuating Luzon, Philippine Islands, begin arriving at Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory. A plan is drawn up for using Australia as an Allied supply base under command of Major General George H. Brett, USA.
EAST INDIES: The Australian "Gull Force" lands on Ambon Island, Netherlands East Indies. This force is comprised of the 2/21st Battalion of the 23rd Brigade, "C" Troop of the 18th Antitank Battery, a section of 2/11th Field Company and various other support units. The force had been transported from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, to Ambon in three Dutch merchant ships escorted by an Australian light cruiser and corvette.
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: In a command shakeup, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel is replaced by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz as Commander-in- Chief, Pacific Fleet; Lieutenant General Walter C. Short, Commanding General Hawaiian Department is replaced by Lieutenant General Delos C. Emmons; and Major General Frederick L. Martin is replaced by Brigadier General Clarence L Tinker as Commanding General, Hawaiian Air Force.
A Japanese "Glen" seaplane (Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane) makes its operational debut when the submarine HIJMS I-7 launches the aircraft for a dawn reconnaissance over Pearl Harbor to determine the damage caused by the attack of 7 December.
HONG KONG: The Japanese control the north side of Hong Kong Harbor, the British Hong Kong Island. After a week of air bombardment, Japanese Lieutenant General SANO Tadayoshi, commanding the 38th Division, sends a captured British civilian woman (and her two dogs) across the harbor to demand surrender from British Governor Sir Mark Young. Sir Mark himself "declines absolutely to enter into negotiations for the surrender of Hong Kong."
MALAYA: Hard fighting continues on the Grik road. A weak defense detachment is reinforced but falls back under pressure of the superior Japanese forces. The Indian 12th Brigade Group is ordered to Kuala Kangsar. British Lieutenant General Sir Arthur E. Percival, General Officer Commanding Malaya Command, gives the Indian III Corps permission to withdraw to the Perak River line if necessary. The Perak Flotilla is formed to prevent the Japanese from landing on the west coast between Knan and Bernam Rivers.
MIDWAY ISLANDS: Seventeen SB2U-3 Vindicators of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron Two Hundred Thirty One complete a record 9 hour and 45 minute flight from Hawaii to Midway, bolstering U.S. positions there. The aircraft were led by a plane-guarding PBY-4 Catalina of Patrol Squadron Twenty One (no ships are available to plane-guard the flight) on this longest over-water massed flight (1,137 miles or 1 830 kilometers) by single-engine aircraft. VMSB-231 was the same squadron that was en route to Midway on 7 December aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2) when reports of the attack on Pearl Harbor forced the carrier to turn back short of her goal.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-15 surfaces to charge batteries near the Farallon Islands about 29 nautical miles west of San Francisco, California. Seeing the lights of the city, Captain IMAZATO Hiroshi jokes to the crew that it was a good time to visit the famous city of San Francisco.
Japanese submarine HIJMS I-175 torpedoes and sinks a 3,283 ton unarmed U.S. freighter about 222 nautical miles SSE of Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. The survivors are rescued on 27 and 28 December.
In the South China Sea, the Japanese destroyer HIJMS Shinonome, part of a convoy of troop transports, heading towards the Malayan Peninsula, is sunk near Seria, 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Miri, Sarawak,by two bombs from a Dutch three engine Dornier Do-24K flying boat of the Dutch Naval Air Group based on the island of Tarakan. The crew of the Dornier drop three bombs, two making direct hits, the third a near miss. The destroyer blows apart in an enormous explosion causing fires to break out on the vessel. It takes only a few minutes for the destroyer to roll over and sink. There are no survivors; all 229 crewmen are lost.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The Japanese Legaspi force, advancing northwest on Luzon along Route 1 toward Naga, makes its first contact with Filipino forces near Ragay.
Japanese Ships Sunk:
RO-66 SS near WAKE by OTHER
SHINONOME DD BRUNEI by MINE
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- #23
syscom3
Pacific Historian
PACIFIC: USN - Two-plane detachments from Patrol Wings 1 and 2, based in Hawaii, began scouting patrols from Johnston.
CHINA: Following an operational loss of an American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) aircraft and the ensuing confrontation between the pilot, Eriksen Shilling, and a group of Chinese, "blood chits" are developed. The first blood chits are printed on silk by Chinese Intelligence and stitched on the back of the American's flight jackets. It shows the flag and promised a reward for assisting the bearer. The message is printed in several languages.
HONG KONG: During the night of 18/19 December, the Japanese land troops on Hong Kong Island between North Point and the Lei U Mun Channel. The landings are successful despite counterattacks by the undermanned British and Canadian Royal Rifles of against Japanese positions on Sai Wan Hill and Mount Butler. The first wave of Japanese troops land in Hong Kong with artillery fire for cover and the following order from their commander, Lieutenant General SAKAI Takashi, Commander of the 23rd Army, "Take no prisoners." After overrunning a battery of anti-tank guns manned by local volunteers. The Japanese rope together all 20 survivors of the action, and bayonet them to death. The Japanese then storm a Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) dressing station, which offers no resistance. The Japanese shoot and bayonet to death eight Canadians, four Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers, and three St. John's Ambulance men.
After seizing the Lei Yu Mun Channel, the Japanese 38th Division storms across Hong Kong Island from east to west, splitting the two British defending brigades. The Japanese quickly take control of key reservoirs, threatening the British and Chinese inhabitants with a slow death by thirst.
On 27 August 1946, the Chinese War Crimes Military Tribunal of the Ministry of National Defence in Nanking sentenced Sakai Takashi. He was executed by firing squad on 30 September 1946.
MALAYA: The Indian 11th Division completes their withdrawal behind the Krian River and is held in reserve in the Taiping area. Forces defending the Grik road are further reinforced. After visiting forward areas, Lieutenant General Sir Arthur E. Percival draws up plans for a withdrawal behind the Perak River; he also decides to amalgamate certain units, among them the Indian 6th and 15th Brigades (to be designated the Indian 6/15 Brigade) and to incorporate the Indian 12th Brigade Group in the Indian 11th Division.
The Japanese occupy Penang which was evacuated by the British yesterday. All combat-worthy aircraft in Malaya are ordered to fly to Singapore.
Japanese naval vessel sunk: Destroyer Shinonome, by mine, Miri, Borneo.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: On Luzon, the Japanese Legaspi detachment reaches Naga.
The French 14,000-ton motor mail vessel Marechal Joffre, manned by a scratch crew that includes aviation personnel from the USN Patrol Wing Ten, departs Manila Bay for Balikpapan, Borneo, and then to Australia, New Zealand and finally, San Francisco arriving in April 1942. Marechal Joffre will be formally acquired by the Navy and commissioned as the transport USS Rochambeau (AP-63) on 27 April 1942.
UNITED STATES: Censorship is imposed with the passage of the first American War Powers Act. This act is passed by Congress, authorizing the president to initiate and terminate defense contracts, reconfigure government agencies for wartime priorities, and regulate the freezing of foreign assets. It also permits him to censor all communications coming in and leaving the country. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints the executive news director of the Associated Press, Byron Price, as director of censorship. Although invested with the awesome power to restrict and withhold news, Price takes no extreme measures, allowing news outlets and radio stations to self-censor, which they do. Most top secret information, including the construction of the atom bomb, remains just that. The most extreme use of the censorship law seems to have been the restriction of the free flow of "girlie" magazines to servicemen, including Esquire, which the U.S. Post Office considered obscene for its occasional saucy cartoons and pinups. Esquire takes the Post Office to court, and after three years the Supreme Court ultimately sides with the magazine.
In another executive order, President Roosevelt directs a commission, to be headed by retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Owen J. Roberts (Roberts Commission), to "ascertain and report the facts relating to the attack made by the Japanese armed forces upon the Territory of Hawaii on 7 December 1941...to provide bases for sound decisions whether any derelictions of duty or errors of judgment on the part of United States Army or Navy personnel contributed to such successes as were achieved by the enemy on the occasion mentioned; and if so, what these derelictions or errors were, and who were responsible therefor." In addition to Justice Roberts, the commission membership includes retired Admiral William H. Standley and Rear Admiral Joseph W. Reeves; Major General Frank R. McCoy, USA (Retired) and Brigadier General Joseph T. McNarney, USA.
President Roosevelt signs Executive Order No. 8984 that provides that the Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet will take supreme command of the operating forces of all Navy fleets and coastal frontier commands, and be directly responsible to the President.
The State Department announces that Rear Admiral Frederick J. Horne and Admiral Georges Robert, French High Commissioner at Martinique, French West Indies, have reached an agreement neutralizing French Caribbean possessions.
CHINA: Following an operational loss of an American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) aircraft and the ensuing confrontation between the pilot, Eriksen Shilling, and a group of Chinese, "blood chits" are developed. The first blood chits are printed on silk by Chinese Intelligence and stitched on the back of the American's flight jackets. It shows the flag and promised a reward for assisting the bearer. The message is printed in several languages.
HONG KONG: During the night of 18/19 December, the Japanese land troops on Hong Kong Island between North Point and the Lei U Mun Channel. The landings are successful despite counterattacks by the undermanned British and Canadian Royal Rifles of against Japanese positions on Sai Wan Hill and Mount Butler. The first wave of Japanese troops land in Hong Kong with artillery fire for cover and the following order from their commander, Lieutenant General SAKAI Takashi, Commander of the 23rd Army, "Take no prisoners." After overrunning a battery of anti-tank guns manned by local volunteers. The Japanese rope together all 20 survivors of the action, and bayonet them to death. The Japanese then storm a Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) dressing station, which offers no resistance. The Japanese shoot and bayonet to death eight Canadians, four Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers, and three St. John's Ambulance men.
After seizing the Lei Yu Mun Channel, the Japanese 38th Division storms across Hong Kong Island from east to west, splitting the two British defending brigades. The Japanese quickly take control of key reservoirs, threatening the British and Chinese inhabitants with a slow death by thirst.
On 27 August 1946, the Chinese War Crimes Military Tribunal of the Ministry of National Defence in Nanking sentenced Sakai Takashi. He was executed by firing squad on 30 September 1946.
MALAYA: The Indian 11th Division completes their withdrawal behind the Krian River and is held in reserve in the Taiping area. Forces defending the Grik road are further reinforced. After visiting forward areas, Lieutenant General Sir Arthur E. Percival draws up plans for a withdrawal behind the Perak River; he also decides to amalgamate certain units, among them the Indian 6th and 15th Brigades (to be designated the Indian 6/15 Brigade) and to incorporate the Indian 12th Brigade Group in the Indian 11th Division.
The Japanese occupy Penang which was evacuated by the British yesterday. All combat-worthy aircraft in Malaya are ordered to fly to Singapore.
Japanese naval vessel sunk: Destroyer Shinonome, by mine, Miri, Borneo.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: On Luzon, the Japanese Legaspi detachment reaches Naga.
The French 14,000-ton motor mail vessel Marechal Joffre, manned by a scratch crew that includes aviation personnel from the USN Patrol Wing Ten, departs Manila Bay for Balikpapan, Borneo, and then to Australia, New Zealand and finally, San Francisco arriving in April 1942. Marechal Joffre will be formally acquired by the Navy and commissioned as the transport USS Rochambeau (AP-63) on 27 April 1942.
UNITED STATES: Censorship is imposed with the passage of the first American War Powers Act. This act is passed by Congress, authorizing the president to initiate and terminate defense contracts, reconfigure government agencies for wartime priorities, and regulate the freezing of foreign assets. It also permits him to censor all communications coming in and leaving the country. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints the executive news director of the Associated Press, Byron Price, as director of censorship. Although invested with the awesome power to restrict and withhold news, Price takes no extreme measures, allowing news outlets and radio stations to self-censor, which they do. Most top secret information, including the construction of the atom bomb, remains just that. The most extreme use of the censorship law seems to have been the restriction of the free flow of "girlie" magazines to servicemen, including Esquire, which the U.S. Post Office considered obscene for its occasional saucy cartoons and pinups. Esquire takes the Post Office to court, and after three years the Supreme Court ultimately sides with the magazine.
In another executive order, President Roosevelt directs a commission, to be headed by retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Owen J. Roberts (Roberts Commission), to "ascertain and report the facts relating to the attack made by the Japanese armed forces upon the Territory of Hawaii on 7 December 1941...to provide bases for sound decisions whether any derelictions of duty or errors of judgment on the part of United States Army or Navy personnel contributed to such successes as were achieved by the enemy on the occasion mentioned; and if so, what these derelictions or errors were, and who were responsible therefor." In addition to Justice Roberts, the commission membership includes retired Admiral William H. Standley and Rear Admiral Joseph W. Reeves; Major General Frank R. McCoy, USA (Retired) and Brigadier General Joseph T. McNarney, USA.
President Roosevelt signs Executive Order No. 8984 that provides that the Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet will take supreme command of the operating forces of all Navy fleets and coastal frontier commands, and be directly responsible to the President.
The State Department announces that Rear Admiral Frederick J. Horne and Admiral Georges Robert, French High Commissioner at Martinique, French West Indies, have reached an agreement neutralizing French Caribbean possessions.
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syscom3
Pacific Historian
BURMA: The Japanese overrun Bokpyin, a village about 100 miles N of Victoria Point. A controversy known as the Tulsa Incident, arises as a U.S. officer asks the Government of Burma to impound Lend-Lease material at Rangoon (a valuable part of which is loaded on the SS Tulsa in the harbor), pending a decision on its use. At the suggestion of the senior Chinese representative in Burma, a committee is subsequently formed to determine the division of supplies.
General Claire L. Chennault and his "Flying Tigers," a group of "volunteer" pilots, set up headquarters 150 miles (241 kilometers) from Rangoon. From today until 4 July 1942, they destroy 297 Japanese planes and kill some 500 of the enemy.
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: The USN's Task Force 8 (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.), consisting of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, heavy cruisers, and destroyers, sails from Pearl Harbor, Oahu, proceeding to the waters west of Johnston Island and south of Midway to cover TF 11 and TF 14 operations. (TF 11 is en route to the Marshall Islands while TF 14 is en route to Wake Island). Destroyer USS Craven, in TF 8, is damaged by heavy sea soon after departure, however, and returns to Pearl for repairs.
HONG KONG: Japanese troops surround the headquarters of Canadian Brigadier John Lawson, Commanding Officer West Brigade, at Wong Nei Chong Gap. Lawson is killed in an attempted breakout becoming the first Canadian General killed in WWII.
Canadian Sergeant Major John Robert Osborn of the 1st Battalion, Winnipeg Grenadiers, dies during an attempt to recapture Mount Butler. Osborn falls on a grenade to save others in the company and is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
Five British naval ships are scuttled to prevent capture by the Japanese: (1) the barrage/gate vessels HMS Aldgate and Watergate, (2) the tugs HMS Alliance and Poet Chaucer and (3) the boom defense vessel HMS Barlight. Barlight is raised by the Japanese and commissioned on 20 September 1942 as Netlayer 101. She is sunk on 15 June 1944 in Tanapag Harbor Saipan Island, Mariana Islands by USN destroyer USS Halsey Powell.
MALAYA: The Japanese are active against the right flank of the Krian River line; on the Grik road, the Japanese frustrate the efforts of the Indian III Corps to recover lost ground. RAF fighters based at Ipoh are forced to withdraw to Kuala Lumpur. The Indian 9th Division continues their withdrawal southward in eastern Malaya and abandons the Kuala Krai railhead.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-172 torpedoes and sinks a 5,113 ton unarmed U.S. freighter about 296 nautical miles SSE of Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. Twenty five crewmen survive and are rescued.
In the South China Sea, the Dutch submarine HNMS O2 is scuttled by her own crew, about 22 nautical miles E of Kota Bharu, Malaya, to prevent her capture by the Japanese. The sub was damaged by depth charges from two Japanese destroyers earlier in the day.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: On Luzon, the Japanese Legaspi detachment reaches Sipoco and is reported to be pushing toward Daet. At dusk, 12 Japanese fighters based on Luzon attack Del Monte Airfield on Mindanao destroying three USAAF Far East Air Force B-18 Bolos that had just arrived from Luzon with evacuees. During the night of 19/20 December, two Japanese task forces from Palau Islands, Caroline Islands, totaling about 5,000 men, arrive off Davao.
The air echelon of the 93d Bombardment Squadron, 19th BG (Heavy) transfers from Clark Field to Batchelor Field with B-17's. The ground echelon is attached to the 5th Interceptor Command (Provisional) and will fight as infantry on Luzon and Mindanao Islands in the Philippines.
UNITED STATES: The US Selective Service (draft) Act is amended requiring the registration of all males 18-64. The age for those subject to military service is 20-44.
Lieutenant General John DeWitt, Commanding General of the Fourth Army and the Western Defense Command, recommends to the War Department to round up "all alien subjects 14 years of age or over, of enemy nations and remove them to the Zone of the Interior (ZI)," because the West Coast had become a wartime Theater of Operations. DeWitt also writes, "...that there are approximately 40,000 of such enemy aliens and it is believed that they constitute an immediate and potential menace to vital measures of defense."
USA: Vice Admiral Randall Jacobs relieves Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation.
The U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1942 is graduated early, due to the National Emergency.
WAKE ISLAND: Japanese "Nell" bombers based on Roi Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, bomb the islands, targeting installations on Wake and Peale islets.
General Claire L. Chennault and his "Flying Tigers," a group of "volunteer" pilots, set up headquarters 150 miles (241 kilometers) from Rangoon. From today until 4 July 1942, they destroy 297 Japanese planes and kill some 500 of the enemy.
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: The USN's Task Force 8 (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.), consisting of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, heavy cruisers, and destroyers, sails from Pearl Harbor, Oahu, proceeding to the waters west of Johnston Island and south of Midway to cover TF 11 and TF 14 operations. (TF 11 is en route to the Marshall Islands while TF 14 is en route to Wake Island). Destroyer USS Craven, in TF 8, is damaged by heavy sea soon after departure, however, and returns to Pearl for repairs.
HONG KONG: Japanese troops surround the headquarters of Canadian Brigadier John Lawson, Commanding Officer West Brigade, at Wong Nei Chong Gap. Lawson is killed in an attempted breakout becoming the first Canadian General killed in WWII.
Canadian Sergeant Major John Robert Osborn of the 1st Battalion, Winnipeg Grenadiers, dies during an attempt to recapture Mount Butler. Osborn falls on a grenade to save others in the company and is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
Five British naval ships are scuttled to prevent capture by the Japanese: (1) the barrage/gate vessels HMS Aldgate and Watergate, (2) the tugs HMS Alliance and Poet Chaucer and (3) the boom defense vessel HMS Barlight. Barlight is raised by the Japanese and commissioned on 20 September 1942 as Netlayer 101. She is sunk on 15 June 1944 in Tanapag Harbor Saipan Island, Mariana Islands by USN destroyer USS Halsey Powell.
MALAYA: The Japanese are active against the right flank of the Krian River line; on the Grik road, the Japanese frustrate the efforts of the Indian III Corps to recover lost ground. RAF fighters based at Ipoh are forced to withdraw to Kuala Lumpur. The Indian 9th Division continues their withdrawal southward in eastern Malaya and abandons the Kuala Krai railhead.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-172 torpedoes and sinks a 5,113 ton unarmed U.S. freighter about 296 nautical miles SSE of Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. Twenty five crewmen survive and are rescued.
In the South China Sea, the Dutch submarine HNMS O2 is scuttled by her own crew, about 22 nautical miles E of Kota Bharu, Malaya, to prevent her capture by the Japanese. The sub was damaged by depth charges from two Japanese destroyers earlier in the day.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: On Luzon, the Japanese Legaspi detachment reaches Sipoco and is reported to be pushing toward Daet. At dusk, 12 Japanese fighters based on Luzon attack Del Monte Airfield on Mindanao destroying three USAAF Far East Air Force B-18 Bolos that had just arrived from Luzon with evacuees. During the night of 19/20 December, two Japanese task forces from Palau Islands, Caroline Islands, totaling about 5,000 men, arrive off Davao.
The air echelon of the 93d Bombardment Squadron, 19th BG (Heavy) transfers from Clark Field to Batchelor Field with B-17's. The ground echelon is attached to the 5th Interceptor Command (Provisional) and will fight as infantry on Luzon and Mindanao Islands in the Philippines.
UNITED STATES: The US Selective Service (draft) Act is amended requiring the registration of all males 18-64. The age for those subject to military service is 20-44.
Lieutenant General John DeWitt, Commanding General of the Fourth Army and the Western Defense Command, recommends to the War Department to round up "all alien subjects 14 years of age or over, of enemy nations and remove them to the Zone of the Interior (ZI)," because the West Coast had become a wartime Theater of Operations. DeWitt also writes, "...that there are approximately 40,000 of such enemy aliens and it is believed that they constitute an immediate and potential menace to vital measures of defense."
USA: Vice Admiral Randall Jacobs relieves Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation.
The U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1942 is graduated early, due to the National Emergency.
WAKE ISLAND: Japanese "Nell" bombers based on Roi Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, bomb the islands, targeting installations on Wake and Peale islets.
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syscom3
Pacific Historian
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: the Japanese make their grand outflanking movement to cut off the Philippines, by landing on the island of Mindanao. Filipino machine gunners of the 101st Regiment inflict heavy Japanese casualties until the Japanese turn five-inch naval guns on the defenders. The Americans are forced to retreat into the hills. The air echelon of the 30th Bombardment Squadron, 19th BG (Heavy), transfers from Clark Field to Batchelor Field with B-17's. The ground echelon is reassigned to the 5th Interceptor Command (Provisional) and will fight as infantry in the Philippines.
WAKE ISLAND: The besieged defenders at Wake receive a visitor, a Navy PBY Catalina, bringing official mail and word that a relief convoy is due on Dec. 24th. It takes out Maj. Walter J. Bayler and messages from the Marines to their families. Bayler says later, "I looked at our flag, still snapping in the breeze at the to of the pole where it had been hoisted on December 8. I looked at the cheerful, grinning faces and the confident bearing of the youngsters on the dock. As I waved a last good-bye and took my
seat in the plane, my smile was as cheerful as theirs. I knew all would go well with Wake Island." Bayler is the last man off the island. In 1945, when Japan surrenders, he will be the first man back.
BURMA: A legend is born in the skies over Burma as the American Volunteer Group, better known as the Flying Tigers, fight their first battle with P-40B Tomahawks. This colorful collection of about 100 pilots and 55 planes tears a swath through superior Japanese airpower: 286 confirmed aerial kills for a total loss of 13 pilots in battle. The Tigers owe their success to their boss, Maj. Gen. Claire Chennault, whose tactics...two-man fighting teams...accurate gunnery ...no unnecessary heroics...are ahead of their time. The Tigers also owe their success to the fact that they get a $500 reward for every plane they shoot down.
USA: Adm. E. J. King is designated Commander in Chief United States Fleet with headquarters in the Navy Department, Washington, D. C.
WAKE ISLAND: The besieged defenders at Wake receive a visitor, a Navy PBY Catalina, bringing official mail and word that a relief convoy is due on Dec. 24th. It takes out Maj. Walter J. Bayler and messages from the Marines to their families. Bayler says later, "I looked at our flag, still snapping in the breeze at the to of the pole where it had been hoisted on December 8. I looked at the cheerful, grinning faces and the confident bearing of the youngsters on the dock. As I waved a last good-bye and took my
seat in the plane, my smile was as cheerful as theirs. I knew all would go well with Wake Island." Bayler is the last man off the island. In 1945, when Japan surrenders, he will be the first man back.
BURMA: A legend is born in the skies over Burma as the American Volunteer Group, better known as the Flying Tigers, fight their first battle with P-40B Tomahawks. This colorful collection of about 100 pilots and 55 planes tears a swath through superior Japanese airpower: 286 confirmed aerial kills for a total loss of 13 pilots in battle. The Tigers owe their success to their boss, Maj. Gen. Claire Chennault, whose tactics...two-man fighting teams...accurate gunnery ...no unnecessary heroics...are ahead of their time. The Tigers also owe their success to the fact that they get a $500 reward for every plane they shoot down.
USA: Adm. E. J. King is designated Commander in Chief United States Fleet with headquarters in the Navy Department, Washington, D. C.
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pbfoot
1st Lieutenant
good work
- Thread starter
- #27
syscom3
Pacific Historian
I wish you Canadian and Aussie guys would contribute to the roles your militaries played in the PTO
Wildcat
Major
Sorry Sys, been heaps busy mate, have been reading your post though. Here's all I can add..
20 miles off Monterey Bay, the Imperial Japanese Navy's Submarine I-23 fires eight or nine shells at the 6,771-ton Richfield Oil Company tanker AGWIWORLD but misses the zigzagging AGWIWORLD and she escapes to safety
Japanese invasion forces were operating on the northern part of Borneo. Around midday six Dutch Glenn Martins of 2-VIG-I escorted by two Brewster Buffaloes attacked Japanese shipping off Miri. The bomber crews claimed a hit on a cruiser but in fact all the bombs missed.
1942 is usually ragarded as the darkest days in Australian history for good reason. Be assured I will post as much of that history as possible.
20 miles off Monterey Bay, the Imperial Japanese Navy's Submarine I-23 fires eight or nine shells at the 6,771-ton Richfield Oil Company tanker AGWIWORLD but misses the zigzagging AGWIWORLD and she escapes to safety
Japanese invasion forces were operating on the northern part of Borneo. Around midday six Dutch Glenn Martins of 2-VIG-I escorted by two Brewster Buffaloes attacked Japanese shipping off Miri. The bomber crews claimed a hit on a cruiser but in fact all the bombs missed.
1942 is usually ragarded as the darkest days in Australian history for good reason. Be assured I will post as much of that history as possible.
Nonskimmer
Captain
Well for us, you already mentioned Hong Kong on Dec.10th and 18th. I think that's really about it until around June.
Who wants to read about routine stuff like auxiliaries manning coastal batteries in British Columbia and such?
To the rest of you though, good stuff as always. I enjoy reading it all.
pbfoot
1st Lieutenant
I tried to find better stuff on Hong Kong but your stuff is miles ahead of mine
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- #31
syscom3
Pacific Historian
I wonder if they fired on whales thinking they were surfaced subs.
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- #32
syscom3
Pacific Historian
I disagree........ aside from being mislead by the Brits in Malaya, the conduct of the ANZAC forces in such adverse conditions in the Solomons and NG proved to be their shining hour!
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- #33
syscom3
Pacific Historian
MALAYA: The Indian 11th Division takes command of all troops west of the Perak River, including those on Grik road, who are still heavily engaged, and begins a withdrawal behind Perak the River.
PACIFIC OCEAN: In the South China Sea, the Dutch submarine HNMS K XVII strikes a Japanese mine and sinks about 115 nautical miles N of Singapore, Malaya, in position 03.10N, 104.12E. All 36 crewmen are lost.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Three Japanese convoys from Formosa and the Pescadores, bearing the main body of the Japanese 14th Army assault force, arrive in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, during the night of 21/22 December. Meanwhile, the Filipino 11th Division makes contact with the Japanese Vigan force at Bacnotan.
Naval local defense forces in Philippine Islands (Rear Adm. F. W. Rockwell) move headquarters to Corregidor.
THAILAND: The Japanese and Thai governments sign a ten-year Treaty of Alliance at Bangkok. The Thais acknowledge their debt to the Japanese in light of the Treaty of Tokyo and the transfer of territory from French Indo-China to Thailand.
WAKE ISLAND: The PBY-5 Catalina that arrives yesterday takes off at 0700 hours; aboard is Major Walter Bayler of Marine Aircraft Group Twenty One, "the last man off Wake." Japanese concern over the potential presence of patrol planes at Wake, occasioned by the large amount of radio traffic that accompanies the sole PBYs arrival at the island, prompts advancing the date of the first carrier strikes.
At 0850 hours, 29 Japanese carrier aircraft escorted by 18 "Zero" fighters from aircraft carriers HIJMS Soryu and Hiryu, attack ground targets. At 1200 hours, 33 "Nell" bombers from Roi Airdrome in Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, bomb the island.
The Wake Island relief force, Task Force Fourteen, is within 600 nautical miles of the island. The task force is composted of the aircraft carriers USS Lexington and Saratoga, the heavy cruisers USS Astoria, Minneapolis and San Francisco, ten destroyers, the seaplane tender USS Tangier and the oiler USS Neches. The convoy is carrying the 4th Marine Coastal Defense Battalion, Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Twenty One equipped with F2A-1 Buffalo fighters, along with 9,000 five-inch rounds, 12,000 three-inch rounds, and 3 million 50 caliber rounds as well as a large amount of ammunition for mortars and other battalion small arms.
PACIFIC OCEAN: In the South China Sea, the Dutch submarine HNMS K XVII strikes a Japanese mine and sinks about 115 nautical miles N of Singapore, Malaya, in position 03.10N, 104.12E. All 36 crewmen are lost.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Three Japanese convoys from Formosa and the Pescadores, bearing the main body of the Japanese 14th Army assault force, arrive in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, during the night of 21/22 December. Meanwhile, the Filipino 11th Division makes contact with the Japanese Vigan force at Bacnotan.
Naval local defense forces in Philippine Islands (Rear Adm. F. W. Rockwell) move headquarters to Corregidor.
THAILAND: The Japanese and Thai governments sign a ten-year Treaty of Alliance at Bangkok. The Thais acknowledge their debt to the Japanese in light of the Treaty of Tokyo and the transfer of territory from French Indo-China to Thailand.
WAKE ISLAND: The PBY-5 Catalina that arrives yesterday takes off at 0700 hours; aboard is Major Walter Bayler of Marine Aircraft Group Twenty One, "the last man off Wake." Japanese concern over the potential presence of patrol planes at Wake, occasioned by the large amount of radio traffic that accompanies the sole PBYs arrival at the island, prompts advancing the date of the first carrier strikes.
At 0850 hours, 29 Japanese carrier aircraft escorted by 18 "Zero" fighters from aircraft carriers HIJMS Soryu and Hiryu, attack ground targets. At 1200 hours, 33 "Nell" bombers from Roi Airdrome in Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, bomb the island.
The Wake Island relief force, Task Force Fourteen, is within 600 nautical miles of the island. The task force is composted of the aircraft carriers USS Lexington and Saratoga, the heavy cruisers USS Astoria, Minneapolis and San Francisco, ten destroyers, the seaplane tender USS Tangier and the oiler USS Neches. The convoy is carrying the 4th Marine Coastal Defense Battalion, Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Twenty One equipped with F2A-1 Buffalo fighters, along with 9,000 five-inch rounds, 12,000 three-inch rounds, and 3 million 50 caliber rounds as well as a large amount of ammunition for mortars and other battalion small arms.
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pbfoot
1st Lieutenant
I wonder if they fired on whales thinking they were surfaced subs.
[/QUOTE]I'm waiting for the date to mention the shelling of Vancouver Island and will work on the Aleutians
Nonskimmer
Captain
I wouldn't be surprised if they did, actually. Especially if visibility was hazy.I wonder if they fired on whales thinking they were surfaced subs.
"Oh my god, a Japanese sub! Fire! Fire!
Whoops...sorry 'bout that, Shamu."
Wildcat
Major
You misunderstood me Sys. When I say the darkest hour in our history I'm referring to the fact that our country was under direct attack for the first time in its history, the majority of our fighting men were in Europe and the Middle East, The Japanese were inflicting severe defeats on the ill equipped and poorly trained militia forces that were fighting with their backs to the wall, we had no real proper air defence for the country, we lost 15000 odd men at Singapore, evacuation plans were in place and the Japanese were threatening to cut the supply lines to the rest of the world.
Yes our blokes fought bravely and did a grand job considering the odds they were up against, but early 1942 was definately a grim and uncertain time for us Australians.
Wildcat
Major
I wonder if they fired on whales thinking they were surfaced subs.
I've read of an incident when the RAAF bombed and killed a whale thinking it was a Japanese sub
Wildcat
Major
AUSTRALIA: Detailed designs begin on the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Boomerang Fighter. The aircraft will be test flown 22 weeks later! The man responsible is CAC chief engineer, Fred David who is a German jew who previously worked for heinkel in Germany and later the Japanese Aircraft Company before fleeing Japan as a refugee as it established military links with Nazi Germany. As such Fred David was considered officially as an "unfriendly" alien, and was required to report to the police every fortnight.
RABAUL: 12 Wirraways of 24 sqn RAAF, are transferred from Townsville to Rabual as part of Rabaul's air defence
RABAUL: 12 Wirraways of 24 sqn RAAF, are transferred from Townsville to Rabual as part of Rabaul's air defence
- Thread starter
- #39
syscom3
Pacific Historian
AUSTRALIA: The USN's "Pensacola" Convoy, consisting of the heavy cruiser USS Pensacola, the gunboat USS Niagara, the transports USS Chaumont and Republic, the Army transports USAT Meigs and Willard A. Holbrook, the U.S. freighters SS Admiral Halstead and Coast Farmer and the Dutch freighter MV Bloemfontein, arrive in Brisbane, Queensland. Brigadier General Julian F. Barnes' Task Force South Pacific is redesignated U.S. Forces in Australia (USFIA). This is the first U.S. troop detachment to arrive in Australia.
CHINA: At a meeting of Allied leaders in Chungking, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek offers the Chinese 5th and 6th Armies for the defense of Burma. British General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in- Chief, India accepts the Ch 6th Army's 93d Division, elements of which are approaching the border of Burma from China. A regiment of the 49th Division is to be held in reserve on the northern Burma frontier.
HONG KONG: The Japanese capture Sugar Loaf Hill at 1200 hours, but Canadians from C Company of the Royal Rifles recapture the hill; later taken out to Stanley Fort down the peninsula, for a rest; will hold out until their ammunition, food and water are exhausted.
JAPAN: The Japanese Navy postpones the shelling of U.S. cities on the west coast by nine submarine until 27 December. The original date was 25 December.
MALAYA: As the Indian 11th Division continues their withdrawal across the Perak River, the RAF begins a regular reconnaissance of the west coast to prevent Japanese landings. The Indian 9th Division completes their planned withdrawal in eastern Malaya to positions from which to defend Kuantan airdrome and protect the Indian 11th Division from an attack from the east.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 surfaces and shells an unarmed 10,763-ton U.S. tanker off the coast of California about 15 nautical miles WSW of Lompoc, California. The submarine breaks off the attack when a USN aircraft arrives and drops a depth charge allowing the tanker to escape.
USN. submarine USS S-38, sailing from Manila, Philippine Islands, sinks a 5,445 ton Japanese transport in Lingayan Gulf. This is S-38's first war patrol and during the patrol she will fire torpedoes at five ships.
USN Task Force Fourteen, the relief force for Wake Island, slows down to refuel. At Pearl Harbor, Vice Admiral William S. Pye, the temporary commander of the Pacific Fleet pending the arrival of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, cannot make up his mind to risk what is left of the fleet. During the evening, a compromise is reached between Pye and Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, commander of TF 14. Tomorrow, the F2A Buffalos of Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Twenty One in aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, would be flown off at maximum range. The seaplane tender USS Tangier is carrying 300 marines of the 4th Defense Battalion, including two batteries and detachment of to other batteries, plus ground elements of VMF-221, a radar set, and 21,000 rounds of 3-inch and 5-inch ammunition and 3 million rounds of machine gun ammunition, would make a speed run to Wake while the remainder of Task Force 14 retired with Task Force 11 built around the aircraft carrier USS Lexington.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The Japanese begin their main landings along the coast of Lingayen Gulf on Luzon before dawn. One assault force goes ashore near Bauang, another at Aringay, and a third near Agoo. They move forward at once without serious opposition from 11th and 21st Divisions (Philippine Army). The 71st Infantry Regiment, 71st Division (Philippine Army), and 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) moveout to help halt the Japanese. The Bauang assault force seizes that town, effects a junction with the Japanese Vigan force at San Fernando, La Union, and pushes inland toward Baguio, while the other forces overrun Rosario and face south toward Manila. U.S. submarines and a few aircraft attack enemy armada in Lingayen Gulf.
Nine Far East Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortresses from Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, attack shipping in Davao Bay, Mindanao Island and land at Del Monte Field on Mindanao Island. This is the first action in the Philippines by Australian-based planes.
HQ 7th BG (Heavy) and the ground echelon of it's 9th, 11th and 22d Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) and attached 88th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) arrive at Brisbane, Australia from the US. The air echelons of the 9th and 11th are enroute from the US to Australia with B-17's; the air echelons of the 22d and 88th are operating from Hickam Field, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii until 5 January 1942 and 10 February 1942 respectively with B-17's. The 16th, 17th and 91st Bombardment Squadrons (Light), 27th Bombardment Group (Light) transfer from Ft William McKinley to Lipa Airfield, San Fernando and San Marceleno respectively without aircraft.
UNITED STATES: The Anglo-American conference (ARCADIA) opens in Washington, D.C. to deal with war strategy. U.S. President Franklin D Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston S Churchill, Harry Hopkins, Lord
Beaverbrook, and American and British Chief of Staffs participate. They confirm the policy from Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, in August1 1941 of attacking Germany first. They also establish the Combined Chiefs of Staff
(CCS) for the entire Allied military effort. A general strategic program is approved of a U.S. buildup in the United Kingdom and continuing the bombing offensive. The concept of further losses in the Pacific is accepted with the understanding that a stiff defense will hold these to a minimum. Roosevelt also agrees to a radical increase in the U.S. arms production program: the 12,750 operational aircraft to be ready for service by the end of 1943 became 45,000; the proposed 15,450 tanks also became 45,000; and the number of machine guns to be manufactured almost doubled, to 500,000. This conference will last through the 7 January 1942.
Richard G. Casey, Australian Minister to the U.S., reports to his government that President Roosevelt might press to have an American accepted as the commander-in- chief of a Pacific and Far East theater and that Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur, commanding the US Army Forces Far East in the Philippines, might be nominated. Casey suggests that it might be advantageous for the Australian government to suggest an American as commander-in- chief.
WAKE ISLAND: Japanese bombers and attack planes, covered by fighters, from the aircraft carriers HIJMS Hiryu and Soryu, bomb Wake Island for the second time; the last two flyable USMC F4F Wildcats intercept the raid. One F4F is shot down, the other is badly damaged. During the night of 22/23 December, Task Force 14, the relief force for Wake, is order to withdraw to Pearl Harbor. Task Force 11, built around the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2), is also ordered to return to Pearl Harbor.
Japanese naval vessels destroyed:
CHINA: At a meeting of Allied leaders in Chungking, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek offers the Chinese 5th and 6th Armies for the defense of Burma. British General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in- Chief, India accepts the Ch 6th Army's 93d Division, elements of which are approaching the border of Burma from China. A regiment of the 49th Division is to be held in reserve on the northern Burma frontier.
HONG KONG: The Japanese capture Sugar Loaf Hill at 1200 hours, but Canadians from C Company of the Royal Rifles recapture the hill; later taken out to Stanley Fort down the peninsula, for a rest; will hold out until their ammunition, food and water are exhausted.
JAPAN: The Japanese Navy postpones the shelling of U.S. cities on the west coast by nine submarine until 27 December. The original date was 25 December.
MALAYA: As the Indian 11th Division continues their withdrawal across the Perak River, the RAF begins a regular reconnaissance of the west coast to prevent Japanese landings. The Indian 9th Division completes their planned withdrawal in eastern Malaya to positions from which to defend Kuantan airdrome and protect the Indian 11th Division from an attack from the east.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 surfaces and shells an unarmed 10,763-ton U.S. tanker off the coast of California about 15 nautical miles WSW of Lompoc, California. The submarine breaks off the attack when a USN aircraft arrives and drops a depth charge allowing the tanker to escape.
USN. submarine USS S-38, sailing from Manila, Philippine Islands, sinks a 5,445 ton Japanese transport in Lingayan Gulf. This is S-38's first war patrol and during the patrol she will fire torpedoes at five ships.
USN Task Force Fourteen, the relief force for Wake Island, slows down to refuel. At Pearl Harbor, Vice Admiral William S. Pye, the temporary commander of the Pacific Fleet pending the arrival of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, cannot make up his mind to risk what is left of the fleet. During the evening, a compromise is reached between Pye and Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, commander of TF 14. Tomorrow, the F2A Buffalos of Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Twenty One in aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, would be flown off at maximum range. The seaplane tender USS Tangier is carrying 300 marines of the 4th Defense Battalion, including two batteries and detachment of to other batteries, plus ground elements of VMF-221, a radar set, and 21,000 rounds of 3-inch and 5-inch ammunition and 3 million rounds of machine gun ammunition, would make a speed run to Wake while the remainder of Task Force 14 retired with Task Force 11 built around the aircraft carrier USS Lexington.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The Japanese begin their main landings along the coast of Lingayen Gulf on Luzon before dawn. One assault force goes ashore near Bauang, another at Aringay, and a third near Agoo. They move forward at once without serious opposition from 11th and 21st Divisions (Philippine Army). The 71st Infantry Regiment, 71st Division (Philippine Army), and 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) moveout to help halt the Japanese. The Bauang assault force seizes that town, effects a junction with the Japanese Vigan force at San Fernando, La Union, and pushes inland toward Baguio, while the other forces overrun Rosario and face south toward Manila. U.S. submarines and a few aircraft attack enemy armada in Lingayen Gulf.
Nine Far East Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortresses from Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, attack shipping in Davao Bay, Mindanao Island and land at Del Monte Field on Mindanao Island. This is the first action in the Philippines by Australian-based planes.
HQ 7th BG (Heavy) and the ground echelon of it's 9th, 11th and 22d Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) and attached 88th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) arrive at Brisbane, Australia from the US. The air echelons of the 9th and 11th are enroute from the US to Australia with B-17's; the air echelons of the 22d and 88th are operating from Hickam Field, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii until 5 January 1942 and 10 February 1942 respectively with B-17's. The 16th, 17th and 91st Bombardment Squadrons (Light), 27th Bombardment Group (Light) transfer from Ft William McKinley to Lipa Airfield, San Fernando and San Marceleno respectively without aircraft.
UNITED STATES: The Anglo-American conference (ARCADIA) opens in Washington, D.C. to deal with war strategy. U.S. President Franklin D Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston S Churchill, Harry Hopkins, Lord
Beaverbrook, and American and British Chief of Staffs participate. They confirm the policy from Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, in August1 1941 of attacking Germany first. They also establish the Combined Chiefs of Staff
(CCS) for the entire Allied military effort. A general strategic program is approved of a U.S. buildup in the United Kingdom and continuing the bombing offensive. The concept of further losses in the Pacific is accepted with the understanding that a stiff defense will hold these to a minimum. Roosevelt also agrees to a radical increase in the U.S. arms production program: the 12,750 operational aircraft to be ready for service by the end of 1943 became 45,000; the proposed 15,450 tanks also became 45,000; and the number of machine guns to be manufactured almost doubled, to 500,000. This conference will last through the 7 January 1942.
Richard G. Casey, Australian Minister to the U.S., reports to his government that President Roosevelt might press to have an American accepted as the commander-in- chief of a Pacific and Far East theater and that Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur, commanding the US Army Forces Far East in the Philippines, might be nominated. Casey suggests that it might be advantageous for the Australian government to suggest an American as commander-in- chief.
WAKE ISLAND: Japanese bombers and attack planes, covered by fighters, from the aircraft carriers HIJMS Hiryu and Soryu, bomb Wake Island for the second time; the last two flyable USMC F4F Wildcats intercept the raid. One F4F is shot down, the other is badly damaged. During the night of 22/23 December, Task Force 14, the relief force for Wake, is order to withdraw to Pearl Harbor. Task Force 11, built around the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2), is also ordered to return to Pearl Harbor.
Japanese naval vessels destroyed:
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- Thread starter
- #40
syscom3
Pacific Historian
AUSTRALIA: The Advisory War Council agrees that the future of Australia is bound up with the talks taking place during the Arcadia Conference in Washington, D.C., and Prime Minister John Curtin cables U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill appealing for more reinforcements for Singapore, Malaya. At the same time, Curtin tells Roosevelt that if the U.S. government wants, Australia would gladly accept an American commander in the Pacific.
The USAAF Far East Air Force (FEAF) comes under control of the newly created US Forces in Australia (USFIA). Major General Lewis H Brereton, Commanding General FEAF, receives orders establishing HQ FEAF at Darwin, Northern Territory.
BORNEO: The Japanese invasion convoy which left Miri in the British protectorate of Sarawak yesterday, is being escorted by the five heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, six destroyers, two minesweepers and an aircraft depot ship. Part of the escort force is sighted this morning when it is about 150 miles off Kuching, capital of Sarawak.
At 1140 hours, 24 Japanese aircraft bomb Singkawang II Airfield in Dutch Borneo, so damaging the runways that a Dutch striking force which has been ordered to attack the convoy is unable to take off with a bomb load. Despite the critical situation the Dutch authorities urge the transfer of their aircraft to Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies. Air Headquarters, Far East, agrees and tomorrow afternoon, the aircraft were flown to Palembang. The Japanese convoy does not escape unscathed. This evening, it is attacked by Dutch submarine HNMS K-XIV which sinks two transports and damages a transport and a tanker.
During the night of 23/24 December, submarine Dutch HNMS K-XVI torpedoes and sinks the Japanese destroyer HIJMS Sagiri. Fires rage on the destroyer igniting the
torpedoes and the ship blows up killing 121 of the 241 crewmen.
During the evening, five RAF Blenheim Mk. IVs of No. 34 Squadron based at Tengah Airfield, Singapore, Malaya, operating at extreme range, bomb the ships at anchor in Kuching harbor but do little damage.
BURMA: Rangoon feels the first of the Japanese air strikes. There are three Allied fighter squadrons available: RAF No. 60 Squadron with Blenheim Mk. I light bombers and (USN F2A) Buffalo Mk. Is and No. 67 Squadron with Buffalo Mk. Is, and the 3d Squadron, American Volunteer Group (AVG or "Flying Tigers") with P-40Bs. These fighters are only able to offer token resistance to the Japanese. An exodus of civilian laborers hampers port operations in Rangoon. Chuck Baisden, who was an armorer with the 3d Squadron, AVG, writes this first hand report: at our base at Mingaladon Airdrome just outside of Rangoon as one of the armorers in the 3d Squadron AVG (Hell's Angels), we had completed our morning preflight and a number of us crew chiefs, armorers and radio men were standing around on a small knoll just outside our barracks and perhaps a hundred odd feet from our flightline dispersal area when the air raid siren went off with our pilots racing to their planes, starting engines and immediately taxiing to the active runway and taking off. It was a miracle there were no mid air collisions as some 14 P-40B fighters were taking off from one direction sandwiched between a number of RAF Buffaloes (I believe they were New Zealand pilots) taking off from another dispersal area in almost opposite directions. It was right hairy for a spell. Things got quiet and then from a distance we saw a rather large formation approaching our field, flying in a tight three ship V of V formation with fighter escorts swarming like a bunch of bees. Turned out there were 54 Japanese "Betty" bombers (Mitsubishi G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) and some 40 fighters. One of our guys started counting and when he hit 27 yelled "Hell they are not ours, we don't have that many." There was an immediate mad dash for some slit trenches a few feet from where we had been standing.
One group of the bombers targeted our field and laid their pattern precisely down the runway and through our dispersal area. I remember those black dots getting larger and larger accompanied by a "whoose- whoose" sound and thought they were all aimed directly at me. It was nothing compared to the shock of the bombs as they walked up the field with the noise getting louder and louder. The concussion bounced us around in the trench and from the smell someone had voided in his trousers. I know one 21-year-old that grew up in a hurry. Saw a parachute coming down with a Japanese "Nate" fighter (Nakajima Ki-27, Army Type 97 Fighter) making a pass at the helpless guy in a parachute. Luckily one of the RAF pilots saw what the Japanese pilot was up to and forced him to break off. Neil Martin, my pilot at Langley Field, Virginia, and Mitchel Field, New York, USA, when we were pulling tow targets in an old Martin B- 10 bombers, made a pass at the bomber formation and never pulled out of his dive, evidently killed by a bomber gunner. Henry Gilbert was also shot down and killed. My comrade-in arms R.T.Smith (Tadpole) shot down two or three and landed with his fuselage full of holes, a present from a Japanese bomber gunner. I had the privilege to fly as his gunner in B-25 Mitchells with the Air Commando Group two years later. Score for this day was 15 Japanese aircraft and we lost three P-40s and two pilots.
There are a number of casualties among support personnel in the RAF at our field and some 1,000 civilians were killed or wounded in Rangoon.
CHINA: The Japanese begin a drive on Changsha in Hunan Province.
HONG KONG: The Canadian Royal Rifles of Canada withdraw to Hong Kong's Stanley Peninsula.
LINE ISLANDS: The U.S. Palmyra Island is shelled by Japanese submarines HIJMS I-71 and I-72. Palmyra Island is located about 957 nautical miles SSW of Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii.
MALAYA: The Indian III Corps completes a withdrawal of all west coast forces behind the Perak River during the night of 23/24 December. Japanese planes, which so far have concentrated on airfields, begin intensive action against forward areas.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Two Japanese submarines attack U.S. merchant ships off the coast of California, U.S.A.:
(1) HIJMS I-21 attacks two ships; (1) she fires a torpedo at a 6,418 ton unarmed U.S. tanker about 17 nautical miles WSW of Pismo Beach, California but the tanker escapes and she later torpedoes and sinks an 8,272 ton unarmed U.S. tanker about 19 nautical miles WNW of Morro Bay, California;
(2) HIJMS I-17 surfaces and shells an unarmed U.S. tanker located about 62 nautical miles SW of Eureka, California, but the tanker escapes.
Uncertainty over the positions of and number of Japanese carriers and reports that indicate Japanese troops have landed on Wake Atoll compel Vice Admiral William S. Pye, Acting Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, to recall Task Force 14 (Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher) while it is 425 nautical miles from its objective.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: On Luzon, Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General US Army Forces Far East, decides to evacuate Manila and withdraw to Bataan Peninsula to make a delaying stand. During the night of 23/24 December, a Japanese invasion force of 7,000 men arrives in Lamon Bay from the Ryukyu Islands. Another Japanese invasion force sails from Mindanao Island for Jolo Island in the Sulu Archipelago.
After 0000 hours, four of the Far East Air Force's B-17 Flying Fortresses take off from Del Monte Field on Mindanao Island and bomb shipping in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. They damage a destroyer and a minesweeper.
After the attack, one aircraft lands at Del Monte Field and the other three land on Ambon Island in the Netherlands East Indies. After refueling, all four proceed to Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
Twelve P-40s and six P-35s, the only USAAF fighter aircraft in the Philippines, strafe Japanese forces landing in San Miguel Bay on Luzon.
Using a P-26A Peashooter, of the Philippine 6th Pursuit Squadron, Lieutenant Jose Kare shoots down a Japanese "Zero" fighter .
UNITED STATES: California Governor Culbert Olson, at the request of Lieutenant General John. DeWitt, Commanding General Fourth Army and Commanding General Western Defense Command, bans the sale of liquor to persons in uniform, except between 1800 and 2200 hours.
WAKE ISLAND: At 0300 hours, 1,500 Japanese troops land on the island and after an 11-hour fight, the garrison surrenders. The garrison consists of marines, sailors, volunteer civilians (Contractors Pacific Naval Air Bases) and a USAAF radio detachment. Forty-nine Marines, three sailors, and about 70 civilians (there were many civilian
construction workers on Wake) are killed during the battle. Japanese Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33 (old destroyers converted to high speed transports) intentionally run ashore to facilitate the landing of troops, are destroyed by marine shore batteries (1st Defense Battalion).
Planes from aircraft carriers HIJMS Hiryu and Soryu, as well as seaplane carrier Kiyokawa Maru provide close air support for the invasion. Open cargo lighter YCK 1 is lost to Japanese occupation of the atoll, as are civilian tugs Pioneer and Justine Foss, and dredge Columbia. In October 1943, 98 of the civilians, still on the island, are executed. Duane Schultz indicates in his book, though, that 376 of the 400 captured Marines survive the war, which if correct is a surprisingly good rate considering the normal conditions of Japanese POW camps.
Japanese Ships Sunk:
KATORI MARU ARMY CARGO 9849 tons 5 MILE OFF KUCHING by MINE
SORYU MARU ARMY CARGO 856 tons OFF BADOC, PI by MINE
The USAAF Far East Air Force (FEAF) comes under control of the newly created US Forces in Australia (USFIA). Major General Lewis H Brereton, Commanding General FEAF, receives orders establishing HQ FEAF at Darwin, Northern Territory.
BORNEO: The Japanese invasion convoy which left Miri in the British protectorate of Sarawak yesterday, is being escorted by the five heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, six destroyers, two minesweepers and an aircraft depot ship. Part of the escort force is sighted this morning when it is about 150 miles off Kuching, capital of Sarawak.
At 1140 hours, 24 Japanese aircraft bomb Singkawang II Airfield in Dutch Borneo, so damaging the runways that a Dutch striking force which has been ordered to attack the convoy is unable to take off with a bomb load. Despite the critical situation the Dutch authorities urge the transfer of their aircraft to Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies. Air Headquarters, Far East, agrees and tomorrow afternoon, the aircraft were flown to Palembang. The Japanese convoy does not escape unscathed. This evening, it is attacked by Dutch submarine HNMS K-XIV which sinks two transports and damages a transport and a tanker.
During the night of 23/24 December, submarine Dutch HNMS K-XVI torpedoes and sinks the Japanese destroyer HIJMS Sagiri. Fires rage on the destroyer igniting the
torpedoes and the ship blows up killing 121 of the 241 crewmen.
During the evening, five RAF Blenheim Mk. IVs of No. 34 Squadron based at Tengah Airfield, Singapore, Malaya, operating at extreme range, bomb the ships at anchor in Kuching harbor but do little damage.
BURMA: Rangoon feels the first of the Japanese air strikes. There are three Allied fighter squadrons available: RAF No. 60 Squadron with Blenheim Mk. I light bombers and (USN F2A) Buffalo Mk. Is and No. 67 Squadron with Buffalo Mk. Is, and the 3d Squadron, American Volunteer Group (AVG or "Flying Tigers") with P-40Bs. These fighters are only able to offer token resistance to the Japanese. An exodus of civilian laborers hampers port operations in Rangoon. Chuck Baisden, who was an armorer with the 3d Squadron, AVG, writes this first hand report: at our base at Mingaladon Airdrome just outside of Rangoon as one of the armorers in the 3d Squadron AVG (Hell's Angels), we had completed our morning preflight and a number of us crew chiefs, armorers and radio men were standing around on a small knoll just outside our barracks and perhaps a hundred odd feet from our flightline dispersal area when the air raid siren went off with our pilots racing to their planes, starting engines and immediately taxiing to the active runway and taking off. It was a miracle there were no mid air collisions as some 14 P-40B fighters were taking off from one direction sandwiched between a number of RAF Buffaloes (I believe they were New Zealand pilots) taking off from another dispersal area in almost opposite directions. It was right hairy for a spell. Things got quiet and then from a distance we saw a rather large formation approaching our field, flying in a tight three ship V of V formation with fighter escorts swarming like a bunch of bees. Turned out there were 54 Japanese "Betty" bombers (Mitsubishi G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) and some 40 fighters. One of our guys started counting and when he hit 27 yelled "Hell they are not ours, we don't have that many." There was an immediate mad dash for some slit trenches a few feet from where we had been standing.
One group of the bombers targeted our field and laid their pattern precisely down the runway and through our dispersal area. I remember those black dots getting larger and larger accompanied by a "whoose- whoose" sound and thought they were all aimed directly at me. It was nothing compared to the shock of the bombs as they walked up the field with the noise getting louder and louder. The concussion bounced us around in the trench and from the smell someone had voided in his trousers. I know one 21-year-old that grew up in a hurry. Saw a parachute coming down with a Japanese "Nate" fighter (Nakajima Ki-27, Army Type 97 Fighter) making a pass at the helpless guy in a parachute. Luckily one of the RAF pilots saw what the Japanese pilot was up to and forced him to break off. Neil Martin, my pilot at Langley Field, Virginia, and Mitchel Field, New York, USA, when we were pulling tow targets in an old Martin B- 10 bombers, made a pass at the bomber formation and never pulled out of his dive, evidently killed by a bomber gunner. Henry Gilbert was also shot down and killed. My comrade-in arms R.T.Smith (Tadpole) shot down two or three and landed with his fuselage full of holes, a present from a Japanese bomber gunner. I had the privilege to fly as his gunner in B-25 Mitchells with the Air Commando Group two years later. Score for this day was 15 Japanese aircraft and we lost three P-40s and two pilots.
There are a number of casualties among support personnel in the RAF at our field and some 1,000 civilians were killed or wounded in Rangoon.
CHINA: The Japanese begin a drive on Changsha in Hunan Province.
HONG KONG: The Canadian Royal Rifles of Canada withdraw to Hong Kong's Stanley Peninsula.
LINE ISLANDS: The U.S. Palmyra Island is shelled by Japanese submarines HIJMS I-71 and I-72. Palmyra Island is located about 957 nautical miles SSW of Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii.
MALAYA: The Indian III Corps completes a withdrawal of all west coast forces behind the Perak River during the night of 23/24 December. Japanese planes, which so far have concentrated on airfields, begin intensive action against forward areas.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Two Japanese submarines attack U.S. merchant ships off the coast of California, U.S.A.:
(1) HIJMS I-21 attacks two ships; (1) she fires a torpedo at a 6,418 ton unarmed U.S. tanker about 17 nautical miles WSW of Pismo Beach, California but the tanker escapes and she later torpedoes and sinks an 8,272 ton unarmed U.S. tanker about 19 nautical miles WNW of Morro Bay, California;
(2) HIJMS I-17 surfaces and shells an unarmed U.S. tanker located about 62 nautical miles SW of Eureka, California, but the tanker escapes.
Uncertainty over the positions of and number of Japanese carriers and reports that indicate Japanese troops have landed on Wake Atoll compel Vice Admiral William S. Pye, Acting Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, to recall Task Force 14 (Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher) while it is 425 nautical miles from its objective.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: On Luzon, Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General US Army Forces Far East, decides to evacuate Manila and withdraw to Bataan Peninsula to make a delaying stand. During the night of 23/24 December, a Japanese invasion force of 7,000 men arrives in Lamon Bay from the Ryukyu Islands. Another Japanese invasion force sails from Mindanao Island for Jolo Island in the Sulu Archipelago.
After 0000 hours, four of the Far East Air Force's B-17 Flying Fortresses take off from Del Monte Field on Mindanao Island and bomb shipping in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. They damage a destroyer and a minesweeper.
After the attack, one aircraft lands at Del Monte Field and the other three land on Ambon Island in the Netherlands East Indies. After refueling, all four proceed to Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
Twelve P-40s and six P-35s, the only USAAF fighter aircraft in the Philippines, strafe Japanese forces landing in San Miguel Bay on Luzon.
Using a P-26A Peashooter, of the Philippine 6th Pursuit Squadron, Lieutenant Jose Kare shoots down a Japanese "Zero" fighter .
UNITED STATES: California Governor Culbert Olson, at the request of Lieutenant General John. DeWitt, Commanding General Fourth Army and Commanding General Western Defense Command, bans the sale of liquor to persons in uniform, except between 1800 and 2200 hours.
WAKE ISLAND: At 0300 hours, 1,500 Japanese troops land on the island and after an 11-hour fight, the garrison surrenders. The garrison consists of marines, sailors, volunteer civilians (Contractors Pacific Naval Air Bases) and a USAAF radio detachment. Forty-nine Marines, three sailors, and about 70 civilians (there were many civilian
construction workers on Wake) are killed during the battle. Japanese Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33 (old destroyers converted to high speed transports) intentionally run ashore to facilitate the landing of troops, are destroyed by marine shore batteries (1st Defense Battalion).
Planes from aircraft carriers HIJMS Hiryu and Soryu, as well as seaplane carrier Kiyokawa Maru provide close air support for the invasion. Open cargo lighter YCK 1 is lost to Japanese occupation of the atoll, as are civilian tugs Pioneer and Justine Foss, and dredge Columbia. In October 1943, 98 of the civilians, still on the island, are executed. Duane Schultz indicates in his book, though, that 376 of the 400 captured Marines survive the war, which if correct is a surprisingly good rate considering the normal conditions of Japanese POW camps.
Japanese Ships Sunk:
KATORI MARU ARMY CARGO 9849 tons 5 MILE OFF KUCHING by MINE
SORYU MARU ARMY CARGO 856 tons OFF BADOC, PI by MINE
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