17 - 23 January 1942

[merdiolu]

17 January 1942

Atlantic Ocean : The Norwegian 8,087-ton motor tanker Nyholt was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-87 (Joachim Berger) 180 miles south of Cape Race, Newfoundland, after having lost contact with Convoy ON 52 in thick fog south of Greenland on a voyage in ballast from Reykjavik, Iceland to New York, New York, United States.

Norwegian cargo ship Octavian was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-203 off Nova Scotia

Vyazma Front , Russia : On the Eastern Front, the Red Army now embarked upon a new and decisive tactic; beginning on January 18, and continuing for six days, a total of 1,643 Soviet parachute troops were dropped behind the German lines south-east and south-west of Vyazma. Linking up with partisan units, they began to harass and disrupt the German lines of communication and supply, forcing substantial numbers of German troops to be diverted to anti-partisan activity.

Caroline Islands , Pacific Ocean : A Japanese fleet consisting of four carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Zuikaku, Shokaku), two battleships (Hiei, Kirishima), and several cruisers and destroyers departed Truk, Caroline Islands under the command of Chuichi Nagumo for Rabaul, New Britain

Halfaya Pass , Egypt : 5,500 Axis troops (2.000 German , 3.500 Italian) at the Halfaya Pass, Egypt surrendered to the South African 6th Infantry Brigade delivering the pass to 8th Army. (this was the last Axis garrison in Libya frontier)

Mediterranean Sea : While escorting Allied convoy MW 8 to Malta , Royal Navy destroyer HMS Gurkha was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-133 at 30 kilometers northeast of Sidi Barrani, Egypt. Free Dutch Navy destroyer picked up about 240 survivors of HMS Gurkha.

NOTE : Gurkha, formerly HMS Larne, was an L-class destroyer which had been paid for by every officer and man of the Gurkha Brigade of British Indian Army subscribing a days pay to provide a new ship after the loss of the Tribal-Class HMS Gurkha in Apr 1940.

Indian Ocean : Royal Navy destroyer HMS Jupiter located and forced Japanese submarine I-60 to surface 65 miles west of Krakatoa, Dutch East Indies with depth charges. I-60 returned fire with her deck gun, killing 3 and wounding 9 aboard HMS Jupiter. However I-60 was ultimately sunk by gunfire from HMS Jupiter; 85 were killed, 2 survived.

Malaya : Indian 45th Brigade withdrew from Bukit Bakri, British Malaya. 8th Australian Division at the other hand , made a stand and repulsed Japanese infantry advancing on bicyales with a well prepared ambush at Gemas , inflicting heavy casaulties on Japanese , but two days later Australians also had to abandon their position due to Japanese 25th Army outflanking its positions due to retreat of Indian 45th Indian Brigade.

Borneo : Japanese trops landed at Sandakan in British Borneo.

Kola Inlet , Arctic Ocean : German submarine U-454 attacked Allied convoy PQ-8 20 miles off the Kola Inlet in northern Russia at 2221 hours, torpedoed and sank Royal Navy Tribal-class destroyer HMS Matabele (under Commander A. C. Stafford; 236 were killed in freezing Arctic waters, 2 survived), then torpedoed and sinking Soviet trawler RT-68 Enisej, and damaging British merchant ship Harmatris (civilian convoy commodore’s flagship). Later in the day, surviving ships of PQ-8 arrived in Murmansk, Russia.

Ukraine : General Walther von Reichenau passed away from either a cerebral hemorrhage or a heartattack near Poltava, Ukraine.

United Kingdom : The Boeing 314 Clipper Flying Boat “Berwick” with Winston Churchill aboard suffered a navigational error and would have flown into France had not been a last minute course correction. When the aircraft approached Britain from the south, the aircraft was initially treated as hostile and six Hurricane fighters were scrambled to intercept; the fighters failed to locate Churchill’s transport.

[merdiolu]

18 January 1942

Atlantic Ocean : Operation Drumroll continues. German submarine U-86 torpedoed and sank Greek cargo ship Dimitrios G. Thermiotis off Newfoundland at 0613 hours, killing all 33 aboard. German submarine U-66 torpedoed and sank US tanker Allan Jackson 30 kilometers northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States at 0833 hours, killing 23 of 35 aboard. Also off North Carolina, just to the southwest, U-123 torpedoed and damaged US tanker Malay, killing 5. At 0644 hours, German submarine U-552 torpedoed and sank US cargo ship Frances Salman, killing all 28 aboard.

Dutch East Indies : The Dutch began to destroy oil facilities at Balikpapan, Dutch Borneo.

Germany : German and Italy signed two secret military agreements with Japan in Berlin, Germany, one with the Japanese Army and the other with the Japanese Navy. The two agreement divided the world into two operational zones along the 70th meridian east longitude line, the west of which would be under the operational jurisdiction of Germany and Italy, and east of which of Japan. The agreements also committed the three powers to intelligence sharing.

Gibraltar : British anti-submarine trawler HMS Erin and minesweeping trawler HMS Honjo were destroyed by a mysterious explosion in Gibraltar, which also damaged anti-submarine trawler HMS Imperialist. Spanish saboteurs and Italian frogmen were the main suspects.

Hawaii : Joseph Rochefort’s cryptanalytic team in US Territory of Hawaii intercepted Japanese Navy radio messages that mentioned an invasion or occupation force against a target code named “R”, which Rochefort guessed was Rabaul, New Britain. He would pass this information to Chester Nimitz via Edwin Layton.

Malaya : Australian troops destroyed 9 Japanese tanks north of Bakri, Malaya at 0645 hours, but by the evening the Japanese were able to get through this area.

Philippines : US cargo ship Luzon was bombed by Japanese aircraft off Cebu City and beached after suuffering heavy damage

Pacific Ocean : US submnarine USS Plunger torpedoed and sank Japanese freighter Eizan Maru 23 miles off Honshu, Japan

Mediterranean Sea : Italian cargo ship Citta di Livorno was torpedoed and sunk by Royal Navy submarine HMS Porpoise off Crete.

Crimea , Ukraine : German 11.Army captured Feodosiya in the Crimea region of Russia, sealing off the Soviet bridgehead near Kerch.

Ukraine : Soviet troops attacked across the Donets River in southern Russia and eastern Ukraine, hoping to cut off German forces around the Sea of Azov.
Feld Marshall Fedor von Bock succeeded Walther von Reichenau as the head of German Army Group South fighting in Ukraine.

Rzhev-Vyazma Front , Russia : German II and X Corps were cut off by Red Army at Demyansk, Russia; the Luftwaffe was ordered to maintain an aerial supply line to these surrounded troops.

Leningrad Front , Russia : Soviet 54th Army broke through German defenses at Pogoste, Russia, 75 kilometers southeast of Leningrad. Further south, Soviet 2nd Shock Army penetrated German lines near Spasskaya Polisk on the Volkhov River.

[merdiolu]

19 January 1942

Washington , USA : US Secretary of War Henry Stimson formally asked Chiang Kaishek to approve a US commander for Chinese troops fighting in Burma; Chiang agreed, albeit with ambiguous language.

US Eastern Seaboard : Operation Drumroll , German submarine U-66 torpedoed and sank Canadian passanger liner Lady Hawkins 150 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States at 0743 hours; 251 were killed, 71 survived. On the same day, German submarine U-123 torpedoed and sank US cargo ship City of Atlanta (43 were killed, 3 survived) , US cargo ship Norvana (killing 43 of 46 aboard) and Latvian cargo ship Ciltvaria in the same general area ; US tanker Malay was damaged in the same attack.

Burma : Japanese troops from 15th Army captured the airfield at Tavoy (now Dawei), Burma.

Egypt : Returning from the United States, the nationalist Prime Minister of Burma, U Saw, was arrested by the British police in Egypt after being detected communicating with the Japanese while at Lisbon, Portugal. He would spend the next four years a prisoner in the British Protectorate of Uganda.

Mediterranean Sea : Norwegian troopship Thermoplye from convoy MW8A was bombed and sunk by Luftwaffe JU-88 bombers though most of the crew and passangers were rescued by Royal Navy escort ships

Iceland : Dispersed ships of Allied convoy QP-5 began to arrive in Allied waters.

Borneo : Japanese troops landed at Sandakan, British North Borneo unopposed at 0700 hours.

Malaya : The headquarters of the Indian 45th Brigade in Malaya was destroyed by a Japanese air raid at 1000 hours, wounding General Duncan and killing all of his staff officers. After fierce fighting to hold Yongpeng sector , only 850 men out of 4.000 strong 4th Indian Brigade managed to escape from Muar River sector. Elsewhere in British Malaya, Australian 8th Division withdrew from Gemas to prevent being cut off by a Japanese flanking maneuver.

Indian Ocean : Dutch cargo ship Van Imhoff was bombed and sunk by Japanese Imparial Army bombers off Java and sunk along with 478 German internees evacuated from Java.

Rzhev-Vyazma Front , Russia : Soviet 3rd and 4th Shock Armies advanced toward Toropets and Kholm, Russia. Red Army also recaptured Mozhaisk , 100 km west of Moscow.

UK : Seven US airmen set up the VIII Bomber Command at RAF Daws Hill in Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom.

US Pacific Islands : The US 2nd Marine Brigade (detached from 2nd Marine division) with 8th Marines arrived in American Samoa.

[merdiolu]

20 January 1942

Tripolitania , Libya : German-Italian Panzer Group was renamed as German-Italian Panzer Army Afrika

Atlantic Ocean : Greek cargo ship Maro straggling behind her convoy ON 53 was shelled and sunk by German submarine U-43

Malaya : RAF Hawker Hurricane fighters, sent as reinforcements to Singapore, shot down eight Japanese bombers from a force of 27 attacking the city. Ground troops had less success, however, as the Indian and Australian retreat from Bakri, Malaya was cut off by the Japanese. Also on this date, more Japanese troops landed at Endau, Malaya , overflanking Indian and Australian positions despite heavy RAF air raids to sink invasion barges. Japanese troops from 25th Army are directly threatening Johore causeway linking Malaya to Singapore

Singapore : Singapore town and island was bombed heavily first time by Japanewse bombers. 50 civilians killed , 150 wounded.

London : Churchill orders Singapıore to be converted into a cidatel and defended to last man.

Burma : The Japanese advance guard crossed the border into Burma heading for Moulmein. Kawkareik was defended by 16th Indian Brigade under Brigadier J. K. “Jonah” Jones, but was widely dispersed covering the tracks leading to the border 38 miles away. The Japanese first encountered the 1st/7th Gurkha Rifles (who had only arrived on the previous day) near Myawadi. The Gurkhas were quickly outflanked and forced to withdraw. Within forty-eight hours the rest of 16th Infantry Brigade were forced to follow.

Philippines : Japanese minesweeper Banshu Maru struck a mine and sank of Subic Bay

Washington , USA : President Roosevelt suggested to a Cabinet meeting that an air freight and alternative land route be considered for the supply of China - this task to be added to Stilwell’s already considerable responsibilities.

Rzhev-Vyazma Front , Russia : In Russia, Soviet 11th Cavalry Corps attacked from Rzhev towards Vyazma while Soviet 4th Shock Army captured the German supply dumps at Toropets, taking 6 tanks, 723 trucks, artillery pieces with 450,000 shells, small arms with millions of rounds of ammunition, 1,000 drums of fuel, and food.

Makassar Strait , Java Sea : US submarine USS S-36 became stuck on Taka Bakang Reef in the Makassar Strait between British Borneo and Celebes, Dutch East Indies at 0400 hours and scuttled by her crew which were rescued by Dutch ships from Java.

Indian Ocean : Norwegian cargo ship Eidsvold was torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-59 off Christmas Island.

Australia : Royal Australian Navy minesweeper HMAS Deloraine located and sank Japanese submarine I-124 with depth charges 60 miles northwest of Darwin, Australia, killing 80.

Rabaul , New Britain : Japanese South Seas Force Transport Fleet ships crossed the Equator en route to Rabaul, New Britain at 0500 hours; it was the first Japanese Army force to cross the Equator in history. At 1214 hours, coast watchers at Tabar north of Rabaul spotted 20 Japanese Zero fighters; 109 carrier aircraft reached Rabaul at 1248 hours, destroying 5 of the 8 remaining Wirraway fighters at Rabaul. Shortly after, 27 Type 97 aircraft of carrier Kaga and a number of Type 99 aircraft from carrier Shokaku and Zuikaku attacked, sinking Norwegian freighter Herstein and coal hulk Westralia, losing only one aircraft in combat (a Type 97 piloted by Petty Officer 1st Class Tatsuya Sugihara) and two during recovery. No. 24 Squadron RAAF was effectively wiped out after the attacks on Rabaul on this day.

Germany : SS-Gruppenführer Heydrich hosted the Wannsee Conference at a villa in the suburbs of Berlin, Germany to discuss the Final Solution. Among the Germans present, summoned there by Heydrich, was the newly appointed State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Justice, Roland Freisler, and a leading Nazi member of the German Foreign Ministry, Martin Luther, whose task was to persuade the governments of Europe to co-operate in what was called, deceptively, ‘the Final Solution of the Jewish Question’. The aim, Heydrich explained, was that all eleven million Jews in Europe should ‘fall away’. To find them, Europe would be ‘combed from West to East’. The representative of the General Government, Dr Joseph Bouhler, had ‘only one favour to ask’, that the ‘Jewish question’ in the General Government ‘be solved as rapidly as possible’. Another participant, Wilhelm Stuckart, who had helped to draw up the 1935 Nuremberg Laws, turning Jews into second class citizens and outcasts, proposed ‘compulsory sterilization’ of all ‘non-Aryans’ and the forcible dissolution of all ‘mixed’ marriages between Jews and non-Jews.

But it was the work of the gas vans at Chelmno which was to be the model; since the second week of December more than a thousand Jews a day, and many Gypsies, had been taken from their homes and villages in western Poland, packed into the vans and killed during the drive from Chelmno church to the nearby wood. In the months following the Wannsee Conference, similar gassing vans, and gas chambers using diesel fumes, were to be set up at three further camps—Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka. Although remote, each camp was on a railway line; it was to be by rail that almost all the deportees were brought and killed. Only a handful, needed for menial work in the camps, were kept alive. There was no ‘selection’ of able-bodied men and women who might work in factories or farms; all who arrived—men and boys, women and girls, children, the old, the sick and the able-bodied—were murdered. Death by gassing and by systematic killing was the ‘Final’, as opposed to any other, ‘Solution’, whether emigration or forced labour, or death by mass shooting.

To ensure that the Final Solution worked smoothly, that the deportations were orderly and systematic, and that adequate deceptions worked throughout, Heydrich chose a senior SS officer, Adolf Eichmann, to carry out the Wannsee decisions. When the conference was over, Eichmann later recalled, ‘we all sat together like comrades. Not to talk shop, but to rest after long hours of effort’.

[merdiolu]

21 January 1942

El Aghelia , Libya : Panzer Army Africa under command of General Erwin Rommel began a suprise counter attack against 1st British Armored Division (which recently arrived from England and inexperienced in desert warfare) in a pincer maneuver. ‘Our opponents are getting out as though they’d been stung,’ Rommel wrote to his wife on the following day. Due to bad communications and 8th Army commander General Ritchie’s inability to impose his authority over his subordinates (until Bernard Montgomery arrived to desert and took over 8th Army command in August 1942 , no British commander in desert could do so) 1st Armored Division is in danger of being encircled.

Pearl Harbour , Hawaii : American carriers USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown and their task forces set course to raid Marshall and Gilbert Islands.

Malaya : Following the catastrophe of the previous day, Japanese Mitsubishi A6M fighters escorted the bombers to Singapore and shot down five of the defending Hurricane fighters without loss; during the period 30 Dec 1941 to 15 Feb 1942, Singapore would suffer 18 heavy air raids and 25 lesser attacks. Meanwhile, to the north in Malaya, the retreat of Indian and Australian troops from Bakri was blocked at the Parit Sulong bridge at 0930 hours.

Strait of Malacca : Greek cargo ship Zanis Cambanis struck a mine and sank.

Philippines : Japanese troops penetrated the west side of the Abucay-Mauban defensive line at Mount Natib on Luzon, Philippine Islands and began to cut off supplies to US-Filipino troops on the line.

Burma : Japanese 15th Army began to advance on Moulmein

Bay of Bengal : Japanese submarine I-66 sank British ship Chak Sang (5 were killed, 61 survived) and Panamanian ship Nord 125 miles southwest of Rangoon, Burma.

Rabaul , New Britain : Frustrated Australian Chaplain John May at Rabaul, New Britain sent a message to Townsville, Australia containing the Latin phrase “Morituri vos salutamus”, or “we who are about to die salute you”, referring to the Australian government’s abandonment of those deployed to Rabaul. To the east, a Catalina aircraft from Buka Island took off at dawn and spotted a Japanese cruiser force 6 hours later; the aircraft was shot down by fighters; 3 were killed, 5 were captured by cruiser Aoba. Shortly after, 52 carrier aircraft attacked Kavieng, New Ireland. At 1630 hours, RAAF command ordered the No. 24 Squadron to attack any Japanese fleets that might be approaching Rabaul as if it did not know that No. 24 Squadron had effectively been wiped out by Japanese attacks on the previous day; nevertheless, the last surviving Hudson bomber was launched on patrol, and would return after failing to find any Japanese ships.

Atlantic Ocean : Operation Drumbeat - German submarine U-754 torpedoed and sank unescorted Norwegian 2,135-ton ship Belize off Newfoundland at 1922 hours; 20 crew members were killed during the sinking, and 4 took to lifeboats; when HMCS Spikenard found the lifeboat four days later, the Canadian sailors discovered only dead bodies. U-754 torpedoed and sank British cargo ship William Hansen in the same area afterwards. At 2221 hours, German submarine U-130 torpedoed and sank unescorted Norwegian 8,248-ton tanker Alexandra Høegh 200 miles east of Rhodes Island, United States; the first torpedo hit struck in the forward section of the ship, forcing the crew to abandon ship in three lifeboats; a second torpedo hit caused a huge explosion and broke the ship in half; all 28 crew members survived.

Norwegian Sea : German cargo ship Walter Ohlogge struck a mine and sank

UK : The German Luftwaffe resumed bombing London, England, United Kingdom and a number of southern British ports.

[merdiolu]

22 January 1942

Pearl Harbour , Hawaii : US carrier USS Lexington departed to raid Wake Island.

Philippines : In the Philippine Islands, an attempted Japanese landing from fishing boats on the west coast of the Bataan Peninsula was wiped out; the Japanese 20th Infantry Regiment would continue to try to gain a foothold. Meanwhile, Douglas MacArthur ordered the Abucay-Mauban defensive line abandoned as the Japanese had penetrated its western end; the troops fell back about 5 miles to the new line from Bagac to Orion.

That same night, however, the Japanese launched a series of amphibious landings behind US-Philippine front at south of Bagac.

Leningrad , USSR : The Russians commenced a mass evacuation of civilians from besieged Leningrad across the ice road. By Apr 1942, 440,000 would have been withdrawn from the city.

Rzhev-Vyazma Front , Russia : To avoid being surrounded, German 9th Army launched an attack on the flank of Soviet 29th Army near Rzhev, Russia. To the north, Soviet 3rd Shock Army came in contact with German 218th Infantry Division at Kholm.

Malaya : Two RAF Albacore aircraft from Singapore attacked the Japanese positions at the Parit Sulong bridge in Malaya in an attempt to relieve the Indian and Australian troops being blocked there; failing to break through the Japanese lines, the Allied troops decided to break up to small groups and take the risk of fleeing through the jungle.

The Japanese executed 161 Australian, Indian, and Dutch prisoners at Parit Sulong, Malaya, and then burned the bodies. Cut off after destroying ten enemy tanks during the Parit Sulong battle in Malaya, South African-born Australian Colonel Charles Anderson took his men to safety through 15 miles of hostile territory. For his leadership he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Rabaul , New Britain : Japanese troops landed on New Ireland, Bismarck Islands and captured Kavieng. At nearby Rabaul, the last surviving Hudson bomber was used to evacuate the wounded airmen from the hospital on Namanula Hill, taking them to Port Moresby, British Territory of Papua. After sunrise, carrier Akagi and Kaga launched aircraft against Rabaul; they attacked two coastal guns at the cost of 2 Type 99 dive bombers. In the late morning, coast watchers at Watom Island spotted a Japanese fleet bringing 6.000 Japanese troops to invade New Britain , which appears on the horizon for the Rabaul defenders by 1200 hours. In the afternoon, Australian troops began to sabotage airfield facilities to prevent Japanese use after capture; when destroying a bomb store, the resulting explosion was much larger than expected, and it killed several natives and the vibration damaged all nearby radios, thus the last message sent out at 1600 hours would become Rabaul’s final radio message.

Indian Ocean : Dutch cargo ship Van Overstraten was torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-65

US Eastern Seaboard : German submarine U-123 sank US freighter Norvana off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States, killing the entire crew.

Atlantic Ocean : British cargo ship Caledonian Monarch stragling behing convoy SC 63 , was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-588 off Scotland

British tanker Athelcrown was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-82 off Nova Scotia

Belgian cargo ship Gandhia straggling behing convoy ON 54 was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-135 off Newfoundland

Norwegian tanker Inneroy was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-553 in Atlantic Ocean

Panaman tanker Olympic was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-66 in Atlantic Ocean

Libya : Panzer Army Afrika captured Antelat, Libya. 1st British Armored Division , badly disorganised and suffered heavy casaulties retreated towards Benghazi.

Mediterranean Sea : Italian convoy T18 (transports Ravello, Monviso, Monginevro, Victoria, and Vettor) departed Messina and Taranto in Italy for Tripoli, Libya with 97 tanks, 271 trucks, 11,823 tons of supplies and 1,467 troops aboard; it was escorted by Italian battleship Duilo, 3 cruisers, 14 destroyers, and 2 torpedo boats.

Italian troopship Victoria was torpedoed and sunk by a by a Fairey Albacore torpedo bomber aircraft of 826 Squadron, Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm from Malta with the loss of 391 of the 1,455 German troops carrying aboard

[merdiolu]

23 January 1942

Pacific Ocean : American oiler USS Neches was torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-72 70 miles southwest of the Hawaiian Islands at 0319 hours, killing 57. Without this source of fuel, USS Lexington and her task force cancelled the Wake Island raid

Balkans : In Yugoslavia, Hungarian troops massacred 2,462 Serbs and 700 Jews over six days in retaliation for partisan activity.

Rangoon , Burma : The Japanese commenced a determined effort to establish air superiority over Rangoon, Burma. By 29 Jan seventeen Japanese aircraft had been shot down for the loss of two American Volunteer Group and ten Royal Air Force machines, forcing the Japanese temporarily to concede.

Rzhev - Vyazma Front , Russia : Soviet 3rd Shock Army surrounded 5,500 German troops at Kholm, Russia. Rzhev all but encircled by Red Army

US Eastern Seaboard : German submarine U-66 torpedoed and sank US collier Venore 5 kilometers off North Carolina, United States, killing 17 of 41 aboard. At 0812 hours, U-109 torpedoed and sank British cargo ship Thirlby 20 miles off Nova Scotia, Canada; 5 were killed, 41 survived. At 1340 hours, U-82 torpedoed and sank Norwegian tanker Leiesten 400 miles east of Newfoundland; 6 were killed, 29 survived.

Atlantic Ocean : British cargo ship Thirby , straggled behind convoy SC 66 was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-109

New Britain , South West Pacific : At 0230 hours, Japanese troops began landing on New Britain on three beachheads, two of which were defended, but in general the Japanese had little difficult overcoming the defenses. Carrier aircraft from Akagi and Kaga supported the invasion after dawn, enjoying air superiority thus losing only one pilot (Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Isao Hiraishi) all day. As the troops entered and captured Rabaul, New Britain, Bismarck Islands, as reported by Tolai natives later, Japanese troops mutilated corpses of Australian troops with axes and bayonets.

In the Solomon Islands, the Japanese landed at Kieta, Bougainville.

Japanese troops prepared to land at Kieta on the Solomon Islands, at Balikpapan in Borneo, and at Kendari in the Celebes; a vast geographic span.

Borneo , Dutch East Indies : As the Japanese convoy carrying the Sakaguchi Detachment approached Balikpapan, Dutch Borneo, it was attacked by Dutch forces; Dutch submarine K-18 torpedoed and sank Japanese transport vessel Tsuruga Maru, while nine Dutch B-10 bombers, and 20 Dutch Buffalo fighters bombed sank Japanese transport ship Nana Maru and damaged Tatsugami Maru

Washington , USA : In Washington, DC, United States, George Marshall told Joseph Stilwell that Stilwell was definitely going to be sent to China. Stilwell began assembling a staff for his upcoming mission to China.