24 - 30 January 1942

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24 January 1942

Borneo , Dutch East Indies : Battle of Makassar Strait: Off Balikpapan, Four US Navy destroyers (USS Paul Jones, USS Parrot, USS Pope, and USS John D. Ford) from US Asian Squadron recently arrived from Philippines attacked Japanese invasion fleet off Balikpapan , Borneo. Four Japanese transports were sunk as the result of this battle. This can be considered first sucessful US naval offensive operation in Pacific Theater.

Dutch bombers also attacked Japanese troop transports off Dutch Borneo as the ships sailed toward Balikpapan bombing and sinking Japanese cargo ship Jukko Maru. Dutch submarine K-18 torpedoed and sank Japanese patrol boat P37 and suffered damage from depth charge counterattacks from Japanese destroyers. After sundown, 5,500 Japanese troops landed unopposed at two sites north and east of Balikpapan.

Celebes , Dutch East Indies : Japanese Sasebo Special Naval Landing Force captured Kendari, Celebes, Dutch East Indies, overcoming the 400 Dutch defenders at the airfield.

Japanese cargo ship Myoken Maru was torpedoed and sunk by US submarine USS Swordfish off Celebes.

Rzhev-Vyazma Front , Russia : Germans retook Sukhinichi, near Kaluga, Russia.

Luzon , Philippines : The 2nd Battalion of the Japanese 20th Infantry Regiment continued to make landing attempts at Quinauan Point, and Longoskawayan Point, Bataan on Luzon of Philippine Islands, increasing the strength of the small beachhead. After sundown, US and Filipino troops began withdrawing from the Abucay-Mauban defensive line to the new Orion-Bagac defensive line.

Burma : Japanese aircraft attacked Rangoon, Burma for the second day in a row. From the Thai-Burmese border, Japanese troops marched in multiple columns toward Moulmein, Burma, looking to capture the nearby airfield.

Atlantic Ocean : German submarine U-66 torpedoed and sank both British tanker Empire Gem and US cargo ship Venore 20 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States at 0240 hours. Out to sea to the northeast, at 0653 hours, German submarine U-106 torpedoed and sank British cargo ship Empire Wildebeeste 430 miles southeast of Nova Scotia, Canada. In the afternoon at 1525 hours, U-333 torpedoed and sank Norwegian cargo ship Ringstad which straggled behind convoy ONS 55 off Newfoundland.

Australia : John Curtin, the Australian Premiere, called for an Australian representative to be appointed to the Imperial War Cabinet, and further proposed the establishment of a Pacific Council for joint consultation between all the Allied countries particularly concerned.

Gulf of Panama , Pacific Ocean : US submarine chaser USS Sturdy accidentally rammed and sank US Navy submarine USS S-26 in the Gulf of Panama in the darkness, killing 46 of the 49 aboard.

[merdiolu]

25 January 1942

Libya : Afrikakorps troops captured Msus, Libya, capturing 30 British Valentine tanks , crushing 2nd British Armored Brigade.

Bangkok , Thailand : Thai goverment declares war on US and UK.

Burma : Japanese aircraft attacked Rangoon, Burma for the third day in a row. Meanwhile, Archibald Wavell ordered that the airfield at Moulmein, Burma to be defended, which was being threatened by troops of the Japanese 55th infantry Division.

Malaya : Troops of the Japanese Imperial Guard captured Batu Pahat, British Malaya; in response, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival ordered troops in Malaya to withdraw to Singapore. Meanwhile, Allied convoy BM10 from Bombay, India arrived at Singapore, disembarking 4,745 troops of the Indian 44th Infantry Brigade, vehicles, and supplies.

Borneo , Dutch East Indies : The Japanese conducted a third landing at Balikpapan, Dutch Borneo, capturing the airfield at dawn. Dutch defenders began sabotaging bridges before retreating north, where they were ambushed by a Japanese forces. Meanwhile, civilians were evacuated by ship at Pontianak, Dutch Borneo.

New Guinea : In New Guinea, Japanese naval troops landed at Lae.

Philippines : US and Filipino troops continued to withdraw from the Abucay-Mauban defensive line on Bataan, Luzon, Philippine Islands toward the Orion-Bagac defensive line. But the Japanese would give them no respite, and within twenty four hours were closing up to continue the attack. Dense jungle made defensive preparations difficult, though Mount Samat, and the Mariveles mountains behind it, rising to 4,700 feet, provided good observation points. Time, however, was against the defenders, as the Japanese bombarded them from the air and, by skilful use of landing barges, by-passed the American defence line by sending troops from Subic Bay and Moron, to Point Caibobo, south of Bagac. The Americans were not, however, without resources or tenacity, and the landing force suffered considerable losses when attacked by an American PT —fast patrol—boat. Two more Japanese landings further south, at Point Canas and Point Quinauan, were successfully contained, so much so that the Japanese 14th Army gave up their hopes of a rapid conquest of Bataan, and, between Bagac and Orion, had to pull back slightly to a more defensive line of their own, while at the same time 14th Army commander General Homma calling for reinforcements from Manila, and asking Tokyo to send yet more troops from beyond the Philippines as a matter of urgency.

Mediterranean Sea : Royal Navy submarine HMS Ultimatum torpedoed and sank Italian troop transport ship Dalmatia L 30 miles south of Messina, Sicily, Italy.

English Channel : German destroyer Z8 Bruno Heinemann struck two British naval mines and sank in the Strait of Dover; 98 were killed, 229 survived.

Atlantic Ocean : German submarine U-754 torpedoed and sank Greek cargo ship Mount Kitheron off Newfoundland at 0925 hours. 28 miles southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey at 1002 hours, German submarine U-130 torpedoed and sank Norwegian tanker Varanger carrying 12,750 tons of fuel oil from Curacao to New York; all 40 aboard survived. Further south, German submarine U-125 torpedoed and damaged US tanker Olney 10 kilometers off Virginia, United States. Finally, out to sea, U-123 intercepted and sank British cargo ship Culebra in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with gunfire, killing all 45 aboard, while en route back to her home port.

Arctic Ocean : British merchant ship Harmatris, the civilian convoy commodore’s flagship of Allied convoy PQ-8, damaged by German submarine U-454 on 17 Jan 1942, arrived at Kola Peninsula in northern Russia in tow by two tugs.

Belfast , Northern Ireland : The 4,000-strong vanguard 34th US Infantry Division of the United States’ commitment to the “Germany first” agreement arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

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26 January 1942

Berlin , Germany : SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler announced his plan to send 100,000 Jewish men and 50,000 Jewish women to concentration camps for use as forced laborers within the following four weeks.

Burma : Japanese aircraft attacked Rangoon, Burma for the fourth day in a row.

Malaya : British, Indian, and Australian troops began to withdraw from the Batu Pahat-Ayer Hitam-Jemaluang defensive line in British Malaya as ordered by Lieutenant General Arthur Percival on the previous day. On the east coast, 1,500 troops of the British Brigade of the Indian 11th Division were cut off at Rengit. At 1100 hours, Japanese 18th Division landed at Endau, 80 miles north of Singapore. At 1500 hours, RAF biplane aircraft attacked the Endau landing force, causing little damage and losing five RAF Vildebeest aircraft. At 1630 hours, destroyers HMS Thanet and HMAS Vampire departed Singapore to attack the Japanese ships at Endau. Finally, at 1730 hours, another air attack was conducted by nine RAF Vildebeest and three Royal Navy Albacore aircraft, escorted by some Hurricane fighters; this attack also achieved little, and nine aircraft were lost.

Luzon , Philippines : US and Filipino troops completed the phased withdraw from the Abucay-Mauban defensive line at Bataan, Luzon, Philippine Islands, which was done over three nights

Balikpapan , Borneo , Dutch East Indies : Japanese cargo ship Sanuki Maru was bombed and sunk by by Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft of the United States Army Air Force

Dutch patrol vessel HNLMS Wega was bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft off Olee.

Atlantic Ocean : German submarine U-125 torpedoed and sank American cargo ship West Ivis 100 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States at 0556 hours, killing the entire crew of 45. Three hours later at 0842 hours, 325 miles southeast of Nova Scotia, Canada, German submarine U-106 torpedoed and sank British cargo ship Traveller, killing all 52 aboard. 200 miles south of Newfoundland, German submarine U-582 torpedoed and sank British tanker Refast at 1858 hours; 10 were killed, 32 survived.

German occupied Yugoslavia : On January 26, in German-occupied Yugoslavia, several hundred Jewish women and children were sent on foot, in the snow, from Ruma to Zemun by SS. ‘The white death reaped,’ one eye witness later recalled. ‘Children were freezing in the arms of their mothers, who tried to warm them in their embrace. Mothers buried the frozen children quickly in the snow, hoping that others would bury them properly when spring arrived. The wife of Kurt Hilkovec lost her three children on the way. The youngest, born in Sabac, froze in her arms’. The destination of this march of horror was a concentration camp at Sajmiste; there, almost all the survivors of the march were killed in May.

[merdiolu]

27 January 1942

Dublin , Irish Republic : Eamon de Valera, Premier of Ireland, protested the arrival of US troops in Ulster, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

Philippines : Additional Japanese troops were landed at Point Quinauan in southwestern Bataan, Luzon, Philippine Islands. Elements of the US 4th Marine Regiment attacked the Japanese beachhead at Longoskawayan Point.
Submarines of the US Navy Asiatic Fleet withdrew to Fremantle, Australia. American submarine USS Seawolf delivered 37 tons of .30 caliber ammunition to the US troops at Corregidor in the Philippine Islands. Upon departure, the submarine took on 25 pilots, spare submarine parts, and 16 torpedoes.

Java Sea : 100 miles off Java, Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable launched the 48 RAF Hurricane fighters that she was transporting. These fighters would fly to Java and Dutch Borneo; they were intended to ultimately reach Singapore to bolster defenses there.

Borneo , Dutch East Indies : Japanese troops overcame Dutch and Indian troops and captured the Singkawang II airfield on Dutch Borneo; the Allied troops retreated to Ledo, 15 miles to the southwest.

Atlantic Ocean : Just after 0000 hours, German submarine U-754 torpedoed and sank Greek cargo ship Icarion off Newfoundland, killing 9 of 29 aboard. Off the east coast of the United States, German submarine U-130 torpedoed and sank US tanker Francis E. Powell 35 miles southeast of Ocean City, New Jersey at 0943 hours (killing 4 of 32 aboard) and damaged US tanker Halo with gunfire off North Carolina. German submarine U-123 torpedoed and sank Norwegian tanker Pan Norway off Cape Hatteras.

Libya : General Erwin Rommel sent a small column of tanks from Msus, Libya eastward across the desert towards Mechili as a feint to draw out the British 1st Armored Division; meanwhile, his main force moved towards Benghazi.

Malaya : At 0318 hours, Royal Navy destroyers HMS Thanet and HMAS Vampire engaged Japanese cruiser Sendai and six destroyers, which were protecting the troop transports that the two Allied destroyers were aiming to sink, off British Malaya; in the ensuing Battle of Endau, Japanese troop transports Kansai Maru and Kanbera Maru were damaged. At 0400 hours, HMS Thanet was torpedoed by Japanese destroyers ans sunk; 38 were killed, 67 survived and were rescued by friendly forces, and 31 survived and were captured by the Japanese. Also in eastern Malaya, British gunboats HMS Dragonfly and HMS Scorpion evacuated 1,500 British troops from Rengit and transported them to Singapore.

British tanker Harpa struck a mine, which detonated her cargo of aviation fuel, in Singapore Strait; she was destroyed, killing 39 of 40 aboard.

Rzhev-Vyazma Front , Russia : Soviet 11th Cavalry Corps reached Vyazma, Russia but was driven back by elements of the German 9th Army. Further south Soviet Bryansk Front under command of General Zhukov started an offensive to sperate German Army Group South from German Army Group Center.

Ukraine : Red Army under command of Marshal Semyon Timoshenko initiated a massive offensive that threatens main German supply base at Dnepropetrovsk

Pacific Ocean : US submarine USS Gudgeon detected Japanese submarine I-73 by radar 260 miles west of Midway Atoll. USS Gudgeon fired three torpedoes which hit ans sunk Japanese submarine I-73 with all hands

London , UK : Winston Churchill opened a three-day Parliamentary debate in London, England, United Kingdom on the course of the war.

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28 January 1942

Izyum , Ukraine : After gaining 60 miles in two days , Red Army offensive in Ukraine under commanmd of Marshal Timoshenko began to slow down before Dneprepetrovsk due to tough resistance of 6th German Army.

Crimea , Ukraine : In the Crimean city of Feodosiya, thirty-six Russian partisans were captured and executed by Germans. In Dzhankoi, 141 ‘suspicious people’, as the Gestapo described them, were arrested; ‘seventy-six have already been shot after having been interrogated’, the report explained nine days later.

Moscow , USSR : Georgy Zhukov was promoted, with responsibility growing to include the Bryanksk, Kalinin, and West Fronts.

South West Pacific : Japanese troops occupied Russel Island off southwestern New Guinea.

Luzon , Philippines : Mortars and machine guns of the US 4th Marine Regiment were assigned to the 57th Philippine Scout Regiment at Longoskawayan Point, Bataan on Luzon, Philippine Islands, where the combined US-Filipino effort would soon wipe out the Japanese landing attempt.

Dutch East Indies : US B-17 bombers based on Java, Dutch East Indies bombed Japanese positions at Kendari, Celebes, Dutch East Indies.
Japanese troops landed at Pemangkat, Dutch Borneo. At Balikpapan, part of the assault force for Bandjermasin, the capital of Dutch Borneo, departed by transports

Malaya : Japanese troops outflanked and wiped out Indian 22nd Brigade at the village of Layang Layang, Perak, Malaya. Meanwhile, US B-17 bombers based on Java, Dutch East Indies bombed Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaya. After sundown, British gunboats HMS Dragonfly and HMS Scorpion evacuated British troops at Rengit, Johor, Malaya.

Munster , Germany : Münster, Germany was bombed for the first time during the night of 28-29 Jan 1942 by mainforce aircraft of RAF Bomber Command. It would ultimately be bombed on six occasions, destroying 65% of the city.

Adriatic Sea , Mediterranean : Royal Navy submarine HMS Thorn torpedoed then shelled and sank Italian tanker Ninuccia one mile off Cape Planka, Yugoslavia at 1121 hours.

Benghazi , Libya : British and Indian troops destroyed port facilities at Benghazi, Libya as German forces approached.

North Sea : Norwegian cargo ship Bjornvik was bombed and sunk by Luftwaffe JU-88 boners off Hartfelt Point

Brazil : Brazilian goverment breaks off all relations with Axis

South Africa : Pro-Axis Boer nationalist extremists blew up five power stations to sabotage Rand gold mines.

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29 January 1942

Hawaii , Pacific Ocean : Japanese submarine I-71 attacked , torpedoed and sank US Army 622-ton transport General Royal T. Frank about 2 miles west of Maui, Hawaii in the in the Alenuihaha Channel. All aboard were lost.

Mediterranean Sea : German submarine U-431 torpedoed and sank British minesweeping whaler HMS Sotra 25 miles northeast of Bardia, Libya at 2146 hours, killing all 22 aboard.

Libya : 50 German tanks from 21st Panzer Division forced the Indian 4th Infantry Division out of the defensive positions at Benghazi, Libya, capturing British vehicles and supplies. No proper orders or instructions were sent to frontline troops of 8th Army before Benghazi. General Frank Messervy , commander of 4th Indian Division remarked that 8th Army commander General Neil Ritchie who was handpicked by Mediterranean and Middle East CiC General Claude Auchinleck and still kept in command of army contrary of front division commanders wishes despite his inexperience , went “haywire”

Afrikakorps reached Benghazi , Libya. Meanwhile General Auchinleck as Mediterranean Theater commander issues an order (a very demoralising one in hindsight) to troops and officers in North Africa to stop lionising Rommel. All the way from Cairo , Egypt , 2.000 miles away Auchinleck wrote in his order “There is growing tendency that Rommel is becoming a magician and bogeyman among out troops. I wish you to dispel by all means that Rommel is nothing but an ordinary German general” while leaving 8th Army command to officers unsuitable to the challenge ahead.

Tehran , Iran : After invasion by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union six months ago, Iran signed a treaty with Allies, thus allowing US Lend-Lease supplies to reach the Soviet Union overland. In exchange Allies promised to evacuate Iranian territory six months after the end of war and respect Iranian terrirorial integrity , soverignity and political independence. The ‘Persian corridor’, under Anglo-Soviet control, would become the principal route for war supplies from the West to Russia. For his part, the Shah of Iran undertook ‘not to adopt in his relations with foreign countries an attitude which is inconsistent with the alliance’.

London , UK : Winston Churchill won a vote of confidence 464-1 in the House of Commons of the British Parliament; Independent Labour Party leader James Maxton cast the only vote against Churchill.

Eastern Front , USSR : On the Eastern Front, Red Army forces on offensive inflicted heavy losses on the Germans south-west of Kaluga, retaking Sukhinichi.

Indian Ocean : Japanese submarine I-164 torpedoed and sank US cargo ship Florence Luckenbach 10 miles off the Indian coast; all 38 aboard survived.

Luzon , Philippines : The 20th Battalion of the Japanese 16th Division penetrated the US-Filipino Orion-Bagac defensive line at several locations at Bataan, Luzon, Philippine Islands; the reserve 45th Philippine Scout Division was quickly dispatched to halt the Japanese advance. Meanwhile, troops of the Philippine Scouts continued to assault the Japanese beachheads at Longoskawayan Point and Quinauan Point in southern Bataan. By evening American and Filipino troops succeeded in destroying the Japanese bridgehead on Point Longoskayan.

Malaya : British colonial administration and most of British civilian population were evacuated from Singapore. Meanwhile General Arthur Percival orders all forces of Malaya Command to evacuate the peninsula from Johore Strait and retreat to Singapore

Java , Dutch East Indies : Padang harbour in Dutch East Indies was heavily bombed by Japanese aircraft. Dutch cargo ships Boelogen , Buyskes , Elout and Poelau Tello were all sunk by Japanese aircraft in the harbour

Iceland , Atlantic Ocean : The US Coast Guard Cutter Alexander Hamilton was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-132 whilst on patrol off the Iceland coast.

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30 January 1942

Malaya : British troops in the southern tip of British Malaya completed the withdraw into Singapore, thus marking the start of the siege. After sundown, British gunboats HMS Dragonfly and HMS Scorpion once again sailed for Rengit to evacuate the last of the enveloped British troops there.

Indian Ocean : Japanese submarine I-64 torpedoed and sank Indian freighter Jalatarang 62 miles southeast of Madras, India.

Burma : Japanese 55th Infantry Division captured the airfield at Moulmein, Burma

Dutch East Indies : 800 men of the Japanese Special Naval Landing Force and 4,000 Japanese Army troops landed on the island of Ambon in the Dutch East Indies, covered from above by carrier aircraft of Hiryu and Soryu. Without air support, the 2,800 Dutch and 1,100 Australian troops withdrew toward Passo, failing to destroy bridges behind them.
400 Japanese troops landed at Adang Bay and began a 155-mile trek across jungles to assault Bandjermasin, the capital of Dutch Borneo.

Atlantic Ocean : German submarine U-106 torpedoed and sank US tanker Rochester 80 kilometers off Norfolk, Virginia, United States at 1805 hours, killing 3 of 35 aboard.

Libya : The British 1st Armoured Division in Libya withdrew toward Gazala.

Mediterranean Sea : Royal Navy submarine HMS Thorn torpedoed and sank Italian submarine Medusa off Pola, Yugoslavia at 1410 hours; 57 were killed, 1 survived.

Italian cargo ship Fertila struck a mine and sank off Brindisi.

North Sea : Luftwaffe bombers heavily damaged British minesweeping trawler HMS Loch Alsh 45 miles east of Grimsby, England, United Kingdom; she would sink as she was being towed to port for repairs.

Berlin , Germany : Adolf Hitler spoke at the Berlin Sports Palace, threatening the Jews of the world with annihilation. However when he comes to Eastern Front part of his speech , he blames extreme cold for late failures of German Army.