6 December - 12 December 1941

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6 December 1941

Russia : Seven Soviet armies under command of General Georgi Zhukov launched a counteroffensive in the Moscow region in Russia at 0600 hours. Georg Hans Reinhardt ordered his 3rd Panzer Army to fall back to Klin, while Heinz Guderian’s 2nd Panzer Army held the areas near Tula south of Moscow. Field Marshal Fedor von Bock had not yet realized that he was now facing an all-out Soviet counteroffensive. Many Russian counter attacks are still made frontally though causing heavy casaulties among Red Army troops and General Zhukov had to issue outflanking tactics.

Leningrad , USSR : The log road between Zabor’ye and Lake Ladoga near Leningrad, Russia was completed. Thousands of civilians, pressed into service as forced laborers, had died during the construction of this road in the past month. This opened another way to bring supplies into the besieged city.

Pacific Ocean : Japanese carrier fleet reached the rendezvous point at 34 degrees north, 158 degrees west, and then began a high speed approach for Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. At the same time, the 30 Japanese submarines in the Hawaii area began to tighten the ring around the islands; I-74 spotted USS Lexington, but no action was taken.

At Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband Kimmel told a reporter from the news agency Christian Science Monitor that the chance of a war in the Pacific Ocean involving the United States was slim. Nearby, Vice Admiral William Pye told Kimmel (via intelligence officer Edwin Layton) that war with Japan was inevitable, although Pearl Harbor was not a likely target, thus there was no need to send the battleships out to sea as a precaution. Finally, at Honolulu, Hawaii, Consul-General Nagao Kita sent a cable to Japan that he observed no barrage balloons over Pearl Harbor and he did not believe there were torpedo nets around the battleships.

USS Enterprise and her task group (USS Enterprise, USS Northampton, USS Chester, USS Salt Lake City, USS Balch, USS Maury, USS Craven, USS Gridley, USS McCall, USS Dunlap, USS Benham, USS Fanning, USS Ellet) encountered heavy weather which delayed the refueling operation for destroyers and delayed the group’s arrival at Pearl Harbor.

Washington , USA : US President Roosevelt sent a personal message to Emperor Showa, attempting to calm situation in Indochina.

On the morning of Saturday 6 December, a newly formed Government subcommittee met in Washington. Given the code name ‘S-1’, its task was to establish, within the following six months, if an atomic bomb could be produced in the United States and, if so, when and at what cost.

Shortly after midday, in the Navy’s Cryptographic Department, also in Washington, a member of the staff, Mrs Dorothy Edgers, translated a secret diplomatic message, sent from Tokyo four days earlier to Consul-General Kita in Honolulu, by the ‘Magic’ code which the Americans had long ago broken, telling Kita that, from that time on, he must send regular reports of all ship movements, berthing positions and torpedo netting at Pearl Harbour. Fully alarmed, Mrs Edgers began translating other intercepts, all of which were in similar vein. Then, at three o’clock that afternoon, she presented her translation to the Chief of the Translation Department, Lieutenant Commander Alvin Kramer. After a few minor points of criticism of her translations, Kramer told her: ‘We’ll get back to this on Monday’.

Tokyo , Japan : Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo ordered Ambassador Hiroshi Oshima to continue to press Germany to formally agree to declare war on the United States should Japan and US enter a state of war. Oshima was also ordered to avoid any German demands on a Japanese-Soviet war.

Tobruk , Libya : Durham Light Infantry battalion and 4th Border Regiment from 70th British Infantry Division attacked Axis held positions Points 157 and 162 south of Tobruk to strenghen British hold at El Duda and El Adam escarpments. British infantry with Matilda tank support from Royal Tank Regt. , penetrated Italian Pavia division position on Point 157 in a well executed night attack. Fighting through the position – the Italian artillerymen fought valiantly – the CO’s party came across a bunker. ‘Sergeant Blenkinsop was with me,’ Lt. Colonel Arderne was later to write, ‘he had just seen his company commander [Major Adrian Keith] killed [by an Italian grenade] and was out for blood. Down he went [into the bunker] and after a good deal of noise there was silence and out came Blenkinsop with three prisoners.’ ‘Well?’ Arderne asked. Blenkinsop looked a bit sheepish and replied, ‘They offered me chocolates, sir, and I hadn’t the heart to kill them.’ The action was over by 2.30 a.m., Point 157 falling for the loss of thirty-eight Durham casualties. 67 Italians were killed. Four 75-millimetre Italian artillery pieces, some anti-tank and machine guns, together with five officers and 125 Italians, were captured. One Italian officer was taken prisoner attempting to escape on a motorcycle on the back of which was strapped a large suitcase.

This was very nearly the final action of the siege of Tobruk , meanwhile the 4th Borders occupied Point 157 against no opposition. At 7 a.m. on 6 December Rommel , realising Tobruk garrison becoming more agressive each day , ordered German-Italian Panzer Group to withdraw from Tobruk perimeter to the north-west to cover the withdrawal of all German and Italian forces from Cyrenaica. All Axis garrisons including Italian Savona division and Bach Battlegroup besieged in Bardia , Sollum and Halfaya Pass were abandoned , under final orders to them from Romnel to keep the enemy busy in siege operations as long as possible.

Atlantic Ocean : German submarine U-131 torpedoed and sank British cargo ship Scottish Trader with 6 torpedoes south of Iceland, killing all 43 aboard.

North Sea : British cargo ship Grenland struck a mine and sank.

Mediterranean Sea : Royal Navy submarine HMS Perseus struck an Italian mine while recharging her batteries on the surface 2 miles off Kefalonia, Greece. She sank, killing 60.

Black Sea : Soviet submarine ShCh-204 was sunk by Bulgarian aircraft in the Black Sea 24 miles south of Varna, Bulgaria.

Formoza (Taiwan) : 27 Japanese troop transports departed from Taiwan, sailing for the Philippine Islands; 400 Japanese pilots stationed at Taiwan were briefed of the attacks to be commenced on the next day.

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Can you wait until 2 p.m. EST tomorrow for Dec. 7? Let’s do it live!

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on youtube ? Well if I am not busy (if not working) , why not ?

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On the forum, I mean. I’m also going to cover it live through newspapers.

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7 December 1941

Pearl Harbour , Hawaii : Operation Z: 360 Japanese carrier aircraft (104 bombers, 135 dive bombers, 40 torpedo bombers, and 81 fighters) launched from Japanese carrier fleet under command of Admiral Chuichi Nagumo 200 northwest of their target early in the morning, attacked Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, sinking or damaging 8 battleships, 3 cruisers, 3 destroyers, 1 anti-aircraft training ship, 1 minelayer , 1 repair ship; destroying 188 aircraft; and killing 2,459 (57 of which were civilian) and wounding 1,282 (35 of which were civilian). The Japanese lost only 29 aircraft and 5 midget submarines; 55 were killed and 10 were wounded and one captured (Ensign Kazua Sakamaki, whose midget submarine had run aground on the island and apprehended by local police on the shore. First Japanese prisoner of war).
Two strike waves were launched against Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Akagi’s torpedo planes were instrumental in sinking the battleships USS Oklahoma which capsized after several torpedo and bomb hits and USS West Virginia. Battleship USS Arizona blew apart and sank due to a bomb that penetrated her magazines and exploded. 1,177 were killed, including Battleship Division 1 commanding officer Rear Admiral Isaac Kidd and her commanding officer Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh. Battleship USS West Virginia anchored at outer row , was hit by seven or eight torpedoes and at least five bombs , sank and settled to the bottom. Battleship USS California badly damaged by bombs and two torpedo hits , set fire and settled to the bottom of harbour. Battleship USS Nevada was hit by several bombs and one torpedo , grounded herself. Battleships USS Tennessee and USS Maryland were damaged by bomb hits and splinters. Light cruisers USS Helena and USS Raleigh were also hit by torpedoes and bombs , badly damaged. Destroyers USS Shaw , USS Cassin and USS Downes were also hit by bombs and splinters , were set alight and lost. (though these destroyers along with batleships USS West Virginia and USS California would be eventually refloated , repaired and return back to service late in the war during 1944). For now Japanese Imperial Navy across Pacific Ocean and Asian waters have ten batleships against two US Navy battleships. In exchange five Japanese Type A Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarines are launched south of Oahu, Hawaii from mother submarines I-16, I-18, I-20, I-22, and I-24 as part of the overall Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. All five were lost. And US Navy and Army AA gunners and Army Air Force fighters shot down 29 Japanese aircraft.

Vice Admiral Nagumo ordered a withdrawal following recovery of the second attack wave.

China : River gunboat USS Wake was captured by the Japanese troops in Shanghai, China.
Japanese armored cruiser Izumo sank British river gunboat HMS Peterel in Shanghai, China.

British Malaya , South East Asia : Japanese troops invaded Khota Baru, Malaya, two hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. First wave of Japanese troops from 25th Army under command of General Yamashita landed on Kota Bharu beaches early in the morning , overrunning shore defensive points manned by Indian troops after a stiff but short engagement , heading to Khota Baru airfield. A series of Japanese landings and cross border invasion from neighboring IndoChina into nearby Thailand initially met stiff resistance, but the Thai government negotiated for an armistice within hours , surrendering the country to Japanese occupation.

Hong Kong , China : Crown colony territory in Chinese mainland was invaded by Japanese Imperial Army. Japanese bombers raid airfields in the island , destroying seven RAF aircraft on the ground.

Leningrad , USSR : Soviet forces captured Tikhvin, Russia east of Leningrad.

Russia : Soviet 30th Army attacked German 3rd Panzer Army at Klin while Soviet 50th Army attacked German 2nd Panzer Division near Moscow, Russia , driving back or pursuing retreating German forces which were abandoning their heavy weapons , equipment and vehicles about seven miles

Libya : Panzer Group Afrika under command of General Erwin Rommel left with only 35 operational panzers since start of Operation Crusader seventeen days ago , pulled back by about 10 miles toward the Gazala Line ( They had been in preparation by Italian rear echelon units) , abandoning eastern perimeter of Tobruk , pre empting next breakout of Tobruk garrison and advance of 13th Corps towards north. That night, the 70th British Division captured the German-held Walter and Freddie strong points souıth of Tobruk perimeter without any resistance.

Atlantic Ocean : During a routine ASW (Anti Submarine) patrol off Strait of Gibraltar , Royal Navy destroyers HMS Harvester and HMS Hesperus located , depth charged and sank German submarine U-208 , 115 miles west of Gibraltar, killing her entire crew of 45

North Sea : British cargo ship Welsh Prince struck a mine and sank

Pacific Ocean and South East Asia : Japanese aircraft bombarded Singapore, Guam, and Wake, while two Japanese destroyers shelled Midway Atoll, causing 14 casualties and damaging much equipment. 61 civilians killed in Singapore
American steam-powered schooner Cynthia Olson, under charter of the US Army, was shelled and sunk by Japanese submarine I-26 with no survivors; two US Army personnel were on board.

Germany : Hitler published his notorious Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog) decree which allows the Gestapo to dispose of their prisoners without trace.
After suffering a heart attack, Field Marsahal von Brauchitsch tendered his resignation.

Washington , USA : Franklin Roosevelt met with Chinese ambassador Hu Shih at the White House in Washington DC, United States, had lunch with Harry Hopkins, and at 1347 hours he was interrupted by a telephone call from Frank Knox, informing him of the Pearl Harbor attack. At 2030 hours, Roosevelt gave a briefing to a small group of Congressmen.

The office of the US Navy Chief of Naval Operations ordered unrestricted air and submarine warfare against Japan.

London , UK : Winston Churchill had lunch with Duchess of Marlborough Alexandra Mary Cadogan and her son Marquess of Blandford John Spencer-Churchill. He had dinner with US Ambassador John Gilbert Winant and W. Averell Harriman; after dinner, they learned of the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor in the US Territory of Hawaii. He immediately gave instructions to declare war on Japan (not knowing yet that Japanese invaded British Malaya and Hong Kong territory a few hours before Pearl Harbour attack) He would later write that he “slept the sleep of the saved and thankful”, relieved that the United States was finally in the war, and Britain was no longer alone.

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8 December 1941

Thailand and British Malaya : A RAF Hudson aircraft bombed Japanese invasion shipping off Kota Bharu, British Malaya, setting cargo ship Awajisan Maru afire and sank her. The Japanese 143rd Infantry Regiment of 55th Division (under command of 25th Army) landed on four beaches in southern Thailand; local Thai forces, unaware of their government’s agreement to allow free passage to the Burma border, put up a fierce resistance and killed 79 Japanese soldiers. Japanese aircraft began arriving at Songkla in southern Thailand to prepare for air raids against targets in British Malaya.

Italian cargo ships Sumatra , Volpi and Ottobre scuttled themselves at Phuket Bay before they were impounded and captured by Thai and British authorities

Russia : Soviet offensive broke through German Army Group Center near Moscow, Russia, cutting the Klin-Kalinin road. German units began making hasty withdrawals to prevent encirclement, abandoning large numbers of immobilized equipment in the process. Adolf Hitler issued Führer Directive 39 which called for German troops to hold their ground.

Earlier that day, Hitler had accepted the need to pull back from his now untenable front line positions in Russia. On the Leningrad front, the Russians had launched a massive assault on Tikhvin, while, in front of Moscow, German forces began their slow withdrawal to a line Kursk—Orel—Medyn—Rzhev, hoping to hold it by a series of defended strongpoints. The battle for Moscow was over.

Tobruk , Libya : Early in the morning , a New Zealand supply column from Sidi Rezegh , came over Sidi Rezegh and BelAhmed ridges (both were evacuated by Axis previous night) reached British held El Duda and entered Tobruk. The siege of Tobruk since April 1941 is officially over. 44th Royal Tank Regiment commander General Willison bluntly declared “I will shoot anyone who claimed that 8th Army relieved Tobruk garrison , it was Tobruk garrison who relived 8th Army” 2nd New Zealand Division and 4th and 22nd Armored Brigades which were attached to 13th Corps under command of General Godwin-Austen today , began pursuit of retreating enemy over El Adem - Derna route towards Gazala line.

On the same day Rommel wrote to his wife from his headquarters off the Derna Road: Dearest Lu You will no doubt have seen how we’re doing from the Wehrmacht communiqués. I’ve had to break off the action outside Tobruk on account of the Italian formations and also the badly exhausted German troops. I’m hoping we’ll succeed in escaping enemy encirclement and holding on to Cyrenaica. I’m keeping well. You can imagine what I’m going through and what anxieties I have. It doesn’t look as though we’ll get any Christmas this year. And in London that afternoon Winston Churchill told a packed House of Commons, to whooping cheers, ‘It may definitely be said that Tobruk has been disengaged.’

General Ettore Bastico, commander of Italian forces in Libya, visited Rommel on 8 December, and found him incensed over the Axis rout, even threatening to withdrawal his divisions to Tripoli and intern himself in Tunisia. In the course of their meeting, Bastico (whom Rommel mockingly nicknamed ‘Bombastico’) was persuaded to approve a general withdrawal west. (The following day Rommel was given command over all Axis forces in the theatre.)

SAS Regiment L Detachment reached Siwa Oasis used by Long Range Desert Group as a base south of Agadebia , almost 200 miles behind enemy lines. In one week , with specially designed desert vehicles , jeeps and trucks , they will raid to four seperate Axis airfields.

Phillipinnes : Japanese Navy 11th Air Fleet land-based aircraft from Taiwan attacked US Army airfields on Luzon island, Philippine Islands as well as shipping in Manila Bay; at the latter location, American freighter Capillo was abandoned and sank after receiving heavy damage. Norwegian cargo ship Ravnaas was hit and sunk by Japanese bombers in Phillipinne Sea. Japanese Army aircraft joined in on the attack on this date also, striking Baguio and Tuguegarao at 0930 hours. North of Luzon, a Japanese force landed on Batan Island and established an air base. Over Clark Field Air Base , main US Army Air Force field , 35 recently arrived B-17 strategic heavy bombers and six P-40 fighters were caught on the ground (despite radar early warning and 16 hours after Pearl Harbour attack) and totally destroyed along with main facilities of air base by Japanese bombers. Only seven Japanese Zero fighters were shot down by US air defences. Japanese have total air superiority over Phillipinnes now. Both US East Airforce commander Genersl Lewis Brereton and Phillipinne Army commander General Douglas MacArthur have set up a very faulty command control and hiarchy organisation that led to this outcome.

Japanese submarine I-123 mined Balabac Strait in Philippine waters while I-124 mined the entrance to Manila Bay.
Striking Force of the US Navy Asiatic Fleet departed from Iloilo, Philippine Islands for Makassar Strait.
Japanese naval aircraft from carrier Ryujo attacked seaplane tender USS William B. Preston in Davao Gulf; the ship escaped in tact, but two of the PBY Catalina flying boats she was tending were destroyed.

Hong Kong : Japanese forces invaded the British colony of Hong Kong. British and Canadian garrison at Hong Kong was hopelessly outnumbered and beyond reach of any Allied help. Within less than two days the defenders would be forced to retreat to Hong Kong island itself.

Pacific Ocean : Japanese invasion fleet for Wake Island departed from Kwajalein while aircraft of the Japanese Navy 24th Air Flotilla (based at Roi-Namur, Kwajalein) attacked Camp One, Camp Two, and the airstrip on Wake; Japanese aircraft destroyed seven of the Eight F4F-3 Wildcat fighters were destroyed as well as a 25,000-gallon capacity aviation gas tank. Meanwhile, Pan American Airways aircraft evacuated Caucasians from Wake Island, leaving airline staff of Chamorro ethnicity behind.

In the Mariana Islands, Japanese land-based aircraft from Saipan attacked Guam, damaging various facilities and sinking minesweeper USS Penguin in Apra Harbor (1 killed, 60 wounded).

Vice Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue gave the order to the Japanese Navy Fourth Fleet at Truk, Caroline Islands to began executing the plans to capture Wake, Guam (Mariana Islands), Makin (Gilbert Islands), Tarawa (Gilbert Islands), and other islands and atolls in the Pacific Ocean

Germany : It was towards midnight on December 7, Central European time, that Hitler, at his headquarters at Rastenburg, in East Prussia, learned of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. ‘Now it is impossible for us to lose the war,’ he told Walther Hewel, and he went on to explain: ‘We now have an ally who has never been vanquished in three thousand years’. Adolf Hitler ordered the German Navy to begin attacking American shipping.
Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano called German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop to discuss the American entry into the war; Ciano later noted that Ribbentrop was happy with this latest development.
Japanese ambassador in Germany Hiroshi Oshima sent a note to German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop, requesting Germany to declare war on the United States.

North Sea : German bombers sank British minesweeping trawlers HMT Milford Earl (5 killed) and HMT Phineas Beard off the east coast of Scotland, United Kingdom. British cargo ship Fireglow also struck a mine and sank in same area.

Iceland : Allied convoy PQ-6 departed Hvalfjörður, Iceland.

China : In China, Colonel William W. Ashurst surrendered the US Marine Corps detachments in Tianjin, Beiping, Qinhuangdao (Camp Holcomb), and the American embassy to the Japanese. In Shanghai, Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops captured US Navy river gunboat USS Wake before the gunboat’s crew could scuttle her. US passenger liner President Harrison, en route to northern China to evacuate US Marines, was captured by the Japanese at Sha Wai Shan, China; she was later refloated and pressed into service as Kakko Maru and later Kachidoki Maru.

Poland : Chelmno Concentration Camp north of Łódź, Poland began mass murders using gas vans; it was the first large camp established for the purpose of mass exterminations. The first victims were Jewish and Romani civilians from surrounding towns.

London , UK : United Kingdom declared war on Japan.
The French government-in-exile in Britain declared war on Japan.
The Dutch government-in-exile in Britain declared war on Japan.
Codebreaker Mavis Batey in Bletchley Park successfully broke into a German Abwehr coded message on a link between Belgrade, Yugoslavia and Berlin, Germany, thereby allowing the codebreakers to construct one of the Enigma Machine.

Washington , USA : United States Congress declared war on Japan after Franklin Roosevelt’s “a date which will live in infamy” speech.
Roosevelt cabled Churchill to report his declaration of war against Japan, assuring him that, ‘Today all of us are in the same boat with you and the people of the Empire, and it is a ship that will not and cannot be sunk.’

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9 December 1941

Pacific Ocean : Japanese troops from Sprcial Naval Detachment landed and seized Tarawa and Makin in the Gilbert Islands without any resistance. Off Tarawa Panamaian tanker Donerail was intercepted , shelled and sunk by Japanese submarine I-10 with loss of 32 lives.
Japanese aircraft bombarded American defensive positions at Guam, Mariana Islands.
Japanese submarines RO-63, RO-64, and RO-68 bombarded Howland and Baker Islands; it was believed that the US Navy had seaplane bases on those islands, but that intelligence was incorrect.

China : After more than four years of full scale war, China finally formally declared war on Japan. Cuba and Panama also declared war on Japan on this day.

Leningrad , USSR : Soviet troops recaptured Tikhivin, northern Russia.

Russia : Soviet 30th Army attacked north of Moscow, Russia, capturing many trucks and field guns abandoned by the German 3rd Panzer Army. South of Moscow, Soviet troops captured Venev and Yelets. Despite the victories, Soviet logistic situation was extremely poor largely due to the destruction of many vehicles at the hands of the Germans in the past few months; for example, Viktor Abakumov reported on this day that on 25 Nov 1941 Soviet 18th Ski Battalion went without any food.

British Malaya and South China Sea : Bitter fighting between British , Indian and Japanese troops took place around airfield at Kota Bharu in British Malaya which was captured by Japanese yesterday , meanwhile two groups of Indian troops crossed into Thailand to destroy roads and railroads. In Thailand, the Japanese forces entered Bangkok. Two more landings by Japanese 25th Army was initiated on Singora and Patani coasts of Thailand. Out at sea, Japanese aircraft and submarine I-65 spotted Force Z consisting Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse and four destroyers under command of Admiral Tom Phillips (who sortied out of Singapore without air cover from RAF) ; torpedo bombers were launched from Saigon, occupied French Indochina, but they failed to locate the ships.
Japanese destroyers Ayanami and Yugiri discovered Dutch submarine O 20 twenty miles east of Kota Bharu, British Malaya and attacked her with depth charges from 1100 to 1730 hours. O 20 was finally forced to surface after sundown and was scuttled. 7 were killed during the attack; 32 survived and were captured.

Hong Kong : Japanese troops breached a western segment of the British Gin Drinker’s Line, which stretched from the Gin Drinker’s Bay (Zuijiu Wan) in the west to the White Sands Bay (Baisha Wan) in the east, at 225 High Ground north of Hong Kong Island. 27 prisoners were taken. British cargo ships On Lee and Macau were scuttled by their crews off Hong Kong.

Phillipinnes : Japanese aircraft commenced the bombing of Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands; among the first targets in the capital city region was the US Army airbase Nichols Field.

Tobruk , Libya : 70th British Division attacked rearguard detachments of Italian Brescia , capturing White Knoll siege positions south of perimeter. At evening Polish Carpathian Brigade recovered Ras El Medawar ridge overlooking Tobruk perimeter without meeting any resistance. During night Italian Bologna Division and 90th German Light Division evacuated their positions on siege of Tobruk and retreated west.

Atlantic Ocean : German submarine U-652 sank French cargo ship Saint Denis 50 miles south of the Balearic Islands at 1400 hours, killing 3; the ship was sunk in a case of misidentification, as she flew the flag of Vichy France.
German submarine U-134 mistakenly sank German cargo ship Steinbek in a friendly fire 20 miles off of northern Norway at 2100 hours; 12 survived.

Brest , France : German minesweeper Burgermeiter Schmidt was hit and sunk by RAF Coastal Command Hudson bombers

North Sea : German cargo ship Madrid was bombed and sunk by RAF Coastal Command Beaufort torpedo bombers off Den Helder

Mediterranean Sea : Italian cargo ship Sebastiano Veneiro carrying 2.000 Allied POWs was torpedoed and badly damaged by Royal Navy submarine HMS Porpoise off Navarino , Greece. Six days later , she will be torpedoed again by Royal Navy submarine HMS Torbay off Cape Methene and sank. 200 POWs abroad perished.

Washington , USA : Winston Churchill sent Franklin Roosevelt a message requesting a conference on the war with Japan. Roosevelt initially intended to reject this request, wishing to give his top generals more time to research the situation to avoid the British dominating the conference.

Berlin , Germany : Adolf Hitler arrived in Berlin, Germany at 1100 hours. He decided to declare war on the United States on this date, but decided to withhold the announcement until 11 Dec in order to have enough time to draft his speech.

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10 December 1941

Libya : Operation Crusader ended and the siege of Tobruk, Libya was lifted.

Wake Island , Pacific Ocean : Japanese Destroyer Squadron 6 conducted amphibious invasion on Wake and Wilkes islands that resulted in failure, losing one destroyer Hayate and three other craft to US Marine shore battery fire and one other destroyer Kiseragi to US Wildcat fighter aircraft air bombing sorties from Wake Island , making them the first Japanese ships to be sunk in the Pacific War; this invasion was the only time in the Pacific War that shore defenders overcame an amphibious landing. 2.350 Japanese soldiers and naval personnel aboard these vessels were lost. US Marine and Navy defenders lost 21 killed. In the air, USMC Captain Elrod piloting an F4F Wilcat fighter , shot down a Japanese G3M2 Type 96 land attack aircraft at Wake, which was the first USMC air-to-air kill of the Pacific War. Three more Japanese aircraft were also shot down same day over Wake either by other US Marine Wildcat fighters or anti aircraft gunners on the ground. On the same day, Japanese aircraft destroyed a 125-ton dynamite cache, and the resulting explosion caused damage to coastal batteries.

Hawaii , Pacific Ocean : US Navy SBD dive bombers hit and sank Japanese submarine I-70 at Hawaii waters

Guam , Pacific Ocean : In the Mariana Islands, 1,400-strong landing party of the Japanese Navy 5th Defense Force from Saipan landed on Dungcas Beach at Guam. At the same time, 5,500 men of the Japanese South Seas Detached Force landed at Tumon Bay, near Merizo, and at Talafofo Bay. US military governor of Guam, Captain McMillin, surrendered the island to the Japanese Navy commanding officer. Two patrol craft, thirteen lighters, one dredge, three barges, and one auxiliary vessel at Guam were turned over to the Japanese. Seventeen US military personnel were killed after a brief resistance , Japanese suffered no losses.

Hong Kong : British and Canadian troops withdrew onto Hong Kong island after the defensive Gin Drinker’s Line collapsed.

Burma : Winston Churchill transferred Burma under the operational command of Archibald Wavell in India.

Berlin , Germany : German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop ordered the German chargé d’affaires in Washington DC, United States to avoid provoking the United States, as Adolf Hitler would like to declare war on the United States first.

In Germany, yet another step in the spread of mass murder took place on December 10, a mere three days after Pearl Harbour. It was an order, issued by Himmler, that medical boards should visit all concentration camps to ‘sort out’ those who were unfit for work, ill, ‘or psychopaths’. All those selected by this order—the sick did not have to be examined, their documents would suffice to identify them—were to be taken to the nearest centre at which there was a carbon-monoxide gas chamber, and killed. Eleven German doctors, headed by two professors of medicine, Heyde and Nitsche, supervised the carrying out of this order; in all, several tens of thousands of concentration-camp inmates were murdered as a result of it.

Washington , USA : Franklin Roosevelt tore up a letter he drafted for Winston Churchill intending to delay Churchill’s request for a conference as he heard news of the Japanese sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse off Malaya and realized the urgency of having to plan for a campaign against the Japanese.

Russia : Soviet troops encircled three German divisions at Livny, south of Moscow, Russia.

North Atlantic : German submarine U-130 attacked Allied convoy SC-57 200 miles southwest of Ireland just before midnight at the end of the day, torpedoed and sank British transport vessel Kurdistan, British transport ship Kirnwood, and Egyptian transport ship Star of Luxor.

South China Sea and British Malaya : Japanese submarine I-58 spotted Force Z , Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse off British Malaya, launched five torpedoes, but all of them missed; but her wireless warning to Japanese 11th Naval Air Fleet at IndoChina started the events in motion. In the morning 89 Japanese torpedo bomber and bomber aircraft lifted off from airbases in IndoChina heading for Force Z. Beginning at 1117 hours, Japanese aircraft began to attack. Overwhelmed, and hit by several torpedoes and bombs HMS Repulse was sunk at 1233 hours (513 killed), followed by HMS Prince of Wales at 1318 hours (327 killed including Admiral Tom Phillips commanding Force Z); destroyers HMS Electra, HMS Express, and HMS Vampire rescued 1,862 survivors. Only four Japanese aircraft were shot down by anti aircraft gunners aboard Royal Navy vessels. All British naval presence on Bay of Bengal and South China Sea is lost.
On land, the British commanders dispatched the 1st Battalion of the 14th Punjab Regiment and the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Gurkha Rifles regiment to Changlun and Asun in northern British Malaya to counter the Japanese advance; contact was made at Changlun at 2100 hours, where two Japanese tanks were destroyed before the Punjabi troops fell back toward Asun. Air superiorty over Malaya belong to Japanese , for last days due to Japanese air raids on undefended RAF air baes %25 of RAF aircraft in Malaya were either destroyed or damaged.

Philippines : US Cavite Navy Yard in the Philippine Islands was bombed and heavily damaged by Japanese aircraft; US destroyers USS Peary and USS Pillsbury were badly damaged by Japanese bombers , submarine USS Sealion sank by bomb hits , USS Seadragon and submarine tender USS Otus were damaged; ferry Santa Rita was sunk; minesweeper USS Bittern was destroyed by fire; about 60% of US Navy Asiatic Fleet’s torpedoes were destroyed at Cavite. A US Navy PBY Catalina aircraft, fleeing from the attack on Cavite Navy Yard, was attacked by three Zero fighters; gunner Chief Boatswain Payne shot down one of the Zero fighters, thus scoring the US Navy’s first verifiable air-to-air kill of a Japanese aircraft in the Pacific War.
Elsewhere, Japanese aircraft attacked Manila Bay area, bombing and sinking American freighter Sagoland. Finally, Japanese troops of the 2nd Taiwan Regiment of the 48th Division landed on Camiguin Island and at Gonzaga, Vigan, and Aparri on northern shores of Luzon Island. Hand to hand combat started between weak shore defense detachments of Philippine Army covering shores of Apari but they were overwhelmed by sheer numbers of Japanese landing. US Army Air Force B-17 bombers and P-35 fighters hit and sank two Japanese minesweepers W-10 and W-19 off Apari. Just like Malaya , Japanese held total air superiorty though and from their bridgeheads it is only a matter of time to reach capital Manila.

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11 December 1941

British Malaya : Japanese infantrymen under the command of Colonel Shizuo Saeki overran the defenses set up by Punjabi troops between Changlun and Asun, British Malaya, and gave chase into Asun, where Gurkha troops slowed the Japanese advance by destroying the two Japanese tanks in the spearhead; the Gurkha positions, however, would be captured by 1900 hours, killing or capturing 350 men. Nearby, Japanese troops also under Saeki reached the outskirts of Jitra, British Malaya, which was defended by troops of the 11th Indian Division.
Out at sea, Japanese pilot Lieutenant Ito, flying a torpedo bomber over the location where Repulse and Prince of Wales were sunk on the previous day, dropped a wreath to honor the killed British sailors.
Norwegian cargo vessel Haye Tung was shelled and sunk by Japanese submarine I-70 in South China Sea.

Berlin , Germany : In Reichstag speech to Nazi delegates , Adolf Hitler declared war on United States. In Rome , Mussolini did same publicly on Piezza Venetia. Admiral Erich Raeder commander in chief of German Navy , expecting even pushing this state of war with US for months since US intervention on behalf of Britain during Battle of Atlantic , remarked that US would not put much military presence in Atlantic and Europe for a long time since US Navy is transferring its naval assets from Atlantic to Pacific which Hitler seems to agree. Raader then added that six Type IX class submarines would sail from France and Norway within two weeks to start attacks against American merchant shipping on US Eastern Seaboard.
British and American intelligence will probe top discover what joint and common agreed Axis strategy is. But they will fail to discover any joint war plans because there is none. Germans fight one war and Japanese another at the other side of the globe and they do nothing in coodination to maximize their strength by cooperation.

Hawaii : US Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox arrived at Hawaii to personally assess the damage inflicted on 7 Dec 1941 by the Japanese. Meanwhile, Japanese submarine I-9 shelled and sank the unarmed US freighter Lahaina about 800 miles northeast of Honolulu.

Philippines : 14th Japanese Army amphibious vanguard landed at Legaspi, Luzon, Philippine Islands.

Gazala , Libya : German-Italian Panzer Group retreated Gazala Line successfully. Italians reformed the line running south from the coast at Gazala with their armour on the right flank. Rommel’s Afrika Korps, reduced to just 35 operational tanks after the Operation Crusader battles, protected the open southern flank.

Russia : North of Moscow, Russia, Soviet 16th Army captured Istra while Soviet 20th Army reached Solnechnogorsk. South of Moscow, Soviet troops captured Stalinogorsk.
By December 11, Soviet forces had recaptured four hundred towns and villages in a period of less than six days, including Istra, on the Moscow—Volokolamsk highway; and driven the Germans back from the Moscow—Volga canal; it was the Red Army’s most successful day thus far in the counter-offensive. ‘In Hitler’s launching of the Nazi campaign on Russia’, Churchill told the House of Commons that day, ‘we can already see, after less than six months of fighting, that he has made one of the outstanding blunders of history.’

Atlantic Ocean : German submarine U-374 torpedoed and sank British anti-submarine trawler HMS Lady Shirley in the Strait of Gibraltar at 0421 hours, killing all 33 aboard. 21 minutes later, U-374 again torpedoed and sank British patrol yacht HMS Rosabelle, which attempted to locate U-374; 30 were killed, 12 survived and rescued by patrol yacht HMS Sayonara.

Mediterranean Sea : Royal Navy submarine HMS Truant fired two torpedoes at Italian tankers in Suda Bay, Crete, Greece; one of them hit and sank Italian torpedo boat Alcione, killing 20.
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Farndale located and then forced Italian submarine Caracciola to surface with depth charge attack in 30 miles northeast of Bardia, Libya and sank her with gunfire; 1 was killed (a passenger with the rank of an army general), 53 survived.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Talisman torpedoed and sank Italian military transport ship Caliea off Cape Matapan , 120 of her crew and military passangers died and 230 survived and landed on Greece.
Royal Navy submarine HMS Torbay torpedoed and sank German cargo ship Sofia off Suda Bay , Greece.

Black Sea : Soviet tanker Apsheron struck a mine and sank off Sevastapol , Crimea

Hong Kong : Japanese troops advanced southward along the Kowloon Peninsula north of Hong Kong, capturing Stonecutter’s Island. British cargo ship Kanchow was scuttled by her crew at Hong Kong

Wake Island : The 2,890-ton Japanese light cruiser Yubari, flagship of Rear Admiral Sadamichi Kajioka, was seriously damaged by shell fire from two 5-inch guns at Peacock Point, Wake Island, and forced to retire listing heavily to port.

London , UK : “We have a very hard period to go through” Winston Churchill told MPs in a report on the new situation created by Japanese attacks in Far East. But within a few months the flow of munitions and aid from US “will vastly exceed anything that could have been expected on peacetime basis that has been ruled up to present” Then Britain , US and Soviet Union wuld teach "gangs and cliques of wicked men " a lesson that would not be forgotten in a thousand years.

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12 December 1941

Philippines : Japanese Navy 11th Air Fleet aircraft attacked the US Navy base at Olongapo in Luzon, Philippine Islands. At Legaspi, 14th Japanese Army troops broke out of their beachead , captured an airfield and moved north. US sardina factory ship Manatawny was bombed and sunk by Japanese bombers in Manila Bay.

Hong Kong : US cargo ship Admiral Williams was scuttled by her crew

Hawaii : US Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox departed from Oahu, Hawaii after personally inspecting damages.

Pacific Ocean : Japanese tanker Tojo Maru was torpedoed and sunk by Free Netherlands Navy submarine HNLMS K XIII
US tanker Vincent was intercepted , shelled and sunk by Japanese Imperial Navy armed boarding vessel Aikoku Maru off Pitcairn Island.

United Kingdom : The United Kingdom declared war on Bulgaria while Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania declared war on the United Kingdom and the United States

Burma : Japanese 15th Army infiltrate Burma. Churchill placed the defence of Burma under Wavell’s command, promising four fighter and six bomber squadrons and matérial reinforcements, together with the 18th Division and what remained of 17th Indian Division (since two of its Brigades had been diverted to Singapore). On the same day, the 3rd Squadron of the American Volunteer Group was transferred to Rangoon, Burma.

British Malaya : Colonel Shizuo Saeki lead elements of the Japanese 5th Division attacked Indian defensive positions at Jitra during a rainstorm at night , mostly overrunning Indian defenses , capturing 2.000 prisoners and five field guns along with lots of material , supplies , motorised vehicles in working order. After sundown, British General Lewis Heath gave the order for the 11th Indian Division to withdraw from Jitra.
More than 600 Malay civilians were killed on December 12 in a Japanese air raid at Penang, on the western side of the Malayan Peninsula. Malayan Anti submarine vessel Kampar was sunk by Japanese bombers at Penang harbour. Further up the Peninsula, the British evacuated Victoria Point, the Burmese town nearest to the Thai border. Burma is exposed to Japanese attack

Libya : 13th Corps , by using 4th Indian Division and 4th Armored Brigade began probing attacks on Gazala line from south. Meanwhile on northern sector of Gazala Line , 5th NZ Brigade from 2nd New Zealand Division captured Italian held hills east of Gazala line used by observation , capturing 352 prisoners from Italian Brescia division and several Italian guns and a lot of equipment.

Mediterranean Sea : Italian light cruisers Alberto da Giussano and Alberico da Barbiano under command of Vice Admiral Antonio Toscano , departed Palermo, Sicily, for Tripoli, Libya with 135 men as reinforcements and 950 tons of various types of fuel bound for Benghazi , Libya. German-Italian Panzer Group just retreated to Gazala line west of Tobruk , desperately need these supplies otherwise neither Luftwaffe nor Italian Air Force can provide air support over Libya. Due to heavy losses in convoys and supply ships in Mediterranean , Italian resorted using combat vessels like light cruisers , destroyers and submarines for transporting vital supplies to North Africa.

Australia : The Australian government decided to abandon Rabaul in the Bismarck Islands should the Japanese invade; only civilians, restricted to women and children, were allowed to be evacuated.

United Kingdom : Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his entourage boarded new Royal Navy battleship HMS Duke of York for the first joint wartime conference (codenamed ARCADIA) of military personnel.

Washington ,USA : Dwight D. Eisenhower, Chief of Staff of the US 3rd Army, was called to Washington, United States by George Marshall.

Wake Island : Japanese reconnaissance flying boats bombed Wake and Peale Islands in a pre-dawn raid, followed by daylight bombing by land-based attack aircraft from Majuro, Marshall Islands; neither bombing caused significant damage. Aircraft from US Marine Fighter Squadron 211 reported a possible sinking of a Japanese submarine 25 miles southwest of Wake Atoll

Berlin , Germany : The German press communique admitted that they failed before Moscow but they are blaming it upon weather rather than Red Army “The army” said Berlin tonight "does not expect to capture Moscow this year. Major campaigning must be suspended until spring , then Moscow can be taken…."Officers and men are trying to take freeze to the ground , fighting under these conditions is practically impossible"

North Sea : British cargo ship Dromora Castle struck a mine and sank off Humber , all her crew was rescued.

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And some still do as if Moscow climate was apparently unknown to the German Generals, #1812 calling. :smiling_imp::+1:

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