Washington (INS) –
Adoption of a wartime system for temporary promotion of officers which, among other things, will facilitate selection of men according to merit, was announced today by the War Department.
Army officials said the new system, in effect, will replace the plan currently used for promotion of reserve officers and those on the Regular Army’s retired list.
Cincinnati, Ohio (INS) –
Addison C. Durr, 42, of Mayville, Kentucky, now a commercial artist but a veteran of World War I, enlisted in the Naval Reserve today.
Accompanying him was a son, Louis, 17, who applied at the same time for enlistment, in the Navy. Louis was rejected. He failed to pass a Navy examination.
Washington (INS) –
A government lottery, with a monthly first prize as high as $1,000,000, was proposed today by Senator Thomas (D-OK) as a means of raising funds for defense and to help curb inflation.
State homes were both saddened and gladdened by news from Pearl Harbor today.
At Coldwater, Mrs. Janet Keller was notified by the Navy Department that her son, Paul, 23, a petty officer on the USS Arizona, was missing in action.
A letter dated Dec. 15 from Farrand F. Winters Jr., 18, told his mother, Mrs. Farrand F. Winters, 8368 Grand River Ave., that he was “fine and in good shape.”
The youth enlisted in the Navy a year ago after attending Western High School.
Mr. and Mrs. Guy Dryer of Clayton, Michigan, received a letter from their son, Earle, saying he was safe at Pearl Harbor.
New York (INS) –
Dr. Darius A. Davis, executive secretary of the war prisoners’ aid of the Young Men’s Christian Association, revealed today that the U.S. government has informed Japan that it will abide by the rules set by the Geneva Convention of 1929 in the treatment of war prisoners.
He said so far the Japanese government has not issued any statement concerning its official attitude toward war prisoners or civilians interned.
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 27, 1941
The successful prosecution of the war requires an all-out industrial mobilization of the United States in order that the materials necessary to win the war may be produced in the shortest possible time. To accomplish this objective it is necessary that the Departments of War and the Navy and the United States Maritime Commission cooperate to the fullest possible degree with the Office of Production Management in the endeavor to make available for the production of war material all the industrial resources of the country. It is expected that in the exercise of the powers hereinafter granted, these agencies and the Office of Production Management will work together to bring about the conversion of manufacturing industries to war production, including the surveying of the war potential of industries, plant by plant; the spreading of war orders; the conversion of facilities; the assurance of efficient and speedy production; the development and use of subcontracting to the fullest extent; and the conservation of strategic materials.
TITLE I
By virtue of the authority in me vested by the Act of Congress, entitled “An Act to expedite the prosecution of the War effort,” approved December 18, 1941 (hereinafter called “the Act”), and as President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and deeming that such action will facilitate the prosecution of the war, I do hereby order that the War Department, the Navy Department, and the United States Maritime Commission be and they hereby respectively are authorized within the limits of the amounts appropriated therefor to enter into contracts and into amendments or modifications of contracts heretofore or hereafter made, and to make advance, progress, and other payments thereon, without regard to the provisions of law relating to the making, performance, amendment, or modification of contracts. The authority herein conferred may be exercised by the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, or the United States Maritime Commission respectively or in their discretion and by their direction respectively may also be exercised through any other officer or officers or civilian officials of the War or the Navy Departments or the United States Maritime Commission. The Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, or the United States Maritime Commission may confer upon any officer or officers of their respective departments, or civilian officials thereof, the power to make further delegations of such powers within the War and the Navy Departments, and the United States Maritime Commission.
The contracts hereby authorized to be made include agreements of all kinds (whether in the form of letters of intent, purchase orders, or otherwise) for all types and kinds of things and services necessary, appropriate, or convenient for the prosecution of war, or for the invention, development, or production of, or research concerning any such things, including but not limited to, 'aircraft, buildings, vessels, arms, armament, equipment, or supplies of any kind, or any portion thereof, including plans, spare parts and equipment therefor, materials, supplies, facilities, utilities, machinery, machine tools, and any other equipment, without any restriction of any kind, either as to type, character, location, or form.
The War Department, the Navy Department, and the United States Maritime Commission may by agreement modify or amend or settle claims under contracts heretofore or hereafter made, may make advance, progress, and other payments upon such contracts of any per centum of the contract price, and may enter into agreements with contractors and/or obligors, modifying or releasing accrued obligations of any sort, including accrued liquidated damages or liability under surety or other bonds, whenever, in the judgment of the War Department, the Navy Department, or the United States Maritime Commission respectively, the prosecution of the war is thereby facilitated. Amendments and modifications of contracts may be with or without consideration and may be utilized to accomplish the same things as any original contract could have accomplished hereunder, irrespective of the time or circumstances of the making of or the form of the contract amended or modified, or of the amending or modifying contract, and irrespective of rights which may have accrued under the contract, or the amendments or modifications thereof.
Advertising, competitive bidding, and bid, payment, performance, or other bonds or other forms of security, need not be required.
TITLE II
Pursuant to Title II of the Act and for the protection of the interests of the United States, I do hereby prescribe the following regulations for the exercise of the authority – herein conferred upon the War Department, the Navy Department, and the United States Maritime Commission.
All contracts and all purchases made pursuant to the Act and this Executive Order shall be reported to the President of the United States. Such reports shall be made at least quarter annually, provided, however, that purchases or contracts of less than $100,000 may be consolidated in such reports with other such purchases and need not be separately set forth. In case the War Department, the Navy Department, or the United States Maritime Commission shall deem any purchase or contract to be restricted, confidential, or secret in its nature by reason of its subject matter, or for other reasons affecting the public interest, such purchases or contracts shall not be included with those described in the report just mentioned, but shall be included in a separate report containing such restricted, confidential, or secret purchases or contracts. The Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, and the United States Maritime Commission shall make public so much of such reports (other than those reports covering restricted, confidential, or secret contracts or purchases) as they shall respectively deem to be compatible with the public interest.
Notwithstanding anything in the Act or this Executive Order the War Department, the Navy Department, and the United States Maritime Commission shall not discriminate in any act performed thereunder against any person on the ground of race, creed, color, or national origin, and all contracts shall be deemed to incorporate by reference a provision that the contractor and any subcontractors there under shall not so discriminate.
No claim against the United States arising under any purchase or contract made under the authority of the Act shall be assigned except in accordance with the Assignment of Claims Act, 1940 (Public No. 811, 76th Congress, approved October 9, 1940).
Advance payments shall be made hereunder only after careful scrutiny to determine that such payments will promote the national interest and under such regulations to that end as the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, or the United States Maritime Commission may prescribe.
Every contract entered into pursuant to this Order shall contain a warranty by the contractor in substantially the following terms:
The contractor warrants that he has not employed any person to solicit or secure this contract upon any agreement for a commission, percentage, brokerage, or contingent fee. Breach of this warranty shall give the Government the right to annul the contract, or, in its discretion, to deduct from the contract price or consideration the amount of such commission, percentage, brokerage, or contingent fees. This warranty shall not apply to commissions payable by contractors upon contracts or sales secured or made through bona fide established commercial or selling agencies maintained by the contractor for the purpose of securing business.
Nothing herein shall be construed to authorize the cost-plus-a-percentage-of-cost system of contracting.
Nothing herein shall be construed to authorize any contracts in violation of existing law relating to limitation of profits, or the payment of a fee in excess of such limitation as may be specifically set forth in the act appropriating the funds obligated by a contract. In the absence of such limitation, the fixed fee to be paid the contractor as a result of any cost-plus-a-fixed-fee contract entered into under the authority of this Order shall not exceed 7 per centum of the estimated cost of the contract (exclusive of the fee as determined by the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, or the United States Maritime Commission, as the case may be).
No contract or modification or amendment thereof shall be exempt from the provisions of the Walsh-Healey Act (49 Stat. 2036) because of being entered into without advertising or competitive bidding, and the provisions of such Act, the Davis-Bacon Act, as amended (49 Stat. 1011), the Copeland Act, as amended (48 Stat. 948), and the Eight Hour Law, as amended by the Act of September 9, 1940 (Public No. 781, 76th Congress), if otherwise applicable shall apply to contracts made and performed under the authority of this Order.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 27, 1941
Reading Eagle (December 27, 1941)
Historic buildings burned; machine guns reported used on civilians
By Frank Hewlett
Manila, Philippines (UP) –
Waves of Japanese bombers blasted shipping, historic churches and colleges in the defenseless city of Manila for three hours today.
Huge fires reddened the sky and threatened destruction of the 16th-century Intramuros (walled city) district.
At least 37 persons were killed and 150 wounded by Japanese pilots who dumped two big salvos of bombs on the crowded Intramuros district and reportedly machine-gunned civilians as they fled for shelter. Many more casualties were believed unreported as yet.
The bombing attack was a grim Japanese answer to the action of U.S. and Filipino officials in declaring Manila an open and undefended city in an effort to save the 632,500 residents – including 100,000 in the walled city – from bombing attacks.
And tonight, Filipinos stumbling through the glass and debris-strewn streets, fighting fires, caring for the wounded and preparing for another day of frontline war were fighting mad as they declared, “We can take it!”
Everywhere there were demands that the Army and Air Force, which left Manila when the capital was declared an open city, return to make a bitter-end fight. Anger against the Japanese mounted among all sections of the population.
First raid near noon
The black-winged bombers flying in grim formation and totaling about 40 craft came over the city just before noon.
For the first time, there was no answering fire from the ground or air. No anti-aircraft thunder greeted the squads of planes as they circled over the bay. No fighter went up to challenge them.
The bombers struck first at the ships in the port area. Smoke billowed up from an oil fire in the Pandacan district. Standing nearby, I saw a vessel shudder and twist as bombs exploded around it. Slowly it went down, although I did not see any direct hits.
Then came more bombers and their projectiles began dropping on the city proper.
Blast shakes city
A furious explosion shook the old walled city, an area about 2½ miles in circumference, as a high explosive salvo crashed into its ancient churches, schools and government buildings.
The 16th-century Santo Domingo Church caught fire. A chapel built in 1588 was smashed. Later, I was told that eight bodies were removed and a number of others were believed buried in the debris. A score of persons at prayer were injured.
When I reached the Santo Domingo Church, I saw that the convent, the old Intendencia Building which houses the Treasury and Mint and a famous girls’ college were among the buildings that had suffered direct hits.
The Santa Rose College was virtually destroyed by fire.
A college opposite the Santo Domingo Church – which burned furiously – had suffered minor damage. Wreckage of a score of automobiles parked nearby was still burning.
Cathedral threatened
The fire raged more fiercely – threatening the $1,000,000 Manila Catholic Cathedral as it swept westward through the crowded, narrow streets lined by the ancient buildings, little Chinese shops and Spanish stores.
The flames around the historic college and church buildings appeared to be out of control at some points and were nearing Santo Tomas Medical College (the oldest university under the American flag), the Philippine Appeals Court Building, the U.S. Army and Navy YMCA Building.
At 2:22 p.m. PHT (1:22 a.m. EST), another salvo of enemy bombs crashed into the walled city as the same group of Japanese raiders circled again. They exploded with a roar around the Intendencia, and eyewitnesses reported that Japanese pilots swooped low over the battered city and machine-gunned fleeing civilians.
A student was killed and a nun injured as the bombs crashed a mile and a half from the port area.
Firemen were battling the blaze at Santo Domingo Church – which was almost destroyed – as I went past the blazing towers. Santa Rosa College, built in 1869, was heavily marked by explosive and incendiary bombs. Three aged nuns were being escorted into the street.
Priest aids firemen
A middle-aged priest, his blond hair flying, was helping firemen fight the blaze with weak streams of water, which could not reach the burning towers of the church.
I walked on ruined schoolbooks, torn tablets from the desks of children in the convent school, and examination papers which had been bomb-blasted out of the Catholic elementary school across the street from the burning church.
In the port area, the bombing went on until after 3:00 p.m. PHT. Three ships were hit and there was considerable damage to piers. The Japanese appeared to be aiming chiefly at the famous Magellan’s Landing in the Pasig quarter of the walled city, near ancient Fort Santiago.
In that sector, they hit the landing and knocked the rear superstructure off of a ship nearby. A small tug was also destroyed.
But the slender, towering monument to Ferdinand Magellan – who discovered the Philippines in 1521 and brought Christianity and Western civilization to these islands – remained unscathed on the lading as the enemy bombers turned back toward their base. The monument rose above the smoke and the wreckage like a symbol of the courage and determination of Manila.
No Axis sentiment left
And if there had been any question of the attitude of the Spanish population of Manila toward the Japanese, all doubt was removed by the attack on the churches of the old capital. There was no sentiment for the Axis tonight among even the most pro-Franco elements in the Spanish colony.
Erik Friman, member of the United Press staff, was riding in the downtown section with a field director of the American Red Cross during the bombing. They stopped at the Treasury Building, on the edge of the walled city, where debris blocked the road.
Friman and the doctor carried the bodies of three watchmen who had been killed five minutes earlier from the building. The main storeroom for small coins was strewn with money. One bomb had penetrated the top floor of the mint, exploding coins like bullets across the room.
The watchmen were found amid the silver coins and broken boxes, 24 watchmen had just left the building before the bomb struck.
One official hurt
The fact that the bomb exploded in a vault-like strong room seemed to have lessened the effects of the blast elsewhere in the building and no officials present were hurt, except Budget Commissioner Pio Pedrosa, who may lose his right leg.
A number of automobiles were destroyed by bombs which were apparently intended for small boats and barges along the Pasig River, but which landed more than a mile from the river.
Guillermo Francisco, chief of the Constabulary, ordered all such craft out of the river and into Manila Bay.
Nippon’s answer to the proclamation that Manila was an open city, issued more than 24 hours before, came as U.S. and Philippine forces, facing heavy odds, fought furiously intensified Japanese invasion drives on the capital from north to south.
The known dead so far are 37, and nearly 150 have been wounded. An eyewitness saw eight killed and 50 wounded taken from Santo Domingo Catholic Church. They were gathered for daily prayer when the bomb hit, and it was believed only a few near the rear exit escaped.
Acting Philippine Budget Commissioner Pio Pedrosa was injured when a bomb struck the Treasury Building, which houses the mint. It is believed he will lose his right leg.
Three watchmen were killed when they were buried under the debris of silver coin, which was strewn over a large area. Other governmental officials escaped injury by taking refuge in a vault.
Late today, flames were still eating through the walled city and its ruined streets, blocked by stones, iron and tin roofing, glass and the wreckage of buildings – past a 20-foot crater in a churchyard filled with old graves.
Leaflets dropped
As they ended their raid and left their dead and maimed and ruined homes and buildings, the Japanese aviators dropped leaflets which said they were not warring on Filipinos, only on Americans.
There had been a 44-minute alarm period ending at 9:12 a.m.
At 11:54 a.m., the sirens shrieked the second alarm, for the longest raid of the war and one in which, instead of seeking military objectives including the port area, the Japanese bombed the city proper.
A great salvo of bombs crashed in the walled city and buildings shook as if in an earthquake.
At 2:22 p.m., a second salvo struck in the same area, hitting the Treasury and Mint Building.
About 30 motorcars in the immediate vicinity were wrecked.
I was seeking missing Americans, caught in the port area where as usual the Japanese had concentrated their bomb fire during the early part of the raid, when the first bombs struck in the walled city.
At the moment, I was talking on the telephone to staff correspondent Rodolfo Nazareno. He told me that the bomb blasts shook the United Press building crazily.
He said:
For a while, we thought it was the end, but it was all over before we had time to duck.
Flying shrapnel from this blast crashed through the windows of the United Press building and one fragment went through the staff sleeping quarters on the sixth floor, overlooking the Pasig River.
Staff members were getting out the story when a second blast shook the building, and the raiders swept away.
Ships bombed
In the port area, one and a half miles away from this part of the city, the Japanese were bombing ships.
We watched while a freighter slowly sank in the water, turning half around. A Japanese plane roared over and dropped another load of bombs on the stricken ship. I could not see whether a direct hit was scored but the ship listed and its forward end sank. She rolled over and, apparently resting on the bottom of the bay, lay with part of her stern out of the water.
The Japanese planes were 10,000 feet up.
Nine silver Japanese planes, flying directly toward us, but half a mile away, dumped their load all round a nearby ship which was close to the pier. Water sprayed like a geyser. As it subsided, I saw that one bomb had hit the old ship. Fire broke out on it.
As I watched it settle, I had to duck twice when more bombs dropped in the port area.
Wave after wave of planes, nine at a time, flew over. Two companions and I each took a formation of planes, to observe their bombing.
One formation dropped its bombs and threw up water near the second freighter. The smoke and spray cleared and the ship still rode at its anchor.
Concentrates on port
The bombers circled out over the bay and came roaring in, in battle formation, to drop bombs on the port area.
Then the building in which I was standing rocked as bombs started dropping in residential areas.
I ran for my automobile, but the driver was missing and he had locked the car doors. I found him after a time and headed for Headquarters of the U.S. Far Eastern forces.
The command had evacuated in making Manila an open city and only a few policemen guarded the building.
A policeman pointed toward Jones Bridge as the scene of the greatest bomb damage.
Soon I had to abandon my car to push my way through pitiful hordes of half-hysterical evacuees, worrying mostly for their children, not themselves, scurrying along with wailing babies in their arms, some carrying bundles, a few suitcases.
Making my way through the Filipinos, Spaniards and Chinese, who largely form the 100,000 people of the walled city area, I came to the scene of destruction.
I found holes blasted through the walls of the Santa Catalina College.
The street was littered by debris and dust was thick from crumbled stucco buildings.
A small bomb had entered a dormitory of the college, fortunately almost empty since the war started, and had made kindling of chairs and bunks. The trembling watchman told me a student had been killed and a nun severely wounded.
Of one flight of nine Japanese planes over the port area, two disappeared – how, it was unknown, since there were no guns to hinder them.
Three men were believed aboard the freighter which sank.
Japanese planes had returned to their attack of a completely undefended and helpless city, guarded only by policemen and Constabulary men, at breakfast time today.
The air-raid sirens shrieked at 8:28 a.m., but the “all-clear” came 44 minutes later at 9:12 a.m. without report of bombings in the city proper.
There was nothing the people could do but wait.
Heavy fighting reported; Washington observers say situation grave
Washington (AP) –
The War Department reported today fleets of Japanese troopships were pouring invasion reinforcements ashore north and southeast of Manila and “very heavy” fighting was in progress southeast of the Philippine capital.
A communiqué said that, meanwhile, fighting in the Lingayen Gulf area north of Manila was of a desultory character.
At the same time, heavy enemy air activity was said to have continued over all the battlefronts of the islands.
The communiqué, covering military developments up to 9:30 a.m. EST, said:
Philippine Theater.
Fighting in the Lingayen Gulf area, north of Manila, is of a desultory character.Combat operations in the southeast, in the general vicinity of Lamon Bay, are very heavy.
More reinforcements
The enemy is being continually reinforced from fleets of troopships in Lingayen Gulf and off Atimonan.
Enemy air activity continues heavy over all fronts.
There is nothing to report from other areas.
Atimonan is some 75 air miles from Manila and Lamon Bay, on which it is situated, extends northward to a point where the bay is only about 45 air miles from the capital.
The concentric drive toward Manila raged like a monsoon from at least seven invasion points, with the Japs creeping into blazing barrages of shot and shell at each point of contact. Military analysts were convinced that the Mikado’s men have paid a heavy price in life and limb for every inch of advancement.
Disclosure that the Japs were foiled anew in the north came when the Army announced that:
U.S. and Philippine soldiers are defending a position along the Agno River.
The Agno flows at the foothills of the mountains in the Lingayen Gulf area.
Situation grave
While encouraging, this advice, military men believe, failed to lift the grave implications of the general situation.
Authorities in Washington pointed out that MacArthur’s forces are vastly outnumbered, both on the ground and in the air. These factors, plus Japan’s vise-like grip on the islands west of the Philippines, including Guam and Wake, will probably bar the arrival of assistance for the gallant defenders.
Perils of the conflict were emphasized by the disclosure of Christmas Day messages exchanged between Secretary of War Stimson and President Quezon of the Philippines.
The Secretary of War told Quezon:
As soon as our power is organized, we shall come in force and drive the invader from your soul.
Encouraged by note
The Filipino leader replied:
Your message is most encouraging. We are doing all we can to uphold the honor, rights and interests of America in the Philippines.
While the small garrison at Midway Island, the last of three important stepping stones for airplane traffic to the Far East remaining in American hands, continued to resist attack, the Navy further described the dramatic fight of tiny Wake Island before it fell.
The Navy flatly denied Japanese reports that 3,000 naval and Marine personnel was stationed at Wake. Total strength of the small fortress was less than 400 men, the Navy communiqué stated, adding that other residents of the island were approximately 1,000 construction workers.
Vichy may grant post at Saint Pierre
Washington (INS) –
With Vichy France reportedly willing to grant the United States the right to establish an observation post at Saint-Pierre, Secretary of State Hull today resumed his diplomatic efforts to bring about the withdrawal of Free French forces from that North Atlantic island and the neighboring Isle of Miquelon.
Hull conferred with Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King today for the second time within 24 hours.
The conferences with Mackenzie King concerned this government’s formal inquiry as to what steps Canada is prepared to take to restore the status quo on the two islands, which were occupied by Free French naval forces in a surprise move Wednesday morning.
It is believed pressure will be brought to bear on Gen. Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French forces, to order a withdrawal of his representatives from the two islands in return for an agreement by Vichy to permit American observers to maintain a constant watch over the Saint-Pierre wireless station.
Reports on war strategy given at conferences
Washington (UP) –
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill scheduled meetings today with representatives of all nations at war with the Axis powers. They will report to the envoys on the joint British-American strategic plans thus far formulated.
The President’s first conference of the day with a foreign representative was called for 12:30 p.m. EST in the Red Room of the White House with Chinese Ambassador Hu Shih. Churchill was not scheduled to attend this conference.
At 1:00 p.m., however, both the President and the Prime Minister will have lunch at the White House with Soviet Ambassador Maxim Litvinov and Harry Hopkins, the President’s defense aide. An hour later, they will meet with the Dutch Minister.
At 2:30 p.m., in the Red Room, the President and Churchill will received British Ambassador Lord Halifax, Canadian Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King, and the chief diplomats stationed here by the British dominions, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India. This conference was scheduled to last one hour.
At 3:30 p.m., the President and Prime Minister will meet the chiefs of missions from all the other nations at war with the Axis except those whom they received earlier in the day. Those scheduled to attend this meeting include representatives of Denmark, Belgium and Norway.
The last scheduled meeting of the day was called for 4:30 p.m., in the Executive Office.
Washington (UP) –
The Maritime Commission at noon today formally took over 16 Finnish-owned merchant ships that have been tied up in U.S. ports since Great Britain declared war on Finland.
The commission said it acted under the Ship Requisition Act enacted last fall. 80 vessels – mostly Danish and Italian – have already been seized under that statute.
Claim complete control of sea and air, but ‘forget’ Haruna
Tokyo, Japan (INS) – (by official Japanese wireless)
A spokesman for the Navy Section of Imperial Headquarters declared today that Japanese submarines are now active off California and Hawaii and “in the whole Pacific.”
This assertion followed a statement to the Jap Diet by Navy Minister Shigetarō Shimada, who claimed the Imperial Navy has gained “complete air and naval control over four oceans” and is expanding the war program on all fronts “after shattering enemy resistance.”
In an extraordinary statement, Shimada boasted that nine British destroyers were sunk and four heavily damaged in Hong Kong, “thus wiping out British naval power in the Hong Kong area.”
Claims big losses
The Navy Minister claimed the British and American naval losses since the outbreak of the Pacific conflict are as follows:
BATTLESHIPS: Seven sunk, three heavily damaged and one less seriously damaged.
CRUISERS: Two sunk, two heavily damaged and four partly damaged.
DESTROYERS: One sunk and four heavily damaged.
Evidently, the Jap Minister’s claims regarding British losses in Hong Kong were not included in this roundup of alleged enemy losses.
SUBMARINES: Nine sunk and “many others presumably destroyed.”
SMALLER NAVAL CRAFT: Six gunboats and minesweepers destroyed, more than seven torpedo boats sunk and two gunboats and one auxiliary vessel damaged.
Shimada also claimed 16 merchant ships have been sunk, and three damaged, and that 50 ships totaling 130,000 tons, and more than 400 smaller craft have been captured. He also asserted 803 British and American planes have been shot down, and that “many more” have been destroyed on the ground.
Exceeds Allies’ reports
This Japanese view of alleged U.S. and British naval losses far exceeds the losses announced by Washington and London. Shimada’s statement appears to be about as exaggerated as the Japanese claims of U.S. losses suffered in the Nipponese sneak attack on Honolulu Dec. 7.
Shimada declared Japanese naval losses were confined to 52 planes, three destroyers, and one minesweeper, with one minesweeper heavily damaged, and one cruiser slightly damaged. He added that five Jap submarines are missing.
Shimada clearly “forgot” the sinking of the Jap battleship Haruna by Capt. Colin Kelly, USAAF, off the Philippine coast. Capt. Kelly sacrificed his life in his heroic and successful attack on this Japanese battleship.
In the Eastern Pacific, Shimada claimed, air and other military facilities at Johnston, Palmyra, Wake and Baker Islands were virtually destroyed by Japanese warships and aircraft, and that 1,600 American prisoners were taken by the Japanese forces which occupied Wake Island.
During aerial fighting over the Philippines, he asserted, Japanese naval aircraft destroyed 338 U.S. planes.
Army asserts gains
Premier Hideki Tōjō, reporting on Japanese Army operations, claimed the Japanese had destroyed or captured large numbers of automobiles, tanks, light armored cars and guns, and that 427 enemy planes had been destroyed on the ground or shot down.
Tōjō also asserted that the British had destroyed 150 oil wells in North Borneo. He said the Japanese troops which occupied Penang, off the western Malayan coast, seized 1,000 motorcars, 1,300 tons of tin, 2,000 tons of rubber, 1,000 tons of copper ore and 500 barrels of gasoline.
He declared all industrial establishments in Penang were intact and that the radio station there, in perfect order, resumed operations under Japanese supervision Dec. 22.
During operations over Malaya and Burma, Tōjō alleged, Jap Army planes destroyed 222 British aircraft up to Dec. 23.
Tōjō said Japanese forces which landed on Mindanao Island in the Philippines “succeeded in rescuing” about 18,000 Japanese nationals in Davao and asserted they had been “imprisoned prior to outbreak of the Pacific conflict.”
More than one vessel a day sunk by U.S., Dutch forces
Washington (AP) –
Japan is losing troop and supply ships at the rate of more than one a day, fast enough to reduce her great merchant marine to insignificance in two years, if losses go unchecked in a Pacific naval war of attrition.
U.S. and Dutch Army, Navy and air reports, for the first three weeks of the war, list 26 Japanese merchant vessels as sunk or damaged by submarines or air attacks in Philippine, Borneo and Malayan waters despite heavy naval and air escort.
Although Japan has 23 shipyards with 69 berths for construction of large craft, her steel resources are limited and building facilities are believed to be far below what would be necessary to make up for even half of such a rate of loss.
At the start of the war, Japan’s merchant fleet was the third largest in the world, trailing those of Britain and the United States. In sea-going vessels of 2,000 tons or more, it consisted of 898 ships of 4,754,699 gross tons. Of these, 717 were freighters, 132 were combination passenger-cargo ships, 49 were tankers and two were primarily refrigerated cargo vessels.
U.S., British totals
Britain had 2,644 ships of 16,806,3789 tons and the United States had 1,150 ships of 7,078,909 tons.
More important than the actual tonnage figures, however, was the American and British shipbuilding capacity. During World War I, American yards reached a rate of construction equivalent to 6,000,000 tons a year and the British building came to about half that rate. Present programs call for a similar effort, with completion in America of 1,200 new ships of about 13,200,000 gross tons by 1943.
Japan’s biggest year in merchant ship building since World War I was 1937, when she turned out 180 vessels of 100 tons or more, a total gross tonnage of 451,121.
The Japanese appear at first glance to have taken great risks and thus to have subjected themselves to heavier than usual losses in the initial days of the Malayan and Philippine expeditions, but growing Allied air and naval power is expected to make the long Japanese maritime communications lines even more hazardous in the months to come.
U.S. State Department (December 27, 1941)
740.0011 European War 1939/17980
Washington, December 27, 1941
The Polish Ambassador has received through the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in London, a telegram from Prime Minister General Sikorski dated Tehran, December 19. In this telegram General Sikorski informs the Polish Ambassador that:
Six divisions of Polish troops are being at present formed in Russia and will be transferred to Southern Turkestan. These troops should be reconditioned, trained and ready by June 1942. General Sikorski foresees that a great German offensive will be launched on the Eastern European Front about that time. The readiness of the above mentioned Polish forces will depend on their timely equipment and armament, the speeding up of which therefore is very urgent.
Apart from these six divisions, 25,000 Polish soldiers are being evacuated from Russia to the British Empire as well as a certain number of Polish airmen and sailors. The Polish civilian population in Russia is likewise being concentrated in the South. One must reckon with famine in the spring of 1942 – which however will not affect the Soviet Army or Administration who have food reserves prepared along the Trans-Siberian Railway Line. Famine will undoubtedly affect the civilian population and especially the Polish deportees. The Polish Government is faced by the urgent task of organizing relief for this population and counts on the support of Great Britain and of the United States.
In view of the Conference about to open in Washington, General Sikorski has likewise asked Prime Minister Churchill to take into consideration the position of Poland as an Ally of Great Britain, the part played by the Polish Nation through its indomitable resistance to the invader and its effective subversive warfare, the part which the Polish Armed Forces, the Polish Air Force and Navy are taking in the war for the common Allied cause – and to insure for Poland in the new alignment of Allied or Associated Powers with the United States, a place equal to that of Soviet Russia and China. General Sikorski stresses the fact that the latest agreement which he has brought about between Poland and the USSR (Polish-Soviet Declaration of Friendship and Mutual Assistance signed by Prime Minister General Sikorski and Prime Minister Stalin on December 4, 1941), appears to him fully to justify his request regarding Poland’s position in the Association of Nations about to be concluded, considering that this Polish-Soviet agreement has eliminated many of the hitherto existing difficulties in the good relations between those two countries.
General Sikorski has instructed the Polish Ambassador in Washington to bring the above considerations to the knowledge of the Secretary of State and to request him to convey them to The President.
740.0011 European War 1939/17921: Telegram
Sofia (via Istanbul), December 27, 1941 — 6 p.m.
[Received December 27 — 4 p.m.]
Foreign Minister informed me December 25 that should Russia attack Japan, Bulgaria will be forced by the Tripartite Pact to declare war against and join in the attack on Russia. Bulgaria’s action is not yet determined. He said that the reason for the strained relations between Bulgaria and Russia was due to the fact that on Soboleff’s visit that not only did Russia ask for sea and naval bases in Bulgaria (reported in my previous telegrams) but that they also proposed that Bulgaria join in an alliance with Russia to attack Turkey and take the Dardanelles. He added that upon Bulgaria’s refusal, Russia’s attitude has from that time been cold and hostile.
Popoff said again and again how deeply the Bulgarian Government regretted that declaration of war on America was forced upon them, and that it was compulsory and entirely against their will.
Though so far well treated, all Americans are forbidden to leave Bulgaria. This is unquestionably at the order of the German Minister who has an idea that these Americans may be held as hostages for certain Germans, or possibly Bulgarians, in America. I wanted to stay until I had secured the release of all Americans, but the Bulgarian Government would not let me. We had given these Americans four warnings to get out.
On the train to the border, Stanchieff, a close personal friend of the King accompanying us, told me that Boris was above all a humanitarian and his every action had been directed to keeping Bulgaria out of actual fighting and that should war break out between Bulgaria and Russia, the King and his family would [leave?] Bulgaria.
Exemplifying the strong pro-Russian sentiment in Bulgaria, the policemen who guarded our Legation were all pro-Russian as well as the three employees on the King’s own car on which I went to the border.
We left the Bulgarian people, King and Government deeply depressed and pessimistic due to three simultaneous shocks. First, Bulgaria’s forced declaration of war against America, her traditionally old and unselfish friend. Second, the stoning of the American Legation simultaneous with that of the Russian Legation. This action against us was a cause of great shame to all Bulgarians. I have interviewed some of the boys who did it. They were each supplied with 3 cobblestones and 200 levas. Third, the one Bulgarian element that was sincerely pro-German was the army officers. This group is shocked beyond words at Hitler, a politician, taking direct command of the army.
Other points are: I am informed by an excellent Bulgarian source that there are numerous desertions from the Bulgarian Army in Serbia to the forces of the Serbian patriots. The wife of the Swedish Chargé d’Affaires, just returned from Athens, says conditions there are horrible and that hundreds are dying daily from starvation and that the dead are left lying in the streets.
I shall return home as best I can.
EARLE
U.S. State Department (December 28, 1941)
| Present | ||
|---|---|---|
| President Roosevelt | ||
| Secretary of War Stimson | ||
| Secretary of the Navy Knox | ||
| Mr. Hopkins | ||
| Assistant Secretary of War McCloy | ||
| General Marshall | ||
| Admiral Stark | ||
| Admiral King | ||
| Lieutenant General Arnold | ||
| Rear Admiral Turner | ||
| Brigadier General Gerow | ||
| Major Sexton |
December 28, 1941, 11:45 a.m.
Secret
Subject: CURRENT WAR SITUATION
The President suggested that General Marshall give an estimate of the situation after three weeks of war.
General Marshall stated that, with respect to the Far East, General MacArthur apparently was not falling back as rapidly as was indicated in his first message; that General MacArthur was in a most difficult situation as far as air forces were concerned; that the heavy bombers had been evacuated from Luzon and that he estimated that the only planes left in Luzon were being used for observation purposes, although they may be of fighter types; that out of the original thirty-five B-17s in the Philippines, eleven were at Surabaya; that General Brereton was with these planes and had established whatever fighter planes were now in Australia, they would be so disposed as to protect the fields where the B-17s would be based; that a comparatively limited amount of information had been received from the Philippines; and that it would probably be two or three days before the situation would be clarified as to whether or not General MacArthur’s withdrawal would be rapid or would be prolonged.
The President asked if we had received any estimates of Japanese losses.
General Marshall replied that we had not; nor had we received an estimate of American losses; that, under the circumstances, he did not desire to harass General MacArthur with these details.
The President asked if there was a possibility of operating from Mindanao.
General Marshall replied that the Japanese had landed troops at Davao, but that General MacArthur hoped to hold fields in Mindanao, which could be used for operations against Luzon, and desired air and naval attacks on Japanese Davao preparations.
General Arnold stated that when we were able to get heavy bombers operating out of Borneo, we would be able to cover the Philippine Islands and Saigon; that eighteen B-17s are leaving the United States for the Far Eastern area tomorrow night.
General Marshall added that another serious matter for consideration was the situation at Rangoon; that it was important to hold this point because it was on our line of communications to the Far East, and that Air Chief Marshal Portal had told General Arnold that the British were sending three squadrons of Hurricane fighters into that area.
The President asked if we should establish a committee in China.
General Marshall replied that he thought we should.
The President observed that it was primarily an air problem, and he wondered if General Magruder could handle it.
General Marshall replied that we have the 22nd Pursuit Group there, which was out of the American voluntary group. General Marshall then added that the Ludington was back at Los Angeles.
The President asked if it was possible to send the Ludington to Australia.
General Marshall stated that it was too slow; that the Polk should get into Australia on the 8th; that another transport was leaving today; that the Navy had advised the Army that they could escort one convoy per month for Australia, but freight vessels would have to go unconvoyed; that with respect to the Hawaiian theater, the air force had been increased to two hundred pursuit ships and forty-three B-17s; that General Emmons had asked for more troops as garrison for the Hawaiian Islands, and that these were being sent; that on our West Coast we have the antiaircraft defense set up as well as it is possible to do it. He added that when the Western Defense Command had been set up and placed under GHQ, there had been a tendency on the part of GHQ to move everything on the East Coast to the Western theater, and this condition had been remedied by setting up an Eastern Defense Command, which tended to balance this tendency on the part of GHQ; that every effort is being made to get winterized planes into Alaska, and that they will be there in a very short time; that General DeWitt believed that we should have stronger air forces in Alaska, but that it was simply a question of how to distribute our limited means; that at the beginning of the war we had established strong forces on the West Coast and guarding industry, and that it now became a question of gradually reducing them as far as practicable in order to prevent immobilization of large forces and serious interruptions of training.
The President asked what studies were being made with the Russians concerning operating bombers on the Kamchatka Peninsula, and operations in the Far East.
General Marshall replied that at the present time no studies were being made, because the Russians had no representatives here; that one Russian General here was primarily concerned with lend-lease; and that outside of settling with the Russians on the number of planes, tanks, etc., to be turned over to them, nothing more has been done.
The President stated that he thought that in four or five days the Russians would agree to conversations on possible combined operations.
Subject: UNITY OF COMMAND
The President stated that Mr. Churchill had agreed to the principle of unity of command in the Far East, and that he was about to send a radio to London to obtain approval of the Privy Council; that the general thought was that the Far Eastern theater would include Malaya, Burma, the Philippine Islands, Australia, and supply lines north of Australia; that Mr. Churchill had agreed, after a struggle, to include sea, land, and air in unity of command; that the supreme commander should have a small headquarters, and the headquarters would be mobile. Mr. Churchill had agreed that the commander (General Wavell) should not stay in Singapore; that the British and Dutch naval forces would be under an American Admiral; and that the British naval commander would be directed to conform with the plans and policies of the supreme commander.
General Marshall stated that this did not permit unity of command with regard to the naval forces, and urged that, as written, this not be accepted – that there should be no misunderstanding on this matter.
It was generally agreed that, as written, the telegram3 provided for cooperation with respect to naval forces.
Admiral Stark pointed out that a communication had been received from Australia urging unity of command.
General Marshall strongly urged that the statement “that the naval forces be directed to conform with the policies of the supreme commander,” be amended to read, “will operate under the direction of the supreme commander.”
At the President’s suggestion, General Marshall and Mr. Harry Hopkins retired to another room and redrafted Mr. Churchill’s telegram in accordance with General Marshall’s recommendations.
During their absence, the President directed that arrangements be made to go ahead with the proposition of establishing a committee at Chungking in order to help the morale of Chiang Kai-shek.
The Secretary of War observed that he had the idea that something of this nature had already been set up, but that he would set up a working committee.
The President asked who was to be designated as the American representative with Wavell.
General Arnold replied that it was contemplated having General Brett assigned as his air officer.
The President asked if Admiral Glassford would send someone also, and Admiral Stark replied that they planned to send Admiral Purnell.
Subject: NAVAL OPERATIONS
The President stated that he had a report from the Dutch which quoted Admiral Hart as saying that he had instructions from Washington which precluded any joint action in the Far East. Also, the President asked, if it had been necessary to withdraw the task force which had been sent to Wake, why had this force ever been sent?
Admiral Stark replied that Admiral Pye had been sent to support Wake.
The President then asked again if it was felt necessary to send them at all, why should they have been withdrawn; and said that, except for the Midway task force, the operations had used a lot of oil and had accomplished nothing.
The President further stated that it had been his observation that a large number of the Japanese task forces scattered throughout the Far Eastern area were small; that they generally consisted of one or two cruisers, a few destroyers, and possibly two or three transports; that he thought a study should be made concerning the possibility of a sweep through the Pacific with the idea of catching some of these small forces; that the American forces should be slightly larger, possibly three or four cruisers and nine or ten destroyers; that the sweeping force should be fast enough to escape if it encountered superior strength; that he felt that it is necessary for the Navy to take some offensive action.
Admiral Stark replied that the Navy had forces operating on the line – Johnston, Christmas, Palmyra – and had hoped to meet some of the Japanese expeditions, but had failed.
The President remarked that the Japanese were getting awfully close to home.
It was pointed out that the United States had submarines operating in Midway and Wake area, and also three task forces in Japanese waters.
Admiral Stark stated that standing directions had been issued to raid Japanese forces whenever possible; that the area to the southwest had to be kept open; that, had the Japanese immediately followed up their Hawaiian raid, the defense of Hawaii would have been jeopardized. However, with the present air strength in Hawaii, it is believed possible to permit the naval forces to leave.
Admiral King stated that a list of priority missions with regard to the Pacific fleet had been drawn up – that first priority was holding the Hawaii-Midway line; second, that second priority was reinforcing and holding the line, Hawaii and Samoa; that all other projects must give way to this; and that in withdrawing the expedition from Wake, Admiral Pye was undoubtedly taking the broad viewpoint.
The President finally added that we need some kind of a contact with the Japanese navy, with our raiding forces having a slightly superior strength.
At this point General Marshall returned to the conference.
The President asked General Marshall if anything had been done with regard to moving small groups of men to England on current convoys.
General Marshall replied that the matter was being worked on; that it involved many difficulties; that he had a man en route to Halifax to see what could be done. He felt that something could certainly be worked out in the matter.
The President stated that he wanted to say something publicly this week about American troops in the British Isles.
General Marshall replied that the Commanding Officers for the Ireland, African, and Brazilian task forces were in Washington at the present time, working out detailed plans.
The President stated that the African expedition is a guess operation; that he had received an interesting telegram from Mr. Bullitt mentioning that there were some French ships in the harbor at Alexandria, and that it might be possible for the Americans to take these ships over without opposition, where the British could not.
General Marshall stated that, with regard to the African expedition, three alternatives were being studied – (1) the expedition to Casablanca; (2) to the Cape Verde Islands; and (3) to Dakar.
The President asked about the possibility of landing under fire at Casablanca.
General Marshall stated that this would be a very dangerous operation to attempt because of the hazards involved, especially in meeting an initial reverse, which would have a very detrimental effect on the morale of the American people.
Admiral Stark then stated that the Navy had stopped the conversion of four ships to airplane carriers in order to make these ships available for troop transports; in addition, there was available the Normandie, and one ship in Brazil; that seventy-one C-3s were being built; that the building program was working at maximum capacity; and that if any more transports were built, something else would have to stop.
The President handed the Secretary of the Navy the radio he had received from Mr. Bullitt; and at 12:45 p.m. the conference adjourned.
WTS
The people of the Philippines:
News of your gallant struggle against the Japanese aggressor has elicited the profound admiration of every American. As President of the United States, I know that I speak for all our people on this solemn occasion.
The resources of the United States, of the British Empire, of the Netherlands East Indies, and of the Chinese Republic have been dedicated by their people to the utter and complete defeat of the Japanese warlords. In this great struggle of the Pacific, the loyal Americans of the Philippine Islands are called upon to play a crucial role.
They have played, and they are playing tonight, their part with the greatest gallantry.
As President, I wish to express to them my feeling of sincere admiration for the fight they are now making.
The people of the United States will never forget what the people of the Philippine Islands are doing this day and will do in the days to come. I give to the people of the Philippines my solemn pledge that their freedom will be redeemed and their independence established and protected. The entire resources, in men and in material, of the United States stand behind that pledge.
It is not for me or for the people of this country to tell you where your duty lies. We are engaged in a great and common cause. I count on every Philippine man, woman, and child to do his duty. We will do ours.
Reading Eagle (December 28, 1941)
Norris promises raids that will ‘burn them off face of earth;’ Reynolds angry; ‘fiendish activities’ at Manila deplored by Secretary Hull
Washington (UP) – (Dec. 27)
The bombs the Japanese are raining on Manila will be repaid tenfold on Japan’s defended cities, it was predicted tonight in a capital shocked by news of the wanton and ruthless attack upon defenseless civilians in that “open city.”
Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka and Kobe are fortified areas and when the Anglo-American offensive upon Japan proper is started, those cities are expected to bear the full force of a furious retaliation, it was said.
Secretary of State Cordell Hull expressed the feelings of officials here when he said at his press conference that Japan’s actions in the Philippines are a continuation of similar practices which the Japanese have been using in China.
Wheeler angry
Matching Hull’s wrath was the statement of Senator Burton K. Wheeler (D-MT) that the attack on Manila had proven that the Japanese are “an inhuman and half-civilized race and in the future will have to be treated as such.”
Wheeler said that:
The time will come when these Japs will pay the penalty for their treachery – in the future they must be dealt with for what they are.
Harking back to his former isolationist opposition to the British-aid program, Wheeler said that:
The tragedy is that we’ve given away so much of our material that we cannot retaliate and bomb Tokyo, Kobe, Yokohama and Nagasaki and the rest of their industrial centers.
Characterizing the Japanese attack as “barbarism in its worst form,” Senator Norris (I-NE) expressed what appeared to be a universal sentiment when he asserted that the Nipponese had disregarded all rules of warfare and in turn could claim no immunity under such rules.
Dire warning
Norris said:
Their cities are open to attack, when we are ready, that will burn them off the face of the earth and that is what they are coming to.
Shocked expressions also came from Assistant Senate Republican Leader Warren R. Austin (R-VT), who described the Japanese raid on Manila as “an act of barbarism.” Senator Sheridan Downey (D-CA) said the “brutal action” would make “more inflexible” America’s determination to win the war decisively.
Reynolds perturbed
Senator Robert R. Reynolds (D-NC) declared:
This action is a true insight into their paganism.
He called on every American “to hasten the day when we will be able to repay them tenfold for their dastardly and unwarranted acts.”
Hull said that Japan has been entirely consistent in her record during recent years, especially since she invaded China in July 1937, and has been practicing the same barbaric methods of cruelty and inhumanity that Adolf Hitler practices, and has been practicing, in Europe.
The present example of barbarism, the Secretary added, shows that Japan has expanded the field of her fiendish activities.
The actions of the Japanese in bombing defenseless cities in China – Tientsin, Shanghai, Canton, Nanking, Hankow and others – has made a despised scrap of paper of the Japanese code of bushidō, a so-called formula for honor among fighting men.
Tokyo fortified
Tokyo, the seat of Japan’s government, has been fortified to protect the Emperor, Hirohito. It has not been generally known, but a regular tank corps is maintained inside the palace grounds, which occupy a position almost in the exact center of Greater Tokyo.
The barracks of the Imperial Guard are adjacent to the palace and the moss-covered walls which dip into the moats surrounding the palace are studded with anti-aircraft defenses.
There will be no lack, therefore, of military objectives near the Imperial residence when American and British, or perhaps even Russian, planes carry the war to the enemy’s capital.
The Kobe and Osaka districts, because of shipping and munitions manufacturing, are fortified, and the important Yokosuka Naval Base is only a short distance from Yokohama.
Houses inflammable
The damage which bombing can do to Japanese cities will be tremendous. Although business districts are of modern concrete and steel, other sections are of the traditional Japanese “paper house” variety – very inflammable. Actually, they are of wood and tile, the “paper” being used in the interiors on sliding doors and windows.
The bombing of Japan can also easily disrupt Japan’s rail and highway communications. Only one narrow-gauge railroad connects the principal cities and it could be put out of commission easily. There are no main highways which could be used by Japan for quick movement of coastal defenses. There is only one connection by highway between Tokyo and the regions toward the eastern coastline and that passes over a series of narrow, only partially completed, bridges outside the city.
Even during maneuvers, when Japan has sent troops into the section east of Tokyo, considerable confusion has been caused in transport problems over that single highway.
Admiral says he’ll hold Pierre and Miquelon
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (UP) – (Dec. 27)
VAdm. Émile Muselier’s Free French forces will not be withdrawn from the island of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, it was indicated today.
A statement issued by the Free French Information Service said:
The defense of the national sovereignty will be assured to the end.
The plebiscite shows in no uncertain manner that the inhabitants of Saint Pierre and Miquelon are opposed to the restoration of the status quo of the islands.
U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull has denounced the Free French action as “arbitrary,” and called upon the Canadian government to announce what steps it was prepared to take to restore sovereignty of the islands to Vichy.
Meanwhile, Adm. Muselier declared no warship of any nationality, except under special permission, would be permitted in territorial waters. He also prohibited aircraft from flying over the islands.
All men of military age, as well as veterans of the last war, are joining the Free French Army in Canada, or are volunteering for defense of the islands.
Damage from Jap bombings estimated at $2,500,000; 40 dead, 150 wounded
By Frank Hewlett
Manila, Philippines (UP) –
Rescue crews searched for dead and wounded in the charred wreckage of Manila’s ancient walled city today as the angry populace roared a demand for the U.S. Army to return to a “last-man” stand after murderous Japanese air bombardment of this officially-declared “open” capital.
While firemen sprayed water on the last smoldering embers of churches and schools, the predominantly-Catholic population went to early Mass through debris-spattered narrow streets. And the watchword on every hand was, “We can take it like London did!”
Troubled eyes anxiously searched the skies for new waves of Japanese planes, but only two enemy aircraft appeared over the city shortly after dawn.
They flew low over the city, presumably inspecting the havoc wrought in Manila’s most densely-populated area.
The death toll was feared heavy. Early reports showed at least 40 persons killed and 150 wounded – some of them nuns whose smashed bodies were still being removed from ancient religious edifices which bore the brunt of the savage assault.
$2,500,000 damage
Damage in the walled city was placed unofficially at ₱5,000,000 (about $2,500,000).
Winds that threatened to carry the flames to other parts of Manila abated during the night and firemen were able to confine the blaze to a relatively small area.
The Japanese attack struck the old walled city only 30 hours after Gen. Douglas MacArthur, commander of U.S. forces in the Far East, formally declared the capital an “open city” and left Manila with all U.S. and Philippine forces, along with President Manuel Quezon and the heads of the Philippine government.
As daylight faded, flames from the blazing old structures made a mockery of Manila’s blackout.
Under control
But by mid-evening, Manila’s firemen, after hours of heroic work, reported they believed they had the conflagration under control unless the wind rose. The million-dollar Manila Cathedral, Santo Tomas Medical College and other threatened structures in the old city would be saved, it was believed.
Fires also blazed in the port area. From the windows of the United Press office, they appeared to be dying down but there was still no report from fire department officials whether they had been brought under control.
But Santo Domingo Church – built by the Dominicans in 1588 – was gone, its weathered stucco walls crushed by bombs and its massive timberwork consumed by flames. The loss estimated by the Dominicans was $2,000,000 or more without taking into account the priceless relics, including a bejeweled image of the Holy Rosary said to be worth $350,000.
Longest of war
The Japanese bombing of purely civilian objectives climaxed the longest air raid of the war on Manila – an attack of three hours and 22 minutes which followed a 40-minute raid early in the morning.
The Nipponese airmen had been droning over Manila Harbor endlessly, flight after flight, blasting at ships at anchor and at the great piers which in peacetime are laden with supplies destined for the seven seas.
Suddenly the Japanese planes veered over the old walled city, some of whose buildings date back to the 1500s.
At exactly 1:46 p.m. (PHT), a salvo of heavy bombs whistled down through the air. With a roar that rocked the city for blocks around, the bombs crunched down along the northern edge of the walled city, about a mile and a half from the main port area and close to the spot where Magellan landed on Pasig River.
The destruction was terrific. The area, a congested region normally populated by about 100,000 persons – many Spaniards and Chinese – had been considered safe from Japanese bombing under the “open city” proclamation.
Church wrecked
Incendiary and explosive bombs plopped down on old Santo Domingo Church where Dominican priests have celebrated Mass each day since 1588 when they built the edifice. Others hit the adjoining convent. People were in the chapel at their daily prayer when the bombs struck. Only a few near the door reached the street. Witnesses saw eight dead and about 20 seriously injured carried from the wreckage.
Across the street, Santa Rosa College, another old structure, suffered minor damage. About 30 automobiles on the street were wrecked.
Half an hour later, a second batch of bombs fell into the old city, hitting the old Intendencia Building which houses the Philippine Treasury, Mint and Budget Commission, and Santa Catalina College for Girls. The Intendencia Building is a massive structure with four-foot walls, once used by the Spanish governors as their official residence.
Fires blazed up around the brown stucco towers of Santo Domingo Church and for a time it appeared the entire Intramuros would be threatened when firemen were unable to play more than weak streams of water upon the flames that swept through the ancient wooden structures.
Streets cluttered
Santo Domingo Church was almost wiped out. The bomb blast scattered its debris over several adjoining streets and for a block around it was almost impossible to make one’s way through the clutter of galvanized tin roofing material, broken glass and wooden window frames.
When I arrived on the scene, flames were just disappearing from the church dome and firefighters had not yet arrived. I paused briefly to examine a bomb crater – 20 feet across – in the churchyard. Another bomb, probably made from American scrap iron, had uprooted a three-foot tree.
The flames from Santo Domingo’s ruins swept west, seriously endangering the mllion-dollar Manila Catholic Cathedral, a more modern structure. The flames from Santa Rosa College swept out of control toward Santo Tomas Medical College, the Philippine Appeals Court Building and the American Army-Navy YMCA.
But after hours of effort, firemen appeared to have the principal fires under control.
Worse than quakes
Damage done by the attack rivaled that of the terrific earthquakes which have plagued Manila. The history of the walled city goes back more than 250 years. The walls, which gave Intramuros its name, were started in 1584. Old Fort Santiago was built in 1600 and many of the buildings had stood up through the terrific earth shocks of 1645, 1863 and 1880. Some of those buildings were mere piles of debris today.
One cluster of Japanese bombs fell directly on Magellan’s Landing, shearing off the superstructure of a ship moored alongside, and sinking a small tug. But the statue of Ferdinand Magellan, who discovered the Philippines in 1521 and brought its first taste of Western civilization, stood unscathed, its profile gleaming back against the background of flames, smoke and destruction.
More than a dozen big Japanese bombs fell inside the old walled city during the attack.
Acting Philippine Budget Commissioner Pio Pedrosa was injured in the explosion and, it was said, may be forced to undergo amputation of his right leg. Other government officials in the building were not hurt since they had taken refuge in the undamaged vault.
One report from civilians said that the Japanese planes which carried out most of their attack from an elevation of 10,000 feet swooped down and machine-gunned some persons on the street as they emerged from the Intendencia Building.
Before the sudden rain of bombs on the old city, the Japanese in flight after flight had been concentrating on Manila Harbor.
In their lengthy attack, the Japanese were reported to have scored direct hits on three ships and inflicted considerable damage to piers.
Nine at a time
From a half-mile away, I watched the Japanese attack the harbor, they flew over in perfect formation, nine silver bombers at a time, and blasted again and again at the ships.
After dropping a few more bombs on the piers and waterfront buildings, the Japanese flew over the city. They dropped leaflets telling the Filipinos that the war was only against the Americans.
Hardly had the leaflets showered down when the city rocked under the blast of Japanese bombs dropped directly on the city’s residential area.
I ran for my car but the driver couldn’t be found and he had locked the doors. I started to hunt for him but, perhaps luckily, did not find him at once, since within half an hour, another load of bombs dumped down into the Intramuros, where I was headed.
Finally, I located my driver and started for the walled city. I was headed for the USAFFE headquarters – headquarters now guarded only by a few policemen. I found it intact but an officer pointed toward Jones Bridge as a scene of damage.
Abandons car
Soon I was forced to abandon my car and pushed ahead through throngs of civilians scurrying away from danger areas, their arms loaded with a few possessions, crying babies and, occasionally, suitcases.
The first destruction I saw was near Santa Catalina College where homes were smashed and the street was littered with debris and the air filled with dust from the crumbled stucco buildings. A small bomb had smashed through a dormitory room, making kindling of the chairs and bunks. Fortunately, the school has been closed since the start of the war or the death toll would have been heavy. A watchman said one student in the building was killed and a nun badly hurt.
Some bombs hit several cars. Observers believed the bombs might be intended for small boats and barges along the Pasig River although they fell as far as a mile away. Constabulary Chief Guillermo Francisco ordered the craft out of the river into the bay as a precaution.
Pincer move is creeping closer to Manila
U.S. Forces HQ, North Luzon front, Philippines (UP) – (Dec. 27)
Japanese forces tonight advanced slowly against stubbornly-resisting U.S. and Philippine troops in a huge north-and-south pincer which seeks to clamp its jaws upon Manila.
On this northern front, the Japanese spearheads have debouched from the narrow, mountainous defiles of the north onto the broad Pampanga Plains. Their advanced guard was reported at Urdaneta, eight miles south of Binalonan and about 97 miles from Manila.
Southern front
Reports from the southern front placed the Japanese advance at Lucena, 64 airline miles from Manila, but separated from the capital by several mountain ranges, lakes, swamps and difficult terrain. At this point, the Japanese had driven forward about 26 miles from their landing stage on Lamon Bay, a 20-mile strip of beach from Atimonan to Mauban.
Both the Japanese thrusts were regarded as dangerous. They were backed by increasing numbers of mobile Japanese troops, landed with light arms and equipment from transports standing off Lingayen Gulf in the northwest and Lamon Bay to the southeast.
San Francisco, California (UP) – (Dec. 27)
The Tokyo radio heard by United Press listening post tonight claimed that American forces are trapped in the Philippines because “the Japanese Navy has complete control over all waters from Japan to Malaya.”
Tokyo, quoting dispatches from “a certain Japanese base,” asserted American forces:
…anticipated the certain collapse of Mani,la before the onslaught of powerful Japanese land, naval and air forces.
The Americans, said the Tokyo broadcast:
…are preparing to flee from Manila while evacuating whatever remains of the American Air Force to the Dutch East Indies and Australia.
The Tokyo radio said:
The American forces in the Philippines cannot escape since the Japanese Navy has complete control over all waters from Japan to Malaya.
Sea strategists believe grand-scale clash will take time
Washington (UP) – (Dec. 27)
“Be patient.”
That is the reply which the Navy gave tonight to the question – which many Americans are asking as they watch the tide of battle in the Far East – “What is our Navy doing?”
For obvious military reasons, naval officials who know – and their number is restricted – are not yet ready to answer the question in any detail. But one official has this to say:
The American people must be patient. When the time comes, the Navy will deliver. It has not lost the tradition of the offensive.
Secretary of the Navy Knox, on Dec. 15, disclosed that those ships of the fleet that escaped unscathed from Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, “are all at sea seeking contact with the enemy.”
So far, official communiqués indicate that the Navy is concentrating on submarine operations – engaging in little more than guerilla sea warfare. U.S. submarines have sunk three Japanese transports, a destroyer, a minesweeper and probably another transport and a seaplane tender. A Navy flier is also credited with bombing and badly damaging a 29,000-ton Japanese battleship of the Kongo class.
The Wake Island garrison succeeded in sinking a light cruiser and three destroyers before it was overwhelmed by the invaders.
Americans want revenge
But Americans are wondering when the U.S. Navy is going to pay the Japanese in kind – and with interest – for their attack on Pearl Harbor.
Naval strategists believe that there will not be any major contact with the Japanese fleet for some time to come – maybe months, perhaps a year, or more.
For one reason, the Japanese Navy has not appeared in Central or Eastern Pacific in real force. It is largely engaged at present in supporting land operations, escorting troop transports, and in hit-run sorties.
To get at the Japanese, whether it be their naval forces or their naval bases, the U.S. Fleet would have to move to the Far East.
That would mean that the fleet would have to be accompanied by a great “train” of supply ships because there are no suitable bases available in American territory in the Far East. The Cavite Naval Base in Manila, experts said, is probably untenable at the present time. Guam and Wake are lost.
Even assuming that the losses to the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor were not seriously crippling, the experts said, it seems unlikely that attempts would be made to engage the Japanese in a major naval battle in their home area unless air superiority for the U.S. could be assured.
Japs have land bases
While it is believed here that our Navy’s aircraft carriers are more formidable than those of the Japanese, the enemy, it was pointed out, have the advantage of well-established land bases for aircraft operations. At present, the Japanese Navy, operating fairly close to its bases, would undoubtedly have greater air support than the U.S. Fleet.
The fact that the Japanese have been able to move great troop transport fleets with little molestation through the China Sea for invasion of the Philippines and other areas of the Far East, is no surprise to experts here. They contend it would be dangerous and strategically unsound to attempt to keep naval units – such as the Asiatic Fleet – in the China Sea unless the United States had air superiority in the Far East. The units would be vulnerable to aerial bombardment from land-based, heavy planes, as well as to concentrated underseas attacks.
Present strategy, in the opinion of experts, appears to call for a remote blockade of Japanese-controlled areas. Attack on a grand scale is something that must wait for the future.
President says progress made in marshaling all resources
Washington (UP) – (Dec. 27)
President Roosevelt announced tonight after day-long conferences with the envoys of 25 Allied governments that “excellent progress” has been made in marshaling the military and economic resources of the anti-Axis nations on “a worldwide front.”
The President’s statement was issued after the framework of a grand plan of strategy for smashing the Axis “in every part of the globe,” with naval superiority playing a major role, was laid before the Allied representatives by Mr. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
He declared:
We have advanced far along the route toward achievement of the ultimate objective – the crushing defeat of those forces which have attacked and made war upon us.
The President’s statement was issued through his Press Secretary, Stephen T. Early, who said that joint U.S.-British war council talks would be held tomorrow. A meeting of the council, originally scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET today, will probably be held at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Early said.
Position strengthened
In his statement, Mr. Roosevelt said that:
As a result of all these meetings, I know tonight that the position of the United States and of all the nations aligned with us has been strengthened immeasurably.
The statement was issued after five days of consultations which began with Churchill’s arrival in Washington after a secret trip from Britain.
President Roosevelt’s statement said:
Much has been accomplished this week through the medium of many conferences held in the meetings of the supply and production officials, in the sessions held by members of the military and naval groups, and in discussion with the chiefs of missions of all the nations at war with the common enemy.
In today’s series of White House conferences, Mr. Roosevelt and Churchill described at length the Allied victory program to the ambassadors and ministers of the warring anti-Axis nations and the Allies’ staunch supporters among the Latin-American non-belligerents.
Mr. Roosevelt said that “excellent progress” had been made “in the marshaling of all resources, military and economic, of the worldwide front opposing the Axis.”
Promises details
The President said:
The conferences will continue for an indefinite period of time. It is impossible to say just now when they will terminate.
It is my promise, so far as it is possible, to give insofar as safety will permit – without giving information of military value to the enemy – a more detailed accounting of all that has taken place in Washington this week and of all that will take place during the remainder of the meetings.
He said that the talks included conferences “with Russian and Chinese Ambassadors, the Canadian Prime Minister, and the Dutch Minister.”
Not only the representatives of America’s and Britain’s actual allies in arms, but those of the friendly American republics pledged to mutual hemispheric defense, were given a full-in on the gigantic plans underway for crushing the totalitarian aggressors.
Churchill told the Latin-American envoys that three-fifths of the entire world supports the forces fighting for freedom against Axis aggression, and that the Allies are out to win the war all over the world.
The fleets of the United States and Great Britain completely dominate the Atlantic – vital lifeblood artery of Allied supplies – and the Eastern Pacific, thus protecting the shores of the Western Hemisphere, Churchill said.
Neither the President nor Churchill sought to hide the realization that the struggle would be a hard one.
Sea power bears hopes
Churchill said that eventually, however, the sea power of the Allies would make itself felt in bringing victory.
The White House conferences set up the nucleus for the most far-reaching alliance of fighting strength ever known, reaching around the world and built on planes for an offensive in 1943 striking into “every part of the globe.”
The talks at the White House marked the end of the first phase of the grand strategy consultations initiated by the dramatic arrival in Washington Monday night of Churchill, accompanied by some 80 top-ranking British military, naval, air and other experts.
Churchill, in high spirits over the success of his visit, prepared to leave for Canada where he will address a joint sitting of the Canadian Parliament at Ottawa Tuesday afternoon, telling the people of that dominion something of the results of his mission to the United States.
Although nothing has been revealed officially of the ramifications of the Allied plan of military strategy against Germany, Italy and Japan, it was understood that the ambassadors and ministers of the 22 Allied nations were told that the long-haul outlook for victory is bright.
In the matter of production – the Allies’ great trump card of victory, in the opinion of military experts – the picture is “cheerful,” according to one of the participants in the technical side of the discussions.
Will pool supplies
Plans are being developed for a common pool of supplies for Britain and the United States, and the British are preparing to lend this country certain types of equipment and weapons of which there are as yet inadequate American stocks.
In this connection, the British Press Ministry said that Canadian guns are in action in Hawaii and the Philippines, smashing at the Japanese attackers, while Canadian as well as U.S. pilots are fighting in China.
Brought into today’s White House consultations with the Anglo-American leaders were the envoys of Russia, China, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Belgium, Norway, Denmark and many Latin-American republics.
Following the British dominions conference, the President and Churchill went over the war situation with the envoys of Greece, Luxembourg and Czechoslovakia, as well as those of other Axis-occupied countries.
The Australian Minister, Richard G. Casey, said he had been interested primarily in the situation in the Southwest Pacific, which he described as being of utmost importance.
Will guide conference
The Roosevelt-Churchill consultations on worldwide strategy are expected to serve as a guidepost for the Pan-American conference opening at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jan. 15, among the foreign ministers of the 21 American republics to implement a broad system for hemispheric defense and solidarity against any Axis aggression.
Nine Latin-American republics are already at war against the Axis – Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama and Honduras. The others have broken off diplomatic relations with the Axis or else have gone on record as being sympathetic to the Allies.
To what extent a skeleton picture of the Allies’ contemplated strategy was placed before the representatives of the anti-Axis nations in the six White House conferences during the day was not disclosed, but it appeared that plans for establishing a permanent council of war in Washington had moved rapidly ahead.
Reno, Nevada (UP) – (Dec. 27)
Joe F. McDonald Sr., editor of the Nevada State Journal, has been advised that his son, Joe F. McDonald, 25, United Press correspondent at Wake Island, was killed in a Japanese air raid.
McDonald was one of 14 casualties among the 1,200 civilian workers in the island, Senator Pat McCarran (D-NV) told his father last night.