Posted on 01/14/2012 5:21:11 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1942/jan42/f14jan42.htm
Red Army continues to make gains
Wednesday, January 14, 1942 www.onwar.com
On the Eastern Front... Soviet forces recapture Selijarovo, northwest of Rzhev.
In the North Atlantic... German U-boat ace Lt.Cdr. Luth, of U-43, attacks convoy ON-55 during a severe storm and sinks 3 ships.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/14.htm
January 14th, 1942
NETHERLANDS: During the night of 14/15 January, 16 RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb four targets: six bomb Schipol Airfield, five bomb the port area at Rotterdam, four bomb Soesterberg Airfield and one bombs Leeuwarden Airfield. (Jack McKillop)
GERMANY:
During the night of 14/15 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 95 aircraft to bomb the U-boat yards at Hamburg. Only 50 aircraft claim to have bombed Hamburg, which reports Altona station hit and 12 fires, seven large, with six people killed and 22 injured, but no other major incidents. Three bombers are lost. A second target is Emden where 16 aircraft bomb the city with the loss of one aircraft. One each aircraft bomb the cities of Borkum and Cruxhaven. (Jack McKillop)
U-381 launched.
U-257 commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.S.R.: Following their seizure of Kirov yesterday, Soviet forces recapture Medya, on the central front northwest of Kaluga, driving a wedge between two Panzer divisions.
NORWAY: The German battleship Tirpitz and pocket battleship Admiral Scheer transfer from Wilhelmshaven, Germany, to Drontheim (Jack McKillop)
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The British submarine HMS/M Triumph (N 18) sailed from Alexandria, Egypt, on 26 December 1941 to land a party near Athens, Greece, before making a patrol in the Aegean Sea. She reported making the landing on 30 December, but fails to return to base. She is declared overdue today, She probably struck an Italian mine off Milos island, Aegan Islands, southeast of Greece. (Jack McKillop)
MALTA: Malta receives 14 air raid alerts in 19 hours today. A total of 262 air raids are sounded in Malta this month. (Jack McKillop)
AUSTRALIA: British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill implies to Australian Prime Minister John Curtin that Singapore could be held for some time. (Jack McKillop)
BURMA: Japanese aircraft bomb Rangoon. (Jack McKillop)
MALAYA: The Indian 3 Corps completes its withdrawal into Johore State and assumes responsibility for the southern part of Johore; assault elements, Australian 22nd Brigade of the Australian 8th Division, are designated East Force and disposed astride the Malacca-Segamat road. The Australian Imperial Force Malaya (less the Australian 22d Brigade), made responsible for northwestern Johore State, is reinforced by the Indian 9th Division and the Indian 45th Brigade and is designated West Force. The Australian 27th Brigade and Indian 8th Brig Groups are astride the main road and railroad north of Segamat. The Japanese are to be kept north of the line Muar-Segamat-Mersmg, if possible. The Japanese overtake West and East Forces. Many cyclists are killed in an ambush prepared near Gemas by “B” Company of the Australian 2/30th Battalion of West Force; this is the first battle between the Japanese and the Australians. East Force patrols encounter the Japanese from Kuantan in the Endau area. On this date and on the 15th, a Dutch detachment of about 80 native troops with European officers flies from the Netherlands East Indies to Singapore and concentrates in the Labus area of North Johore, for guerrilla action against enemy communications.
Japanese aircraft bomb Singapore, where a blackout is in force at last, but lamplighters have to snuff out gas lampposts in low-income districts one at a time when the Air Raid warning screams. (Jack McKillop)
MARIANA ISLANDS: The Japanese force slated to invade Rabaul on New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago, departs Guam. (Jack McKillop)
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: HQ of the USAAF’s Far East Air Force and HQ V Bomber Command transfer from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia to Malang, Java. Three squadrons of the 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy) equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses begin operating from Singosari, Java. (Jack McKillop)
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: In the II Corps area on Bataan, strong Japanese pressure against the western flank of the 41st Division, Philippine Army (PA), forces outposts to retire across the Balantay River. The 51st Division, PA, withdraws to the south bank of the river to tie in with the 41st. A Japanese enveloping column continues slowly down the center of Bataan but is still north of the main line of resistance. In the I Corps area, the Japanese start south on the west coast toward Moron in 2 columns, one by sea and the other along a trail from Olongapo. Waterborne elements land about midway between Olongapo and Moron and continue south on foot. Lieutenant General Jonathan M. Wainwright, Commanding General I Corps, sends a containing force to Moron. (Jack McKillop)
CANADA:
Trawler HMS Ironbound launched Kingston, Ontario.
Newfoundland Trawler (Motor Minesweepers) ordered from Steers Shipbuilding St John’s, Newfoundland - HMS MMS 238, MMS 239, MMS 240 and MMS 241.
Corvettes HMCS Sherbrooke and Hepatica departed St John’s to escort Convoy SC-64 to Londonderry.
Canada orders Japanese Canadians out of British Columbia coastal region; now defined as a ‘protected area’. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: New York: Banner headlines in this evening’s newspapers have sent tremors all around the island of Manhattan. The news of the torpedoing of the Panamanian tanker NORNESS just 100 miles from the piers where liners berth has brought home the realities of war to New Yorkers. The SS NORNESS falls victim to U-123, 73 miles south-southwest of Nanucket Island, Massachusetts. (Jack McKillop)
Only two days ago the British merchant ship CYCLOPS was sunk 300 miles off the eastern seaboard. These two attacks are the first signs of what Admiral Dönitz called the Paukenschlag - roll of drums - to mark America’s entry in the war. Dönitz has sent his finest long-range U-boats into the Atlantic to prey on America’s coastline. They lie on the seabed by day, and surface at night to pick off ships silhouetted against the bright lights on America’s coast.
With orders to “sink as much shipping as possible in the most economical manner”. U-boat commanders are relishing the prospect of a second “happy time”. The first “happy time” began in 1940 when the U-boats enjoyed a rich crop of sinkings in British home waters.
The Anglo-American ARCADIA Conference, held in Washington, DC starting on 20 December 1941, developed plans for the proposed Anglo-American offensive against Germany. Participants include President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill and their military staffs. Among the major decisions reached are: (1) an agreement to establish Combined Chiefs of Staff to direct the British-American war effort; (2) the main effort must be made first against Germany; and (3) occupation of French North Africa (Operation GYMNAST) is of strategic importance in Atlantic area. (Jack McKillop)
President Roosevelt issues Presidential Proclamation No. 2537, requiring aliens from Germany, Italy and Japan to register with the U.S. Department of Justice. Registered persons are then issued a “Certificate of Identification for Aliens of Enemy Nationality.” A follow-up to the Alien Registration Act of 1940, Proclamation No. 2537 facilitates the beginning of full-scale internment of Japanese Americans next month.. (Jack McKillop)
The government blacklists 1,800 European firms. Persona in the U.S., the government may no longer engage in business or financial transactions with these firms. Officials explain that the firms may regain the good graces of the U.S. by demonstrating a complete severance of trade or financial relations with the Axis countries.
The first helicopter produced for the U.S. military in other than experimental quantities, the Sikorsky (Model VS.316A) XR-4-SI Hoverfly, makes its first flight at Stratford, Connecticut. A total of 145 R-4s are built with 25 going to the USCG and USN as HNS-1s and 52 went to the RAF as Hoverfly Mk. Is (one to the RCAF). (Jack McKillop)
As discussions are begun in Washington to consider who shall go to China instead of Lieutenant General Hugh A. Drum, General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff U.S. Army, proposes Major General Joseph W. Stilwell, who is being considered for command of Operation GYMNAST. (Jack McKillop)
President Roosevelt orders all aliens in the United States to register with the government. The brunt of these orders later will fall on Japanese-Americans on the West Coast. (Jack McKillop)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0834, the unescorted tanker Norness was hit by one of two stern torpedoes fired by U-123 about 60 miles from Montauk Point, Long Island and began listing to port. At 0853, a coup de grâce hit the tanker underneath the bridge and the ship began settling on even keel, allowing the survivors to abandon ship in the starboard lifeboat and row away from the ship. The port lifeboat had capsized during the launch due to the heavy list and threw the occupants into the cold sea, drowning two Norwegian crewmembers. At 0929, the vessel was hit by a third torpedo in the engine room, after a second coup de grâce at 0910 proved to be a dud. Shortly thereafter, the tanker sank by the stern with the bow still visible over the surface. 30 survivors were spotted in the afternoon by a US Navy blimp, which directed USS Ellyson and USCGC Argo to them, while nine men were picked up by the American fishing boat Malvina. All survivors were landed at Newport RI.
At 0254 U-43 attacked Convoy ON-55 south of Iceland and sank SS Empire Surf. At 0304 the U-boat attacked again and heard a heavy detonation after 40 seconds, but a few minutes later was unable to see the target. The KTB has the marginal comment Apparently not a hit. The master, 37 crewmembers and nine gunners from the Empire Surf were lost. Six crewmembers were picked up by HMS Alisma and landed at Londonderry.
At 0453, U-43 attacked Convoy ON-55 a second time and sank SS Chepo.
A US Coast Guard plane, a Hall PH-3 No. V-177, dropped food to raft with 6 persons. (Dave Shirlaw)
"The United States blacklists 1800 European companies, making it illegal for any American to continue or begin business transactions with them."
She is my favorite actress of all time, and I consider her a war heroine. I'll have her picture up at my desk on Monday.
Not to worry. It would take more than a world war to keep this story off the front page.
Thank you; she has been much on my mind lately.
"The first helicopter produced for the U.S. military in other than experimental quantities, the Sikorsky (Model VS.316A) XR-4-SI Hoverfly, makes its first flight at Stratford, Connecticut.
A total of 145 R-4s are built with 25 going to the USCG and USN as HNS-1s and 52 went to the RAF as Hoverfly Mk. Is (one to the RCAF)"
From Wiki:
"The XR-4 completed a 761-mile (1,225 km) cross country flight from Connecticut to Wright Field, Ohio, set a service ceiling of 12,000 feet (3,700 m), 100 flight hours without a major incident, and an airspeed approaching 90 mph."
"Comdr. Frank A. Erickson, USCG & Dr. Igor Sikorsky, Sikorsky Helicopter HNS-1 C.G. #39040."
"Igor Sikorsky and Orville Wright by Sikorsky XR-4 1942 USAF"
"A Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly helicopter (s/n 43-46506) at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Dayton, Ohio "
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