Posted on 02/14/2012 5:41:24 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
In the coming days the Times will be getting an amazing amount of mileage out of the U.S. fleet’s raid on the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. See page 5 for today’s installment. Also page 5 from yesterday, and the original story was on February 2. In order to provide a fair and balanced presentation I am posting another excerpt from Herman Wouk’s novels of WWII. (We are now on volume 2, “War and Remembrance.”) In this case the fictional account may be more accurate historically than the mainstream media version, if you can imagine such a thing.
At this point in the novel the hero Capt. Victor Henry commands the treaty cruiser Northampton.
Herman Wouk, War and Remembrance
Enemy is Shelled (Vosser) – 2-3
The War Summarized – 3
Foe Dive-Bombing on Bataan Kills His Own Men by Mistake – 4
Australia Calls Session in Crisis (Curthoys) – 4
Bataan Tanks Crush Japanese Unit Without a Single Casualty in Battle (Floyd) – 5
Toll of U.S. Raids Detailed by Navy (Hailey) – 5-8
Halsey Rewarded for His Units’ Feats – 9
Nazi Navy is Peril (Post) – 9-10
Red Army Smashes into White Russia (Brigham and Ralph Parker) – 11-13
The Texts of the Day’s War Communiques – 15-16
Unity of Command Needed (by Hanson W. Baldwin) – 16
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1942/feb42/f14feb42.htm
Area bombing now British policy
Saturday, February 14, 1942 www.onwar.com
From London... The Area Bombing Directive is issued to the RAF Bomber Command. It states that raids “should now be focused on the morale of the enemy civil population and, in particular, of the industrial workers.” This represents a substantial shift in policy and targets civilian residential areas rather than factories.
In the East Indies... Japanese paratroopers land at Palembang on Sumatra. Admiral Ozawa’s main body, the Western Force are en route to the island.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/14.htm
February 14th, 1942
UNITED KINGDOM: Bomber Command after a period of conserving its strength, is being sent back into the attack. It has today been issued with a new directive instructing it to focus its attacks “on the morale of the enemy civil population and, in particular, of the industrial workers.”
The Area Bombing Directive is based on the introduction into service of the new four-engined Avro Lancaster bomber and a radio-beam navigational device known as “Gee”. It has been recognized for some time that the RAF’s bombers have great difficulty in finding their targets at night. According to the directive: “The introduction of this equipment on operations should be regarded as a revolutionary advance in bombing technique which ... will enable results to be obtained of a much more effective nature.”
The directive also means that open season has been declared on civilian as well as military targets in Germany.
FRANCE: During the night of 14/15th, 15 RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack Le Havre while one Manchester flies a leaflet mission. There are no losses. (Jack McKillop)
GERMANY: During the night of the 14/15th, 98 aircraft of RAF Bomber Command attack Mannheim; a Hampden and a Whitley are lost. Sixty seven aircraft claimed to have bombed the city in difficult conditions however, the Germans report only a light raid, with two buildings destroyed, 15 damaged, some railway damage and with one man wounded and 23 people bombed out. (Jack McKillop)
U-737 laid down.
U-178, U-336 commissioned.
U-617 launched.
(Dave Shirlaw)
SINGAPORE: The city is surrounded by the Japanese 18th Division in the west, the 5th Division in the northwest and the Guards Division to the north and northeast. The Japanese burst into Alexandra Military Hospital and bayonet a number of the staff and patients, including one patient lying on the operating table. They then herd 150 into a bungalow and execute them tomorrow. (Jack McKillop)
General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief ABDA Command, signals Lieutenant General Arthur Percival, General Officer Commanding Malaya Command, to fight on in Singapore, but adds it would “be wrong to enforce needless slaughter.” If it is no longer possible to resist, “I give you discretion to cease resistance...Whatever happens I thank you for gallant efforts of last few days.” Brigadier Ivan Simson tells Percival that there’s only enough water for 48 hours. “While there’s water,” Percival says, “We fight on.” Supplies of food and ammunition are also dwindling rapidly. (Jack McKillop)
Tugs HMS Pengawal, St Breock and St Just sunk by Japanese aircraft near Singapore. (Dave Shirlaw)
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: Sumatra: The Japanese invade Sumatra. More than 700 Japanese paratroopers trying to capture Palembang, the last oilfield in the Dutch East Indies still in Allied hands, are facing stiff resistance.
At 0800 hours, Japanese bombers attack Palembang airdrome, codenamed P1, followed by fighters which strafe the airfield and provide cover for by 34 Kawasaki Ki-56, Army Type 1 Freight Transports (export version of the Lockheed Model 14 later given the Allied Code Name “Thalia”) carrying paratroopers. The paratroops are dropped at three points to capture the airfields in readiness for sea landings tomorrow by Vice-Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa’s western force.. The first drop of 260 paratroopers was over the airdrome and the second drop of 100 paratroopers was over an oil refinery nearby. Palembang, which produces 55% of the Dutch East Indies’ oil, has been heavily fortified. The Japanese appear unaware of a second airbase, codenamed P2, where 50 Hurricanes are waiting to attack Ozawa’s fleet. The airfield is defended by about 150 British AA troops, 110 Dutch soldiers and 60 RAF ground crew. The Japanese attack the airdrome all day, suffering 80 percent casualties, but are unable to capture it. The Japanese capture the refinery but it is later taken by Dutch troops from Palembang II airdrome. The Allied troops attempt to destroy the oil refinery but only the oil storage tanks are set ablaze. During ensuing Allied air attacks on the Japanese invasion convoy, RAF Blenheims bomb and sink a merchant ship off Palembang. (Jack McKillop)
Yesterday Ozawa’s 25-ship task force was bombed by Australian aircraft from Palembang as it stood off the Anamba Islands.
If Palembang falls Australia’s oil supplies will have to come from the United States or the Persian Gulf.
After escaping from the fall of Singapore, river gunboat HMS Dragonfly is sunk in an air attack off Posik Island, East Sumatra. Again the number of survivors is uncertain as it is not known how many escapees she was carrying or how many were shot after the sinking or their fate during captivity.
After escaping the fall of Singapore, river gunboat Grasshopper is sunk in an air attack off Posik Island, east of Sumatra. The ship’s dog Pointer is amongst the survivors and proved invaluable in locating sources of freshwater. (Alex Gordon)(108)
On Java, Vice Admiral Conrad E. L. Helfrich of the Royal Netherlands Navy succeeds Admiral Thomas C. Hart USN as commander of the American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Combined Naval Striking Force. (Jack McKillop)
ABDAFloat orders a task force (Rear Admiral Karel Doorman, RNN) to proceed and attack the Japanese Palembang-bound expeditionary force. As Doorman’s ships, heavy cruiser HMS Exeter, light cruisers HMAS Hobart, HNMS De Ruyter, HNMS Java and HNMS Tromp and ten destroyers heads toward its objective, destroyer HNMS Van Ghent runs aground on a reef north of Banka Island; irreparably damaged, she is scuttled and sister ship HNMS Banckert takes off the crew. (Jack McKillop)
The small vessel SS Vyner Brooke, carrying about 300 civilians escaping from Singapore, is bombed and sunk off Banka Island. Passengers include 65 nurses of the 2/13th Australian General Hospital; 22 of them survive as a group and reached Radjik Beach in a boat. (Jack McKillop)
Submarine USS Sailfish ended her second war patrol at Tjilatjap.
Submarine USS Seal arrives at Tjilatjap. (Dave Shirlaw)
JAVA SEA: Lt. Thomas Wilkinson (b.1898), RNR, Comm ander of HMS LI WO, and auxiliary patrol vessel armed only with one 4-inch gun, engaged Japanese warships escorting a convoy; he set a transport on fire before LI WO was sunk by a heavy cruiser. He went down with her. There were ten survivors. (Victoria Cross)
Another casualty on the LI WO was A.S. William Thomas Snow (B.E.M.), the helmsman. (Diane Snow)
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Bataan, the I Corps further reduces the Japanese salient in the main line of resistance, which is now about half its original size. (Jack McKillop)
On Mindanao, submarine USS Sargo (SS-188) delivers one million rounds of 30-calibre (7.62 mm) ammunition to Polloc Harbor and evacuates 24 USAAF ground crewmen of the 14th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy). Meanwhile, submarine USS Swordfish (SS-193) torpedoes and sinks a Japanese transport off Davao. (Jack McKillop)
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-23 is last reported south of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. She is not heard from again, and her fate is unknown. (Jack McKillop)
WAKE ISLAND: A B-17 Flying Fortress of the USAAF 7th Air Force based in Hawaii flies a photo reconnaissance mission over the island. (Jack McKillop)
CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Stratford launched Toronto, Ontario. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: Director Frank Capra is called up for duty with the Army Signal Corps. (Jack McKillop)
“Blues In The Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)” by Woody Herman And His Orchestra reaches Number 1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the U.S. The song was from the motion picture “Blues In The Night” starring Priscilla Lane, Lloyd Nolan and Jack Carson. This song, which debuted on the charts on 10 January 1942, was charted for 11 weeks, was Number 1 for 1 week and was ranked Number 8 for the year 1942. (Jack McKillop)
“This Is War!,” a 30-minute 13-week anti-fascist radio series, debuts this Saturday night at 1900 hours Eastern Time. This is the only radio series to air on all four networks, The Blue Network, CBS, Mutual and NBC. The program features such Hollywood stars as James Stewart, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Tyrone Power in shows that promote the Army, Navy, and Air Force and help Americans understand themselves and the enemy. (Jack McKillop)
Washington: The U. S. Armys Western defence Command sends a memorandum to the Secretary of War recommending the evacuation of Japanese and other subversive persons from the Pacific Coast area. February 19, 1942:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9066, which empowers the Secretary of War or any military commander authorized by him to designate military areas and exclude any and all persons from them. Shortly before signing the Executive Order, the President received a memorandum from his advisers which said, In time of national peril, any reasonable doubt must be resolved in favor of action to preserve the national safety, not for the purpose of punishing those whose liberty may be temporarily affected by such action, but for the purpose of protecting the freedom of the nation, which may be long impaired, if not permanently lost, by nonaction.. (Scott Peterson) More...
Fleet tug USS Sioux laid down.
Anti-aircraft cruiser USS Juneau commissioned at Berth 16, alongside Pier 2, Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York. First and only commanding officer was Captain Lyman Knute Swenson, USN (born 23 October 1892, Pleasant Grove, Iowa). The first and only Executive Officer was Commander Walter Ellery Moore, USN (born 9 April 1900, California).
Fleet tug USS Menominee launched.
Minesweeper USS Reliable launched.
Seaplane tender USS Rockaway launched.
Submarine USS Wahoo launched.
(Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0337, the Empire Spring, dispersed from convoy ON-63 (convoy commodore), was torpedoed and sunk by U-576 southeast of Sable Island. The master, the commodore, 41 crewmembers, five gunners and five naval staff members were lost. (Dave Shirlaw)
Senators abgrily debate pension cut?
Senator Byrd is mentioned.... I know he was old but... wow
heh
An interesting article on the Marshall Islands raid:
http://www.cv6.org/1942/marshalls/default.htm
Until today I had only read very brief accounts of this action. While the damage inflicted wasn’t great, the experience and combat lessons learned were invaluable. What strikes me from reading this account is that Halsey’s task force already shows the ability to conduct rapid and flexible flight operations off one carrier deck.
I liked the article about the “peril” posed by the Nazi Navy (that’s “Kriegsmarine” for all of you savvy types).
The threat is certainly exaggerated. The article posits that the Germans have assembled a North Atlantic strike force around the estimated two carriers, battleship, two pocket battleships and several cruisers. The reality is that a much smaller Kriegsmarine is effectively bottled up for the war in Norway, and will only make the sporadic and generally ineffective foray against arctic convoys.
Bicycles spotted on Bukit Timah Road?
"Vidkun Quisling
"Vidkun Quisling, founder of the antisemitic political party Nasjonal Samling (NS, or National Unity), welcomed Germany's occupation of his own country on April 9, 1940.
That evening his broadcast proclaimed a new Norwegian government.
Quisling would be its prime minister.
"This coup met Norwegian resistance, and did not entirely satisfy the Germans, who sidelined Quisling in favor of Josef Terboven, the German administrator who would govern Norway brutally throughout the war.
Meanwhile, Quisling's persistence served some German interests; for example, he recruited Norwegian troops for the German military.
On February 1, 1942, Terboven permitted Quisling to become Ministerpresident of a "national government."
Quisling supported the subsequent deportation of Norwegian Jews to Auschwitz.
"A Norwegian firing squad executed Quisling on October 24, 1945.
His legacy is that his name has become a standard noun: A "quisling" is a traitor."
But I am a little confused. I thought George Marshall holds the position Baldwin describes.
I too assumed that until you mentioned it but Marshall in Feb 1942 was just the U.S. Army Chief of Staff. FDR did create a unified military command and on July 6, 1942 named Admiral William D. Leahy Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief.
. The Area Bombing Directive is issued to the RAF Bomber Command. It states that raids “should now be focused on the morale of the enemy civil population and, in particular, of the industrial workers.” This represents a substantial shift in policy and targets civilian residential areas rather than factories.
Not for responding in kind.
Yes, and one of the few humane generals in the Japanese army, Yamashita, then has the officers responsible executed, and personally apologizes to the survivors. One of the rare punishments of an atrocity by a Japanese general. Ironically, he is later hung as a war criminal after failing to exercise adequate control over troops during our invasion of the Philippines, which he was sent to the Philippines to defend against with only a few days warning. Even though all of the atrocities were against his explicit orders.
Tomorrow, he will accept the surrender of Singapore, banging on the table and shouting demands at Percival to disguise the fact that the Japanese are out of food, most ammunition, and outnumbered many to one.
Check out his last words sometime; we could have used him in the postwar period. There are multiple statements; one in his cell, to the Japanese people, and two versions of a last statement on the gallows. He had been humbled by what he learned at his trial. A Japanese Rommel.
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