December 26th, 1941 (FRIDAY)
FRANCE: Paris: Boulevard Montparnasse. Hand grenade attack on a Gestapo man.U.S.S.R.: Soviet landings at Kerch in the eastern Crimea threaten some units of the German 11th Army which continues their attacks on Sevastopol.
Leningrad: Colonel Esparza of the Spanish Division Azul orders that a fortified position call the 'Intermediate', should be established between Udarnik and Lubkovo. The position is manned by a platoon under the command of [Ensign] Alferez Moscoso. (Russ Folsom)
NORWAY: The British land 260 commandos on Moskenesoy in the Lofoten Islands. Their mission is to destroy a fish-oil factory. This is Operation ANKLET targeted at the islands of Reine, Sund and Soervaagen and designed as a diversion for Operation ARCHERY (see tomorrow, 27th December, 1941). The force which included men from the Norwegian 'Lingekompaniet' landed unopposed and captured the German garrison without a fight, they left two days later after having destroyed installations. (Torstein)
EGYPT: General Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command, is notified that four RAF fighter squadrons are to be transferred from the Middle East to the Far East.
CHINA: The Tulsa Incident occurred in Burma on 19 December when a U.S. officer asked the Government of Burma to impound lend-lease material at Rangoon, much of which was in the freighter SS Tulsa in the harbor, pending a decision on its use. This incident ends today with a conciliatory meeting between Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Brigadier General John Magruder, head of the American Military Mission to China (AMMISCA), during which it is agreed to send an AMMISCA officer to Rangoon.
MALAYA: Ipoh is evacuated by Indian 11th Division troops, but the Indian 12th Brigade Group fights a rear-guard action at Chemor, to the north.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Manila, is declared an open city but Japanese bombing continues unabated. USN defense forces under Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, Commander of the Sixteenth Naval District and the Philippine Naval Coastal Frontier, move to Corregidor Island. The North Luzon Force, except for the 194th Tank Battalion, falls back from the Agno River to the line Santa Ignacia-Guimba--San Jose. The South Luzon Force continues to withdraw in two columns and organizes their first line of defense west of Sariaya.
Japanese "Nell" (Mitsubishi G3M2, Navy Type 96 Attack Bombers) and "Betty" (Mitsubishi G4M1, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers) bombers based on Formosa bomb shipping in Manila Bay; the USN destroyer USS Peary (DD-226) is damaged by near-misses. Motor torpedo boat PT-33, damaged by grounding on 24 December about 53 nautical miles (99 kilometers) south-southwest of Manila in position 13.46N, 120.40E, is burned to prevent capture.
MIDWAY ISLANDS: USN seaplane tender USS Tangier (AV-8), diverted from the attempt to relieve Wake Island, disembarks Battery B, 4th Marine Defense Battalion and the ground echelon of Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Twenty One (VMF-221) at Midway to augment that garrison's defenses.
U.S.A.: Washington: In a fighting speech to the US Congress today, Winston Churchill said of Japanese and Germans: "What kind of people do they think we are? Is it possible they do not realize we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget?"
The British prime minister was given round after round of rousing applause. At the end, as he left the rostrum, walking with hunched shoulders, he turned and acknowledged the applause by raising his right hand to give the two-fingered V for victory sign. This brought a renewed storm of cheering.
Churchill's emphasis on the democratic traditions shared by Britain and the US was heard with particular warmth. "The speech was a demonstration of the fine unity that exists between the United States and Great Britain," said Senator Harry F Byrd. The isolationist Senator Burton K Wheeler admitted: "It was a clever speech that under the circumstances would more or less appeal to the average American."
The USN decrees that all shore based aircraft are to be painted flat light grey with all surfaces viewed from above to be painted flat blue grey.
Lieutenant General John DeWitt, Commanding General Fourth Army and Commanding General Western Defense Command, telephones the Provost General in Washington, D.C. to say that the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce is demanding the internment of all Japanese, citizens or not, in the Southern California area. DeWitt feels such a move would likely alienate loyal Japanese.
MEXICO: The Mexicans break off diplomatic relations with Germany. (Mike Yared)
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
British submarine HMS/M H-31 (N 31) sailed from Falmouth, Devon, England, and left its escort on 19 December for a patrol in the Bay of Biscay, about 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) west-southwest of Brest, France. She is reported overdue today. The cause of her loss is unknown but it is possibly a German minefield or a drifting British mines. All hands are lost.
SS Warszawa sunk by U-559 32.10N, 26.48E - Grid CO 6777. (DS)