December 27th, 1941 (SATURDAY)
FRANCE: The last two German U-boats involved with Operation DRUMBEAT, U-109 and U-130, set sail from Lorient for the North American coast.
NORWAY: OPERATION ARCHERY: The British land 600 commandos on Vaagso and Maaloy in the Lofoten Islands. These landings are on the heels of the landing yesterday, on Moskenesoy. Their targets today will be a fish-oil factory and a radio station. These are dummy targets to mask the real intention: an Enigma machine and weather codes at the weather station, on the "Vorstenboote", 200 ton trawler. The boat was machine-gunned to cut down the crew but not to sink it. Mission successful. (Adrian Weale, Denis Peck and Torstein)
It was not all plain sailing for the British force, however, stiff resistance from the German garrison meant house-to-house fighting for five hours. Navy guns silenced shore batteries while RAF Blenheims bombed the wooden runways of the nearest Luftwaffe base 100 miles away, closing the airfield. 19 men were killed, including Captain John Giles, the former heavyweight boxing champion from Bristol. Eight ships and eight aircraft were lost.
Around 100 Germans were killed and about the same number taken prisoner. At the same time 243 Norwegians have also come away with the force - but voluntarily. They are patriots who will be a welcome addition for the Norwegian Free Forces.
U.S.S.R.:
The Red Army continues its counter-offensive in the Kalinin area 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Moscow.
Leningrad: Early today sounds of heavy firing are heard coming from the Intermediate position of the Spanish Division Azul. It is under attack by a Soviet force attempting to infiltrate to the rear of the sub-sector. At 6.30am Udarnik erupts in shell-fire, in the wake of which a Russian battalion manages to penetrate the village. Comandante Roman's 2/269th drove the Russians out again and pursues them southwards. At the same time Comandante Rebull and three companies of the 1/269th are advancing northwards from Lubkovo. At 10.00am the two units meet at the Intermediate. They are horrified to discover on the snow covered promontory, scattered around the trenches and weapons-pits, the bodies of Alferez Moscoso and his men, stripped of their uniforms, mutilated and literally nailed to the ground with their own bayonets and with picks driven through their chests. (125) (Russ Folsom)
LIBYA: The British 7th Armored Division, XIII Corps, British Eighth Army, attacks the German's Agedabia position, which is well-suited by nature for defense, but makes no headway.
INDIA: British General Pownall takes over from Air Marshal Brooke-Popham and British Commander in Chief Far East. Pownall will later become Chief of Staff to Wavell;s ABDA command.
BURMA: Lieutenant General Thomas J. Hutton, Chief General Staff, India, replaces Lieutenant General D.K. MacLeod as General Officer Commanding Burma.
JAPAN: Most of the I-boat submarines off the U.S. west coast have depleted their fuel reserves. The Naval General Staff decides that the shelling of densely populated areas, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, will result in civilian losses and retaliation by the Americans. Vice Admiral SHIMIZU Mitsumi, commander of the Advance Expeditionary Force (Sixth Fleet), cancels the shellings.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: MacArthur declares Manila an open city. US forces have fallen back to their 3rd defence line which runs east and west from Paniqui.
The Luzon front is quiet as the Japanese consolidate along the Agno River. The North Luzon Force withdraws toward the next delaying line, Tarlac-Cabanatuan, where it is to make maximum delaying effort. In southern Luzon, the Japanese continue to pursue U.S. columns along Routes 23 and 1; on the latter, the Japanese break through the main positions of the 53d Infantry Regiment (Philippine Army) and seize Candelaria.
Six USN PBY Catalinas of Patrol Squadron One Hundred One (VP-101) bomb Japanese shipping at Jolo Island in Suva Province, against heavy fighter opposition; four Catalinas are lost.
Japanese "Nell" (Mitsubishi G3M2, Navy Type 96 Attack Bomber) and "Betty" (Mitsubishi G4M1, Navy Type 1 Attack Bomber) bombers based on Formosa bomb shipping in Manila Bay and the Pasig River. Two Philippine customs cutters and a motorboat are set afire, while a lighthouse tender is destroyed by a direct hit. A steamship is scuttled in the Pasig River.
AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister John Curtin's New Year's message includes the following: "Without any inhibitions of any kind, I make it quite clear that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom."
PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine I-25 shells an 8,684 ton tanker about 10 nautical miles (19 kilometers) west of the mouth of the Columbia River which is the boundary between the states of Washington and Oregon.
UNITED STATES: Rubber rationing is instituted by the U.S. government, due to shortages caused by World War II. Tires are the first items to be restricted by law.