January 14th, 1942 (WEDNESDAY)
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.
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.
U-381
launched. U-257
commissioned.
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
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. MALTA: Malta
receives 14 air raid alerts in 19 hours today. A total of 262 air raids are
sounded in Malta this month. AUSTRALIA: British
Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill implies to Australian Prime Minister John
Curtin that Singapore could be held for some time. MARIANA ISLANDS: The
Japanese force slated to invade Rabaul on New Britain Island in the Bismarck
Archipelago, departs Guam. CANADA:
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'. 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. 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. 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.. 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). 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.
BURMA: Japanese aircraft bomb Rangoon.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.