24 January 1942

NORWAY: U-586, U-587 and U-588 went into position off Norway west of the Hebrides in preparation for an anticipated Allied invasion of Norway.

U.S.S.R.: Soviet forces on the Donets front in the Ukraine break through German positions in the Izyum area and capture Barvenkova, about 40 miles (64 kilometres) east of Lozovaya; in the Valdai Hills sector to the north, the Soviets deepen the salient between Cholm and Rzhev to the vicinity of Velikle Luki, where the Germans are firmly established. German troops of Army Group Center recapture Suchinitshe near Kaluga.

Moscow: Partisan detachments living and fighting behind the German lines have linked up with the 250th Airborne Regiment and two battalions of the 201st Airborne Brigade dropped south-west of Vyazma, which is now under heavy attack by the advancing Red Army.

The guerrillas and the paratroopers are fighting side by side to cut the German communications with the front. With the partisans acting as guides, the white-shrouded paras are ghosting through the forest to launch swift hit-and-run raids on supply lines and headquarters. This combination of irregular and regular troops is a new tactic on the Russian front. Individual officers and experts have been dropped to the partisans before, but this is the first time that they have been used in a co-ordinated campaign by the Stavka, the Russian High Command.

With the German defence line breaking up into defended locations, known as "Hedgehogs", there is room for such forces to manoeuvre, and even to hold large areas with established bases and landing strips for light aircraft.

Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: Shipping loss. Dispatch-ship "Vesna" - unknown case, close to Eina bay.
Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: Shipping loss: MS "TSch-250" (uncompleted hull) - grounded by storm in Kerch strait (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

Soviet paratroopers end their series of drops behind German lines south-west of Vyazma.

LIBYA: The British Eighth Army's 13 Corps prepares to counterattack or, if the enemy cannot be contained, to fall back on line Derna-Mechili as the Axis offensive halts briefly.

BURMA: Rear elements of the Mergui garrison arrive at Rangoon. Moulmein is now threatened.
P-40 pilots of the 1st and 2d Fighter Squadrons, American Volunteer Group (AVG, aka, “The Flying Tigers”) shoot down four Japanese Army bombers and eight Japanese Army fighters over Rangoon between 0945 and 1030 hours local.

Percy Bartelt of the AVG becomes in ace in this action. (Skip Guidry)

MALAYA: The outline of the plan for withdrawal to Singapore Island is issued. Hard fighting continues at Batu Pahat. The Japanese are approaching Kluang, in the Indian 9th Division sector.
The 942 men of the Australian 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion and 1907 other Australian reinforcements arrive in Singapore. The reinforcements are woefully undertrained; some had only seven days training as soldiers and many had never fired a rifle.
The remainder of the Japanese 18th Division lands at Singora.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: The Japanese Eastern Invasion Force lands at Kendari on Celebes Island. A USN seaplane tender (destroyer), USS Childs (AVD-1, ex DD-241), is leaving Kendari harbor and spots the Japanese. A rain squall obscures the seaplane tender for a while, allowing her to avoid two Japanese destroyers. Than she is attacked by six Japanese aircraft at 0800 hours local but escapes to the south. By the evening, Kendari is fully occupied by the Japanese. Most of the Dutch troops are captured by Japanese; some fight a guerilla war for a short period, while others try to escape to safer parts of archipelago. Kendari Airdrome is considered the best in the Netherlands East Indies and was immediately put into operation by the Japanese 21st Air Flotilla.
    USN submarine USS Swordfish (SS-193) sinks a Japanese gunboat north of Kema, Celebes Island.
     Carrier-based aircraft from the aircraft carriers HIJMS Soryu and HIJMS Hiryu bomb Ambon Island.
     The first of a small group of USAAF Far East Air Force P-40s reaches Blimbing Airdrome, Java from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

In the Battle off Balikpapan, Borneo, or the Battle of Makassar Strait, four U.S. destroyers attack the Japanese Borneo invasion convoy. Destroyer USS John D. Ford (DD-228) is damaged by gunfire at position 01.20N, 117.01E but sinks transport Tsuruga Maru; destroyer USS Parrott (DD-218) sinks transport Sumanoura Maru; destroyers USS Paul Jones (DD-230) and USS Pope (DD-225) sink transport Tatsukami Maru; USS Paul Jones also sinks cargo ship Kuretaki Maru; and USS Parrott also sinks Patrol Boat No.37, in position 00.10N, 118.00E. A fifth (TSUGURA MARU) was sunk by a Dutch submarine (K-KVIII) before the destroyer attack. (Ric Pelvin and Jack McKillop)

USAAF B-17s based at Malang, Java, and Netherland East Indies Air Force Martin Model 139WHs (export version of the USAAF B-10) and Brewster 339s (export version of USN F2A Buffalo) bomb invasion shipping, sinking transports Nana Maru and Jukka Maru, in position 00.10N, 118.00E.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Five RAAF Catalinas attack Japanese shipping in Rabaul Harbour but no hits are scored.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Bataan, the II Corps begins disengaging and withdrawing combat troops. The Japanese maintain intense pressure on the Philippine Division and attack the covering force, but the bulk of the troops withdraw successfully. The situation in the I Corps area deteriorates rapidly. The 1st Division, Philippine Army, exhausted by prolonged fighting along the main line of resistance and critically in need of supplies and ammunition, remains under pressure. Additional strength is applied against the Japanese roadblock on the West Road without avail. In the Service Command Area of southern Bataan, the Japanese cannot be ousted from Quinauan and Longoskawayan Points. Sailors and marines succeed, however, in regaining Pucot Hill and driving the Japanese back to Longoskawayan and Lapiay Points; they are supported by the last four P-40s on Luzon.
Eight USAAF Far East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses based on Java, stage through Del Monte Field on Mindanao,to attack Japanese targets. Two aircraft are lost in crash landings.

AUSTRALIA: Melbourne: The Rising Sun flies over Australian territory today after landings by 5,000 Japanese troops on the island chains of New Britain and New Ireland in Australian New Guinea. A massive assault by aircraft from four carriers preceded the landings in New Ireland and at Rabaul, the capital of New Britain. Thirty warships escorted the invasion fleet, and more than 100 aircraft took part, opposed by a force of eight obsolete RAAF Wirraway fighters which were quickly shot down. Without aircover, and outnumbered, the small defending force had to withdraw.

The Combined Chiefs of Staff order that the Darwin, Northern Territory, area be incorporated into the Australian-British-Dutch-American (ABDA) Command.
The USAAF Far East Air Force orders the 20th Pursuit Squadron (Provisional) to fly its 18 P-40s to Port Moresby, New Guinea.

PACIFIC OCEAN: US Marines land on the island of Samoa to protect it from the Japanese.

NEW BRITAIN: Private W. Cook and the seven other PoWs are taken to Tol Plantation by their Japanese captors. There they are tied up in groups of two or three and eventually taken out by their captors to be executed. Private Cook's group of three are asked in sign language if they prefer to be shot or bayoneted. They ask to be shot. They are instead all bayoneted in the back repeatedly. Private Cook receives five wounds and is left for dead; unable to hold his breath and is bayoneted a further six times. Private Cook, still alive, manages to untie his hands and makes his way to the beach. At dusk he sees the smoke from a camp fire and staggers towards it. The next morning he finds a small party under the command of Colonel Scanlan. Private Cook survives the war although he loses his voice as a result of a bayonet wound to his throat. (Daniel Ross)

CANADA: HMCS Wetaskiwin, a Flower-class corvette, LCdr. Guy Stanley Windeyer, RCN, CO, arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, en route to a refit in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. Wetaskiwin completed six round trips to Iceland in eight months as part of the Newfoundland Escort Force and was worn out. During that time, she participated in two major convoy battles - SC-42 (Sep 41) and SC-48 (Oct 41), during which U-boats sank 27 merchant ships totaling over 120,000 tons.

U.S.A.: The Special Court of Inquiry on Pearl Harbor, headed by Supreme Court Justice Owen J Roberts, places the main responsibility for the 7 December 1941 disaster on Admiral Husband E Kimmel and Lieutenant General Walter C Short, accusing them of neglecting to heed attack warnings, failing to confer with each other, and taking only minimum precautions.

At 0240, the unescorted SS Empire Gem was torpedoed by U-66 east of Cape Hatteras. The burning tanker later sank in 35°02N/75°33W. 43 crewmembers and six gunners were lost. The master and the radio operator were picked up by a US Coast Guard cutter and landed at Hatteras Inlet on 25 January.

SS Ringstad sunk by U-333 at 45.50N, 51.04W - Grid BC 4700 .

At 0653, SS Empire Wildebeeste, dispersed from Convoy ON-53, was torpedoed and sunk by U-106 east of New York. Eight crewmembers and one gunner were lost. The master, 18 crewmembers and three gunners were picked up by destroyer USS Lang and landed at Bermuda.