NORTH AFRICA: The British fail to develop a coordinated attack. The German antitank guns are very effective.

INDIAN OCEAN: Diego Suarez: About ten miles from the harbour entrance, the Captains of the Japanese submarines I-16, I-18 and I-20 were ordered to launch their Type "A" midget submarines. I-18's midget took no part in the attack because the launching machinery failed to work properly. The I-18 Mother submarine with its midget still on board was therefore forced to return to the armed flotilla support ships Hokoku Maru, 10,438 tons and the Airoko Maru, 10,437 tons, for maintenance. The other two midgets were successfully launched and started their mission.

I-16s midget submarine was crewed by Ensign Katsusuke Iwase as Captain and Petty Officer Takazo Takata as the navigator, both single men. I-20's midget submarine was crewed by Lt. Saburo Akieda as Captain and Petty Officer Takemoto as the navigator. They were both married men and each had a family. The story continues tomorrow. (Denis Peck)

CHINA: Kinhwa: More than 40,000 Japanese troops supported by aircraft have overrun Kinhwa, the capital of Chekiang province, 200 miles south-west of Shanghai, as a new Japanese offensive in eastern China gathers pace.

During the fighting 1,500 Japanese were killed crossing a minefield. At Lanch'i, 20 miles north-west of Kinhwa, Chinese troops claim to have repulsed ten enemy attempts to cross the Lan river. Poison gas was used in one attack, disabling, but proving too weak to be fatal. The Japanese advance in Chekiang began five days ago with the capture of Chu-chi followed by the fall of Lungyu two days ago.

PACIFIC OCEAN: At French Frigate Shoals, Territory of Hawaii, the seaplane tender (destroyer) USS Thornton (AVD-11) arrives to relieve the light minelayer USS Preble (DM-20). Later that day, the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-123 also arrives. The Japanese had intended to use the shoals as a refuelling stop for Japanese seaplanes flying reconnaissance missions over Pearl Harbor; the aircraft would be refuelled by submarines. The presence of the U.S. ships prevents this operation and the Japanese never learn that two of the USN's aircraft carriers have already departed Pearl Harbor.

The seaplane tender (destroyer) USS Ballard (AVD-10) arrives at Midway with eleven motor torpedo boats (PTs) of Motor Torpedo Squadron One (MTBRon 1). 

The USN's Patrol Squadron Seventy One (VP-71) based at Noumea, New Caledonia on the seaplane tenders USS Curtiss (AV-4) and USS Tanigier (AV-8) with PBY-5 Catalinas joins RAAF Catalinas in bombing Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands.

AUSTRALIA: The Commonwealth Boomerang, Australia's first home-designed and built, aircraft of the war, has its first flight.

The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-21 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane, Allied Code Name "Glen," to fly a reconnaissance mission over Sydney, Australia.

U.S.A.: The great actor John Barrymore dies in Los Angeles, California, of pneumonia and cirrhosis of the liver. John, and his siblings Ethel and Lionel Barrymore, were legendary stars in Hollywood during the 1920s, 30s and 40s. John made his stage debut in 1900 at age 18 and became a major Broadway star in 1909. His first "official movie" was made in 1914 and during the early 1930s, he was cast as a romantic leading man. However, his drinking, which began when he was a boy, began to take its toll and he became an old man before his time and his last few films were distasteful.

The first North American P-51 Mustang destined for the RAF makes its first flight.