UNITED KINGDOM:
Churchill agrees to reprieve
Mahatma Gandhi from prison where he is on hunger strike. This is on condition
that Gandhi's release does not cause Britain to lose face. He asks colleagues:
"Why give way to h-strike [hunger strike] by Gandhi?"
"Let him out as an act of State, rather than an act of submission to [good]
will. I [would] keep him there and let him do as he likes. But if you are going
to let him out because he strikes, then let him out now. ... Tell Viceroy."
(William Ritchart)
Destroyer HMS Teazer launched.
Destroyer HMS Quail commissioned.
GERMANY: During the night of 7/8 January, three Pathfinder Mosquitos and 19 Lancasters are dispatched to bomb Essen; 17 bomb but it is an ineffective raid.
U-238 launched.
ITALY: Twenty five USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators are dispatched to hit the shipping in Palermo, Sicily, harbour; weather reduces the force and only ten bomb the target through broken clouds.
GREECE: A USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberator on a special mission bombs Maiouli Quay at Piraeus.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The 7,152 ton British passenger/cargo ship SS Benalbanach is sunk about 150 nautical miles (278 kilometres) northwest of Algiers, Algeria, when the convoy she was part of was attacked by a single German aircraft. She is carrying 389 men of a motor transport unit and a crew of 74 and is en route from the U.K. to Bone, Algeria. The Benalbanach is hit by two torpedoes launched from the aircraft. The ship catches fire, blows up and sinks almost immediately taking the lives of 57 crew members and 353 service personnel. Her captain, dies in the water just as he is about to be rescued.
ALGERIA: An Allied Air Force General Order makes the USAAF Twelfth Air Force responsible for air support of U.S. ground forces in North Africa and the RAF Eastern Air Command responsible for support of the British First Army. However, units are to be placed under operational control of the other as the situation might dictate.
TUNISIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb the airfield and barracks at Gabes while A-20 Havocs attack troop concentrations at Kairouan. Fighters escort both raids and also carry out several reconnaissance missions.
IRAQ: The Americans take exclusive jurisdiction over port of Khorramshahr, where the first U.S. troops arrived in December 1942.
CHINA: USAAF Tenth Air Force's China Air Task Force P-40s blast fuel storage facilities at Mangshih.
BURMA: USAAF Tenth Air Force's China Air Task Force aircraft begin a series of raids, lasting through 10 January, during which they destroy trucks along the Burma Road, barges on the Irrawaddy River and supplies in the Bhamo area.
NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the U.S. 127th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, continues toward Tarakena. Companies G and F, with fire support of Company E, reach positions about 500 yards (457 meters) from their objective. The Australian 18th Brigade, 7th Division, completes a movement to Soputa. The 2d Battalion, U.S. 163d Infantry Regiment, 41st Infantry Regiment, arrives on the Sanananda front. The Japanese 102nd Regiment Group lands at Lae.
USAAF Fifth Air Force fighters attack Lae Airfield in Northeast New Guinea. One of the U.S. pilots is 2d Lieutenant Richard I. Bong, flying a P-38F Lightning. Bong shoots down two Oscar fighters (Nakajima Ki-43, Army Type 1 Fighters Hayabusa), his third and fourth victories.
PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Solomon Sea off Finschhafen, the Japanese convoy bound for Lae, Northeast New Guinea, from New Britain is again attacked by USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders, supported by P-38 Lightnings and P-40s, and RAAF or RNZAF Hudsons and RAAF (PBY) Catalinas. During these attacks, an RAAF Catalina sinks an army cargo ship off Lae, and an army cargo ship is forced aground south of Arawe, Northeast New Guinea.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: In preparation for the offensive on 10 January, the 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, leaves the Lunga perimeter for Mt Austen. The 147th Infantry Regiment Task Force, embarks at Kukum in two landing craft tanks (LCTs) for Beaufort Bay to block the trail leading north toward Kokumbona. About 50,000 Allied air, ground, and naval forces are now in the Guadalcanal area.
USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Bougainville Island; they are met by twelve Zeke fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters); two are shot down without any U.S. losses. B-26 Marauders with P-39 Airacobras escort attack Rekata Bay on Santa Isabel Island; two US aircraft are lost.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Six USAAF Sixth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and 12 P-38 Lightnings dispatched to Kiska Island turn back due to cloud cover. Six B-24 Liberators circle over Kiska for two hours until four can bomb the submarine base. Antiaircraft fire damages three of the attackers. Negative reconnaissance is flown over Amchitka, Kiska, Agattu and Attu Island. Photographs taken reveal use of smoke pots by the defenders and also suggest construction of a fighter strip along the ridge south of Salmon Lagoon on Kiska.
U.S.A.: Development of the first USN aircraft to be equipped with a turbojet engine is initiated with the issuance of a Letter of Intent to McDonnell Aircraft Corporation for engineering, development, and tooling for two fighter aircraft. Two Westinghouse 19-B turbojet engines are later specified and the aircraft is designated XFD-1. It became the prototype for the FH-1 Phantom jet fighter. The XFD-1 makes its first flight on 26 January 1946.
Destroyer escort USS Amick laid down.