21 January 1939

Yesterday Tomorrow

January 21st, 1939 (SATURDAY)

GERMANY: Berlin: Reich propaganda minister Goebbels today blames the Jews for the attitude of the US. The article....

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21 January 1940

Yesterday Tomorrow

January 21st, 1940 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Britain rejects American protests concerning the examination of mail carried aboard US merchant ships.

At 0936, SS Protesilaus struck a mine laid on 5 Dec, 1939 by U-28 in the Bristol Channel southwest of Swansea. The badly damaged vessel was beached in the Swansea Bay. The crew was rescued by the minesweeping trawler HMS Paramount and landed at Swansea. The Protesilaus was later refloated and towed to Greenock but declared a total loss. In September 1940, she was taken in tow by the British tug Empire Henchman and French tug Abeille 22 to Scapa Flow for use as a blockship, but on 13 September the ship sprung a leak and had to be sunk by gunfire about 5 miles northwest of the Skerryvore Lighthouse, Argyllshire

At 2130, the unescorted SS Ferryhill struck a mine laid on 20 Dec, 1939 by U-22 and sank 1.5 miles north from St Mary's Lighthouse near Blyth. The master and eight crewmembers were lost. Two crewmembers were picked up by the minesweeping trawler HMS Young Jacob and landed at North Shields.

SS Tekla torpedoed and sank SS Tekla at 58.18N, 02.25W - Grid AN 1681.

NORTH SEA: Searching for a reported U-boat off Tarbett Ness in the Moray Firth, E class destroyer HMS Exmouth is torpedoed by U-22 and lost with all 175 hands. Exmouth had been ordered to sea to search for U-55 which had just torpedoed the Danish Tekla, and nothing more was heard from her. However the accompanying MV Cyproan Prince reported hearing two explosions. It was not until after the war that German records showed that the destroyer had been torpedoed by and sunk by U22. There were no survivors. (Alex Gordon)(108)

SS Andalusia departed from Bordeaux and sent out a last radio signal in the North Sea on 21 January early in the morning and went missing thereafter. It is believed that she was sunk by U-55, which did not return from her patrol.

FRANCE: The Duke of Windsor (who, as Edward VIII, abdicated in 1936) takes leave after a five month tour of duty with the British Expeditionary Force in France.

I get talking to the sentry who came out of the pill-box to say "Hallo!" and ask him what the Christmas tree is doing on top of the flag-pole on the pill-box. "Oh," he says, "this is one the Germans gave us on Christmas Eve. We gave them a turkey in exchange." This was apparently effected by a loud-voiced arrangement. A German brought the tree half-way across the bridge. Then a Frenchman came out with a turkey and took the tree. A German fetched it from where the tree was, and the sentry seemed to think the procedure was quite natural.

Sunday Dispatch.

GIBRALTAR: The U.S. freighter SS Nishmaha is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities.

MEDITERRANEAN: The Italian liner SS Orazio catches fire off Barcelona, Spain, and 104 aboard the ship die. French destroyers rescue survivors.

JAPAN: The British cruiser HMS LIVERPOOL stops the Japanese liner Asamu Maru off Honshu, and removes 21 German technicians on board.

Peter Beeston adds: The German technicians were survivors of the German liner COLUMBUS which had scuttled herself in the North Atlantic some weeks earlier. They were intending to return to Germany via Vladivostock.

The Japanese protested vociferously - there were demonstrations outside the British embassy in Tokyo apparently organised by the War Party. The boarding had taken place within sight of Mt. Fuji which was considered to be an insult to Japan. Whilst the boarding had taken place in accordance with international law, the boarding officer had omitted to sign the ship's log (allegedly an infringement). After much diplomatic activity nine of the Germans (described by the British as "unsuitable for military service" were returned to the Japanese who, in turn, promised not to refuse passage to any individual of a belligerent country "who is embodied in the armed forces or who is suspected of being so embodied". The British object in this was to prevent the crossing of the Pacific by the approximately 1000 German crewmembers of German ships in US ports.

CHINA: Two former associates of Wang Ching-wei, head of the Japanese sponsored Chinese government in Nanking, publish a text of an agreement, signed by Wang, giving Japan total political and economic dominion in China. Wang issues a strenuous denial.

VATICAN CITY: Pope Pius XII condemns German rule in Poland in a radio broadcast to the USA which emphasizes the terror campaign against Catholic clergy.

USA: The first American test of the practicability of moving a complete troop unit by air takes place when a battalion of the 65th Coast Artillery Regiment (Antiaircraft) (Semimobile), based at Ft. Winfield Scott, San Francisco, California, is transported 500 miles (805 kilometres) by 38 bombers of the 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy) based at Hamiliton Field, San Rafael, California.

21 January 1941

January 21st, 1941 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Churchill expresses concern at the reduction of the weekly coal supply to London. Only 250,000 tons are week are being delivered, but the requirement is for 410,000 tons a week.

He also pushes the Ministry of Health to reduce the number of homeless people still in London rest centres and have them dispersed into more permanent accommodation.

London, the Admiralty: With the Greek refusal to accept British land forces, the Defence Committee switch the area of greatest importance back to North Africa, with the capture of Benghazi being now of prime importance. However, with the impending arrival of German forces in mainland Greece there is also a need to capture the islands of the Dodecanese, primary being Rhodes to preserve communications with Greece and Turkey.

Rescue tug HMS Englishman lost due to unknown circumstances.

GERMANY: U-763 laid down.

BULGARIA: Sofia: The story is emerging here of a slaughter of Jews by the Iron Guard in Bucharest. Some were burnt to death in buildings set on fire by the rioting guards. Others were beaten senseless, robbed and then doused in petrol and set on fire. In the most horrific incident some 50 Jews had their throats cut in a barbarous parody of kosher butchering in the municipal slaughterhouse. Tiring of this sport, the guards beheaded scores more. In another incident 160 Jewish leaders who has been imprisoned at Jilava were taken into a field and shot.

NORTH AFRICA: O'Connor's Commonwealth force attacks Tobruk at 0830 hours. The attack is strongly assisted by naval and air forces and is led by elements of the Australian 6th Infantry Division. 16th Australian Brigade with "I" tanks to break through the perimeter are closely followed by the 19th Brigade. Free French troops also played an important part in the attack.

The Australians reach their first objectives by midday; but then the Italians bring their coastal and AA guns into action and there are several hours of fierce fighting around and about the middle of the perimeter. By dusk though, the Commonwealth forces are ranged along the edge of the escarpment overlooking the town, and the western and south-western portions of the perimeter are safely under control.

The Italian cruiser "San Giorgio," damaged earlier in the month by the RAF and beached in Tobruk harbour, where she was used as a fortress mounting anti-aircraft guns, was set on fire from the air and put out of action.

HMS Gnat, HMS Ladybird and HMS Terror bombard Tobruk.

U.S.A.: The US Navy orders 108 Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo fighters, for delivery between July and December. Based on reports from Europe, armor protection was incorporated in the aircraft increasing it's weight resulting in instability and handling difficulties.

CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Arrowhead, Spikenard and Eyebright departed Halifax with Convoy HX-104 for UK.

JAPAN: Tokyo: Yosuke Matsuoka, the Foreign Minister, warns the US against meddling in Asian affairs.

21 January 1942

January 21st, 1942 (WEDNESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: Prime Minister Winston Churchill urges his Chiefs of Staff to consider writing Singapore off and sending reinforcements en route there to Burma.

GERMANY: U-409 commissioned.

NORTH AFRICA: Rommel's second offensive begins.

Within a matter of hours today, the British 1st Armoured Division was in full retreat, racing pell mell across the desert to escape being trapped by German Panzers. A German staff officer described the British flight as "one of the most extraordinary routs of the war."

No-one - British generals in particular - believed that Rommel could mount a counter-offensive so quickly after being driven back to El Agheila.

The "Desert Fox" had been ordered by Hitler not to attack, and the British were confident that Rommel's Panzers had been so badly bruised by Operation Crusader that it would be months before the Germans could mount any operation of any size - by which time a British offensive would have driven Rommel out of Africa.

They had not reckoned with Rommel's ability to recover from a situation and strike back quickly. Two Italian convoys had brought him tank reinforcements - the Royal Navy, its Force K damaged at Malta, had been unable to stop them - and his intelligence knew that the British 1st Armoured Division was new to desert warfare.

With Rommel himself commanding one armoured column, the German tanks rolled at dawn in a two-pronged attack, with strong air support, towards Agedabia in Western Cyrenaica - hitting the British as they breakfasted in the sun. The Panzers are stopping only when they run out of fuel, with Rommel gambling on surprise and his own quick thinking to drive the British eastwards.

Even now, with British tanks fleeing at 25 mph and an entire Indian division facing encirclement, Lieutenant-General Neil Ritchie, the Eighth Army Commander, is apparently convinced that this is no more than a German reconnaissance in force. Ritchie's subordinates are worried about his indecision, and Major-General Frank Messervy of the 4th Indian Division described the commander's attitude as "haywire".

CHINA: The Chinese Government accepts the proposal that U.S. Major General Joseph W. Stilwell act as chief of the Generalissimo's Allied staff and agrees to give him executive authority over Allied Units. The Chinese 49th Division of the 6th Army, is authorized to move Into Burma.

AUSTRALIA: The destroyer USS EDSALL, Australian corvettes HMAS Deloraine, HMAS Katoomba and HMAS Lithgow sink Japanese submarine HIJMS I-124 off Darwin, Northern Territory.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Carrier-based Japanese aircraft from the aircraft carriers HIJMS Akagi and HIJMS Kaga again bomb Rabaul on New Britain Island while aircraft from HIJMS Shokaku and HIJMS Zuikaku bomb Kavieng on New Ireland Island.

CELEBES SEA: In response to the movement of the Japanese convoy sighted the previous day in Makassar Strait, a USN task force (Rear Admiral William A. Glassford), consisting of the light cruisers USS Boise (CL-47) (flagship) and USS Marblehead (CL-12) and four destroyers sails from Koepang, Timor, Netherlands East Indies to engage it. En route, however, USS Boise steams across an uncharted pinnacle in Sape Strait, and suffers sufficient damage to eliminate her from the force. Turbine trouble limits USS Marblehead (the ship to which Glassford transfers his flag) to only 15 knots, so the admiral orders the destroyers (Commander Paul H. Talbot) ahead.

Night surface action at Balikpapan Bay. This was the first naval surface action by the USN during the Pacific War and the first such combat experience since the Spanish-American Civil War in 1898. In response to the sighting of a Japanese convoy in the Makassar Strait, Task Force 5, the striking force of the US Asiatic Fleet, commanded by Rear-Admiral William A. Glassford, sortied from Koepang, Timor, Netherlands East Indies. TF 5 was comprised of the Brooklyn-class light cruiser USS Boise (flagship) and the Omaha-class light cruiser USS Marblehead escorted by four destroyers. Glassford’s normal flagship, the Northampton-class heavy cruiser USS Houston, along with two other destroyers, was absent escorting a troop convoy from Darwin to Singapore. Seven other ‘four-stacker’ destroyers from Destroyer Squadron 29, the screening force for TF 5, were unavailable due to repair and refit requirements. While en route, Boise steamed across an uncharted pinnacle in Sape Strait, tearing a large hole in her hull plating and rendering her unfit for combat. After transferring Admiral Glassford to Marblehead and refueling the other ships in the force, Boise retired to Colombo, Ceylon, then to Bombay, India, and, finally, to Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs. Meanwhile, Marblehead developed turbine problems and was reduced to single-shaft operation, limiting her speed to only 15 knots. Admiral Glassford ordered the Clemson-class destroyers John D Ford, Parrott, Pope and Paul Jones to refuel from Marblehead. Afterwards, he detached them under the command of Cdr. Paul Talbot, CO of John D Ford, who he ordered to attack the Japanese invasion force. Just after midnight on 24 Jan, the four USN destroyers entered Balikpapan Bay at 27 knots. They found 12 Japanese transports and three patrol craft in use as transports at anchor, guarded by one light cruiser and seven destroyers, under the command of Vice-Admiral Nishimura. The Japanese invasion force was also supported by four minesweepers and one patrol boat. The oil production and storage facilities at Balikpapan were burning briskly as the result of Dutch air attacks. The anchored ships were silhouetted against the shoreline but were also occasionally obscured by the large volumes of heavy, acrid smoke from the oil fires. An attack before midnight by the Dutch submarine K-18 resulted in the sinking of the 7,000-ton transport Tsuruga Maru and diverted the attention of the Japanese defenders seaward, just as the American destroyers were entering the bay. Taking advantage of the confusion, the four attackers made two passes through the anchored ships, which were arrayed in two lines. Each ship expended all of its twelve 21-inch torpedoes and then engaged targets with gunfire. The explosions from the American torpedo attacks were thought by the Japanese to come from another submarine attack, which gave the four USN destroyers the opportunity to escape to the south along the coast and rejoin Marblehead. For their efforts, the American attackers were able to sink four transports and one patrol craft, damaging an unknown number with gunfire. Only John D Ford was hit by return fire, a single shell that wounded four men and caused little damage. Although a tactical victory, the results of the engagement have been criticized for not inflicting more serious losses on the Japanese. Part of the problem was the low nighttime visibility in the bay due to the smoke. However, American target identification and fire discipline were poor and excessive speed was maintained during the attack phase, making hits on stationary targets at close range difficult to achieve due to high crossing rates. Seven torpedoes were fired at the minesweeper AM-15 (all missed) and three were fired at the patrol boat PC-37 (two of which hit). This was a major waste of firepower from the only American weapons with adequate killing power. The 4-inch guns mounted on the Clemson-class destroyers were too small to inflict major damage on large vessels. The absence of the American cruisers from TF-5 prevented the tactical setback inflicted on the Japanese at Balikpapan Bay from becoming an operational disaster. Another such opportunity did not present itself during the remainder of the campaign.
USN submarine USS S-36 (SS-141), damaged by grounding on Taka Bakang Reef in Makassar Strait yesterday, is scuttled by her crew.

FIJI: The USAAF’s Hawaiian Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses of Task Group 8.9 fly from Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands to Nandi on West Viti Levu Island in the Fiji Islands.

MALAYA: The withdrawal of defence forces from the Muar and Segamat fronts continues. The Commander of West Force is placed in charge of all troops on the Yong Peng-Muar road and the Muar force is supplied by air. East Force patrols ambush the Japanese force driving on Mersing. The Japanese 55th Regiment captures Endau on the east coast. Australian troops, trapped by a Japanese roadblock at Parit Sulong, try to break through swamp and jungle to reach British lines. Before setting off, they leave their wounded at the roadside, "lying huddled around trees, smoking calmly, unafraid." The Japanese capture the men and shoot them.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: In the II Corps area on Bataan, the Japanese continue preparations for an offensive, massing their assault forces on extreme western flank of the corps; the Japanese also contain the further attempts of the Philippine Division to restore the western flank positions. In the I Corps area, a small enemy force, having circled about the eastern flank of the corps, reaches West Road in the area 4 miles (6,4 kilometres) east of Mauban and blocks it, cutting off the 1st Division troops along the main line of resistance from forces to the south. Forces that can be spared from other sectors attack the Japanese block from the north and south but are unable to reduce it.
USAAF Far East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses based on Java stage through Del Monte Field on Mindanao Island to attack Japanese targets in the Philippines. Three aircraft are badly damaged by Japanese fighters.

BURMA: Japanese forces begin a drive on Moulmein.

CANADA: RCN MTBs TM-22 to TM-29 cancelled after being ordered for the Netherlands. Four served in USN as PT-368 to PT-371.

Minesweeper HMCS Sarnia launched.

U.S.A.: General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, advises President Franklin D. Roosevelt that the Army expects the Japanese to attack Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island in the Aleutian Islands, Territory of Alaska, at any time. The president orders that a plan to establish a striking force in Aleutian Islands be created and executed by the summer of 1942.
Count Basie and His Orchestra recorded the song ''One O'Clock Jump'' in New York City for Okeh Records.

Submarine USS Greenling commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

At 2221, motor tanker Alexandra Høegh was hit by two torpedoes from U-130, broke in two and sank at 40°54N/66°03W south of Shelburne, Nova Scotia. All hands survived and were rescued after 36 hours.

At 1843, U-203 fired a spread of four torpedoes at steamer of estimated 8000 tons, heard a detonation after 6 minutes 52 seconds and thought that the ship sank. Apparently, the North Gaspe, a Canadian ship under charter by the US Army Transport Service, was damaged by the explosion of a torpedo near the ship about ten miles south of Cape Rose, but managed to reach port safely and was repaired. On board were a US Army gun crew and a communication unit.

At 1922, the unescorted SS Belize was torpedoed and sunk by U-754. There were no survivors. 17 Norwegians, 5 Swedish, 1 Dane and a mess boy from British Honduras were lost. On 24 January, corvette HMCS Spikenard found a water-filled lifeboat bearing her name and four bodies 25 nautical miles east of St John's

U-754 sank SS William Hansen 45.56N, 52.47W - Grid BB 6682.

21 January 1943

January 21st, 1943 (THURSDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The first daylight raid on the British capital for six months killed 38 children and six teachers at a girls' junior school at Catford, in south-east London, yesterday. The school was demolished by a bomb from a German raider that dived out of low cloud before a warning had sounded. Most of the children were aged between five and seven.

Rescue work went on all night under flares. Teachers, soldiers and city workers helped to dig for survivors. "The building just fell to pieces," said an eye-witness. "After that it was a pitiful sight, passing the dead and injured children." A Royal Artillery gunner dug with bare hands for his two daughters.

Light cruiser HMS Newfoundland commissioned.

GERMANY:

U-321 laid down.

U-364 launched.

U-959 commissioned.

U.S.S.R.: The Russians complete the isolation of the German 6th Army with the capture of Gumrak airfield. Hitler cables Paulus: "Surrender is out of the question."

Voroshilovsk, in the Caucasus, falls to the Red Army.

POLAND: Warsaw: In an astonishing turn of events, Jews here have staged an armed revolt against their captors. A column of deportees heading down Nicka Street to the railway station, and the train to Treblinka, suddenly turned on its Nazi escorts with handguns and grenades.

The Jewish freedom fighters, led by Mordechai Anielewicz, then barricaded themselves into a nearby house, snipers keeping German reinforcements at bay. Eventually the Nazis set the house on fire; the resisters continued shooting to the last bullet. Only one survived the blaze; 12 Germans had been killed.

SS General Jurgen Stroop, ordered by Himmler to liquidate the ghetto by 13 February, is surprised by the strength of Jewish resistance.

He underestimated the bitterness that has been fermenting for the last three years, expressed in the chant: "Jews will live to settle scores, Jews have lived and will endure" and popular songs with lyrics like:

When we had nothing to eat
They gave us a turnip, or a beet
Here, take food, take fleas
Have some typhus, die of disease

Starvation has killed the weakest, and deportations have sent all the older people and most of the children to their deaths, mostly at Treblinka. Those still left behind are mainly stronger, young single men and women who realize that "resettlement" means death. For months the Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa [Jewish Fighting Organisation] has been smuggling arms into the ghetto; now, the moment for using them has come. As well as fighting the Germans, the Jews are also doing battle with the hated force of Nazi-controlled Jewish police, made up of their own people, who have committed atrocities in exchange for meagre privilages.

Today, German grenades hurled through windows were answered by a hail of bullets from every rooftop; the Germans have withdrawn. With their limited resources, it would be unrealistic to expect the Jews to do more than delay their seemingly inevitable fate.

But pride and hope have returned to the downtrodden, persecuted people of the ghetto. As Tuvia Boryskowski says: "The battle on Niska Street encouraged us. For the first time since the occupation we saw Germans clinging to walls, crawling on the ground, running for cover, hesitating before making a step in the fear of being hit by a Jewish bullet. The cries of the wounded caused us joy, and increased our thirst for battle."

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: U-301 sunk in the Mediterranean west of Bonifacio, in position 41.27N, 07.04E by torpedoes from submarine HMS Sahib. 45 dead and one survivor.

FRENCH MOROCCO: The Casablanca Directive concerning the strategic bombing of Europe is issued. This directive directs the US 8th Airforce to continue daylight bombing. The British came to Casablanca determined to push the Americans into joining their night bombing campaign. General Eaker presented two papers for Churchill's consideration. The item that might have caught his attention: "8. American could ignite obscure targets by day, which the RAF could fight at night by the light of the fires." (with Jack McKillop)

NEW GUINEA: US and Australian troops join up at Sanananda.

U.S.A.: New York: Jewish leaders have received a plea from the Warsaw Ghetto-dwellers, who say that they are "poised at the brink of annihilation". It says:

"We notify you of the greatest crime of all times, about the murder of millions of Jews in Poland ..."

"Brothers - the remaining Jews in Poland live with the awareness that in the most terrible days of our history you did not come to our aid. Respond, at least, in the last days of our life."

WAVES arrive at Seattle NAS (Naval Air Station) Sand Point.

Destroyer escort USS Sloat launched.

Aircraft carrier USS Yorktown launched.

Destroyer USS Eggesford commissioned.

21 January 1944

January 21st, 1944 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Eisenhower holds a first meeting with his commanders to plan the Allied invasion of France.

Frigate HMS Narborough commissioned.

447 Luftwaffe bombers, with a small number of He 177s, attempt to bomb England but the RAF is waiting for them and they suffer heavy losses including the first He-177 shot down over England.

GERMANY: Berlin: In half an hour over Berlin, 769 Lancasters and Halifaxes last night dropped over 2,300 tons of bombs on the city. It was the heaviest blow yet directed at Hitler's capital, with bombs falling at 80 tons a minute. The city was covered by cloud and the effects of the raid are not yet clear; however, the main railway line to Hamburg was cut and a factory making radar for the Luftwaffe was destroyed. One plane dropped its bombs 30 miles from the city, by chance wrecking a factory of the Todt Organisation. The raid took place in the early evening. German radio stations went off the air soon after six o'clock and came back some two hours later but the RAF still lost 35 planes and 172 aircrew; 243 Berliners died.

In 11 major attacks on the city since the "Battle of Berlin" began on 18 November, the RAF has dropped 17,000 tons of bombs. Some 1,300 acres of buildings, equal to twice the area of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens in London have been destroyed. Despite the damage the results of this sustained onslaught are not as great as the RAF expected on either German morale or production - and its own losses are becoming unacceptably high.

AUSTRALIA: Canberra: After a week of talks here the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand have today signed the Australian-New Zealand pact. Australia's leader, Mr John Curtin, described the agreement as a landmark in international collaboration in the Pacific.

The text of the pact will not be published until it is formally ratified, but it covers the establishment of a regional defence zone in the South-west Pacific, co-operation in the war effort and agreement of armistice terms.

On 3 December 1943, a decision was made that up to 25 RAAF aircrews would be attached to the USAAF's Fifth Air Force to gain experience with B-24 Liberators as the RAAF were due to receive this type of aircraft in the near future. Five Australian crews were attached to a USAAF unit at Charters Towers. The Captains of these crews were:-

Sqn. Ldr. John B. "Long John" Hampshire Sqn Ldr. Jack O'Brien

Sqn. Ldr. Bill Rehfisch Sqn. Ldr. "Rusty" Rayson

Flt. Lt. Gordon "Mick" Jaques

One of the more notable flights they took part in was occurred today.

After their briefing they were met at their aircraft by a US Army chemical-warfare specialist, who had earlier supervised the loading of mustard gas bombs. These bombs were over a metre long and about 15 cms in diameter, weighing about 45 kgs. Each B-24 Liberator carried 60 mustard gas bombs.

The five RAAF crews took off along with the Commanding Officer at Charters Towers, Lt. Col. Joss Crowder. Flying for 90 minutes, at less than 1,000 feet to minimise the chance of a drop in pressure causing a leak, they bombed a small island in the Great Barrier Reef (assumed to be Brook Island).

Sqn Ldr. Hampshire had been advised by Lt. Col Crowder that 50 volunteers from US military prisons were used as guinea pigs for the mission. They had been promised freedom if they would occupy underground tunnels during the bombing mission. Hampshire was told by Crowder that all 50 prisoners had died in this mustard gas experiment.

The following information is part of a response by Senator Newman - The Minister for Defence - providing an answer to a "Question on Notice" by Senator Woodley in the Australian Senate on 25 August 1997:-

The `Brook Island Trial' took place on North Brook Island in February 1944. It was the culmination of various tests which had been conducted in the Innisfail area. Aircraft weapons, comprising both gas filled bombs and various types of gas spray were tested using Beaufort bombers from Bowen. The effects were measured on Japanese-style bunkers and foxholes containing goats.

Chemical sampling equipment was installed, and troops landed at various times after the bombing in different types of anti-gas protection equipment. The testing of mustard gas on volunteers took place on the mainland at Innisfail. This physiological research was to determine the effects of mustard vapour on the human body under tropical conditions. Other tests conducted at Innisfail included the tolerance of man to dibutyl phthalate, which was used to suppress the vector of scrub typhus, and the effect of wearing anti-gas clothing on the ability of troops to perform normal duties and do heavy work in a tropical rain forest. Details of the testing are summarised in the `Gillis Report', which was tabled in Federal Parliament on March 1987 by the then Minister for Defence.

There was no Army hospital at Woodstock. The 2/14 Army General Hospital was located in Townsville. During the mustard gas trials at Innisfail, a ward at Innisfail hospital was dedicated for use by the medical and scientific staff conducting the trials. The ward was used from 1943 until the end of 1944 when the Field Experimental Station and the 1st Field Trials Company were moved to Proserpine.

Medical records or case histories were maintained on all volunteers, not all of whom were hospitalised. Most, if not all, of these case histories are contained in `Chemical Warfare--Trials', Australian War Memorial Series 54, 179/5/7, Parts 1 to 10. These records are open for public access.

Personal medical records were maintained during the trials and would have formed part of the volunteer's medical record. At the end of the war, the medical records of all ex-servicemen were sent to the then Repatriation Department in the State of enlistment of the member.

Brook Island was used for the aerial delivery of mustard vapour.

Hinchinbrook Island was not used for testing purposes, but was used occasionally as a staging area for personnel waiting to go to Brook Island to check the equipment after bombing had taken place. There is no evidence that Dunk Island was used for any military activities. (Denis Peck)

PACIFIC: Aboard the USS BUNKER HILL with Glen Boren: We arrived at Funafuta and dropped anchor at 1208 hours.

U.S.A.: Destroyer USS Walke commissioned.

Light cruiser USS Vincennes commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Caravan commissioned.

Destroyer escorts USS Leland E Thomas and Chester T O'Brien laid down.

CANADA: Frigate HMCS NEW WATERFORD commissioned.

Corvettes HMCS Belleville and Smiths Falls laid down Kingston, Ontario.

21 January 1945

January 21st, 1945 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM:

In the evening, SS Galatea was torpedoed and sunk by U-1051 off Bardsey Island in the St Georges Channel. The sole survivor, stoker Harald Hvidtsten was picked up by frigate HMS Tyler in the early morning hours of the next day. 17 crewmembers and three gunners died.

In the morning, SS George Hawley joined the two-column convoy TBC-43 off the Isle of Wight and took station as the second ship in the starboard column. At 1538 George Hawley was hit by one torpedo from U-1199 about 3 miles off Wolf Trap Lighthouse. The torpedo struck on the starboard side amidships. The explosion destroyed the engines, flooded the engine room immediately, killed one officer and one crewman on watch below and started a small fire in the galley. The Liberty ship began to list to port as the British coastal tug TID-74 and SS Wiley A. Wakeman stood by. The remaining seven officers, 32 men and 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) abandoned ship 20 minutes after the hit in all four lifeboats. They were picked up by the other two ships and landed at Cardiff. The master, the chief mate, to bos'n and another crewman reboarded the vessel at 1700. They passed a line to the tug, which did not have the power to tow the Liberty ship. Eight hours after the attack salvage tug HMS Allegiance arrived and took the ship in tow to Falmouth, arriving there on 22 January. She lay beached there until June 1946, when she was refloated, towed to Bremerhaven, Germany, loaded with obsolete chemical ammunition and scuttled at sea in October 1946

Corvette HMCS Lindsay damaged collision with destroyer HMS Brilliant SW Isle of Wight. Lindsay was effectively removed from the war by the damage suffered in the collision. She was taken to Devonport for temporary repairs from 19 Jan to 19 Feb. After being made seaworthy, she sailed for Saint John NB on 15 Mar for a refit that lasted until 22 Jun. Afterwards, Lindsay was dispatched to Sydney NS and was paid off there on 18 Jul.

FRANCE: The French First Army begins an offensive in the Vosges near Colmar.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: near the Scilly Isles: U-1199 is sunk in 240 feet of water in position 49. 57N 05. 42W by depth charges from destroyer HMS ICARUS and corvette HMS MIGNONETTE. 48 members of the crew are lost, but there is 1 survivor from the U-Boat. (Alex Gordon)

When attacked the entire crew, per late war doctrine, was wearing Drager gear. When the boat was hit and began sinking, one member of the crew managed to get into the conning tower and execute a self-escape through the conning tower hatch without an airlock and before the boat bottomed out. His mouthpiece was yanked out in the exit and he began blowing air, a fact that assuredly saved his life as he was too deep to execute a proper ascent. When he popped to the surface the Royal Navy ships were searching for wreckage and other signs of success and picked him up. (Mark Horan)

Minesweeping trawler HMS Computator sunk after collision with destroyer HMS Vanoc off Normandy. Vanoc was heavily damaged.

GERMANY: Berlin: Hitler orders all his commanders to report their decisions to him truthfully and quickly.

One man died in an accident onboard U-3507 [Maschinengefreiter Rudi Grötzschel].

U-3522, U-4703 commissioned.

U-3034 launched.

NORWAY: U-300 sailed from Trondheim on her third and final patrol.

U-1018 sailed from Horten on her first and final patrol.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Luzon: US forces capture Tarlac and advance on Clark Field.

BURMA:Indian troops land on Ramree Island and attack Kangaw.

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