22 January 1939

U.S.A.: Stanley D. Embick, US Deputy Chief of Staff, retires and is replaced by George Marshall, who retains him on his staff. (Marc James Small)

UNITED KINGDOM: Minesweeping trawler HMS Luda Lady mined and sunk off the Humber.

The heavy cruiser USS Louisville (CA-28) arrives at New York City, with US$148,342,212.55 in British gold brought from Simonstown, South Africa, to be deposited in American banks.

U.S.S.R.: Black Sea Fleet and Azov Flotilla: Shipping loss: MS "TSch-250" (uncompleted hull) - grounded by storm in Kerch strait. (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

Leningrad: Evacuation of nearly 500,000 citizens begins via the "ice road" across Lake Ladoga. (About 440,000 people are transported out of Leningrad between 22 January and 15 April 1942.) Meanwhile, Soviet forces recapture Uvarovo, 20 miles (32 kilometres) west of Mozhaisk.

NORTH AFRICA: The Panzergruppe Afrika formally becomes the Panzer Army Africa [Panzerarmee Afrika]

BURMA: The Indian 16th Brigade breaks off action in the Kawkareik area and falls back toward Moulmein.

MALAYA: Lt-Col Charles Groves Wright Anderson (1897-1988), Australian Military Forces, led a force which from 18-22 January destroyed ten tanks and covered 15 miles of enemy territory. (Victoria Cross)

The six-day battle on the Muar front ends in victory for the Japanese. The Indian 45th Brigade, despite close air and naval support during the operation, is destroyed as a fighting body. The Muar force destroys its vehicles and weapons and pushes toward Yong Peng by infiltration, leaving their wounded behind. The Batu Pahat defence force (a detachment of the Indian 11th Division) skirmishes with the Japanese on the Batu Pahat-Ayer Hitam road. The Indian 8th Brigade Group, 9th Division, having withdrawn from the Segamat sector to positions astride the main road between Labis and Yong Peng, is attacked by enemy. The East Force repels the Japanese attempt to cross the river at Mersing. The partly trained Indian 44th Brigade, reinforced, and 7,000 Indian reinforcements arrive at Singapore.

At Parit Sulong the Japanese round up the wounded Australian and Indian soldiers left behind from the Battle of Muar. They are forced to surrender all their belongings including their clothes, which are later returned. The men, now Prisoners of War are beaten, tormented and denied food, water and medical attention. At sunset the men are roped or wired together in groups and led into the jungle where they are shot with machine guns, doused with petrol and set alight. Only Lieutenant Ben Charles Hackney and VX523333 Reginald Arthur Wharton survive, feigning death despite repeated brutalities by the Japanese.

One of those murdered was VX55956 Private Robert Paterson, 22, the son of George and Eileen Paterson of Carlton, Victoria. Uncle of Jim Paterson, contributor to this series. (Jim Paterson)

JAPAN: Tokyo: Tojo warns Australia that "if you continue resistance, we Japanese will show you no mercy."

MAKASSAR STRAIT: The Japanese invasion force headed for Balikpapan, Borneo, crosses the equator at 2000 hours local.
From this date through 3 February, USAAF Far East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses launch at least 15 missions out of Malang, Java, against shipping moving through Makassar Strait between Borneo and Celebes Island. Four missions abort due to bad weather, six end with negative results, and the remaining five suffer heavy losses but sink 4 ships.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Carrier-based aircraft from HIJMS Akagi and HIJMS Kaga attack Rabaul on New Britain Island for the third straight day. The last of the fixed defenses are destroyed.
     Japanese troops land on Mussau Island, largest island in the Saint Mathias group, located 113 miles (182 kilometres) northwest of Kavieng, New Ireland Island.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Bataan, General Douglas MacArthur, Commander in Chief US Army Forces Far East (USAFFE), orders the withdrawal of the entire Mauban-Abucay line southward to a final defence position, behind the Pilar-Bagac road; the withdrawal is to start after nightfall on 23 January and be completed by daylight of 26 January. In the II Corps area, the Japanese open an offensive that forces the Philippine Division back to positions east and south of Abucay Hacienda, approximately those held at beginning of counter-offensive on 16 January. In the I Corps area, elements of 91st Division, Philippine Army (PA), supported by Philippine Scouts of the 26th Cavalry and tanks, attempt unsuccessfully to reduce the roadblock on West Road and to reach 1st Division, PA, troops still fighting along the main line of resistance to the north. The Japanese begin a series of amphibious operations during the night of 22-23 January, when a battalion embarks in barges at Moron and sails toward Caibobo Point, below Bagac.
     Motor Torpedo Boat 34 (PT-34) (Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley) encounters and sinks two landing barges.
     Japanese reinforcements land in the Subic Bay area.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: Australian sloop HMAS Warrego and HMAS">SS Koolama land reinforcements on Ambon Island.

NEW GUINEA: Carrier based aircraft from HIJMS Shokaku and HIJMS Zuikaku attack Lae, Salamaua and Bulolo.

TERRITORY OF HAWAI'I: The USN’s Task Force Eleven (TF 11) (Vice Admiral Wilson Brown Jr.), formed around carrier USS Lexington (CV-2), departs Oahu to raid Wake Island.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The unarmed U.S. freighter SS Norvana is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-123 south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. There are no survivors, and pieces of wreckage from the ship when she explodes hit her attacker.

SS Gandia sunk by U-135 in Convoy ON-54 at 45.00N, 41.00W - Grid BC 9159.

U-333 sank SS Vassilios A. Polemis in Convoy ON-53 at 42.32N, 52.38W - Grid BB 9600.

At 2243, the unescorted motor tanker Innerøy was torpedoed by U-553, caught fire and sank. The master, 30 Norwegians, two British, two Portuguese and one Canadian crewmembers were lost. Five survivors were picked up from a lifeboat 15 hours after the attack by SS Empire Amethyst, which had come across two empty lifeboats from the tanker before locating the survivors who were landed at Halifax.

SS Caledonian Monarch, previously damaged, sunk by U-333 near Loch Ewe

U-203 sank ASW trawler HMS Rosemonde.

At 1239, U-66 fired two stern torpedoes at an unescorted steamer, which broke in two and sank within one minute after being hit twice. The vessel was probably tanker Olympic, which was reported missing after leaving Curaçao.

At 2310, SS Athelcrown dispersed from Convoy ON-56, was torpedoed and sunk by U-82 SE of Cape Race. Five crewmembers were lost. The master, 26 crewmembers and six gunners were picked up by the British merchant Argos Hill and landed at Halifax. A British warship rescued eight crewmembers. Four crewmembers found the abandoned, drifting wreck of the Diala, which had been torpedoed on 15 January by U-553 (Thurmann) in 47°28N/39°19W. They remained on board for eight days before they were rescued by the Swedish merchant Saturnus and landed on the Faeroe Isles. The wreck of the Diala was sunk on 23 March by U-587.

UNITED KINGDOM: The first North American B-25 'Mitchell' light bombers in the service of the RAF make their operational debut today in an attack on oil refineries in Belgium, flying from Foulsham, Norfolk. (22)

GERMANY: Rastenburg: Hitler orders that tank production must take priority over shipbuilding.

The Italian Alpini divisions, Julia and "Cuneense" clash with Soviet forces at Novo-Georgievka and Valuiki. (Francesco Dall'Aglio)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Since the request on January 12 for tank support to suppress the "Gifu" on Guadalcanal, engineers have been scratching out a road for them. Of 3 tanks inherited from the Marines, now manned by the 25th Div. Reconnaissance Squadron, only one reaches the area in operational condition. Commanded by Capt. Ted Deese the attack begins at 10:30 am. He makes two penetrations destroying 8 pillboxes and breaching a gap of almost 200 yards. This gap allows the 2nd Btn to occupy a new line inside the outer rim of pillboxes.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Leutnant zur See Wilhem Deutsch of was lost by washing overboard. (When U-268 was sunk four weeks later only 44 men were killed, instead of the normally reported figure of 45 men)

UNITED KINGDOM: Scotland: Loch Ewe: Convoy JW-56B sails for Murmansk. Destroyer HMCS Huron departed Loch Ewe as part of the close escort for a 15-ship convoy to the Kola Inlet. In the summer of 1942, all subsequent Arctic convoys to Russian sailed in the winter months, taking advantage of foul weather and reduced daylight to conceal their movements from German aerial reconnaissance. This was very successful and subsequent losses were negligible. Submarine HMS Terrapin commissioned.

Anzio: Midnight. In the inky blackness, British and American troops of VI Corps, taking part in Operation SHINGLE, boarded landing craft from a convoy of 243 ships that arrived off this small port on the Tyrrhenian Sea tonight. Heavy opposition was expected when the landing craft hit the beaches. The US commander, Major-General John Lucas, was gloomy about the whole affair. "I feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter," he wrote 13 days ago after a meeting with the supreme commander, General Alexander.

Yet there was no slaughter when the Allied army came ashore. Anzio is deserted, a ghost town; the inhabitants have been evacuated; there were no defenders. The German high command has been totally wrongfooted. As evening fell on Anzio tonight, nearly 50,000 men and 3,000 vehicles have landed with the loss of 13 men, mostly from mines. The road to Rome, 32 miles to the north, is open. Intelligence reports that there are few, if any, German defenders on the route.

But with the memory of the near-debacle at Salerno still fresh in his mind, Lucas is determined to build up his beach-head defences before venturing forth. He had calculated on a rugged defence, and has ordered his army to dig in to fight off counter-attacks.

Lucas's commander, General Mark Clark, arrived here this evening with General Alexander. The British commander is all for pushing forward with strong mobile forces. Clark has advised Lucas not to "stick his neck out". Winston Churchill, ever an enthusiast for this invasion, has cabled Alexander to say: "Am very glad you are pegging out claims rather than digging in." Lucas has established his headquarters in an underground wine cellar and shows no sign of pegging out claims.

Rome: Allied aircraft drop millions of leaflets announcing that liberation is nigh.

PACIFIC: The US invasion fleet ("Galvanic" Assault Force") sails for the Marshall Islands, opening Operation Flintlock, which aims at their capture.

Aboard the USS BUNKER HILL with Glen Boren: I tried to get to DD 588 but couldn't get a boat headed that way..

Captain Ballentine, the Bunker Hill skipper announced that he had been promoted to Admiral and would be leaving in the near future.

Mid-afternoon our Intel Officer, Mark Adams looked me up and said that he had just got back from the Island and had something that he figured I would like to have and handed me a copy of the Naval Aviation News dated 1 Jan 1944 and lo and behold, there was my picture right in the center of the cover with a bunch of our pilots in the catwalk of the carrier that we had carrier qualified on, off the coast of California the summer before. Needless to say that I have been proud of that

The carrier that we qualified on was the USS Nassau, Sept, 15 - 18, 1943 off of San Diego.

Frigate USS Everett commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Prime launched.

Destroyer escort USS O'Toole commissioned.

Destroyer escorts USS Willard Keith and William C Lawe laid down.

Submarine USS Pipefish commissioned.

Minesweeper USS Saunter commissioned.

Destroyer escorts USS Thomas F Nickel, Robert Brazier and Lough launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: One crewmember from U-984 was washed overboard in the North Atlantic. [Maschinenobergefreiter Hermann Keller].

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigate HMCS Chebogue being prepared for Transatlantic crossing under tow Newport, Wales.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The US 14th Antiaircraft Artillery Group arrives. (Jean Beach)