USS BROWNSON (December 26, 1943) While escorting landing craft during the landings on Cape Gloucester in New Britain, the destroyer was hit by two 500-pound bombs from a Japanese dive bomber. The ship's entire upper structure was blown apart in a tremendous explosion and she started to list to starboard. Within minutes she settled rapidly, her back broken, and sank at 14:59 hrs, taking to the bottom 108 of her crew. Nearby destroyers, the USS Daly and the USS Lamson rescued 168 survivors from the water while depth charges from the Brownson exploded around them.
December 27, 1942 Germans form the Smolensk Committee to enlist Soviet soldiers On this day, the German military begins enlisting Soviet POWs in the battle against Russia. General Andrei Vlasov, a captured Soviet war hero turned anticommunist, was made commander of the renegade Soviet troops. Vlasov had been a military man since 1919, when, at age 19, he was drafted into the new "Red" Army to fight in the Russian Civil War. After joining the Communist Party in 1930, he became a Soviet military adviser to China's Chiang Kai-shek. Returning to Russia in 1939, Vlasov was given the 4th Armored Corps to command. He distinguished himself in the defense of Kiev and Moscow against the German invaders, even winning the Order of Lenin in 1941, and later the Order of the Red Banner as commanding general of the 20th Army. Then came the defense of Leningrad in 1942. The Germans were overwhelming the Soviet forces at the front, and Stalin would not allow Vlasov to retreat to a more favorable position. His army was battered, and he was taken prisoner by the Germans along with many of his men. Back in Germany, Vlasov became disgusted with Stalin and communist ideology, which he had come to believe was a more sinister threat to the world than Nazism. He began broadcasting anti-Soviet propaganda and formed--with Nazi permission, of course--the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia. Its goal: to overthrow Joseph Stalin and defeat communism. The German "Smolensk Committee" began persuading more and more captured Russians, Ukrainians, Cossacks, and other Soviet anti-Stalinists to join the German war effort. These now-pro-German Soviets were finally formed into a 50,000-man army, the Russian Liberation division, and fought toward the end of the war, with Vlasov at their command. Tens of thousands ending up turning back against the Germans, then finally surrendering to the Americans-rather than the advancing Soviets-when the German cause was lost. The Americans, under secret terms of the Yalta Agreement signed in February, repatriated all captured Soviet soldiers-even against their will. Vlasov was among those returned to Stalin. He was hanged, along with his comrades in arms
December 28, 1941 Request made for creation of construction battalions On this day, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell requests authority from the Bureau of Navigation to create a contingent of construction units able to build everything from airfields to roads under battlefield conditions. These units would be known as the "Seabees"-for the first letters of Construction Battalion. The men chosen for the battalions were not ordinary inductees or volunteers-they all had construction-work backgrounds. The first batch of recruits who made the cut had helped build the Boulder Dam, national highways, and urban skyscrapers; had dug subway tunnels; and had worked in mines and quarries. Some had experience building ocean liners and aircraft carriers. Approximately 325,000 men, from 60 different trades, ages 18 to 60, would go on to serve with the Seabees by the end of the war. The officers given the authority to command these men were also an elite crew, derived from the Civil Engineer Corps. Of the more than 11,000 officers in the Corps all together, almost 8,000 would serve with the construction units. Although the Seabees were technically supposed to be support units, they were also trained as infantrymen, and they often found themselves in combat with the enemy in the course of their construction projects. They were sent to war theaters as far flung as the Azores, North Africa, the Mediterranean, the Pacific, and the beaches of Normandy. Some of the Seabees' feats became legendary. They constructed huge airfields and support facilities for the B29 Superfortress bombers on Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, as well as the ports needed to bring in the supplies for the bombing of Japan. The Seabees also suffered significant casualties in the process of providing innovative new pontoons to help the Allies land on the beaches of Sicily. During D-Day, the Seabees' demolition unit was among the first ashore. Their mission: to destroy the steel and concrete barriers the Germans had constructed as obstacles to invasion. The Seabees' motto was "We Build, We Fight."
December 28 1943. In the Bay of Biscay, the cruisers Glasgow and Enterprise intercepted a German force of five destroyers and six torpedo boats waiting to escort the blockade runner Alsterufer (sunk the day before by RAF Liberator aircraft) The destroyer Z-27 and the torpedo boats T-25, T-26 and T-27 were sunk.
December 29, 1940 Germans raid London On this day, German aircraft blanket incendiary bombs over London, setting both banks of the Thames ablaze and killing almost 3,600 British civilians. The German targeting of the English capital had begun back in August, payback for British attacks on Berlin. In September, a horrendous firestorm broke out in London's poorest districts as German aircraft dropped 337 tons of bombs on docks, tenements, and teeming streets. The "London Blitz" killed thousands of civilians. December 29 saw the widespread destruction not just of civilians, but of great portions of London's cultural relics. Historic buildings were severely damaged or destroyed as relentless bombing set 15,000 separate fires. Among the architectural treasures that proved casualties of the German assault were the Guildhall (the administrative center of the city, dating back to 1673 but also containing a 15th-century vault) and eight Christopher Wren churches. St. Paul's Cathedral also caught fire but was saved from being burned to the ground by brave, tenacious firefighters. Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and the Chamber of the House of Commons were also hit but suffered less extensive damage. Fighting the blazes was made all the more difficult by an unfortunate low tide, which made drawing water a problem.
December 29, 1940 Germans raid London On this day, German aircraft blanket incendiary bombs over London, setting both banks of the Thames ablaze and killing almost 3,600 British civilians. The Search Engine reports 215 civilian commemorations for this day and 432 for May 10, 1941 - the last big Blitz raid. (Google gives a figure of 1,364 for the latter). Significant difference in the numbers....
December 30, 1884 Tojo is born On this day, Hideki Tojo, prime minister of Japan during the war, is born in Tokyo. After graduating from the Imperial Military Academy and the Military Staff College, Tojo was sent to Berlin as Japan's military attache after World War I. Having already earned a reputation for sternness and discipline, Tojo was given command of the 1st Infantry Regiment upon return to Japan. In 1937, he was made chief of staff of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria, China. Returning again to his homeland, Tojo assumed the office of vice-minister of war and quickly took the lead in the military's increasing control of Japanese foreign policy, advocating the signing of the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy in 1940 that made Japan an "Axis" power. In July of 1940, he was made minister of war and soon clashed with the Prime Minister, Prince Fumimaro Konoye, who had been fighting to reform his government by demilitarizing its politics. In October, Konoye resigned because of increasing tension with Tojo, who succeeded as prime minister while holding on to his offices of army min! ister and war minister, and assuming the offices of minister of commerce and of industry as well. Tojo, now a virtual dictator, quickly promised a "New Order in Asia," and toward this end supported the bombing of Pearl Harbor despite the misgivings of several of his generals. Tojo's aggressive policies paid big dividends early on, with major territorial gains in Indochina and the South Pacific. But despite Tojo's increasing control over his own country, even assuming the position of the chief of the general staff, he could not control the determination of the United States, which began beating back the Japanese in the South Pacific. When Saipan fell to the U.S. Marines and Army, Tojo's government collapsed. Upon Japan's surrender, Tojo tried to commit suicide by shooting himself with an American .38 pistol but was saved by an American physician who gave him a transfusion of American blood. He lived only to be convicted of war crimes by an international tribunal--and was hanged on December 22, 1948. Asao Uchida portrayed him in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!.
December 31, 1944 Hungary declares war on Germany On this day, the provisional government of Hungary officially declares war on Germany, bringing an end to Hungary's cooperation-sometimes free, sometimes coerced--with the Axis power. Miklas Horthy, the anticommunist regent and virtual dictator of Hungary, who had once hoped to keep his country a nonbelligerent in the war, had reluctantly aligned Hungary with Hitler in November 1940. While ideologically not fascist, Hungary had many radical right-wing elements at play in its politics, as well as a history of anti-Semitism. Those radical forces saw many common "ideals" with Nazism and believed the future lay with Germany. So though Horthy little admired Hitler personally, he felt the need to placate influential parties within his own country and protect his nation from Soviet domination. When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, Hitler demanded that Hungary mobilize its military against the Soviets as well. So on June 29, 1941, Hungary declared war on the USSR. In March 1942, Horthy replaced Prime Minister Lazlo Bardossy, (a political manipulator too eager to piggyback on German territorial expansion and turn on former allies for the sake of personal gains), with Miklos Kallay, who shared the regent's goal of regaining the favor of the Western--non-Soviet--Allies. Kallay was able to communicate to the Allies that Hungary was open to switching sides again should they make it to Hungary's border and offer Hungary protection from German and/or Soviet occupation. In January 1943, the Battle of Voronezh against the USSR saw Hungary's entire 2nd Army decimated by the Soviets, rendering Hungary militarily impotent. Hitler, who learned of Kallay's sly communiques with the West, gave Horthy an ultimatum: Either cooperate fully with the German regime or suffer German occupation. Horthy chose to collaborate, which meant the suppression of left-leaning political parties and an intense persecution of Hungary's Jews, including massive deportations to Auschwitz, something Kallay, to his credit, had fought to prevent. (More than 550,000 Hungarian Jews-out of 750,000-would die during the war.) As Soviet troops began to occupy more Hungarian territory, a desperate Horthy signed an armistice with Moscow. When the regent announced this on radio, he was kidnapped by the Germans and forced to abdicate. Ferenc Szalasi, leader of the fascist Arrow Cross Party, was made head of the country on October 15, 1944, though he was little more than a puppet of the Germans. His rule of terror, especially against Hungary's Jews, would become infamous. Soviet troops finally liberated the bulk of Hungary from German rule in December 1944. On December 31, a Provisional National Assembly, composed of Communists loyal to the USSR, officially declared war on Germany. The Assembly would go on to sign an armistice with all the Allies in January of 1945.
FRIEDRICH ECKOLDT (December 31, 1942) German destroyer launched in March, 1937, from the yard of Blohm & Voss, Hamburg and sunk during the Battle of the Barents Sea. After attacking the Allied Convoy JW5-1B and sinking the British minesweeper Bramble, the Eckoldtnow headed towards distant gun flashes, her captain believed coming from the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. Instead he was confronted by the British cruisers HMS Jamaica and HMS Sheffield. The Sheffield opened fire at point blank range her shells hitting the aft magazine of the Eckoldt causing an explosion which sank her in seconds. She went down with all hands. The exact number of casualties varies but her wartime complement was usually around 335 men.
HMS ACHATES (December 31, 1942) Clydebank built destroyer of 1,350 tons and part of a destroyer force escorting a North Russia bound convoy JW 51B. When off Bear Island in the Barents Sea, the Achates was attacked at 9.30 am by the German warship Lutzov. Hit forward by 8 in. shells and a direct hit on her bridge, which killed her captain, Lt. Cdr. Tyndale Johns and several others. She lost steam and slowed down only to be hit by several more salvos. Badly damaged, the gallant ship sailed on for one more hour before she floundered and within the space of three minutes the Achates turned turtle and sank, taking to the bottom seven officers and 106 crewmembers. The trawler Northern Gem was able to pick up 81 survivors.
January 1, 1942 United Nations created On this day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issue a declaration, signed by representatives of 26 countries, called the "United Nations." The signatories of the declaration vowed to create an international postwar peacekeeping organization. On December 22, 1941, Churchill arrived in Washington, D.C., for the Arcadia Conference, a discussion with President Roosevelt about a unified Anglo-American war strategy and a future peace. The attack on Pearl Harbor meant that the U.S. was involved in the war, and it was important for Great Britain and America to create and project a unified front against Axis powers. Toward that end, Churchill and Roosevelt created a combined general staff to coordinate military strategy against both Germany and Japan and to draft a plan for a future joint invasion of the Continent. Among the most far-reaching achievements of the Arcadia Conference was the United Nations agreement. Led by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, the signatories agreed to use all available resources to defeat the Axis powers. It was agreed that no single country would sue for a separate peace with Germany, Italy, or Japan-they would act in concert. Perhaps most important, the signatories promised to pursue the creation of a future international peacekeeping organization dedicated to ensuring "life, liberty, independence, and religious freedom, and to preserve the rights of man and justice."
HMS FIDELITY (January 1, 1943) Formerly the French merchant ship Le Rhin (2,455 tons) requisitioned by the Admiralty, converted to a SSV ship (Special Service Vessel) and renamed HMS Fidelity.Armed with four inch guns, torpedoes and depth charges she also carried two sea-planes, a motor torpedo boat and two small landing craft. The vessel, believed by some of the crew to be totally unseaworthy, carried out operations of an extremely hazardous nature i.e. landing of secret agents on enemy territory. Due to the secret nature of the ship, the crew were volunteers, the non British members sailing under assumed names and the French and other crew members received anglicised names. Her captain was an ex-French spy Claude Peri, who assumed the name Jacques Langlais and to the amazement of the crew took his mistress, WRNS officer Madeleine Barclay, onboard with him. After operations in the Mediterranean, the Fidelity was assigned to the Far East Fleet and sailed from Portsmouth to Colombo via the Cape, part of the way with convoy ONS-154. In an area of the Atlantic known as the Black Pit, an area beyond the protection of aircraft, the convoy, escorted by five Canadian corvettes, was attacked by U-boat wolf packs and over the next five days fourteen of the forty-five ships were sunk with 510 lives lost. The Fidelity, lagging behind with engine failure, was torpedoed by the U-435 (KptLt. S. Strelow) on the night of December 30/31, 1942. She went to the bottom with almost all her complement of 280 crew, fifty-one Royal Marine Commandos and the WRNS officer plus four civilians. About fifty survivors rescued earlier from the SS Empire Shackelton were also on board. Two LCVs (Landing Craft Vehicles) Nos. 752 and 754, being carried by the Fidelity were also sunk. There were only ten men who survived the sinking of the Fidelity. The largest convoy that ever sailed was Convoy HX-300. It consisted of 167 ships.
SS ARTHUR MIDDLETON (January 1, 1943) US Liberty Ship of 7,176 tons, built in 1942 in Mobile Alabama, was torpedoed by the U-73 while en route from New York to the North African port of Oran in Algeria. The vessel, part of the 44 ship convoy UGS-3, was carrying a cargo of munitions, explosives and 300 bags of mail. At Casablanca, the convoy split up and eleven ships, including the Arthur Middleton, proceeded towards Oran escorted by three US and four British destroyers. When only 12.9 kilometres from her destination and preparing to enter the harbour at Oran, she was struck by the torpedo at 2:11PM. The subsequent explosion sent steel plates, flame and smoke soaring 1,000 feet into the air and broke the ship in two. Her sinking took less than two minutes. Her complement consisted of 44 crewmembers, 27 Naval Armed Guards and 12 Army personnel. One LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) No. 21, being carried by the ship, was also lost. Three members of the Naval Armed Guards were the only survivors who were rescued by the British destroyerHMS Boreas.
Jan 1940 - Coastal Command aircraft are fitted for the first time with Air to Surface Vessel (ASV) radar detection sets and these were used primarily in the detection of German submarines.
1 Jan 1940 - The RAF introduces Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) signals to help identify Bomber, Coastal and Fighter Command aircraft on radar screens.
Jan 1942 - Reinforcements arrive in the Far East to supplement the defensive air forces; 51 Hurricanes arrive in Singapore, 48 Hurricanes in Sumatra and 30 Hurricanes and Blenheims arrived in Burma from the Middle East. Jan-Feb 1942 - In Europe, RAF operations are mainly concerned with attacks on German warships and naval facilities in the Atlantic and North Germany.
1 Jan 1945 - The Allies are caught by surprise German fighter-bombers strikes on airfields in Europe (Operation Bodenplatte (Baseplate)). A total of 465 aircraft are destroyed on the ground, but the Luftwaffe loses 62 aircraft to Allied fighters and 172 to light AA (including RAF Regiment gunners). Whilst Allied losses are quickly replace, the Luftwaffe fighters arm is effectively destroyed.
1 January 1944. As part of Operation Overlord, the midget submarine X-20 was off the coast of Normandy where two Royal Engineers investigated the beach and took samples of sand, and also recovered a mine. D-Day
January 2, 1942 Navy opens a blimp base in New Jersey On this day, the Navy Airship Patrol Group 1 and Air Ship Squadron 12 are established at Lakehurst, N.J. The U.S. Navy was the only military service in the world to use airships--also known as blimps--during the war. The U.S. Navy was actually behind the times in the use of blimps; it didn't get around to ordering its first until 1915, at which time even the U.S. Army was using them. By the close of World War I, the Navy had recognized their value and was using several blimps for patrolling coastlines for enemy submarines. They proved extremely effective; in fact, no convoy supported by blimp surveillance ever lost a ship. Between the wars, it was agreed that the Army would use nonrigid airships to patrol the coasts of the United States, while the Navy would use rigid airships (which were aluminum-hulled and kept their shape whether or not they were filled with gas) for long-range scouting and fleet support. The Navy ended its construction and employment of the rigid airships in the 1930s after two, the Akron and the Macon, crashed at sea. In 1937, the Army transferred all its remaining nonrigid blimps to the Navy. Meanwhile, in the civilian world, the Hindenburg, a commercial dirigible, burst into flames over Lakehurst on May 6, 1937. Thirty-six of the 97 passengers aboard were killed. The explosion was caused by an electric discharge that ignited a hydrogen gas leak; the tragedy effectively ended the use of airships for commercial travel, but they were still used to great advantage in the U.S. military. At the outbreak of World War II, the Navy had 10 blimps in service; that number expanded to 167 by the end of the war. The only U.S. blimp lost was the K-74, which, on July 18, 1943, spotted a German U-boat. The blimp opened fire on the submarine and damaged it, but only one of its two depth charges released. The submarine fired back and sent the blimp into the sea, but the crew was rescued. The only German blimp involved in the war was a passenger craft, Graf Zeppelin, which was used for electronic surveillance just before the outbreak of the war.
SS LANGKOEAS (January 2, 1942) Dutch vessel, formerly the German 'Stassfurt' sunk by torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-158 north of Bawean Island. Survivors in one of the lifeboats were subjected to machine-gun fire, the other lifeboat was rammed by the submarine. There were only 3 survivors from the 94 persons on board, the 4th engineer, J de Mul, a Chinese seaman and an Indonesian boy. Of the 94 persons on board 24 were Dutch, 55 were Chinese and 12 were Indonesians.
