This Day In The War, In The Pacific

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1934
UNITED KINGDOM: The London Naval Disarmament Conference began in October with the major naval powers making a last attempt at negotiating a naval disarmament treaty in London. With mounting political tensions, the conference collapses today without agreement.

1941
BURMA: The Japanese overrun Bokpyin, a village about 100 miles north of Victoria Point. A controversy known as the Tulsa Incident, arises as a U.S. officer asks the Government of Burma to impound Lend-Lease material at Rangoon (a valuable part of which is loaded on the SS Tulsa in the harbor), pending a decision on its use. At the suggestion of the senior Chinese representative in Burma, a committee is subsequently formed to determine the division of supplies.
General Claire L. Chennault and his "Flying Tigers," a group of "volunteer" pilots, set up headquarters 150 miles from Rangoon. From today until 4 July 1942, they destroy 297 Japanese planes and kill some 500 of the enemy.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: The USN's Task Force 8 (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.), consisting of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, heavy cruisers, and destroyers, sails from Pearl Harbor, Oahu, proceeding to the waters west of Johnston Island and south of Midway to cover TF 11 and TF 14 operations. (TF 11 is en route to the Marshall Islands while TF 14 is en route to Wake Island). Destroyer USS Craven, in TF 8, is damaged by heavy sea soon after departure, however, and returns to Pearl for repairs.

HONG KONG: Japanese troops surround the headquarters of Canadian Brigadier John Lawson, Commanding Officer West Brigade, at Wong Nei Chong Gap. Lawson is killed in an attempted breakout becoming the first Canadian General killed in WWII.
Canadian Sergeant Major John Robert Osborn of the 1st Battalion, Winnipeg Grenadiers, dies during an attempt to recapture Mount Butler. Osborn falls on a grenade to save others in the company and is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
Five British naval ships are scuttled to prevent capture by the Japanese:
(1) the barrage/gate vessels HMS Aldgate (Z 68) and Watergate (Z 56),
(2) the tugs HMS Alliance (W 77) and Poet Chaucer and
(3) the boom defense vessel HMS Barlight (Z 57). Barlight is raised by the Japanese and commissioned on 20 September 1942 as Netlayer 101. She is sunk on 15 June 1944 in Tanapag Harbor Saipan Island, Mariana Islands by USN destroyer USS Halsey Powell.

INTERNATIONAL: Colombia breaks relations with Germany and Italy; Mexico breaks diplomatic relations with Hungary and Nicaragua declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.

MALAYA: The Japanese are active against the right flank of the Krian River line; on the Grik road, the Japanese frustrate the efforts of the Indian III Corps to recover lost ground. RAF fighters based at Ipoh are forced to withdraw to Kuala Lumpur. The Indian 9th Division continues their withdrawal southward in eastern Malaya and abandons the Kuala Krai railhead.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-172 torpedoes and sinks a 5,113 ton unarmed U.S. freighter about 296 nautical miles SSE of Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. Twenty five crewmen survive and are rescued.
In the South China Sea, the Dutch submarine HNMS O2 is scuttled by her own crew, about 22 nautical miles E of Kota Bharu, Malaya, to prevent her capture by the Japanese. The sub was damaged by depth charges from two Japanese destroyers earlier in the day.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: On Luzon, the Japanese Legaspi detachment reaches Sipoco and is reported to be pushing toward Daet. At dusk, 12 Japanese fighters based on Luzon attack Del Monte Airfield on Mindanao destroying three USAAF Far East Air Force B-18 Bolos that had just arrived from Luzon with evacuees. During the night of 19/20 December, two Japanese task forces from Palau Islands, Caroline Islands, totaling about 5,000 men, arrive off Davao.

UNITED STATES: The US Selective Service (draft) Act is amended requiring the registration of all males 18-64. The age for those subject to military service is 20-44.
Lieutenant General John DeWitt, Commanding General of the Fourth Army and the Western Defense Command, recommends to the War Department to round up "all alien subjects 14 years of age or over, of enemy nations and remove them to the Zone of the Interior (ZI)," because the West Coast had become a wartime Theater of Operations. DeWitt also writes, "...that there are approximately 40,000 of such enemy aliens and it is believed that they constitute an immediate and potential menace to vital measures of defense."
Vice Admiral Randall Jacobs relieves Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation.
The U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1942 is graduated early, due to the National Emergency
WAKE ISLAND: Japanese "Nell" bombers based on Roi Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, bomb the islands, targeting installations on Wake and Peale islets.

1942
ALEUTIONS: a reconnaissance sortie is flown over Attu, Agattu, Kiska, Amchitka and the Semichis Islands. Two attacks by five B-24s, two B-25s and four B-26s--the second attack escorted by eight P-38s--take off for Kiska Island. On the first mission, four B-24s, gets through and hit the submarine base area, marine railway, buildings, and communication facilities. The second mission aborts due to weather. P-38s and B-24s also fly offshore patrol between Vega Point and Little Kiska.

CBI (Tenth Air Force) China Air Task Force aircraft bomb Lashio, Burma.

NEW GUINEA: Continuing the assault on the Sanananda front in Papua New Guinea, the Australians reduce several Japanese positions just beyond the track junction in a frontal drive; flanking elements reach positions near the roadblock. A Japanese attack on the block is repulsed.
Australian cavalrymen destroy a Japanese force 300 yards north of the block and establish a new perimeter, which they call "Kano". The Urbana Force, after air and mortar preparation, attacks the Triangle, Companies E and G of the U.S. 126th Infantry Regiment driving south on it while Company F blocks from below. The attack is soon halted by cross fire, which causes heavy casualties. The battalion commander is lost in this action.
Troops on the Warren front regroup. The rest of Australian 2/10th Battalion, 18th Brigade, 7th Division, arrives at the front after dark. U.S. troops are to operate the Oro Bay port and the engineers charged with the construction of a road from Oro Bay to Dobodura airfields land at Oro Bay during the night of 19/20 December.
Additional cargo is also brought ashore. In Papua New Guinea, USAAF A-20s and B-25s hit the Buna Mission area. B-17s and B-24s attack warships, transports and cargo vessels off Madang in Astrolabe Bay and north northwest of Finschhafen off the coast of Huon Peninsula damaging a destroyer. Meanwhile, B-25s bomb Lae Airfield.

GUADALCANAL:USAAF aircraft, especially P-39s, and USMC SBDs, provide support and continue to do so as the offensive progresses from coastal supply points, hitting reinforcements moving through the jungle, and destroying ammunition dumps.
the 3rd Battalion, backed up by 1st Battalion of the 132nd Infantry Regiment, Americal Division, has spent two days moving into contact with Japanese forces in the area that will become known as "The Gifu" on Mt. Austen. After an artillery and aerial bombardment, Colonel William Wright, battalion commanding officer, moves forward with his unit. He is wounded by machine gun fire. While attempting to hit the Japanese position with grenades, he is mortally wounded.
The action is stalemated for the rest of the day, until the battalion executive officer can move forward. The next few days will show small gains as the U.S. forces aggressively patrol in their attempts to locate the Japanese forces. The Japanese will continue to send forward infiltration parties, making the front lines of the U.S. forces jittery and harassing the rear supply forces.

NEW GEORGIA: B-17s, escorted by P-38 Lightnings, hit the airfield at Munda on New Georgia Island. They are attacked by 20 Zeke fighters; the Americans claim three Zekes with no American losses.

1943
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): 29 B-24's from Nanumea and Baker bomb barracks, hangars, and wharf areas on Mille Atoll and Maloelap Atoll; they claim 7 fighters shot down. P-39's from Makin strafe Mille Atoll destroying 3 airplanes and firing an oil dump; 2 P-39's are lost.

THAILAND: Twenty USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24 Liberators fly a night strike against a newly expanded dock area at Bangkok causing considerable destruction.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, about 35 Japanese bombers and fighters attack Hengyang Airfield; 26 P-40's are sent up against the attacking force and shoot down 9; 2 P-40's are lost. 12 B-25's and 8 P-40's attack Nanhsien and Ansiang. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek rejects the proposal by British Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command, for a major attack.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): On Bougainville, 24 B-25's bomb the Moisuru bivouac and supply dump; other planes on armed reconnaissance hit targets of opportunity at Buka, Bonis, Ratsua, Poporang, Kara, Kahili, Koiaris, and on Nissan. 16 B-24's, escorted by 50 AAF and RNZAF fighters, bomb the town of Rabaul and Simpson Harbor.

US Navy: Lost flying an escort mission over Rabaul are: F4U 17845 and F4U 17806. Written off on landing is F4U 17736.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): On New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago, Cape Gloucester is bombed by more than 140 B-24's, B-25's, and B-26's as pre-invasion operations increase; 37 P-40's hit Gasmata; and 20 A-20's pound forces NE of Arawe. In New Guinea, about 30 B-25's, A-20's, and P-39's hit barges, bivouac areas, and gun positions N and W of Finschhafen; 30 B-25's and B-26's pound Madang; and P-47's sweep the coastline of NE New Guinea. HQ 375th Troop Carrier Group transfers from Dobodura to Port Moresby, New Guinea. The 2d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 22d BG (Medium), transfers from Dobodura to Nadzab, New Guinea with B-25's. Crashed is C-47 "Hoosier Traveler" 43-30742.

1944
UNITED STATES: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander of the Pacific Fleet and Commander of the Pacific Ocean Area, is promoted to the (five-star) rank of Fleet Admiral.
A 3 by 4 feet piece from a paper Japanese Fu-Go balloon is found at Manderson, Wyoming. The date of the landing cannot be determined. Manderson is located about 105 miles south of Billings, Montana.

ZONE OF INTERIOR (HQ AAF): 4 fighters of the Fourth AF, directed by the Los Angeles Control Group to search for a Japanese balloon reported over Santa Monica, are unable to locate the target.
BURMA: In the British Fourteenth Army's IV Corps area, the Indian 19th Division takes Wunthe. In the XXXIII Corps area, the British 2nd Division, having moved forward from Kohima, crosses the Chindwin River at Kalewa and is relieving the East African 11th Division.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 16 B-25s, escorted by 24 P-40s, attack Pengpu; 4 P-51s claim 2 freighters sunk off Hong Kong; and 2 P-40s destroy 3 locomotives and a truck at Sinyang. In Burma, 4 P-38s bomb the Wanling-Mongyu road causing a traffic block.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 22: 36 B-29s, from the Chengtu, China area, are dispatched to hit an aircraft plant at Omura, Japan; 17 hit the primary target and 13 others hit secondary target of Shanghai, China, and another 2 strike other alternates; they claim 5-4-12 Japanese aircraft; 2 B-29s are lost.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 12 B-25s hit road junctions at Mongmit and S of Kyaukme, the Kyaukme railroad station, and Hsenwi bridge; 7 P-47s severely damage the Tonbo road bridge, and 11 others hit targets of opportunity during a Onmaka-Hsoplong rail sweep; 42 P-47s pound supply and personnel areas and troops at Myadaung, Tantabin, and Twinnge, the village of Nyaugbintha, and a truck park near Humon. 300+ transport sorties are flown to forward areas; the 164th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, moves from Asansol, India to Inbaung with UC-64s and L-5s (first mission is today) replacing the 166th Liaison Squadron (Commando) which moves from Inbaung to Asansol.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): HQ Seventh AF is officially opened at Tanapag. 27 B-24s from Saipan and 25 from Guam strike Iwo Jima. 3 B-24s on armed reconnaissance from Guam bomb Marcus. 14 P-38s from Saipan, with 3 B-29s as navigational escort, strafe airfields on Iwo Jima. 4 B-25s from Guam and Saipan carry out 3 snooper strikes against Iwo Jima during the night of 19/20 Dec.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): HQ 505th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) arrives at North Field from the US.

NEW GUINEA: Australian Lieutenant General Frank Berryman, Chief of Staff Advanced Headquarter Allied Land Forces South West Pacific, is convinced that U.S. Lieutenant General Richard Sutherland, Chief of Staff South West Pacific Area, is trying to hinder Australian liaison with General Headquarters, and sends a message to U.S. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Commander in Chief South West Pacific Area, stating: "General (Thomas) Blamey (Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces South West Pacific and Commander in Chief Australian Military Force) desires direct liaison and would appreciate attachment of Lieutenant General Berryman and small personal staff to Advanced General Headquarters (at Hollandia) as early as convenient to you."

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies (NEI), USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25s, A-20s, and P-38s attack the Kairatoe area on Celebes Island. Other FEAF aircraft on armed reconnaissance, sweeps, and small strikes hit targets of opportunity at many locations throughout the NEI.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: While the fighting on Leyte and Mindoro continues, the Japanese high command decides that no more reinforcements or supplies will be sent to the 35th Army.
In the U.S. Army's X Corps area on Leyte Island, the 127th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division continues to battle the Japanese south of Limon. The 12th Cavalry Regiment (Infantry), 1st Cavalry Division, attacks toward Lonoy, on Highway 2, and seizes this barrio. In the XXIV Corps area, the 307th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division attacks north astride Highway 2 toward Libongao, gaining nearly 3 miles (4,8 kilometers); the 306th Infantry Regiment to the west pushes toward the Palompon road, which patrols reach. On Mindoro Island, the Western Visayan Task Force, helped by Mindoro guerrillas, begins a series of patrol actions along the south, west and northwest shores of Mindoro and a reconnaissance of small islands offshore.
USAAF Far East Air Forces fighter-supported B-25s bomb Fabrica Airfield on Negros Island. Fighters on a sweep over Ponay, and Leyte Islands hit Fabrica, Bacolod, Silay, Dumaguete and Alicante Airfields, and the town of Palompon on Leyte Island. On Luzon, B-24s bomb Legaspi Airfield while P-38s hit Batangas Airfield.
The planned bombardment of Luzon by the large carriers of U.S. Third Fleet is canceled because of weather conditions.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the East China Sea, the Japanese aircraft carrier HIJMS Unryu is torpedoed and sunk by the USN submarine USS Redfish about 204 nautical miles NW of Naha, Okinawa, in position 28.19N, 124.40E. This was the first war voyage for HIJMS Unryu. The ship is carrying a special cargo of 30 Yokosuka MXY7 Navy Suicide Attacker Ohka (Cherry Blossom) Model 11 rocket propelled suicide aircraft before being sent on her way to confront the U.S. invasion forces in the Philippine Islands. The first torpedo strikes Unryu on the starboard side under the bridge; the second torpedo struck 15 minutes later under the forward elevator setting off the deadly Ohka bombs and aviation gas stored in the lower hanger deck. The detonations literally blows the bow area apart. After the boiler rooms flood, the ship lists to over 30 degrees and the order to abandon ship is given. Minutes later, with a 90 degree list, the carrier plunges headfirst into the water. There are only 147 survivors of the 1,241 crew plus an unknown number of passengers. Redfish is damaged in the resultant depth charging, and is forced to terminate her patrol.

1945

 

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1941


1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: , four B-26s, five B-24s, five B-25s and nine P-38s make a coordinated bombing, strafing, and incendiary attack on Kiska Harbor installations and vicinity, especially on the submarine base and near the marine railway and gun emplacements. A direct hit is scored on a probable ammunition dump. P-38s also strafe a previously damaged cargo ship off Trout Lagoon. One B-24 and two P-38s fly photographic and reconnaissance patrol over Attu, Agattu, Semichis and Amchitka Islands.

CBI (Tenth Air Force) In Burma, China Air Task Force bombers hit Lashio. In India, Japanese aircraft bomb Calcutta and vicinity, hitting docks, shipping and airfields in the area.

NEW GUINEA: A-20s and B-25s pound Giropa Point and the area around Buna Mission near which are located strong bunker positions. After preparatory bombardment Australian forces again assault the positions, attacking twice under cover of smoke, but are beaten back. A decision is made to bypass The Triangle.

GUADALCANAL: The 44th Fighter Squadron, 318th FG with P-40s based at Efate begins operating from Guadalcanal. The squadron will fly its first combat mission tomorrow, 21 Dec. Force landed on a training flight due to bad weather are P-40F "Bone Crusher" 41-14112 and P-40F 41-14205, all the pilots survived.

1943
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): Twenty nine B-24s from the Ellice Islands and Baker Island bomb barracks, hangars, and wharf areas on Mili and Maloelap Atolls; they claim seven fighters shot down. P-39s from Makin Island in the Gilbert Islands strafe Mili Atoll, destroying three airplanes and firing an oil dump; two P-39s are lost.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 11 B-25's and 6 P-40's from Kweilin pound the Yoyang railroad yards; P-40's from Hengyang also provide support for the B-25's.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): In the Solomon, 13 B-25's, with fighter cover, bomb Korovo village and docks on Shortland. 8 others, with fighter escort, hit Buka on Buka. Afterwards the fighters strafe Kieta and Tenekow. Other fighters and RNZAF Ventura's on armed reconnaissance, patrol, and night snooper missions attack numerous targets of opportunity throughout Bougainville.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN submarine USS Grayback sinks Japanese destroyer HIJMS Numakaze about 45 nautical miles ENE of Naha, Okinawa, in position 26.30N, 128.26E

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): On New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago, A-20's hit the Arawe area and P-38's in the area claim 10 enemy along S coast; B-24's on armed reconnaissance bomb a merchant ship off Cape Pomas. In New Guinea, B-26's and B-25's hit bivouacs in the Finschhafen area and bomb the town of Alexishafen.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): A B-24 flies armed reconnaissance over the Kurile Islands; another B-24 strikes Onnekotan Island installations, while 2 more flying armed photo mission over Kashiwabara, Paramushiru Island, and Katoaka, Shimushu Island also strafe buildings on Onnekotan Island and bomb Nemo Bay. 4 B-25s abort a fighter-decoy mission due to weather.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 118 P-51s and P-40s on armed reconnaissance over S China and E Burma attack road, rail, and river traffic and other targets of opportunity, mainly in or near Wanling, Mongyu, Monhkong, and Lashio, Burma; and Hochih, Chinchengchiang, Hong Kong, Sinyang, Lohochai, Leiyang, Kweilin, Sintsiang, Siangtan, Paoching, Liuchenghsien, Hengshan, and Hengyang, China. HQ 1st Combat Cargo Group moves from Tulihal, India to Tsuyung, China.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 9 B-25s destroy 3 road bridges at Mongmit, bypass bridges at Tangon and Tantabin, and 3 bridges in N Burma; 3 other B-25s blast the ferry area at Thabeikkyin; 12 P-47s knock out the Hay-ti road bridge and damage the Pa-mao bridge; 12 other fighter-bombers sweep the Irrawaddy River from Sheinmaga to Twinnge, strafing several targets of opportunity; 13 P-47s support ground forces in the Namhkam sector; troops, supply areas, and buildings are pounded at Hseing-kai, Tigyaing, Na-kawnkongnyaung, and Man Hkunhawng. Transport operations to front areas total 284 sorties. The 492d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 7th BG (Heavy), based at Madhaiganij, India with B-24s, sends a detachment to Luliang, China to ferry gasoline to Suichwan, China.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 23 B-24s, based on Saipan, pound Iwo Jima. During the night of 20/21 Dec, 6 B-24s from Guam and Saipan hit Iwo Jima with 5 snooper strikes.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: 150+ B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers pound 10 airfields throughout the C Philippine Islands and 3 on Mindanao Island. In the Netherland East Indies B-24s hit Malang Airfield and B-25s hit Haroekoe Island. Numerous other single FEAF flights and small forces attack a large variety of targets of opportunity throughout the Netherland East Indies and the Philippine Islands. HQ 8th FG and the 35th, 36th and 80th Fighter Squadrons move from Morotai to San Jose, Mindoro Island, Philippine Islands with P-38s.

1945

 

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1879
RUSSIA: Ioseb Jughashvili is born in Gori, Georgia. He will later adopt the name Joseph Stalin.

1931
MANCHURIA: The Japanese government announces "Large scale anti-bandit operations" have begun by the Japanese in Manchuria. The ultimatum is announced to force the Chinese from Chinchow.

1937
UNITED KINGDOM: In the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden says that the League of Nations could not impose sanctions in the Sino-Japanese dispute because ". . . nobody could contemplate any action of that kind in the Far East unless they are convinced that they have overwhelming force to back their policy. . . . It must be perfectly clear to every one that overwhelming force does not exist. Every nation at Geneva from the beginning of this dispute knows perfectly well that the very thought of action of any kind in the Far East must depend on the cooperation of other nations besides those who are actually Members of the League at this time. . . ." British policy must be ". . . to be patient yet to be firm, to be conciliatory without being defeatist, and, above all, to continue to rearm . . . because, paradoxical as it may sound, only in that way shall we get an arms agreement." Britain had no intention of trying to reach a settlement with Germany in the colonial
field on the basis of a deal with other powers. "I have seen it suggested in certain quarters. . . . Such a policy could never be accepted for one instant by this House. . . ."

1941
MALAYA: The Indian 11th Division takes command of all troops west of the Perak River, including those on Grik road, who are still heavily engaged, and begins a withdrawal behind Perak the River.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the South China Sea, the Dutch submarine HNMS K XVII strikes a Japanese mine and sinks about 115 nautical miles N of Singapore, Malaya, in position 03.10N, 104.12E. All 36 crewmen are lost.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Three Japanese convoys from Formosa and the Pescadores, bearing the main body of the Japanese 14th Army assault force, arrive in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, during the night of 21/22 December. Meanwhile, the Filipino 11th Division makes contact with the Japanese Vigan force at Bacnotan.

THAILAND: The Japanese and Thai governments sign a ten-year Treaty of Alliance at Bangkok. The Thais acknowledge their debt to the Japanese in light of the Treaty of Tokyo and the transfer of territory from French Indo-China to Thailand.

WAKE ISLAND: The PBY-5 Catalina that arrives yesterday takes off at 0700 hours; aboard is Major Walter Bayler of Marine Aircraft Group Twenty One, "the last man off Wake." Japanese concern over the potential presence of patrol planes at Wake, occasioned by the large amount of radio traffic that accompanies the sole PBYs arrival at the island, prompts advancing the date of the first carrier strikes. At 0850 hours, 29 Japanese carrier aircraft escorted by 18 "Zeke" fighters from aircraft carriers HIJMS Soryu and Hiryu, attack ground targets. At 1200 hours, 33 "Nell" bombers from Roi Airdrome in Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, bomb the island.
The Wake Island relief force, Task Force Fourteen, is within 600 nautical miles of the island. The task force is composted of the aircraft carriers USS Lexington and Saratoga, the heavy cruisers USS Astoria, Minneapolis and San Francisco, ten destroyers, the seaplane tender USS Tangier and the oiler USS Neches. The convoy is carrying the 4th Marine Coastal Defense Battalion, Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Twenty One equipped with F2A-1 Buffalo fighters, along with 9,000 five-inch rounds, 12,000 three-inch rounds, and 3 million 50 caliber rounds as well as a large amount of ammunition for mortars and other battalion small arms.

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A B-24 flies an uneventful reconnaissance over Amchitka, Attu, Kiska and Semichis Islands while a B-24 and two P-38s abort a photographic mission due to weather.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff direct that Amchitka Island in the Aleutian Islands is to be occupied as near 5 January 1943 as possible.
A detachment of the 56th Fighter Squadron, 54th FG, which has been operating P-39s in Alaska since 20 Jun 42, returns to its base at Harding Field, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force) The air echelon of the 371st Bombardment Squadron, 307th BG (Heavy) based at Wheeler Field, Territory of Hawaii with B-24s, flies to Midway Island.

BURMA: The British forces advancing towards Akyab, capture Alethankgyaw.

CANADA: In Ottawa, Ontario, the Wartime Prices and Trade Board mandates butter rationing.

NEW GUINEA: From Napapo, Papua New Guinea, Japanese Major General Oda Kensuku, commander of the 5th South Seas Detachment, and his staff arrive at Giruwa. In the Australian 7th Division area on the Sanananda front, the Australians continue to batter Japanese positions in front of the track junction. The 49th Battalion, 30th Brigade, succeeds in entering the roadblock and protects the supply line to it while the 2/7th Cavalry Regiment pushes north from the Kano position toward Sanananda.
In the Australian 18th Brigade Buna area, the Japanese continue to withdraw toward Giropa Point and to defend their positions around the two airfields as the 2/9th and 2/10th Battalions advance.
The Urbana Force feinting toward the Triangle, draw Japanese from bunkers and kill many with artillery fire. In preparation for the drive through Government Gardens to the sea, Company K of the U.S. 127th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, crosses Entrance Creek in rubber boats under fire during the night of 21/22 December, to establish a bridgehead above the Triangle.
On the left flank, the Schwarz Patrol (Company F, U.S. 126th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division) meets firm resistance at Tarakena, about 1 mile west of Siwori, and retires eastward; 30 more men of the 2d Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Regiment, reinforce the patrol. The Warren Force finishes clearing the region east of Simemi Creek and begins to cross after the patrol discovers suitable site some 1,300 yards below its mouth. The crossing is undetected by the Japanese.
In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17s attack vessels in Finschhafen harbor while B-24s carry out single-bomber strikes on a cargo ship north of Finschhafen and barges at the mouth of the Mambare River and off Cape Ward Hunt.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Ordered to cut the Maruyama Trail on Guadalcanal, Company C of the 132d Infantry Regiment, Americal Division, pushes 1,000 yards south without making contact with the Japanese or finding the trail.
B-17s attack two cargo ships near Kahili, Bougainville Island; a direct hit is scored on one ship.

1943
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): 8 B-24's from Nanumea escort 4 USN PB4Y's on a photo mission over Kwajalein Atoll. B-24's bomb shipping and aircraft landing grounds and other facilities at Roi, Ennuebing, and Kwajalein. A-24s, along with USN and US Marine Corps (USMC) aircraft, hit shipping and airfields at Emidj in the Marshall. 16 P-39's strafe fuel dumps, shipping, and AA at Mille Atoll.

BURMA: U.S. Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, Commander in Chief US China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater of Operations, Chief of Staff to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, Commander in Chief Northern Area Combat Command (NCAC) and Deputy Commander in Chief South-East Asia Command (SEAC), arrives at Ledo to take personal charge of the northern Burma campaign.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 29 B-24's pound the railroad yards at Chiengmai; the warehouse area along the W side of the yards suffers very heavy damage; 14 B-25's, with fighter escort, attack Hwajung.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): On Bougainville in the Solomon , 6 B-25's attack Monoitu Mission; during the night of 21/22 Dec, snoopers bomb various bivouac areas.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The relief of the 3d Marine Division in the beachhead line on Bougainville Island begins.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): Pre-invasion air strikes continue against Cape Gloucester as 100+ B-24's, B-25's, and A-20's pound the area; P-39's strafe targets along Borgen and Rein Bays; P-40's and A-20's hit Hoskins Airfield; and P-47's claim 17 fighters shot down in the Arawe area. In New Guinea, A-20's hit camps N of Finschhafen; B-25's bomb and cannon Madang; and P-40's hit Kaukenau. B-24's bomb Amahai Airfield. The 110th Reconnaissance Squadron (Fighter), 71st Reconnaissance Group, transfers from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia to Port Moresby, New Guinea with P-39Q's. They will fly their first mission on 21 Jan 44.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Amahai Airfield on Ceram Island, Netherlands East Indies.

NEW GUINEA: On the Huon Peninsula in Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 20th Brigade, 9th Division, crosses the Malaweng River. At 1600 hours, the leading company of the 2/15th Battalion enters Hubika which is littered with dead Japanese soldiers. One wounded soldier says, "Japan soldier he go Wandokai" and shortly thereafter, Australian (A-20) Bostons bomb and strafe Wandokai.
Task Force BACKHANDER, the task force for operations on Cape Gloucester, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, under the command of Major General William H. Rupertus, USMC, conducts a final rehearsal for invasion of Cape Gloucester at Cape Sudest, Papua New Guinea.

1944
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 145 P-40s and P-51s fly armed reconnaissance over wide expanses of S China, E Burma and N French Indochina; the fighters attack chiefly troops and river, road, and rail traffic and a variety of targets of opportunity at numerous locations; 9 B-25s bomb Kunlong and Minkiang, China. The 4th Combat Cargo Squadron, 1st Combat Cargo Group, moves from Tulihal, India to Chengkung, China with C-47s.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 23: 49 B-29s from Chengtu, China are dispatched to attack Mukden; 19 hit the primary objective (the Manchuria Airplane Manufacturing Company) but it suffers little damage and a nearby arsenal and rail yards are slightly damaged; 8 other B-29s bomb alternate targets and targets of opportunity; they claim 21-6-19 Japanese aircraft; 2 B-29s are lost.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC), the Chinese 114th Regiment, 38th Division, with orders to cut the Burma Road in the Ho-si area, is now near the U.S. 5332d Brigade (Provisonal) . The 5332d Brigade is composed of the Chinese 1st Separate Regiment and the U.S. 124th Cavalry Regiment (Special), 475th Infantry Regiment (Long Range Penetration, Special) and the 612th and 613th Field Artillery Battalions (75mm Pack Howitzer).
In the Allied Land Forces South East Asia (ALFSEA) area, the Indian XV Corps is making such rapid progress on the Arakan front that Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Theatre, holds a commanders conference at Calcutta, India, to discuss exploitation and presents alternative plans for assault on Akyab. By this time, river craft have been launched in the Kalapanzin River to assist the Indian 24th Division.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 12 B-25s bomb a supply and personnel area at Magyidon; 13 P-47s damage bridges at Hay-ti, Mong Long, and Pa-mao; rail targets of opportunity from Hsumhsai to Hsipaw are attacked by 12 P-47s; 20+ fighter-bombers hit troop concentrations at several points including Man Ka-lao and the general area E of the Shweli River; 12 P-47s bomb and strafe the Lashio area. 290+ transport sorties are flown to forward bases and frontline areas. The detachment of the 9th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, operating from Chittagong with F-5s, returns to base at Myitkyina.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 23 Guam based B-24s hit Iwo Jima. During the night of 21/22 Dec, 4 B-24s from the Mariana fly 3 harassment strikes against Iwo Jima.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: The 311th Fighter Squadron, 58th FG, moves from San Roque, Leyte Island to San Jose, Mindoro Island with P-47s.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25s attack Goeroea, Anggai, and Lolobata on Halmahera Island.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: On Leyte Island, the U.S. Sixth Army effects a junction between the X and XXIV Corps just south of Kananga at 1645 hours, opening Highway 2 from Ormoc to Pinamopoan and gaining complete control of the Ormoc Valley. In the X Corps area, the 12th Cavalry Regiment (Infantry) attacks and takes Kananga and makes patrol contact with the 77th Infantry Division to the south. In the XXIV Corps area, the 3d Battalion, 306th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division, continues east along the Palompon road to its junction with Highway 2, then north along the highway toward Kananga, making contact with Troop A of the 12th Cavalry Regiment (Infantry) at 1645 hours. The 307th Infantry Regiment reaches the road junction north of Libongao without trouble and assists the 306th Infantry Regiment. On the division’s western flank, the 1st Battalion, 306th Infantry Regiment, after a concentrated artillery preparation, takes the ridge commanding the Togbong River bridge site a
nd outposts it but is driven off. In preparation for the next task of the 77th Infantry Division, a drive west and seizure of Palompon, artillery is emplaced near San Jose within range of Palompon.
On Mindoro Island, the Japanese, having received reinforcements by air for the defense of the island, attack a resupply convoy moving toward that island, destroying two tank landing ships (LSTs) and damaging other shipping. From the Pasugi-Pianag area, a patrol of guerrillas and the 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment sail north to Sabalayan; from there move on foot to Mamburao to reconnoiter toward Palauan and Abra de Ilog.
USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24s, B-25s, and fighter-bombers attack ten airfields mostly on Negros Island and elsewhere in the central Philippine Islands. Leyte Island-based fighter-bombers fly over 100 attack sorties. Likanan Airfield on Mindanao Island is also hit by B-24s.

UNITED STATES: General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General U.S. Army Air Forces, is promoted to the (five star) rank of General of the Army.

1945

 

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1938
JAPAN: The Government states that the extermination of the Kuomintang regime in China and a new order in East Asia are basic policy for adjusting relations between China and Japan stating, ". . . in order that their intentions may be thoroughly understood at home and abroad."

1939
INDIA: Indian Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, recognises the Muslim League. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, President of the Muslim League, celebrates by declaring today a "day of deliverance and thanksgiving" to be observed by all Muslims in gratitude for their release from the "tyranny, oppression and injustice" of Congress Raj in the provinces.

1941
AUSTRALIA: The USN's "Pensacola" Convoy, consisting of the heavy cruiser USS Pensacola, the gunboat USS Niagara (PG-52), the transports USS Chaumont (AP-5) and Republic (AP-33), the Army transports USAT Meigs and Willard A. Holbrook, the U.S. freighters SS Admiral Halstead and Coast Farmer and the Dutch freighter MV Bloemfontein, arrive in Brisbane, Queensland. Brigadier General Julian F. Barnes' Task Force South Pacific is redesignated U.S. Forces in Australia (USFIA). This is the first U.S. troop detachment to arrive in Australia.

CHINA: At a meeting of Allied leaders in Chungking, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek offers the Chinese 5th and 6th Armies for the defense of Burma. British General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief, India accepts the Ch 6th Army's 93d Division, elements of which are approaching the border of Burma from China. A regiment of the 49th Division is to be held in reserve on the northern Burma frontier.

HONG KONG: The Japanese capture Sugar Loaf Hill at 1200 hours, but Canadians from C Company of the Royal Rifles recapture the hill; later taken out to Stanley Fort down the peninsula, for a rest; will hold out until their ammunition, food and water are exhausted.

JAPAN: The Japanese Navy postpones the shelling of U.S. cities on the west coast by nine submarine until 27 December. The original date was 25 December.

MALAYA: As the Indian 11th Division continues their withdrawal across the Perak River, the RAF begins a regular reconnaissance of the west coast to prevent Japanese landings. The Indian 9th Division completes their planned withdrawal in eastern Malaya to positions from which to defend Kuantan airdrome and protect the Indian 11th Division from an attack from the east.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 surfaces and shells an unarmed 10,763-ton U.S. tanker off the coast of California about 15 nautical miles WNW of Lompoc, California. The submarine breaks off the attack when a USN aircraft arrives and drops a depth charge allowing the tanker to escape.
USN. submarine USS S-38, sailing from Manila, Philippine Islands, sinks a 5,445 ton Japanese transport in Lingayan Gulf. This is S-38's first war patrol and during the patrol she will fire torpedoes at five ships.
USN Task Force Fourteen (TF 14), the relief force for Wake Island, slows down to refuel. At Pearl Harbor, Vice Admiral William S. Pye, the temporary commander of the Pacific Fleet pending the arrival of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, cannot make up his mind to risk what is left of the fleet. During the evening, a compromise is reached between Pye and Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, commander of TF 14. Tomorrow, the F2A Buffalos of Marine VMF-221 in aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, would be flown off at maximum range. The seaplane tender USS Tangier is carrying 300 marines of the 4th Defense Battalion, including two batteries and detachment of to other batteries, plus ground elements of VMF-221, a radar set, and 21,000 rounds of 3-inch and 5-inch ammunition and 3 million rounds of machine gun ammunition, would make a speed run to Wake while the remainder of Task Force 14 retired with Task Force 11 built around the aircraft carrier USS Lexington.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The Japanese begin their main landings along the coast of Lingayen Gulf on Luzon before dawn. One assault force goes ashore near Bauang, another at Aringay, and a third near Agoo. They move forward at once without serious opposition from 11th and 21st Divisions (Philippine Army). The 71st Infantry Regiment, 71st Division (Philippine Army), and 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) move out to help halt the Japanese. The Bauang assault force seizes that town, effects a junction with the Japanese Vigan force at San Fernando, La Union, and pushes inland toward Baguio, while the other forces overrun Rosario and face south toward Manila. U.S. submarines and a few aircraft attack enemy armada in Lingayen Gulf.
Nine Far East Air Forces B-17s from Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, attack shipping in Davao Bay, Mindanao Island and land at Del Monte Field on Mindanao Island. This is the first action in the Philippines by Australian-based planes.

UNITED STATES: The Anglo-American conference (ARCADIA) opens in Washington, D.C. to deal with war strategy. U.S. President Franklin D Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston S Churchill, Harry Hopkins, Lord Beaverbrook, and American and British Chief of Staffs participate. They confirm the policy from Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, in August1 1941 of attacking Germany first. They also establish the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) for the entire Allied military effort. A general strategic program is approved of a U.S. buildup in the United Kingdom and continuing the bombing offensive. The concept of further losses in the Pacific is accepted with the understanding that a stiff defense will hold these to a minimum. Roosevelt also agrees to a radical increase in the U.S. arms production program: the 12,750 operational aircraft to be ready for service by the end of 1943 became 45,000; the proposed 15,450 tanks also became 45,000; and the number of machine guns to be manufactured almost doubled, to 500,000. This conference will last through the 7 January 1942.
Richard G. Casey, Australian Minister to the U.S., reports to his government that President Roosevelt might press to have an American accepted as the commander-in-chief of a Pacific and Far East theater and that Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur, commanding the US Army Forces Far East in the Philippines, might be nominated. Casey suggests that it might be advantageous for the Australian government to suggest an American as commander-in-chief.

WAKE ISLAND: Japanese bombers and attack planes, covered by fighters, from the aircraft carriers HIJMS Hiryu and Soryu, bomb Wake Island for the second time; the last two flyable USMC F4F Wildcats intercept the raid. One F4F is shot down, the other is badly damaged. During the night of 22/23 December, Task Force 14, the relief force for Wake, is order to withdraw to Pearl Harbor. Task Force 11, built around the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, is also ordered to return to Pearl Harbor.

1942
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Islands, a single USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 sinks a Japanese merchant cargo ship off Gasmata on the south coast and B-17s hit a ship in the harbor at Arawe.

BURMA: Major General Wilfrid Lloyd, General Officer Commanding Indian 14th Division, orders the 47th Brigade, to advance down both sides of the Mayu Peninsula while the 123rd Brigade is to send the bulk of it's force towards Rathedaung. A small detachment is to move farther inland in the direction of Kyauktaw. These dispositions are less than ideal because of the dispersions they bring about.
B-25s of the USAAF Tenth Air Force's China Air Task Force bomb Lashio.

FRANCE: The Vichy French government appoints Admiral Henri DeCoux as Governor General of Indochina and High Commissioner for French territories in the Pacific. The Marshal Petain regime hopes that once Japan occupies the islands it will be allowed to exercise sovereignty over them. DeCoux makes a number of broadcasts over Saigon Radio urging New Caledonians to revolt against Free France.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, Japanese Major General ODA Kensuku, commander of the 5th South Seas Detachment, takes responsibility for the Japanese beachhead from Colonel Yokoyama and personally directs operations on the Sanananda front.
In the Australian 7th Division area, reinforcements (21st Brigade Headquarters and the 39th Battalion of the 30th Brigade) reach Soputa from Gona; and relieve the U.S. 126th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, forces of the roadblock on the Soputa-Sanananda trail. The Australian 21st Brigade takes command of the 49th Battalion, 2/7th Cavalry Regiment, and U.S. forces from the roadblock.
The 30th Brigade, which is responsible for clearing the pockets at the track junction, retains command of the 36th and 55/53d Battalions and the rest of U.S. forces on this front. Firm opposition by seasoned Japanese troops limits efforts to advance north along the track and to clear the track junction.
On the Urbana Force front, Company I, 127th Infantry Regiment follows Company K across Entrance Creek, strengthening the bridgehead. Other elements of the 127th Infantry Regiment begin to clear Musita Island after engineers repair a bridge to it.
On the Warren front, the Australian 2/10th Battalion (less Company C), 18th Brigade, continues to cross Simemi Creek near Old Strip, while the 2/9th Battalion plus Company C of the 2/10th Battalion mops up east of the creek.
Fifth Air Force B-25s bomb Maimba mission and the village near Buna where Japanese ground forces continue to resist stubbornly.

PACIFIC OCEAN: On board submarine USS Silversides (SS-236), submerged in the shipping channel off Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, Pharmacist's Mate First Class Thomas A. Moore performs a successful appendectomy on Fireman Second Class George M. Platter. This is the third of three such procedures that will be performed on board U.S. submarines during the war.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Army Forces in South Pacific Area) The 26th Bombardment Squadron, 11th BG (heavy) with B-17s transfers from Efate Island, New Hebrides Islands to Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides Islands. The 67th Fighter Squadron, 347th Fighter Group, which has been operating from Henderson Field Guadalcanal Island with P-39s since 22 Aug, returns to its base on New Caledonia Island.

WAKE ISLAND: During the night of 22/23 December, 26 Seventh Air Force B-24s (Detachments of the 370th, 372d and 424th Bombardment Squadrons, 307th BG) stage through Midway Island from Hickam Field, Territory of Hawaii, and bomb Wake Island from 2,500 to 8,000 feet dropping one hundred thirty five 500 pound bombs. The total length of the mission, from the Territory of Hawaii and return, is over 4,300 nautical miles. No aircraft are lost

1943
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force):Eleven A-24 Dauntlesses from the Gilbert Islands dive-bomb cargo ships in Mili Atoll lagoon and sink a transport; escort is provided by 32 P-39 Airacobras and USN F6F Hellcats. The P-39s strafe the ships and antiaircraft guns and gasoline dumps on the island and the vessel is left burning.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 7 B-25's, with fighter escort, bomb Hwajung; 2 others claim 3 direct hits on a freighter 105 miles S of Hong Kong. 65 Japanese bombers and fighters attack Kunming Airfield; 10 P-40's and a P-38 from Kunming and several fighters from Yunnani engage the enemy force in a 50-minute running battle, claiming 12 airplanes shot down; 2 US aircraft are destroyed on the ground; damage to airfield is not serious. 7 P-40's intercept a force of 58 airplanes heading toward Chengkung, shooting down 3 of them and preventing an attack on the airfield.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25s carry out strikes against Numa Numa, the Kahili supply area, the Chinatown area on Buka Island, and scattered targets of opportunity; fighter aircraft. B-24s attack barge concentrations and hide-outs at Sohano Island, the Chabai-Porton area, Anewa Bay, and Ambitle Island, and several targets of opportunity throughout Bougainville while B-24s, operating individually and in pairs, attack targets of opportunity near Bonis, near Porton, and at Sohano Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): 30+ B-24's, B-25's, and A-20's continue bombardment of Cape Gloucester; a Japanese air raid on Arawe causes minor damage. Nearly 40 B-25's, with P-38 escort, bomb Wewak and Boram; the P-38's, B-25's, and some P-47's on sweep claim at least 13 aircraft shot down. Lost are K-61 piloted by Motoyama, Ki-61 piloted by Tahata and Ki-61 piloted by Akira Takatsuki. B-25's and P-39's bomb airfield and barges at Madang and the town of Alexishafen; and A-20's and B-26's pound occupied area N of Finschhafen. The 36th Fighter Squadron, 8th FG, transfers from Port Moresby to Nadzab, New Guinea with P-47's. The 408th Bombardment Squadron, 22d BG (Heavy), transfers from Dobodura to Nadzab, New Guinea with B-25's.

1944
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 4 B-25s damage a bridge at Song Hoa, French Indochina and 2 B-25s bomb Yungning, China. 80+ P-51s and P-40s on armed reconnaissance over wide reaches of S China, E Burma, and N French Indochina hit numerous targets of opportunity. Airfields at Heho, Burma and Tien Ho in Canton, China are strafed and several aircraft are destroyed in battles over Canton and Kai Tek Airfield in Hong Kong. Rail facilities, riverand road traffic, and other targets of opportunity are hit at several locations including Wanling, Burma; Gia Lam, French Indochina; and Chinchengehiang and the Pingsiang-Yungning, China area.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command area, the 29th Brigade, British 36th Division, moving down the Irrawaddy River, gets patrols to Tigyaing, from which the Japanese have withdrawn. From Tigyaing the brigade is to cross the river for a drive on Mongmit while the rest of the division closes in on Mongmit from the north.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 12 B-25s bomb a supply area at Magyidon; 8 P-47s knock out the Namhkai bypass bridge and damage 2 bridges at Kinu and 16 hit targets of opportunity along the Irrawaddy River from Tagaung to Thabeikkyin and along the road E and N to Mongmit; 12 P-47s bomb and strafe a personnel area at Onbauk and bridge at Na-lang. 300+ transport sorties are flown to forward areas.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): During the night of 22/23 Dec, 2 Guam and Saipan based B-24s make harassing strikes on Iwo Jima.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 14: 78 B-29s from the Mariana Islands are dispatched to hit the Mitsubishi aircraft industrial complex in Nagoya, Japan; 48 hit the primary target and 14 hit alternate targets; total cloud cover prevents accuracy, and damage is light; they claim 9-17-15 Japanese aircraft; 3 B-29s are lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: Units moving from Letye Island to San Jose: HQ 417th BG and the 672d, 673d, 674th and 675th Bombardment Squadrons from Tacloban with A-20s; the 69th and 310th Fighter Squadrons, 58th FG, from San Roque with P-47s.

EAST INDIES: In the Moluccas Islands of the Netherlands East Indies, numerous fighter-bombers pound the Wasile Bay and Goeroea areas on Galela Island and Hate Tabako Aerodrome on Halmahera Island. USAAF and Australian B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells, and fighter-bombers bomb Lolobato and Hate Tabako Aerodromes on Halmahera Island and the Goeroea area. The Australian First Tactical Air Force beings a four-day blitz on Japanese installations. A total of 384 Kittyhawk and 129 Beaufighter sorties are made in the four days.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte Island, the 127th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division reaches Lonoy. The 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, aided by a mortar platoon brought forward by sea, clears Tuktuk. In the XXIV Corps area, the 2d and 3d Battalions, 305th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division, start west from Valencia toward the coast at Palompon, passing through the 1st Battalion, the 306th Infantry Regiment at the Togbong River and continuing across the Pagsangahan River toward Matagob. Engineers follow closely to work on the bridges.
On Luzon, USAAF Far East Air Forces (FEAF) B-24s, with P-47 support, bomb Clark Field while P-47 Thunderbolts bomb and strafe Lipa Airfield. On Negros Island, B-24s bomb Carolina Airfield while B-25s, with P-47 cover, hit Fabrica Aerodrome. On Mindanao Island, B-24s bomb storage and personnel areas while B-25s hit the waterfront at Zamboanga. FEAF aircraft fly numerous shipping searches, armed reconnaissance, and sweeps over Mindanao and throughout the Netherlands East Indies.

1945

 

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1935
JAPAN: KURUSU Saburo, of the Japanese Foreign Office, states that Japan is destined to lead Oriental civilization because ". . . foreign people did not understand what it was all about." KURUSU was a special envoy in Washington, D.C. on 7 December 1941 negotiating with the U.S. government.

1940
MALAYA: A communique from Air Marshal (U.S. Lieutenant General) Brooke Popham, the British Air Commander in Chief, Far East, states that recently large transports of troops from every branch of service have arrived in the Malayan states. This has reinforced the already massive defences of Singapore and also the fighting power of the other sections of Far East Command.

UNITED KINGDOM: Prime Minister Winston Churchill assures the Australian Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, that Australia has a higher defence priority than the Mediterranean.
Anthony Eden replaces Lord Halifax as Foreign Secretary in the Churchill Cabinet. Halifax is appointed British Ambassador to the U.S. Captain David Margesson, Chief Whip in the Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain governments, becomes War Minister. Thus Churchill has balanced a promotion of an old friend with the advancement of an old foe that had a hand in attempts to get Churchill and Eden dislodged from their constituencies.

UNITED STATES: The National Guard's 35th Division, consisting of units from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, is inducted into Federal service.
A conference of industry and labor officials agrees that there would be no strikes or lockouts in war industries while World War II continued.

1941
AUSTRALIA: The Advisory War Council agrees that the future of Australia is bound up with the talks taking place during the Arcadia Conference in Washington, D.C., and Prime Minister John Curtin cables U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill appealing for more reinforcements for Singapore, Malaya. At the same time, Curtin tells Roosevelt that if the U.S. government wants, Australia would gladly accept an American commander in the Pacific.
The USAAF Far East Air Force (FEAF) comes under control of the newly-created US Forces in Australia (USFIA). Major General Lewis H Brereton, Commanding General FEAF, receives orders establishing HQ FEAF at Darwin, Northern Territory.

BORNEO: The Japanese invasion convoy which left Miri in the British protectorate of Sarawak yesterday, is being escorted by the five heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, six destroyers, two minesweepers and an aircraft depot ship. Part of the escort force is sighted this morning when it is about 150 miles off Kuching, capital of Sarawak. At 1140 hours, 24 Japanese aircraft bomb Singkawang II Airfield in Dutch Borneo, so damaging the runways that a Dutch striking force which has been ordered to attack the convoy is unable to take off with a bomb load. Despite the critical situation the Dutch authorities urge the transfer of their aircraft to Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies. Air Headquarters, Far East, agrees and tomorrow afternoon, the aircraft were flown to Palembang. The Japanese convoy does not escape unscathed. This evening, it is attacked by Dutch submarine HNMS K-XIV which sinks two transports and damages a transport and a tanker. During the night of 23/24 December, submarine Dutch HNMS K-XVI torpedoes and sinks the Japanese destroyer HIJMS Sagiri. Fires rage on the destroyer igniting the torpedoes and the ship blows up killing 121 of the 241 crewmen. During the evening, five RAF Blenheim Mk. IVs of No. 34 Squadron based at Tengah Airfield, Singapore, Malaya, operating at extreme range, bomb the ships at anchor in Kuching harbor but do little damage.

BURMA: Rangoon feels the first of the Japanese air strikes. There are three Allied fighter squadrons available: RAF No. 60 Squadron with Blenheim Mk. I light bombers and (USN F2A) Buffalo Mk. Is and No. 67 Squadron with Buffalo Mk. Is, and the 3d Squadron, American Volunteer Group (AVG or "Flying Tigers") with P-40Bs. These fighters are only able to offer token resistance to the Japanese. An exodus of civilian laborers hampers port operations in Rangoon.
Chuck Baisden, who was an armorer with the 3d Squadron, AVG, writes this first hand report: at our base at Mingaladon Airdrome just outside of Rangoon as one of the armorers in the 3d Squadron AVG (Hell's Angels), we had completed our morning preflight and a number of us crew chiefs, armorers and radio men were standing around on a small knoll just outside our barracks and perhaps a hundred odd feet from our flightline dispersal area when the air raid siren went off with our pilots racing to their planes, starting engines and immediately taxiing to the active runway and taking off. It was a miracle there were no mid air collisions as some 14 P-40B fighters were taking off from one direction sandwiched between a number of RAF Buffaloes (I believe they were New Zealand pilots) taking off from another dispersal area in almost opposite directions. It was right hairy for a spell. Things got quiet and then from a distance we saw a rather large formation approaching our field, flying in a tight three ship V of V formation with fighter escorts swarming like a bunch of bees. Turned out there were 54 Japanese "Betty" bombers and some 40 fighters. One of our guys started counting and when he hit 27 yelled "Hell they are not ours, we don't have that many." There was an immediate mad dash for some slit trenches a few feet from where we had been standing. One group of the bombers targeted our field and laid their pattern precisely down the runway and through our dispersal area. I remember those black dots getting larger and larger accompanied by a "whoose-whoose" sound and thought they were all aimed directly at me. It was nothing compared to the shock of the bombs as they walked up the field with the noise getting louder and louder. The concussion bounced us around in the trench and from the smell someone had voided in his trousers. I know one 21-year-old that grew up in a hurry. Saw a parachute coming down with a Japanese "Nate" fighter making a pass at the helpless guy in a parachute. Luckily one of the RAF pilots saw what the Japanese pilot was up to and forced him to break off. Neil Martin, my pilot at Langley Field, Virginia, and Mitchel Field, New York, USA, when we were pulling tow targets in an old Martin B-10 bombers, made a pass at the bomber formation and never pulled out of his dive, evidently killed by a bomber gunner. Henry Gilbert was also shot down and killed. My comrade-in arms R.T.Smith (Tadpole) shot down two or three and landed with his fuselage full of holes, a present from a Japanese bomber gunner. I had the privilege to fly as his gunner in B-25 Mitchells with the Air Commando Group two years later. Score for this day was 15 Japanese aircraft and we lost three P-40s and two pilots. There are a number of casualties among support personnel in the RAF at our field and some 1,000 civilians were killed or wounded in Rangoon.

CHINA: The Japanese begin a drive on Changsha in Hunan Province.

HONG KONG: The Canadian Royal Rifles of Canada withdraw to Hong Kong's Stanley Peninsula.

LINE ISLANDS: The U.S. Palmyra Island is shelled by Japanese submarines HIJMS I-71 and I-72. Palmyra Island is located about 957 nautical miles SSW of Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii.

MALAYA: The Indian III Corps completes a withdrawal of all west coast forces behind the Perak River during the night of 23/24 December. Japanese planes, which so far have concentrated on airfields, begin intensive action against forward areas.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Two Japanese submarines attack U.S. merchant ships off the coast of California, U.S.A.:
(1) HIJMS I-21 attacks two ships; (1) she fires a torpedo at a 6,418 ton unarmed U.S. tanker about 17 nautical miles WSW of Pismo Beach, California but the tanker escapes and she later torpedoes and sinks an 8,272 ton unarmed U.S. tanker about 19 nautical miles WNW of Morro Bay, California; and
(2) HIJMS I-17 surfaces and shells an unarmed U.S. tanker located about 62 nautical miles SW of Eureka, California, but the tanker escapes.
Uncertainty over the positions of and number of Japanese carriers and reports that indicate Japanese troops have landed on Wake Atoll compel Vice Admiral William S. Pye, Acting Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, to recall Task Force 14 (Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher) while it is 425 nautical miles from its objective.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: On Luzon, Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General US Army Forces Far East, decides to evacuate Manila and withdraw to Bataan Peninsula to make a delaying stand. During the night of 23/24 December, a Japanese invasion force of 7,000 men arrives in Lamon Bay from the Ryukyu Islands. Another Japanese invasion force sails from Mindanao Island for Jolo Island in the Sulu Archipelago.
After 0000 hours, four of the Far East Air Force's B-17s take off from Del Monte Field on Mindanao Island and bomb shipping in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. They damage a destroyer and a minesweeper. After the attack, one aircraft lands at Del Monte Field and the other three land on Ambon Island in the Netherlands East Indies. After refueling, all four proceed to Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
Twelve P-40s and six P-35s, the only USAAF fighter aircraft in the Philippines, strafe Japanese forces landing in San Miguel Bay on Luzon.
Using a P-26A Peashooter, of the Philippine 6th Pursuit Squadron, Lieutenant Jose Kare shoots down a Japanese "Zeke" fighter.

UNITED STATES: California Governor Culbert Olson, at the request of Lieutenant General John. DeWitt, Commanding General Fourth Army and Commanding General Western Defense Command, bans the sale of liquor to persons in uniform, except between 1800 and 2200 hours.

WAKE ISLAND: At 0300 hours, 1,500 Japanese troops land on the island and after an 11-hour fight, the garrison surrenders. The garrison consists of marines, sailors, volunteer civilians (Contractors Pacific Naval Air Bases) and a USAAF radio detachment. Forty-nine Marines, three sailors, and about 70 civilians (there were many civilian construction workers on Wake) are killed during the battle. Japanese Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33 (old destroyers converted to high speed transports) intentionally run ashore to facilitate the landing of troops, are destroyed by marine shore batteries (1st Defense Battalion). Planes from aircraft carriers HIJMS Hiryu and Soryu, as well as seaplane carrier Kiyokawa Maru provide close air support for the invasion. Open cargo lighter YCK 1 is lost to Japanese occupation of the atoll, as are civilian tugs Pioneer and Justine Foss, and dredge Columbia. In October 1943, 98 of the civilians, still on the island, are executed. Duane Schultz indicates in his book, though, that 376 of the 400 captured Marines survive the war, which if correct is a surprisingly good rate considering the normal conditions of Japanese POW camps.

1942
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb the harbor at Arawe on the western tip of the island while B-17s and B-24s hit shipping and the airfield at Gasmata on the southern coast. A Japanese netlayer is sunk by the B-24s and a transport is sunk by the B-17s.

ALASKA: In the Aleutians, the reconnaissance aircraft over Kiska finds shipping there unchanged. Weather cancel all other missions.

HAWAII: (Seventh Air Force) The detachments of the 370th, 371st, 372d and 424th Bombardment Squadrons, 307th BG that have been operating from Midway Island with B-24s return to their bases in the Territory of Hawaii.

BURMA: The Japanese advances in two areas of the Chin Hills are repelled by Allied troops.

NEW GUINEA: After an artillery preparation in Papua New Guinea, the Urbana Force, employing the U.S. 127th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, begins a drive toward the sea through Government Gardens, where Japanese defenses are organized in depth and concealed by high kunai grass. Progress is very slow.
A platoon of Company L discovers a weak spot and drives through to a line of coconut trees near the coast; is surrounded there and suffers heavy casualties before escaping by a circuitous route. As a diversion, elements move to the Mission side of creek from Musita Island and from shallows between Buna Village and Buna Mission, but withdraw because of intense opposition.
The Warren Force opens an attack on Old Strip after an artillery preparation. The Australian 2/10th Battalion, 18th Brigade, 7th Division, disposed along the northern edge of the strip, is supported by three Australian-manned U.S. M3 Stuart light tanks while making their main effort. The 1st Battalions of the U.S. 126th and 128th Infantry Regiments attack in parallel columns along the southern edge of the strip; later the 1st Battalion of the 128th Infantry Regiment follows the 1st Battalion of the 126th.
The attack gains some 450 yards, but Japanese fire prevents movement onto the strip and knocks out the three tanks.
In Papua New Guinea, Fifth Air Force A-20s strafe troops near Kel Kel and along the northern bank of the Amboga River and trail. B-24s, operating singly, bomb Lae and a schooner in Vitiaz Strait.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, the 3d Battalion, 132d Infantry Regiment Americal Division, followed by the 1st Battalion in reserve, moves west without incident to Hill 31, west of the summit of Mt Austen; upon attacking south toward Hill 27, they are stopped short by fire from a Japanese strongpoint, called Gifu, between Hills 31 and 27. The Gifu position, with fixed defenses and interconnecting pillboxes, is held by about 500 Japanese troops.

NEW GEORGIA: Nine USMC SBDs and four F4Fs and nine USAAF P-39s and four P-38s attack the airstrip at Munda on New Georgia Island.; the Americans claim ten Zekes as they are taking off. The SBDs destroy ten Zekes on the ground. There are no US losses.

1943
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): During the night of 23/24 Dec, P-39's are airborne over Makin to intercept enemy bombers; 2 bombers are shot down; 1 P-39 is lost. During the day, 19 B-24's, staging through Tarawa Atoll from Nanumea, bomb Kwajalein; 9 others, staging through Baker from Canton in the Phoenix , hit Wotje and Maloelap Atolls in the Marshall. 10 A-24s escorted by 20 P-39's, attack Mille Atoll hitting shore installations and a cargo vessel (wrecked by the previous day's raid) in the lagoon.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): 19 B-24's on a night raid bomb the railroad terminal at Bangkok; heavy explosions and large fires result. In the Hukawng Valley, the 3d Battalion, 114th Regiment, Chinese 38th Division, having crossed the Tanai River at Kantau earlier in the month, skirmishes with the Japanese 9 miles from Kantau.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 29 B-24's, escorted by 7 P-51's and 23 P-40's, pound White Cloud Airfield in the area; the and fighters claim 11interceptors downed. 14 P-38's dive-bomb and strafe Huang Shan Kou. 2 B-25's claim 1 gunboat sunk in the Formosa Straits. HQ 68th Composite Wing transfers from Kunming to Kweilin, China.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): 17 B-25'a attack gun positions and other targets at Sohano, and 6 hit positions at Malevoli in Choiseul Bay on Choiseul. 6 RNZAF Ventura's attack a radar station and lighthouse on Cape Saint George. 16 P-39's on patrol bomb and strafe targets on Shortland. 18 B-24's bomb Taharai Airfield in the Rabaul area; Vunakanau also is hit; fighter escorts claim 30 aircraft shot down over the Rabaul area. This begins a Commander Air Solomons (COMAIRSOLS) all-out offensive against the Rabaul area that continues until the end of Mar 44.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): 61 B-24's bomb Cape Gloucester during the day; B-24's follow during the night of 23/24 Dec with harassing attacks with small bombs, hand grenades, and beer bottles; P-39's hit barges between Borgen Bay and Rein Bay, and P-40's bomb Gasmata and strafe Cape Hoskin. 80+ B-25's, B-26's and A-20's attack coastal targets from Wewak to Hansa Bay, wide areas of the Huon Peninsula, and airfields at Alexishafen; and B-24's bomb Nabire Airfield. Lost is B-24D "Flying Wolf" 42-41091. HQ 8th FG transfers from Port Moresby to Finschhafen. The 501st Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 345th BG (Medium), transfers from Port Moresby to Dobodura with B-25's.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): The weather mission finds squall conditions and is aborted.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 8 B-25s pound points along the Burma Road. 13 B-25s hit town areas, trains, and other targets of opportunity at Vinh, French Indochina, from Dap Cau, French Indochina to Lungchow, China, and from Lang Son, French Indochina to Yungning, China. In China, 3 B-25s and 5 P-40s damage about 50 railroad cars in the area S of the Yellow River; 16 P-51s over Wuchang and Hankow damage 2 ferry ramps and blast 3 oil dumps. 12 P-51s and P-38s damage 2 hangars at Heho Airfield, Burma, and in China, 12 P-51s pound railroad shops at Chenghsien and bomb Houmachen with napalm.

BURMA: In the British Fourteenth Army’s XXXIII Corps area, the Indian 19th Division takes Kokoggon.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 15 P-47s knock out and damage bridges at Mong Long, Pa-mao, and Man Pwe; 12 B-25s destroy bridges at Tonbo, Saye, Ketka, and Nampawng, and damage several others; 40+ fighter-bombers attack storage areas, bivouacs, and enemy-held points at Namhkam, Nyaunggyin, Hseing-hkai, Mongyin, and Kutkai. Transport sorties to forward bases and frontline areas total 353.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 12 B-24s from Saipan Island and 14 from Guam hit Iwo Jima; 3 others from Guam, flying armed reconnaissance bomb Woleai. During the night 2 B-24s from Guam and Saipan fly harassing strikes against Iwo Jima.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): HQ 313th Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) and HQ 504th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) and the 398th and 421st Bombardment Squadrons (Very Heavy) arrive at North Field from the US with B-29s.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: The air echelon of the 17th Reconnaissance Squadron (Bombardment), 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group, moves from Biak Island to San Jose, Mindoro Island with B-25s (the squadron is based at Tacloban).

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25s and fighter-bombers blast Lolobata and Hate Tabako Aerodromes, and the Goeroea area on Halmahara Island.. Numerous FEAF aircraft fly various small strikes, armed reconnaissance, and sweeps over the Netherlands East Indies while fighter-bombers are especially active against targets on Halmahera Island.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In Pampanga Province on Luzon, 15 American POWs, who are too sick to work, are taken from their prison cells and driven to the outskirts of San Fernando. There, in a small cemetery, a hole 15 square feet is dug. Guards from the truck then take up positions around the hole. One by one, the POWs are brought to the edge of the hole and ordered to kneel. They are then bayoneted and decapitated. After the war, the guard commander, Lieutenant TOSHINO Junsabura , is tried, sentenced to death and hanged.
In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte Island, the corps begins an advance west toward the coast from Highway 2. The 1st Cavalry Division, on the southern flank, leads off, moving slowly over difficult terrain unopposed by the Japanese. The 32d Infantry Division reconnoiters with the 127th and 128th Infantry Regiments in preparation for a drive westward. In the XXIV Corps area, in preparation for an assault on Palompon by land and sea, 77th Infantry Division artillery and USAAF Fifth Air Force planes pound the town. The reinforced 1st Battalion, 305th Infantry Regiment, which is to make the amphibious assault, moves to Ormoc. The 305th Infantry Regiment (less 1st Battalion) continues an overland drive toward Palompon, pushing through Matagob under heavy fire. Japanese efforts to penetrate U.S. lines, during the night of 23/24 December, fail.
On Mindoro Island, a new airfield, called Ellmore Field, on the south bank of the Bugsanga River, is ready for limited use.
USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb Fabrica and Silay Airfields on Negros Island while P-38s and P-47s provide cover. B-24s bomb Grace Park Airfield in the suburbs of Manila on Luzon. On Mindanao Island, B-25 Mitchells attack San Roque Airfield and the Davao and Zamboanga areas. Numerous FEAF aircraft fly various small strikes, armed reconnaissance, and sweeps over the Philippine Islands and fighter-bombers are especially active against targets in the central Philippines.

1945

 

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1931
INTERNATIONAL: France, the U.K. and the U.S. protest Japanese military moves in China stating that there is no evidence of any offensive intent on the part of Chinese.

1937
CHINA: The Japanese capture Hangzhou (Hangchow) in central China.

1941
AUSTRALIA: U.S. Brigadier General Henry B. Claggett takes temporary command of U.S. Forces in Australia, pending the arrival of Major General George H. Brett from Chungking, China.

BORNEO: A Japanese convoy, despite attacks by British and Dutch planes and Dutch submarines, succeeds in landing troops in the Kuching area of the British protectorate of Sarawak, early in morning. The garrison, having already destroyed Kuching airdrome, requests permission to withdraw to Dutch Borneo and is told to delay the Japanese as long as possible before retiring. Dutch aircraft withdraw from Singkawang, Borneo, to Palembang, Sumatra.

HONG KONG: The British defenders are split in two, and are short of water. Japanese troops capture 53 British and Canadian soldiers, rope them together, and shoot or bayonet them to death. In the village of Stanley, the Japanese attack doctors and wounded soldiers in St. Stephen's College Emergency Hospital, bayoneting more than 50 men in their beds.
The British destroyer HMS Thracian (D 86) runs aground and is captured by the Japanese. She is salvaged by the Japanese Navy, repaired and recommissioned on 25 November 1942 as Patrol Vessel No.101, then re-rated a training ship in March 1944, being attached to the torpedo school at Yokosuka. Recaptured in 1945, she is eventually broken up at Hong Kong post-war.

MALAYA: The Indian 11th Division, controlling all Indian III Corps troops north of the Slim and Bernam Rivers, is organizing a defense in depth astride the main road with the main line of resistance in the Kampar area and rear positions near the Slim River. Commander Australian Imperial Force Malaya, Major General Gordon Bennett (General Office Commanding Australian 8th Division), assigns responsibility for North Johore to the Australian 27th Brigade Group, 8th Division. (Jack McKillop)
British air strength in Malaya has been reduced to 38 fighters, 40 dive bombers, 34 torpedo bombers, 17 reconnaissance aircraft and 17 others.

MIDWAY ISLANDS: USN seaplane tender USS Wright (AV-1) disembarks Marine reinforcements (Batteries "A" and "C," 4th Defense Battalion).

PACIFIC OCEAN: Two U.S. merchant vessels are shelled by Japanese submarines off the coast of California:
- HIJMS I-17 shells a 5,695 ton unarmed freighter about 19 nautical miles NNW of Catalina Island which is about 14 nautical miles SW of Long Beach, California. Although the freighter is abandoned, she is later reboarded and towed to San Pedro, California.
- HIJMS I-23 shells a 2,119 ton unarmed freighter off Monterey Bay south of San Francisco. The ship escapes.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: On Luzon, Admiral Thomas C. Hart, commander of the Asiatic Fleet, releases the 4th Marine Regiment, stationed at Olongapo, to defend the beaches of Corregidor. The Japanese Lamon Bay invasion force, which constitutes the southern prong of pincers applied against Manila, goes ashore early in morning at three points—Mauban, near Atimonan, and Siam. The main assault force, in the center, secures Atimonan, forcing the defenders back toward Pagbilao. The Mauban force takes that town and pushes 5 miles west.
From Siam the Japanese advance in two columns, one southewest toward Tayabas Bay and the other southeast along Route 1 toward the Japanese Legaspi detachment. The Japanese on northern Luzon consolidate their beachhead and debouch on the central plain to thrust sharply toward the Agno River line. San Fabian and Binalonan fall, 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) retiring from Binalonan across the Agno River to Tayug.
The planned withdrawal toward Bataan is begun in the evening. U.S. Army, Far East headquarters, except for the rear echelon, and Manuel L. Quezon, President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, and Francis B. Sayre, U.S. High Commissioner of the Philippines, sail to Corregidor from Manila. Fort Stotsenburg is evacuated. Major General Jonathan M. Wainwright’s North Luzon Force, disposed generally along the line Tayug-Urdaneta- San Carlos-Aquilar, from east to west, begins withdrawing toward the Agno River line.
The South Luzon Force, command of which passes from Major General George M. Parker to Brigadier General Albert M. Jones, is to withdraw northward into Bataan. General Parker moves to Bataan to head the Bataan Defense Force, organized to prepare defensive positions. In the Sulu Archipelago, the Japanese invade Jolo Island in the evening against light resistance from the constabulary. Jolo Island is located about half way between Borneo and Mindanao Island.
Three USAAF Far East Air Force B-17s fly from Del Monte Field, Mindanao Island during the night of 24/25 December, bomb the airfield and shipping at Davao on Mindanao Island and land at Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Two USN PBYs leave Manila, Luzon, for Darwin with personnel of HQ Far East Air Force. Army Air Forces units on Luzon, as well as ground forces, begin moving to Bataan Peninsula.

1942
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb the harbor at Arawe on the western tip of the island while B-17s and B-24s hit shipping and the airfield at Gasmata on the southern coast. A Japanese netlayer is sunk by the B-24s and a transport is sunk by the B-17s.

ALASKA: In the Aleutians, the reconnaissance aircraft over Kiska finds shipping there unchanged. Weather cancel all other missions.

HAWAII: (Seventh Air Force) The detachments of the 370th, 371st, 372d and 424th Bombardment Squadrons, 307th BG that have been operating from Midway Island with B-24s return to their bases in the Territory of Hawaii.

BURMA: The Japanese advances in two areas of the Chin Hills are repelled by Allied troops.

NEW GUINEA: After an artillery preparation in Papua New Guinea, the Urbana Force, employing the U.S. 127th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, begins a drive toward the sea through Government Gardens, where Japanese defenses are organized in depth and concealed by high kunai grass. Progress is very slow.
A platoon of Company L discovers a weak spot and drives through to a line of coconut trees near the coast; is surrounded there and suffers heavy casualties before escaping by a circuitous route. As a diversion, elements move to the Mission side of creek from Musita Island and from shallows between Buna Village and Buna Mission, but withdraw because of intense opposition.
The Warren Force opens an attack on Old Strip after an artillery preparation. The Australian 2/10th Battalion, 18th Brigade, 7th Division, disposed along the northern edge of the strip, is supported by three Australian-manned U.S. M3 Stuart light tanks while making their main effort. The 1st Battalions of the U.S. 126th and 128th Infantry Regiments attack in parallel columns along the southern edge of the strip; later the 1st Battalion of the 128th Infantry Regiment follows the 1st Battalion of the 126th.
The attack gains some 450 yards, but Japanese fire prevents movement onto the strip and knocks out the three tanks.
In Papua New Guinea, Fifth Air Force A-20s strafe troops near Kel Kel and along the northern bank of the Amboga River and trail. B-24s, operating singly, bomb Lae and a schooner in Vitiaz Strait.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, the 3d Battalion, 132d Infantry Regiment Americal Division, followed by the 1st Battalion in reserve, moves west without incident to Hill 31, west of the summit of Mt Austen; upon attacking south toward Hill 27, they are stopped short by fire from a Japanese strongpoint, called Gifu, between Hills 31 and 27. The Gifu position, with fixed defenses and interconnecting pillboxes, is held by about 500 Japanese troops.

NEW GEORGIA: Nine USMC SBDs and four F4Fs and nine USAAF P-39s and four P-38s attack the airstrip at Munda on New Georgia Island.; the Americans claim ten Zekes as they are taking off. The SBDs destroy ten Zekes on the ground. There are no US losses.

1943
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, the pre-invasion bombing effort against Cape Gloucester reaches its peak as nearly 190 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators, B-25s, and A-20s attack the area in a day-long bombardment; P-39 Airacobras hit a disabled destroyer offshore; and Japanese forces in Arawe area are hit by A-20s.
On New Britain Island, 18 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24s bomb Vunakanau Airfield at Rabaul; six others hit Lakunai; fighter cover for the strike fights a fierce air action with interceptors, claiming 25 shot down; seven Allied fighters are lost.
USN F6Fs, USAAF P-38s and New Zealand (P-40) Kittyhawk fighter pilots shoot down 27 Japanese Zero fighters over Rabaul, New Britain Island, during the day; seven Allied fighters, including five New Zealand Kittyhawks, are lost.

BURMA: In the Hukawng Valley, the 1st Battalion, 114th Regiment, Chinese 38th Division, after artillery preparation, attacks to relieve the beleaguered 1st Battalion of the 112th Regiment in the Yupbang Ga area and succeeds in joining it, although the Japanese retain positions west of the river blocking the crossing at Yupbang Ga.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25s bomb Atamboea Airfield on Timor Island in the Netherlands East Indies.

CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): 18 B-24's, staging through the Gilbert from the Ellice , bomb Wotje Atoll in the Marshall . The 396th and 820th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 41st BG (Medium), transfer from Hickam Field to Tarawa Atoll with B-25's. They will fly their first mission on 19 Jan 44 and 28 Dec respectively.

GILBERT ISLANDS - Escort carrier Liscome Bay, claiming 642 sailors, is sunk by a Japanese submarine. General "Howlin' Mad" Smith blames the Army's slowness for the sinking of an American carrier with all hands. The ship had been forced to stay in the area an extra day to provide cover.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 18 B-24's bomb a Tien Ho satellite airfield. The B-24's and 18 escorting fighters claim 20 interceptors shot down. 1 B-24 is lost over the target.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): During the night of 23/24 Dec, single aircraft carry out harassing strikes against Buka on Buka, Kieta and Faisi. During the day, 24 B-25's attack seaplane anchorage at Bonis. On New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago, 18 B-24's bomb Vunakanau; 6 others hit Lakunai; fighter cover for the strike fights a fierce air action with interceptors, claiming 25 shot down; 7 Allied fighters are lost. RNZAF Ventura's on armed reconnaissance bomb barges and troops on N Bougainville and claim 2 fighters shot down E of Cape Saint George.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): The pre-invasion bombing effort against Cape Gloucester reaches its peak as nearly 190 B-24's, B-25's, and A-20's pound the area in a day-long bombardment; P-39's hit a disabled destroyer offshore; and Japanese forces in Arawe area are hit by A-20's. A-20's also sweep the NE New Guinea coastline.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 2/13th Battalion, 20th Brigade, 9th Division, enters Wandokai without opposition. The Japanese had intended to defend the town but they evacuated last night fearing an Australian landing in their rear.
USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20s sweep the Northeast New Guinea coastline.

PACIFIC OCEAN: During a five hour attack, the USN destroyer escort USS Griswold sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-39 about 6 nautical miles ENE of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands, in position 09.23S, 160.09E. All crewmen on the submarine are lost.

1944
ALASKA: A paper Japanese Fu Go balloon with the usual equipment lands at Holy Cross, Territory of Alaska. Holy Cross is located in southwestern Alaska about 235 miles SE of Nome.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 6 B-25s blast the Kunlong ferry area; 3 B-24s claim 1 tanker sunk in the S China Sea; 100+ P-40s, P-51s, and P-38s on armed reconnaissance attack targets of opportunity throughout S China, especially river, road, and rail traffic, troops, and buildings around Hengyang, Lingling, Siangtan, and Changsha; also Hong Kong area shipping is pounded (1 tanker claimed sunk and other ships damaged) and 30+ enemy aircraft claimed destroyed at Tsinan Airfield; the 16th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, based at Chengkung with P-51s, sends a detachment to operate from Kwanghan (another detachment is at Liangshan).

BURMA: In the British Fourteenth Army's XXXIII Corps area, the British 2d and Indian 20th Divisions overcome strong opposition in Pyingaing

INDIA: The Japanese fly their last bombing raid against Calcutta.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 38 P-47s hit troop concentrations and supply areas at Pangkai, Man Namman, Man Om, Mong Nge, and Kyanhnyat; 6 support ground forces in the Si-U sector while 12 hit targets of opportunity along the Sinlum-Nawghkio rail line; and 8 P-47s strafe the Lashio Airfield. 287 transport sorties are flown to forward areas. The detachment of the 6th Fighter Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, operating from Fenny, India with P-47s, returns to base at Asansol, India.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 12 B-24s from Saipan and 38 from Guam strike Iwo Jima and 17 Saipan based P-38s make a low-level strafing attack on Iwo Jima. 23 other B-24s, based on Saipan, bomb Chichi Jima. 2 B-24s on harassment strikes from the Mariana hit Iwo Jima during the night of 24/25 Dec.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: USN Task Group 94.9, the heavy cruisers USS Chester, Pensacola and Salt Lake City, and nine destroyers, follows the USAAF bombing raids on Iwo Jima by shelling the airstrips and other installations there; destroyers USS Case and Roe sink Japanese fast transport T.8 and landing ship T.157.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 15: 29 Mariana based B-29s are dispatched to attack 2 airfields on Iwo Jima; 23 hit the primary targets and 1 hits an alternate target without loss. The 482d, 483d and 484th Bombardment Squadrons (Very Heavy), 505th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy), arrive at North Field from the US with B-29s (first mission is 30 Dec).

EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces attack Kudat Airfield in North Borneo and B-25 Mitchells and fighter-bombers attack the Goeroea area in the Moluccas Islands of the Netherlands East Indies (NEI). Again FEAF aircraft on miscellaneous small operations attack many targets throughout the NEI.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In the U.S. Sixth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 1st Cavalry Division continues steadily west against scattered resistance, the 12th Cavalry Regiment (Infantry) wading swamps in its sector. The 32d Infantry Division, with the 127th and 128th Infantry Regiments in assault, starts west toward the coast on northern flank of the corps, slowed more by terrain than resistance. In the XXIV Corps area, the 1st Battalion (reinforced) , 305th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division, embarks at Ormoc and at 2000 hours sails for Palompon, the convoy protected by motor torpedo boats (PTs). The 305th Infantry Regiment, less the 1st Battalion, is lightly opposed as it continues west along the road to Palompon.
USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb Clark Field on Luzon Island and Puerto Princesa Airfield on Palawan Island and Kudat Airfield. B-25s bomb Silay Airfield on Negros Island and on Mindanao Island, hit San Roque barracks, the Zamboanga waterfront, and Davao Bay shipping. Again FEAF aircraft on miscellaneous small operations attack many targets throughout the Philippine Islands. P-47 pilots shoot down 33 Japanese fighters over Luzon between 1015 and 1150 hours; four P-47s are lost.
During the night of 24/25 December, a Japanese bomber destroys a 100,000 U.S. gallon aviation storage tank at Hill Field on Mindoro Island. As a result, flight operations are restricted from this base for several weeks.

1945

 

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1926
Japan Hirohito became emperor of Japan, succeeding his father, Emperor Yoshihito.

1941
HONG KONG: This evening the British surrender in Hong Kong.

PHILLIPINE ISLANDS: The US submarine Sealion, commanded by Richard C. Voge, is scuttled at Cavite, Manila Bay. This decision is implemented after aircraft damage on 10 Dec, 1941. There were 4 hands lost.
Eight of the original 48 P-35As are left and the 34th Pursuit Sqdn is moved to Bataan.
The US forces in northern Luzon are holding their 2nd defense line.
The 3d, 17th, 20th, 21st and 34th Pursuit Squadrons (Interceptor), 24th Pursuit Group (Interceptor), transfer from Ternate, Nichols Field, Clark Field, Nichols Field and Del Carmen respectively to Bataan with P-35's and P-40's. The 17th and 20th begin operating from Lubao, Luzon with P-40's HQ 27th Bombardment Group and the ground echelon of it's 16th, 17th and 91st Bombardment Squadrons transfer from Lipa Airfield, San Fernando and San Marceleno respectively to Cabcaben, Luzon.

AUSTRALIA: Lieutenant Colonel Charles H. Caldwell sets up HQ Far East Air Force at Darwin Airfield. HQ V Bomber Command is also established at Darwin. The air echelons are operating from Brisbane, Australia; the ground echelons will fight as infantry on Luzon.

BURMA: Some 3 waves of 27 Sally Bombers with around 30 fighter escorts hit Rangoon and Mingaladon Airfield. There were no 3rd Squadron AVG losses, but the Japanese lost a confirmed 25 bombers and 10 fighters. Two of our 40s made belly landings after their engines had been hit.
Duke Hedman made ACE on this air combat.

PTO: USN - Two-plane detachments from squadrons at Pearl and Kaneohe began patrols from Palmyra, a principal staging base to the South Pacific.

1942
BURMA: Advance units of the British 123rd Brigade reach Rathedaung, Burma.
They report the Japanese have evacuated, a Japanese relief column is in fact advancing on Rathedaung.

ALASKA: a B-24 takes photographs of Kiska and Attu Islands and unsuccessfully bombs five barges between Gertrude Cove and Kiska Harbor. The B-24 then sights eight float Zekes; three Zekes unsuccessfully attempt to attack the B-24. HQ 344th Fighter Squadron, 343d FG with P-40s transfers from Elmendorf Field, Anchorage to Ft Randall, Cold Bay.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Army Forces in South Pacific Area) In the Bismarck Archipelago, six B-17s, of the eleven dispatched, bomb Rabaul Harbor on New Britain Island. Two aircraft score three hits on a large cargo ship, while four bomb wharves and airfields. There are no US losses. HQ 394th Bombardment Squadron, 5th BG (Heavy) with B-17s is established on Fiji upon arrival from Hawaii.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force) In the Bismarck Archipelago, a B-17 attacks a submarine in Wide Bay off New Britain; one B-24 attacks runways at Cape Gloucester Airfield. A B-24 bombs Lae.

1943
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): 10 A-24s from Makin supported by P-39's, attack Mille Atoll hitting the runway, ammunition storage, and an AA position.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 2 B-25's claim heavy damage to a passenger ship S of Hong Kong.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): A few B-24's, fighting bad weather, attack Lakunai Airfield; covering fighters claim 13 airplanes shot down. 2 P-38's are lost.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): Cape Gloucester is subjected to almost around the clock air attacks by l80+ B-24's, B-25's, B-26's, and A-20's; A-20's attack Japanese forces in the Arawe area where Allied outposts and observation posts are being pushed back by fierce enemy assaults on the beachhead. The 35th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group, transfers from Port Moresby to Finschhafen with P-40's. The 386th and 387th Bombardment Squadrons, 312th Bombardment Group, transfer from Port Moresby to Gusap. They will fly their first mission on 27 and 26 Dec respectively.

USN - Aircraft from a two-carrier task group (Rear Admiral F. C. Sherman) attacked shipping at Kavieng as a covering operation for landings by the Marines in the Borgen Bay area of New Britain on the following day. US naval TG 50.2, 2 carriers and 6 destroyers, raids Kavieng with 86 aircraft. They sink one Japanese transport.
Aboard the carrier USS Bunker Hill:
Reville at 0345, we were 190 miles out from Kavieng. We sent everything that would fly. I offered to fly the "hanger queen" but was turned down. The skipper said he didn't think my piper cub training was enough.
About 0900, Wooly shot down a "Mavis" with one burst. Later Ambrosio shot down a "Betty". Several japanese aircraft were around us all afternoon. As we were landing our last flight, Pearse shot down another "Betty". At sunset, we were surrounded by about 30 "Bettys" as announced by radar control. Our ships fired at several of them but none went down in flames. Several flares were dropped but none close. They gave up at 2030 and went home. We headed back to Espirito Santo. VF 18 score now at 46. Our losses that day was one TBF and two men.

1944
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 6 B-25s and 8 fighter-bombers knock out a bridge at Wan Pa-Hsa, Burma. 22 P-51s pound a railroad ferry, damage a tanker at Nanking, China, and hit a nearby airfield, claiming 13 aircraft destroyed. 30+ other P-51s, P-40s, and P-38s on armed reconnaissance hit various targets of opportunity around Yungning, Kunming, Kiungshan, and Paoching, China; and Wanling, Man Pong, and Mong Long, Burma. The detachment of the 426th Night Fighter Squadron, Fourteenth AF, operating from Kunming with P-61s, returns to base at Chengtu.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 4 P-47s bomb and strafe troop concentrations and supplies at Mabein; 8 others sweep Burma Road stretches and strafe Lashio Airfield. Transports fly 259 sorties delivering men and supplies to forward bases and frontline areas.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 12 B-24s from Saipan bomb Iwo Jima; B-24s from Guam and Saipan continue night strikes against Iwo Jima during the night of 25/26 Dec.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA: B-24s with P-38 fighter support including 475th FG, attack Mabalacat Airfield, Sasa Airfield, Sandakan and Jesselton Airfield. B-25s, along with RAAF fighter-bombers, hit the Galela area on Halmahera Island. Other B-25s and fighter-bombers pound Mindanao and Halmahera Islands targets again during several smaller raids throughout the day. The 110th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group, based at Dulag begins operating from San Jose with P-40s.

1945

 

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1939
AUSTRALIA: All vessels of the Royal Australian Navy have been placed under British orders since the start of the war, and in September the Australian government decided that a 20,000 strong force, later designated the 6th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial Force, was to be created for service either at home or abroad. Earlier this month an advance party was sent to Palestine under the command of Lieutenant General Thomas Blamey.

1941
CHINA: The Tulsa Incident occurred in Burma on 19 December when a U.S. officer asked the Government of Burma to impound lend-lease material at Rangoon, much of which was in the freighter SS Tulsa in the harbor, pending a decision on its use. This incident ends today with a conciliatory meeting between Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Brigadier General John Magruder, head of the American Military Mission to China (AMMISCA), during which it is agreed to send an AMMISCA officer to Rangoon.

MALAYA: Ipoh is evacuated by Indian 11th Division troops, but the Indian 12th Brigade Group fights a rear-guard action at Chemor, to the north.

MIDWAY ISLANDS: USN seaplane tender USS Tangier (AV-8), diverted from the attempt to relieve Wake Island, disembarks Battery B, 4th Marine Defense Battalion and the ground echelon of Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Twenty One at Midway to augment that garrison's defenses.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Manila, is declared an open city but Japanese bombing continues unabated. USN defense forces under Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, Commander of the Sixteenth Naval District and the Philippine Naval Coastal Frontier, move to Corregidor Island. The North Luzon Force, except for the 194th Tank Battalion, falls back from the Agno River to the line Santa Ignacia-Guimba-San Jose. The South Luzon Force continues to withdraw in two columns and organizes their first line of defense west of Sariaya.
Japanese "Nell" bombers based on Formosa bomb shipping in Manila Bay; the USN destroyer USS Peary is damaged by near-misses. Motor torpedo boat PT-33, damaged by grounding on 24 December about 53 nautical miles SSW of Manila in position 13.46N, 120.40E, is burned to prevent capture.

UNITED STATES: Lieutenant General John DeWitt, Commanding General Fourth Army and Commanding General Western Defense Command, telephones the Provost General in Washington, D.C. to say that the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce is demanding the internment of all Japanese, citizens or not, in the Southern California area. DeWitt feels such a move would likely alienate loyal Japanese.

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Six USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24s and nine P-38s attack Holtz Bay on northeast Attu Island but do not find the eight Rufe seaplane fighters seen there yesterday. The P-38s strafe
Attu installations at minimum altitude. while the B-24s bomb Sarana Bay. Antiaircraft fire downs a P-38 and damages another. Later, six B-25s and four P-38s over Kiska Island and Gertrude Cove abort due to low ceiling.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Fifth Air Force heavy bombers carry out single-bomber attacks against Cape Gloucester Airfield on New Britain Island and attack shipping off the island.

BURMA: B-25s of the USAAF Tenth Air Force's China Air Task Force bomb Lashio.

CHINA: A large force of Japanese aircraft attempt to raid Yunnani Airfield. They are intercepted by P-40s of the USAAF Tenth Air Force's China Air Task Force and eight fighters and three twin-engine bombers are shot down.

NEW GUINEA: On the Urbana front in Papua, New Guinea, the 127th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, renews an attack to open the corridor to the sea. Company C is prevented by stubborn opposition from reaching Companies A and F near the coast, but a patrol gets through. In the Buna area, Warren Force, assisted by an Australian 25-pound (87.6 millimeter) gun emplaced at the southeastern end of Old Strip, succeeds at last in forming a continuous line across the strip. Advance elements on the flanks push to the northwestern end and begin the reduction of Japanese positions there. Under cover of darkness during the night of 26/27 December, additional Allied tanks and troops are landed at Oro Bay.
In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force heavy bombers carry out single-bomber attacks against Finschhafen and Madang. Japanese aircraft from Rabaul, New Britain Island, Bismarck Archipelago, attack Dobodura but are driven off by U.S. P-40s with the loss of seven Zeke fighters

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, after artillery and air preparation, the 3d Battalion, 132d Infantry Regiment, Americal Division, renews an attack to the south, making limited progress against strong opposition from the Gifu strongpoint. The 3d and 1st Battalions, the latter on the east, dig in for the night on a line between Hill 31 and Gifu.
Brigadier General Francis P Mulcahy, USMC, arrives on Guadalcanal with the Second Marine Aircraft Wing and assumes operational control of all aircraft on the island, including those of the USAAF and USN.
USMC SBDs and F4Fs and USAAF P-38s from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, attack Japanese transports at Wickham Anchorage, New Georgia Island, sinking two merchant cargo ships. In the afternoon, a USAAF P-39 and a USMC F4F pilot shoot down a Zeke fighter and three Rufe seaplane fighters over Munda Airfield on New Georgia Island.

THAILAND: Twelve B-24s of the USAAF Tenth Air Force's India Air Task Force bomb the railroad station, dock area, arsenal, and power plant at Bangkok.

1943
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): 16 B-24's, staging through Tarawa Atoll bomb Wotje Atoll. P-39's fly reconnaissance and strafing missions over Mille Atoll. The 19th Fighter Squadron, 318th FG, transfers from Stanley Field to Kualoa Field, Territory of Hawaii with P-47's.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): The 76th Fighter Squadron, 23d Fighter Group, transfers from Kweilin to Suichwan, China with P-40's.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): 7 B-25's, with 34 fighters, attack the Cape Saint George area; 25 B-25's pound the bivouac and supply area at Kahili. RNZAF Ventura's on reconnaissance bomb Chivaroi and Faisi.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): The US 1st Marine Division lands at Cape Gloucester at 0746 hours; 270+ B-25's. B-24's, and A-20's plaster the area between the Cape and Borgen Bay from 0714 to l614 hours; enemy aircraft attacking the landing force sink a destroyer and cause considerable damage to other ships, P-38's, P-40's, and P-47's claim 60+ airplanes shot down over the invasion area. Lost is A6M2 Zero 8224. Twelve P-38s of the 80th Fighter Squadron, lead by Major Edward Craig shoot down 9 aircraft: BW Adams got 2 Vals, Ed Cragg got an Oscar, Ken Ladd got 2 Val's, CB Ray got a Val, Jay Robbins got 2 Zero's and "Corky" Smith got an Oscar. Lost are P-38H "Porky II" 42-66506 (MIA) P-47D 42-8095 (MIA), P-47D 42-22640 (MIA) P-47D piloted by Heckerman (rescued). Also two Michells are lost due to friendly fire: B-25D "Crabb 2nd" 41-30517, B-25D "Here's Howe" 41-30279. Also lost is B-17E "R.F.D. Tojo" 41-2627 after take off from 14-Mile Drome. Japanese losses include: A6M2 Zero 8224.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: After preparatory naval gunfire and aerial bombardment, during which Japanese observation from Target Hill, commanding the landing beach, is masked by smoke, Task Force BACKHANDER, commanded by Major General William H. Rupertus, Commanding General 1st Marine Division, and consisting of the 1st Marine Division (--), reinforced, begins the main invasion of New Britain at Cape Gloucester at 0746 hours.
The Marines are landed by the Seventh Amphibious Force under Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey. Forested, swampy terrain is more formidable than the surprised Japanese, who offer only light opposition. The 7th Marine Regiment establishes a beachhead, clearing. Target Hill, and is passed through by the 1st Marine Regiment. General Rupertus establishes his command post ashore. Successful secondary landings are made by the reinforced 2d Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, at Tauali, southwest of the airdrome, and by elements of the 2d Engineer Special Brigade on Long Island. A Japanese force reaches positions northwest of the Arawe main line of resistance.
During retaliatory Japanese air strikes on Cape Gloucester, USN destroyers USS Lamson, Shaw, and Mugford are damaged by dive bombers; and tank landing ships USS LST-66 is damaged by a horizontal bomber. USN destroyer USS Brownson is escorting landing craft during the landings at Cape Gloucester. At about 1442 hours local, Brownson is hit by two bombs from a Japanese "Val" dive bomber.
The bombs strike to starboard of the centerline, near number two stack. A tremendous explosion follows and the entire structure above the main deck as well as the deck plating, is gone. The ship lists 10 to 15 degrees to starboard and settles rapidly amidships with the bow and stern canted upward.
The wounded are placed in rafts and at 1450 hours the order to abandon ship is given. The amidships section is entirely underwater at that time. There is a single ripple like depth charge explosion and the ship sinks at 1459 hours about 6.5 nautical miles N of Cape Gloucester in position 05.20S, -148.25E. One hundred eight of her crew are lost.
Supporting the landings, over 270 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25s. B-24s, and A-20s attack the area between the Cape and Borgen Bay from 0714 to 1614 hours.
P-38s, P-40s, and P-47s claim over 60 Japanese aircraft shot down over the invasion area. Captain Thomas B. McGuire, Jr., flying a P-38H, shoots down three "Val" dive bombers over the invasion beaches. He cuts cards with a second pilot for the credit for shooting down a fourth "Val" and loses. McGuire now has 16 victories.

1944
BURMA: In the British Fourteenth Army's XV Corps area, the Indian 25th Division reaches Foul Point, at the tip of the Mayu Peninsula, well ahead of the expected time. The Japanese decide to withdraw from Akyab.

CHINA: Major General Albert Wedemeyer, Commanding General U.S. China Theater of Operations and Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, meeting with Chiang Kai-shek, U.S. Ambassador Major General Patrick Hurley, and Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs, T. V. Soong, proposes that the food, clothing, and pay of Chinese Army be improved. He also informs the Generalissimo that plans are being made for an offensive (Operation BETA) against Kweilin, Liuchow, and Canton.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 6 B-25s bomb Wan Lai-Kam, Burma and in China, 5 B-25s hit targets of opportunity in the Formosa Strait, in the Siang-Chiang Valley, and at Ikiawan and Changsha and 12 P-51s attack the Tsinan Airfield. 46 P-51s, P-38s, and P-40s hit railroad targets, shipping, storage and other targets of opportunity at or near Kinkiang, Anking, and Ka-chun, China; Lampang, Thailand; and the Mong Long Valley, and Man Pong, Burma.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 8 B-25s knock out and damage bridges at Taunggon, Padan, and Kyaukhlebein; 34 P-47s hit troop concentrations at Panghai, Mongyu, Na-hsang, Man Om, and Hpa-lin; 8 others hit stores area and a distributing point at Hsenwi, 11 attack supplies at Pangpao, and 2 bomb rafts, boats, and landing points at the Myitson ferry; 4 B-25s fly offensive night reconnaissance against communications lines; HQ 33d Fighter Group moves from Nagaghuli to Sahmaw. 275 transport sorties are flown to forward areas. In India, HQ 4th Combat Cargo Group and the 16th Combat Cargo Squadron move from Sylhet to Agartala with C-46s.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 13 Guam based B-24s hit Iwo Jima. 3 from Saipan fly armed reconnaissance and bomb Marcus. 2 B-24s from the Mariana Islands strike Iwo Jima during the night of 26/27 Dec.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: The 418th Night Fighter Squadron, 310th Bombardment Wing (Medium), moves from Morotai to San Jose, Mindoro with P-61s. The 36th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, moves from Hollandia, New Guinea to Biak Island with F-5s (first mission is 25 Mar 45).

EAST INDIES: On Halmahera Island, USAAF Far East Air Forces (FEAF) B-25s, B-24s, and fighter-bombers hit Galela, Lolobata, and Hate Tabako. Miscellaneous attacks by other FEAF aircraft are flown against targets in North Borneo, northeast Celebes, and Halmahera Islands. A B-24s sinks a Japanese cargo vessel off south coast of Boeroe Island.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the South China Sea, the Japanese "Intrusion Force" under Rear Admiral KIMURA Masanori, consisting of the heavy cruiser HIJMS Ashigara, light cruiser HIJMS Oyodo, three destroyers and three escort destroyers, approaches Mindoro Island, Philippine Islands, to bombard the beachhead. USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25s, P-38s, P-40s, and P-47 Thunderbolts and USN PB4Ys and PBM Mariners successively attack the force. They damage heavy cruiser HIJMS Ashigara (near-misses), light cruiser HIJMS Oyodo, destroyers HIJMS Asashimo, Kiyoshimo, and Kasumi, and escort destroyers HIJMS Kaya and Kashi. KIMURA's force carries out its bombardment mission, then encounters U.S. motor torpedo boats; PT-77 is damaged, probably accidentally bombed by friendly aircraft. Subsequently, PT-223 sinks the already damaged destroyer HIJMS Kiyoshimo off San Jose, Mindoro. The Japanese ships arrive off Mindoro and about 2300 hours begin bombarding the beachhead.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In the U.S. Eighth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 1st Cavalry and 32d Infantry Divisions continue west over rough terrain. The 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, prepares to clear the northwestern part of the Leyte Peninsula. Companies F and G sail at 2300 hours through Biliran Strait to Gigantangan Island, where they spend the night. In the XXIV Corps area, the 77th Infantry Division remains in place in the Palompon sector.
USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb Clark Field on Luzon Island. On Mindanao Island, B-25s hit Matina Airfield, shipping in the Davao River, and bomb nearby Samal Island while B-24s hit Libby airfield.
USAAF Fifth Air Force P-38 pilot Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr., shoots down four Japanese "Zeke" fighters over Manila, Luzon. McGuire has shot down seven "Zekes" in two days and he is nominated and later awarded the Medal of Honor for these actions. This brings his total victories to 38.

1945

 

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1934
JAPAN: U.S. Ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew warns thatthe Japanese intend "to obtain trade control and eventually predominant political influence in China, the Philippines, the Straits Settlements, Siam and the Dutch East Indies, the Maritime Provinces and Vladivostok. With such dreams of empire cherished by many, and with an army and navy capable of taking the bit in their own teeth and running away with it regardless of the restraining influence of the saner heads of the Government in Tokyo (a risk which unquestionably exists and of which we have already had ample evidence in the Manchurian affair), we would be. reprehensibly somnolent if we were to trust to the security of treaty restraints or international comity to safeguard our own interests or, indeed, our own property . . . Such a war may be unthinkable, and so it is, but the spectre of it is always present and will be present for some time to come. It would be criminally short-sighted to discard it from our calculations, and the best possible way to avoid it is to be adequately prepared, for preparedness is a cold fact which even the chauvinists, the military, the patriots and the ultra-nationalists in Japan, for all their bluster concerning `provocative measures' in the United States, can grasp and understand."

1937
CHINA: Jinan (Tsinan), a city in central China, surrenders to the Japanese.

1940
MALAYA: The defences of Singapore are being strengthened. Aircraft, air force personnel, members of Indian infantry, artillery, engineers, and auxiliaries have recently arrived.

NAURU ISLAND: The disguised German raider HK Komet, flying the Japanese flag, bombards phosphate plants on the Australian protectorate of Nauru. Nauru Island is a 21 square kilometer island in the South Pacific about 380 nautical miles WSW of Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands. The island is rich in phosphate deposits and will be occupied by the Japanese on 25 August 1942.

1941
AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister John Curtin's New Year's message includes the following: "Without any inhibitions of any kind, I make it quite clear that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom."

BURMA: Lieutenant General Thomas J. Hutton, Chief General Staff, India, replaces Lieutenant General D.K. MacLeod as General Officer Commanding Burma.

JAPAN: Most of the I-boat submarines off the U.S. west coast have depleted their fuel reserves. The Naval General Staff decides that the shelling of densely populated areas, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, will result in civilian losses and retaliation by the Americans. Vice Admiral SHIMIZU Mitsumi, commander of the Advance Expeditionary Force (Sixth Fleet), cancels the shellings.

MALAYA: British Lieutenant General Henry Pownall takes over from RAF Air Chief Marshal (U.S. General) Sir Robert Brooke-Popham as Commander in Chief, Far East Command with headquarters in Singapore. In 1942, Pownall became Chief of Staff of the American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command.
Indian 11th Division rear guards (12th and 28th Brigades) begin a withdrawal to defense positions near Kampar. In eastern Malaya, a Japanese threat to Kuantan is increasing. Japanese forces near the Trengganu-Pahang border are placed under artillery fire.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine I-25 shells an 8,684 ton tanker about 10 nautical miles west of the mouth of the Columbia River which is the boundary between the states of Washington and Oregon.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The Luzon front is quiet as the Japanese consolidate along the Agno River. The North Luzon Force withdraws toward the next delaying line, Tarlac-Cabanatuan, where it is to make maximum delaying effort. In southern Luzon, the Japanese continue to pursue U.S. columns along Routes 23 and 1; on the latter, the Japanese break through the main positions of the 53d Infantry Regiment (Philippine Army) and seize Candelaria.
Six USN PBY Catalinas of Patrol Squadron One Hundred One bomb Japanese shipping at Jolo Island in Suva Province, against heavy fighter opposition; four Catalinas are lost.
Japanese "Nell" bombers based on Formosa bomb shipping in Manila Bay and the Pasig River. Two Philippine customs cutters and a motorboat are set afire, while a lighthouse tender is destroyed by a direct hit. A steamship is scuttled in the Pasig River.

UNITED STATES: Rubber rationing is instituted by the U.S. government, due to shortages caused by World War II. Tires are the first items to be restricted by law.

1942
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17s bomb shipping at Rabaul, New Britain Island and sink a merchant cargo ship.

BURMA: The Indian 14th Division continues an unopposed drive on Akyab astride the Mayu River and range. East of the river, the Indian 123rd Brigade reaches the vicinity of Rathedaung. In the coastal sector, the Indian 47th Brigade arrives at Indin and gets a patrol to Foul Point, at the tip of the Mayu Peninsula. The advance then halts for various administrative reasons, one being the difficulty of bringing reinforcements and supplies forward.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Japanese under Major General Yamagata Tsuyuo at Napapo are ordered to move to Giruwa by sea. On the Urbana front, Company B, U.S. 127th Infantry Regiment, 32d Infantry Division, breaks through to Companies A and F near the coast, and Company C engages in clearing bunkers north of the gardens. The Japanese defense of Old Strip slackens as a withdrawal is begun. The Warren Force finishes clearing the runway except for stubborn a bunker position to the rear of the dispersal bay. Additional Allied tanks and cargo are unloaded at Oro Bay, during the night of 27/28December. Regimental Combat Team 163, U.S. 41st Infantry Division, arrives at Port Moresby from Australia.
In Papua New Guinea, Fifth Air Force B-26s hit targets in the Gona area while a single B-24 hits the runway at Finschhafen in Northeast New Guinea. B-17s pound shipping at Rabaul, New Britain Island.
In their first significant action in the Pacific, a dozen P-38s of the 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group engage some 24 Japanese aircraft, claiming nine Zekes and two Vals shot down for one P-38 damaged. Pilots included 2nd Lt. RIchard Bong and Capt. Tommy Lynch, Lt. Ken Sparks and 2nd Lt. John Mangas. This was the first aerial combat by the P-38 Lightning in the South West Pacific. Seven enemy planes were immediately shot down, with Mangas officially credited with one. Two other four-plane flights of the 39th FS joined the melee thereafter, claiming another six.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, while the 3d Battalion, 132d Infantry Regiment, Americal Division, conducts a holding attack that gains little ground, the 1st Battalion, to the east, moves south to locate the Japanese flanks, elements running into the Gifu strongpoint instead of outflanking it.

1943
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 10 P-40's strafe buildings on Pailochi Airfield and sink a nearby river boat; 2 locomotives N of Yoyang are also destroyed. 36 Japanese airplanes attack Suichwan Airfield, destroying 1 B-25, the alert shack, and 3 fuel dumps; US interceptors claim 4 of the attackers shot down; 1 P-40 is lost. In French Indochina, 4 P-40's bomb Phu Tho Airfield, and strafe the airfield at Dong Cuong.

BURMA: Brigadier General Lewis A. Pick, Commanding Officer Advance Section U.S. China-Burma-India Theater of Operations, opens the military road to Shingbwiyang, in Hukawng Valley. The commander of 3d Battalion, 112th Regiment, Chinese 38th Division, is killed and the battalion is later withdrawn to the main body. The 65th Regiment, Chinese 22nd Division, reinforced is given the mission, previously held by the 3d Battalion of the 112th Regiment, of clearing Taro Plain plus the task of pushing back into Hukawng Valley to threaten the Japanese flank.

NEW GUINEA: The four-month battle for Shaggy Ridge culminates with the capture of this Japanese position on the ridge's summit by Australian troops.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: The 1st Marine Division expands the Cape Gloucester beachhead on New Britain Island despite torrential monsoon rainfall and difficult terrain. The 1st Marine Regiment drives 3 miles W toward the airfield without Japanese interference. Company G, 158th Infantry Regiment, arrives at Arawe, where the Japanese are becoming aggressive, in response to Brigadier General Julian W. Cunninghams request for reinforcements.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): 20+ B-25's bomb the seaplane anchorage at Buka, strafe AA puns SE of Ramandata, bomb Kahili supply dumps, and attack a Kieta bivouac and other targets in the area. A few RNZAF Ventura's hit barges at Ambitle and Anir; and 16 P-38's join 70+ USN dive bombers in strikes on Buka AA positions. About 40 Allied fighters sweep the Rabaul area on New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago, claiming 17 aircraft shot down.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville Island, over 20 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25s bomb the seaplane anchorage at Buka, strafe AA guns southeast of Ramandata, bomb Kahili supply dumps, and attack a Kieta bivouac and other targets in the area. A few New Zealand (PV-1) Venturas hit barges at Ambitle and Anir Islands; and 16 P-38s join over USN dive bombers in strikes on Buka antiaircraft positions.
The USN light cruisers USS Honolulu and St. Louis, and four destroyers bombard the Kieta area on Bougainville.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): A-20's attack positions in the Cape Gloucester battle zone; B-25's hit villages and tracks from Rottock Bay to Riebeck Bay and strafe barges along New Britain's S coast; and B-24's bomb Hoskins Airfield. In New Guinea, B-25's bomb Madang and hit coastal targets along the Huon Peninsula; B-24's bomb Alexishafen; and P-47's strafe a road near Bogia. Lost on a ferry flight is P-39Q 42-19943.

1944
BONIN AND VOLCANO ISLANDS: USN Task Group 94.9, the heavy cruisers USS Chester, Pensacola and Salt Lake City and seven destroyers, follows up the USAAF strikes with a bombardment of Japanese installations on Iwo Jima and shipping offshore. Destroyer USS Dunlap is damaged by shore battery, but not before she teams with USS Fanning and Cummings to sink a fast transport and a landing ship.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) area, the U.S. 124th Cavalry Regiment (Special), upon completing its march to Momauk, begins reorganizing for combat.
In the British Fourteenth Army area, the XV Corps commander recommends that operations against Akyab be advanced to 3 January 1945.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 6 B-25s bomb the area W of Kengtung; 2 B-25s and 8 P-40s hit the Ishan area; 29 P-40s and P-51s attack the area S of Puchi; 17 P-51s over White Cloud, Whampoa, and Tien Ho Airfields in Canton, claim 10 airplanes destroyed; 2 P-51s are lost. 40+ P-40s and P-51s hit targets of opportunity at or near Kweiyi, China; Vinh, Yen, and Mong Khong, French Indochina; and Lungan, Mong Long, and Namtao, Burma.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 8 B-25s attack bridges at Kin and Kyaukhlebein, damaging the former; 28 P-47s hit troop and supply areas at Se-hai, Man Hkam, Mong Yok, and Mong Nge. American B-24's score direct hits on a railway bridge in Burma using guided bombs. 285 transport sorties are flown to forward areas. 4 B-25s continue offensive reconnaissance against communications lines during the night of 27/28 Dec. The 9th Combat Cargo Squadron, 3d Combat Cargo Group, moves from Moran, India to Warazup, Burma with C-47s.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 13 Saipan based B-24s hit Iwo Jima while 21 more bomb Chichi Jima; 35 B-24s from Guam also pound Iwo Jima while P-38s strafe the island on which 2 B-24s also make snooper strikes during the night of 27/28 Dec.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Mission 16: 72 B-29s from the Mariana Islands are sent to bomb Tokyo's Nakajima and Musashino aircraft plants; 39 hit the primary targets and 13 attack alternates and targets of opportunity; enemy fighters are active, flying 250+ individual attacks on the B-29s; B-29s claim 21-10-7 fighters; 3 B-29s are lost, 1 to fighters and 2 to mechanical difficulties. B-29s and crews of the 313th Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy), commanded by Colonel John H Davies, begin to arrive on Tinian Island, joining the the 73d Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) as the XXI Bomber Command's second operational wing.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: HQ 345th BG (Medium) and the 498th, 499th, 500th and 501st Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from Dulag to Tacloban with B-25s.

EAST INDIES: Small miscellaneous strikes are carried out by the USAAF Far East Air Forces over Borneo, Celebes Islands, and the Lesser Sunda Islands.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In the U.S. Eighth Army’s X Corps area on Leyte Island, Companies F and G, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, sail from Gigantangan Island. to Taglawigan, on the northwestern coast of Leyte Peninsula, and land without opposition, taking Taglawigan. They then proceed by sea and overland to Daha, which is also secured. Company G, reinforced, moves south by sea to the San Isidro area and goes ashore. The 1st Battalion, meanwhile, ordered to take San Isidro, moves overland from Calumbian to the heights overlooking the town. In the XXIV Corps area, the 3d Battalion, 305th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division, takes the heights 600 yards ahead as it continues west along the Palompon road against tenacious resistance. The 2d Battalion is to move forward by water. The 1st Battalion,
305th Infantry Regiment, remains in the Palompon area, patrolling and awaiting the rest of regiment.
USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24s bomb San Jose and Talisay Airfields on Negros Island and Matina Airfield on Mindanao Island.

1945

 

[If you have anything too add, send me a pm] 8,449

1941
AUSTRALIA: At a meeting between Australians and U.S. officials, the Australians agree
(1) to prepare several bases and refueling sites in the interior to permit flying from Brisbane, Queensland, and Darwin, Northern Territory; and
(2) to provide Royal Australian Air Force pilots to assist in training raw USAAF pilots.
Convoy ZK.5 consisting of British transport SS Aquitania, the Norwegian freighter MS Herstein and British freighter SS Sarpedon carrying 4,250 Australian troops of the 39th and 53rd (Militia) Battalions and 10,000 tons (9 072 metric tonnes) of equipment departs Sydney, New South Wales, for Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, escorted by the Australian heavy cruisers HMAS Australia (D 84) and Canberra (H 30), light cruiser HMAS Perth (D 29) and New Zealand light cruiser HMNZS Achilles (70). This is the first substantial build up of Allied forces in New Guinea.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Australian National Airlines (ANA) aircraft begins the evacuation of civilians from Rabaul on New Britain Island.

MALAYA: The Japanese are attacking British forces as they withdraw from Ipoh toward Kampar and the River Slim.

MIDWAY ISLANDS: Over 850 civilian construction workers are evacuated by two USN ships.

NEW ZEALAND: The government scrapes the bottom of the manpower barrel and comes up with three battalions to defend the country. There are no tanks, very few guns, and almost no vehicles. However, the New Zealand 2nd Division is regrouping in Egypt to continue battling the Axis forces.

PACIFIC OCEAN: USN destroyer USS Peary is damaged when mistakenly bombed and strafed by three Australian Hudsons of No. 32 Squadron off Kina, Celebes, Netherlands East Indies (NEI). The destroyer's steering gear is damaged and she has to put into Ternate in the Halmahera Islands, NEI, for repairs.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The Japanese begin a drive from the Agno River toward Cabanatuan. In southern Luzon, the Japanese force the 52d Infantry Regiment [Philippine Army (PA)], 51st Division (PA), back to Tiaong. Brigadier General Albert Jones, Commanding General 51st Division (PA), receives orders to withdraw speedily to Bataan. The 53d Infantry Regiment (PA) moves to Bataan for rest and reorganization. The Japanese seize Luisiana, on Route 1, and the 1st Infantry Regiment (PA), 1st Division (PA) withdraws westward.

UNITED STATES: The USN Chief of Bureau of Yards and Docks, Vice 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 will be known as the "Seabees" for the first letters of Construction Battalion.

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS:In the Aleutians, icing conditions and low visibility prevent all flying.
The USN high speed minesweeper USS Wasmuth is escorting a convoy through a heavy Alaskan storm when two depth charges are wrenched from their tracks by the pounding sea, fall over the side, and explode beneath the ship's stern. The blasts carry away part of the stern and she begins to founder. In the gale, the pumps cannot make headway against the inexorably rising water below.
Despite the heavy sea, the oiler USS Ramapo (AO-12) comes alongside the crippled and foundering Wasmuth and for 3.5 hours, the oiler remains with the sinking ship, transferring the latter's officers and men (134) and two passengers. After completing the rescue, Ramapo pulls away; Wasmuth sinks tomorrow about 35 nautical miles off Scotch Cap on the southwest coast of Unimak Island.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, B-24s bomb Rabaul and Gasmata.

CHINA: Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek radios U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt that although the Chinese army in Yunnan will be ready for an offensive by spring of 1943 as planned, the offensive cannot be undertaken unless there are additional naval forces for the Bay of Bengal.
The USAAF Tenth Air Force's China Air Task Force B-25s, with fighter support, hit Magwe.

JAPAN: General Sugiyama Hajime, Chief of the Army General Staff, and Admiral NAGANO Osami, Chief of the Navy General Staff, tell Emperor Hirohito of the intent by Imperial General Headquarters to order a withdrawal from Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Japanese garrison of Buna is ordered to withdraw to Giruwa, assisted by a detachment at Giruwa, which is to attack through the U.S. left flank. The Urbana Force's U.S. 127th Infantry Regiment gains a broad corridor from the Entrance Creek to the line of coconut trees. Company K makes a futile attempt to establish a bridgehead on the Mission side of Entrance Creek; some elements attempting to land from boats are turned back by fire; others begin crossing the bridge between Musita Island. and the Mission, but the bridge becomes unusable before many are across.
Volunteers from Company E enter the Triangle in the evening and find strong defenses there deserted.
Warren Force overcomes all organized resistance at Old Strip and swings north toward the coast. The Australian 2/10th Battalion, 18th Brigade, 7th Division, continues to cleanup Japanese positions around Old Strip while the Australian 2/12th Battalion, 18th Brigade, arrives at Oro Bay from Goodenough Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, during the night of 28/29 December.
Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Lae, Northeast New Guinea. HQ, 33d Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group with C-47s, moves from Australia to Port Moresby.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, patrols of the 132d Infantry Regiment, Americal Division, probe the Gifu line but are unable to find gaps. Since effective strength of the assault battalions now totals only 1,541, the 132d Infantry Regiment commanding officer is promised a fresh 2d Battalion.

UNITED STATES: Concerned about sharing the secrets of atomic research, President Franklin D. Roosevelt confirms the policy of noncooperation with the British that his advisers have been recommending. He orders that no information should be given to the British unless it happens to be in an area in which British scientists are directly involved.

1943
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): 15 B-24's from Funafuti Atoll in the Ellice and Canton in the Phoenix, staging through Tarawa Atoll and Baker, hit Maloelap and Majuro and Mille. 18 A-24s from Makin with an escort of 20 P-39's, attack Mille; this attack is followed by another against the atoll carried out by 9 B-25's from Tarawa, supported by 12 Makin-based P-39's.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: At Cape Gloucester on New Britain Island, Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, Commanding General Sixth Army, releases the reserve, the 5th Marine Regiment, reinforced, to Major General William Rupertus, Commanding General 1st Marine Division. The 1st Marine Regiment reduces the prepared Japanese trail block about 1,000 yards E of the airfield. The Japanese attack on the Arawe beachhead is repulsed.

BURMA: The Chinese 38th Division, attacking with the 1st and 2d Battalions of the 114th Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the 112th Regiment, clears several Japanese strongpoints along the Tarung River.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 4 B-25's and 4 P-51's attack Yangtze River shipping at Chihchow; 1 cargo ship is claimed sunk, 2 others damaged, and an armed motor vessel set aflame. 7 P-40's bomb a building on the railroad siding at Yun-chi.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): On Bougainville in the Solomon , 14 B-24's bomb supply areas at Bonis and 22 B-25's hit the Kahili supply area. Another large fighter sweep of the Rabaul, New Britain area results in claims of 20+ airplanes shot down.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, the Army's Americal Division takes command of the eastern sector of the beachhead, relieving the 3d Marine Division.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): HQ 58th FG and it's 310th and 311th Fighter Squadrons transfer from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia to Dobodura with P-47's. They will fly their first mission on 24 and 2 Feb 44 respectively. Over New Britain Island, 45 Allied fighters sweep over Rabaul in the morning; USMC F4U pilots claim 20 "Zeke" fighters and six "Tony" fighters and a USAAF P-47 pilot claims a "Kate" torpedo bomber. Fifth Air Force fighters cover the Arawe and Cape Gloucester beachheads while 19 A-20s bomb and strafe Japanese ground positions ahead of the Marine ground forces.

1944
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 2 B-25s and 16 fighter-bombers hit town areas, railroad targets, and gun positionsin the Hengyang-Leiyang area. 20 P-51s and P-38s attack Gia Lam Airfield, French Indochina, pounding the barracks area, hangars, shops, and railroad facilities. 40+ other P-51s, P-40s, and P-38s on armed reconnaissance over S China and over French Indochina hit targets of opportunity at several locations including areas around Anking, Kinkiang Yungning, Siangtan, and Yuncheng, China; Wanling, Mongyu, Man Pong, and Namtao, Burma; and Hanoi and Lang Son, French Indochina.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 23 P-47s knock out a bridge at Nampawng and damage others at Man Pwe and Hsenwi; 8 B-25s destroy bridges at Kin and Kyaukhlebein, hit an already unserviceable bridge at Padon, damage a bypass road at Lashio and bomb troop concentrations, supplies, and artillery at Mong Hseng, Mong Tat, and Kathe. 297 transport sorties are flown to forward areas. 4 B-25s continue offensive reconnaissance over communications lines during the night of 28/29 Dec. In India, the 5th Fighter Squadron (Commando) moves from Asansol to Fenny with P-47s. The 165th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, moves from Asansol, India to Kawlin, Burma with UC-64s and L-5s.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 13 B-24s, flying out of Saipan, bomb an airfield on Iwo Jima which is hit again during the night of 28/29 Dec when B-24s from Guam and Saipan fly 2 single-plane strikes.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Units arriving at North Field from the US with B-29s: HQ 6th BG (Very Heavy) and the 24th and 39th Bombardment Squadrons (Very Heavy) (first mission 27 Jan 45); HQ 9th BG (Very Heavy) and the 1st, 5th and 99th Bombardment Squadrons (Very Heavy) (first mission 25 Jan 45).

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian Piper Force Piper Force (two battalions of the 2/11th Battalion, 19th Brigade, 6th Division) occupies the Musimbe area and the 2/8th Battalion, 19th Brigade, 6th Division, concentrates at Luain, 1 mile east of Suain.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA : The 38th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 13 AF [attached to 4th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance)], moves from Hollandia, New Guinea to Morotai Island with F-5s (first mission is 21 Feb 45).

EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-25s attack Laha and Kairatoe Airfields on Ambon Island and Haroekoe Airfield on Haroekoe Island while fighter-bombers hit Namlea Airfield on Boeroe (Buroe) Island. In the Soembawa-Flores Island area in the Lesser Sunda Islands, B-24s attack Japanese shipping. FEAF fighters and bombers on numerous small raids hit targets on Borneo, Celebes, Halmahera, Timor and Tanimbar Islands.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese air attacks commence against the 99-ship Mindoro Island, Philippine Island-bound USN Task Group 77.11; Allied air cover cannot be provided because of bad weather over the airfields within range. Kamikazes crash tank landing ship USS LST-750 and U.S. freighters SS William Sharon and SS John Burke. SS John Burke, carrying ammunition, explodes, the cataclysmic blast damaging station tanker USS Porcupine (IX-126) and motor torpedo boat PT-332. There are no survivors from among SS John Burke's 40-man merchant complement and 28-man Armed Guard. Fragments from John Burke also hit freighter SS Francisco Morozan 100 yards away, wounding three of that ship's merchant complement. SS William Sharon, set afire by the kamikaze and gutted by fires that are ultimately controlled, is abandoned, the survivors transferring to destroyer USS Wilson, whose assistance proves invaluable in extinguishing the blaze that has consumed the freighter. Combat-salvage vessel USS Grapple (ARS-7) later tows the merchantman to San Pedro Bay for repairs. USS LST-750, hit subsequently by an aerial torpedo, is consequently scuttled by destroyer USS Edwards off the southwestern coast of Negros Island. Japanese air attacks continue tomorrow.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: On Leyte in the U.S. Eighth Army's X Corps area, the 5th and 12th Cavalry Regiments (Infantry), 1st Cavalry Division reach the west coast at Tibur, a barrio north of Abijao. The 1st and 2d Battalions, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, take San Isidro against light resistance. In the XXIV Corps area, the 2d Battalion, 305th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division, moves by Landing Craft, Mechanized (LCM) from Ormoc to Palompon; the 3d Battalion continues an overland drive, gaining about 1,000 yards.
On Mindoro, Elmore Field is now fully operational.
USAAF Far East Air fighters and bombers on numerous small raids hit targets on Palawan and Mindanao and ,the Lingayen Gulf, and west of Mindoro Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, Australian Brigadier Raymond Monaghan, General Officer Commanding 29th Brigade, 3rd Division, orders a deep advance along the coast. The 15th Battalion is to seize the south bank of the Tavera Rivera and the log crossing of the Mendai Track north of the river.

1945

 

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1934
JAPAN: The Government formally renounces their participation in the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930. The 1922 treaty established the maximum tonnage of capital ships that could be built by the five signatories, the British Empire, France, Italy, Japan and the U.S. The 1930 treaty aimed to regulate submarine warfare and limited military shipbuilding. The Japanese will no longer have to limit their fleet to the ratios prescribed by these agreements and can begin a massive arms building program.

1940
UNITED STATES: President Franklin D. Roosevelt is reported authoritatively today to have drafted a US$17 billion (US$237.2 billion in 2005 dollars) budget for the fiscal year 1942 (1 July 1941 to 30 June 1942), including US$10 billion (US$139.5 billion in 2005 dollars) for the armaments program.
In a "fireside chat" on radio, Roosevelt calls for the US to become "the arsenal of democracy." The President made "the direct statement to the American people that there is far less chance of the US getting into war if we do all we can now to support the nations defending themselves against attack by the Axis than if we acquiesce in their defeat."

1941
AUSTRALIA: Major General Lewis H Brereton, Commanding General Far East Air Force, arrives at his new headquarters at Darwin, Northern Territory.

BURMA: From Bokpyin, the Japanese withdraw under pressure into Thailand.

CHINA: The establishment of the China Theater under supreme command of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, who is to be assisted by an Allied staff, is announced. The theater is to include portions of Thailand and French Indochina in friendly hands.

EAST INDIES: The Indian detachment from Kuching, Sarawak, arrives at Sanggau, Dutch Borneo, and is placed under Dutch command.

MALAYA: On the Indian 11th Division front, the Indian 12th Brigade holds firmly against a strong Japanese attack but, since its position is becoming untenable, falls back through Kampar to Bidor, where it is held in reserve.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In northern Luzon, the 91st Division [Philippine Army (PA)] holds Cabanatuan against a strong enemy thrust, but the Japanese succeed in crossing the Pampanga River near there. Another Japanese force, heading for Tarlac in the 21st Division (PA) sector, reaches a position just north of Tarlac. All elements of the South Luzon Force withdraw quickly toward Bataan. Japanese "Betty" bombers and "Nell" bombers from Formosa, attack Corregidor for the first time. Although wooden structures suffer heavily, little damage is done to military installations. Antiaircraft fire from forts guarding Manila Bay destroy a number of bombers. The 4th Marine Regiment takes responsibility for beach defense. During the bombings, submarine tender USS Canopus (AS-9) is damaged in Mariveles Harbor, river gunboat USS Mindanao (PR-8) is damaged by near-misses off Corregidor.

UNITED STATES: All German, Italian and Japanese aliens in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington and are ordered to surrender contraband.

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: A B-24 flies a negative reconnaissance over Rat and Amchitka Islands. A scheduled attack on Japanese-held Kiska Island and the reconnaissance mission over Amchitka Island are cancelled by bad weather.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: B-24s carry out single-bomber attacks on the airfield at Gasmata on the south coast of New Britain Island.

BURMA: Twelve USAAF Tenth Air Force B-24s attack shipping in the vicinity of Rangoon.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, Japanese Major General Yamagata Tsuyuo, charged with rescue of the Buna garrison, arrives at Giruwa.
On the Urbana Force front, Company B, U.S. 127th Infantry Regiment, drives from the line of coconut trees to the sea southeast of Buna Mission, completing a corridor from Entrance Creek to the coast and cutting off the Japanese at Buna Mission from those at Giropa Point. A patrol wades the shallows between spits extending from Buna Village and Buna Mission without opposition.
The Warren Force attacks northward toward the coast in the area between Simemi Creek and Giropa Point with Australians operating four U.S. made M3 Stuart light tanks and a company of the 2/9th Battalion, 18th Brigade, 7th Division, spearheading. Little headway is made because of poor tank-infantry co-ordination and determined opposition; positions are consolidated at edge of coconut trees.
Japanese counterattacks during the night are repulsed. Six hundred fifteen men of the Australian 2/12th Battalion, 18th Brigade, arrive at the front.
At Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Australian Lieutenant General Sir Edmund Herring General Officer Commanding New Guinea Force and General Officer Commanding I Australian Corps, outlines his plans. As soon as Buna is captured, he intends to resume intensive operations against the Sanananda-Cape Killerton area with the Australian 7th Division and the Buna Force committed against Sanananda. Attached to the Australian 7th Division will be the 14th, 18th and 30th Brigades and the U.S. 163d Infantry Regiment, 41st Infantry Division.
The Buna Force will consist of the U.S. 126th, 127th and 128th Infantry Regiments, 32d Infantry Division. Additional guns will be moved to the Sanananda Track and eight more guns moved by sea from Port Moresby.
In Papua New Guinea, USAAF A-20s strafe forces and occupied areas at Lokanu and along the west bank of the Amboga River while B-24s carry out single bomber attacks on Lae Airfield.

GUADALCANAL: At the conference at the command post of Major General Alexander Patch, Commanding General Armerical Division on Guadalcanal, the decision is made to continue the attack on Mt Austen. A patrol of the 1st Battalion, 132d Infantry Regiment, finds a safe route to Hill 27, south of Gifu.

NEW GEORGIA: Six P-39s and USMC SBDs attack cargo vessels in the New Georgia group. Despite Allied bombing raids, the Japanese complete Munda Airfield on New Georgia Island.

1943
CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 4 P-40's on armed reconnaissance strafe the railroad station, yards, and town area at Hsipaw, hit numerous freight cars between Hsipaw and Mansam Falls, and attack railroad yards at Hopong; 3 B-25's on a shipping sweep along the Yangtze River claim a cargo vessel and an armed passenger ship sunk SW of Wuhu.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): HQ 347th FG and it's 339th Fighter Squadron transfer from New Caledonia to Guadalcanal in the Solomon with P-38's.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, the 1st Marine Regiment secures their main objective, the airfield, at Cape Gloucester with singular ease. The 5th Marine Regiment arrives to reinforce the beachhead and make a wide sweep inland toward the airfield to block a Japanese withdrawal. The Japanese makes another unsuccessful counterattack on the Arawe beachhead.

BURMA: Continuing their attack to clear the Tarung River line, the Chinese 38th Division eliminates another Japanese strong point and forces the Japanese to break into small groups.

CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): B-24s bomb Taroa Airfield, after dropping their bombs, the bombers were reportedly attacked by over 30 Japanese aircraft.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): 120+ B-24's, B-25's, and B-26's pound positions at Cape Gloucester as the US Marines take the major objective, the airfield. B-25's hit Madang; B-24's bomb bivouac and communications targets near Sio, and other B-24's fly a light attack against Manokwari, hitting the town and shipping. The 69th Fighter Squadron, 58th FG, transfers from Brisbane to Dobodura with P-47's. They will fly their first mission on 17 Feb 44.

NEW GUINEA: Task Force MICHAELMAS issues formal orders for the invasion of Saidor, Northeast New Guinea. D-Day is tentatively set for 2 January.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Philippine Sea, the USN submarine USS Silversides sinks a Japanese transport, an army cargo ship and a merchant cargo ship and damages an army cargo ship about 63 nautical miles NW of the Palau Islands.

1944
ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): 3 B-25s on a fighter decoy mission abort due to weather; 2 of them are missing on the return flight. A B-24 bombs Katoaka on Shimushu Island in the Kurile Islands.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 4 B-25s attack targets of opportunity from Dong Hoa to Lang Son, French Indochina; 37 P-51s and P-40s on armed reconnaissance attack Gia Lam Airfield in French Indochina and hit various targets of opportunity E of Man Pong and N of Mongyu, Burma; and at Shanhsien and Hei-Shih Kuan and E of Tsingsinghsien, China.

BURMA: The Northern Combat Area Command and British Fourteenth Army fronts are linked as patrols of the British 36th Division establish contact with the Indian 19th Division. On the Arakan front, the Indian XV Corps now holds Rathedaung and Kudaung Island.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 9 B-25s bomb troops and supplies at Panma; 15 P-47s hit the supply area at Twinnge and troop concentration at Wetwun; 4 B-25s continue armed night reconnaissance over communications facilities. Transports fly 289 sorties to forward bases and frontline areas. A detachment of the 166th Liaison Squadron (Commando), 1st Air Commando Group, begins operating from Arakan, Burma with UC-64s and L-5s (squadron is based at Asansol, India).

NEW GUINEA: The Australian Piper Force (two battalions of the 2/11th Battalion, 19th Brigade, 6th Division) occupies Musinau, Northeast New Guinea. Musinau is located about 42 miles SE of Aitape.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 26 B-24s, based on Guam pound Iwo Jima which is bombed again for a 6-hour period during the night of 29/30 Dec, by 9 B-24s, flying at varying intervals.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: The air echelon of the 82d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group, begins operating from San Jose with F-6s and P-40s (squadron is based on Morotai).

EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces (FEAF) B-25s and fighter-bombers hit Namlea on Boeroe (Buroe) Island. Fighter-bombers hit northeastern Celebes Island airfields while B-24s bomb Limboeng on Celebes Island. FEAF aircraft fly small strikes against a wide range of targets in northern Borneo and on Timor Island.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In the U.S. Eighth Army's X Corps area on Leyte, the 1st Cavalry Division reaches the west coast and takes Villaba, north of Tibur. The 32d Infantry Division gains its west coast objectives to the north of the 1st Cavalry Division, the 127th Infantry Regiment taking the heights commanding Antipolo Point and the 128th Infantry Regiment reaching the high ground overlooking Tabango and Campopo Bays. Troops of the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, are eliminating small Japanese groups along the coast. In the XXIV Corps area, the 3d Battalion, 305th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division, after advancing 650 yards along the road to Palompon, is pinned down by the Japanese. The Provisional Mountain Force gets into position for a drive east along the Palompon road.
USAAF Far East Air Forces (FEAF) B-24s bomb Sasa Airfield on Mindanao Island. FEAF aircraft fly small strikes against a wide range of targets in the central Philippine Islands and southern Luzon Island.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, a company of the Australian 15th Battalion, 29th Brigade, 3rd Division, lands south of the Tavera River and the log crossing on the Mendai Track-Peters's Post and occupy it. Meanwhile, a company of the 47th Battalion, 29th Brigade, advances up the Jaba River and establishes a base about halfway to the junction with the Pagana River. The Australians destroy a Japanese pocket that has been holding up their advance along the Jaba River.

1945

 

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1884
JAPAN: TOJO Heideki is born in Tokyo. The son of a Japanese Army Lieutenant General. TOJO graduated from the Japanese military academy in 1905 and was appointed War Minister in 1940. He later served as the 40th Prime Minister of Japan 18 October 1941 to 22 July 1944.

1939
FRENCH INDOCHINA: A breakaway group of Chinese Nationalists in Hanoi, led by the Kuomintang's ex foreign minister Wang Chingwei, appears to have finalised an agreement with Japan to set up a rival Nationalist government under Japanese protection.
The Tokyo educated Wang Chingwei, once Chiang Kai-shek's main rival for the Kuomintang leadership, fled to Hanoi a year ago to start a peace movement in response to Japan's call for a "new order in Asia." Since the loss of Wuhan he has become convinced that the war against Japan is unwinnable.

1940
AUSTRALIA: Convoy US-8 (Australia-Middle East) consisting of the troop transports Aquitania. Awatea, Dominion Monarch, Mauretania and Queen Mary escorted by the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra (D 33), sails from Melbourne, Victoria. The troopships are carrying the Australian 2/15th Battalion and the 2/28th and 2/43rd Battalions of the 24th Brigade and New Zealand troops.

UNITED STATES: Polls suggest that President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Arsenal of Democracy" speech yesterday was the most successful he has ever given. Seventy five percent of the population is aware of it and more than 60 percent agreed with what he said.
A poll for Fortune magazine shows that where a year ago American businessmen looked unsympathetically on the predicament of Britain and France, now the majority are determined to do whatever need to be done to help Britain defeat Hitler.

1941
ALASKA: The first aerial reinforcements for the territory, 25 P-40s of the 11th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) arrive at Elmendorf Field, Anchorage.

EAST INDIES: The air echelons of two USAAF Far East Air Force B-17s squadrons arrive at Sinosari, Java, Netherlands East Indies, from Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-1 shells Hilo on the island of Hawaii with her 5.5-inch gun. The USN seaplane tender (destroyer) USS Hulbert (AVD-6), moored to a pier is not hit.

MALAYA: The Japanese maintain pressure against the Kampar position in western Malaya; on the east coast they threaten Kuantan from the north in greater strength. The Kuantan defense force is in the process of concentrating west of the Kuantan River, which is crossed by a single ferry. Two Japanese battalions land at Kota Bharu and begin a march down the east coast.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 torpedoes and damages a 5,695 ton unarmed U.S. freighter off the coast of California about 26 nautical miles off San Pedro. Although damaged, the freighter escapes.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The North Luzon Force is unable to hold the Japanese on the line Cabanatuan-Tarlac and begins a withdrawal southward toward the final defense positions before Bataan. From Cabanatuan, the 91st Division [Philippine Army (PA)] withdraws along Route 5 through Gapan toward Baliuag, northeast of Calumpit. Tank battalions are ordered to the Plaridel-Baliuag area to defend the vital Calumpit bridge over the Pampanga River, across which the South Luzon Force must withdraw to reach San Fernando and the road leading into Bataan, and 71st Division (PA) is dispatched to Baliuag.
In the center, the 11th Division (PA) succeeds in delaying a Japanese column heading for Tarlac from Cabanatuan. The 21st Division (PA) falls back from Tarlac along Route 3 toward the line Bamban-Arayat.
The South Luzon Force, ordered to delay the Japanese, halts at Santiago, where an ambush is arranged, but because of reverses of the North Luzon Force is directed in the evening to continue their withdrawal and cross the Calumpit bridge not later than 0600 hours on 1 January.
The Philippine Army's 51st Infantry Regiment (PA) and a battery of the 51st Field Artillery Regiment are dispatched to assist in the defense of the Calumpit bridge. The 2d Philippine Constabulary Regiment covers the withdrawal while the main body moves toward Bataan.
Philippine President Manuel Quezon is inaugurated on Corregidor.
USN commandeered tug SS Ranger lands a volunteer raiding party on Sangley Point, located on a peninsula jutting into Manila Bay approximately 8 miles SW of Manila. The sailors bring out diesel generators and diesel oil needed on Corregidor to provide auxiliary power.

UNITED STATES: Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are given the authority to search the homes of enemy aliens if there is a reason to suspect there is contraband on the premises.
Admiral Ernest J. King assumes duties as Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet (CINCUS). To avoid use of what he considers the pejorative acronym CINCUS ("Sink Us"), he introduces COMINCH ("Comm Inch" or Command in Chief).

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: B-25s and 14 P-38s approach Japanese-held Kiska Harbor at minimum altitude for a bombing and strafing attack. Two ships and three submarines, newly arrived, are covered by Zeros. Four of the Zeros engage the approaching P-38s in a dogfight; two P-38s are shot down and four Zeros are listed as probables.
The B-25s meanwhile attack the ships with unobserved results; one B-25 is shot down off Little Kiska Island. A USN PBY Catalina picks up survivors, but fails to return to base. Kiska Harbor is then attacked once more by five B-24s, four B-25s and four B-26s. They claim hits on both vessels observing explosions on the smaller ship. A B-24 photographs Amchitka while a weather reconnaissance of Near Island is cancelled due to weather. Aerial reconnaissance observes for the first time Japanese use of a smoke screen at Kiska Harbor.

AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister John Curtin complains to the press about "buggers in Australia who won't work. Coal mines are idle, and everyone is thinking about holidays just at a time when a few extra tons in our war effort would have a crucial effect. We are like people who have just got contagion out of the house, and just over the back fence. Apparently we are not worrying about how dirty the yard is."

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17s bomb shipping at Rabaul on New Britain Island and sink a merchant cargo ship.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, the Urbana Force maintains pressure against Buna Mission from the southeast and prepares to envelop it by attacking eastward from Buna Village and Musita Island.
Warren Force regroups. Advance elements of the 163d Infantry Regiment (1st Battalion and headquarters) , U.S. 41st Infantry Division, are flown to Dobodura and Popondetta from Port Moresby.
In Papua New Guinea, Fifth Air Force A-20s strafe forces in the Duvira Creek area while B-24s carry out single-bomber attacks on the airfield at Lae, Madang Village, and troops and vehicles at Wewak. A B-17s strafes a schooner in Jacquinot Bay.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: In preparation for renewing their attack on Hill 27 on Guadalcanal, the 2d Battalion, 132d Infantry Regiment, Americal Division, begins a movement to forward positions. The 1st and 3d Battalions continue to patrol.

1943
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): 17 B-24's, flying from Tarawa Atoll, bomb Kwajalein Atoll and 9 B-25's from Tarawa hit the town of Jabor. A-24s from Makin, escorted by 24 P-39's, dive-bomb gun positions on Mille. Advance HQ, Seventh Air Force, is moved from Funafuti Atoll in the Ellice to Tarawa, where it remains until the completion of the main campaign in the Gilbert and Marshalls.

BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): 20 B-24's pound Monywa, Burma, hitting railway facilities and the area in general.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 8 Japanese fighters strafe Suichaan Airfield while 12 others provide cover; 2 US airplanes are destroyed on the ground; 8 P-40's intercept the formation after the attack and shoot down 3 aircraft.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, the Australian 2/7th Commando Squadron, 2/6th Commando Regiment, occupies Walum village. Walum is about 45 miles

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, Piva South (Piva Uncle) airstrip is completed; the field is located just inland from Torokina, on the coast of Emperess Augusta Bay. The Fiji patrol, composed of Fijians, having advanced along the Numa Numa trail, establishes outposts near the coast at Ibu village, where it can observe Japanese movements. An airstrip for use of Piper Cubs is cleared there. After aircraft attack Japanese positions on Pearl Ridge for 40 minutes, the Australian 25th Battalion, 7th Brigade, 3rd Division, begins an advance at 0800 hours local behind artillery and machine gun fire. Companies A and D meet heavy resistance and dig in by 1600 hours but Companies B and C reach their objectives. During the night, the Japanese mount strong counterattacks but are driven off.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): On Bougainville in the Solomon , 16 B-24's and 35 B-25's bomb Kahili and the bivouac and supply areas in the vicinity and 6 B-25's bomb the Korovo area. 19 B-24's, with 25 fighters covering, attack shipping at Rabaul and also hit Tobera airfield. The escorts encounter aggressive fighter opposition and claim 12 shot down.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: Cape Gloucester Airfield (Tuluvu), located on the western tip of New Britain Island's northern coast, is declared secure; it has been taken by the Marines at very light cost. Heavy rains delay its improvements, and American aircraft do not start operating from the strip until February 1944.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): A-20's hit positions in the Cape Gloucester area as US Marines completely secure the airfield. B-24's and B-25's bomb the Alexishafen and Madang areas, Sio, and targets of opportunity along the coast of the Huon Peninsula; P-39's strafe barges along the Huon Peninsula; and P-47's strafe the Madang area and huts between Sio and Vincke Point.

1944

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 4 B-24s damage a bridge W of Kengtung, China while 2 others NE of Thanh Moi, French Indochina, damage a bridge, railroad tracks, and 40+ boxcars. 40+ P-51s and P-40s on armed reconnaissance attack targets of opportunity at several points including areas around Mong Nawng, Man Pong, and Mong Long, Burma; and Ka-chun, Shanhsien, Ichang, and Shayang, China.

BURMA: In the British Fourteenth Army area, the XXXIII Corps takes Kaduma.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 12 P-47s knock out and damage bridges at Man Pwe, Ho-hko (2 bridges), and Inailong; 17 B-25s blast a troop and supply area at Kyatpyin; 28 P-47s and P-38s hit troops, supplies, and areas of enemy activity at Myethin, Manna, Nanponpon, Lawa, Sabenago, Hmattawmu, and Hosi. Transports complete 338 sorties to forward areas. 4 B-25s continue a single-plane offensive reconnaissance over communications lines during the night of 30/31 Dec.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 14 Saipan Island-based B-24s bomb Iwo Jima Island which is hit again over an almost 7-hour period during the night of 30/31 Dec by 9 B-24s singly operating from Guam Island.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: HQ 322d Troop Carrier Wing is activated at Hollandia, New Guinea. Units moving from Leyte Island to San Jose: HQ 3d BG and the 8th, 13th, 89th and 90th Bombardment Squadrons from Dulag with A-20s; HQ 49th FG and the 7th and 9th Fighter Squadrons from Tacloban with P-38s; and HQ 58th FG from San Roque.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces fighter-bombers attack airfields on northern Borneo and northern and southwestern Celebes Island while B-25s hit a barge anchorage and supplies at Haroekoe Island. Smaller strikes by B-25s, B-24s, and fighter-bombers are flown against shipping, oil targets, airfields, and targets of opportunity throughout the Netherlands East Indies.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese air attacks continue on Mindoro, Philippine Islands-bound convoy; kamikazes damage destroyers USS Pringle and Gansevoort; motor torpedo boat tender USS Orestes (AGP-10); and auxiliary USS Porcupine (IX-126). USS Porcupine is ultimately scuttled by USS Gansevoort. A merchant freighter is sunk by bombs off Mindoro Island and a merchant freighter is damaged when a kamikaze is shot down by a U.S. fighter and explodes over the ship.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In the U.S. Eighth Army's X Corps area on Leyte Island, the 1st Cavalry Division makes contact with the 32d Infantry Division northeast of Villaba. In the XXIV Corps area, the 77th Infantry Division begins two-pronged attacks to open the Palompon road. While the 3d Battalion, 305th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division, continues west to a point some 1,000 yards SW of Tipolo, the Provisional Mountain Force attacks east until stopped about 4 miles E of Palompon. The Japanese withdraw their main forces, during the night of 30/31 December. Company C, 305th Infantry Regiment, moves by water to Abiao, north of Palompon, and burns the town; continuing north, they gain radio contact with 1st Cavalry Division in the Villaba area.
On Mindoro Island, the second resupply convoy arrives. Under Japanese air attack while en route, the convoy loses three merchant ships, two destroyers, three tank landing ships (LSTs), and a landing craft, mechanized (LCM) at or near the island. Most of the 3d Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, arrives.
In the principal action of the day, USAAF Far East Air Forces fighter-bombers attack airfields in the central Philippines. Smaller strikes by B-25s, B-24s, and fighter-bombers are flown against shipping, and targets of opportunity throughout the Philippine Islands.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, Australians of the 25th Battalion, 7th Brigade, 3rd Division, occupy Pearl Ridge. The capture of the heavily defended Japanese position on the Pearl Ridge give the Australians possession of this important vantage point that provided views over both sides of the island.

1945

 

[If you have anything too add, send me a pm] 8,771

1938
UNITED STATES: The government rejects the new order in China stating, "In the light of facts and experience the Government of the United States is impelled to reaffirm its previously expressed opinion that imposition of restrictions upon the movements and activities of American nationals who are engaged in philanthropic, educational, and commercial endeavors in China has placed and will, if continued, increasingly place Japanese interests, in a preferred position and is, therefore, unquestionably discriminatory, in its effect, against legitimate American interests. Furthermore, with reference to such matters as exchange control, compulsory, currency circulation, tariff revision, and monopolistic promotion in certain areas of China, the plans and practices of the Japanese authorities imply an assumption on the part of those authorities that the Japanese Government or the regimes established and maintained in China by Japanese armed forces are entitled to act in China in a capacity such as flows from rights of sovereignty and, further in so acting, to disregard and even to declare non-existent or abrogated the established rights and interests of other countries, including the United States. . . . This government does not admit, however, that there is need or warrant for any one power to take upon itself to prescribe what shall be the terms and conditions of a `new order' in areas not under its sovereignty and to constitute itself the repository of authority and the agent of destiny in regard thereto."

1941
AUSTRALIA: Major General George H. Brett, who arrived from China three days ago, assumes command of U.S. Forces in Australia (USFIA) with headquarters in Brisbane, Queensland.

EAST INDIES: In the Netherlands East Indies, the air echelon of the Far East Air Force's 30th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) transfers from Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia to Singosari, Java, with B-17s.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz assumes command of the Pacific Fleet in ceremonies on board the submarine USS Grayling at Pearl Harbor.
Japanese submarines shell Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii Islands.

MALAYA: The Indian 11th Division now holds a relatively well-organized defense position in western Malaya, with the Indian 6/15 Brigade disposed on the main line of resistance at Kampar and the Indian 28th Brigade Group to the east. The Japanese increase pressure against the 28th Brigade Group. On the east coast, the Kuantan defense force completes a concentration west of Kuantan River and destroys the ferry.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: The evacuation of Manila is completed as the rear echelon of U.S. Army Forces Far East headquarters leaves. The North Luzon Force closes in final defense positions, Bamban-Arayat, before San Fernando and Plaridel, east of the Calumpit bridge. On the eastern flank, the 91st Division [Philippine Army (PA)] goes into reserve south of Baliuag, leaving the 71st Division (PA) to delay the Japanese briefly at Baliuag; both divisions then retire toward the Calumpit bridge. Firm contact is made between the North and South Luzon Forces in the San Fernando area after the latter crosses the Calumpit bridge. Brigadier General Albert Jones, Commanding General South Luzon Force, is placed in command of all forces east of the Pampanga River.
The USN submarine rescue vessel USS Pigeon (ASR-6) transports an armed party to Sangley Point in Manila Bay and brings out a Luzon Stevedoring Company lighter loaded with 97 mines and eight truckloads of aerial depth charges; USS Pigeon then tows the barge to a point 4.5 miles off Sangley Point and capsizes it in 11 fathoms (66 feet) of water. The sailors also destroy the aircraft repair shop at Cavite Naval Base and one irreparable PBY Catalina.

UNITED STATES: The members of the Arcadia Conference being held in Washington, D.C. order a joint American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command to be established to control all Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific. British General Sir Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief, India, will command.
America's last automobiles with chrome-plated trim are manufactured today. Starting tomorrow, chrome plating becomes illegal. It is part of an effort to conserve resources for the American war effort but the chrome is not missed too much because virtually no automobiles are produced in the U.S. from 1942 through the end of World War II.

VENEZUELA: The government breaks diplomatic relations with Germany, Italy and Japan.

1942
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Six B-24s covered by nine P-38s, attack Japanese-held Kiska Island Harbor, and damages a Japanese merchant cargo ship off Kiska.; one of six intercepting Japanese aircraft is probably shot down. A B-25 searching for the Navy PBY Catalina missing since yesterday also flies reconnaissance over Semisopochnoi, Segula, Little Sitkin, Gareloi and Amchitka.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Islands, Fifth Air Force B-24s operating singly, bomb Gasmata Airfield and attack shipping in Wide Bay and Saint George Channel. Aircraft flying over Rabaul on New Britain Island note 21 Japanese warships and 70 merchant vessels in the harbor, the largest concentration of Japanese ships ever seen in the area.

BURMA: USAAF Tenth Air Force P-40s on armed reconnaissance hit railroad targets of opportunity from Naba to Pinbaw.

JAPAN: Emperor Hirohito is presented with the finalized plan to withdraw from Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands. He informs General Sugiyama Hajime, Chief of the Army General Staff, and Admiral Nagano Osami, Chief of the Navy General Staff, that he will issue an Imperial Rescript to acknowledge the heroic sacrifices of his soldiers and sailors.

NEW GUINEA: The Urbana Force begins envelopment of Buna Mission. Company E, 127th Infantry Regiment, and Company F, 128th Infantry Regiment, cross the shallows east of Buna Village before dawn and, although the Japanese offer strong opposition upon being alerted, advance about 200 yards (183 meters) along the spit extending from Buna Mission. Other elements of the Urbana Force maintain pressure on the Japanese from the southeast and finish clearing Government Gardens, but the Japanese retain positions in the swamp north of the gardens. Patrol contact is made between the Urbana Force and Warren Force.
The Warren Force finishes regrouping. The fresh Australian 2/12th Battalion, 18th Brigade, 7th Division, is disposed on the left, 3d Battalion of the U.S. 128th Infantry Regiment in the center, and the Australian 2/10th Battalion, 18th Brigade, on the right. With the arrival of additional cargo at Oro Bay by sea, supplies moved in this manner since the first vessel arrived on 11 December total some 4,000 tons.
Fifth Air Force A-20s strafe forces in the Sanananda and Giruwa area and along the Amboga River. B-26s pound forces on the north shore of the Markham River near its mouth, while A-20s strafe parked aircraft at Lae.

GUADALCANAL: On Guadalcanal, the 2d Battalion, 132d Infantry Regiment. Americal Division, reaches Hill 11, east of the Gifu strongpoint, the line of departure for the enveloping movement.

NEW GEORGIA: B-26s of the 69th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 38th BG (Medium), escorted by P-38s and P-39s, attack the airfield at Munda.

UNITED STATES: The USN commissions the aircraft carrier USS Essex ( CV-9 ) at Norfolk, Virginia. The USN now has five aircraft carriers in commission.
In San Francisco, California, the midnight curfew puts a damper on New Years' Eve celebrations. The usual revelers are missing from the traditional gathering spot at Market and Powell Streets. Curfew regulations drove most of the revelry into hotels equipped with blackout curtains.
The military lifted off-limits sanctions against eight San Francisco bars and taverns which may again serve liquor to men in uniform. Each bar owner signed an agreement to limit liquor sales to military personnel to between 1700 and 2400 hours. Beer may be sold between 1000 and 2400 hours.

1943
CENTRAL PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Seventh Air Force): The air echelon of the 26th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 11th BG (Heavy), operating from Canton in the Phoenix since 12 Nov, returns to base on Nukufetau in the Ellice with B-24's.

AUSTRALIA: In Brisbane, Queensland, Lieutenant Commander Dudley W. "Mush" Morton relieves Lieutenant Commander Marvin G. "Pinky" Kennedy of command of the USN submarine USS Wahoo in an informal ceremony.

D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS: Task Force MICHAELMAS sails from Goodenough Island. for Saidor, Northeast New Guinea.

JAPAN: Four USN PBY-5A Catalinas from Attu, Aleutian Islands, bomb Shimushu and Kashiwabara, in the Kurile Islands.

CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 25 B-24's pound the Lampang railroad yards, causing several big fires and many secondary explosions. 6 B-25's hit Yangtze River shipping in the Anking and Lu-Kuan areas, claiming 3 cargo vessels and a troop carrier sunk; and 2 others on a sea sweep damage a passenger vessel in the Hainan Straits.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force): The 371st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 307th Bombardment Group (Heavy), ceases operating from Guadalcanal in the Solomon with B-24's and returns to base on Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides.

NEW GUINEA: On the Huon Peninsula, the Australian 2/15th Battalion, 20th Brigade, 9th Division, accompanied by tanks, move through Kanomi and resume the advance until halting at the last creek before Nanda. The 20th Brigade has advanced 17 miles in ten days.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force): On New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago, A-20's hit troop concentrations in the Cape Gloucester area; nearly 50 P-40's and P-47's intercept a small force of airplanes attacking the Arawe beachhead area and 12 aircraft are claimed shot down. Almost 150 B-24's and medium bombers pound the Madang, Alexishafen, and Bogadjim areas.

1944
CHINA: Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Sheik announces that his government will establish a constitutional government before the end of the war and make China a democratic republic.

CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): 4 B-24s claim 1 freighter sunk and another damaged off Hainan Island. 4 B-25s damage 2 bridges and destroy or damage 5 buildings at Mong Ping, Burma. In China, 35 P-40s and P-51s attack troops, horses, town areas, and railroad targets at or near Hankow, Saiping, Siangtan, Hengyang, Lingling, and Kweilin. 29 other fighters on armed reconnaissance hit targets of opportunity at several points in N French Indochina, E Burma, and S China. The detachment of the 16th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, operating from Liangshan with P-51s, returns to base at Chengkung (another detachment is operating from Kwanghan).

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) area, the U.S. 475th Infantry Regiment (Long Range Penetration, Special), upon relief at Tonk-wa by the Chinese 50th Division, which is now operating in the center, starts a march towards the Mong Wi area, where the 5332d Brigade (Provisional) is to assemble for its first operation as a brigade. The Chinese 1st Separate Regiment, which is to be a part of the 5332d Brigade, will be held in NCAC reserve. The 5332d Brigade consists of the 124th Cavalry Regiment (Special), the 475th Infantry Regiment (Long Range Penetration, Special), the 612th and 613th Field Artillery Battalions (75mm Pack Howitzer) and the Chinese 1st Separate Regiment. The Brigade is also known as the MARS Task Force.
In the British Fourteenth Army's XXXIII Corps area, Kabo falls to the British 2d Division.

INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 28 P-47s strafe Laihka, Namsang, Aungban, Kunlon, and Heho Airfields; 5 P-47s damage a bridge at Namhkai; a total of 65 P-47s and P-38s hit Japanese Division HQ at Ongyaw and troop concentrations and supply areas at Mongmit, Nawngka, Kawngtawng, Pangnim, Mong Tat, Kutkai, and Man Namman; a few B-25s fly night harassment missions against airfields. About 300 transport sorties are flown to forward areas throughout the day.

AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): From Guam 19 B-24s hit Iwo Jima airfields during the day; 10 more B-24s hit the island with individual harassment raids over a 6-hour period during the night of 31 Dec/1 Jan.

HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): Brigadier General Haywood S Hansell, Jr, and his XXI Bomber Command Forward Echelon HQ staff close the Saipan Island HQ and move to Guam Island where the ground echelon arrived in early Dec.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: The 63d Troop Carrier Squadron, 403d Troop Carrier Group, based on Biak with C-47s, ceases operating from Noemfoor. The ground echelon of the 82d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group, begins a movement from Morotai to Lingayen (air echelon is operating from San Jose with F-6 and P-40s). The 550th Night Fighter Squadron, XIII Fighter Command, based at Hollandia with P-61s, sends a detachment to operate from Middleburg.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators bomb Ambesia Airfield on Celebes Island, hit Dili on Portugese East Timor. Fighter-bombers are active against airfields, shipping, AA guns, and various targets of opportunity on Halmahera Island and on N Celebes Island.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: In the U.S. Eighth Army's X Corps area on Leyte Island, the 1st Cavalry Division repels several counterattacks against Villaba. In the XXIV Corps area, the 77th Infantry Division’s 305th Infantry Regiment finishes clearing the Palompon road. The 3d Battalion and the Provisional Mountain Force make contact 2 miles NE of San Miguel. The 77th Infantry Division estimates that, during the period 21-31 December, it has killed 5,779 Japanese at a cost of 17 killed.
On Mindoro Island, the Japanese continue air attacks on shipping, sinking a PT tender and badly damaging a destroyer. A platoon of Company F, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24 Infantry Division, lands at Bulalacao, on the south coast almost 25 miles SE of San Jose.
USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24s and B-25s bomb airfields in the central Philippine Islands and on Luzon and Mindanao Islands.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, the Australian 9th Battalion, 7th Brigade, 3rd Division, resumes their attack and capture Pearl Ridge. Lieutenant General Stanley Savige, General Officer Commanding Australian II Corps, tells Brigadier John Stevenson, General Office Commanding Australian 11th Brigade, to conduct operations with the objective of destroying the Japanese garrisons and establishing control along the northwest coast of Bougainville.

UNITED STATES: The remains of a Japanese Fu Go paper balloon including envelope, rigging and some apparatus, is recovered at Estacada, Oregon. It is estimated that the balloon landed between 27 and 31 December. Estacada is located about 22 miles SE of Portland.

1945

 

I have restarted this thread beginning with July 1st 1945.

I will continue to update it every few days or so.