This day in the war in Europe 65 years ago

[syscom3]

GERMANY: Adolf Hitler orders the battle cruisers 'Gneisenau' and 'Scharnhorst' to sail from Brest, France, to Norway.

NORTH AFRICA: Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, General Officer Commanding Panzer Gruppe Africa, adopts his subordinates' plan to prepare a surprise counteroffensive against the British. Neither the German nor the
Italian High Command are informed of the plans. As a result, British codebreakers who are reading top-secret German messages with their Enigma machine can't warn the unprepared 8th Army.

MEDITERRANEAN: 'U-374' (Type VIIC) is sunk in the western Mediterranean east of Cape Spartivento, in position 37.50N, 16.00E, by torpedoes from the British submarine HMS 'Unbeaten'. 43 dead, but 1 survivor taken into captivity.

[syscom3]

WESTERN FRONT: Despite opposition, Admiral Karl Donitz, Flag Officer U-Boats, begins Unternehmen "Drum Roll" (Paukenschlag) , the use of U-boats in the waters off the eastern coast of North America. The submariners are surprised to find peacetime conditions on the U.S. coast, with lighthouses and marker buoys still lit. In addition there is no radio silence and positions of merchant ships are frequently given away in radio communications. These conditions and the inexperience of the USN escort vessels lead to a loss of 150,000 tons in the first month of the operation. The fact that "Drum Roll" could not begin until some weeks after the German declaration of war on the US indicates how unprepared the Navy was for this sudden development.

ENGLAND: Representatives of nine German-occupied countries meet in London to declare that all those found guilty of war crimes would be punished after the war ended. Among the signatories to the declaration were Polish General Wladyslaw Sikorski and French General Charles de Gaulle. The core of the declaration was the promise of "the punishment, through the channels of organized justice, of those guilty of, or responsible for, these crimes, whether they have ordered them, perpetrated them, or participated in them." increased the resolve and solidarity among the Allies to defeat the Axis.

UNITED STATES: The Combined Chiefs of Staff attending the ARCADIA conference in Washington, D.C., agree to move USAAF units and contingents to bases in the U.K. as soon as possible.
.....The Ford Motor Company patents a plastic-bodied automobile which was 30 percent lighter than ordinary cars. Plastic, a relatively new material in 1942, was revolutionizing industry after industry in the United States.
....President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes the U.S. War Production Board, with business executive Donald M. Nelson as its chairman. The War Production Board, created to establish order out of the chaos of meeting extraordinary wartime demands and needs, replaced the Supply Priorities and Allocations Board. As chairman, Nelson oversaw the largest war production in history, often clashing with civilian factories over the most efficient means of converting to wartime use and butting heads with the armed forces over priorities. Despite early success, Nelson made a major judgement error in June 1944, on the eve of the Normandy invasion, when he allowed certain plants that had reached the end of their government/military production contracts to reconvert to civilian use. The military knew the war was far from over and feared a sudden shortage of vital supplies. A political battle ensued, and Nelson was eased out of his office and reassigned by the President to be his personal representative to Chiang Kai-shek in China.
....Nineteen West Coast shipyards adopt around-the-clock, seven-day-a-week work schedules.

EASTERN FRONT: The Soviet Army has driven deep a salient between the German 2.Panzerarmee and 4.Armeeon the central front southwest of Kaluga; the salient deepens with the capture of Kirov.

[syscom3]

EASTERN FRONT: Following their seizure of Kirov yesterday, Soviet forces recapture Medya, on the central front northwest of Kaluga, driving a wedge between two Panzer divisions.

MEDITERRANEAN: Malta receives 14 air raid alerts in 19 hours today. A total of 262 air raids are sounded in Malta this month.

UNITED STATES: New York: Banner headlines in this evening's newspapers have sent tremors all around the island of Manhattan. The news of the torpedoing of the Panamanian tanker 'NORNESS' just 100 miles from the piers where liners berth has brought home the realities of war to New Yorkers. The SS 'NORNESS' falls victim to 'U-123', 73 miles south-southwest of Nanucket Island, Massachusetts. Only two days ago the British merchant ship 'CYCLOPS' was sunk 300 miles off the eastern seaboard. These two attacks are the first signs of what Admiral Dönitz called the Paukenschlag - roll of drums - to mark America's entry in the war. Dönitz has sent his finest long-range U-boats into the Atlantic to prey on America's coastline. They lie on the seabed by day, and surface at night to pick off ships silhouetted against the bright lights on America's coast. With orders to "sink as much shipping as possible in the most economical manner", U-boat commanders are relishing the prospect of a second "happy time". The first "happy time" began in 1940 when the U-boats enjoyed a rich crop of sinkings in British home waters.
....The Anglo-American ARCADIA Conference, held in Washington, DC starting on 20 December 1941, developed plans for the proposed Anglo- American offensive against Germany. Participants include President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill and their
military staffs. Among the major decisions reached are:
(1) an agreement to establish Combined Chiefs of Staff to direct the British-American war effort;
(2) the main effort must be made first against Germany;
(3) occupation of French North Africa (Operation GYMNAST) is of strategic importance in Atlantic area.
....As discussions are begun in Washington to consider who shall go to China instead of Lieutenant General Hugh A. Drum, General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff U.S. Army, proposes Major General Joseph W. Stilwell, who is being considered for command of Operation GYMNAST.
....President Roosevelt orders all aliens in the United States to register with the government. The brunt of these orders later will fall on Japanese-Americans on the West Coast.

[syscom3]

WESTERN FRONT: While tracking Convoy HG 78 (Gibraltar to the U.K.), German submarine 'U-93' is sunk about 219 nautical miles (406 kilometers) north-northeast of the Madeira Islands by the British destroyer HMS 'Hesperus' (H57), a convoy escort; 40 of the 46 crewmen survive.
.....German submarine 'U-123' sinks its third ship during Operation DRUMBEAT, a 6,768 ton British tanker about 88 nautical miles (163 kilometers) south-southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A., in position 40.25N, 70.50W.
....RAF Bomber Command sends five Blenheims and four Wellingtons to bomb airfields: three aircraft bomb Schipol Airfield, with the loss of one aircraft, and two each bomb Soesterberg and Texel Airfields.

BRAZIL: Representatives from 21 American republics meet in Rio de Janeiro for an Inter-American Conference to unite the American republics to coordinate policies in the defense of the Western Hemisphere. The delegates unanimously adopt a resolution which calls for all of the American states to sever diplomatic relations with the Axis powers. All of the governments involved at the conference, with the exceptions of Argentina and Chile, break off relations with the Axis states. The conference ends on 28 January.

GERMANY: During the night of 15/16 January, RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack three cities:
- 96 bombers are dispatched to bomb Hamburg; 60 aircraft bomb with the loss of five bombers. Hamburg reports 36 fires, three large, three people killed and 25 injured, but no major incidents.
- 60 aircraft are sent to bomb Emden; 42 aircraft bomb the target with the loss of two bombers. Bomber aircrews claim many fires.
- One aircraft bombs Kiel.

MEDITERRANEAN: German submarine 'U-577' is sunk about 56 nautical miles (103 kilometers) northeast of Tobruk, Libya, by depth charges from a British Navy Swordfish Mk. I, aircraft "G" of No. 815 Squadron based at Landing Ground 75, Maaten Bagush, Egypt; all 43 crewmen are lost.

ENGLAND: An agreement is signed in London between Greece and Yugoslavia for the constitution of a Balkan Union. (The Balkan Pact, signed in February 1934 by Greece, Romania, Turkey and the Kingdom
of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The Pact which consisted of 39 articles promoting the principles of friendship and non-aggression, mutual assistance and defense of common security and the protection of the rights of
minorities.)

UNITED STATES: In Washington, Secretary of War Henry Stimson says nearly 2 million men will be inducted into the military this year. By years end it will have 3.6 million men under arms.
....The State Department issues a memorandum outlining its position with respect to French sovereignty over bases the United States intends to build in French Oceania.
....In baseball, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gives baseball the go-ahead to play despite the war. In his famous "green light" letter, the President says, "I honestly think it would be best for the country to keep baseball going." He encourages more night baseball so that war workers may attend. Ironically, the Chicago Cubs, who had signed contracts to install lights at Wrigley Field, drop their plans because of the military need for the material. There will be no lights at Wrigley for 35 more years.
....The first "blackout" Cadillacs are completed by General Motors. Due to restrictions on materials necessary for the war effort, these cars have painted trim rather than chrome. They also lack spare tires and other luxuries.

EASTERN FRONT: Heeresgruppe Mitte (Field Marshal Gunther Hans von Kluge) evacuates the Kaluga sector and takes up winter positions 20 miles (32 kilometers) further west.

[syscom3]

WESTERN FRONT: 'U-248' (Type VIIC) Sunk in the North Atlantic in position 47.43N, 26.37W, by depth charges from the US destroyer escorts USS 'Hayter', 'Otter', 'Varian' and 'Hubbard'. 47 dead (all crew lost).

NORTH AFRICA: The HQ of the Australian 9th Division is established at Tripoli.

EASTERN FRONT:The Soviet government publishes the contents of a document found at Klin, northwest of Moscow, and signed by deceased Field Marshal von Reichenau. It was prepared during his command of the German 6.Armee, earlier in the campaign, and instructs German troops to be "merciless" with the civil population.
....German units take Theodosia in the Crimea and capture 10,000 Soviet troops. Adolf Hitler has ordered the Wehrmacht to wipe out a Russian force in the eastern Crimea, then overwhelm Sevastopol in western Crimea, home port of the Soviets' Black Sea Fleet.

[syscom3]

NORTH AFRICA: The Italian positions around Hellfire Pass surrender. They have been besieged by a South Africans unit. The Italian a garrison unit, built around the Savona Division and under the orders of that
division's commander, General De Giorgis, is still holding on despite being completely surrounded, badly outnumbered, 500 miles in the British rear. This unit has held this position since being bypassed during
Operation Crusader on December 8, 1941.The Italians have tried to maintain the position by using submarines. 30 Corps, British Eighth Army, receives the surrender of the Halfaya garrison and takes 5500 German and Italian prisoners. The 1st Free French Brigade Group was to have participated in the attack on
Halfaya, had the garrison not surrendered. With the destruction of the Axis forces in East Cyrenaica
and reopening of communication line from there into Egypt, the first phase of Libyan campaign is successfully concluded. In West Cyrenaica, British 13 Corps reconnoiters the Germans El Agheila position.
....Destroyer HMS 'Gurkha' is torpedoed and sunk by 'U-133', North of Bardia at 31 50N 26 14E. There are 9 casualties, with survivors being taken off by Dutch destroyer 'Isaac Sweers' which towed the wreck clear of the burning oil field.

EASTERN FRONT: Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau, Commander in Chief Heeresgruppe Sud, dies of a stroke while returning to Germany.
....Convoy PQ-8, en route from Iceland to Archangel, U.S.S.R., is attacked by German submarines; the first such attack on an Arctic convoy. German submarine 'U-454' sinks the Tribal class destroyer HMS 'Matabele' and a merchant ship. There are only 3 survivors, as the destroyer explodes when hit a second time a few hours later.

SOUTH AFRICA: South African Nationalists push a motion in Parliament to make the nation a republic disassociated from Britain, that would declare neutrality. The Parliament rejects the Afrikaners' motion.

[syscom3]

WESTERN FRONT: A Fireman called Kremer is severely wounded by a revolver fired by a resistant in Port Maillot.
....One of the greatest race horses of his time, Epinard, was stolen during the German occupation of France. On this day, newspaper accounts disclosed that the famous equine was being used as a delivery wagon horse.
....German submarines attack three unarmed U.S. merchant ships off the east coast of North America:
(1) a freighter is torpedoed and sunk by 'U-552' off St. John's, Newfoundland; there are no survivors from the 28-man crew;
(2) a tanker is torpedoed and sunk by 'U-66' about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; there are 13 survivors from the 35-man crew
(3) a tanker is shelled and damaged by 'U-123' off Oregon Inlet, North Carolina; although the tanker is torpedoed by 'U-123' upon the U-boat's return and damaged further, the holed tanker reaches Hampton Roads, Virginia, safely the next day; one man perishes in the shelling and four drown when the ship is abandoned after she is torpedoed.

GERMANY: German civilians are to get a taste of the fare being eaten by their soldiers at the front - in the form of "field-kitchen meals" to be served in all German restaurants on Mondays and Thursdays. Customers who bring meat, fat or bread vouchers are entitled to change them for the "voucher-free meal of the day" which usually consists of soup of boiled vegetables. Neither meal - "served from the same pot as their soldiers" - appears to be winning popular approval. They tend to lack the calorie-rich foods like potatoes, peas or noodles, and there is precious little meat in them.
....Germany, Italy, and Japan sign a new military pact in Berlin.

EASTERN FRONT: The Soviet Army encircles several German divisions at Demjansk near Lake Ilmen. In the Crimea, German troops of Heeresgruppe B recapture Feodosia and seal off the Soviet bridgehead at Kerch.

MEDITERRANEAN: Haifa: Burma's prime minister, U Saw, was arrested here today when his plane touched down while he was returning to Burma from talks with British representatives. He had been trying unsuccessfully to secure a British promise of Burmese independence in return for supporting the war effort. The nationalist U Maung Saw is unpopular with the British authorities, who see him as a demagogue of suspect loyalty. This suspicion now seems justified, because he contacted Japan's legation in Lisbon on his return flight. He was unaware that Britain had broken Japanese codes and knew of these overtures.

UNITED STATES: The first increment (1,400 men) of US forces to be sent to the United Kingdom sails for Northern Ireland.
....In baseball, New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio is named 1941's Player of the Year.

[syscom3]

WESTERN FRONT: In attacks against unescorted coastal shipping, German submarines sink two unarmed merchant ships off the East Coast of the U.S..
(1) A U.S. steamship is torpedoed and sunk by 'U-123' 32.5 miles (52 kilometers) northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in position 35.42N, 75.21W
(2) a Canadian steamer is sunk 192 miles (309 kilometers) east of Cape Hatteras in position 35.00N, 72.30W.

EASTERN FRONT: The Red Army recaptures Mozhaisk, 100km west of Moscow. Heavy fighting continues on the southern front; the Germans in the Crimea recapture Feodosia. Soviet paratroopers are landed south of Smolensk to help organize partisan action in the German rear.

GERMANY: Directors of German armament firms were told today that they must increase production by 10% this year. The message was delivered by Robert Ley, the leader of the German Work Front. Increasing number of foreign workers, as well as PoWs, will be forced to work in German factories during the course of the year. Armaments remain the main priority and the Nazi authorities intend to offer productivity bonuses in the form of tobacco or brandy for armament workers. Improved conditions for working mothers are also promised, but there is a sterner side to the productivity drive, too: the workforce is also to be motivated by the threat of various punishments for "slackness", including transfers to concentration camps. Reports by the Security Service of the SS speak of "idleness" and "insubordination" towards superiors. Certainly Germans do not like the longer working hours - the average working week is up from 47 to 49.2 hours this year.

NORTH AFRICA: General Claude E. Auchinleck, General Officer Commanding Middle East Command. issues operations instructions to Commander, British Troops in Egypt (BTE), and Commander, Eighth Army, restating that the objective in Libya is Tripoli and outlining a plan for a defensive stand in the event the Libyan offensive cannot be continued.

[syscom3]

GERMANY: At what will become known as the Wannsee Conference, Heydrich presents plans to the leaders of Germany for the "Final Solution". While Hitler was not present, it is commonly assumed that he knew of the conference and the "Final Solution". Nazi officials meet to discuss the details of the "Final Solution" of the "Jewish question." Reinhard Heydrich, SS general and Heinrich Himmler's number-two man, met with Adolf Eichmann, chief of the Central Office of Jewish Emigration, and 15 other officials from various Nazi ministries and organizations at Wannsee, a suburb of Berlin. The agenda was simple and focused: to devise a plan that would render a "final solution to the Jewish question" in Europe. Various gruesome proposals were discussed, including mass sterilization and deportation to the island of Madagascar. Heydrich proposed simply transporting Jews from every corner of Europe to concentration camps in Poland and working them to death. Objections to this plan included the belief that this was simply too time-consuming. What about the strong ones who took longer to die? What about the millions of Jews who were already in Poland? Although the word "extermination" was never uttered during the meeting, the implication was clear: anyone who survived the egregious conditions of a work camp would be "treated accordingly." Shortly after this conference, the elimination camps of Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau began their work.

UNITED STATES: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill that decrees Daylight Savings Time for the duration of the war. It goes into effect on 9 February.

EASTERN FRONR: Mozhaisk, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) west of Moscow, falls to Soviet forces.

[syscom3]

NORTH AFRICA: Rommel's Axis forces, with strong air support, go on the offensive in West Cyrenaica, pushing rapidly eastward in three columns astride the main road; the British are taken completely by surprise. The British Eighth Army's 13 Corps commander orders a withdrawal to the line Agedabra-El Haseiat at once and a further retreat if necessary; he also orders the Indian 4th Division to check the coastal advance toward Benghazi.

[syscom3]

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

GERMANY: RAF bombers attack Munster.

NORTH AFRICA: Continuing swiftly eastward, Axis forces occupy Agedabia.
....The Afrika Corps formally becomes the Panzerarmee Africa.

EASTERN FRONT: In Leningrad, the mass evacuation of civilians begins via the "ice road" across Lake Ladoga. (About 440,000 people are transported out of Leningrad between 22 January and 15 April 1942.) Meanwhile, Soviet forces recapture Uvarovo, 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Mozhaisk.

[syscom3]

NORTH AFRICA: Speeding eastward again, the forces of General Erwin Rommel, General Officer Commanding Panzerarme Africa, capture Msus. The weakened British 1st Armoured Division of 13 Corps, Eighth Army, is ordered to fall back on Mechili, leaving a detachment to protect the withdrawal of the Indian 4th Division from Benghazi and Barce. General Claude Auchinleck, Commander in Chief Middle East Command, visits Eighth Army HQ, where he remains until 1 February. General Neal Ritchie, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, revokes the order for a general withdrawal of 13 Corps and orders the Indian 4th Division, over which he takes direct control, and the British 1st Armoured Division to counterattack in
the Msus area.

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

WESTERN FRONT: The German submarine 'U-125' attacks unarmed U.S. tanker SS 'Olney', forcing the latter aground off Cape Lookout, North Carolina. 'Olney' is subsequently removed from her predicament, however, repaired, and returned to service.

[syscom3]

WESTERN FRONT: An armed U.S. freighter is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine 'U-125' off the eastern seaboard. There are no survivors from either the 36-man civilian crew or the 9-man Armed Guard.
....U.S. troops of the 133d Infantry, 34th Division, arrive in Northern Ireland.

GERMANY: The RAF bombs Hanover.

NORTH AFRICA: The German advance is stalled by a sandstorm.

[syscom3]

SOUTH AFRICA: Pro-Axis extremists blow up five power stations in an attempt to sabotage supplies to the Rand gold mines.

GERMANY: Hitler decorates the Luftwaffe pilot Adolf Galland with the Diamonds to the Knight's Cross. Goering is appalled that the jewels are paste.

WESTERN FRONT: "Sighted sub, sank same." During an antisubmarine sweep astern of convoy HX 172, the crew of a PBO-1 Hudson of USN Patrol Squadron Eighty Two (VP-82) based at NAS Argentia, Newfoundland, attacks a surfaced submarine off Cape Race, Newfoundland. Although the pilot (Aviation Machinist's Mate First Class Donald F. Mason) reports "sighted sub, sank same," no U-boat is lost on this date.

BRAZIL: The Third Conference of Foreign Ministers of the (21) American Republics at Rio de Janeiro is concluded. Despite the efforts of Argentina and Chile, Pan-American unity is preserved; within days, all Latin American nations that had not already done so (except Argentina and Chile) sever ties with Germany, Italy, and Japan. Today, Brazil and Paraguay break diplomatic relations with Germany, Italy and Japan.

NORTH AFRICA: The Indian 4th Division is authorized to withdraw from Benghazi since armored elements of the 13 Corps, British Eighth Army, are too busily engaged to assist it. The Indian 7th Brigade, the last to withdraw, finds its line of retreat blocked but breaks out to the south and eventually makes its way back to Eighth Army. Rommel's troops enter Benghazi as the British retreat; this is the fourth time the city has changed hands.

UNITED STATES: The Air Force Combat Command activates Headquarters 8th Air Force at Savannah AAB, Savannah, Georgia, under command of Brigadier General Asa N Duncan. The 8th is originally designated as the U.S. air element of Operation GYMNAST, the early plan for the Allied invasion of northwest Africa.

EASTERN FRONT: Soviet Marshal Konstantin Timoshenko advances into the Ukraine. The Ukrainians are happy to see him, as the Germans have been practicing massacres.

[syscom3]

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

WESTERN FRONT: US Coast Guard gunboat USCGC 'Alexander Hamilton' (WPG-34) is torpedoed by German submarine 'U-132' at 1312 hours local 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Reykjavik, Iceland. One torpedo, of a four-torpedo spread, smashed into the ship's starboard side, directly abeam of the stack. It hit the fireroom bulkhead and flooded the two largest compartments of the ship, blew up two boilers, exploded directly under the main electrical switchboard, demolished the starboard turbines and flooded the auxiliary engine room, and wrecked the auxiliary radio generator and emergency diesel generator as well. The blast also destroyed three of the ships seven boats. The interior of the ship was plunged into darkness--no heat, steam, nor electricity remained. As the ship settled by the stern, it is abandoned. Later, a tug attempts to take her to port but high seas prevent this.

MEDITERRANEAN: Great Britain and the Soviet Union sign a treaty of alliance with Iran, wherein Iran agrees to remain neutral; Britain and the USSR promise to withdraw their troops from Iranian territory six months
after hostilities with the Axis cease. The Persian Corridor is to become the principal route for movement of supplies to the USSR. The alliance started off shakily: the Soviets bought up most of Iran's grain harvest,
which caused a bread shortage and riots in the streets. Allied troops put the rebellion down, and the United States shipped in grain to compensate for the losses. The Soviet Union then attempted to agitate for the
overthrow of the shah by supporting the Tudeh (Farsi for "masses") party, which the Soviets believed would be more generous in oil concessions. Tudeh forces did manage temporarily to take over northern Iran in December 1944.

NORTH AFRICA: The Axis main forces remain in the Msus area, but elements pursue the Indian 4th Division of the British Eighth Army as it falls back slowly toward the Derna line. Rommel's Axis forces enter Benghazi
and capture 1,300 trucks.

UNITED STATES: Five-inch (12.7 cm) projectiles containing radio-proximity fuzes are test fired at the Naval Proving Ground, Dahlgren, Virginia, and 52 percent of the fuzes functioned satisfactorily by proximity to water at the end of a 5-mile (8 kilometer) trajectory. This performance, obtained with samples selected to simulate a production lot, confirmed that the radio proximity fuze would greatly increase the effectiveness of anti-aircraft batteries and led to immediate small scale production of the fuze.

EASTERN FRONT: On the central front, the Soviet Army continues to deepen its salient southwest of Kaluga and the Soviets report the capture of Sukhinichi.