This day in WW II.....

31 December 1941:





• 24 October 1812, French and Italian forces under Napoleon win a battle at Maloyaroslavets (Малояросла́вец). However, the victory is hollow: Napoleon begins his retreat from Russia.





• 31 December 1941, Red Army troops begin the liberation of Maloyaroslavets (Малояросла́вец)





“On New Year’s Eve the Soviet enemy began to infiltrate through brickyards and railway repair shops into the main town of Maloyaroslavets which was still full of German wounded. The defenders were mainly engineer and signal troops. In a temperature of minus 40 degrees centigrade, in the glare of burning houses, there was close hand to hand fighting of the fiercest and most brutal kind. There was no quarter.” — Col Albert Seaton, The Battle for Moscow

 

01 January 1945:





Mountain troops of the 8th Indian Division, reinforcing the US 92d ID, reclaim the village of Barga in the Serchio valley, Italy.





Barga had been captured (re-captured) by the Wehrmacht’s 14th Army, currently led by General von Tippelskirch, during Operation WINTERGEWITTER, a preemptive attack on Allied forces designed to disrupt an anticipated attack on the Gothic line.






The Age, 01 January 1945

 

02 January 1942:





The North African city ofBardia was re-taken by the South African 2nd Infantry Division, led by 1st Battalion, Royal Durban Light Infantry, supported by the New Zealand Divisional Cavalry Regiment and also the South African 2nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade (Light Anti-Aircraft).





“The Axis position at Bardia was well prepared and well defended. The country offered no cover for the attackers. In addition to a strong perimeter, the Axis defenses consisted of some 90 defense areas, cemented in and heavily wired. In many cases these were strengthened by deep antitank ditches protected by large numbers of mines.

Thorough preparations were made by the staff and by reconnaissance units. Constant shelling and machine-gun fire, uninterrupted night patrolling, and the blowing of gaps in the wire around the defended perimeter served to confuse the enemy as to the time and place of attack.

…

The Bardia action was one of infantry supported by tanks. The tanks operated in two waves, the second with the infantry. Smoke fired by the artillery was laid down before the advancing tanks; until the wind came up, it worked very well during Phase 1 of the attack. For Phase 2 a limited objective was ordered, since tanks and infantry were working together on a moonlight night.

For tank-infantry communication, a tank with two-way radio was detailed to each infantry battalion headquarters, and a radio set at both regimental and Division headquarters was tuned in on that tank's frequency.

The tank column, in bypassing the strongly defended position during Phase 2 of the attack, placed an unnecessarily heavy burden on the infantry left to clear up the area. It was later concluded that the tanks, since they possess considerable fire power, should have stayed to help take the position and to support the infantry assault with long-range fire, even though they were unable themselves to get into the area.”

-- The British Capture of Bardia (December 1941 - January 1942): A Successful Infantry-Tank Attack (Information Bulletin No. 21, U.S. War Department, WWII)






“It was duly assaulted by the 2nd South African Division between 31 December 1941 and 2 January 1942, and captured with 8,000 prisoners.” — AWM

 

03 January 1943:





• A Blitzkreig-style assault—infantry supported by armor, artillery and air cover—by the Afrika Korps overruns the French 19th Corps troops at Fondouk. This will be a problem for the Allies later.

• Captain Ralph Praeger, 26th Cavalry Regiment, radios General MacArthur from Cagayan in Luzon. He has assembled a group of Filipino fighters and requests arms and supplies to carry on a guerrilla war against the Japanese. “MacArthur refused Captain Praeger’s request.” — Gilbert, The Second World War

 

04 January 1943:





Allied forces continue to attack Japanese positions on Mount Austen, Guadalcanal. A strong Japanese fortified position, called the Gifu, stymied the attacks:

"facing the Americans was the most strongly fortified Japanese position on Guadalcanal, nicknamed "the Gifu" (after Gifu Prefecture in Japan) by the Japanese. The Gifu position sat between the summits of Mount Austen and Hills 27 and 31 and consisted of a 1,500 yd (1,400 m) line of 45–50 interconnected, mutually supporting, well-camouflaged pillboxes dug into the ground and forming a horseshoe shape with the open end to the west." — wiki





Despite the Japanese being short on supplies and out of food, the attack is hampered by difficult terrain and well designed defenses. The Americans are forced to halt their offensive on 4 January and dig in.

 

05 January 1941:





Operation Compass progresses.




Bardia falls to the 6th Australian Division under Major General Iven Mackay. Sappers and engineers breach the outer defenses allowing Australian Matilda II tanks to press the attack and overrun the Italian defenders.











1941-01-11Original wartime caption: Captured guns: Anti-aircraft, both light and heavy field batteries of all calibres. In some cases the guns have been hurriedly taken from their positions and turned to face an attack from another direction. —IWM

 

06 January 1942:





— Australia declares war on Bulgaria

— Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Vichy France

— Japan lands troops at Brunei Bay, Borneo





“The Brunei area is rich in oil, rubber, coal, lumber, iron and other resources and in the 500 square miles of its sheltered bay numberless ships of any size can ride at anchor.” —GHQ, SWPA, Communique No. 1162, 12 Jun 45.

 

07 January 1938:




— The Japanese launch an air attack against the Chinese controlled airport at Nanchang.

— The Chinese launch an air attack on the Japanese airfield at Wuhu but withdrawal in the face of stiff Japanese defense.

— Two British police officers, Inspector West and Sgt Turner, are beaten by Japanese troops when they protest the treatment of Chinese traversing the International zone in Nanking (Nanjing)



Chinese civilians being buried in Nanjing, photo published 1938

 

08 January 1940:








War Cabinet decided on the start of rationing back in December. Breakfast in the UK changes on January 8 as bacon, butter, and sugar are now rationed.

 

09 January 1942:





RAAF Flight Lieutenant R. A. Yeowart and crew take off from Kavieng, where they had been concealed, at 05:44 in a specially fitted Hudson Mk IV, the Tit Willow, of No. 6 Squadron.



RAAF Hudson (Mk IV) No. 1 Squadron


At 10:10, they dropped from 13,000’, through a squall, and emerged right above ‘Truk’ harbor. They noted an Aircraft carrier, 12 warships and sundry other vessels in harbor. While making a photographic run, the Japanese opened up with AA fire.

The crew of the Tit Willow see fighters taking off, but make a second photographic run to ensure mission success.

Three Japanese fighters engage the Tit Willow, scoring some hits, but not causing serious damage.

Yeowart escapes, flying back into the storm where he loses his pursuers. After refueling at Kavieng, Tit Willow flies 1220 miles back to Townsville.

The operation is the longest sea reconnaissance undertaken by the R.A.A.F. in a land-based aircraft. The film revealed enemy shipping and aircraft at Truk, providing warning of the Japanese threat.

 

This is a great thread.

 

Thanks, Gordon!

 

Balls O'Steel...The Hudson is a massively underated aircraft...

 

a star is born.
you are awesome, nimble jack.

 

Love the old newspapers. Kind of off topic but the article comparing a Japanese invasion to the War of 1812 caught my eye. One of my ancestors was in an American Well Regulated Militias that were needed at the time located north of Albany, NY. His unit was called out to defend against the British invasion during the Battle of Plattsburgh. I have a picture somewhere of a form he filled out requesting 2 weeks pay.

 

I like seeing what else is going on at the time. That pay request is a very cool bit of history!

 

10 January 1944:




US Marines gain a foothold on Aogiri Ridge, New Britain, on 09 January. During the night of 9/10 January, Japanese forces are heard being reinforced. A counter-attack is anticipated.

“[Lt] Colonel Walt got all available weapons into position to hold, including the 37mm, and all available men, including battalion headquarters personnel.”



Lt Col Lewis W. Walt, a Marine’s marine.


“At 0115 on the morning of 10 January the first counterattack came screaming and howling up the reverse slope. The battle-hardened Marines held their fire till the crucial moment—and the shattered waves receded. Five times in all the Japanese assaulted Walt’s precarious positions on Aogiri Ridge with a fury and persistence unparalleled in the campaign.” — The Campaign on New Britain, Hough & Crown, 1952





Aogiri Ridge will now be known as ‘Walt’s Ridge’.

 

11 January 1943:




British Intelligence intercepts the ‘Höfle Telegram’:


— Extract of a larger coded telegram reporting on movements of Jews to death and concentration camps, National Archives


“The document consists of several cables in translation, among them a top-secret message sent by SS Sturmbannführer Hermann Höfle on 11 January 1943; one, to SS Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann in Berlin, and one to SS Obersturmbannführer Franz Heim in German-occupied Kraków (Cracow).

The Telegram contains the detailed statistics on the 1942 killings of Jews in the extermination camps of Operation Reinhard including at Belzec (B), Sobibor (S), Treblinka (T), and at Lublin-Majdanek (L).” -wiki

 

12 January 1938:





• Japanese forces assault Tsining (Jining). The city’s walled defenses are breached by Japanese bombers. Initial reports suggest the Chinese check the attack; however, the Japanese subsequently report taking the city and will continue their drive toward Wuhan.

• Consul General Shojiro Otaka lands in the recently capture city of Tsingtao (Qingdao). He reopens the Japanese consulate. Japan takes over the governance of the city.

 

13 January 1945:




Following an amphibious landing on the 12th, units of the Indian 25th Infantry Division, 3 Special Service Commando Brigade, supported by tanks from the 19th Lancers, assault positions held by the Japanese 54th Division to cut them off. One objective is a hill labelled 'Bugle'.






“Bitter close-range fighting developed as the Commandos worked their way up the hill. The defenders wasted their lives, leaving good positions which could have caused us casualties, and blundered into our machine gun fire in clumsy attempts to infiltrate. One fanatic hurled himself empty-handed up a slope covered by Bren gunners. He got just three paces. "Bugle’s” defenders fought on to the death. And die they did.

Taken by surprise by our sudden descent from the sea, the Japs left a good deal of equipment and personal belongings behind them. Every trench and pillbox was choked with ammunition boxes, food and rifles. Underclothes, socks and tunics lay mixed with the inevitable picture postcards. One of these showed Jap soldiers defending a heavily wired beach with landing craft approaching under the shadow of Fujiyama.”

-- The Story Of The 25th Indian Division - The Arakan Campaign