World War II in real time

Day 902 of World War II, February 27th 1942

YouTube (Japan Destroys Allied Armada in Biggest Naval Battle in Decades)



Battle of the Atlantic

At 6.25 AM 20 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, U-432 sinks American SS Marore carrying 23,000 tons of iron ore from Chile (all 39 crew rescued by Coast Guard vessels and tanker John D. Gill). At 6.36 AM 20 miles off Atlantic City, New Jersey, US tanker R.P. Resor is hit by one torpedo from U-578, despite steaming blacked out on a zigzag course. R.P. Resor carrying 78,729 barrels of crude oil from Houston, Texas to Fall River, Massachusetts, sinks (47 killed, 2 rescued by the Coast Guard). At 10.35 AM 20 miles North of the Dominican Republic, U-156 sinks British collier SS Macgregor with the deck gun (the barrel has been cut down since the explosion on February 16). 1 man is killed and 30 are rescued by a San Domingo Coast Guard cutter.

Air War over Europe

AF Bomber Command fly three missions during the night of the 27th-28th: 68 aircraft, 33 Wellingtons, 17 Manchesters and 18 Hampdens, are dispatched to bomb the drydock at Kiel; the area is completely cloud-covered and only 50 aircraft bombed the approximate position of Kiel but, although Kiel reports hearing the planes, no bombs dropped in the town. No aircraft were lost. (2) In a second mission, 33 aircraft are dispatched to bomb the battleship 'Scharnhorst', which is believed to be at Wilhelmshaven, but the cloud was present here also; 26 aircraft drop their bombs but Wilhelmshaven reports only three bombs exploding, in the water of the harbor; three Whitleys are lost. (3) In the final mission, 11 Hampdens and four Manchesters lay mines in the Frisian Islands without loss.

British Combined Operations raid: Operation Biting

Photo: Low level oblique of the "Würzburg" radar near Bruneval, France, taken by Sqn Ldr A.E. Hill on 5 December 1941. Photos like this enabled a raiding force to locate, and make off with, the radar's vital components in February 1942 for analysis in Britain



In a daring raid on France tonight British Parachute Regiment soldiers seized top-secret German RDF (radar) equipment. The paras had been trained for this operation, jumping at night into snow near the clifftop target at Bruneval, near Le Havre. The leader, Major John Frost, blew four blasts on his whistle to signal the attack and charged with four men through the front door of the enemy chateau overlooking the site, shooting as he went. Royal Engineers, guarded by paratroopers, tore out the aerial and other essential parts of the Wurzburg tracking device with crowbars. Enemy bullets hit the equipment as they worked. For a time afterwards it seemed as if the escape route down a cliff to a beach rendezvous was blocked by a clifftop machine-gun post, whose bullets hit Sergeant-Major Strachan in the stomach. Then a team of paras which had landed off the drop zone joined the fight after a forced march. Hit by crossfire - and a Gaelic battle cry as the enemy attacked - the German gunners fled. On the beach, survivors of the raid waited, but at first no-one responded to Frost's signals calling in the boats. As his men prepared to fight to the last round, the word was passed:

"The ruddy Navy's here!"

The paras embarked with the secret equipment and, as instructed, brought with them a captured RDF operator. They lost three dead and six captured. There was one RAF Radar expert, Flight Sergeant C.W.H. Cox. not a Royal Engineer, who identified and stripped out the vital components. To add to the drama he had never been in a boat or an aircraft before the raid. Due to an amazingly stupid senior officer, the Radar expert had to wear army uniform and wasn't allowed to dress or carry papers that would have made him look like another para. As a result, he stood out like a sore thumb and had an escort who had orders to shoot him if he looked like he was to be captured, as he was trained in British radar. It takes courage to go on a mission like that, but to go when you know your own side will shoot you to stop you being captured, is something very special.

illustration: Limber Freya Radar



United States

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an executive order authorizing the creation of the Joint Mexican-U.S. Defense Commission.

Pacific War

BAY OF BENGAL

Japan raids the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

U.S. freighter SS Sea Witch delivers 27 crated USAAF P-40s to Tjilatjap, Java, but the planes will be destroyed on the docks to deny their use by the Japanese.

9 Japanese bombers flying from Kendari find the seaplane tender USS Langley in route to Tjilatjap. After 5 hits, the Langley is scuttled and survivors are rescued by the 2 destroyer escort. The Langley was ferrying 32 P-40 fighters for the defense of Java.

Photo: Whipple's torpedo hits Langley on Feb. 27, 1942



INDIA

General Archibald Wavell arrives in New Delhi from Java and assumes his post as Commander in Chief India.

BATTLE OF THE JAVA SEA

Allied air and naval units try to stop a convoy of some 80 Japanese ships approaching Java from the northeast. All available USAAF B-17's, A-24 Dauntlesses, P-40s and LB-30 Liberators are put into the air but achieve only insignificant results. USS Whipple and USS Edsall departed Tjilatjap to rendezvous with Langley off the south coast of Java.Making contact at 0629, the destroyers took up screening positions to escort the vulnerable Langley carrying a load of aircraft to bolster the sagging defenses of Java into Tjilatjap.

At 1150, lookouts spotted nine high-level bombers approaching from the east. Four minutes later, a stick of bombs splashed around Langley clearly the object of Japanese attention. During a second attack shortly after noon, all three ships put up brisk antiaircraft fire. At 1212, the Japanese, undaunted by Langley's evasive maneuvers, struck hard. A stick of bombs fell on or near the former aircraft carrier and set her afire.

Langley was abandoned at 1325, and Whipple proceeded close aboard to rescue survivors, using two of the destroyer's life rafts, a cargo net slung over the side, and a number of lines trailed over the side. Staying some 25 yards off the sinking seaplane tender Whipple picked up some 308 men from Langley's crew and embarked Army personnel for the vital P-40 fighters carried on the doomed ship's abbreviated flight deck.

At 1358, the task at hand completed, Whipple backed off and stood out to destroy the derelict, opening fire at 1429 with her 4-inch main battery. After nine rounds of 4-inch and two torpedoes, Langley settled lower and lower but refused stubbornly to sink. Soon orders arrived directing Whipple and her sister ship to clear the area prior to any more bombing attacks. Whipple accordingly vacated the vicinity and subsequently rendezvoused with Pecos in the lee of Christmas Island to transfer the Army pilots to the oiler.

Dutch Admiral Karel Doorman leads a combined Dutch, British and US fleet against the Japanese forces arrayed for the invasion of Java. He has at his command cruisers De Ruyter, HMS Exter, HMAS Perth, Java and USS Houston. Escorting this force are 6 British and 5 US destroyers.

The Japanese forces for the Battle of the Java Sea is commanded by Rear Admiral Takeo Takagi with heavy cruisers Nachi and Haguro, 1 light cruiser and 7 destroyers. The battle begins at 4:00 pm. For the first hour the Japanese destroyers are unsuccessful with their torpedos and gunfire from their cruisers is ineffective. Likewise the ABDA force is ineffective. Exeter is struck and loses power shortly after 5:00 pm. Dutch destroyer Korteneer sinks from a torpedo hit, which struck during the manuvering after the hit on Exter. The action during the next 4 hours is uneventful. Maneuvering to avoid the light of flares from Japanese aircraft the British destroyer Jupiter hits an Allied mine and sinks. Then at 10:00 pm as the two fleets run parallel a wide spread of Japanese torpedos strike Java and De Ruyter sinking both.

Map: Battle of the Java Sea



Amplifying the above with a specific timeline:

4.12pm: Fleets sight each other.

4.16pm: apanese open fire.

4.17pm: Exter opens fire.

4.18pm: Houston opens fire.

4.25pm: Perth opens fire on Japanese 4th Destroyer Flotilla.

4.30pm: 1st Japanese torpedo attack 34 launched, no hits.

4.31pm: DeRuyter hit in boiler room by 8-in shell, a dude, no damage.

4.32pm: Japanese make smoke.

5.14pm: Exter hit in boiler room by an 8-in shell from Nachi. six of eight boilers are put out of action. The ship hauls out of line, and the following ships interpret this as a formal manoeuvre and follow.

5.15pm: Japanese make second torpedo attack, 68 launched, one hit on the Kortenaer.

5.15pm: Kortenaer blows up, capsizes and sinks.

5.25pm: Perth and the British destroyer cover the withdrawal of Exter with a torpedo attack through the smoke.

5.30pm: Electra is hit by Japanese gunfire, and left dead in the water.

5.25pm: Exter withdraws, escorted by Witte de With.

5.30pm: Japanese continue to fire over the smoke, with aerial spotters.

5.40pm: The Fleets resight each other. 19,500 yard distant.

5.45pm: Japanese cruiser Haguro, hit by Perth. destroyer Asagumo is also left dead in the water.

5.50pm: Third Japanese torpedo attack, 24 are launch for no result.

6.00pm: Electra rolls over and sinks.

6.00pm: T.H. Binford, commander of the USN destroyer division makes a torpedo attack which scores no hits, while Doorman retires with the rest of the fleet.

6.30pm: contact lost.

7.27pm: Fleets find each other at a range of 9,000 yards.

7.33pm: Houston opens fire.

7.34pm: Japanese launch fourth torpedo attack, 4 only torpedos, no hits.

7.40pm: contact lost.

9.00pm: The American destroyers, with no torpedos left, broke off and headed for Surabaya to refuel.

9.25pm: Jupiter hits a mine, and is left dead in the water.

10.00pm: The fleet finds the survivors of Kortenaer in the water and Encounter picks up 113 men and returns to Surabaya.

10.55pm: Two Japanese cruisers close with the fleet.

11.00pm: Japanese launch 5th torpedo attack twelve are launched. DeRuyter and Java are both hit multiple times.

11.00pm: DeRuyter and Java both blow up and sink.

11.15pm: Waller, aboard Perth assumes command and retires. Perth and Houston make good their escape to Tanjong Priok The other ships, Exter, Witte De With, Encounter and the four US Destroyers arrive at Surabaya.

YouTube (Battle of the Java Sea)



PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

A Japanese force consisting of an infantry battalion and a field artillery battery lands at Calapan on northeastern Mindora Island, and the town and airfield are overrun. No effort is made to secure the rest of the island. The Japanese blockade about the Philippines is thus tightened.

Day 904 of World War II, March 1st 1942

Eastern Front

German General Halder issues a staff analysis that German losses in the war with the USSR have already reached 1.5 million.

Siege of Leningrad Day 175 - The people of Leningrad are in a pitiable condition. More than 100,000 died of starvation last month, and there is no sign of the siege being lifted. There are fears that their rations will be cut even further with the coming of the spring thaw. With great ingenuity the defenders have laid a light railway across the frozen surface of Lake Ladoga. Supplies are now coming in by the railway and by truck convoys across the ice from Tiklvin, on the eastern side of the lake, which was recaptured by the Red Army on 8 December after ferocious fighting. When the ice melts, however, this life-line will disappear and the besieged city will have to relay on small ships running the gauntlet of the Stukas in almost perpetual daylight. Another worry for the authorities is that when the thaws come thousands of bodies hastily buried in snow drifts - because the ground is frozen too hard to dig graves - will be exposed and bring epidemics to people already suffering from the diseases of malnutrition. Some 300,000 of the strongest people have been organized into gangs to clean up the city once the ice melts. The Leningraders are determined that their city will come to life again. It must be emphasised that the real heroes of this siege are the ordinary people who, by tremendous courage, are managing to survive an almost impossible ordeal. The Soviet advance comes to a halt during March and the battle line remains about the same throughout month, despite continued fighting on all fronts. The Germans are unable to relieve their isolated II.Armeekorps (General of the Infantry Walter Graf von Brockdorff-Ahlenfeldt), 16.Armee, southeast of Staraya Russa, but succeed in withdrawing the salient southwest of Kaluga. The Germans also contain Soviet attacks on the southern front, which are extended to region east of Kharkov.

Battle of the Atlantic

A PBO-1 Hudson of Navy Patrol Squadron Eighty Two (VP-82) based at NAS Argentia, Newfoundland, that was flying support for convoy ON.72, bombs and sinks German submarine 'U-656' (Type VIIC) about 35 miles south of Cape Race, Newfoundland position 46.15N, 53.15W. All 45 hands on the U-boat are lost. The Hudson PBO-1 was one of 20 Lend-Lease Hudson IIIA's used by the USN to equip one squadron. These aircraft sank the first 2 U-boats sunk by the USN, 'U-656' on 1 March, 1942 and 'U-503' on 15 March.

United States

The owners of the major league baseball clubs consider the question of whether players in the military can play for the clubs if they are on furlough or based near a game site? The owners decide against it.

Canada

The Canadian Women's Army Corps is granted full Army status as "a Corps of the Active Militia of Canada."

Pacific War

AUSTRALIA

Japanese submarine I-25 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane "Glen" to reconnoiter Hobart, Tasmania.

BURMA

The Burma Army's 1st Division covers the concentration of the Chinese 5th Army in the Toungoo area; the Chinese 200th Division of the army, which is already disposed in this area, regains Nyaunglebin and Pyuntaza, on the Rangoon-Mandalay road.

General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief India, arrives in Burma and orders Rangoon held as long as possible, at least until reinforcements en route, the British 63d Brigade Group, arrive. The Indian 17th Division returns toward Waw, which is to be defended.

General Chennault's "Flying Tigers' move from Rangoon to Magwe in Burma.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

The last heavy bomber mission is flown from Java; the air echelons of three B-17's and an A-24 Dauntless squadron begin a movement back to Australia. Nine of the remaining 13 USAAF P-40s join with six RAAF and four RNAF fighters to attack Japanese landing craft; three P-40s and two pilots are lost. Later, all of the remaining P-40s in Java are destroyed when Japanese fighters strafe Blimbing Airdrome. The air and ground echelons are ordered to return to Australia by any means possible.

Japanese planes bomb Surabaya, Java; destroyer USS Stewart, previously damaged on 19 and 20 February 1942, is damaged again, by a bomb.

The Japanese Western Invasion Force completes the landing of the 2nd Division at Bantam Bay, 40 miles west of Batavia while the 230th Infantry lands at Eretan Wetan, 120 miles to the east. The Eastern Invasion Force lands the 48th Division and the 56th Regimental Group at Kragan, about 80 miles west of Surabaya; the 48th begins advancing on Surabaya while the 56th begins moving across country to Tjilatjap, the seaport on the southwest coast of Java.

Photo: The Japanese 2nd Division landed at Merak, 1 March 1942



The Japanese, now in undisputed control of the air and sea, make rapid progress on the ground on Java. Allied planes based on Java are virtually wiped out, many of them on the ground. After a final effort to stall the enemy by air, surviving air personnel begin assembling in Batavia, the last remaining airfield in Java, for withdrawal to Australia.

Photo: KNIL combat vehicles destroyed during fighting with Japanese soldiers during the Battle of Kalijati



Shortly after 2300 hours yesterday, the heavy cruiser USS Houston, with her No. 3 turret disabled and low on ammunition, and the light cruiser HMAS Perth were heading for the Sunda Strait when they rounded a headland in Banten Bay, Java, where the Japanese Western Invasion Force is landing troops. The two cruisers then engage the Japanese in the Battle of Sunda Strait. The cruisers are almost torpedoed as they approach the bay, but evade the nine torpedoes launched by destroyer Fubuki. The two cruisers then sink one transport and force three others to beach. A destroyer squadron blocks Sunda Strait, their means of retreat, and large light cruisers Mobami and Mikuma stand dangerously near. HMAS Perth sinks at 0025 hours from gunfire and torpedo hits; USS Houston faces the same fate at about 0045 hours.

Painting: sinking of USS Houston



Of HMAS Perth's complement of 680 men, 352 were killed and about 320 were captured by the Japanese and 105 of these died as POWs. The fate of these two ships was not known by the world for almost nine months, and the full story of her courageous fight was not fully told until after the war was over and her survivors were liberated from prison camps. An hour or two later the Dutch destroyer HNLMS Evertsen, which was to have accompanied the HMAS Perth and USS Houston but had been delayed, ran into two enemy destroyers and, after a brief encounter, beached herself in a sinking condition on Sabuko Island off the coast of Sumatra.

Map: Battle of Sunda Strait



The other survivors of the Battle of the Java Sea, the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter having refueled and carried out emergency repairs to her boiler rooms at Surabaja, leaves harbor on the evening of 28 February in company with the destroyer HMS Encounter and USS Pope; the ships have been ordered to Colombo, Ceylon, via the Sunda Strait.

The ships are spotted by Japanese aircraft and at about 1000 hours, they encounter the Japanese heavy cruisers Myoko, Ashigara, Haguro and Nachi plus four escorting destroyers. HMS Encounter is sunk first and after 90 minutes, a torpedo from a Japanese destroyers sinks HMS Exeter. USS Pope escapes the cruisers but is located and bombed by floatplanes from seaplane carriers Chitose and Mizuho. Damaged by one close-miss, USS Pope is then located by carrier-based aircraft from Ryujo and attacked by 12 aircraft shortly before 1200 hours; scuttling is in progress when the cruisers Myoko and Ashigara deliver the coup de grace with gunfire and USS Pope sinks about 250 miles north-northwest of Surabaja.

Photo: Heavy cruiser Myoko and Ashigara are firing on the Exeter



The Japanese Navy is also patrolling south of Java and sinks two other U.S., the destroyer USS Edsall and oiler USS Pecos. USS Edsall is en route from Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean to Tjilatjap, Java, after transferring 177 survivors of the seaplane tender USS Langley to USS Pecos. Edsall is sunk by gunfire of battleships Hiei and Kirishima, heavy cruisers HIJMS Tone and Chikuma, and planes from carriers Akagi and Soryu; the amount of main battery shells expended in the attempt to sink the U.S. ship amounts to 297 15-inch and 844 eight-inch.

Photo: The Royal Navy heavy cruiser HMS Exeter sinking, 1 March 1942



Edsall's five enlisted survivors are subsequently executed at Kendari on Celebes Island. Oiler USS Pecos, with USS Langley survivors on board as well as evacuees from Java, is bombed and sunk by carrier-based bombers from HIJMS Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, and Soryu, 250 miles south-southeast of Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

The Japanese 14th Army, during the period 6 January to date, has suffered a severe setback on Luzon and sustained almost 7,000 casualties (2,700 killed and over 4,000 wounded).

Of the 8 P-35As of the 34th Pursuit Sqdn transferred to Bataan on Christmas Day only two are left. These will be destroyed before the Allied surrender to the Japanese in April.

Photo: MacArthur (center) with his Chief of Staff, Major General Richard K. Sutherland, in the Headquarters tunnel on Corregidor, Philippines, March 1, 1942



UNITED KINGDOM

Concerned with the Japanese naval success, and the possibility of the Japanese establishing a base on Madagascar, Churchill today informs Roosevelt of the British intention to take Diego Suarez, Madagascar's main harbour.

Day 906 of World War II, March 3rd 1942

Air War over Europe

RAF Bomber Command dispatches 235 aircraft, 89 Wellingtons, 48 Hampdens, 29 Stirlings, 26 Manchesters, 23 Whitleys and 20 Halifaxes to bomb the Bellincourt Renault Factory during the night of the 3rd-4th. The Renault factory, in the town of Boulogne-Billancourt just west of the center of Paris, was making an estimated 18,000 trucks a year for the German forces. The aircraft were dispatched in three waves, the crews of the leading wave being selected for their experience. The plan called for the massed use of flares and a very low bombing level so that crews could hit the factory without too many bombs falling in the surrounding town. There were no Flak defences. The target was bombed by 223 aircraft which caused serious damage to production facilities; unfortunately, some bombs fall off target, hitting nearby houses, killing 500 Frenchmen, including whole families. Only one Wellington is lost. The main raid lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes. One aircraft bombed the port area at Dieppe while two Whitleys drop leaflets over Paris.

"We were returning with Robert Rey from dining near the Opera', wrote Galtier-Boissire, 'when the antiaircraft opened up violently, making the ground shake. Away to the west there was a terrific raid. The Pont Neuf was crowded with bystanders who watched the bombing as they would have done a firework display on July 14.'

This, the first massive air-raid on Paris, was targetted on the Renault factory at Boulogne-Billancourt, where tanks were being made for the Heer. The bombing was inaccurate; some 500 killed and three times as many wounded.

(R.A.F. performs bombing runs in France, 1942)



Four RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons jettisoned their bombs over Emden during the night of the 3rd/4th; one Wellington was lost. Four Lancasters with No.44 Squadron fly a minelaying mission in Heligoland Bight; this was the first Lancaster mission of the war.

United States

The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) take under consideration a recommendation to continue Operation SUPERGYMNAST, the projected plan to combine the US and British plans for the seizure of Dakar, Casablanca and Tunisia, as an "academic study" only. Thus the proposed Northwest African venture (Operation GYMNAST) ceases to affect the USAAF 8th Air Force until it is revived later as Operation TORCH.

Battle of the Caribbean

An unarmed U.S. freighter is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine 'U-129' about 250 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana.

Pacific War

AUSTRALIA

At 1000 hours local, 12 Japanese Navy fighters strike hard at Broome, Western Australia, where refugees from Java are concentrated. Every aircraft at Broome, two B-17's, two B-24's, two RAAF Hudsons and 12 amphibians, are destroyed.

Photo: A USAAF B-24 Liberator on fire at Broome Airfield following the attack



Two of the dozen flying boats destroyed are two Short S-23 C-Class Empire Boats, (1) British Overseas Airways Corp. (BOAC), msn S-845, registered G-AEUC and named "Corinna", and RAAF A18-12, msn 849, ex Qantas VH-ABC, named "Coogee". Casualties include 20 USAAF airmen and an estimated 45 Dutch women and children. The airfield at Wyndham, Western Australia, is also attacked.

Photo: image taken from a Japanese ‘Babs’ reconnaissance aircraft, which accompanied the fighters and gave instructions regarding targets



Japanese fighters returning to their carrier from the raid on Broome shoot down KNILM Douglas DC-3-194B, registered PK-AFV. This is one of the last civilian aircraft to leave Java and is carrying a very valuable consignment of diamonds; there are no survivors.

Photo: view of the DC-3 "diamond plane" shot down north of Broome, Australia on 3 March 1942



BURMA

Fighting continues in the Waw-Pyinbon area, northeast of Pegu. The British 63d Brigade Group arrives at Rangoon. Chinese leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek meets General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief India, in Burma.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

The Dutch continue a losing battle for Java against superior enemy forces.

Map: Movement of the 2nd Division throughout the Battle of Java



INDIAN OCEAN

The gunboat USS Asheville is sunk by gunfire of Japanese destroyers Arashi and Nowaki about 355 miles SSE of Tjilatjap, Java.

Photo: USS Asheville (PG-21), anchored in the Canal Zone in the late 1920s



JAVA SEA

On the evening of 1 March, the submarine USS Perch, CO David A. Hunt, surfaced 30 miles NW of Surabaja, Java, and started in for an attack on the enemy convoy that was landing troops. Two Japanese destroyers attacked and drove her down with a string of depth charges which caused her to bottom at 135 feet. Several more depth charge attacks caused extensive damage, putting the starboard motors out of commission and causing extensive flooding throughout the boat. After repairs, the sub surfaced at 0200 hours on 2 March only to be again driven down by the enemy destroyers. The loss of oil, and air from damaged ballast tanks, convinced the enemy that the sub was breaking up and they went on to look for other kills, allowing USS Perch to surface. With the submarine's decks awash and only one engine in commission, the crew made all possible repairs. During the early morning of 3 March, a test dive was made with almost fatal results. Expert handling and good luck enabled her to surface from that dive; only to be attacked by two enemy cruisers and three destroyers. When the enemy shells commenced to straddle, the commanding officer ordered all hands on deck, and with all possible hull openings open, USS Perch was scuttled. The entire crew of 54 men and five officers were captured by a Japanese destroyer; all but six men, who died of malnutrition in Japanese POW camps, survived the war.

PACIFIC

After having attacked Wake Island on 24 Feb., Task Force Sixteen built around the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise is en route to attack Marcus Island. SBD Dauntlesses on antisubmarine patrol attack two Japanese submarines but the task force commander, Rear Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey, opts to continue the mission.

USN Submarine Operations:

USS SEAWOLF sinks an armed transport at 07-02 N, 125-33E in Davao harbor.

USS TAMBOR sinks a civilian cargo ship at 21-18 N, 108-39E, NW of Hainan Island.

USS FINBACK sinks a sampan at 25-25 N, 126-31 E.0200.

USS HADDOCK sinks a civilian cargo ship at 32-18N, 126-52 E.

Day 908 of World War II, March 5th 1942

Eastern Front

Moscow announces recapture by the Soviet Army of Yukhnov, northwest of Kaluga, on the central front.

Battle of the Atlantic

At 11.35 AM off Nova Scotia, U-404 sinks US steamer Collamer. At 3.33 PM 50 miles East of the Bahamas, U-128 sinks Norwegian tanker O.A. Knudsen. At 10.44 PM 30 miles North of Turks and Caicos Islands, U-126 sinks US steamer Mariana (all 36 hand lost). At 11.07 PM 100 miles off Sierra Leone, West Africa, U-505 sinks British SS Benmohr (all 56 hands rescued by a British Sunderland flying boat).

Battle of the Mediterranean

British submarines have a busy day in the Mediterranean. Overnight, HMS Torbay enters the harbour on the Greek island of Corfu and, at 7.30 AM, sinks Italian merchant ship Maddalena G. and possibly one other. HMS Torbay escapes back to the Ionian Sea and is inaccurately attacked from 8.30 to 10 AM with 40 depth-charges but sustains no damage. HMS Uproar sinks Italian merchant Marin Sanudo 18 miles West of the Italian island of Lampedusa (depth charged by Italian torpedo boats Cigno and Procione, causing no damage). At 3 PM, HMS Thorn sinks Italian auxiliary patrol vessel AS91/Ottavia with the deck gun off the Greek island of Kefalonia (an Italian destroyer drops 2 depth charges, causing no damage).

United States

The Air Force Combat Command activates HQ XII Interceptor Command at Drew Field, Tampa, Florida.

The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) begins flying antisubmarine patrols off the east coast.

Photo: The U.S. Navy light cruiser USS St. Louis (CL-49) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California



United Kingdom

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound is replaced by Field Marshall Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, as Chairman of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee. This appointment improves relations between Prime Minster Winston Churchill and the Committee as Admiral Pound was noted for a strictly maritime point of view.

Winston Churchill proposes to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt that a U.S. division be sent to New Zealand on the condition that the New Zealand Expeditionary Force remains in the Middle East.

Pacific War

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO

The Japanese convoy bound for Huon Gulf, New Guinea, sails from Rabaul, New Britain Island, during the night of the 5th/6th.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

(SWPA, 5th Air Force): Air echelon of 30th Bombardment Squadron, 19th BG (Heavy), arrives at Melbourne,Australia from Singosari, Java, NEI with B-17's, B-24's and LB-30's. The ground echelon is on Luzon and Mindanao , Philippines attached to the 5th Interceptor Command.

BURMA

British Lieutenant General Sir Harold Alexander arrives in Rangoon to become General Officer Commanding Burma Army. General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief India, has given Alexander orders to hold Rangoon at all costs. Alexander immediately orders the 1st Burma Division to counter-attack the Japanese from the north and the 17th Indian Division, which has be reinforced, to attack east of Pegu. Meanwhile, the Japanese capture Pegu, a railroad junction 50 miles north of Rangoon, and threaten to trap Alexander's forces.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

The Dutch continue a losing battle for Java. At dusk, the Dutch troops in the vicinity of Batavia, the capital, surrender to the Japanese and, by 2130 hours that night, the city has been occupied. The Allies retreat toward Bandung in Java's central highland.

Carrier-based Japanese aircraft mount a damaging raid on the naval base at Tjilatjap, Java sinking 17 ships and completely destroying the harbor.

INDIA

Major General Lewis H. Brereton takes command of the USAAF 10th Air Force with HQ at New Delhi. The 10th Air Force has eight tactical aircraft, all B-17's.

JAPAN

Imperial General Headquarters issues Navy Directive No.62 ordering Commander-in- Chief, Combined Fleet, upon completion of the Java operation, to annihilate the remaining enemy force in Dutch New Guinea and to occupy strategic points of that territory. The objectives of the occupation are to survey the country for possible sites for air bases, anchorages and oilfields, as well to secure a good communication and supply line with British New Guinea.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

Japanese transport Takao Maru, damaged and driven aground off Vigan, Luzon, on 10 December 1941, is destroyed by Filipino saboteurs.

Day 910 of World War II, March 7th 1942

Battle of the Caribbean

Three Allied ships are torpedoed and sunk by German submarines in the Western Hemisphere today:

(1) 'U-126' sinks an unarmed U.S. freighter about 9 miles NNW of West Tortuga Island, Haiti.

(2) 'U-126' later sinks an unarmed U.S. freighter about 5 miles WNW of San Nicholas Mole, Haiti.

(3) 'U-155' sinks an unarmed Brazilian steamship about 110 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, U.S.A.

Battle of the Mediterranean

Force H, consisting of the aircraft carriers HMS 'Argus' and 'Eagle' and supported by a number of destroyers, sets sail for Malta with a number of Spitfires on board. Fifteen Spitfires were flown off when Force H comes within range of the island.

Photo: British Forces in Cyprus 1942 A motorcycle despatch rider putting on his gas mask during a 50-mile motorcycle trial in Cyprus



Air War over Europe

During the night of the 7th/8th, RAF Bomber Command flies two missions:

(1) 15 aircraft bomb the submarine pens at St Nazaire and

(2) 11 Hampdens lay mines off Lorient; one Hampden is lost.

United States

The practicability of using a radio sonobuoy in aerial anti-submarine warfare was demonstrated in an exercise conducted off New London, Connecticut, by nonrigid airship (or blimp) K-5 and submarine USS S-20 . The buoy could detect the sound of the submerged submarine's propellers at distances up to 3 miles, and radio reception aboard the blimp was satisfactory up to 5 miles.

The Tuskegee flying school graduates its first cadets. This US school was segregated for Black students. They joined the 99th Pursuit Squadron. Names: Capt. Ben Davis Jr.; 2LT Mac Ross, Charles DeBow, LR Curtis, and George Roberts.

Pacific War

AUSTRALIA

USN Patrol Wing 10, which was based in the Philippines in December 1941, completes withdrawal from the Netherlands East Indies, and establishes headquarters in Perth, Western Australia, for patrol operations along the west coast of Australia. Sixty percent of the wing personnel are either dead or captives of the Japanese. Three of the four wing squadrons, Patrol Squadron VP-21, VP-22 and VP-102 are officially disestablished, and the remaining personnel and aircraft assets, PBY-4 and -5 Catalinas, are combined to bring up to full strength the remaining squadron, VP-101.

Photo: The U.S. Navy submarine tender USS Holland (AS-3) with five submarines on Victoria Quay, Fremantle, Western Australia



SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA

(5th Air Force): HQ 22d BG (Medium) transfers from Brisbane to Ipswich, Australia.

BURMA

The British Army evacuates Rangoon, moving along Prome road except for demolition forces, which are removed by sea. The loss of Rangoon seriously handicaps supply and reinforcement of the Burma Army, which must now depend on air for this. Withdrawal from Rangoon is halted at Taukkyan by an enemy roadblock. The bypassed Allied force in Pegu is ordered to withdraw.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

The Japanese conquest of Java is virtually complete. Radio and cable communications with Bandoeng cease. Final reports indicate that the Japanese are still advancing on all fronts, that the defenders are completely exhausted, and that all Allied fighter planes have been destroyed. The Japanese also capture Tjilatjap, the naval base on the south coast, and Surabaja was being evacuated in the face of strong Japanese forces.

NEW CALEDONIA

Major General Alexander M. Patch, commander- designate of the New Caledonia Task Force (6814), arrives on New Caledonia Island.

NEW GUINEA

While returning from a reconnaissance mission over Gasmata and Rabaul in the Bismarck Archipelago, the crew of an RAAF Hudson of No. 32 Squadron, based at Seven Mile Airstrip, Port Moresby, sights a convoy of 11 ships heading for Salamaua.

Day 912 of World War II, March 9th 1942

Battle of the Atlantic

German battleship Tirpitz fails to locate Allied convoys QP8 or PQ12 between Iceland and USSR but 12 Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers from British aircraft carrier HMS Victorious find Tirpitz off Vestfjord, Norway. They attack unsuccessfully and 2 Albacore are shot down. 3 German Ju88s unsuccessfully counterattack HMS Victorious.

650 miles East of Florida, Italian submarine Tazzoli sinks Uruguayan SS Montevideo, previously Italian SS Adamello but seized by Uruguay in 1941 (14 killed, 35 rescued). At 2.25 AM 130 miles Southeast of New York, U-94 sinks Brazilian SS Cayrú (53 dead and 36 survivors). At 1.17 PM 10 miles off the East coast of Cuba, U-126 sinks Panamanian tanker MV Hanseat (all 39 crew escape in 4 lifeboats). At 6.45 PM 470 miles East of Halifax, Nova Scotia, U-587 sinks Greek SS Lily (all 32 crew escape in 2 lifeboats but 3 die of exposure, 29 picked up by Canadian corvette HMCS Sackville on March 13). At 9.09 PM 100 miles from Halifax, U-96 sinks Norwegian MV Tyr (all 31 crew abandon ship in 3 lifeboats, 18 men in 2 lifeboats rescued on March 10 and 11 but 13 men never found).

Photo: "Paying out the oil fuel pipe from the cruiser HMS TRINIDAD which is hauled on board by the destroyer HMS FURY. Note the huge waves pounding the side of the cruiser"



Air War over Europe

During the night of the 9th/10th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 187 aircraft, 136 Wellingtons, 21 Stirlings, 15 Hampdens, ten Manchesters and five Halifaxes, to continue the series of heavy Gee-guided raids on Essen. One hundred forty three aircraft bomb but thick ground haze leads to scattered bombing and only two buildings are destroyed in Essen but 72 are damaged. Four other aircraft attack Duisburg and individual aircraft bomb Emmerich and Oberhausen. Two Welingtons and a Halifax are lost.

Five RAF Bomber Command Hampdens lay mines in the Frisian Islands.

During the night of the 9th/10th, nine RAF Bomber Command Wellingtons and Stirlings are dispatched to bomb the port area of Boulogne; only two aircraft bomb the target.

Six RAF Bomber Command Bostons on a Circus raid bomb the Mazingarbe fuel depot during the day; there are no losses.

Individual RAF Bomber Command aircraft bomb Schipol and Soesterburg Airfields during the night of the 9th/10th.

Canada

An advance construction team of U.S. Army engineers arrives at Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to begin work on the 1,522 mile Alcan Highway between Dawson Creek and Fairbanks, Territory of Alaska, U.S.A.

United States

A major U.S. Army reorganization, implementing an Executive Order of 28 February, becomes effective today. General Headquarters is abolished and three autonomous commands, Army Ground Forces under Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, Army Air Forces under Lieutenant General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, and Services of Supply (later designated as Army Service Forces) under Major General Brehon B. Somervell, are given responsibility for Zone of Interior (ZI) functions under General George C. Marshall as Chief of Staff. The field forces remain under control of the War Department General Staff. The Air Corps and the US Army Air Force Combat Command, which previously had made up the Army Air Forces (AAF), are discontinued.

Pacific War

AUSTRALIA

A leading brigade of the 7th Division Australian Imperial Force arrives in Adelaide, South Australia, from the Middle East. Elements of the division had been sent to Java where they soon became prisoners of the Japanese.

Submarine USS Swordfish disembarks U.S. High Commissioner to the Philippine Islands Francis B. Sayre and his party at Fremantle, Western Australia.

BURMA

Burma Army forces at Taukkyan continue a withdrawal northward without serious difficulty.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

At 1430 hours on Java, in compliance with the demands of Lieutenant General IMAMURA Hitoshi, Commander of the Japanese 16th Army, Dutch Lieutenant General Hein Ter Poorten makes a second radio broadcast in which all British, Australian and American units are ordered to lay down their arms.

NEW CALEDONIA

American troops, Task Force 6814 consisting of the HQ of the 51st Infantry Brigade and the 132d and 182 Infantry under the command of Major General Alexander M. Patch, land at Noumea on New Caledonia Island. A brief diplomatic scuffle ensues after Patch takes a dissident group of local militiamen under his command but the matter is quickly resolved in favor of the French and a new governor is appointed for the island.

NEW GUINEA

Land-based aircraft attack a Japanese convoy in Huon Gulf with unobserved results. Japanese aircraft continue the neutralization of points in New Guinea.

Photo: Japanese troops in Queen Carola Harbour to occupy Buka Island



PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, Far East, announces that General YAMASHITA Tomoyoki has replaced Lieutenant General HOMMA Masaharu as Commander of the Japanese 14th Army in the Philippines.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt again radios MacArthur to leave the Philippines and MacArthur agrees he will leave Corregidor by 15 March. The question is how. The original plan was for MacArthur and party to leave in the submarine USS Permit) on 14 March. However, the radio press in the U.S. began broadcasting demands that MacArthur be placed in command of all Allied Forces in Australia and the Japanese, realizing that he will flee, increase the size and frequency of naval patrols in Subic Bay and off Corregidor. A destroyer division is sighted in the southern Philippines heading north at high speed. Tokyo Rose is broadcasting that MacArthur will be captured within a month, and U.S. Navy officers give MacArthur a one-in-five chance. Therefore, It is decided not to wait for the submarine but to leave by motor torpedo (PT) boat as soon as preparations can be completed. The PT boats will take him to Mindanao Island and the party will then board three USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses at Del Monte Field for a flight to Australia.

SOLOMON ISLANDS

Australian coastwatcher P. Good is executed by the Japanese on Buka Island, north of Bougainville. He had been betrayed by an Australian news broadcast reporting enemy shipping movements.