PHOTO: Japanese Soliders Prepare to Land - January 1942
America Stepping into War is a continuous article detailing the day-to-day events leading to WWII and of the days of WWII.
By: Dr. Zo L. Simmons
January 1, 1942
U.S. Troops Ring Manila.
The War Department announces that General Douglas MacArthur’s American and Filipino troops north and southeast of Manila have joined forces, forming an arc about the capital. Strong positions are now occupied by the defending troops who are inflicting heavy losses on the invaders, it adds. A major battle is in progress.
It also reports that 175 Japanese civilians have been interned near Manila and about 3,000 others have been placed under surveillance to protect them against possible mob violence. It hopes that this generous treatment will result in reciprocal treatment by Japan of American and Philippine civilians in occupied territory.
Japanese Shell 3 Hawaiian Islands.
The War Department announces that enemy submarines, December 30, shelled the port of Hilo on Hawaii Island, the harbor of Kahului on Maui Island and the shore near Lihue, Kauai Island, causing little damage and no casualties. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the Pacific fleet, says in Honolulu that such shelling are possible anywhere.
Dutch Save U.S. Crew.
A Batavia communique reports that 48 crew members were rescued by a Dutch flying boat after their American freighter was set afire by Japanese bombers in the northern part of the Netherlands Indies archipelago. One crewman is missing.
Army to Continue Voluntary Enlistments.
Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson announces that the Army will continue accepting voluntary enlistments because it needs youths of 18 and 19. Previously it was planned to recruit men only through the draft, but Congress set 20 years as the minimum age for induction.
Axis Aliens Ordered to Give Up Arms.
Attorney General Francis Biddle orders German, Italian, and Japanese nationals in the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to surrender all firearms in their possessions to local police before 11 p.m., January 5. They are also forbidden to leave their communities or change residence without permission.
5 Fliers Killed.
Five Army fliers are killed when their Douglas bomber crashes at Hillside, Long Island. The Army reports that a B-26 two-engine bomber with nine men abroad disappeared December 30 near Cajon Pass while approaching March Field, California.
Boeing Boosts Plane Output.
The Boeing Aircraft Company reports in Seattle that it increased its warplane production by 70% in December. Seven other West Coast airplane plants also raised their output in the first war month.
January 2, 1942
Allied War Pact.
The White House makes public at 3 p.m. a joint declaration signed by 26 nations at war with the Axis pledging each not to make a separate peace and to employ its full resources against the common enemy.
The text follows:
Declaration by United Nations: A joint declaration by the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, China, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland and South America.
The governments signatory hereto, Having subscribed to a common program of purposes and principles embodied in the joint declaration of the President of the United States of America and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland dated August 14, 1941, known as the Atlantic Charter, being convinced that complete victory over their enemies is essential to defend life, liberty, independence and religious freedom, and to preserve human rights and justice in their own lands as well as in other lands, and that they are now engaged in a common struggle against savage and brutal forces seeking to subjugate the world, declare:
(1) Each government pledges itself to employ its full resources, military or economic, against those members of the Tripartite Pact and its adherents with which such government is at war.
(2) Each government pledges itself to cooperate with the governments signatory hereto and not to make a separate armistice or peace with the enemies.
The foregoing declaration may be adhered to by other nations which are, or which may be, rendering material assistance and contributions in the struggle for victory over Hitlerism.
Done at Washington, January First, 1942.
Manila Falls.
Manila and the Cavite naval base six miles away are occupied by the Japanese without resistance, 25 days after the invasion of the Philippines began. General MacArthur withdraws his American-Filipino forces to the north and northwest if the capital to continue the battle. The Japanese news agency, Domei, says that he has established his headquarters on Corregidor Island fortress at the entrance to Manila Bay, which is heavily bombed.
The War Departments morning communique says: Advanced elements of Japanese troops entered Manila at 3 p.m. January 2, 1942. All American and Philippine troops were withdrawn from the city several days ago, and all defense installations were removed or destroyed. Many of the wounded Manila area on December 31, 1941, and are now en route to Australia. It says the Japanese entered Manila from the south after MacArthur shortened his lines, uncovering the southern approaches. It adds that a small Japanese force has also landed at Jolo in the Sulu Archipelago to the south.
The Navy Department reports that Cavite was evacuated before the Japanese entered Manila and that all records, equipment and stores were destroyed or removed.
U.S. Warships Aid Indies.
A Batavia communique discloses that U.S. warships are helping to defend the northern part of the Netherlands East Indies when it reports that Japanese aircraft attacked one of them without causing serious damage. Two American planes were also attacked unsuccessfully, it adds.
Navy Takes Over S.S. Argentina.
The Navy takes over the 20,614 ton S.S. Argentina, owned by the Maritime Commission and operated under charter by Monroe-McCormack Lines, on the eve of her scheduled sailing from New York for South America with 200 passengers. The Excalibur and Excambion, each of more than 9,000 tons, were taken over from the American Export Line a week ago.
January 3, 1942
Wavell Names Pacific Commander.
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill announce in Washington the appointment of General Sir Archibald P. Wavell, 58-year-old commander in India and Burma, as supreme commander of all American, British, Dutch and Dominion forces in the Southwest Pacific. Major Gen. George H. Brett, 56, chief of the U.S. Air Corps, will be deputy supreme commander; Admiral Thomas C. Hart, 64, commander of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, will command all naval forces in the Far East under Wavell, and Generalissimo Chian Kai-shek will command all forces in the China theater. Lieut. General Sir Henry R. Pownall, British commander in Singapore, will serve as Allied Chief of Staff.
60 Planes Bomb Corregidor.
The War Department reports that 60 Japanese planes bombed the Corregidor island fortress at the entrance to Manila Bay for five hours yesterday, killing 13 and wounding 35 Americans but causing no material damage. Three planes were shot down by anti-aircraft fire. General Douglas MacArthur’s forces are reported unofficially to be consolidating new positions northwest of Manila in the Batan area.
The Japanese news agency, Domei, claims that Mindanao Island has been completely occupied and that 17 U.S. destroyers, 22 submarines and an aircraft carrier were trapped in the Cavite naval base near
Manila. (The Navy denies this January 4th).
Plane Output Up.
The Office of Emergency Management announces that the daily output of military planes today is greatly increased and is increasing month to month. The monthly output is believed over 2,000. Among the new planes in production is the P-38, the Lockhead Lightning, described as the fastest military plane in the world with its twin engines giving it a speed well in excess of 400 miles an hour. The Republic P-47, called the fastest single-engine airplane in the world, is nearly ready for quantity production. It has done more than 680 miles an hour in a power dive and more than 400 miles an hour in level flight.
San Francisco Blackout.
San Francisco and the Bay area are blacked out from 6:50 to 7:32 p.m. when definite sound tracks made by groups of unidentified planes 80 miles off the Pacific Coast are recorded by the Army’s Fourth Interceptor Command.
January 4
21 Planes Bomb Corregidor.
The War Department reports that 21 Japanese planes attacked Corregidor Island in Manila Bay for half an hour last night, causing minor damage and slight casualties. Four were shot down and others damaged. On the ground the Japanese renew their attacks on U.S. Filipino troops in Pampanga Province, northwest of Manila.
General Douglas MacArthur reports that the Japanese are discriminating against all white residents in Manila, who have been ordered to stay indoors under penalty of being shot if they appear in the streets. The order apparently applies also to Germans, Italians and Spaniards, he adds.
War Pact Opened to All Axis Foes.
The State Department announces: In order that liberty-loving peoples silenced by military force may have an opportunity to support the principles of the declaration by the United Nations, The Government of the United States will receive statements of adherence to its principles from appropriate authorities which are not governments. The Latvian Minister, Dr. Alfred Bilmanis, immediately pledges his country to support the declaration.
New York Civilian Defense.
Mayor Fiorello H. Guardia reports that 509,170 persons have volunteered for civilian defense work in New York City, 210, 552 as air raid wardens, 47,935 as auxiliary fire fighters, 1, 200 as plane plotters and the rest under the Red Cross.
Published U.S. Legacies March 2004
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