HOUSE VOTES DEFENSE ANTI-STRIKE BILL; RUSSIANS SMASH TO TAGANROG (12/4/41)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 12/4/41 | Henry N. Dorris, Daniel T. Brigham, George Axelsson, C.L. Sulzberger, Joseph M. Levy, more

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Advance on Moscow – Operations, 26 August-5 December 1941
North Africa, Auchinleck’s Offensive, 18 November-31 December 1941
The Mediterranean Basin
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941 – Major Allied Forces and Positions, December 1941 The Far East and the Pacific, 1941 – Major Japanese War Objectives and Planned Opening Attacks

[Homer_J_Simpson]

A Sweeping Bill – 2
Nazi Rout Widens – 3-4
The International Situation – 3
Hard-Won Gains Claimed by Nazis – 4-5
Soviet Evacuation of Hangoe Begun – 5-6
Mine Blasts Lighthouse; One Keeper Found Dying – 6
Soviet Propaganda Seeks Rift in Germany’s Allies in Russia – 6-7
Brauchitsch is Reported Off to Stem Nazi Rout – 7
Battle in Africa is Marking Time – 7
‘Just One Round’ in African War is All That Nazi Spokesmen Claim – 8
No Common Ground (by Bertram D. Hulen) – 9
The Day in Washington – 10
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the War – 11-12
Singapore Doubts Japanese Threats (by F.Tillman Durdin) – 12
Italian Airline Cuts South American Run – 12

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/dec41/f04dec41.htm

Women drafted to work in Britain
Thursday, December 4, 1941 www.onwar.com

British propoganda posterIn London... A new National Service Bill is passed by Parliament. Its provisions include compulsory direction and conscription for female labor.

In the South China Sea... The Japanese landing force sails from Hainan bound for Malaya.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/04.htm

December 4th, 1941

UNITED KINGDOM: Parliament passes a new national Service Bill. It includes compulsory direction and conscription for female labour. Unmarried women are to be called up to serve in the police, fire services and armed services under rules announced by the prime minister. Those affected are aged between 20 and 30. Married as well as single women up to the age of 40 are to register as available labour which might be directed to industry.

Mr Churchill describes the new arrangement as “another instalment of toil and sweat”. The age of call-up for men is down to 18 years and six months, while those aged between 41 and 50 are also liable for armed service. Boys and girls aged 16 must register their names as a first step toward uniform, and boys aged 16 are being encouraged to join the Home Guard as cadets. As Mr. Churchill sees it: “We must be careful that our boys do not run loose.”

Single women with illegitimate or adopted children, and other special hardship cases, are exempt. Female conscientious objectors can claim exemption even though women do not serve in most combat units. Among men, lay preachers and farm workers are among those whose “reserve occupations” keeps them out of uniform. Yet the potential pool of labour resulting from the new rules will contain nearly 1.7 million single women and 70,000 youths.
Destroyer HMS Nepal launched

ASW trawler HMS Dunkery launched.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Sir Lancelot launched.

Submarine HMS Truculent laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY:
U-599 commissioned

U-336 launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.S.R.: The Finns take Hango, and German Army Group Centre presses hard on the Moscow Front.

Moscow: Poland’s exiled premier, General Wladyslaw Sikorski, signs a mutual assistance pact with Stalin.

Soviet submarine SC-214 sinks Italian tanker Torcello (3336 t) near Bosfor. (Dave Shirlaw)

SOUTHEAST ASIA: The Japanese landing force that will attack Malaya sails from Hainan.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: MacArthur orders Brereton to initiate air patrols to north of Luzon and to disperse aircraft. Brereton uses fighters for this mission. Patrols continue to December 8, 1941.
Patrols spotted a formation of between nine and 27 bombers over Luzon after dark.
21st Pursuit Squadron at Nichols receives 24 P-40E’s, turns its 17 P-35A’s over to the 34th at Del Carmen.
Del Monte Field sufficiently developed to be used by B-17’s.
(Marc Small)

WAKE ISLAND: Aircraft carrier USS Enterprise sends F4F Wildcat aircraft ordered to reinforce US garrison. (Dave Shirlaw)

CANADA:
Minesweeper HMCS Lachine launched Levis, Province of Quebec.

Minesweepers HMCS Outarde, Medicine Hat and Melville commissioned.

Corvette HMCS Lunenburg commissioned.

Patrol vessel HMCS Nenamook commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.A.: The firefighting role of the Quartermaster Corps of the United States Army is transferred to the Corps of Engineers.

The Engineers acquired fire stations staffed with professional civilian fire fighters and Army acquired fire apparatus as well as the Quartermaster Corps fire apparatus designers, fire apparatus in the procurement stage and the policies and procedures applicable to peacetime. (Jean Beach)

[beebuster2000]

some interesting developments on the code front.

Magic continues to yield key pieces of the puzzle, but that info is not passed along, except in the most non specific terms to Kimmel in Hawaii.

Intel in DC has been tracking a series of “winds” messages from Tokyo to embassies, and receive a winds message that they, correctly, believe to be the war warning to the embassy, known as the “winds execute message”: “north wind clear”. Hawaii is never informed.

Kimmel, Navy Commander Hawaii, receives intel that the local Japanese consulate is destroying all but one code, and is burning documents, but fails to understand the significance of this.

The head of RCA, Sarnoff, had agreed to provide the Navy in Hawaii with the coded messages tapped from local Japanese and from the Japanese Consulate phones and messages. Key intercepts were provided on December 3, 4. Rochefort put his best people on it, but couldn't finalize decoding until Dec 10, at which point they realized they had the key info forecasting the attack.

[beebuster2000]

Update on IJN and Nagumo task Force:

9 IJN submarines are on station evenly spaced from the Mexico border to Seattle, and three submarines are in the Hawaiian Islands scouting. there is some evidence that one or more of these were spotted, but the sightings were dismissed or not confirmed. This was one of the great debates inside IJN on the strategy: to send or not to send the subs. the pro view was that the intel was needed on ship movements, the con view was that if they were spotted it would alert the Americans. Ultimately they were sent, but no confirmed sightings, until the actual day of the attack were made, and even then were not taken seriously.

Nagumo is approx 600 miles from Hawaii and steaming east in heavy seas, about to make a turn to the southeast that will bring him to 200 miles from Oahu. He will do one more refueling from his remaining tanker, leave it behind, and then increase speed to 24 knots. Leading the way are a light cruiser followed in a fan by four destroyers. They have been given orders to sink any ship they see, merchant or otherwise. Following the destroyers three miles astern are three fast Battleships. Four miles to starboard and port of the battleships are the heavy cruisers Chikuma and Tone that are to play a key role in Midway a few months later. Three miles behind this formidable group in two parallel columns come the six carriers, with Akagi in the lead. Bringing up the rear are two destroyers.

[ml/nj]

I never really thought about it when I used to go looking at old NYT microfilms myself, but I guess all the streaking on the images in recent days has something to do with the December 8 edition.

ML/NJ

[beebuster2000]

watched Tora Tora Tora last night. Pretty good movie. They make Short out to be a real jerk, and Kimmel kind of a bumbler. Reading “At Dawn We Slept” thats maybe pretty close. It seems Kimmels main failing is a total lack of imagination that the Japanese could actually mount an attack, ditto for Short.

On another topic my wife is getting more than a little concerned about my obsession with December 7, starting to get concerned looks while i post.

[TADSLOS]

The head of RCA, Sarnoff, had agreed to provide the Navy in Hawaii with the coded messages tapped from local Japanese and from the Japanese Consulate phones and messages. Key intercepts were provided on December 3, 4. Rochefort put his best people on it, but couldn't finalize decoding until Dec 10, at which point they realized they had the key info forecasting the attack.

How maddeningly frustrated and sick to their stomach they must have been on Dec 10.

[beebuster2000]

it is so totally like 9-11. all the pieces are there but no one can put it together, except in the rear view mirror. maybe stuff is always like that.

[PzLdr]

I believe the Kido Butai only had two BBs, HIEI and KIRIMISHIMA. Did I miss one?

[PzLdr]

That’s KIRISHIMA.

[GeronL]

That is an expensive lamp for a time when a luncheon goes for 65 cents.

Looks like the Russians are already pushing the Germans back in some places.

What do they need us for? /sarcasm

Oh come on, we all KNOW the Japanese don’t have the ability to launch major offenses far from their home islands. right?

/sarcasm

[CougarGA7]

• JAPANESE PIN BLAME ON U. S. - [JAPANESE] ARMY PAPER CHARGES VIOLATIONS BY F.D.R. - Hawaiian newspaper headline

• "PM/3rd one British warship arrived Honolulu and departed early morning fourth X approximately 100 tons one stack one four inch gun fwd and aft X Fueled? Immediately after arrival enlisted rating(s) received mail from British consulate" - R.C.A. coded traffic from Honolulu to Tokyo

• A Conference in the Presence of the Emperor agrees to begin hostilities with the United States on December 7th.

• Washington informs Kimmel that they have instructed Guam to destroy all their codes and documentation.

• Temperatures along the Eastern Front fall to -31 degrees Fahrenheit.

[CougarGA7]

The fact that they know that the Japanese are destroying their codes makes the infamous “winds” codes completely irrelevant. Perhaps redundant is a better word since both a “winds” broadcast and the knowledge of the destruction of codes mean the same thing. The fact that Kimmel and Short failed to understand the significance of this is really incredible when you think about it.

[CougarGA7]

I actually went and rented Tora Tora Tora immediately after walking out of the movie Pearl Harbor many years ago (after I demanded my money back). I had to watch it just to cleanse myself. It is my favorite movie on Pearl Harbor.

I don’t know if Short was a jerk, but I know he didn’t want to be in Pearl Harbor. This was meant to be his last duty station (which it was) before his retirement and he had stated that he wanted to finish out his career in Washington. He was an old general on his way out which may have contributed to his lack of vision.

[GeronL]

I don’t think they knew what the target was going to be or exactly when.