Posted on 02/01/2012 4:46:13 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
The News of the Week in Review
The Armies of Japan Drive Against the Malay Barrier (map) – 9
Twenty News Questions – 10
Upset in Libya Shows Woes of a Desert War (Levy) – 11
Mediterranean and Middle East-Vital Sector of War (map) – 12
Axis Radio Blankets Islam (Sulzberger) – 13
Coast Radio Wars on Tokyo by Air (Davies) – 13-14
Rio Exposes Fifth Columns (Callender) – 14-15
Answers to Twenty News Questions – 15
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1942/feb42/f01feb42.htm
Quisling heads Nazi sponsored government
Sunday, February 1, 1942 www.onwar.com
Vidkun QuislingIn Norway... German authorities here appoint Major Vidkun Quisling as the head the Nazi controlled government in Norway. (In English, his name has become synonymous with traitor.)
In the Pacific... Under the command of Admiral Halsey and Fletcher, American task forces attack Japanese held air bases in the Marshall and Gilbert Island. The US aircraft carrier Enterprise is damaged during the attacks.
In North Africa... British General Ritchie orders the English 8th Army to withdraw to the Gazala line.
In South Africa... Two bombs are planted in Johannesburg.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/01.htm
February 1st, 1942
UNITED KINGDOM: London: RAF Bomber Command, despite being ordered last November to conserve its strength in order to launch a spring campaign, has kept up its attacks on Germany. Emden, Hamburg, Kiel and Mannheim were among the cities hit last month. Imitating the Luftwaffe’s raid on Coventry, Wellington’s loaded with four-pound incendiary bombs are lighting the way for other squadrons with high-explosive bombs. RAF bombers also attacked the KMS SCHARNHORST and KMS GNEISENAU in nine night raids on Brest.
FRANCE: Paris: At a meeting in the Vélodrome d’Hiver, Jacques Doriot, speaks to a PPF crowd of 50,000, according to his parties estimate, 30,000 according to the Propaganda Abteilung. The crowd roared in turn for Hitler, Pétain and Rommel.
GERMANY: Tobacco rationing starts, with women receiving only half the male allowance.
U-952, U-1227 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
NORWAY: Oslo: Vidkun Quisling is appointed minister-president of the Nazi puppet government on Hitler’s orders. He appointed himself prime minister in 1940 when the Germans invaded; he lasted just six days, the Germans deciding that his conduct was creating more enemies than friends for them.
Now, however, with manpower shortages crippling war production, Hitler cares not whether Norwegians feel friendly; they must be rounded-up for war work, and Quisling is willing to do the job. After the installation ceremony in Oslo, he made his acceptance speech in German.
Hitler has been able to count on eager collaborators in the countries of Europe occupied by his armies since 1940. Some, like Anton Mussert of the Netherlands, are mediocrities impressed by talk of the Nazis’ New Order; others, like the cynical and devious lawyer and former premier Pierre Laval, are opportunists. Still others, the Great War hero Marshal Petain among them, believe that only by collaborating can they save their people from persecution and privation.
Denmark was occupied in April 1940 and has produced at least six Nazi parties, all proclaiming their admiration for Hitler, while wrangling among themselves. In Belgium the old feud between Dutch-speaking Flemings and French-speaking Walloons produced rival Nazi groups, and the Germans have concentrated, with some success, on recruiting Flemings as SS volunteers. King Leopold was reviled for ordering the surrender of his troops in 1940, and in Belgian eyes he has further besmirched his name by paying a visit to Hitler. But he did so in an effort to secure better food rations for his people; he has stubbornly refused to collaborate.
U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Army continues its powerful offensive throughout February but with diminishing success as German resistance stiffens with the arrival of reinforcements. Further efforts to break through to Leningrad and Sevastopol are futile, but some success is achieved in other sectors. Soviet forces in the Crimea are reinforced. (Jack McKillop)
LIBYA: British General Sir Neal Ritchie, General Officer Commanding Eighth Army, orders a general withdrawal of 13 Corps, to the line Gazala-Bir Hacheim in order to avoid envelopment. The Indian 4th Division, which reverts to 13 Corps command, completes a withdrawal to the Derna line during night 1-2 February. (Jack McKillop)
SOUTH AFRICA: Two bombs are planted in Johannesburg. (Jack McKillop)
BURMA: Pilots of the American Volunteer Group (AVG, aka, “The Flying Tigers”) shoot down 16 more Japanese planes. (Jack McKillop)
SINGAPORE: The British defenders finally dig entrenchments, but because of the panic and retreat, there’s no civilian labor. Daily air raids sap morale and impede work. After the daily attacks, Air Raid Precautions (ARP) trucks pick up bodies and dump them in communal graves. Aviation fuel is dumped instead of being used to set the Johore Straits afire. Singapore’s defenses are being prepared at the last minute. (Jack McKillop)
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Bataan, the II Corps prepares to attack in Sector C to clear the enemy bridgehead from which Japanese continue to withdraw. I Corps continues its efforts to reduce pockets south of the main line of resistance with negligible success. In the South Sector, Philippine Scouts renew the battle against the Quinauan Point beachhead but progress is still limited. Scout casualties by this time are estimated at 50 percent. Japanese reinforcements for Quinauan Point are spotted, during the night of 1-2 February, and attacked by the remaining four P-40s of the USAAF Far East Air Force (FEAF), motor torpedo boats, and artillery and infantry weapons from shore. The Japanese are forced to land instead in the Anyasan-Silaiim area. (Jack McKillop)
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) “Combined Striking Force” is established with Rear Admiral Karel Doorman, Royal Netherlands Navy, in command. The force consists of two heavy cruisers, nine light cruisers and 24 destroyers. In reality, five of the light cruisers and 14 of the destroyers are obsolete and not fit for modern naval warfare. (Jack McKillop)
On Ambon Island, the Japanese capture 10 Australian soldiers and bayonet them to death. The Japanese commander says the POWs would be “a drag” on his advance. (Jack McKillop)
PACIFIC OCEAN: Admirals Halsey and Fletcher lead US carrier air strikes when 92 planes from the US carriers USS Lexington and USS YORKTOWN launch attacks against Japanese installations on the Marshall and Gilbert Islands.
USN Task Force Eight (TF 8) (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.), formed around the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), raids the Marshall Islands concentrating on Kwajalein and Wotje, with the heavy cruiser USS Chester (CA-27) bombarding Maleolap Atoll.
At Kwajalein, SBD Dauntlesses of Bombing Squadron Six (VB 6) and Scouting Squadron Six (VS 6) and TBD Devastators of Torpedo Squadron Six (VT 6) from USS Enterprise sink a transport and damage the light cruiser HIJMS Katori, submarine HIJMS I-23, a minelayer, an auxiliary netlayer, an auxiliary submarine chaser, a submarine depot ship, an oiler, a tanker, and an army cargo ship; in the bombing of shore installations, Rear Admiral SUKEYOSHI Yatsushiro (Commander Sixth Base Force) becomes the first Imperial Navy flag officer to die in combat when an SBD scores a direct hit on his headquarters.
Off Wotje, gunfire from heavy cruisers USS Northampton (CA-26) and USS Salt Lake City (CA-25) sink a gunboat while the destroyer USS Dunlap (DD-384) shells and sinks an auxiliary submarine chaser.
Japanese retaliatory air attacks by six Mitsubishi G3M, Navy Type 96 Attack Bombers (later assigned the Allied Code Name “Nell”) of the Chitose Kokutai (Chitose Naval Air Corps) on TF 8 results in damage to USS Enterprise (near-miss of a crashing land attack plane) and heavy cruiser USS Chester (by bomb dropped by carrier fighter).
Three SBDs are shot down over Roi Island by Mitsuibishi A5M, Navy Type 96 Carrier Fighters (later given the Allied Code Name “Claude”) and one “Claude” is shot down by a VS-5 SBD gunner. (Jack McKillop)
USN TF 17 (Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher), formed around aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5), raids the Gilbert Islands targeting enemy installations on Jaluit, Makin, and Mili.
Aircraft from USS Yorktown cause less damage than the attacks on the Marshall Islands, due to a scarcity of targets at the objective; nevertheless, SBDs of VS-5 bomb and strafe a gunboat at Makin and destroy two Kawanishi H6K, Navy Type 97 Flying Boats (later assigned the Allied Code Name “Mavis”) at anchor, while SBDs of VB 5 bomb and strafe a cargo ship at Jaluit.
Rear Admiral Fletcher detaches three of his four destroyers to look for downed TBD of VT 5 reported in the water astern of TF 17.
During the search, a Japanese “Mavis” flying boat of the Yokohama Kokutai attacks (but does not damage) destroyer USS Sims (DD-409).
Soon thereafter, two F4F Wildcats of Fighting Squadron Forty Two (VF 42) splash the flying boat. The TBD crew, however, is never found in the prevailing poor weather. (Jack McKillop)
TF 11 (Vice Admiral Wilson Brown Jr.), formed around aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2) supports the operations from the vicinity of Christmas Island in the Line Islands. (Jack McKillop)
CANADA: MFV HMCS Chamiss Bay requisitioned.
Minesweeper HMCS Blairmore laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
NEWFOUNDLAND: Corvettes HMCS Spikenard, Shediac and Louisburg departed St John’s to escort Convoy SC-67. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: The USAAF activates the VIII Bomber Command at Langley Field, Virginia; VIII Interceptor Command at Selfridge Field, Michigan; and the IX Interceptor Command at New Orleans AAB, Louisiana. (Jack McKillop)
Great Meadows Penitentiary, New York: Mobster “Lucky” Luciano persuades his mob to co-operate with the US Office of Naval Intelligence. Joe “Socks” Lanza who controls the immigrant fishermen who supply the Fulton Fish Market enlists the fishing fleet to report the locations of U-boats. (Marc James Small)
Enlistees after this date were restricted to enlistment in the USCG Reserve. This was done to prevent having too many enlistees in the service at war’s end. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: A serious setback to British fortunes in the BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC has taken place today. The U-boats in the Atlantic have adopted a new cipher, Triton, linking them directly to Admiral Dönitz’s headquarters in Paris. Triton has an additional rotor to the three used in the normal Hydra cipher. Bletchley Park’s Bombe, the decpihering machine developed by the mathematician Alan Turing for cracking the codes, only has three rotors and hence cannot tackle Triton. The change is not because the Germans know that the British are reading Enigma. They do not. Rather, it reflects Dönitz’s wish to exert tighter control over the operations if his wolf packs so that they will sink more ships. Also, the ciphers used by the U-boats training in the Baltic (Tetis) and in coastal waters (Hydra) remain unchanged.
Hence the admiralty’s submarine tracking room can still monitor each newly-commissioned U-boat and those entering and leaving the Bay of Biscay and Norwegian waters. The inability to read Triton means that the Admiralty no longer knows the intentions of the U-boats operating in the Atlantic. It will thus be more difficult to route convoys.
SS Tacoma Star torpedoed at 0330 380 miles short of Hampton Roads, where the ship was to join a UK-bound convoy. Apart from a distress signal, no other trace of the ship was found.
U-84 searched for survivors from blockade runner Spreewald, sunk in error by U-333. (Dave Shirlaw)
Marking....
Very interesting stuff, most interesting was the little gem on Nazi propaganda to the the mid-east.. Hitler as decedent of the pedophile prophet... makes a lot of sense actually LOL.
Another challenging quiz on page 10. If you were following the discussion last week you will recall that aircraft carriers are not yet regarded as capital ships (see question 12).
General Nuri, complaining that Nazi broadcasts are aimed at the lowest classes, said the British had not yet been able to reach these sections of the population in their counter-propaganda and warned that intelligent reasoning alone was insufficient to meet the enemy’s word barrage.
Thank goodness that’s not the case in today’s U.S.A. Otherwise we might elect unqualified, morally deficient candidates who promise the kind of change that foolish children might hope for but are really only interested in the exercise of power.
“British General Ritchie orders the English 8th Army to withdraw to the Gazala Line.”.
Wonder how that’s gonna work out for you, Neil.
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