Posted on 02/24/2012 4:24:54 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1942/feb42/f24feb42.htm
Demyansk pocket supplied by Luftwaffe
Tuesday, February 24, 1942 www.onwar.com
Supplies parachuted into encircled German 2nd CorpsOn the Eastern Front... The Soviet Winter Offensive is slowing in the face of greater German resistance. In the north, the Red Army have encircled German 2nd Corps of the German 16th Army, just south of Lake Ilmen in the Demyansk region. The entrapped German troops will hold until relieved in April because the Luftwaffe manages to drop 270 tons of supplies to them daily.
On Wake Island... Admiral Halsey on board the USS Enterprise leads task force in a successful attack on Wake Island.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/24.htm
February 24th, 1942
GERMANY: U-276 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
BLACK SEA: Some 764 Romanian Jewish refugees heading for Palestine are killed when a Soviet submarine sinks their steamer Struma.
The Romanian ship ‘Struma’ sailed from Constansa under the command of a Bulgarian captain, G.T. Gorbatenkoin, and flying the Panamanian flag. There are 747 Romanian Jews on board, many from the town of Barland, their hope was to reach Palestine. After three days at sea, the Struma anchored off the outer harbour at Instanbul, with engine trouble. Here she awaited British permission to proceed to Palestine, permission which the British refused, one reason given was “It will encourage a flood of refugees”. Turkey, for some unknown reason, likewise refused them to disembark although the local Jewish community, who were already running a camp for Displaced Persons, were quite willing to take the Struma’s passengers and were in the meantime supplying them with food and water.
One of the passengers, Medeea Marcovici, suffered an embolism and was transferred to the Jewish hospital in Instanbul. She was granted a visa for Palestine and died in 1996. After two months at Instanbul with engines that were damaged beyond repair, conditions on board became appalling, many of the passengers now suffering from dysentery and malnutrition.
Eventually the Turkish police arrived to tow the Struma out into the Black Sea. The British had exerted strong pressure on Turkey to pursue this course. The enraged passengers fought them off, but a second attempt, where force was used, succeeded and the Struma was towed out and cast adrift outside Turkish territorial waters. This inhuman decision by the Turkish and British governments was to destroy the special relationship between Britain and the Zionist Jews.
On the water for 74 days since leaving Constansa, the Struma, hopelessly overcrowded, and with no country willing to accept them, was suddenly torpedoed and sunk by the Russian submarine SHCH-213 commanded by Lt. Col. Isaev, just ten miles from Instanbul. All on board, a total of 796 persons, perished except one, nineteen year old David Stoljar who today (1999) lives in Oregon USA.
The British High Commissioner in Palestine, Sir Harold MacMichael, stated: ‘The fate of these people was tragic, but the fact remains that they were nationals of a country at war with Britain, proceeding direct from enemy territory. Palestine was under no obligations towards them”. (Denis Peck)
U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Six German divisions cut off at Demyansk in the northern sector of the Moscow front are defying all the Red Army’s efforts to crush them. The Demyansk pocket and other similarly defended localities are frustrating the Soviet offensive.
One remarkable aspect of the Demyansk operation is that the 100,000 men in the pocket are completely cut off and are being supplied with food, fuel and ammunition by air.
All types of aircraft are being used. Junkers Ju52 transports are the main workhorses, but bombers are also carrying in supplies. They are protected by every available Messerschmidt Bf109, but the Russians are having a field day, while other bombers are being shot down by a flak corridor set up by the USSR.
Supplies are also being airlifted into another fiercely defended pocket, or “hedgehog”, around Kholm. It is even more dangerous here, for the airfield is in range of Russian artillery and the Germans are being forced to drop supplies by parachute or land them by glider.
The effect of the “hedgehogs” is the break up the cohesion of the Russian front. The Russians cannot maintain their offensive and the Germans cannot regroup effectively. Both sides are now showing signs of exhaustion. The Germans lose more men from frostbite than from gunshot, and the Russians are simply running out of steam.
INDIA: Major General Joseph Stilwell, Commanding General American Army Forces, China, Burma, and India, arrives at Karachi from the U.S. (Jack McKillop)
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The submarine USS Swordfish (SS-193) embarks U.S. High Commissioner to the Philippine Islands Francis B. Sayre and his party of 12, plus five sailors, off Manila Bay. Their original destination is Surabaya, Java, but because of the deteriorating situation on Java, they are taken to Fremantle, Western Australia. (Jack McKillop)
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: The evacuation of Java continues with all USAAF heavy bombers ordered to fly to Australia or other bases within range. Japanese aircraft attack the advance depot at Bandoeng and destroy three USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses on the ground. (Jack McKillop)
The first definite indication that the Japanese invasion of Java is imminent is a report, received today, of a large fleet of enemy transports with a strong escort, heading southward in the Strait of Makassar. (Jack McKillop)
AUSTRALIA: U.S. Major General Lewis Brereton and his staff depart Melbourne, Victoria, for India aboard two heavy bombers. Brereton will command the 10th Air Force in India. (Jack McKillop)
WAKE ISLAND: Beginning at 0710 hours, the USN’s Task Force Sixteen (TF 16) (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.) raids Wake Island to destroy Japanese installations there. SBD Dauntlesses and TBD Devastators of Bombing Squadron Six (VB 6), Scouting Squadron Six (VS 6) and Torpedo Squadron Six (VT 6) from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) and SOC-1 Seagulls of Cruiser Scouting Squadron Five (VCS 5) from heavy cruisers USS Northampton (CA-26) and USS Salt Lake City (CA-25) bomb installations in the atoll. The bombardment unit consisting of USS Northampton and USS Salt Lake City and destroyers USS Balch (DD-363) and USS Maury (DD-401) (Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance) shells the atoll. Combined efforts of USS Enterprise’s planes (bombing and strafing) and ships’ gunfire sink two guardboats and two Kawanishi H6K4, Navy Type 97 Flying Boats (later assigned the Allied Code Name “Mavis”) on the water; F4F Wildcat pilots of Fighting Squadron Six (VF-6) later shoot down a third H6K4 near Wake at about 0830 hours. Fortunately, the bombing and shelling of Wake harms none of the American marines, sailors and construction workers too badly wounded to have been evacuated in the initial increment of POWs, and the civilian workmen retained on the island to continue work on defenses. One SBD of VS 6 is lost, however, and its crew taken prisoner. (Jack McKillop)
TERRITORY OF HAWAII: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane (later assigned the Allied Code Name “Glen”), to reconnoiter Pearl Harbor. (Jack McKillop)
CANADA: All male Japanese Canadian citizens between the ages of 18 and 45 ordered to be removed from 100-mile (161 kilometre) wide zone along the coast of British Columbia. (Jack McKillop)
U.S.A.: The Voice of America shortwave radio station broadcasts for the first time with the words, “The Voice of America speaks. ... we shall speak to you about America and the war. The news may be good or bad, but we shall tell you the truth.” Its first programs are in German. (Jack McKillop)
The USN’s Bureau of Aeronautics issues a contract for television equipment, including camera, transmitter, and receiver, that is capable of airborne operation. Such equipment promises to be useful both in transmitting instrument readings obtained from radio-controlled structural flight tests, and in providing target and guidance information necessary should radio-controlled aircraft be converted to offensive weapons. (Jack McKillop)
The US gun manufacturers stopped production of 12 gauge shotguns for civilian consumption as they converted to war production. (Mike Ballard)
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
At 0428, 1942, U-558 fired a spread of two torpedoes at Convoy ONS-67 SE of St John’s and observed two hits on the Inverarder, which sank by the bow after 15 minutes. The master, 33 crewmembers and eight gunners were picked up by the British SS Empire Flame, transferred to the rescue ship Toward and landed at Halifax on 1 March.
At 0145, SS Empire Hail, dispersed from Convoy ON-66, was torpedoed and sunk by U-94 east of St John’s. The master, 41 crewmembers and seven gunners were lost.
At 1035, U-158 attacked Convoy ONS-67 and heard a detonation but could not observe anything since she had to dive. Motor tanker Diloma was hit by one torpedo was able to proceed at a reduced speed and reached Halifax a few hours after the convoy.
At 0855, U-158 attacked Convoy ONS-67 about 420 miles SSE of St John’s and observed two hits on SS Empire Celt with columns of fire and of water, although the sinking was not seen. At 0950, U-558 attacked ONS-67 in grid BC 8932 (43°51N, 43°15W) and fired three torpedoes in one minute intervals. U-158 observed three hits and that two ships stopped, a third continued on. The first and third torpedo struck the Anadara, which was later finished off by U-587. The second torpedo may have been aimed at the Empire Celt, which continued on her way after she had been hit by U-158, but the torpedo struck the already damaged Eidanger. Empire Celt later broke in two; the stern part remained afloat and was last seen in 46°45N/51°27W on 4 March. Four crewmembers and two gunners were lost. The master and 22 survivors were picked up by Canadian rescue ship Citadelle and 24 survivors by armed trawler HMS St Zeno and landed at St John’s on 27 Feb.
SS White Crest sunk by U-162 at 47.45N, 38.15W.
At 0950, U-558 fired three torpedoes at Convoy ONS-67 east of Halifax in 43°45N/43°15W (grid BC 8932) and observed three hits. Two ships stopped, the third continued on. The description of the target and the extremely large hole in the tanker’s side make it certain that not only the first torpedo but the third one too hit the Anadara. The second torpedo may have been aimed at the Empire Celt, which continued on her way, but the ship, which was sighted with engines stopped, was, according to the position given, the Eidanger. In the morning, U-587 attempted to finish off a tanker behind the convoy with a torpedo and gunfire, leaving it in sinking condition. The description of the target confirms that it was the Anadara. The master, 53 crewmembers and eight gunners from the Anadara were lost.
At 0651, U-558 attacked Convoy ONS-67, heard two explosions and saw one cloud of smoke rising near the bow of the Eidanger, which had been hit by one torpedo on the starboard side, causing extensive damage to the bridge and forward. The tanker stopped, shifted the ballast to the aft tanks to press the propeller under water and with the bow partially awash tried to reach the convoy, which had geared 80 degrees to starboard to shake off the U-boats. At 0950 hours, U-558 attacked again in grid BC 8932 (43.51N, 43.15W) and fired three torpedoes in one minute intervals. U-158 observed three hits and that two ships stopped, a third continued on. The first and third torpedo struck the Anadara, which was later finished off by U-587. The second torpedo may have been aimed at the Empire Celt, which continued on her way after she had been hit by U-158 at 0855 (she foundered later), but the torpedo struck the damaged Eidanger on the starboard side right in front of the mast. The U-boat later sighted her with engines stopped and fore section now submerged. All 39 crewmembers abandoned the Eidanger and were picked up by the British rescue ship Toward, which had observed the attack. At 1540 hours, U-558 found a drifting tanker in grid BC 8689 (43.51N/43.35W), which was identified as Eidanger and sank her with a coup de grâce. (Dave Shirlaw)
ping
My mom told me stories about L.A. getting shelled a few times and how people in L.A. were truly afraid of being the next Pearl Harbor — she was a kid but some things you never forget.
The Canadian reaction was much more sensible than the American.
I haven’t thanked you enough for your dedication to have these chronicles archived in one place. A wealth of information for all those interested in those events.
So thank you, thank you and again thank you.
Far be it for me to question the TIMES’ veracity, but Erwin Rommel won’t make Field Marshal ‘til, say, June 20th. Mighty prescient, though.
Didn’t we discuss Hitler presenting Rommel with a baton when the Germans captured Benghazi in January?
The success of the hedgehogs will have at least four major detrimental effects for the Germans’ long term war.
First, Hitler will assume his direction not to surrender ANY ground, and penchant for declaring every town, village or hovel a “fortress” constitutes a strategy, and a sound military doctrine. As the war goes on, maneuver, Germany’s long suit, will become a distant memory, and static warfare the norm.
Second, Hitler, whose ‘stand fast’ order proved correct in this case, and which was issued over the opposition of of his senior generals, will increasingly disregard their advice, and interfere into their operations and chains of command, eventually to the battalion level.
Third, Stalingrad is a direct descendant of Demyansk, with far different results. A larger force [Sixth Army], led by an idiot [Pauluis], coupled with a Luftwaffe incapable of meeting its supply needs will result in the reduction of the German Order of Battle by a quarter of a million men.
Fourth, inherent structural weaknesses in the Luftwaffe, i.e, refusing to rotate pilots to the homeland to train new pilots, and scavenging the training cadres for specific operations, will decimate the Luftwaffe’s transport branch.
Don’t believe so. Rommel will get his baton when he takes Tobruk. And he will aver that he’d rather have had two more divisions.
LOL — probably truer than not!
An attack on our homeland. These must be the darkest days!
I guess you don’t get a baton for promotion to the mere position of 2nd class field marshal. Article on page 8 of the January 30 thread.
The Berlin radio, jubilant tonight with the announcement that Axis forces had recaptured Bengazi, announced that Reichsfuehrer Hitler has appointed General Erwin Rommel, commander of the German Africa Corps, to the rank of field marshal, second class.
Reuters heard the broadcast.
So what was that radio report from Berlin on Jan. 29? I can’t believe we would get inaccurate information from both the New York Times and Reuters on the same story.
Can’t tell you. All I can tell you is Rommel earned his baton the old fashioned way-took a fortress [Tobruk]. His promotion to Field Marshal was either late on June 20th [when Tobruk fell], or on the next day [the 21st].
I’d have to check, but Rommel may have made Col. Gen. in early ‘42, and somewhere in ‘42, Panzergruppe Afrika will become Panzerarmee Afrika. It may be related to the announcements if the time frame fits.
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