Remembering History by day WW2

[Peter Clare]

HMS ACHERON (December 17, 1940)
British destroyer, launched March 18, 1930. While running trials after a refit the Acheron hit a mine off the Isle of Wight and sank in minutes. Lives lost were 151 men (six officers and 145 ratings). There were only 15 survivors.

[Peter Clare]

SHINONOME (December 17, 1941)
Japanese destroyer of 1,950 tons, part of a convoy of troop transports, heading towards the Malayan Penninsula, was sunk near Seria, 20 miles west of Miri, by two bombs from a Dutch three engined Dornier DO-24K flying boat of the Dutch Naval Air Group based on the island of Tarakan. The Dornier, piloted by Flying Officer B. Sjerp, dropped three bombs, two making direct hits, the third a near miss. The Shimonome blew apart in an enormous explosion causing fires to break out on the vessel. It took only a few minutes for the destroyer to roll over and sink. There were no survivors. The captain, Commander Hirosi Sasagawo and his entire crew of 228 men, perished.


HMS STANLEY (December 17/21, 1941)
Destroyer of 1,190 tons (ex-USS McCalla) transferred to Britain in 1940 under the Lend-Lease Agreement. She was escorting a convoy of around 30 merchant ships across the Atlantic when attacked by a U-boat pack and Focke-Wulf bombers during the five day period of December 17 to 21. The Stanley was sunk by torpedoes from the U-574(Oblt. Dietrich Gengelbach) with a loss of eleven officers and 125 ratings. The U-574 was sunk on December 19, 1941 by HMS Stork. Twenty eight dead, sixteen survivors.

[Peter Clare]

1941 : Japan invades Hong Kong


On this day, Japanese troops land in Hong Kong and a slaughter ensues.
A week of air raids over Hong Kong, a British crown colony, was followed up on December 17 with a visit paid by Japanese envoys to Sir Mark Young, the British governor of Hong Kong. The envoys' message was simple: The British garrison there should simply surrender to the Japanese--resistance was futile. The envoys were sent home with the following retort: "The governor and commander in chief of Hong Kong declines absolutely to enter into negotiations for the surrender of Hong Kong. ..."
The first wave of Japanese troops landed in Hong Kong with artillery fire for cover and the following order from their commander: "Take no prisoners." Upon overrunning a volunteer antiaircraft battery, the Japanese invaders roped together the captured soldiers and proceeded to bayonet them to death. Even those who offered no resistance, such as the Royal Medical Corps, were led up a hill and killed.
The Japanese quickly took control of key reservoirs, threatening the British and Chinese inhabitants with a slow death by thirst. The Brits finally surrendered control of Hong Kong on Christmas Day.
On this same day: Censorship is imposed with the passage of the 1st American War Powers Act
The War Powers Act is passed by Congress, authorizing the president to initiate and terminate defense contracts, reconfigure government agencies for wartime priorities, and regulate the freezing of foreign assets. It also permitted him to censor all communications coming in and leaving the country.
FDR appointed the executive news director of the Associated Press, Byron Price, as director of censorship. Although invested with the awesome power to restrict and withhold news, Price took no extreme measures, allowing news outlets and radio stations to self-censor, which they did. Most top secret information, including the construction of the atom bomb, remained just that.
The most extreme use of the censorship law seems to have been the restriction of the free flow of "girlie" magazines to servicemen-including Esquire, which the Post Office considered obscene for its occasional saucy cartoons and pinups. Esquire took the Post Office to court, and after three years the Supreme Court ultimately sided with the magazine.

[Peter Clare]

USS HULL, USS MONAGHAN, USS SPENCE (December 18, 1944)
Three American destroyers sunk during one of the worst typhoons to hit the Pacific ocean. Typhoon ‘Cobra’ struck while the destroyers were escorting the 3rd US Fleet Fuelling Group east of the Philippines. They were on their way to join up with task Force 38 engaged in the invasion of Mindoro, but they never made it. Waves 70 ft high were tossing the ships about like corks. Water pouring down the funnels caused the ships to turn over 60 degrees and finally capsize taking the lives of 765 men. A total of 146 aircraft were lost overboard from the carriers including 86 from the three escort carriers. There were only six survivors from the Monaghan, 23 from the Spence (which lost 294 men) and 63 from Hull. All told, 92 men survived the sinkings, many spending 13 hours in the water before being rescued by the destroyers USS Tabberer, USS Dewey, USS Swearer and USS Gatling. Admiral William 'Bull' Halsey was held responsible for the disaster for failing to sail the Third Fleet ships out of the typhoon's path.

[spidge]

December 18, 1944 Destroyers "Hull," "Spence" and "Monaghan" sink in typhoon (Philippines)
December 18, 1944 Nazi occupiers of Amsterdam destroy electricity plants

December 18, 1941 German submarine U-434 is sunk by HMS Blankney.
December 18, 1941 Japanse troops land on Hong Kong

December 18, 1939 Finnish army recaptures Aglajarvi

[Peter Clare]

1941 : Hitler takes command of the German army


On this day, in a major shake-up of the military high command, Adolf Hitler assumes the position of commander in chief of the German army.
The German offensive against Moscow was proving to be a disaster. A perimeter had been established by the Soviets 200 miles from the city-and the Germans couldn't break through. The harsh winter weather-with temperatures often dropping to 31 degrees below zero-had virtually frozen German tanks in their tracks. Soviet General Georgi Zhukov had unleashed a ferocious counteroffensive of infantry, tanks, and planes that had forced the flailing Germans into retreat. In short, the Germans were being beaten for the first time in the war, and the toll to their collective psyche was great. "The myth of the invincibility of the German army was broken," German General Franz Halder would write later.
But Hitler refused to accept this notion. He began removing officers from their command. General Fedor von Bock, who had been suffering severe stomach pains and who on December 1 had complained to Halder that he was no longer able to "operate" with his debilitated troops, was replaced by General Hans von Kluge, whose own 4th Army had been pushed into permanent retreat from Moscow. General Karl von Runstedt was relieved of the southern armies because he had retreated from Rostov. Hitler clearly did not believe in giving back captured territory, so in the biggest shake-up of all, he declared himself commander in chief of the army. He would train it "in a National Socialist way"-that is, by personal fiat. He would compose the strategies and the officers would dance to his tune.

[Peter Clare]

HMS NEPTUNE (December 19, 1941)
British light cruiser, commissioned February 23, 1934. The Neptune was part of the Malta-based Force K of Admiral Cunningham and was trying to intercept an Italian convoy heading for North Africa. The Neptune capsized and sank about twenty miles off Tripoli after sailing into a newly-laid Italian minefield and hitting four mines. A total of 765 officers and men went down with the ship, Two officers and 148 ratings were New Zealand naval personnel. The survivors of the Neptune were found on a raft four days later by two Italian torpedo boats. Of the sixteen men aboard only one was alive. Leading Seaman John Norman Walton was the only survivor. He became a prisoner of war in Italy and was released in 1943. One of the escort destroyers, HMS Kandahar, also sank after striking a mine in the same minefield. She sank with the loss of 73 of her crew. Eight officers and 166 ratings were rescued by HMS Jaguar which had sailed from Malta to search for survivors.

[spidge]

December 19, 1943 Military coup in Bolivia

December 19, 1941 German submarine U-574 sinks
December 19, 1941 Hitler takes complete command of German Army
December 19, 1941 US Office of Censorship created to control info pertaining to WW II

December 19, 1939 Russian air and ground attack against Finnish positions near Summa

[spidge]

1941 : Hitler takes command of the German army


On this day, in a major shake-up of the military high command, Adolf Hitler assumes the position of commander in chief of the German army.
The German offensive against Moscow was proving to be a disaster. A perimeter had been established by the Soviets 200 miles from the city-and the Germans couldn't break through. The harsh winter weather-with temperatures often dropping to 31 degrees below zero-had virtually frozen German tanks in their tracks. Soviet General Georgi Zhukov had unleashed a ferocious counteroffensive of infantry, tanks, and planes that had forced the flailing Germans into retreat. In short, the Germans were being beaten for the first time in the war, and the toll to their collective psyche was great. "The myth of the invincibility of the German army was broken," German General Franz Halder would write later.
But Hitler refused to accept this notion. He began removing officers from their command. General Fedor von Bock, who had been suffering severe stomach pains and who on December 1 had complained to Halder that he was no longer able to "operate" with his debilitated troops, was replaced by General Hans von Kluge, whose own 4th Army had been pushed into permanent retreat from Moscow. General Karl von Runstedt was relieved of the southern armies because he had retreated from Rostov. Hitler clearly did not believe in giving back captured territory, so in the biggest shake-up of all, he declared himself commander in chief of the army. He would train it "in a National Socialist way"-that is, by personal fiat. He would compose the strategies and the officers would dance to his tune.

[spidge]

HMS Stanley sunk.

At 04.15 hours on 19 Dec, 1941, the HMS Stanley (I 73) (LtCdr D.B. Shaw, RN, OBE) was hit by two of three torpedoes from U-574, while on station astern of the convoy HG-76 and immediately sank about 330 miles west of Cape Sines, Portugal. The U-boat was sunk 12 minutes after the attack by HMS Stork (L 81).While escorting the convoy HG-76, the HMS Stanley (I 73) participated in the sinking of U-131 (Baumann) on 17 December and U-434 (Heyda) on 18 December.