6 January 1939

GERMANY: Adolf Hitler, head of the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP), appoints Heinrich Himmler to replace Erhard Heiden as head of the Schutzstaffel (defence squadron or SS). The organization has about 280 members and there is an independent SS leader, Kurt Deluege, in Berlin.

BRAZIL: The Italian Minister of Aviation, General Italo Balbo, leads the first formation flight across the South Atlantic. Twelve Savoia-Marchetti S.55 twin engine, double-hulled flying boats fly from Portuguese Guinea to Brazil. The aircraft left Orbetello, Italy, on 17 December 1930 and will terminate the flight at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 15 January.

U.S.A.: Secretary of State Henry Stimson asks President Herbert Hoover to request legislation from Congress permitting the President to limit or forbid shipment of arms and munitions of war to any foreign state when such shipment would promote or encourage use of force in a conflict or dispute between nations. Stimson states, "There are times when the hands of the executive in negotiations for the orderly settlement of international differences would be greatly strengthened if he were in a position, in cooperation with other producing nations, to control the shipment of arms. The United States should never, in justice to its own convictions and its own dignity, be placed in such a position that it could not join in preventing the, supply of arms or munitions for the furtherance of an international conflict while exercising its influence and prestige to prevent or bring to an end such a conflict. . . . The day is gone when the spread of a conflagration is easily confine d to any continent or hemisphere. The taking by the United States of this additional step in its domestic policy will tend to give encouragement and momentum to the struggle for world peace and against the use of force from which arise some of the most critical problems of this unsettled period in international relationships."

U.S.A.: The U.S. Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1936 applied to wars between nations and did not extend to civil wars. As a result, the Congress passes a joint resolution forbidding the export of munitions to both the Nationalist and Republican forces in Spain. Under this act, the Roosevelt administration embargoes arms sales to both sides, a policy which undermined the Loyalist war effort (the Nationalists received large quantities of munitions from the Italians and the Germans).

GERMANY: Munich: German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop meets with Polish Foreign Minister Josef Beck to discuss the differences between the two countries. Von Ribbentrop proposes "the return of Danzig to Germany. In return, all of Poland's economic interests in this region would be guaranteed, and most generously at that. Germany would be given access to her province of East Prussia by means of an extraterritorial highway and rail line. In return, Germany would guarantee the Corridor and the entire Polish status, in other words, a final and permanent recognition of each nation's borders."

Josef Beck replied: "For the first time I am pessimistic... Particularly in the matter of Danzig I see 'no possibility of cooperation.'" (98) See also

JAPAN: Baron HIRANUMA Kiichiro becomes Prime Minister after Prince KONOYE Fumimaro resigned on 4 January. He resigns in August 1939 after the Russo-German pact is signed.

U.S.A.: New York: Blue Note Jazz record label is founded with 50 pressing of the Boogie Woogie Stomp, by Alfred Lion and Mead Lux Lewis.

Sir John Reith, the founder of the BBC and its first Director-General is to take over as Minister of Information. He inherits a troubled ministry whose 999 civil servants, based in the Senate House of London University, have been criticised in the press and parliament for their ineptitude at raising morale, against the constant sniping of Germany's "Lord Haw-Haw".

Many functions of the ministry of been taken away. The press and censorship bureau is independent under Sir Walter Monckton, British propaganda to enemy countries is a joint effort of the MoI, the foreign office and the Ministry of Economic Warfare, and postal censorship is a war office function. The resulting muddle has left the MoI open to the charge that it has no information and no use.

RAF Bomber Command: 'Security Patrols' - Hornum - Borkum. 10 Sq. Four aircraft. Opposition moderate. Cold intense.

ÉIRE Dublin: Eamon de Valera, Prime Minister, is calling for new emergency powers to aid a nationwide crackdown on the IRA. The move came swiftly following an Irish High Court ruling which set free 53 men detained under the Emergency Powers Act. An amended and draconian version of the act has been proposed in the 'Dail'.

The amended act would allow the government the right to arrest and detain suspects without trial. Most of the freed men - who include several IRA leaders - are on the run.

NORWAY: The Norwegian government rejects the Soviet claim that Norway is pursuing an "unneutral" policy.

FINLAND: Two Finnish Fokker fighters destroy seven Ilyushin bombers over Utti, 60 miles north-east of Helsinki.

Mikko Härmeinen adds: This is the famous exploit of Lieutenant Jorma Sarvanto, who shot down six of the bombers in five minutes before running out of ammo. Another Fokker D.XXI later finished the remaining plane.

The Russians have been forced to abandon their offensive tactics and are now digging in opposite the entire length of the Mannerheim Line. They are barricading themselves behind tank traps and barbed wire, building pillboxes, using dynamite to blow trenches in the frozen ground and site their guns in defensive positions. The Russians have now brought in their most modern aircraft, and now that the sea has frozen they have moved big guns over the ice to bombard the Finnish positions.

GIBRALTAR: The U.S. passenger liner SS Manhattan is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities.

NEW ZEALAND: The New Zealand 4th Brigade sails from Auckland for Egypt in six transports escorted by the battleship HMS Ramillies, heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra and light cruiser HMS Leander.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: SS City of Marseilles was damaged by a mine laid 12 Dec 1939 by U-13, 1.5 miles SE of Tay Fairway Buoy, River Tay.

He says that more Hurricane squadrons should be sent from the Middle East along with some artillery regiments and "some or all of the tanks of the 2nd Armoured Division, now arrived and working up in leisurely fashion in Egypt."

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Malta Convoy: Operation 'Excess' - Another complex series of convoy movements around Malta lead to carrier HMS Illustrious being badly damaged and the RN losing its comparative freedom of operation in the Eastern Mediterranean. This follows the arrival of the Luftwaffe in Sicily.

'Excess' leaves Gibraltar for Malta and Greece covered by Force H. At the same time the Mediterranean Fleet from Alexandria prepares to cover ships to Malta and bring empty ones out. Mediterranean Fleet cruisers HMS Gloucester and HMS Southampton carry troops to Malta and then carry on west to meet 'Excess'. Force H returns to Gibraltar.

"The democratic way of life," he said " is at this moment being directly assailed either by arms or by the secret spreading of poisonous propaganda." Recalling the example of Norway, he said that German agents might seize strategic points in America.

Boston: MIT, A prototype centimetric radar is operational on the roof of the Radiation Laboratory, three weeks after work started on the project. (Cris Wetton)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: SS Empire Thunder, a straggler from convoy OB-269 due to an engine breakdown, was torpedoed and sunk by U-124 NNE of Rockall. Nine crewmembers were lost. The master and 29 crewmembers were picked up by the armed boarding vessel HMS Kingston Onyx and landed at Stornoway, Hebrides on 8 January.

The German Hilfskreuzer (Auxiliary Cruiser) Kormoran sinks Greek freighter Antonis. This Greek ship, carrying 4.800 tons of coal is sunk in mid-Atlantic; her 28 man crew (and one blind passenger) being taken on board. In keeping with his normal policy, Kormorant's skipper, Korvettenkapitän (Commander) Theodore Detmers, asked Antonis' captain to stay with his crew despite the cabins on board the raider specifically built for captured captains and any possible female "passengers." This policy, he believed, helped ease possible communication problems and the maintenance of order among the captured crews.

UNITED KINGDOM: Self-service cafeterias operated by local authorities as a cheap way of eating out have been named British Restaurants at the suggestion of Mr Churchill. They developed out of emergency services created during the Blitz to feed people who were bombed out of their homes. Their popularity has led to plans to open more of them. The average price of meals is between 10d and a shilling. For that one can get roast meat, two vegetables, pudding, bread and butter and coffee.

FRANCE: During the night of 6/7 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 31 Wellingtons to bomb the German warships at Brest; 27 bomb the targets. No special bombing results are claimed but a bomb which fell alongside the battleship Gneisenau holed the hull and flooded two compartments. Two Wellingtons also bomb the port area at Cherbourg

GERMANY: During the night of 6/7 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches Hampdens to bomb six cities: five hit Essen, three attack Munster, two each bomb Cologne and Emden, and one each attack Aachen and Oldenburg.

NORWAY: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 11 Whitleys to bomb Stavanger Airfield; nine bomb the field.

LIBYA: The British 1st Armoured Division, which has recently arrived from U. K. and relieved the 7th Armoured Division of 13 Corps, British Eighth Army, reaches Antelat. The port at Derna opens to traffic.
The deployment of German and Italian troops along the line El Agheila-Marada is completed.

As Rommel takes delivery of 55 new tanks, the British advance reaches Mersa Brega and El Agheila.

CHINA: Having accepted the nomination of Chiang Kai-shek as Supreme Commander of an Allied China Theatre, the Chinese ask that a senior U.S. officer be sent to China to act as chief of the Generalissimo's Allied staff.

MALAYA: On the Indian 11th Division front, the Indian 6/15 Brigade Group reaches the Batang Berjuntai area and takes up defensive positions south of Selangor River. The Kuantan force completes their withdrawal from eastern Malaya through Jerantut during night of 6/7 January and continues west in the Raub area.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: A Japanese amphibious force lands at Brunei Bay, British Borneo. During the night, seven Japanese flying-boats attack Ambon Island damaging two RAAF Hudsons and a Buffalo based at Laha.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: After a destructive artillery exchanges on Luzon in the morning, the Japanese, having the advantage of aerial spotting, attack the overextended delaying line south of Layac Junction in force and make a limited penetration entering Dinalupihan without opposition. The withdrawal of this line begins during the night of 6/7 January. Japanese aerial bombardment of Corregidor ends except for nuisance raids. Japanese air attacks during the first week of 1942 have resulted in little damage to the fortifications on Corregidor.

AUSTRALIA: The government advises the British Government that the Australian 6th and 7th Divisions will be sent to the Far East.
The government declares war on Bulgaria.

Commander Alvord Sydney Rosenthal RAN of HMAS"> HMAS Nestor is awarded the DSO. This is for courage and resourcefulness in the Mediterranean in Operation Style and Operation Substance, the Malta convoys. (G. A. Mackinley)

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: After destructive artillery exchanges on Luzon in the morning, the Japanese, having the advantage of aerial spotting, attack the overextended delaying line south of Layac Junction in force and make a limited penetration entering Dinalupihan without opposition. The withdrawal of this line begins during the night of 6/7 January. Japanese aerial bombardment of Corregidor ends except for nuisance raids. Enemy air attacks during first week of 1942 have resulted in little damage to the fortifications on Corregidor.

PACIFIC: The Second Marine Brigade (Brigadier General Henry L. Larsen, USMC) embarked in troop transports (former Matson Line passenger liners) SS Lurline, SS Monterey and SS Matsonia, and cargo ship USS Jupiter (AK-43) and ammunition ship USS Lassen (AE-3) sails from San Diego, California, for Pago Pago, American Samoa. The initial escort is provided by Task Force 17 (Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher), formed around aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5).

CANADA: Corvette HMCS REGINA arrives at Halifax from builders at Sorel, Province of Quebec.

U.S.A.: Washington: President Roosevelt said today that Americas land, sea and air forces would be sent to Britain.

Roosevelt submits a budget request to Congress of $59 billion for Fiscal Year 1943 (with inflation that is $655 billion in year 2002 dollars).

He also announced massive increases in war production, including more than doubling the rate of aircraft building. The president was delivering his annual State of the Union message to Congress in person; it was the first time that he had spoken to Congress since the war began.

He announced that US industry would produce 125,000 aircraft in 1943, compared with 60,000 in 1942; 75,000 tanks instead of 45,000; 35,000 anti-aircraft guns as against 30,000; and eleven million tons of shipping, rather than eight million.

Congressmen were stunned at the proposal, but Roosevelt was undeterred: "These figures and similar figures for a multitude of other implements of war will give the Japanese and Nazis a little idea of just what they accomplished."

Mr Roosevelt spoke warmly of Mr Churchill, who recently addressed the same audience, and wished him a safe return.

The enthusiasm with which the members of Congress greeted the name of each ally - Britain, the Soviet Union, the Netherlands and the rest as the president mentioned them was the clearest sign that, only a month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the isolationism which for years has dominated US politics is dead.

Cleveland Indians’ star pitcher Bob Feller, winner of 76 games in three previous seasons, follows Detroit Tigers’ outfielder Hank Greenberg into the military. Feller, saying, "I've always wanted to be on the winning side," enlists in the Navy and reports to Norfolk, Virginia, for duty.

Pan-American Airways "Pacific Clipper" arrives in New York after making the first round-the-world trip by a commercial airplane.

Leland Ford, Los Angeles, California, member of the House of Representatives, in a telegram to Secretary of State Cordell Hull, asks that all Japanese Americans be removed from the West Coast stating, "I do not believe that we could be any too strict in our consideration of the Japanese in the face of the treacherous way in which they do things."

The Second Marine Brigade (Brigadier General Henry L. Larsen, USMC) embarked in troop transports (former Matson Line passenger liners) SS Lurline, SS Monterey and SS Matsonia, and cargo ship USS Jupiter (AK-43) and ammunition ship USS Lassen (AE-3) sails from San Diego, California, for Pago Pago, American Samoa. The initial escort is provided by Task Force 17 comprised of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5), the heavy cruiser USS Louisville (CA-28), the light cruiser USS St. Louis (CL-49) and three destroyers.

NORTH ATLANTIC: SS BARON ERSKINE, a straggler from convoy SC-62, is torpedoed and sunk by U-701 north of Rockall. The master and 39 crewmembers are lost. U-701 misidentified her victim as Baron Haig, but it must have been the Baron Erskine since there is no other loss or success report from the area.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: A House of Commons select committee today listened to the heads of the women's services and a TUC official putting the case for women to receive war injury compensation on a par with that received by men. The women said that they had heard justifications for differences in pay, but none for the gap in compensation. At present a female officer received less than a male private for total disablement.

Destroyer HMS Hogue laid down.

Submarine HMS Stygian laid down.

Aircraft carrier HMS Theseus laid down.

GERMANY: Admiral Raeder resigns as Commander in Chief of the German Navy following his disastrous handling of the Battle of the Barents Sea.

ROMANIA: Conflicting reports are filtering out from Bucharest speaking of arrests and executions following an attempted rising by the disbanded fascists, the Iron Guard, against the pro-Nazi regime of Marshal Ion Antonescu, which took place on the second anniversary of the "civil war" of January 1941. In Budapest, the Hungarian newspapers have been reporting telephone conversations with Romanians who state that 80 have been executed; others that 56 leaders of the Iron Guard are in prison. The coup was to have coincided with the return of the head of the Iron Guard, Horia Sima, who escaped from Germany but was arrested en route by the Italian police.

GREECE: One USAAF Ninth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the port area at Piraeus.

TUNISIA: USAAF Twelfth Air Force A-20 Havocs, in two forces, hit a military camp south of Kairouan while B-25 Mitchells hit the Kairouan railroad yards. Fighters escort bombers, carry out patrols and reconnaissance flights, and accompany C-47 Skytrains on transport missions.

BURMA: The Indian 14th Division, renewing their offensive on the Arakan front, finds the Japanese firmly entrenched at Donbaik and Rathedaung. Although fighting continues at these points for many weeks, positions remain about the same.

NEW GUINEA: In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb the forces in the Sanananda Point area; and A-20 Havocs bomb Lae Airfield.

PACIFIC OCEAN: In the Solomons Sea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-24 Liberators, B-26 Marauders and P-38 Lightnings attack a convoy heading southwest off the coast of New Britain heading for Lae, New Guinea.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: One USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators bombs the airfield at Gasmata.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses with P-38 and P-40 escorts attack a transport near Shortland Island without loss.

TF67.2 joins up with the main body of TF 67 south of Guadalcanal. TF67.2 conducted a bombardment mission against the Japanese airfield and other installations on Munda, the night of January 4/5. The reunited TF is attacked by a Japanese air strike, damaging HMNZS Achilles. (Keith Allen)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The USAAF Eleventh Air Force flies reconnaissance over Amchitka, the Semichis, Agattu and Attu Islands. Flotsam sighted outside of Holtz Bay on the northeast side of Attu Island confirms that the freighter bombed yesterday sank. Six B-24 Liberators, six B-25 Mitchells and 12 P-38 Lightnings take off to attack Kiska Island; the P-38s and one B-24 turn back due to weather. The B-25s find the target obscured and five Zeke fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) waiting to intercept them, whereupon they turn back without attacking. The five remaining B-24s circle Kiska without contacting Japanese aircraft; one of the B-24s, exploiting a break in the cloud cover, bombs the Kiska submarine base area which the others then bomb through the clouds.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-164 sunk in the South Atlantic about 117 nautical miles (217 km) north-northwest of Pernambuco, in position 01.58S, 39.22W, by depth charges from a US Catalina aircraft (VP-83/P-2). 54 dead and 2 survivors.

UNITED KINGDOM: The RAF and USAAF announce their joint development of jet aircraft.

London: The master plan for an Allied invasion of north-west Europe, which has been codenamed "Overlord", is being drastically revised after examination by General Montgomery, the ground force commander under General Eisenhower.

The plan was prepared by an Anglo-US team led by a Briton, Lieutenant General Frederick Morgan, the chief of staff to the supreme Allied commander (COSSAC). Because of the lack of landing craft, the assault force to be put ashore in Normandy was put at only three divisions. They would land north of Caen and, after consolidating the beach-head, swing north-west to capture the port of Cherbourg. Each flank of the landing force would be protected by an airborne division. Two seaborne divisions would follow as immediate reinforcements, leading to a build-up of 18 divisions.

In Churchill's view, an operation on such a limited scale could only be mounted if German forces in France were held down to 12 mobile divisions and enemy fighter strength was reduced.

On first seeing the COSSAC plan, Montgomery said that the Germans would have no difficulty in containing such a small landing area, and severe congestion would follow when reinforcements were brought in. He took his objections to Eisenhower, who agreed with him.

In three days this week at St. Paul's school - his old school in West London - his 21st Army Group HQ, Montgomery hammered out a plan for five divisions to land on a 50-mile from the river Orne to the Cherbourg peninsula. A third airborne division will join the two already assigned to flank protection. The new plan calls for a greatly expanded force of landing craft, so D-Day will be delayed for a month, to the end of May.

Anti-Aircraft cruiser HMS Diadem commissioned.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Wallasey sunk by German MTB off Mounts Bay, Cornwall.

FRANCE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 177: during the evening, five B-17 Flying Fortresses drop 984,000 leaflets on Amiens, Lille, Valenciennes, Cambrai and Reims.

During the night of 6/7 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 57 aircraft to lay mines off Bay of Biscay ports: 12 lay mines off Gironde, ten off LaPallace, six off Brest, Lorient and St. Nazire, five off Bayonne, four off St. Jean de Luz, two off LeHarve,

GERMANY: During the night of 6/7 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches Mosquitoes to bomb three cities: 11 bomb Duisburg while four hit the Vereinigte Stahl steel factory at Duisburg and one each bomb Dortmund and Dusseldorf.

POLAND: Thrusting west in a great salient from Kiev, General Vatutin's First Ukrainian Front has crossed the pre-war border of Poland and has chased the Germans to the gates of Sarny, an important junction on the railway from Kiev to Warsaw.

Vatutin is giving the Germans no chance to recover. He is pushing on in overwhelming strength, and in a special communiqué this morning the Soviet High Command says that his men have killed more than 3,000 Germans and knocked out 83 tanks and 68 field guns. Many prisoners have been taken.

The Germans are making no attempt to hide the extent of their retreat in the Ukraine. A spokesman in Berlin said yesterday: "The German high command will make no effort to hold Russian territory purely for reasons of prestige."

"Should the Germany Army be compelled to retreat altogether from Russian soil, this would be only a secondary question compared with the importance of maintaining the front intact all along the line."

This announcement seems to presage a full-scale retreat by the Germans. The Russians have advanced 400 miles since the opening of their campaign last July. If they achieve similar results this winter, then they will be in not only Poland but East Prussia, the heartland of German militarism.

ITALY: In the U.S. Fifth Army's II Corps area, Task Force A of the 1st Armoured Division reaches the crest on the north end of Mt. Porchia and holds firm against a counterattack. The 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, completes clearing St. Vittore by 1700 hours local and drives closer to La Chiaia while the 168th Infantry Regiment continues an outflanking movement to the north, making slow progress. 1st Special Service Force is reinforced by two battalions of the 133d Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, to temporarily continue operations as Task Force B. Task Force B attacks toward Mt. Majo from Mt. Arcalone, during the night of 6/7 January. Regimental Combat Team 142 is detached from II Corps and returns to the 36th Infantry Division as reserve.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb Pontedera hitting the marshalling yard and Piaggio aircraft factory, the Lucca marshalling yard, and the railway north of Follonica; P-40 and A-36 Apache fighter-bombers attack gun positions in the Cervaro-Monte Trocchio area and near Aquino, the town of Cervaro, the railway at Civitavecchia, trains north and east of Rome, the Velletri train station, and the town of Fondi.

CHINA: Lieutenant General Daniel Sultan, Deputy Commander-in-Chief US China-Burma- Indian Theatre of Operation, warns General Joseph Stilwell, Commander-in-Chief US China-Burma-India Theatre of Operations, Chief of Staff to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek Commander-in-Chief Northern Area Combat Command and Deputy Commander-in-Chief South East Asia Command (SEAC) that SEAC planners want to bypass Burma until Germany is defeated, then mount a major offensive beginning with invasion of Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies.

Two USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb a troop ship on the Yangtze River, northeast of Tungting Lake; the vessel is reported as sunk.

BURMA: Since all remaining landing craft are recalled to the Mediterranean, Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Commander-in-Chief South East Asia Command (SEAC), cancels Operation PIGSTICK, the proposed operation on the southern Mayu Peninsula.

U.S. Brigadier General Gen Frank D. Merrill is assigned command of the GALAHAD force, whose designation is made "unit." The GALAHAD force is the U.S. long-range penetration groups.

The Chinese make another unsuccessful attempt to reduce the Japanese strongpoint on the Tarung River.

USAAF Tenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs and A-36 Apaches carry out ground support missions at Sumprabum and Taihpa Ga and hit a cavalry bivouac and dumps at Kamaing; 12 P-40s attack a supply dump south of Sahmaw Junction and strafe Pahok.

NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: On Espiritu Santo, Major General Hubert R. Harmon takes command of the USAAF Thirteenth Air Force.

NEW GUINEA: In Northeast New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators and B-25 Mitchells bomb the Alexishafen and Bogadjim areas; A-20 Havocs attack targets along the road from Bogadjim to Yaula; B-25s attack targets of opportunity on the Huon Peninsula and others hit the Borgen Bay area; and P-39 Airacobras strafe barges at Borgen and Rein Bays.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: USAAF Fifth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and RNZAF Venturas bomb and strafe targets in the Choiseul Bay area of New Georgia Island, including jetty areas and buildings at Tarekekori, targets on Morgusaia Island, and gun positions on Kondakanimboko Island.

NEW BRITAIN: US troops press southwards from Cape Gloucester to the Aogiri river. The ADC Group (7th Marine Regiment reinforced by a battalion of the 5th Marine Regiment and supporting units) renewing their southward attack, clears Hill 150, south of Target Hill.

Brigadier General Julian Cunningham, Commanding General Task Force DIRECTOR, reports to Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, Commanding General Sixth Army, the presence of Japanese positions near the Arawe beachhead.

USAAF Thirteenth Air Force P-38 Lightnings sweep the Rabaul area on New Britain Island, claiming nine "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) shot down during a running battle over the Cape Gazelle area.

AMC HMCS Prince Henry recomissioned as infantry landing ship and departed for UK.

AMC Prince David completed conversion to infantry landing ship.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-270 shot down RAF 206 Sqn B-17 Fortress 206/U. The boat was damaged during the attack and returned to port.

The USN gunboat USS St. Augustine (PG-54) is sunk about 86 nautical miles (153 kilometres) south of Atlantic City, New Jersey, in position 38.01N, 74.05W, after being rammed amidships by the merchant tanker SS Camas Meadows. Her seams were split by the collision, and the gunboat sank in five minutes. The rough, wintry seas claimed 115 of her crew; only 30 survived. The ship had left New York City this morning leading a convoy of ships bound for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

UNITED KINGDOM: Whilst escorting a cross-Channel convoy, V&W class destroyer HMS WALPOLE strikes a mine off Flushing at 52 33N 03 06E which causes flooding of her machinery spaces and has to be towed back to Sheerness. She is declared a constructive total loss. There are 2 casualties. (Alex Gordon)(108)

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 784: six B-17 Flying Fortresses drop leaflets over Belgium and the Netherlands during the night.

FRANCE: The United States Army 2nd Battalion, 274th Infantry Division with attached unit attempted to take the town of Wingen from elements of the German 6th SS Mountain Division and failed. The tank support for the 2/274th had arrived very late and made little contribution to the battle. In addition Field Artillery support was a complete mess. (W Jay Stone)

In the U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, an attack to restore the main line of resistance on the right flank of the 44th Infantry Division halts on the line extending along southern edge of the Bois de Blies Brucken to an area just north of the Gras Rederching. In the VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division makes slow progress against the left and centre of the Bitche salient and on the east contains counterattacks on Philippsbourg. The Germans continue a build up west of the Rhine River on the eastern flank of the corps. The 79th Infantry Division clears Stattmatten (where encircled elements of Task Force Linden are relieved), Sessenheim, and Rohrweiler; and reaches the edge of Drusenheim. Further efforts of Task Force Linden to gain Gambsheim are fruitless.

BELGIUM: In the U.S. First Army's VII Corps area, the 2d Armoured and 84th Infantry Divisions make converging attacks toward Consy, taking positions east and west of the town, respectively. The 2d Armoured Division continues toward Dochamps, completes the occupation of Odeigne, and makes contact with the 3d Armoured Division on the Manhay-Houffalize road. The 3d Armoured Division cuts the Laroche-Salmchateau road at its intersection with the Manhay-Houffalize road and captures Fraiture, Lierneux, and La Falise; the 83d Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion clears Bois Houby. In the XVIII Corps (Airborne) area, the 82d Airborne Division consolidates. To protect its left flank, the 30th Infantry Division attacks south toward Spineux and Wanne with the Regimental Combat Team 112 of the 28th Infantry Division.

In the U.S. Third Army's VIII Corps area, the Germans get tanks into Bonnerue, lightly held by the 87th Infantry Division; the division makes a limited attack toward Tillet. In the III Corps area, the 6th Armoured Division holds against repeated counterattacks. The 35th Infantry Division attacks into the woods northeast of Lutrebois and maintains positions in the Villers-la-Bonne-Eau area; the 6th Cavalry Squadron of Task Force Fickett is committed near Villers-la-Bonne-Eau.

LUXEMBOURG: In the U.S. Third Army's XII Corps area, the 80th Infantry Division's 319th Infantry Regiment crosses the Sure River near Heiderscheidergrund and captures Goesdorf and Dahi.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 783: 816 bombers and 622 fighters are dispatched to hit rail and communications targets in western Germany; all but a few attacks are made using Gee-H and H2X; they claim 14-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; one B-17 and two P-51 Mustangs are lost: 183 B-17s bomb the Kalk Marshalling Yard at Cologne and 14 other targets are hit by less than 100 aircraft each.

Twenty six USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers strike Prum. Bad weather prevents all fighter operations.

During the night of 6/7 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 482 aircraft, 314 Halifaxes, 154 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos, to bomb Hanau; 425 bomb the target with the loss of four Halifaxes and two Lancasters. The attack is aimed at that part of Hanau in which an important junction in the German railway system is situated. The local report says that many bombs did fall in this area but also states that a large proportion of the bombing is scattered in the south, into the centre of Hanau, and to the north, into an area of countryside and villages. A second force of 147 Lancasters hits Neuss with the loss of one Lancaster which crashes in Belgium. As in Hanau, some of the bombing falls into the railway area but most is scattered over surrounding districts; 1,749 houses, 19 industrial premises and 20 public buildings are destroyed or seriously damaged.

U-2538, U-2539, U-3031 launched

U-3519 commissioned.

FINLAND: The national dance-ban is lifted. It has been illegal to dance during the wartime. Dancing was considered a highly inappropriate pastime during war and therefore banned. This applied only to public dancing, in private people were free to dance as much as they wanted. Of course, this ban was often ignored, especially during the tedium of the positional warfare period of the Continuation War. (Jack McKillop and Mikko Härmeinen)

U.S.S.R.: Baltic Fleet: Submarine loss. "S-4" rammed by German torpedo boat T-33 close to cape Busterort in Gulf of Danzig. (Sergey Anisimov and Dave Shirlaw)(69)

ITALY: USAAF Twelfth Air Force fighters and fighter- bombers hit rail lines and bridges in the Genoa-La Spezia coastline area, and bomb vessels in the harbours at Genoa and Imperia.

JAPAN: The USAAF Twentieth Air Force's XX Bomber Command flies Mission 25: 49 Chengtu, China-based B-29 Superfortresses are dispatched to bomb an aircraft factory at Omura, Kyushu Island; 28 hit the primary target, 13 bomb a secondary target at Nanking, China while six attack targets of opportunity; they claim 4-6-10 Japanese aircraft; one B-29 is lost. The is the XX Bomber Command's last mission against targets in Japan.

On Paramushiru Island in the Kurile Islands, two USAAF Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Suribachi Bay Airfield, also hitting buildings and pier areas. Ten B-25 Mitchells fly single air coverage sorties for the naval task force that bombarded Paramushiro yesterday.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Fifteen USAAF Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators, based on Guam, bomb Iwo Jima airfields. During the night of 6/7 January, nine B-24s on individual snooper strikes continue to attack the airfields on the island.

CHINA: Forty USAAF Fourteenth Air Force P-40s, P-51 Mustangs, and P-47 Thunderbolts attack the Hankow-Wuchang area; nine aircraft are claimed destroyed.

BURMA: In the Northern Combat Area Command area, heavy rains begin as the U.S. 475th Infantry Regiment (Long Range Penetration, Special) goes into bivouac in the Mong Wi area and the U.S. 124th Cavalry Regiment (Special) makes its way toward Mong Wi. The Chinese 38th Division gains the distinction of being the first Chinese Army in India unit to return to Chinese soil: the 112th Regiment reaches Loiwing, from which it patrols across the Shweli River to Namhkam.

FRENCH INDOCHINA: Four USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb the Cap-Saint-Jacques area.

Task Groups 77.2 [battleships USS California (BB-44), Colorado (BB-45), Mississippi (BB-41), New Mexico (BB-40), Pennsylvania (BB-40), West Virginia (BB-48) and supporting cruisers and destroyers] and 77.6 (Minesweeping and Hydrographic Group) reach Lingayen Gulf area and begin naval bombardment and mine sweeping. Damaging enemy air attacks persist in spite of strong effort against Luzon by planes of Task Force 38, escort aircraft carriers covering TG 77.2, and USAAF Far East Air Forces. Japanese force of some 150 aircraft on Luzon at the beginning of the year has been reduced to about 35 planes, and air action drops off sharply after this.

On Mindoro, Pinamalayan, which the Japanese have recently abandoned, is reoccupied by fresh Japanese troops from Luzon. Company I, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, and guerrillas join in attack there, forcing the Japanese back toward Calapan.

USAAF Far East Air Forces (FEAF) B-24 Liberators bomb Clark Field while B-25 Mitchells, A-20 Havocs, and fighter-bombers hit bridges and targets of opportunity at Calumpit and Plaridel and in nearby southern Luzon Island areas. B-24 s bomb Nichols Field and Nielson Airfield on Luzon. A-20s, with P-38 Lightning cover, bomb Carolina Airfield on Negros Island. FEAF flies numerous smaller strikes against various points throughout the Philippine Islands.

While supporting the Landings at Lingayen Gulf, Philippine Islands on the USS Allen M. SUMNER (DD-692) took charge of the minesweeper support unit in place of USS BARTON (CDS60). Enemy suicide planes approached out of the sun on the port bow strafed and crashed into the rigging, the after stack, and after torpedo mount, killing 14 men, wounding 29 others, and causing extensive damage.

Because of damage. Allen M. SUMNER was ordered to return to screen of TG 77.2 and BARTON (CDS60) took over as minesweeper support unit. Thirteen men will be buried at sea on tomorrow. (Ron Babuka)

Minesweeping destroyers USS Long and Hovey sunk by Japanese aircraft at Lingayen Gulf.

EAST INDIES: USAAF Far East Air Forces (FEAF) B-25 Mitchells and fighter-bombers hit Mapanget Airfield on Celebes Island, Netherlands East Indies (NEI). FEAF flies numerous smaller strikes against various points throughout the NEI.

NEW GUINEA: Australian General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander in Chief Australian Military Force and Commander in Chief Allied Land Forces South West Pacific Area, sends a message to U.S. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Commander in Chief South West Pacific Area, suggesting that he should include in his next communique a reference to the fact that the Australians had taken over in New Guinea, thus making it possible to release the Australian correspondents' stories that have been censored for month.

SOUTH CHINA SEA: The submarine U.S.S. Sea Robin (SS-407), on her first patrol, sinks the XAO Tarakan Maru (5135T) east of Hainan Island in a night surface attack using her radar. Two of three torpedoes hit and sink the ship.

Later that same evening, The submarine U.S.S. Besugo (SS-321), on her third patrol, at the mouth of the Gulf of Thailand, attacks the XAO Nichiei Maru (10,020T) in night surface radar attack in position 6-57N 102-57E. Firing six torpedoes, three strike home and sink the tanker. (Chris Sauder)

PACIFIC OCEAN: In Lingayen Gulf, Japanese suicide plane attacks intensify against Lingayen Gulf invasion force; kamikazes damage battleships USS New Mexico (BB-40) (killing members of an observing British military mission) and California (BB-44), heavy cruiser USS Louisville (CA-28), light cruiser USS Columbia (CL-56) and destroyers USS Allen M. Sumner (DD-692), Newcomb (DD-586) (she is also hit by friendly fire), O'Brien (DD-725), and Richard P. Leary (DD-664). Kamikazes attack the minesweeping group, sinking high speed minesweeper USS Long (DMS-12), and damaging high speed minesweeper USS Southard (DMS-10) and high speed transport USS Brooks (APD-10). Destroyer USS Walke (DD-723), on detached duty covering the minesweeping operations is attacked by four enemy aircraft; one crashes the ship's bridge, drenching it with burning gasoline and mortally wounding Walke's commanding officer, Commander George F. Davis. Davis nevertheless remains at his post, conning his ship amidst t he wreckage and rallying his crew. Carried below only when assured that his ship would survive, he dies of his wounds within hours. He is subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously.

As a consequence of the kamikaze attacks, Task Force 38 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain) shifts its focus from Formosa to begin operations against Japanese airfields and shipping in the Luzon area. In South China Sea off northern Luzon, Navy carrier-based planes sink an army cargo ship and six merchant tankers.

Ens George Herbert Walker Bush USNR married Barbara Pierce in Rye, New York state.