13 January 1939

UNITED STATES: Congress passes the Howes-Cutting Bill over President Herbert Hoover's veto, which calls for a 12-year transitional period for the Philippine Commonwealth under a Philippine executive. The U.S. retains the right to military and naval bases while the U.S. Supreme Court could review decisions by the Philippine courts. During a probationary period, the U.S. could impose tariffs on Philippine sugar, coconut oil, and fibers in excess of specified quotas. Finally, the Philippine legislature has one year to accept the independence measure.

SAARLAND: The League of Nations supervises the plebiscite (referendum) in the Saarland. Ninety percent of the electors vote for a union with Germany. Only ten percent vote for union with France. The National Socialists mounted a massive political campaign in the Saar, but popular opinion clearly supported a return to Germany. (The Saarland was established in 1920 in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles. It comprised portions of the Prussian Rhine Province and the Bavarian Rhenish Palatinate. The area was put under the control of the League of Nations but in practice it was administered by France for 15 years, very much against the wishes of almost all Germans both inside and outside the territory.)

UNITED STATES: Famed aviator Howard Hughes takes off from Union Air Terminal, Burbank, California, in a Northrop Gamma 2G, msn 11, registered NR13761, just after 1200 hours and lands at Newark Municipal Airport, New Jersey, at 0030 hours tomorrow setting a new transcontinental speed record of 9-hours, 26-minutes and 10-seconds.

EGYPT: The British send a military mission to Egypt to advise the Egyptian government on the development of an army. The Egyptians introduce universal military training in 1938.

GERMANY: Jews are arrested in reprisal for yesterday's shooting in The Netherlands: The article....

GREECE: Athens: Greek generals ask Wavell for nine divisions to enable them to repel an expected German offensive; he can offer only a small force. There is a good deal of discussion at staff level about sending material rather than British units. What the Greeks want are aircraft, Anti-Aircraft guns, transport (both MT and pack animals), clothing and anti-tank guns.

The Greeks have captured the key town of Klisura as they push the invading Italians back through Albania. The crack "Wolves of Tuscany" division has been badly cut up and over 1,000 of its men have surrendered.

When this latest victory was announced shortly after noon today the church bells were rung and it seemed that the whole population of Athens was celebrating in the streets. King George and General Metaxas, the Premier, appeared on a balcony and received a tumultuous reception.

The Greek army is now advancing on Valona, the Italian base port on the Adriatic, harrying the Italians through the frozen Albanian mountains. Valona is reported to be crowded with 30,000 wounded and frost-bitten soldiers waiting to be shipped home.

ALBANIA: General Ugo Cavallero, the Chief of the Italian General Staff, relieves General Soddu of the Italian command as Greek troops consolidate their advance on the Klisura front.

SWITZERLAND: Zurich: James Joyce died in hospital here today after an emergency intestinal operation.

BULGARIA: Sofia: King Boris of Bulgaria, "invited" to Germany by Hitler, has been given a series of demands by the Fuhrer which would bring Bulgaria into the war on Germany's side. Hitler wants Bulgaria to join Germany, Italy and Japan in the Tripartite Pact; to allow German troops to pass through its territory in order to attack Greece; and to take an active part in Axis military operations.

British operations are progressing well around Tobruk. Artillery has been placed in sizeable strength and drinking water depots have been set up for the troops. The Italian garrison is now surrounded.

LIBYA: Italian aerial reconnaissance spots British vehicles and tanks 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of Derna.

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The perpetrators of atrocities in Nazi-occupied Europe were publicly warned today that they will be called to account after the war and punished. The warning was issued by representatives of nine countries under German occupation, meeting in St James's Palace. This is the first joint Allied decision on trials for war crimes, although the three main Allies have made similar statements individually. Today's action was initiated by General Sikorski of Poland. Other countries represented were Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France (that is, de Gaulle's French National Committee), Greece, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway and Yugoslavia.

FRANCE: RAF Bomber Command sends bombers to mine off two Bay of Biscay ports: five aircraft mine off St. Nazaire and four mine off Lorient.

GERMANY: An He-280 V2 pilot (Fritz Schaefer) is the first airman to safely use an ejection seat to escape a crash. The He-280 uses a compressed air ejection seat. (Ron Babuka)

POLAND: Lodz: 700 Jews are deported to Chelmno death camp, the first of 10,000 down for "resettlement".

U.S.S.R. : The Soviet Army has driven deep a salient between the German 2d Panzer and 4th Armies on the central front southwest of Kaluga; the salient deepens with the capture of Kirov.

BORNEO: The Dutch commander on Tarakan Island surrenders to the Japanese and they complete mopping up the island. The Japanese assault force boards ships tomorrow for the assault on Balikpapan.

BURMA: The Joint Military Council recommends the construction of the Ledo and Imphal roads.

MALAYA: General Archibald Lord Wavell, Commander in Chief Australian-British-Dutch-American (ABDA) Command, South West Pacific, again visits the front and confers with commanding officers. The withdrawal of the Indian 3 Corps into Johore State reaches its final stage; all vehicles are being moved through Segamat.
A convoy with badly needed reinforcements reaches Singapore and unloads the first echelon of the British 18th Division (the 53d Brigade Group), antiaircraft units, and 51 crated Hawker Hurricane fighters with crews.

EAST INDIES: The air echelons of two Far East Air Force bombardment squadrons (heavy), arrive at Singosari Airfield, Java, Netherlands East Indies, from the U.S. with B-17 Flying Fortresses; the air echelon of a third squadron arrives at the same airfield from the Territory of Hawaii. The ground echelons are at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On the east flank of the II Corps on Bataan, the 21st Infantry, Philippine Army (PA), counterattacks at 0600 hours after an artillery preparation and reduces part of the Japanese salient on the left flank of the 57th Infantry, Philippine Scouts. The Japanese are thus prevented from launching a planned offensive in that area, but make progress to the west against the 51st Division, PA, forcing it back to the main line of resistance along the Balantay River. The Japanese column driving south in central Bataan, with the task of turning the corps' left flank, is not yet in position for an attack.

U.S.A.: Charles Lindbergh meets with Hap Arnold and Lovett; Lovett said there were many ways that he could help the government but they were afraid of the public and press reaction which was double talk for, "We don't want you." Lindbergh asked if the administration would oppose his working for private industry and Lovett said "that as far as the War Department was concerned he thought they would support such a move." Note that Lovett said the War Department, not the entire administration. Hap Arnold told him, "I think you can find some way to straighten all this out."
What Lindbergh did not realize was that his enemies were attacking him with memos to FDR. Harold Ickes wrote that he should not be accepted for service and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox stated that Lindbergh should enlist as an aviation cadet. Stimson reported to FDR that he was unwilling to place such a man in a position of command. At a meeting with several U.S. Senators, FDR said, "I'll clip that young man's wings."

The Combined Chiefs of Staff attending the ARCADIA conference in Washington, D.C., agree to move USAAF units and contingents to bases in the U.K. as soon as possible.
     The Ford Motor Company patents a plastic-bodied automobile which was 30 percent lighter than ordinary cars. Plastic, a relatively new material in 1942, was revolutionizing industry after industry in the United States.
     President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes the U.S. War Production Board, with business executive Donald M. Nelson as its chairman. The War Production Board, created to establish order out of the chaos of meeting extraordinary wartime demands and needs, replaced the Supply Priorities and Allocations Board. As chairman, Nelson oversaw the largest war production in history, often clashing with civilian factories over the most efficient means of converting to wartime use and butting heads with the armed forces over priorities. Despite early success, Nelson made a major judgement error in June 1944, on the eve of the Normandy invasion, when he allowed certain plants that had reached the end of their government/military production contracts to reconvert to civilian use. The military knew the war was far from over and feared a sudden shortage of vital supplies. A political battle ensued, and Nelson was eased out of his office and reassigned by the President to be his personal representative to Chiang Kai-shek in China ; he was replaced by Julias A. Krug. Soviet intelligence penetrated the WPB, including several members of the Perlo group and its head Victor Perlo who by 1943 was chief of the Aviation Section of the WPB. The Perlo group of spies, which he headed, included a Senate staff director, and supplied the Soviet Union with United States aircraft production figures and shipments to various fronts. The head of the Silvermaster group, Nathan Gregory Silvermaster, also penetrated the agency. Silvermaster was able to provide the Soviet Union with a large amount of data on arms, aircraft, and shipping production.
      Nineteen West Coast shipyards adopt around-the-clock, seven-day-a-week work schedules.

The number 1 song in the U.S.A. on this date, according to Billboard magazine, is "Chattanooga Choo Choo" by Glenn Miller

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Despite the opposition of Vice Admiral Karl Donitz, Commander-in-Chief U-Boats, Operation "Drum Beat" (Paukenschlag) is scheduled to begin. Doenitz requested that 12 boats be made available for an operation along the North American coast, but the Naval Staff allowed him only six, of which one, the newly commissioned U-128, had to be withdrawn because of mechanical problems. The other five are U-123, type IXB; U-125, type IXB; and U-66, type IXC, which are to form Gruppe Hardegen for attacks in U.S. waters; and U-109, type IXB; and U-130, type IXC, which are to form Gruppe Bleichrodt for attacks southeast of Halifax and in Cabot Strait off Cape Breton Island. To their joint operation Doenitz gives the code-name Paukenschlag "beat on a kettledrum" or "Drumbeat." What is meant here is no "drumroll," as some would have it but a single percussion of a timpani stick on the stretched head of a brass-barreled kettledrum; a sudden blow "einen kraeftigen Paukenschlag" since, as Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant Commander) Reinhard Hardegen, commander of U-123, insisted to the writer (Michael Gannon), the aim was to deliver a simultaneous surprise attack on a given day, later signaled to be 13 January. Though many waves of additional U-boats were to follow the first five to North America, their latter operations were not called Paukenschlag. None of the original five boats would make their assigned positions by the 13th, but, two days before the deadline, U-123 sank the 9,076 ton British freighter, SS Cyclops about 167 nautical miles (310 kilometers) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The submariners are surprised to find peacetime conditions on the U.S. coast, with lighthouses and marker buoys still lit. In addition there is no radio silence and positions of merchant ships are frequently given away in radio communications. These conditions and the inexperience of the USN escort vessels lead to a loss of 150,000 tons in the first month of th e operation. The fact that "Drum Beat" could not begin until some weeks after the German declaration of war on the US indicates how unprepared the U.S. Navy was for this sudden development. (Alex Gordon)

FRANCE: The USAAF Eighth Air Force's VIII Bomber Command flies Mission 29: The primary targets are the steel and locomotive works and marshaling yard at Lille. Seventy two B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched; 64 drop 125 tons (113 metric tonnes) of bombs on the targets between 1427 and 1430 hours local; locomotive construction and repair work is seriously impaired. Three B-17 Flying Fortresses are lost. Sixteen B-24 Liberators fly a diversionary raid. Escort for the raid plus two raids by RAF Bostons against St Omer is provided by 69 USAAF Spitfire Mk Vs. They claim 3-4-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; one Spitfire is lost.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 36 RAF and RAAF aircraft, 18 Venturas, 12 Bostons and six Mosquitos, to attack airfields and marshalling yards. The targets are (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of aircraft bombing and number lost, e.g., 97-1):

GERMANY: Berlin: Adolf Hitler today issued a decree which entitles the authorities to order German men and women to undertake war tasks deemed necessary for the defence of the Reich. This first step towards "total mobilization" is intended to release all able-bodied men for military duty or other work at the front.

The decree says it is "necessary to locate all men and women whose efforts towards this goal are not yet or not yet fully utilised and to harness their full energies". Large scale and extended "training and re-orientation" will be introduced. Older men and married women are among the prime targets of this new labour mobilization, which is likely to begin later this month.

RAF Bomber Command dispatches 66 Lancasters and three Mosquitos to bomb Essen; 53 aircraft bomb the target with the loss of four Lancasters. This is another poor raid for Oboe aircraft, two aircraft have to return without marking and the skymarkers of the third aircraft fail to ignite above the cloud. German aircraft also appear to have dropped decoy flares to distract the Lancasters. Despite all this, Essen reports a sharp raid with 63 people killed, including 11 French POWs and six other foreigners. This raid concluded the Oboe trials.

BULGARIA: Sofia: Thirty-six people are executed and 200 arrested in anti-Nazi protests.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: U-224 (Type VIIC) (OLtzS Hans-Carl Kosbadt CO) is sunk in the western Mediterranean west of Algiers, in position 36.28N, 00.49E, by ramming and depth charges from the Canadian corvette HMCS Ville de Quebec. 45 dead, one survivor. Ville de Quebec was escorting Gibraltar to North Africa convoy TE-13 when she detected U-224. She attacked with depth charges, which blew the submarine to the surface. Ville de Quebec then rammed the submarine just as the Weapons Officer, LtzS Dankworth, emerged from the conning tower hatch to survey the damage. He was thrown clear of the boat and became the only survivor. He was rescued 30 minutes later by HMCS Port Arthur. (Alec Gordon)

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells, with P-38 Lightning escort, bomb a partially sunken freighter between Tunisia and Sicily.

NEW GUINEA: U.S. Lieutenant General Robert Eichelberger, Commanding General U.S. I Corps, assumes duties as Commander, Advance New Guinea Force, and takes control of all Australian and U.S. troops. Australian Lieutenant General Sir Edmund Herring, General Officer Commanding Australian I Corps, now commands New Guinea Force.

In Papua New Guinea, the Australian 2/7th Independent Company, Kanga Force, observes 126 new Japanese troops approaching Mubo from Komiatum. Australian fire kills many of them.

In Papua New Guinea, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs bomb and strafe the Sanananda Point area and forces along the Sanananda track. In Northeast New Guinea, heavy and medium bombers hit dock facilities at Lae and airfields at Lae and Salamaua.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Guadalcanal, the XIV Corps offensive broadens as the 2d Marine Division begins a coastal attack from the line Point Cruz-Hill 66, to the right of the 25th Infantry Division. The 8th Marine Regiment, on the right, attempts to advance westward from Hills 80 and 81 but is halted by Japanese fire. The 2d Marine Regiment advances 800 yards (732 meters) west from Hill 66. The attack of yesterday by the 2d Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, is renewed, but held off by the Japanese on Guadalcanal. The Horse's Neck, Sims Ridge, is the holdup. Captain Davis, Battalion Executive Officer, leads four men, to within 10 yards (9,1 meters) of the Japanese position. When his rifle jams he waves the others on in full view of both Japanese and U.S. troops. This action is cited by Major General J. Lawton Collins, Commanding General 25th Infantry Division, as leading to the final capture of the Galloping Horse feature by noon.. The Americans now hold a 4,500-yard (4 115 meter) front extending south from Point Cruz over Hill 66 to Hills 57 and 55. Company C, 35th Infantry Regiment, is again halted by Japanese fire from the southwest as it endeavors to push west. The 2d Battalion makes negligible progress against pillboxes of the Gifu strongpoint. (John Nicholas and Jack McKillop)

USAAF Thirteenth Air Force P-39 Airacobras strafe forces on the beach at Kokumbona and hit Visale (both on Guadalcanal) in support of the ground offensive. Also, B-26 Marauders with P-38 Lightning and P-39 escorts attack the Rekata Bay, Santa Isabel Island, area.

NEW CALEDONIA AND NEW HEBRIDES ISLANDS: The USAAF Thirteenth Air Force and its subordinate XIII Bomber Command and XIII Fighter Command are activated to assume administrative control over all USAAF units in the South Pacific. HQ Thirteenth Air Force (Major General Nathan F. Twinning) and HQ XIII Fighter Command (Brigadier General Dean C. Strother) are established at Noumea, New Caledonia Island; HQ XIII Bomber Command (Colonel Harlan T. McCormick) is established on Espirtu Santo Island, New Hebrides. Operational control of the Thirteenth's subordinate units is exercised by the USMC officer commanding USMC air units on Guadalcanal.

PACIFIC: Submarine U.S.S. Triton (SS-201), on her fifth patrol, in the Bismarck Archipelago area, spots a large tanker while on the surface.

In the morning twilight, Triton fires eight torpedoes. One hits and lightly damages XAO Akebono Maru (10,182T) north of the St. Matthias Island group in position 00°45'S, 148°56'E.

Submarine U.S.S. Whale (SS-239), carrying out a submerged daylight patrol in the Marshalls on her second patrol, sinks XAC Iwashiro Maru (3359T) with three of four fish fired. The Japanese naval collier sinks about 40 miles north of Kwajalein in position 09°54'N, 167°07'E. (Chris Sauder)

U.S.A.: The number 1 song in the U.S.A. on this date, according to Billboard magazine, "There Are Such Things" by Tommy Dorsey.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The surfaced German type IXC submarine U-507 is sunk about 150 nautical miles (277 kilometers) north-northwest of Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil, in position 01.38S, 39.52W, by depth charges from a USN PBY-5A Catalina, aircraft of Patrol Squadron Eighty Three (VP-83/P-10) based at NAF Natal, Brazil; all 54 crewmen are lost. U-507 (along with U-156 and U-506 and Italian submarine Cappellini) took part in the rescue operations after the sinking of SS Laconia on 12 September 1942 off Africa. About 1,500 men were saved by these boats and French ships from Dakar (which arrived on 16 September, four days after the sinking). (Alex Gordon and Jack McKillop)

During a meeting of the milk cow U-117 and U-455, the doctor from U-117 transferred to U-455 and remained onboard.

FRANCE: One hundred ninety three USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauders bomb NOBALL (V-weapon) targets. Fighter pilots report being tracked by antiaircraft rockets.

GERMANY: While serving as a Flak boat, U-621 was attacked by an RAF 59 Sqn Liberator and suffered 1 man killed and 6 wounded. Matrosengefreiter Heinz Thomas was mortally wounded and later buried at sea. The commander decided to abort the patrol. U-621 took ten days to limp back to Brest.

U-1201, U-1229 commissioned.

U-1053, U-1208 launched.

ITALY: In U.S. Fifth Army's II Corps area, the 168th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, finishes clearing the heights overlooking Le Pastinelle and the Rapido Plain. Task Force B (1st Special Services Force and the 133d Infantry Regiment) is dissolved, having completed its mission; Regimental Combat Team 133 remains in position. The 2d Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment, reduces a troublesome strongpoint (Point 189) south of Cervaro. The II Corps is now in position for an assault on the last hill barring access to the Rapido River, Mt. Trocchio.

USAAF Twelfth Air Force B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders bomb Guidonia, Centocelle, and Ciampino Airfields; A-20 Havocs strike the town of Atina. RAAF, RAF, SAAF and USAAF fighter-bombers hit shipping along the Dalmatian coast at Sibenik and in the Krka River, Yugoslavia. A-36 Apaches hit the town and railway yards at Isola del Liri, a factory at Colleferro, docks at Formia, railroad yards at Valmontone, and a railway station SE of Frosinone. P-40s hit Sant' Elia Fiumerapido, San Biagio, Saracinesa, and a rail and road junction near Villa Latina..

Sixty two USAAF Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb Centocelle Airfield and 37 attack Guidonia Airfield while 39 B-24 Liberators hit Perugia Airfield. P-38 Lightnings provide escort, and P-47 Thunderbolts fly top cover for the B-17 missions. The heavy bombers destroy several fighters in aerial combat.

INDIA: Major General Kenneth B Wolfe, Commanding General of the USAAF Twentieth Air Force's XX Bomber Command, arrives at New Delhi with the advanced echelon staff. This is the first important movement of personnel for Operation MATTERHORN, the plan which will be approved in April 1944 for the bombing of Japan by B-29 Supergortresses based in the Calcutta area and staging through advanced fields in the Chengtu, China, area.

CHINA: Two USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells on a sweep from Hong Kong to Hainan Island attack four large boats, several warehouses, a radio station, and a car at Fort Bayard,; one of the vessels explodes. Six P-40s on armed reconnaissance strafe four pack trains of about 15 animals each between Lungling and Tengchung.

BURMA: In the Hukawng Valley, the Chinese 38th Division gains firm control of the Tarung River line as the 114th Regiment reduces the last strongpoint in the Yupbang Ga area. The 112th Regiment, to the north, has cleared the region between the Tarung and Sanip Rivers. The 1st Battalion, 113th Regiment, upon crossing the Tarung River at Yupbang Ga, patrols north to Tabawng Ga.

Six USAAF Tenth Air Force P-51 Mustangs hit troop concentrations at Lalawng Ga and bomb Maran Ga and Shaduzup; 27 P-40s attack a communication center and dumps along the Kamaing-Mogaung road; and four P-51 Mustangs and a B-25 Mitchell attack the airfield and supply area at Myitkyina.

NEW GUINEA: Over 130 USAAF Fifth Air Force B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells and P-40s attack Alexishafen, Northeast New Guinea while other B-24s and B-25s strike Kaukenau and Timoeka, Dutch New Guinea. RAAF (P-40) Kittyhawks bomb Japanese supply dumps south of Madang.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: Nine USAAF Seventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells from Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands attack harbor shipping at Wotje Atoll and 21 A-24 Dauntlesses from Makin Island, Gilbert Islands dive-bomb dock, barracks, and storage area on Mille Atoll. Some of the 16 escorting P-39 Airacobras strafe ground targets, and ten other P-39s carry out strafing mission over Mille Atoll.

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: On New Britain Island, the ADC Group (7th Marine Regiment reinforced by a battalion of the 5th Marine Regiment and supporting units) continues their attack toward Hill 660 with the 3d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, but is pinned down short of their objective. Artillery and aerial bombardment precede the attack.

During predawn hours 11 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells bomb Tobera, Rapopo, the Wide Bay area, and coast south of Rapopo, New Britain Island. During the night of 13/14 January, 15 USAAF Thirteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Vunakanau and Lakunai Airfields, Rabaul, Rapopo and Malaguna

SOLOMON ISLANDS: On Bougainville, artillery units of the Army's Americal Division begins relieving those of the 3d Marine Division.

Headquarters USAAF Thirteenth Air Force moves from Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides Islands to Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.

PACIFIC: From Glen Boren's diary: If you recall, the comic strip Lil' Abner had this charactor that walked around under a cloud all the time and something bad was always happening to him ? Well, we had our own in that one of our pilots was always pulling something and he busted up a lot of aircraft. Maybe just blowing a tailwheel on landing but it seemed that something happened everytime he went up. His first two initials were D.D. and we (the enlisted men started calling him "Dangerous Dan")

Well, Dangerous Dan had been out flying on Jan 13th. and he came in for a landing on the fighter strip. He flaired out and was making for a beautiful 3 point landing, just one problem tho' he was still 40 feet in the air. The plane stalled and it hit with such force that it drove the main landing gear up through the wings and really made a mess of it.

That was the biggest excitment of this stay on the beach except for our little escapade with the local hooch dealer. After his second call at our hut, when he came in to make a sale, some of us went out the back door, found his jeep and did some midnight smallstores shopping. A good time was had by all. I always wondered where they got the bottles, they were wine type and they seemed to have a good supply.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: Campaign Plan GRANITE outlines tentative operations to be conducted and a timetable: (1) carrier raid on Truk Atoll, Caroline Islands, about 24 March in support of invasion of the Admiralty Islands and Kavieng, on New Ireland Island, Bismarck Archipelago; (2) capture of Eniwetok and Ujelang Atolls, Marshall Islands, (Operation CATCHPOLE), on 1 May; (3) capture of Mortlock and Truk, Caroline Islands, on 1 August; (4) invasion of the Mariana Islands (Operation FORAGER), on 1 November. If the Truk attack can be bypassed, it is proposed that the Palau Islands be invaded on 1 August. The Army's 27th Infantry Division is alerted to prepare to seize Eniwetok.

The number 1 song in the U.S.A. on this date, according to Billboard magazine, is "Paper Doll" by The Mills Brothers.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-231 (Type VIIC) is sunk about 439 nautical miles (813 kilometres) northeast of Lagens Field, Azores, in position 44.15N, 20.38W, by depth charges from a British Wellington Mk. XIV aircraft (Sqdn 172/L). The aircraft is equipped with a Leigh light. 7 dead, 43 survivors. (Alex Gordon)

WESTERN EUROPE: The USAAF Ninth Air Force's IX Tactical Air Command supports the U.S. VII Corps near Houffalize, Belgium, the XIX Tactical Air Command supports the U.S. III, VIII, XII, and XX Corps elements in the Saint-Hubert, Belgium-Bastogne, Belgium-Wiltz, Luxembourg areas and points east and south near the Clerf River, Luxembourg and the Mosel River, Germany.

BELGIUM: As part of the advance of the 101st Airborne Division to the north and northeast of Bastogne, the 506th Parachute Infantry - with the 321st Glider Field Artillery in direct support - attacks at 0900. By 1630, after an all day fight, the 2nd Battalion has cleared Foy of Germans. By 1800 other elements of the regiment has seized Recogne. (Jay Stone)

Ardennes: The Germans opened the Ardennes gamble with around 250,000 men; a month later, fighting a grim rear-guard action, they have lost upwards of 120,000 killed, wounded and captured, and are facing a US force of 600,000. The Americans have 8,607 dead and 68,283 wounded or missing, and the British 1,400 dead.

For both the Germans and the Allies, the losses in weapons and equipment are considerable. The Germans lost about 600 tanks (compared with the Americans' 733) and 1,000 aircraft. For the Germans the losses are pretty well irreplaceable; yet the Allies will replace theirs within the next two weeks. The Germans fell far short of gaining their strategic objective, the port of Antwerp, though their V2 attacks to the city caused serious damage and loss of life.

In the British Second Army area, the XXX Corps' Ardennes mission is completed as the 51st Division reaches the Ourthe River line southward from Laroche.

In the U.S. First Army area, the VII Corps pushes steadily toward Houffalize. On the right flank, the 4th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) and 84th Infantry Division clear several towns and villages. Combat Command A, 2d Armored Division, reaches positions about 1.5 miles (2,4 kilometers) north of Wibrin; Combat Command B advances in the Bois de Cedrogne to points 5 to 6 miles (8 to 9,7 kilometers) due north of Houffalize. The 3d Armored Division's Combat Command R cuts the Sommerain-Cherain road at its junction with the road to Mont le Ban and contains Mont le Ban while Combat Command B takes Lomre. After clearing the passage through the woods south of Langlir for the 3d Armored Division, the 83d Infantry Division mops up and regroups. The XVIII Corps (Airborne) opens an offensive, employing the 106th Infantry Division on the right and the 30th Infantry Regiment on the left. The 106th Infantry Division, with the 424th Infantry Regiment on the right and 517th Parachute Infantr y Regiment on the left, attacks southeast from the junction of the AmblÃ¨ve and Salm Rivers toward the La Neuville-Coulee-LogbiermÃ©--Houvegnez line, reaching positions near Henumont. The 30th Infantry Division drives south from the Malmedy area toward the Amblve River, gaining positions near Hedomont, in the Houyire woods, and in the Thirimont area.

In the U.S. Third Army's VIII Corps area, advance elements of the 87th Infantry Division reach the Ourthe River and make contact with the British. The 17th Airborne Division takes Salle, north of Flamierge, without opposition. The 11th Armored Division, which has relieved elements of the 101st and 17th Airborne Divisions, attacks north with Combat Command R and Combat Command A along the Longchamps-Bertogne axis, cutting the Houffalize-St Hubert highway near Bertogne which is enveloped. The 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, seizes Foy, on the Bastogn-Houffalize highway; As part of the advance of the 101st Airborne Division to the north and northeast of Bastogne, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, with the 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion (75mm) in direct support, attacks at 0900 hours local. By 1630 hours, after an all day fight, the 2nd Battalion has cleared Foy of Germans. By 1800 hours other elements of the regiment has seized Recog ne In the III Corps area, the 6th Armored Division drives northward, Combat Command B partially clearing Mageret. The 90th Infantry Division drives the Germans from Bras and gains Hill 530. The 35th Infantry Division and Task Force Fickett are pinched out near Bras. (Jay Stone and Jack McKillop)

FRANCE: In the U.S. Seventh Army area, the XXI Corps (Major General Frank W. Milburn) becomes operational, assuming responsibility for defense of the left flank of the army and taking control of the 106th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) and the 103d Infantry Division in place. It is to continue organization of defensive positions. In the VI Corps area, the 45th Infantry Division makes minor gains against the Bitche salient. Task Force Herren (274th Infantry Regiment) moves to the right flank of the corps. The 14th Armored Division takes command of the Hatten-Rittershoffen sector, assisted by the 9th Infantry Division: Combat Command A and the 3d Battalion of the 315th Infantry Regiment continue to fight in Rittershoffen; Combat Command R secures the western third of Hatten and makes contact with the 2d Battalion, 315th Infantry Regiment; efforts of Combat Command B to cut roads north and northeast of Hatten fail.

LUXEMBOURG: In the U.S. Third Army's III Corps area, the 26th Infantry Division moves units into positions northeast and east of Doncols as a boundary between it and the 90th Infantry Division is moved west.

The USAAF Eighth Air Force flies Mission 791: 958 bombers and 469 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards and Rhine rail bridges mostly by PFF methods; they claim 6-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; eight bombers and two fighters are lost. The targets are (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of aircraft bombing and number lost, e.g., 97-1):

- Marshalling yards: , Bischofheim (121-2), Kaiserslautern (86-0) and Ludwigshafen (1-0).

- Railroad bridges: Gemersheim (71-0), Gustausburg (78-0) and Kaiserbrucke (41-0) at Mainz; Hindenburg at Rudesheim (89-0), Mannheim (72-3), Maximiliansau (141-1) and Worms (85-1).

Ninety five USAAF Ninth Air Force bombers strike road and rail bridges at Dasburg, Steinebruck, and Simmern to disrupt Germany movements; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, Eighth Air Force, and RAF bombers, fly armed reconnaissance and patrols, and bomb and strafe numerous ground targets.

During the day, 158 RAF Bomber Command Lancasters are sent to attack the marshalling yard at Saarbrücken; 151 bomb the target. The bombing appears to be accurate, though with some overshooting. One Lancaster crashes in France.

During the night of 13/14 January, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 274 aircraft, 242 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos, to bomb marshalling yards at Saarbrüken; 266 bomb the target. One Halifax crashes in France. Bomber Command assessed this raid as being extremely accurate and effective. In a second raid, 218 Lancasters and seven Mosquitos are dispatched to attack the Hydrierwerke synthetic oil refinery at Politz; 215 bomb the target with the loss of two Lancasters. This raid had been planned as a blind-bombing but, because the weather conditions are better than forecast, low-level marking is carried out and very accurate bombing follows. Bomber Command, on the basis of photographic reconnaissance, states that the oil plant is "reduced to a shambles." The third major attack has ten Lancasters laying mines off Swinemunde on the Baltic Sea.

U-2357, U-3024 commissioned.

U-2540, U-2541 launched.

The following U.P. report was released to the newswires - Despite punishing Allied blows, the Nazis are still able to operate as many as one hundred U-boats in the Atlantic, constituting a continued serious menace to Allied supply lines, British naval circles said tonight. However, insofar as is generally known here, there is no evidence that the Germans ever have attempted to launch flying bombs from submarines, despite Vice Admiral Jonas H. Ingram's warning that the US Atlantic coast might be hit by V-bombs landed from U-boats. There is also a general tendency here to doubt the statement attributed to Admiral Ingram that the Nazis have three hundred submarines in the Atlantic. British naval spokesmen and commentators are more inclined to believe that Germany's overall submarine strength is three hundred - a force that probably would permit from fifty to one hundred undersea craft to be actually operative at one time. To keep a force of three hundred U-boats within the Atlantic operating zone, a total force of approximately one thousand submarines would be necessary, one spokesman said, and added that Germany's submarine strength at its peak was 1500. The spokesman said that although the Allies had captured or bottled up all of Germany's Bay of Biscay submarine bases, she still had more and better bases than during the first World War, when she launched a highly successful U-boat campaign. The latest improvement publicized is a device enabling U-boats to recharge batteries beneath the surface

U-275 sailed on her final patrol.

POLAND: The Soviet 1st Belorussian Front begins an offensive toward Pillkallen in East Prussia.

BALKANS: German forces of Army Group E complete their withdrawal from Greece and Albania.

CHINA: Six USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells attack six storage buildings at Kengtung;. Thirty one 31 P-38 Lightnings, P-40s and P-51 Mustangs hit targets of opportunity in the Wanting area while 16 P-51s hit targets of opportunity around Shanhsien, Chiatsochen, and Chaling.

BURMA: In the Allied Land Forces South East Asia (ALFSEA) area, the Indian XV Corps strengthens the Myebon bridgehead.

Ten USAAF Tenth Air Force fighter-bombers hit Aungban Airfield while four others support ground forces along the Irrawaddy River at Molo; over 20 fighter-bombers hit horses and vehicles at Hsa-ihkao, buildings at Man Ping, and troops at Mankang and Man Sang.

Three USAAF Fourteenth Air Force B-25 Mitchells damage a bridge at Hawng Luk.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Fourteen USAAF Seventh Air Force Saipan Island-based B-24 Liberators hit an airfield on Iwo Jima; two B-24 Liberators from Guam and Saipan Islands, again raid the airfields on the night of 13/14 January.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: U-532 sailed from Jakarta on her final patrol.

Four RAAF pilots ferrying (P-40) Kittyhawks from New Guinea to Morotai Island are reported missing. After the war, it is learned that two of the pilots had been captured by the Japanese after they crashed landed and both were killed at a "special ceremony."

Twelve RAAF Spitfires attack targets on the northwestern tip of Halmahera Island.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: The carrier USS Salamaua is heavily damaged by Kamikazes.

The Casablanca-Class escort aircraft carrier USS Salamaua (CVE-96) with Composite Squadron Eighty Seven (VC-87) on board, departs Seeadler Harbor in the Admiralty Islands on 27 December 1944 and moves north. VC-87 is equipped with 14 Eastern Aircraft FM Wildcats and ten TBM Avengers. The ship, part of Carrier Division Twenty Nine (CarDiv 29), is assigned to Task Unit 77.4.1, the Lingayan Carrier Unit supporting the invasion of Luzon, Philippine Islands. On 6 January 1945, she arrives off the entrance to Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. Her planes began attacking enemy positions ashore and provide air cover for the approaching Allied invasion force. On 9 January, they provide air cover for the troops landing on the assault beaches; then continued that support until the 13th.

Just before 0900 hours local on 13 January, a kamikaze carrying two 250 kg. (551-pound) bombs crash USS Salamaua's flight deck killing 15 and wounding 80+. Damage is extensive; the flight deck, the hangar deck, and spaces below blazed with a multitude of fires. One of the bombs, failing to explode, punches through the starboard side at the waterline. Power, communications, and steering fail; one of her engine rooms floods and the starboard engine quits. But, by 0910 hours, her gunners had splashed two of the kamikaze's compatriots.

In the U.S. Sixth Army area, Lieutenant General Walter Krueger takes command ashore. In the XIV Corps area, elements of 185th Infantry Regiment, 40th Infantry Division, move along the coast of Lingayen Gulf to a site chosen for a seaplane base in Cabalitan Bay and find that Allied Naval Forces have already secured it without Japanese interference. Wawa falls to elements of the 37th Infantry Division. In the I Corps area, the 6th Infantry Division gains its holding line, Malisiqui-Catablan-Torres. In the 43d Infantry Division zone, Regimental Combat Team 158 takes Damortis without a struggle. Attacking from the Alacan area, the 63d Infantry Regiment gets about halfway to Hill 363, its first objective. Hills 580 and 318 are practically cleared by 172d and 169th Infantry Regiments, respectively.

On Luzon, USAAF Far East Air Forces B-24 Liberators hit the Tarlac barracks and storage area, Batangas Airfield, and troop concentrations at San Juan, Del Monte, Muzon, and San Vicente. P-47 Thunderbolts fly a sweep from Laguna de Bay to Tarlac, destroying parked aircraft and vehicles and A-20 Havocs hit the town of Batangas and nearby railroads and highways, and bomb Lucena and Calingatan Airfields.

Temporary repairs enable the ship to return to San Francisco, California, arriving on 26 February.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The USN destroyer escort USS Fleming (DE-32) sinks Japanese submarine HIJMS I-362 about 320 nautical miles (594 kilometers) north-northeast of Truk Atoll, Caroline Islands, in position12.08N, 154.27E.

U.S.A.: The last Boeing B-29 Superfortress, (B-29-100-BW), USAAF s/n 45-21872, is ordered today.