21-31 December 1941

Non-military objectives of the Philippines. (top) Pasay and (bottom) Cavite

 

21-30 December, the 11th Indian Division retreated into southern Malaya and the Japanese were freed to push back the Australian troops.  The following link comes with a WARNING!  I located a video of Indian action in the war but there is Graphic Violence____HERE!

 

The big guns of Corregidor respond.

23 December, the American and Filipino units on Luzon, Philippines, began moving into the Bataan Peninsula.  MacArthur was commanding from Corregidor and declared Manila an ‘open-city.’  The next day, 7,000 Japanese troops landed at Lamon Bay on the island and entrap the Allied soldiers on the peninsula.

24 December, after 2 weeks of steady bombardment and the landing of Japanese troops, Wake Island succumbed and US forces surrendered.  /  The vital British naval and air base at Rangoon, Burma received a major air bombardment.

 

24-31 December, along 400 miles of Borneo’s coast, the Japanese made amphibious landings at Kuching.  By the end of the year, the British troops were in general retreat throughout the Dutch East Indies as German-trained Japanese paratroopers were dropped on Sumatra.  On the 25th, Hong Kong officially surrendered.  /  And, on the 31st, Admiral Nimitz officially took command of the US Pacific Fleet.

PM John Curtin

Churchill and FDR had their first meeting, during which a message arrived from V.G. Bowden, Australia’s representative in Singapore, saying that the deterioration in the “defense of Malaya was assuming landslide proportions.”  Churchill denied the truth of the message despite South Africa’s Prime Minister Smuts argument, “that unless Japanese moves are countered by a very large scale action, they [Japan] may overrun the Pacific.”

Australia’s PM, John Curtin, challenged Churchill and his strategies, this dispute brought public the conflicts between the two men.  Churchill remained defiant by saying:  “…countries of the Far East simply have to accept a greater degree of threat…”  As Australia’s forces were scattered around the globe, Japan continued to sweep south and the plans for “Germany First” only allowed 2 inferior naval fleets to cover the Indian Ocean and the vast Pacific.

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On 26 December, at the “Arcadia” meeting, FDR discussed the possibility of a unified command in the Far East. (Actually an idea of Gen.Marshall’s, relayed by the pres.).  Churchill violently disagreed  until he discovered that they wanted General Archibald Wavell as the commander.  The British Chiefs of Staff felt it was somehow a “a Roosevelt trick,” the Far East was crumbling and Wavell would be blamed.  They answered, “Let some American take the post.”  Churchill did not want to surrender responsibility for Singapore to the US, “Think what the Australians would make of that!”  FDR was insulted – but a unified command was formed at the meeting.

Adm. Nimitz replaces Adm. Kimmell (left) and Knox visits Nimitz in Hawaii.

While complaining about the humidity during his 6 days in Palm Springs, Florida, Churchill displayed “a wild and childish temper” at the Australians and their concerns over their own defense.  Although he considered Singapore to be a total loss, the Prime Minister told the Australians that there was strength at the ‘Fortress’ and the men would “hold out to the last.”  He then diverted his attention to Burma.  New Zealand on the other hand continued to receive his praise for their loyalty.

The proud Roosevelt’s Christmas card for 1941.

Click on images for a larger view.

Most photos are from “The Veterans of Foreign Wars Pictorial History of the Second World War” vol. 2; the last two photos are from John Tolands, “Infamy and the Aftermath.”

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Humor –  political cartoons of the times____

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Howard Abisch – Tamarac, FL; US Army, WWII, 44th Infantry Division, ETO

passing of the colors

Lawrence Bradley – Wowan, AUS.; RAAF # 25047, WWII

Gordon Cates – Vancouver, CAN.; RC Army, WWII

Charles Bandelier – New Haven, IN; USMC, WWII

Vito Ernest – New Haven, NY; US Army, WWII, ETO

Anthony Hobbs – Hamilton, NZ; RNZ Navy # 2027, WWII, Chief Petty Officer

Robert Pavlik – Boca Raton, FL; US Army, Korea

Harvey Stewart – Huntsville, AL; US Army, Korea & Vietnam, Chaplain, Colonel, (Ret. 31 years)

Patricia Wentz – born: Edinburgh, SCOT, McLean, VA; British Military SOE (cryptographer for European resistance), ETO

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