December 1941

December

• 01

  • The thousandth air raid on MaltaAround 1 December 1941 Malta logged its thousandth air raid alert since June 1940. A quiet autumn was ending as the Luftwaffe returned to Sicily.
  • The creation of the Civil Air PatrolOn 1 December 1941 La Guardia, head of the Office of Civilian Defense, signed the order creating the Civil Air Patrol to enlist private pilots in US defence.
  • The Stanisławów GhettoFrom 1 December 1941 some 20,000 Jews of Stanisławów were forced to move into a ghetto, which the Germans sealed off from the rest of the town on 20 December.
  • The Jäger ReportOn 1 December 1941 Karl Jäger tallied Einsatzkommando 3’s executions in Lithuania: 137,346 dead, almost all Jews. He declared the “Jewish problem” solved.
• 02

  • The Germans at KhimkiOn 2 December 1941, some authors say, a German patrol reached Khimki outside Moscow. In the bitter cold the attacks of Army Group Centre were collapsing.
  • The evacuation of HankoOn 2 December 1941 the last convoy left the Soviet base at Hanko. That night the transport Iosif Stalin, with 5,500 troops, hit mines in the Gulf of Finland.
  • “Climb Mount Niitaka”On 2 December 1941 Tokyo signalled the fleet “Niitakayama nobore 1208”, fixing the attack for 8 December. The day before, an Imperial Conference had chosen war.
• 03

  • The conscription of women in BritainIn early December 1941 Churchill announced the call-up of unmarried women aged 20–30 and of men up to 51. The Act was passed on 18 December.
  • Actions in the Wilno Ghetto in DecemberBetween 3 and 22 December 1941 Germans and Lithuanians took people from the Wilno Ghetto to Ponary three more times. At least 850 people were killed.
• 04

  • The Sikorski–Stalin declarationOn 4 December 1941 General Sikorski and Stalin signed a declaration of friendship and mutual aid at the Kremlin. Anders's army was to grow and move south.
• 05

  • Key eventThe counter-offensive at MoscowOn 5 December 1941 the Kalinin Front, and on 6 December the Western Front, struck an exhausted Army Group Centre. The Germans fell back along the whole front.
• 06

  • Britain declares war on FinlandOn 6 December 1941 London announced it would be at war with Finland, Hungary and Romania from one minute past midnight on 7 December. The dominions followed.
• 07

  • Key eventThe attack on Pearl HarborOn 7 December 1941 aircraft from six Japanese carriers struck Pearl Harbor. 2,403 Americans were killed and four battleships of the Pacific Fleet were sunk.
  • The Night and Fog decreeOn 7 December 1941 Keitel signed Hitler's guidelines, later called the Nacht und Nebel decree. Suspected resisters in the West vanished secretly into the Reich.
• 08

  • The “Day of Infamy” speechOn 8 December 1941 Roosevelt called Pearl Harbor a day of infamy and Congress declared war on Japan. Within days a dozen or more other states had done the same.
  • The attack on Clark FieldOn 8 December 1941 Japanese bombers from Formosa destroyed half of the US air force in the Philippines at Clark Field and Iba, hours after news of Pearl Harbor.
  • The Japanese invasion of ThailandOn 8 December 1941 the Japanese landed on the Thai coast and crossed from Indochina. After hours of fighting, Bangkok ceased fire and let them pass to Malaya.
  • The Battle of Hong Kong beginsOn 8 December 1941 Japan attacked Hong Kong. In five days it took the New Territories and Kowloon, and the defenders withdrew to Hong Kong Island.
  • The Malayan campaign beginsJust after midnight on 8 December 1941 the Japanese landed at Kota Bharu in Malaya and in Thailand. Five days later Yamashita's army beat the British at Jitra.
• 09

  • The miners’ strike in the Belgian CongoOn 9 December 1941 Force Publique soldiers opened fire on striking Union Minière miners at the football stadium in Élisabethville. Dozens were killed.
• 10

  • The sinking of Prince of Wales and RepulseOn 10 December 1941 Japanese bombers from Indochina sank the battleship Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser Repulse off Malaya. 840 sailors were killed.
  • The Japanese take GuamOn 10 December 1941 the Japanese landed on Guam, and after a brief fight in Agana Governor George McMillin surrendered the island. The same day they took Makin.
• 11

  • Key eventGermany and Italy declare war on the United StatesOn 11 December 1941 Hitler and Mussolini declared war on the United States, and Congress responded that same day. The war had become truly global.
  • The defence of Wake IslandOn 11 December 1941 the defenders of Wake atoll beat off a Japanese landing. Coastal guns sank the destroyer Hayate, and Marine fighters the destroyer Kisaragi.
  • The Japanese invasion of Burma beginsIn mid-December 1941 the Japanese took Victoria Point in southern Burma; on 23 and 25 December their bombers struck Rangoon, setting off a flight from the city.
• 12

  • The seizure of the NormandieOn 12 December 1941 the Americans took over the French liner Normandie in New York. As USS Lafayette she was to carry troops, but burned in February 1942.
• 16

  • Rommel withdraws from GazalaOn 16 December 1941 Rommel, facing encirclement at Gazala, began retreating across Cyrenaica against Italian wishes. On 24 December the British took Benghazi.
  • The Japanese invasion of BorneoOn 16 December 1941 the Japanese landed at Miri and Seria, where the British had already wrecked the oil wells. On Christmas Eve they entered Kuching.
• 17

  • The second assault on SevastopolOn 17 December 1941 Manstein's 11th Army launched a second assault on Sevastopol. After two weeks, with Soviet landings at Kerch and Feodosia, it stalled.
• 19

  • Hitler takes command of the ArmyOn 19 December 1941 Hitler accepted Brauchitsch's resignation and took command of the Army himself. Amid the crisis at Moscow a purge of the generals began.
  • The human torpedo attack on AlexandriaOn the night of 18–19 December 1941 Italian frogmen riding human torpedoes disabled the battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant in Alexandria harbour.
• 21

  • Famine in LeningradIn December 1941 almost 53,000 people died of hunger and cold in besieged Leningrad, and the death rate rose from week to week.
  • The Bogdanovka massacreOn 21 December 1941 the massacre of Jews from Odessa and Bessarabia began at the Romanian camp at Bogdanovka. By 31 December over 40,000 had been killed.
• 22

  • The landing at Lingayen GulfOn 22 December 1941 the main body of General Homma's 14th Army landed at Lingayen Gulf on Luzon. Next day MacArthur decided to fall back to Bataan.
  • The Arcadia ConferenceOn 22 December 1941 Churchill arrived in Washington to confer with Roosevelt. They agreed on “Germany first” and set up a joint Allied command.
• 23

  • The fall of Wake IslandOn 23 December 1941 the Japanese landed on Wake again. After hours of fighting Commander Cunningham surrendered the atoll; about 1,600 were captured.
• 24

  • The fur collection driveOn Christmas Eve 1941 the Germans ordered Jews in the General Government to hand over all furs for troops on the Eastern Front. Hiding a fur meant death.
  • The Free French on Saint-Pierre and MiquelonOn 24 December 1941 Admiral Muselier's ships took Saint-Pierre and Miquelon from Vichy without a shot. De Gaulle's move infuriated the State Department.
• 25

  • The surrender of Hong KongOn 25 December 1941 Governor Mark Young surrendered Hong Kong. A week of fighting on the island brought massacres of prisoners, wounded and hospital staff.
  • The Kerch landingOn the night of 25–26 December 1941 the Red Army began landing near Kerch and on 29 December at Feodosia. Manstein had to halt his Sevastopol assault.
• 27

  • The Vågsøy raidOn 27 December 1941 British and Norwegian commandos raided Måløy on Vågsøy, destroying fish-oil factories and ships. Captain Martin Linge was killed.