Air Operations, CBI

A 2nd AVG Fighter Squadron P-40 shoots down a Japanese Navy A5M 'Claude' fighter over Rangoon at 1205 hours.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

Wellingtons bomb the Castel Vetrano airfield in Sicily.

Air Operations, Pacific

USAAF B-17s bomb Japanese warships in Malalag Bay, Davao in the Philippines and damage the heavy cruisers Myoko and Nachi.

Allied Command

In these difficult conditions the Allied supreme command gives the following instructions to Gen Wavell: to hold the 'Malayan barrier' (the line from the Malayan peninsula through Sumatra and Java to northern Australia) and oppose any Japanese advance beyond that line; to reinforce Burma and Australia; and to re-establish contact with the Philippines across the Dutch East Indies.

Battle of the Atlantic

The British destroyer Hesperus sinks U-93 northeast of Madeira with the loss of 6 of her crew. 40 survivors are picked up by the destroyer.

Black Sea

Stukas badly damage the Russian cruiser Krasny Kavkaz.

China

(3rd?)Chiang Kai-shek is named Commander-in-Chief of all Allied troops operating in China. The Japanese advance in the area of Changsha is held up by Chinese forces.

Eastern Front

Russian forces recapture Borovsk.

Equipped for the Conditions, the Russians Counterattack

India, Home Front

Indian leaders promise to support the Allied war effort if Britain will grant India dominion status.

Malaya

The 11th Indian Div prepares to attempt to hold the Slim River line but is coming under increasingly heavy Japanese air attack as the new Japanese bases in Thailand become operational. The air attacks are especially heavy on the Indian troops in the western sector. The Japanese, who have landed at Kuala Selangor, are already advancing up the Selangor River in the rear of the defenders, threatening the town or Rawang, just north of Kuala Lumpur, capital of the Federated Malay States.

New Britain

Japanese air forces attack Rabaul for the first time. Rabaul is a strategic base in the Bismarck Archipelago, north of New Guinea, where 1,400 British troops are guarding the airfields at Lakunai and Vunakanu.

Pacific

3 US submarines begin operating off the east coast of Japan. They will be in the area for about 2 weeks.

Philippines

Japanese attacks continue on Luzon in the area of Guagua-Porac. Guagua is captured by the Japanese who advance as far as Lubao. This cuts the line of retreat of the 11th Filipino Div towards Bataan. During the evening a new defensive line between Lubao and Santa Crus is attempted by the defending forces.