Axis Diplomacy

Germany, Italy and Japan sign a military convention in Berlin which sets 'guidelines for common operations against the common enemies.'

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-86 sinks the Greek steamer Dimitrios G. Thermiotis (4271t) 50 miles northeast of St John's, Newfoundland with the loss of her entire crew of 33.
• U-552 sinks the American steamer Frances Salman (2609t) off Newfoundland with the loss of all 28 crewmen.
• U-66 sinks the American tanker Allan Jackson (6635t) 60 miles east-northeast of Diamond Shoals, North Carolina with the loss of 22 of her crew. 13 survivors are picked up by the American destroyer Roe.

Burma

Burma's Premier U Saw is 'detained' by the British for allegedly being in communication with the Japanese.

Eastern Front

South and Southwest Fronts provide the attacking units and the aim is to cross the Donets and wheel south to the Sea of Azov, trapping German units against it. The German 6th and 17th Armies are the defending units. The Russians break through the enemy lines and achieve a complete penetration in the Izyum sector, west of the Donetz in the Ukraine. They advance to within 97 km of the Dniepr and the vital German supply base at Dnieprostroy. Progress is also made in the area of Kursk. Over the next ten days the Russians will advance significantly along the line south of Kharkov.

In the Moscow sector the Valdai Hills offensive is still going well for the Red Army. They have reached to within 70 miles of Smolensk and also threaten Velikiye Luki.

There is heavy fighting in the suburbs of Orel, south of Kaluga. In the Crimea the German forces are recovering from the disruption caused by the Soviet landings at the end of December and have resumed their attacks to take Feodosia.

A Russian parachute brigade and an airborne regiment land behind German lines south of Vyazma.

The German 18th Army is forced out of Schlusselburg, which allows the Red Army to establish a narrow link with Leningrad. Farther south, the 16th Army continues to be battered by the enemy and falls back to Toropets. As the Soviet 3rd and 4th Shock Armies continue to drive into the German lines, the main supply route for the German II and X Corps at Demyansk is severed.

The Soviets attempt an airborne drop into the rear of Army Group Center, with 2,000 men of the 201st Airborne Bde dropping between Yukhnov and Vyazma. It is a fiasco: around 1,600 are lost.

The Soviet Barvenkovo-Lozavaia Offensive begins as the Southwestern and Southern Fronts attack into the Ukraine, aiming to recapture Kharkov, Krasnograd and Pavlograd.[MORE]

Japanese tanks destroyed during the opening stages of the Battle of the Muar River, Malaya.

Destroyed Japanese Tanks

Germany, Command

Field Marshal von Bock replaces the recently deceased Reichenau as commander of Army Group South.

Malaya

Japanese attacks in the Muar-Yong Peng area are repulsed by the 45th Indian Bde, but there are new Japanese landings north of Batu Pahat which puts the British positions there in serious danger. Near evening British headquarters orders these positions to be evacuated.

A 2 pounder Anti-Tank Gun of the 4th Anti-Tank Regiment, 8th Australian Division, AIF, in a clearing near the road block at Bakri on the Muar-Parit Sulong Road.

Australian Anti-Tank Gun

An Australian 2 pounder gun of 13th Battery, 4th Anti-Tank Regiment, firing on Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go tanks of the 14th Tank Regiment on the Muar-Parit Sulong road on 18 January 1942.

Australian Anti-Tank Gun Firing on Japanese Tanks

Besides the 51 Hurricanes, which are not ready for action, the air force available for the defense of Malaya amounts to 75 bombers and reconnaissance aircraft and 28 fighters. The bombers are being readied for transfer to Sumatra.

Mediterranean

The Italian steamer Citta di Livorno (2471t) sinks on a mine north of Crete laid by the British submarine Porpoise on the 11th.

Pacific

• I-121 sinks the Dutch steamer Bantam (9312t) north of Wetar Island in the Banta Sea.
• The US submarine Plunger (SS-179) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese merchant cargo ship Eizan Maru (4702t) off the mouth of Kii Suido, Honshu.

Philippines

There is no change in the Bataan peninsula. The Allies counterattacks are ineffective in the eastern sector while the Japanese maintain pressure in the western.