Air Operations - Aleutians
Japanese aircraft open a series of minor attacks against the US ground forces occupying and constructing an airfield on Amchitka Island. In this first attack, 2 Japanese Navy aircraft are able to bomb Amchitka harbor before the arrival of 6 XI Fighter Command P-38s from the airfield on Adak.
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]Air Operations - Bismarcks
- 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack port facilities and shipping at Rabaul.
- 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against the Cape Gloucester and Gasmata airfields on New Britain.
| ]Air Operations - CBI
BURMA- In their unit’s combat debut, 9 B-24s of the 7th Heavy Bomb Group’s 492nd Heavy Bomb Squadron attack the dock area at Rangoon.
- 51st Fighter Group P-40s bomb and strafe ammunition dumps at Shaduzup.
| ]Air Operations - East Indies
90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Dili, Timor.
[ | ]Air Operations, Libya
57th Fighter Group P-40s support the British 8th Army.
[ | ]Air Operations - New Guinea
V Bomber Command B-25s attack supply dumps at Lae.
[ | ]Air Operations - Solomons
Following a night bombardment by US Navy warships, 24 SBDs, 17 TBFs, and 18 F4Fs from Carrier Air Group 5 attack the Vila airfield on Kolombangara with 23 tons of bombs at 0800 hours. The air group then returns to the US carrier Saratoga by way of Guadalcanal.
[ | ] Giraud, Roosevelt, de Gaulle and Churchill |
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| At the conclusion of the conference on January 24, French General Henri Giraud, Franklin D. Roosevelt, General Charles de Gaulle and Winston Churchill. Roosevelt surprisingly announced the Allies were now fighting for the "unconditional surrender" of Germany, Italy and Japan - a stand immediately endorsed by Churchill. |
Air Operations, Tunisia
- XII Bomber Command B-17s attack Sousse harbor. XII Bomber Command B-25s and B-26s, and IX Bomber Command B-25s attack Medenine Airdrome during three separate missions.
- 12th Air Force fighters attack Axis vehicles and troop concentrations in support of Allied ground forces. [
| ]Eastern Front
Von Manstein asks Hitler's permission to order von Paulus to surrender since it has now become clear that the mobile forces of Army Group A will be able to escape from the Caucasus whatever happens at Stalingrad. Permission is denied as the Führer replies 'The 6th Army will hold its position to the last man and the last round.' Farther west, troops from Vatutin's Southwest Front capture Starobelsk.
SOUTHERN SECTORThe 60th Army forces the VII Corps out of Voronezh. Elements of the 40th Army begins their attack against the southern wing of the 2nd Army in the midst of a blizzard and with temperatures at -20 degrees. Despite these difficulties the Soviets break the German front and introduce their IV Tank Corps to batttle. To the south, Starobelsk, former headquarters of Army Group b, falls to the Soviet 6th Army.
Hitler decides to pull the 1st Panzer Army out of the Caucasus and back to the southern Ukraine to support Manstein's weakened forces. However, the southern flank of the 1st Panzer is still as far south as Armavir, which has just been given up to the Trans Caucasus Front, and the bulk of the 17th Army if falling back into the Kuban.
The Northern Group of the Trans Caucasus Front, in recognition of its staunch defense in the Caucasus, is elevated to front status, becoming the North Caucasus Front under Maslennikov. The Stavka orders that the German 17th Army be isolated in the Kuban with the 2nd Guards, 51st and 28th Armies of the Southern Front. The 44th and 58th Armies are to attack Bataisk while the 9th and 37th Armies are to cooperate with the Black Sea Group.
Inside Stalingrad the battle for the city enters its final stage. Paulus agains request that he be allowed to surrender but again Hitler refuses and orders 6th Army to fight to the last man and the last bullet. Manstein also asks Hitler to let 6th Army surrender but receives the same response.
[ | ]Guadalcanal
Continuing west in the coastal sector, the CAM Div reaches Hills 98 and 99 and gains contact with the 25th Div. The 25th Div, upon being resupplied, begins a drive toward the Poha River. The 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry, attacks west from Kokumbona at 1300 and reaches Hill 102 on the right and 103 on the left. The Japanese contest every yard of ground while they prepare to re-embark.[MORE]
[ | ]North Africa
TUNISIAImplementing the order of the 21st for Gen K. A. N. Anderson to co-ordinate the efforts of the 3 Allied nations, the US II Corps is attached to the British 1st Army. Gen Juin agrees to place the French XIX Corps under British 1st Army upon approval by Gen Giraud. Gen Anderson subsequently directs the US II Corps to take command of all ground troops south of the line Morsott-Thala-Sbiba (all exclusive) -Djebel Trozza-Fondouk-Sidi Amor el Kenani (all inclusive), and north of the line from the salt marshes (chotts) to Gabès. The full-scale Allied assault northward in the Ousseltia Valley is cancelled. The Germans order an attack on Faïd Pass as soon as possible. Combat Command C, US 1st Armored Div, US II Corps, moving forward from Gafsa, conducts a successful raid on Sened Station and retires to Gafsa as planned.
[ | ]North Sea
The destroyers Mendip and Windsor drive off 16 German MTBs attempting to attack a convoy off Lowestoft.
[ | ]Pacific
A US naval task force commanded by Rear-Adms Ainsworth and Ramsey attacks the Vila-Stanmore area on Komombangara Island in the New Georgia group.
Japanese Destroyer Harusame Gets Torpedoed |
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