Air Operations, Europe

The Allied air offensive is directed this month principally against the German U-boat bases and production centers. Among the manufacturing towns attacked are Essen, Cologne and Dusseldorf. The first USAAF raid on Germany is against Wilhelmshaven on January 27th. Targets in France for the USAAF include St. Nazaire and Brest. Altogether the Americans drop 547 tons of bombs. The British effort is still much greater. The RAF drops more than 1,000 tons in 4 raids on Lorient alone. The navigational aid H2S is used for the first time over Hamburg on January 30/31 There is also the first daytime raid on Berlin, by a force of RAF Mosquitoes on the 30th. The Casablanca Directive sets forth future bombing policy for both the British and American strategic forces.

The average daily availability of Bomber Command aircraft is now about 515 compared with about 500 a year before. The quality of the force has much improved. There are now 178 Lancasters and 104 Halifaxes in the heavy bomber force and 17 Mosquitoes are also in service. The number of Wellingtons is now down to 128. The navigational aids Gee, Oboe and H2S are all available and will be improved. Gen Ira Eaker's 8th Air Force has about 80 bombers and is gradually gaining experience.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s and 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack shipping at Rabaul and airfields at Gasmata and Rabaul.

Air Operations, CBI

6 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack the rail line and airfield at Myitnge and a 23rd Fighter Group P-40 downs a Japanese Ki-45 'Nick' fighter near Bhamo.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

During the night US bombers raid 3 airfields on Crete.

Air Operations, Sicily

Several IX Bomber Command B-24s attack unspecified targets along the southeastern and southwestern coasts.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• XII Bomber Command B-17s and IX Bomber Command B-24s attack the harbor at Tunis in separate missions.
• XII Bomber Command B-26s attack the Tunis marshalling yards.
• 4 1st Fighter Group P-38 pilots down 3 Ju-52 transports near Cape El Fortress at 1515 hours.

Atlantic

The German blockade runner Rhakotis is sunk by the HMS Scylla off Cape Finisterre. Hitler orders all big warships to be laid up.

Eastern Front

6 Russian armies keep up their pressure on the German forces surrounded at Stalingrad. The area defended by the Germans is reduce to approximately 25 by 40 miles. The efforts of the Luftwaffe to bring in supplies and to evacuate the more seriously wounded cost them an ever increasing number of aircraft. In order to escape the threat of encirclement themselves, the Hoth armored group, reinforced by troops recalled from France, retreats to 120 miles southwest of Stalingrad.

During the first part of January, the Luftwaffe never delivered more than 120 tons daily, less than a third of the Germans' minimum requirements.

In the central sector after vicious street fighting the Soviets capture Velikiye Luki, an important railway junction north of Vitebsk. Acting on Hitler's orders, the German commander, Maj-Gen Theodor Scherer, orders his troops to resist to the death. The town has been under German occupation since August 1941 and is strategically important in supplying forces involved in trying to take the Russian capital. The Russians, fighting for every house and street, annihilate the Germans. Other important positions taken include Elista and Chikola.

The 3rd Shock Army demands the surrender of the much-reduced garrison of Velikiye Luki but is refused. Only the citadel still remains in German hands, the remainder of the town having been overwhelmed.

At Stalingrad the Stalingrad Front (Yeremenko) is moved to the outer ring, leaving the Don Front (Rokossovsky) to surround the pocket.

With the reduction of Paulus' 6th Army imminent, the Stavka reorganize its southern commands. Yeremenko's Stalingrad Front is renamed the South Front and is deployed along the outer ring. Rokossovsky's Don Front now takes complete responsibility for the pocket, taking the 62nd, 64th and 57th Armies under its command. In Stavka reserve a new 1st Tank Army is raised while the 2nd Tank Army is created around the core of the 3rd Reserve Army.

Guadalcanal

From Hill 11, the 2nd Battalion, 132nd Infantry, marches slowly south and west over precipitous terrain to the southeast slope of Hill 27, arriving too late in the day to open the assault as planned. The 27th Regimental Combat Team, 25th Division, arrives on the island.

The Japanese High Command decides to evacuate Guadalcanal. The convoy carrying the main body of the 28th Division, commanded by Gen Tadayoshi Sano, has been almost totally destroyed. Out of 11 transports, 6 have been sunk, 1 seriously damaged and 4 have had to be grounded in shallow waters off the coast to avoid sinking. The decision means losing the Solomons, and with them the master of the northeast approaches to Australian and New Zealand. But such huge sacrifices can no longer be borne. Since August 7th, the day the Marines landed, the Japanese have lost 65 naval vessels and over 800 aircraft, in addition to the human losses. Emperor Hirohito approves the decision. The evacuation is to be carried out gradually, and the task is entrusted to the destroyers of the 'Tokyo Night Express' under the brilliant Rear-Adm Raizo Tanaka.

Meanwhile, Gen Alexander A. Vandegrift's Marines on the island have been almost completely replaced by fresh forces - the 2nd Marine Division, the Americal Division and the 25th Infantry Division of the Army forming the XIV Corps under the command of Gen Alexander Patch. In readiness for the final offensive activity is concentrated on the Gifu strongpoint, on Mount Austen, still obstinately defended by 500 Japanese.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

V Bomber Command bombers attack the Gasmata airfield, New Britain.

Air Operations, CBI

• 6 11th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the airfield at Monywa.
• 75th Fighter Squadron P-40s strafe transportation targets along the Burma Road near Loiwing.

Air Operations, Crete

• To help stem Axis air attacks against Allied convoys bound for Malta, 12 376th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s join 36 RAF light bombers for an attack against Kastelli/Pediada Airdrome, and 11 12th Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack Heraklion Airdrome. The is the 12th Air Force's first combat mission outside of North Africa.
• 2 B-25s are lost over the sea to unknown causes on the return flight.

Air Operations, Europe

• 12 Bostons and 1 Mosquito are ordered to attack a whaling factory ship at Cherbourg but are recalled.

• 42 Lancasters and Wellingtons lay mines off the Biscay ports.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

• During this month Stukas, FW-190 fighter-bombers and He-111 torpedo planes make frequent sorties against Allies shipping in and around Bône, Bougie and Algiers. 4 ships are sunk; the cruiser Ajax, 1 destroyer and an AA ship are damaged.
• The Allies make their first daylight raid on Crete.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command bombers attack the airfield at Lae and targets of opportunity.

Air Operations, Solomons

• AirSoPac B-17s, escorted by 339th Fighter Squadron P-38s, attack Japanese destroyer near the Shortland Islands.
• A VMF-121 F4F shoots down 2 A6M Zeros over the Munda Point airfield, New Georgia and a VMSB-233 radioman-gunner downs an A6M Zero near Rendova Island.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• XII Bomber Command B-17s attack shipping and port facilities at La Goulette. 1st Fighter Group P-38 pilots escorting the bombers down 3 Bf-109s.
• 2 P-38s and their pilots are lost
• XII Fighter Command A-20s, escorted by P-38s, attack Sousse harbor in two waves in the morning along with another attack in the afternoon.
• XII Bomber Command B-26s, escorted by fighters, attack a bridge north of El Djem.
• 52nd Fighter Group Spitfire pilots down 2 Ju-87s and 1 FW-190 between Bone and Cape Rosa between 0835 hours and 0915 hours.

Eastern Front

Kleist realizes that if the Russians break through the German lines on the Stalingrad front they will be well placed to press on towards Rostov at the mouth of the Don, so cutting off Army Group A in the Caucasus from the rest of the Wehrmacht. In view also of the offensive launched against that Army Group by the Russian Trans-Caucasus Front armies, the 44th, the 58th, the 9th and the 37th, on the Terek River line, Kleist orders his 1st Panzer Army to withdraw slowly northwards, so that they can attack the left flank of the Russian armies should they advance towards Rostov, and so prevent the complete isolation of Army Group A in the Caucasus.

The 3rd Guards Army captures Morozovsk airfield. The Luftwaffe air supply missions now have to fly from Salsk and Novocherkessk.

Kleist's 1st Panzer Army gives up its last outposts on the Terek. Maslennikov's Northern Group operates along the Terek with its 44th, 58th, 9th and 37th Armies, IV Kuban and V Don Cavalry Corps.

Air Operations, Europe

• 11 Bostons are sent to Cherbourg but are recalled. 6 Mosquitos attack railway targets in the Amiens and Tergnier areas.
• There are no losses.

• 3 Pathfinder Mosquitos and 19 Lancasters of 5 Group continue Oboe-marking experimental raids to Essen.
• 3 Lancasters are lost.
• 45 Wellingtons and Lancasters lay mines off the French and Dutch coasts. Taking part in their first operation are Wellingtons of 427 Squadron of the new 6 (Canadian) Group.

• Of 72 VIII Bomber Command B-17s and 13 B-24s sent, 60 B-17s and 8 B-24s attack the St.-Nazaire U-boat base between 1130 and 1140 hours with 171 tons of bombs. Luftwaffe fighter oppostion is heavy.
• 7 B-17s are lost, 44 B-17s and 3 B-24s damaged; 2 crewmen are killed, 6 wounded, 70 missing
• On return to their bases, 3 B-24s crash-land being out of fuel. All 3 are written off due to damage. 3 crewmen are killed and 17 injured.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-26s and 1 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24 attack the airfield at Lae. Another B-24 attacks Madang. A-20s attack Salamaua. V Fighter Command P-40s strafe Japanese Army troops fleeing Allied ground troops at Buna.

Air Operations, Pacific

B-17s bomb Rabaul, New Guinea.

Air Operations, Tunisia

All XII Fighter Command fighters and A-20s are assigned to attack German army tanks involved in overrunning the Free French Army positions at Fondouk el-Aouareb.

Eastern Front

The Soviet Caucasus offensive is now well under way with 4 Russian army groups involved, the Bryansk, the Voronezh, the Southwestern and the Southern Fronts. In the Caucasus Kleist contains the Russian thrust by withdrawing to a series of defensive lines. Mozdok, held by the Germans since August 27, 1942, and Malgobek are both retaken by troops from 58th and 44th Armies. Kleist stands between the Terek and the Kuma Rivers. Farther north the Don Army Group under Manstein is fighting hard to keep the Soviets from cutting Kleist off in the Caucasus and at Stalingrad 6th Army continues to suffer. The inadequate attempts to ferry supplies in by air are proving very costly indeed and the route to Stalingrad is littered with wrecked German transport aircraft.

Fighting on the Chir Front sees the Soviets recapture Chernyakovsky after a bloody battle.

Malgobek and Mozdok are given up by the 1st Panzer Army as it falls back to the Kuma River. The 58th and 9th Armies occupy the abandoned towns. Nalchik falls to the 37th Army.

The Soviet Command schedules Operation KOLTSO, the reduction of the 6th Army, to begin on January 10.

Guadalcanal

The 2nd Battalion moves back to the military crest of Hill 27 to dig in securely as H Company moves its heavy weapons up to the hilltop. The 1st Battalion pushes to the west to straighten the bulge in the line and establishes contact on its left with the 2nd Battalion.

Air Operations, CBI

• 7the Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based in India attack the marshaling yard at Mandalay and damage a large ship at the mouth of the Rangoon River.
• 1 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25 and 9 23rd Fighter Group P-40s attack rail targets at Naba.

Air Operations, Europe

• 4 Pathfinder Mosquitos and 29 Lancasters of 5 Group are sent to Essen.
• 'Skymarker' flares are dropped on Oboe. Reports from the ground say the bombing is concentrated in Borbeck, a suburb north of the city center.
• 2 Lancasters are lost.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the airfield at Lae while V Bomber Command B-26s attack Sanananda. In other attacks, B-25s and A-20s attack the airfield, gun emplacements and buildings at Lae.
• An 8th Fighter Group P-39 downs a Japanese Navy bomber near Goodenough Island about 1030 hours.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• XII Bomber Command B-25s attack the marshalling yards at Kairouan.
• XII Fighter Command A-20s attack Cherichera.
• 6 Luftwaffe Ju-88s, escorted by Bf-109s, bomb the exposed forward fighter strip at Thelepte. 1 Ju-88 and 1 Bf-109 are downed when 5 33rd Fighter Group P-40 pilots based at Thelepte intercept the departing strike group.

Battle of the Atlantic

The US submarine Shad (SS-235) sinks the German minesweeper M-4242 in the Bay of Biscay.

Eastern Front

The destruction of the German forces at Stalingrad continues. The Don Army Group continues its rearguard action, threatened always by a possible enemy breakthrough in the direction of Rostov. The Soviet advance goes on. They capture Nalchik in the Caucasus and Chernyshkovskiy on the Chir River.

The LIX Corps launches a relief attack with Group Wohler (Gen Otto) aimed at relieving the survivors of Velikiye Lui, Soviet resistance is intense. The bitter fighting at Velikiye Luki continues as the 3rd Shock attempts to snuff out the last pockets of German resistance.

Guadalcanal

The final echelon of the 25th Division, the 161st Regimental Combat Team, arrives. The 2nd Marine Division headquarters and the 6th Marines, reinforced, also land, bringing the 2nd Marine Division up to full strength.

Although the headquarters of the Japanese 17th Army has received orders to evacuate Guadalcanal gradually, transferring the remaining forces to the island of New Georgia, the Japanese soldiers continue to fight valiantly, despite the increasing shortage of rations and ammunition. The Gifu strongpoint continues to hold up the American advance on Mount Austen. By 1000, patrols from the companies of the 1st and 3rd Battalions meet at a point about 500 yards south of the ravine between Hills 31 and 30. The 132nd Infantry is ordered to dig in and hold its gains and begin to build a strong half-moon-shaped line around eastern bulge of the Gifu between Hills 31 and 27. D Company, relieved from the Lunga perimeter defense, joins its regiment, and enables Lt-Col Alexander M. George to place one machine gun platoon to support each rifle company. Every heavy weapons company sends one mortar platoon to form a provisional 81-mm mortar battery on the reverse slope of Hill 29.

Air Operations, Aleutians

After a Patrol Wing 4 PBY discovers a cargo vessel off Kiska, 3 28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s sink the vessel, and a B-24 on an armed reconnaissance mission severely damages or sinks another vessel off Kiska.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

6 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17 and 6 90th Bomb Group B-24s attack ships in the Rabaul area with with 500-pound and 1,000-pound bombs from 8,500 feet. Hits are claimed on 9 merchant ships and a destroyer tender. Encountered for the first time in the Bismarcks are Japanese Army fighters which have been ferried to Truk by carriers and the flown to Rabaul. 2 B-17s are lost. Among the airmen lost is Brig-Gen Kenneth N. Walker, commander of the V Bomber Command.

Air Operations, Pacific

B-17s and B-24s make a low-level attack on shipping at Rabaul, New Guinea.

Air Operations, Solomons

• VMF-121 F4Fs down 7 D3A 'Val' dive bombers over Guadalcanal around 0940 hours.
• AirSoPac B-17s, escorted by 339th Fighter Squadron P-38s, attack at a Japanese cruiser at Buin.
• 339th Fighter Squadron P-38s down 3 F1M 'Pete' reconnaissance float planes over Tonolei Harbor at 1630 hours. Two P-38s are lost.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• XII Bomber Command B-17s, escorted by P-38s, attack the power station at Sfax.
• XII Bomber Command B-26s, also escorted by P-38s, attack Kairouan.
• B-24s of IX Bomber Command's 93rd Heavy Bomb Group encountering heavy clouds over their primary target of Tunis, attack the harbor at Sousse instead.

Diplomatic Relations

18 Allied nations sign a formal declaration which will have the effect of nullifying Axis plundering in occupied Europe. The governments reserve all rights to invalidate all transfers and dealings of properties, rights, and interests in all territories seized by Germany and Italy.

Eastern Front

Neutral Swiss reports state that the Germans regard the situation on this front as very serious.

In the Caucasus the Russians recapture Nalchik, east of the upper Terek, leaving large formations as rearguard to slow down the enemy advance. The Russians capture Prokhladny in the Caucasus and consolidate their gains farther north by taking Morozovsk and Tsimlyansk. An armored column of the Russian Stalingrad Front, advancing along the Don, recaptures Chinliansk.

Heavy fighting continues at Velikiye Luki with gradual Soviet gains. Gen Otto Wohler continues his relief attack but meets considerable Soviet resistance.

Prokhladrii falls to the 58th Army.

Air Operations, Aleutians

28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s attack the submarine base at Kiska through heavy cloud cover.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

• 1 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24 attacks the Gasmata airfield on New Britain. P-38s from the 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, down 9 Ki-35 'Oscar' fighters near Gasmata between 1700 and 1715 hours.
• 5th Air Force reconnaissance aircraft locate a Japanese convoy heading toward Lae, New Guinea from Rabaul. The convoy is attacked by various 5th Air Force planes, but is able to proceed toward its destination.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-26s attack Sanananda while 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20 hit the airfield at Lae.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• Two formations of XII Fighter Command A-20s attack the military base at Kairouan.
• XII Bomber Command B-25s attack Kairouan's rail facilities.
• A 52nd Fighter Group Spitfire pilot downs 1 FW-190 near Cape Rosa at 1305 hours.

Battle of the Atlantic

The German submarine U-164 is sunk by naval land-based air craft (VP-83) off Brazil.

U-164

Burma

The 14th Indian Division renews the offensive in the Arakan region - an offensive undertaken more for psychological than for strategic reasons. The advance is firmly checked by Japanese dug in at Donbaik and Rathedaung. Skirmishing in this sector goes on for many weeks with no definite outcome.

Eastern Front

Gen Otto Wohler's relief force is being bled white by the Soviets as losses continue to mount. Insice Velikiye Luki the garrison struggles to hold against overwhelming odds. The fighting rages incessantly for the next 9 days but the relief attack has already failed.

As its withdrawal continues, the XL Panzer Corps reaches the Kuma. A brief stand is made while the main forces move north.

Air Operations, Aleutians

28th Composite Bomb Group B-25s and 343rd Fighter Group P-38s dispatched against Kiska abort in the face of bad weather, but 4 of 6 B-24s dispatched attack the submarine base after circling overhead for two hours to await a break in the cloud cover. 3 B-24s are damaged by antiaircraft fire.

Air Operations, CBI

• The 11th Medium Bomb Squadron and the 23rd Fighter Group open up a 3-day offensive against storage facilities at Bhamo, motor vehicles on the Burma Road, and barge traffic on the Irrawaddy River.

• 23d Fighter Group P-40s attack a fuel dump at Mangshih.

Air Operations, Europe

• 3 Pathfinder Mosquitos and 19 Lancasters of 5 Group make an ineffective raid on Essen.
• There are no losses.

Air Operations, Greece

A single IX Bomber Command B-24 on a special mission attacks a quay in Piraeus harbor.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

The US 9th Air Force bombs Palermo harbor. There are 308 civilian casualties.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 5th Air Force and RAAF bombers and fighters mount an all-out effort against the Japanese convoy bound across the Solomon Sea from Rabaul to Lae. The convoy arrives at its destination, but one transport must be beached.
• V Fighter Command fighters attack the airfield at Lae Airfielde.
• P-38s of the 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, down 2 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters nearly 75 miles off Cape Ward Hunt at 1320 hours and 5 more 'Oscars' over Huon Gulf at 1530 hours.
• P-40s of the 8th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, down 12 A6M Zeros and 1 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighter over Markham Bay between 1700 and 1715 hours.

Air Operations, Sicily

10 IX Bomber Command B-24s of 25 sent attack Axis shipping in Palermo harbor. This is the first USAAF attack against Palermo.

Air Operations, Solomons

AirSoPac B-17s attack targets on Bougainville; and B-26s, escorted by P-39s, attack Rekata Bay. 2 bomber are lost.

Air Operations, Tunisia

XII Bomber Command B-26s attack the harbor and airdrome at Gabes. While escorting the B-26s to Gabes in his unit's North Africa combat debut, an 82nd Fighter Group P-38 pilot downs 1 Bf-109.

Eastern Front

Savage bayonet fighting has now been going on in Stalingrad for many days. Every square yard of the ruins is contested. The German defensive perimeter shrinks every day, but it still encloses 2 runways where the aircraft land with such supplies as can be brought in. The Hoth Panzer Group defends the Rostov corridor against the attacks of the 51st, 2nd and 20th Russian Armies. A Russian vanguard assembles 25 miles from Rostov and just fails to capture Manstein's headquarters.

Air Operations, CBI

6 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack storage facitlies at Bhamo while 23rd Fighter Group P-40s bomb and strafe transportation targets.

Air Operations, Europe

• 3 Mosquitos of the Pathfinders, now officially designated as No. 8 Group, and 38 Lancasters of 5 Group are sent to Duisburg.
• 3 Lancasters are lost.

• 73 aircraft lay mines off the Danish and German coasts.
• 2 Lancasters are lost.

Air Operations, New Guinea

5th Air Force and RAAF fighters and bombers attack the Japanese convoy unloading at Lae, but more than 4,000 Japanese Army ground troops and their equipment and supplies are landed. P-38s of the 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, down 4 Ki-43 'Oscar' fighters over Lae at 0810 hours, 5 more 'Oscars' over Lae at 1435 hours, and 3 A6M Zeros and 4 'Oscars' over or near Lae at 1800 hours.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• XII Bomber Command B-17s attack the naval base at Bizerte and the port facilities at Ferryville.
• XII Bomber Command B-26s attack Kairouan Airdrome.
• XII Bomber Command B-25s attack bridges and rail lines at Graiba and Kalaa Srira.
• XII Fighter Command A-20s and P-40s attack German Army tanks near Gabes.
• IX Bomber Command B-24s attack Tunis after being diverted from their primary target, Bizerte, by bad weather.
• While escorting and supporting various bombing missions, fighter pilots of the 1st, 14th, 33rd, 52nd and 82nd Fighter Groups down a total of 8 Luftwaffe fighters.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-124 attacks the 12-ship Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-bound Convoy TB-1, torpedoing the US tanker Broad Arrow (7718t) and the US freighter Birmingham City (6194t). 7 of the 8-man Armed Guard are killed on the Birmingham City from the attack. Her complement abandons the blazing ship as she sinks in three minutes.

China

Chiang Kai-shek sends a message to Roosevelt turning down the suggestion that he should launch a big offensive in the coming spring.

Eastern Front

Gen Konstantin K. Rokossovsky, commanding the Don Front Armies besieging Stalingrad, and Gen Nikolai N. Voronov, the Stavka representative, issue a summons to surrender to the Germans. Paulus' sense of resistance is stiffened by his chief of staff, Gen Arthur Schmidt, a convinced Nazi, and he ignores the demand. In terms of manpower the German defenders are if anything superior, but the Russians are well fed and clothed and have adequate supplies of fuel and ammunition. The Germans have virtually nothing and are already weakened by hunger and cold. Farther south Zimovniki, on the railway line from Stalingrad to Novorossiysk, falls to Russian attacks. The threat of isolation becomes more real for Kleist's Army Group A in the Caucasus.

Rokossovsky offers surrender terms to Paulus at Stalingrad. His terms are generous on paper. 'We guarantee the safety of all officers and men who cease to resist, and their return after the end of the war to Germany or to any other country to which these prisoners of war may wish to go. All personnel who surrender may retain their military uniforms, badges of rank, decorations, personal belongings and valuables and, in the case of high-ranking officers, their swords. All officers, noncommissioned officers and men who surrender will receive normal rations.' Hitler forbids any surrender Those Germans who did surrender after the fall of the city would find their captors in a less generous mood.

Air Operations, CBI

5 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s, escorted by P-40s, attack Bhamo and 23d Fighter Group P-40s attack targets of opportunity at Bhamo, Loiwing, and Wanling.

Air Operations, Europe

• 12 Venturas are sent to attack the Ijmuden steelworks, 12 Bostons the Abbeville airfields and 7 Mosquitos railway targets at Mons and Rouen. The Abbeville force is recalled, but all other targets are bombed. 1 Mosquito is lost.

• 2 Pathfinder Mosquitos and 50 Lancasters of 5 Group are sent to Essen.
• Reports from Essen indicate a concentrated bombing in or near the city center with 127 buildings being destroyed or seriously damaged. 28 people are killed.
• 3 Lancasters are lost.
• 121 aircraft including 78 Halifaxes, 41 Wellingtons and 2 Stirlings are sent to lay mines in the Frisians, the German Bight and the Kattegat. 97 aircraft report success in their designated areas.
• 4 Halifaxes are lost.

Air Operations, Libya

XII Bomber Command B-26s attack the Tripoli/Castel Benito Airdrome.

Air Operations, New Guinea

5th Air Force and RAAF aircraft attack the Japanese convoy as it departs to the east from Lae. Since the convoy was first attacked on January 6, 2 transports have been sunk, and 80 Japanese covering aircraft have been shot down. 5th Air Force fighters and bombers also attack dumps and airfields at Lae and Salamaua.

Air Operations, Tunisia

XII Bomber Command B-25s attack Axis shipping at sea off Tunisia's northern coast.

Axis Diplomacy

Japan and the Nanking regime sign an agreement abolishing all extraterritorial rights in China and providing for the return of all concessions and settlements to Chinese control.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-384 attacks the US freighter Louise Lykes (6155t), en route to Belfast, Ireland. The Armed Guard put up a valiant fight, but the U-boat ultimately destroys the freighter with the loss of all on board.
• Continuing its pursuit of Convoy TB-1, U-124 torpedoes two more US freighers, Collingsworth (5101t) and Minotaur (4554t). Both ships sinke within four minutes of being attacked. The US submarine chaser PC-577 rescues the survivors from all four of the victims of U-124.

Britain, Home Front

Flt-Lt Richard Hilary, author of 'The Last Enemy' is killed on active duty. He was 23.

Diplomatic Relations

The Puppet 'Central Government of China' declares war on Britain and the USA.

Eastern Front

The Don Front prepares to begin Operation KOLTSO. The Don Front has 281,000 men, 257 tanks and nearly 10,000 arty pieces against 6th Army's 191,000 effectives, 7,700 arty pieces and mortars and 60 panzers. At the time of the attack the temperature is -35 degrees.

In the period since November 23 Paulus has lost 40,000 killed or missing, suffered 29,000 wounded while 7,000 specialist troops have been flown out of the pocket. No longer able to feed his own men adequately, Paulus orders all captives to be returned to the Soviet lines. Many, fearing NKVD and OGPU retribution, remain behind the German lines, shunned by both armies.

Air Operations, CBI

• 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s based in China and 10 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s based in India mount a successful coordinated attack against a bridge at Myitnge.

Eastern Front

Since Paulus has ignored his ultimatum of the 8th, Rokossovsky launches a great new offensive, Operation RING, against the perimeter of the German 6th Army and the other German forces surrounded at Stalingrad. They nominally have 7 armies and the Germans the equivalent of 2, but Russian armies are only the same size as a German corps. The 62nd and 64th Armies on the east and southeast of the circle are particularly under strength. All the Russians forces move to the attack but the main effort is by the 65th and 21st Armies to the west. The attack goes in after the usual fierce barrage. Although Paulus knows that the struggle is hopeless, he still fights on. He holds out, not only in obedience to orders, but for strategic reasons. By keeping the greatest possible number of Russian divisions engaged he will relieve pressure on the Don Army Group and Kleist's Army Group A, which is in danger of being trapped in the Caucasus.

The Don Front (281,000 troops, 257 tanks and 10,000 artillery pieces) commences Operation RING, the destruction of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad. Facing this force are the freezing 191,000 troops of the 6th Army, with 7,700 artillery pieces and 60 fuel-starved tanks.

Operation KOLTSO opens at 0650 hours with a colossal arty bombardment. The barrage is followed by infantry and armored attacks. Elements of the 24th Army crashes into the 113th and 76th Infantry Divisions, while the 65th Army strikes the 384th, 44th and 376th Divisions as it advances toward Karpovka. The 21st and 57th Armies cut throught the Marinovka nose, battering the 3rd and 29th Divisions mercilessly. Under continual attack by the Don Front and harassed by the 16th Air Army, the 6th Army begins to disintegrate. Only the 297th and 113th Infantry Divisions survive the attacks, the remainder being wiped out almost to a man. Scattered bands of hunted men retreat across the steppe to the Rossoshka River and Stalingrad, many falling as the Soviets begin a close pursuit.

In the Caucasus, the Soviets begin to attack across the Kuma. The XL Panzer Corps has pulled most of its forces back, only rearguards holding a skeletal line. To the west the XLIX Mountain Corps pulls back toward Maikop.

Guadalcanal

The reinforces 25th Division begins the largest and final offensive to clear Guadalcanal. The immediate objectives of the operation are the Galloping Horse, the Sea Horse and the Gifu strongpoint. After a half hour artillery preparation, the first divisional time on target concentration of the campaign, followed by an aerial bombardment, the 27th Infantry drives southward through the 2nd Marine Division against the Galloping Horse and clears more than half of the objective. The 1st Battalion, on the west, attacks from Hill 66 to the objective, the north part of Hill 57, and establishes patrol contact with the 3rd Battalion to the east. From Hill 55, the 3rd Battalion advances 1,600 yards toward Hill 53, but is halted by stubborn opposition on Hill 52, an intermediate position. The 35th Infantry's 3rd Battalion begins an envelopment of the southern flank of Sea Horse, omitting preparatory fire, and takes a preliminary objective, a small hill a short distance south of the Sea Horse, against scattered opposition. Combat patrols of the 2nd Battalion move against the Gifu after preparatory fire but are unable to make any progress. The Americans now have well over 50,000 men on Guadalcanal and the Japanese less than 15,000, all of whom are desperately short of food.

During the night 8 Japanese destroyers attempt to bring supplies. 1 is damaged by PT boats.[MORE]

Air Operations, New Guinea

5th Air Force and RAAF aircraft attack the departing Japanese convoy in the Solomon Sea and dumps and antiaircraft batteries at Lae.

Air Operations, Solomons

• Cactus Air Force SBDs and P-39s attack Japanese Army ground troops and an ammunition dump on Guadalcanal.
• AirSoPac B-26s attack Munda.
• 1 B-26 is lost.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• XII Bomber Command B-26s attack the marshalling yards and oil depot at Gabes.
• XII Fighter Command A-20s and P-40s attack the Axis military camp at Kebili.

Air Operations, CBI

• 23rd Fighter Group P-40s attack warehouses, port facilities, and barges at Bhamo.

• And on their return flight to China from Bhamo, the P-40s attack road targets between Chefang and Mangshih.

Air Operations, Europe

• 4 Pathfinders Mosquitos and 72 Lancasters of Nos. 1 and 5 Groups continue trials with Oboe on Essen.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.

• IX Bomber Command B-24s attack the port of Naples with 40 1,000 pound bombs, but results are obscured by cloud cover over the target.
• 2 B-24s are lost to enemy fire

Air Operations, Libya

In two separate afternoon actions, 57th Fighter Group P-40 pilots down 3 Bf-109s and 1 Italian Air Force Mc-202.

Air Operations, Solomons

• Cactus Air Force B-26s and P-39s attack the airfield at Munda Point, New Georgia.
• VMF-121 F4Fs down 10 A6M Zeros over Guadalcanal.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• XII Bomber Command B-17s attack fortifications in and around Gadames and the rail and highway bridge spanning the Oued el-Akarit River, near Gabes.
• In a 25-minute running battle, 2 escorting P-38s and their pilots are lost against 1 Bf-109 destroyed.
• XII Bomber Command B-25s attack Axis shipping at sea off the northern Tunisian coast. While escorting the B-25s, 14th Fighter Group P-38 pilots down 2 Ju-52s and a 6-engine flying boat.
• While attacking German Army tanks near Fondouk el-Aouareb, 33rd Fighter Group P-40 pilots down 2 FW-109s.
• Luftwaffe fighters strafe the advance fighter strip at Thelepte.

Diplomatic Relations

Britain and the US formally relinquish their 'extra-territorial' rights in Peking, Tientsin and Chinese 'Treaty Ports', all presently under Japanese occupation.

Eastern Front

The Siege of Leningrad is partially broken. A narrow corridor is opened south of Lake Ladoga by concerted attacks by the Leningrad garrison and the troops of the Volkhov Front which include the 42nd, 55th, Neva Assault Group, 8th, 2nd Assault, 54th and 67th Armies. Supplies can now reach the besieged city.

In the Caucasus Kleist's Army Group A falls back from the line of the Terek and Kuma Rivers, and the Russians take Georgivesk, Pyatigorsk, Mineralnye Vody and 6 other towns in the area. Slightly farther north Kuberle, on the railroad line from Zimovniki to Proletarskaya, also falls.

The Soviet forces in the Leningrad sector begin to bombard German positions along the Neva.

The Marinovka sector of the Stalingrad pocket is crushed, the Soviets herding the Germans back to the Rossoshka. The last remnants of the 29th Motorized and 376th Infantry Divisions are wiped out in bitter fighting. With his army falling apart, Paulus receives an order from OKH which states that 6th Army must not under any circumstances surrender without prior approval.

Air Operations, Europe

• 5 Pathfinder Mosquitos and 55 Lancasters of Nos. 1 and 5 Groups are sent to Essen.
• The Oboe equipment of the first Mosquito to arrive over the target area fails, and the other Mosquitos are late. As a result the bombing is done on dead reckoning. Some bombs do fall in Essen where 20 houses are destroyed or seriously damaged and 9 people are killed. Bombs also fall in Neviges, Remscheid, Solingen and Wuppertal, towns 12-20 miles south of Essen. 19 people are killed in Remscheid.
• 1 Lancaster is lost.

• 32 aircraft lay mines off the Biscay ports without a loss.

Air Operations, Libya

• 12 B-17s of XII Bomber Command's 97th Heavy Bomb Group, escorted by 15 1st Fighter Group P-38s, attack the Tripoli/Castel Benito Airdrome. At least 20 of the estimated 110 bombers, fighters and other aircraft parked at the airdrome are claimed as destroyed. 2 Italian fighters are claimed at probably destroyed by the P-38 pilots. Bomber gunner claim 14 enemy fighters destroyed and 3 probables.
• 1 B-17 is damaged

Air Operations, New Guinea

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Finschhafen and Madang.

Air Operations, North Africa

B-17s wreck buildings and aircraft on Castel Benito airfield near Tripoli, while escorting P-38s rout 20 defending Me-109s.

Air Operations, Solomons

• AirSoPac B-26s, P-38s, P-39s and P-40s attack the airfield at Munda Point, New Georgia. 2 B-26s are lost.
• P-39s attack Japanese Army ground forces on Guadalcanal.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• XII Bomber Command B-26s attack bridges at Chaaba and La Hencha.
• 1st Fighter Group P-38s attack trucks and moored seaplanes during a sweep over the Ben Gardane region. 1 Fi-156 observation plane is downed.
• 7 Luftwaffe Ju-88s and 5 Bf-109s attack the advance fighter base at Thelepte. 2 Ju-88s are downed by 33rd Fighter Group P-40 pilots.

Aleutians

Amchitka Island, only 69 miles from Japanese-held Kiska, is occupied by a small American force under Gen Lloyd E. Jones, but the destroyer Worden is lost in an accident when it runs on some rocks. The island gives the US an advanced fighter base to begin offensive operations against Kiska and Attu.

Eastern Front

The Soviet Voronezh and Bryansk Fronts, under Gens Yuvgeny Golikov and M. Z. Reiter, attack the Hungarian 2nd and the German 2nd Army respectively. The Hungarian defenses are quickly shattered and the Russians are soon driving toward Kharkov. Farther south, Manstein's Army Group Don is also under heavy pressure as the Russians attempt to cut off the Caucasus by an advance to Rostov. Even more dangerous for the Germans is the possibility that the Russians may be able to drive south from around Kharkov, cutting off both Manstein and Kleist. Almost all the supplies for these German units have to come through Dnepropetrovsk, which the Russians in fact nearly reach in mid-February.

In the northern sector, the Russian Leningrad and Volkhov forces consolidate the corridor opened south of Lake Ladoga. The narrow strip, which will not be widened for another year, is pounded by German artillery so murderously that it becomes known as 'death corridor'.

The Red Army launches Operation ISKRA, designed to push the German 18th Army out of the Schlusselburg-Mga salient and thus reopen a supply line to the besieged city of Leningrad. The 67th Armu (130,000 troops) attacks from south of the city, and the 2nd Shock Army (114,000 troops) assaults from the Volkhov. In between line German troops in well-entrenched positions.

The Don Front's attack at Stalingrad has incurred 26,000 casualties, but Paulus has lost 60,000 troops and massive stocks of weapons. In the Caucasus, attacks by the Soviet 18th and 46th Armies encounter heavy resistance.[MORE]

Air Operations, Europe

• 36 aircraft of No. 2 Group, 18 Venturas, 12 Bostons and 6 Mosquitos, attack airfields and railway targets in France. 6 Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisians.
• There are no losses.

• There is another trial raid on Essen by 3 Mosquitos and 66 Lancasters.
• This is another poor raid by Oboe-equipped aircraft. 2 planes have to return without marking and the skymarkers of the third fail to ignite above the clouds. It also seems that German aircraft drop some decoy flares to distract the Lancasters. Essen, however, does report a serious raid with 63 people being killed. This raid marks the last of the Oboe test raids.
• 4 Lancasters are lost.

• 64 VIII Bomber Command B-17s, escorted by 4th Fighter Group Spitfires, strike industrial targets in the Lille area with 125 tons of bombs. After dropping their bombs, 2 306th Heavy Bomb Group collide. Both bombers are lost and all 20 crewmen are listed as missing.
• In battles with Luftwaffe fighters, 1 B-17 is missing, 15 are damaged; 2 crewmen killed, 9 wounded, 10 missing

Air Operations, Libya

IX Bomber Command medium bombers abort their missions due to bad weather. 57th Fighter Group P-40 pilots down 2 Bf-109s in separate actions.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

XII Bomber Command B-25s attack a sinking Axis freighter between Sicily and Tunisia.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command bombers attack the airfields at Lae and Salamaua and docking facilities at Lae. 3d Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Sanananda.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 347th Fighter Group P-39s provide direct support for a US ground offensive on Guadalcanal.
• AirSoPac B-26s, escorted by P-38s and P-39s, attack Rekata Bay and fighters attack the airfield at Munda Point, New Georgia.

Air Operations, Tunisia

5 Luftwaffe Ju-88s bomb the advance fighter base at Thelepte early in the evening, but 2 are downed and another damaged by 33rd Fighter Group P-40 pilots based there.

New Guinea

The American Gen Eichelberger takes overall command of the fighting troops on the island.

Battle of the Atlantic

The German submarine U-507 is sunk by naval land-based aircraft (VP-83) off Brazil.

U-507

Eastern Front

The Russian 24th, 65th and 21st Armies of the Don Front, commanded by Rokossovsky, advance from the west as far as the Rossoshka River which they reach late in the day. The 64th Army is advancing from the south, the 66th from the north, while from east of the Volga the German positions are battered by the guns of the 62nd Army. A fifth of the defensive perimeter of the German 6th Army is now in Russian hands.

At Leningrad the 67th and 2nd Shock Armies continue to attack across the Neva and along the Volkhov, lead units being no more than 2 or 3 miles apart by the end of the day. The XXVI and XXVIII Corps have suffered heavy losses during the fighting. Soviet 8th Army joins the attacks, committing its 52,000 men to the battle.

The offensive by the Soviet 40th Army against the Hungarian 2nd Army - part of a larger Red Army offensive involving the Voronezh, Bryansk and Southwestern Fronts along a 300-mile front - begins. The Hungarian 7th Division takes the full weight of the Soviet thrust and after heavy fighting is overwhelmed.

In the Stalingrad pocket the 65th and 21st Armies reach the Rossoshka. Attacks by the 64th and 66th Armies from the north and south also force the Germans back while the 62nd Army counterattacks inside the city.

Air Operations, Asia

3 Japanese bombers are shot down in 4 minutes by an RAF Beaufighter night fighter over Calcutta.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Gasmata.

Air Operations, Europe

• 6 Halifaxes are sent on a cloud-cover raid to Leer, but only 1 aircraft drops its bombs through a gap in the clouds. 7 Wellingtons of 4 Group lay mines in the Frisians.
• 1 Wellington is lost.

• 122 aircraft make the first of 8 area attacks on the French port of Lorient being used by the Germans as a U-boat base. Included in this raid are 63 Halifaxes, 33 Wellingtons, 20 Stirlings and 6 Lancasters.
• The Pathfinder marking is accurate, but the bombing later by the Main Force is described as 'wild'. This is the first bombing mission of the Canadian 6 Group.
• 2 Wellingtons are lost, 1 of which is from 6 Group.

While attacking ground targets, 4th Fighter Group Spitfire pilots down 2 FW-190s.

Air Operations, Libya

In two separate actions near Gheddhia, 57th Fighter Group P-40 pilots down 3 Bf-109s and an Italian Air Force Mc-202.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

XII Bomber Command B-25s and P-38s are sent to attack Axis shipping in the Straits of Sicily, but no ships are located. On the return flight, P-38s strafe German Army vehicles and troop concentrations along the coast.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Finschhafen and Madang.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack dumps near Lae.
• 3d Light Bomb Group A-20s strafe targets around Labu and small boats in the area.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 347th Fighter Group P-39s attack Japanese ground troops on Guadalcanal with improvised gasoline bombs. Supplies and landing craft are also attacked.
• 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-17s based at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal airdrop supplies to US Army ground troops who have outrun their lines of supply.
• XIII Bomber Command B-17s attack the airfield at Buka.
• A 347th Fighter Group P-39 downs a float biplane over Rekata Bay at 0900 hours.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• During the afternoon, 26 XII Bomber Command B-17s, escorted by 17 1st Fighter Group P-38s, drop more than 63 tons of bombs on the port facilites and shipping at Sfax and Sousse. 1 Bf-109 is downed by a P-38 pilot.
• 1 P-38 is lost to a Bf-109
• XII Bomber Command B-26s attack the rail junction at Kalaa Srira and warehouses and rail facilities at Mahares.
• A 52nd Fighter Group Spitfire pilot downs a Bf-109 near Cape Rosa at 1215 hours.

Allied Planning

For the next ten days, ending January 23rd, Churchill and Roosevelt meet in Casablanca accompanied by their Chiefs of Staff. Stalin is unable to attend because of military operations. There is some danger of a split between the British and Americans. The Americans feel, with some justice, that the British are doing too little against the Japanese, and the British believe, also with reason, that the Americans are gradually abandoning their commitment to the Germany-first policy. Stalin has also sent a message voicing his opinion. He maintains that there is only one important issue, the opening of a second front in Europe. This is what Stalin has been saying for months, and now he is more insistent than ever. After several days' discussion between the Chiefs of Staff, these differences are smoothed over and broad guidelines agreed. The fact that the agreement is produced principally by the Chiefs of Staff is important because the American military has felt previously that Churchill has been able to convince Roosevelt to adopt policies with which they have not been in full agreement, TORCH being the best example.

The U-boat offensive and supplies for Russia are now to have first priority. To open a new front in the West would mean that the Germans would have to defend themselves on two fronts, and so split up their forces. The Allies agree with Stalin on the need to open a second front in the West. The question is when.

Roosevelt and his staff are in favor of carrying out a landing in France within a few months, Churchill argues for a surprise landing in Italy, the 'soft under-belly of Europe', followed by a linking up with the Russian armies in the Balkans to attack Hitler's empire from the south. When Churchill gives his word to the Americans that he is ready to support the American plan for a landing in France, now planned for 1944, Roosevelt agrees to the preparations for the landing in Sicily.

The operations in the Pacific are to continue also and once North Africa is cleared the forces there are to move on to Sicily and Italy rather than be idle. The attack on Germany is also to be carried on by strategic bombing both day and night intensified and 'rationalized'. The object of this strategy will be the destruction of industrial production centers and cutting communications. An important directive ordering this is issued and passed on to Air Marshal Sir Arthur Harris for action. At a press conference on January 24th, Roosevelt announces that the Allies are fighting for the 'unconditional surrender' of Germany, Italy and Japan and this stand is immediately endorsed by Churchill. This policy has since been criticized as perhaps having helped prolong the war. This is uncertain but it is clear that neither leader has at this stage given much thought to considering the implications of the idea. The main failing of the conference is not at first apparent. All the plans are based on false estimates of the available quantity of shipping. Shipping shortages very soon affect British plans for Burma and later this is also a problem for Mediterranean operations.

Eastern Front

In the northern sector fighting goes on south of Lake Ladoga. The Germans are trying to drive the Russians out of the corridor through which the siege of Leningrad has been partially relieved.

The Soviets capture Pitomnik airfield, the larger of the 2 which have been held by the Germans in Stalingrad. The Soviet forces have advanced across the Chervlennaya and Rossoshka Rivers. On the Voronezh Front, the Red Army advance continues but could be more forceful if more troops were available. The sacrifices of 6th Army are not, therefore, entirely valueless. Further east the Russians break through the lines of the Hungarian 2nd Army on the Don. The position of Manstein's and Kleist's armies grows more serious.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against the Cape Gloucester airfield on New Britain.

Air Operations, CBI

• 6 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attacking ships near Rangoon claim one vessel sunk.
• 15 23rd Fighter Group P-40s attack barges at Bhamo and various targets of opportunity in northern Burma.

Air Operations, Europe

• 10 Bostons attack a whaling factory ship at Cherbourg but score no hits. 6 Wellingtons make a cloud-cover raid to Norden, but only 1 plane drops its bombs.

• 157 aircraft are sent to Lorient: 65 Wellingtons, 48 Halifaxes, 40 Stirlings and 4 Lancasters.
• Bombing is more accurate than the previous night's. 800 buildings are destroyed, but only 12 people are killed as most of the residents of the town had fled during the day.
• 1 Stirling and 1 Wellington are lost.

• 2 Mosquitos using Oboe are sent to Aachen, 9 Wellingtons lay mines off Lorient and St Nazaire and there are 3 OTU sorties.

Air Operations, Libya

In a move to thwart German efforts to seal the entrance to the Tripoli harbor, IX Bomber Command B-24s attack the remains of previously disabled and wrecked ships at Tripoli that can be used for that purpose.

Supporting the British 8th Army's final drive to clear Tripoli, 57th Fighter Group P-40s strafe and bomb German Army positions.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

XII Bomber Command B-25s and B-26s leave an Axis vessel in flames while conducting anti-shipping searches. While escorting the bombers, 14th Fighter Group P-38 pilots down 3 Ju-52s near Marettimo Island and 2 Ju-52s and a 6-engine transport at an undisclosed locations. On the return flight, P-38 pilots strafe German Army trucks along the coast.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack supply dumps at Lae.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against a bridge under construction at Wewak.
• 3d Light Bomb Group A-20s strafe targets around Sanananda in support of a US Army ground attack.

Air Operations, Solomons

• Cactus Air Force SBDs, XIII Bomber Command B-17s, and XIII Fighter Command fighters organized into several waves attack 9 Japanese destroyer-transports in New Georgia Sound. Japanese Army fighters escorting the ships down 5 Cactus Air Force fighters and an SBD.
• AirSoPac PBYs attack Kahili.
• 1 B-17 attacks Ballale Island.
• 347th Fighter Group P-39s provide direct support for US ground forces effort on Guadalcanal.
• 11th Heavy Bomb Group B-17s based at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal again airdrop supplies to US Army ground troops who have outrun their supply line.
• VF-10 F4Fs down 6 A6M Zeros over Guadalcanal at 1520 hours.
• 347th Fighter Group P-39s and P-4s down 13 F1M 'Pete' reconnaissance float plane 50 miles north of New Georgia during a mid-afternoon sweep.
• VMF-121 and VMO-251 F4Fs down a total of 20 A6M Zeros in several aerial engagements over Guadalcanal, other islands, and New Georgia Sound, beginning at 0735 hours. During the last of these engagements, at 1820 hours, VMF-121 F4Fs down 7 A6M Zeros off Vella Lavella.

Air Operations, Tunisia

XII Bomber Command B-26s attack the rail and highway bridge across the Oued el-Akarit River. An escorting P-38 pilot downs a Bf-109.

When 9 Ju-88s, escorted by Luftwaffe fighters, attack the Thelepte fighter base without warning about 1420 hours, 33rd Fighter Group P-40s on patrol drive off the escorts while P-40s scramble through falling bombs to take on the bombers. Flak accounts for 1 Ju-88 and the P-40 pilots are credited with the remaining 8. A similar attack on the 33rd Fighter Group's other base at Youks-les-Bains is not challenged and results in heavy damage upon facilities and aircraft.

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Britain, Home Front

Hugh McAteer and 3 other IRA 'officers' escape from Crumlin Road Prison, Belfast. McAteer is recaptured in September 1943.

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Eastern Front

The battles continue south of Lake Ladoga and in and around Stalingrad where the Germans' situation is desperate. The Russian Voronezh Army goes over to the offensive and reaches a point near Rossosh, on the railway line from Voronezh to Rostov.

Hitler ordres the Luftwaffe to airlift 300 tons of supplies daily to the 6th Army at Stalingrad. This impossible requirement is never attained, although German efforts are sped up under the most adverse conditions. For the 2 months that the 6th Army is under siege, Luftwaffe airlift deliveries average only 94 tons per day.

NORTHERN SECTOR

Heavy fighting rages around Sinyavino as the 67th and 2nd Shock Armies make slow but steady progress.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Gasmata.

Air Operations, CBI

• 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s based in India mount attacks against rail lines and the rail yard at Maymyo.
• 6 11th Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s and 11 P-40s dispatched to Lashio Airfielde fail to catch the returning Japanese Army strike aircraft on the ground, so they attack the town of Lashio.

• P-40s of the 23d Fighter Group’s 16th Fighter Squadron intercepting an incoming Japanese bomber attack near Yunnanyi Airfielde down one bomber and 11 Japanese fighters. One P-40 is lost.

Air Operations, Europe

• 201 aircraft are sent to Berlin, the first raid on this city in 14 months. Included in the total are 190 Lancasters and 11 Halifaxes. It is decided to use only 4-engine planes on this raid which come mostly from No. 5 Group.
• The raid is a disappointment because Berlin is beyond the range of either Oboe or Gee and the H2S radar is not yet available. Thick cloud is met on the route in and Berlin is covered in ground haze. Bombing is scattered but mostly in the southern part of the target area. The only hit of note is on the Daimler-Benz engine works which is seriously damaged. The attack comes as a surprise and air-raid warnings do not alert the citizens in time as many are away from home. As a result, even with the weakness of the bombing, 198 people are killed.
• 10,000 people attending a fair at the Deutschlandhalle have a remarkable escape. The air-raid police and the fire brigade manage to supervise the evacuation of every person and all the circus animals to open ground in parks around the hall. 21 people are slightly injured in the crush as the crowds leave the building. Just after the last person has left, a large number of incendiary bombs fall directly on the hall and it is completely burned out. None of the 10,000 people in the open near by are hurt.
• 1 Lancaster is lost on the raid.

• 2 Mosquitos attack Duisburg and Essen without a loss.

Air Operations, Libya

IX Bomber Command B-24s attack port facilities and the town of Tripoli.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 3d Light Bomb Group A-20s make numerous attacks on Sanananda prior to a new Allied ground offensive.
• V Bomber Command B-25s attack supply dumps around Lae
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Finschhafen and a Japanese cruiser at sea.

Air Operations, Pacific

B-17s carry out a night raid on shipping at Rabaul.

Air Operations, Solomons

• XIII Bomber Command B-17s attack the Kahili and Buin airfields on Bougainville.
• B-26s and 347th Fighter Group P-39s based at Guadalcanal provide direct support for the US ground offensive on Guadalcanal.

Battle of the Atlantic

Fortress 'G' of No 208 Squadron is patrolling in support of convoy ON-160 when she spots a surfaced submarine about 5 miles on the port bow. The aircraft drops several depth charges, four of them straddling the submarine. U-337 is observed to sink by the stern.

U-337

Diplomatic Relations

Iraq declares war on Germany, Italy and Japan.

Eastern Front

There is continuous heavy fighting in all sectors. In the Caucasus, Kleist's Army Group A continues to pull back in good order. Manstein is still fighting to defend Rostov, and in the north the Russians continue to try to clear and widen the supply route to Leningrad. This route is nowhere wider than 6 miles and it is so much under German fire that it becomes known as the 'Corridor of Death'. At Stalingrad the Germans now hold only about 250 square miles of territory, about half as much as 5 days ago. Rokossovsky's armies continue their furious attempts to wipe out the Germans.

Italian forces are routed by the Russians west of the Don as the Red Army launches a major offensive across the upper reaches of the river.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack the airfield and port facilities at Rabaul.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against the Gasmata airfield on New Britain and on a cargo ship at sea.

Air Operations, CBI

• 3 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s based in India attack the rail center at Maymyo and 3 other B-25s attack rail lines north of the town.

Air Operations, Europe

During the night the Germans bomb London in its first night raid since May 1941. This is a 'reprisal' raid by the Luftwaffe. 118 aircraft attack in 2 waves. Bombs fall mainly on the outskirts. The Greenwich power station is hit. 6 planes are lost. 23 people are killed.

• 170 Lancasters and 17 Halifaxes repeat the previous night's raid on Berling.
• The weather is better but the Pathfinders again fail to mark the city center and most of the bombs fall in the southern districts. There is no damage of any note in Berlin, but the BMW aero-engine factory in Spandau is hit by incendiaries and is slightly damaged. This is the last raid on Berlin using target indicators. Bomber Command will not return until the H2S radar is ready.
• Following the same route as the previous night, the German nightfighters are able to locate the bomber stream.
• 19 Lancasters and 3 Halifaxes are lost.

Air Operations, Libya

IX Bomber Command B-24s attack the harbor at Tripoli, and 9th Air Force P-40s undertake fighter-bomber missions in support of the British 8th Army advance.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

While escorting XII Bomber Command B-25s on an anti-shipping sweep to Sicily, P-38 pilots of the 82nd Fighter Group's 97th Fighter Squadron down 2 Ju-52s and 1 Ju-88 encountered along the way. The B-25s fail to locate any targets.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack the supply dumps at Lae.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks on the Malahang airfield at Lae and the port facilities at Finschhafen and Madang.

• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Japanese Army ground forces near Salamaua and in the Mambare River delta.
• An 8th Fighter Group P-39 downs a Japanese bomber near Ferguson Island at 1310 hours. 3 other bombers are damaged by other P-39s in the same action.
• During the afternoon, 20 Japanese twin-engine bombers attack the airfield at Milne Bay, where they destroy 2 B-17s, 1 B-24, 2 P-39s, 1 RAAF Hudson bomber, and several fuel dumps with fragmentation bombs.

Air Operations, Solomons

347th Fighter Group P-39s attack Japanese Army ground troops on Guadalcanal.

Air Operations, Tunisia

XII Bomber Command B-25s attack the rail junction at Graiba.

Burma

Commonwealth forces occupy Kyauktaw (Arakan).

Eastern Front

Again there are Russian gains along the front from Orel to the Caucasus. Millerovo and Zimovniki are captured. Around Stalingrad there is a slight lull as the Russians regroup for the final push.

The German High Command belatedly admits the loss of Velikie Luki (see January 1, 1943) after repeated counterattacks have failed to take the town.

The entire southern front sees movement. From Novosil to the Caucasus no fewer that 13 Russan armies, not counting the 7 engaged in the liquidation of Stalingrad, are on the move. The weakest sector is that on the Don, held by the Hungarian 2nd Army, engaged by the Russian 40th Army and 2nd Armored Army, the Italian 8th Army, in danger of encirclement by the Russian 6th Army and the 1st Assault Group, and the Rumanian 3rd Army, faced by the 3rd Assault Group and the 5th Armored Army.

Chertkovo falls to the Soviets after a bitter struggle.

In the Stalingrad pocket 6th Army struggles to survive. Over half the pocket and 10,000 prisoners have fallen to the Red Army, leaving 6th Army in possession of only one of the six airfields. Supplies now have to air dropped and many containers fall into deep snow. Of those dropped in the correct areas, many can not be recovered becaust of the physical exhaustion of the German soldiers. The battle so far has cost the Don Front dear. Pausing to regroup, Rokossovsky again offers 6th Army the opportunity to surrender but yet again Paulus refuses, as instructed by Hitler.

In the Caucasus 47th Army joins the Soviet offensive.

Air Operations, Aleutians

Responding to a positive reconnaissance report, 4 28th Composite Bomb Group B-24s, 1 B-25, 4 B-26s, and 6 343rd Fighter Group P-38s depart Adak to attack 2 ships at Kiska. 2 B-26s abort with mechanical problems, and no hits are scored during the attack. While returning in bad weather, 2 B-24s vanish without a trace, 1 crash-lands at sea with its crew being rescued later, and the last B-24 crashes into 2 P-38s while landing, with the result that all 3 aircraft are lost.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against the Gasmata airfield on New Britain and a cargo ship at sea.

Air Operations, CBI

• 1 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25 and 8 51st Fighter Group P-40s attack Kamaing.

Air Operations, Europe

• 21 Venturas and 14 Bostons are sent to Caen and Cherbourg, but are recalled because of unfavorable weather conditions.

• 22 Stirlings and 7 Wellingtons of No. 3 Group lay mines in the Frisians without a loss.

Air Operations, Libya

• XII Bomber Command B-17s attack the Tripoli/Castel Beniro Airdrome, and IX Bomber Command B-24s attack Tripoli harbor. In an engagement with Luftwaffe fighters, 1st Fighter Group P-38 pilots down 3 Bf-109s and damage as many as 9 more.
• During the night, 0 12th Medium Bomb Group B-24s join RAF light bombers in an attack against Axis aircraft concentrated at Castel Benito Airdrome.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

XII Bomber Command B-26a attack 2 Axis vessels in the Gulf of Hammamet.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack dumps and a motor pool at Lae
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against the Malahang airfield at Lae and Madang.

Air Operations, Solomons

• XIII Bomber Command B-17s and 347th Fighter Group P-38s and P-40s attack the Ballale airfield and shipping in the Shortland Islands. 2 347th Fighter Group P-40s down 2 A6M2-N 'Rufe' fighter-bombers over the Shortland Islands. 1 P-40 is lost.

Aleutians

2 American cruisers and 4 destroyers bombard Attu Island.

Burma

The 47th Indian Brigade of the 14th Indian Division attack the Japanese positions at Donbaik in the Arakan without success. The 123rd Brigade is still dug in near Rathedaung, but is threatened by the enemy from the east, by an offensive thrust in the Kaladan valley.

Eastern Front

After 7 days of intense fighting the Russians of the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts succeed in clearing the supply corridor into Leningrad by the recapture of Schüsselburg and Sinyavino. The strip of ground is 10 miles wide south of Lake Ladoga. Leningrad, cut off since the autumn of 1941, can at last receive more supplies, German gunners permitting although trains are shelled repeatedly in the 'Corridor of Death'.

In the Caucasus Kleist's Army Group A is resisting the powerful pressure by the Russians to avoid being cut off south of the Sea of Azov, while as many divisions as possible are withdrawn across the Rostov corridor, which is still open. The defensive line extends along the Kuban and Manyon Rivers and, in the north, along the lower Donetz. The Russians recapture Cherkessk and Divnoye along the Manych, 70 miles east of Elista.

Schlusselburg if recaptured by the Soviet 2nd Shock and 67th Armies. With a narrow corridor created through German lines south of Lake Ladoga, Leningrad can now be supplied.

As the Soviet 3rd Tank and 40th Armies line up at Alexievka, 3 Hungarian corps and the Italian Alpine Corps are encircled. Gumrak airfield is now under Red Army attack.[MORE]

Guadalcanal

The Americans gain a continuous line from Hill 53 northward to the coast at a point some 1,500 yards west of Point Cruz. The double envelopment attack begins. I Company, 182nd Infantry, advances 450 yards south from Hill 42 to make contact about 1700 with a platoon detached from G Company which has advanced northwest from Hill 27 through the ravine. While these 2 units are advancing, E Company, which has followed I Company of the 182nd off Hill 42, swings to the left (east) to strike the Gifu from the west. The company knocks out 3 or 4 machine guns and kills 7 Japanese before halted by more machine guns. To the right of E Company, a platoon from G Company locates 2 pillboxes, calls in 81-mm mortar fire which knocks out 1.

The CAM Division continues westward on the northern flank of the XIV Corps with the 6th Marines on the right and the 182nd Infantry on the left. In the 25th Division sector, the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, throws a tight cordon around the Gifu and begins an attack on it from the northwest.

New Guinea

The Japanese in the Sanananda sector, though they know they will be defeated, hold out to the bitter end. They contest every yard of ground with the Australians both at Sanananda and at Giruwa. The Americans attack a strongly fortified enemy position straddling the Soputa-Sanananda road. Other units advance westwards along the coast, taking a narrow strip just over 300 yeards wide.

Air Operations - Bismarcks

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Cape Hollman and Cape St. George, New Britain.

Air Operations - CBI

• 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the town of Thazi and a rail junction near Mandalay
• B-24s returning from a reconnaissance flight to Thailand attack the dock area at Bassein.
• 51st Fighter Group P-40s and 1 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25 attack Kamaing.

Air Operations, Libya

IX Bomber Command B-24s attack the city of Tripoli, and IX Bomber Commmand B-25s attack the Tripoli/Castel benito Airdrome and motor vehicles.

Air Operations - New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack dumps at Lae and Toeal and barracks at Toeal.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Finschhafen, Lae, and Madang.
• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack Japanese Army ground troops near Kurenada.

Air Operations - Solomons

11th Heavy Bomb Group B-17s, escorted by 347th Fighter Group P-38s and P-40s, attack the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• IX Bomber Command B-24s attack Sousse.
• XII Bomber Command B-17s attack industrial targets south of Tunis and the marshalling yard at Jabal al-Jallud.
• XII Bomber Command B-25s attack the town of Medinine and a nearby motor park.

Eastern Front

The Russian offensive on the Voronezh Front continues to make rapid progress. Kamensk Shakhtinsky on the northern Donetz, Valuyki, a railway junction east of Kharkov, and Urazavo are recaptured, while in the rear a pocket of Hungarian troops are driven from Ostrogozhsk. So far the Russians have taken more than 50,000 prisoners on this front but only 2,500 are German; of the total 27,600 are Hungarians, 22,000 Italians. Manstein and his Don Army Group perform miraculously against Soviet forces 7 times superior in numbers, as does von Weichs with his Army Group B east of Kharkov. Near the Don, west of Pavlovsk, the Hungarian 2nd Army is caught in two pockets by the Russians, and the same happens to the German 2nd Army further north at Kastornoye.

Novgorod, south of Leningrad, is occupied by the Russian 59th Army, forcing the German Army Group North to fall back or risk entrapment east of Lake Peipus (Chudskoye).

The encircled units of the Hungarian 2nd Army surrenders at Ostrogozh, 50,000 marching into Soviet captivity. The offensive has in a week cost the Axis 89,000 captured and 140,000 killed or wounded.

Voronezh Front extends its attacks against Army Group B, elements of the 3rd Tank Army taking Vayluki and Urazovo. Advanced units of the VII Cavalry Corps enters Vayluki, massacring the Italian forces there.

At Stalingrad the 21st Army is just tow miles from Gumrak, bringing the airfield under heavy arty fire.

Guadalcanal

The 182nd Infantry, on the CAM Division left, has gained a little more than 1,000 yards since entering the line on the 17th, but a gap exists between it and the 6th Marines. The 147th Infantry, upon relief at Koli Point by the Americal Reconnaissance Squadron, moves to the Point Cruz area. The Japanese in the Gifu strongpoint are beginning to weaken under blows of the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, 25th Division.

E Company resumes its attack, but a pillbox and machine-gun defense holds it down. A 37mm anti-tank gun and an 81mm mortar hits one of 2 pillboxes discovered in front of Hill 27 by an F Company patrol. G Company reports it has located 12 pillboxes in its front. E Company, which had begun its attack at 0800, reports at 1615 that it has killed 6 Japanese, knocked out 4 machine guns, and located 12 machine-gun positions and pillboxes on a small ridge. An hour later they report they have destroyed 3 more positions, but 9 more, 10 to 12 feet apart, are holding it back. Grenades fail to damage them and E Company digs in for the night.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Cape Gloucester and Gasmata.

Air Operations, Europe

The Luftwaffe sends a heavy daylight raid to Southeast England including London. 28 fighter-bombers escorted by 50 fighters carry out the devastating surprise attack. A school in Lewisham is hit killing 5 teachers and 39 children. The Surrey Docks are also hit. Typhoons intercept the raiders as they withdraw. 3 bombers and 6 fighters are shot down.

• 8 Mosquitos make a low-level attack on the Stork engineering works at Hengelo. 6 planes bomb successfully.
• There are no losses.

• 8 Wellingtons lay mines in the Frisians without a loss.

Air Operations, Libya

• IX Bomber Command B-24s attack Tripoli harbor.
• 1 Bf-109 is downed in a midday fighter battle involving 57th Fighter Group P-40s engaged in supporting the British 8th Army.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

6 310th Medium Bomb Group B-25s, escorted by 12 14th Fighter Group P-38s, sink an Axis tanker carrying fuel from Sicily to Tunisia.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack the Aroe Islands and supply dumps at Lae.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Finschhafen and Madang.

Air Operations, Solomons

• XIII Bomber Command B-26s attack a Japanes destroyer off southern Bougainville.
• 347th Fighter Group P-38s and P-40s down 2 A6M Zeros and 3 F1M 'Pete' recon floatplanes near the Shortland Islands between 0815 and 0830 hours.
• 1 US fighter is lost.

Air Operations, Tunisia

Thwarted from attacking Tripoli by bad weather, XII Bomber Command B-17s attack Cap Mangin, near Gabes.

Diplomatic Relations

Chile breaks off relations with the Axis powers.

Eastern Front

Troops of the Southern Front, hitherto called the Stalingrad Front, under Gen Yeremenko capture Proletarskaya, along the Stalingrad-Novorossiysk railway east of the Manych River, and press on from east-southeast towards Rostov. Army Group A is forced back all along its lines and the Soviets also take Nevinnomyssk.

The South Front crosses the Manych River as it pushes toward Rostov. Elements of the 2nd Guards Army take Manychskaya. Army Group A gives up Nevinomysk to the 37th Army and Proletarskaya to the 28th Army.

Guadalcanal

Operations are limited because of heavy rain, mud and poor visibility. The 3rd Battalion, 147th Infantry, less I Company but plus C Company, begins moving into the CAM Division line between the 6th Marines and the 182nd Infantry. The division attack is halted to await the completion of this move. To carry out Gen Harmon's orders, Gen Collins, orders the 25th Division to attack west from Galloping Horse on January 22. The 27th Infantry is to deliver a holding attack while the 161st Infantry, with the main effort, moves southwest to outflank the enemy. The 35th Infantry is to complete the mopping up the Gifu, then pass to division reserve. The 161st is to seize 3 small hills southwest of Hill 53, then move northwest through the jungle to attack Hill 87, the division objective, from the rear. After capturing Hill 87 the regiment is to seize the other two, Hills 88 and 89, comprising the hill mass. The 161st Infantry, upon assembling in the southern part of Galloping Horse, moves its 2nd Battalion forward to Hill X, southwest of Galloping Horse. The 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry, patrols toward Hill 87, meeting enemy fire upon approaching it. One patrol from the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, penetrates 150 yards north from Hill 27 and another finds 3 pillboxes northwest of Hill 27. 2 of them are empty, the third is approached by the patrol who shoots a couple of the Japanese before machine guns force the patrol to withdraw.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack airfields and shipping at Rabaul.

Air Operations, East Indies

1 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24 attacks a Japanese cruiser in the harbor at Amboina Island in the Molucca Islands.

Air Operations, Europe

• 36 Bostons and 15 Venturas are sent to hit the docks at Flushing and Cherbourg, but do not because of heavy cloud cover.

• 79 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitos are sent to Essen.
• There is heavy cloud cover over the target area and bombs are dropped blindly on estimated positions.
• 4 Lancasters are lost.

Air Operations, Libya

• IX Bomber Command B-24s attack Tripoli harbor.
• IX Bomber Command B-25s attack targets of opportunity along an interior road.
• 9th Air Force P-40s support ground attacks by the British 8th Army.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

• During a morning anti-shipping mission, 6 319th Medium Bomb Group B-26s, escorted by 82nd Fighter Group P-38s, attack an Axis convoy bound from Sicily to Tunisia, sinking 1 freighter and damaging another near Cap Bon.
• In a running battle between Bizerte and Cap Bon, 82nd Fighter Group P-38 escort pilots down a total of 7 German and Italian fighters and transports.
• 2 P-38s and their pilots are lost

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s attack supply and ammo dumps.

Air Operations, Solomons

XIII Bomber Command B-17s and B-26s and 347th Fighter Group P-39s attack the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia and B-17s attack shipping near Kieta.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• XII Bomber Command B-25s attack the highway and rail bridge just north of Pont-du-Fahs.
• While strafing a long German Army road column along the Gabes-Ben Gardane road in southern Tunisia, 24 1st Fighter Group P-38 pilots destroy 65 vehicles and down 2 Bf-109s at 1430 hours.
• XII Fighter Command A-20s attack advancing German Army tanks and troops in the Ousseltial Valley in support of a ground attack by the US 1st Armored Division.

Eastern Front

The Soviets recapture Voroshilovsk between Stavropol and Armavir. In Stalingrad the Germans lose Gumrak Airport and are now completely cut off. From now on all supplies must be dropped by parachute.

The 28th Army recaptures Salsk, a major supply base for the airlift into Stalingrad.

Allied Strategic Bombing

The Casablanca Directive is issued to the British and American strategic bombing forces in Europe by the Combined Chiefs of Staff. It sets out the priorities for the continuing Allied attacks. Most of the reasoning is in line with the precision bombing ideas of the American leaders. As yet the US Air Forces have too few resources to carry out the full scheme and RAF Bomber Command is probably not yet able to attack with enough accuracy. The RAF Command will continue its area bombing policy.

Guadalcanal

The XIV Corps completes its preparations for the offensive on the 22nd. The 2nd Battalion receives armor support when a tank manned by soldiers from the 25th Division's Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop makes it to the top of Mount Austen. Supported by 16 infantrymen, the tank drives into the northeast part of the Gifu line, on G Company's left flank at 1040. It pulls close to 3 pillboxes destroying them with 37mm high explosive shells and shoots the Japanese soldiers with canister and machine guns. Turning left (south), the tank breaks through the east end of the Gifu. At 1500 it makes one more attack against the north side of the Gifu and destroys 5 more pillboxes. The infantry then move forward before dark to occupy the gap. E Company, on the west, is again held in place by pillboxes on its front. One platoon attempts to outflank them in the afternoon, but darkness falls before it can complete its move. But the tank, in a few hours, has torn a 200-yard hole in the line which had withstood infantry assaults for a month. The 3rd Battalion, 27th Infantry, moves forward to Snake to follow the 1st Battalion, the main assault force, turning over positions on Hill 57 to the 2nd Battalion. Action against the Gifu is continued by the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack searchlight batteries and shipping at Rabaul.

Air Operations, CBI

• 51st Fighter Group P-40s bomb and strafe Nsopzup.

Air Operations, East Indies

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack a ship off Amboina Island.

Air Operations, Europe

• 23 Bostons and 18 Venturas attack airfields in France. 12 Mitchells of Nos. 98 and 180 Squadrons attack oil targets at Terneuzen near Ghent. This is the first raid by this new type of aircraft.
• 2 Venturas and 3 Mitchells are lost in the day's operations.

• 2 Mosquitos attack Cologne for the first time using Oboe without a loss. 55 houses are damaged, 5 people are killed and 22 are injured. It is believed by this raid that a few aircraft using modern aids can inflict as much damage as 100 bombers did previously with marginal weather conditions.

• While supporting RAF light bombers in a raid over the French coast, 4th Fighter Group Spitfire pilots down 4 Bf-109s around Dunkirk.
• 1 Spitfire and its pilot are lost; another is damaged and damaged beyond repair when it crash-lands back in England

Air Operations, Libya

• XII Bomber Command B-25s attack a road junction near Tipoli.
• 9th Air Force P-40s support the British 8th Army.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

• 6 XII Bomber Command severely damage an Axis freighter while on an anti-shipping sweep between Sicily and Tunisia.
• 14th Fighter Group P-38 pilots down 2 Ju-88s near the Egadi Islands at 1110 hours.

Air Operations, New Guinea

V Bomber Command B-25s attack Lae and 3d Light Bomb Group A-20s attack boats along the coast.

Air Operations, Solomons

• XIII Bomber Command B-17s attack Rekata Bay.
• Throughout the night Japanese Navy bombers mount nuisance attacks against Guadalcanal.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• Two formations of XII Bomber Command B-17s attack Tunis/El Aouina Airdrome in the morning.
• XII Bomber Command B-26s attack Tunis/El Aouina Airdrome shortly after noon.
• XII Bomber Command B-25s attack Tunis/El Aouina Airdrome again during the afternoon.
• While helping Allied ground forces hold against a German Army counterattack in the Pont-du-Fahs area, the 81st Fighter Group makes its combat debut with an attack by 10 92nd Fighter Squadron P-39s against vehicles and gun postions. Also in support of ground actions are 16 33rd Fighter Group P-40s and P-40s of the USAAF-equipped Lafayette Escadrille, a Free French Air Force unit operating as part of the 12th Air Force. In addition to the fighter attacks, 47th Light Bomb Group A-20s attack a German Army tank depot near Ousseltia.
• 1 33rd Fighter Group P-40 is lost in ground support action; 2 1st Fighter Group P-38s and their pilots are lost to Luftwaffe fighters while attack German Army road columns in southern Tunisia

Eastern Front

A German communiqué admits for the first time that the Russians, attacking from the west, have considerably reduced the defensive perimeter of the 6th Army at Stalingrad. The Russian Voronezh Front, commanded by Gen Filipp Golikov and consisting of 3 armies, 1 armored army and 2 assault groups, launches the offensive against Voronezh, one of the 'hedgehogs' of the German line. The final phase of the Red Army assault on Stalingrad begins characteristically with a massive bombardment followed by infantry attacks. In the extreme south the Russians retake Salsk on the Stalingrad-Novorossiysk railway line. Salsk has been an important Luftwaffe base and a main German supply center for the Caucasus. The German hold on Rostov and the entire Caucasus is imperilled.

Red Army forces launch an offensive to retake Voronezh. Paulus radios Hitler from Stalingrad: 'Rations exhausted. Over 12,000 wounded unattended in the pocket.' Hitler responds: 'Surrender is out of the question.'

In the Caucasus, Salsk falls to the Russians.

Following a rapid redeployment, the Don Front renews the offensive against Paulus' 6th Army. The attack opens with an overwhelming arty barrage the pulverizes the German line. Resistance is weaker that earlier in the month. Gumrak comes under intense fire as 21st Army approaches Stalingrad.

With his army on the verge of collapse, Paulus requests permission to open negotiations but is again ordered to fight to the last man.

Manstein pulls the 11th Panzer Division away from Hollidt to deal with the 2nd Guards Army threat at Manutchskaya.

Guadalcanal

The XIV Corps opens its final offensive toward the Poha River at 0630. The assault troops are supported by artillery, air, and naval gunfire. The CAM Division pushes westward toward the heights southeast of Kokumbona (Hills 99 and 98) with elements of 3 regiments in the assault. The 6th Marines, advancaing along the coast, is stopped by enemy fire from a ravine west of Hill 94. The 147th Infantry in the center and the 182nd Infantry on the left are hampered more by terrain than by the enemy. The 147th Infantry seizes Hill 95. The 182nd Infantry makes contact with the 27th Infantry, 25th Division, north of Hill 88. On the corps southern flank, the 25th Division attacks toward Hill 87. The 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry, with the role of conducting a holding action while the 2nd Battalion, 161st Infantry, envelops the enemy's southern flank, moves forward toward Snake and quickly takes Hill 87, the day's objective, from which the enemy has withdrawn.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack shipping and airfields at Rabaul and 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against shipping at Rabaul.

Air Operations, Europe

• 6 Wellingtons of No. 6 Group are sent to Wilhelmshaven on a cloud-cover raid. All drop their bombs in the area without a loss. 4 Mosquitos hit the Osnabrück railway yarts.
• 1 Mosquito is lost.

• 121 aircraft including 75 Halifaxes, 33 Stirlings, 8 Lancasters and 5 Wellingtons are sent to Lorient. All claim successful bombing of the target area.
• 1 Stirling is lost.
• 180 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitos of Nos. 1, 5 and 8 Groups are sent to Düsseldorf and bomb through cloud cover.
• 2 Lancasters are lost.

• 4 OTU Whitleys drop leaflets over France without loss.

• 35 of 73 VIII Bomber Command B-17s are sent to attack the Lorient port area while 18 B-17s of the leading 305th Heavy Bomb Group, plus 1 B-17 from another group, opt for the Brest U-boat base following a temporary bombsight malfunction in the lead bomber while over Lorient.
• 5 303rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s plus their crews are lost to flak and Luftwaffe fighers, 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair upon crash-landing in England; 2 crewmen are killed; 26 wounded

Air Operations, Libya

57th Fighter Group P-40s continue to support the British 8th Army.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

XII Bomber Command B-26s attacking an Axis convoy between Sicily and Tunisia leav 1 ship listing and another exploding and capsizing. An escorting 82nd Fighter Group P-38 pilot downs and Italian Air Force flying boat near Pantelleria Island while other escorting fighters attac Axis trucks and tanks near Enfidabille, Tunisia on their return flight.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack dumps at Lae.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Finschafen and Madang.

Air Operations, Sicily

During the night, IX Bomber Command B-24s attack Palermo harbor.

Air Operations, Solomons

• VMO-251 F4Fs down 3 A6M Zeros over Guadalcanal.
• A VMSB-233 radioman-gunner downs a float biplane over Munda Point airfield on New Georgia.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• Two formations of XII Bomber Command B-17s attack the Bizerte naval base and Axis shipping at sea in the area. 1 vessel is claimed as being sunk. As many as 100 Luftwaffe fighters attack the heavy bombers over and near the target. Bomber gunners claim 20 of them downed.
• XII Fighter Command A-20s and P-40s attack German artillery, maching guns, and 2 infantry companies while supporting US Army ground forces in the Ousseltia Valley.
• While attacking road columns along the Gabes-Ben Gardane road, 6 1st Fighter Group P-38s are lost in a counterattack by Luftwaffe fighters; a Bf-109 is downed in the area by a 14th Fighter Group P-38 pilot.
• In two separate actions, pilots of the 52nd and 82nd Fighter Groups down a Bf-109 and an Italian Air Force flying boat.

Allied Planning

The Casablanca Conference ends. The Allies have agreed on the following: the principle of 'unconditional surrender'; completion of the Tunisian campaign; a landing in Sicily to be called Operation HUSKY in July, or if possible, in June; an air offensive against European countries under German control; advance in the Pacific to recapture the Philippines; and offensives in Burma and China.

Battle of the Atlantic

U-175 torpedoes and sinks the US freighter Benjamin Smith (7177t) off Cape Palmas, Liberia. All hands, the 43-man crew and the 23-man Armed Guard, survive and reach Sassandra, French Ivory Coast the next day.

Eastern Front

Gen Filipp Golikov's forces try to extend the front of their advance northward by attacking Voronezh with increased strength.

The tragedy of the 6th Army at Stalingrad continues. Rations have by now been reduced to 1-3/4 oz of bread and 1-3/4 pints of vegetable soup per day. After nearly a month on this diet, which began on December 26, 1942, the physical condition of the defenders is horrible. Supplies dropped by the Luftwaffe are increasingly inadequate; often they are useless. For example, one day they brought five tons of sweets, and on another 200,000 propaganda leaflets were delivered.

In the Caucasus, where Kleist is rapidly withdrawing, Armavir, a railway junction on the Rostov-Baku line, is taken by the Soviet forces.

The Germans now have only 495 operational tanks left on the entire Russian front. Since the invasion the Germans have lost 7,800.

The Voronezh launches new attacks with the 38th Army against the German 2nd Army.

Gumrak falls to the 21st Army as the battle for Stalingrad draws toward its bloody conclusion. Paulus moves his headquarters into the city to the Univermaag department store.

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.

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

• 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.

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.
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Eastern Front

Manstein asks Hitler's permission to order 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 SECTOR


The 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 Gen Ivan 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.

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Air Operations, Aleutians

2 Japanese A6M2-N 'Rufe' figher-bombers bomb and strafe Amchitka Island.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against the Cape Gloucester and Gasmata airfields on New Britain.

Air Operations, CBI

• 6 7th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack the dock area at Rangoon.
• 5 22nd Medium Bomb Squadron B-25s attack a bridge under construction at Myitnge.
• 3 B-25s attack the marshalling yard at Mandalay and 3 more B-25s attack the marshalling yard at Naba.

Air Operations, Europe

• 12 Bostons attack the Flushing docks.
• 1 Boston is lost.

Air Operations, Libya

9th Air Force P-40s mount several missions in support of the British 8th Army.

Battle of the Atlantic

• The US submarine Shad (SS-235) torpedoes the German blockade runner Nordfels in the Bay of Biscay, the torpedo fails to explode.
• U-575 torpedoes and sinks the US freighter City of Flint (4963t), straggling from a Casablanca-bound convoy, UGS-4, about 300 miles south of the Azores. 4 of the 24 Armed Guard sailors are lost.

Eastern Front

The attacking Russian forces meet in the middle of Stalingrad. There are 2 pockets of German resistance remaining, holding 36 square miles in all. Voronezh is captured by the Red Army along with 52,000 prisoners.

Stalin issues Order of the Day: in 2 months the Red Army has routed 102 enemy divisions and advanced 402 km. 'Forward to the rout of the German invader and their expulsion from . . . our Motherland.'

After heavy fighting the 2nd Guards Army bridgehead at Manychskaya is destroyed. This German success alleviates the threat to the Rostov sector, preventing the early isolation of Army Group A and enabling the 1st Panzer Army to continue its withdrawal into the Donbas.

The Soviets sent emissaries forward to 6th Army to demand its surrender. Paulus again refuses.

Guadalcanal

The XIV Corps, in Field Order 2, directs the CAM Division to pass through the 25th Division as the Poha River and pursue the enemy who are confining themselves to rearguard actions to cover their withdrawal. The 25th Division, continuing its advance with the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 27th Infantry, upon relief of the 3rd by the 6th Marines on Hills 98 and 99, reaches the Poha on the right and secures Hills 105 and 106 on the left. The 161st Infantry protects the corps southern flank.[MORE]

New Guinea

The American Gen Horace Fuller takes over operational control of all Allied troops in the Gona and Oro Bay areas. The Australian 7th Division and and the American 32nd Division are gradually withdrawn and transferred to Port Moresby.

North Africa

Gen Giovanni Messe is appointed to take over from Field-Marshal Rommel in overall command of Axis forces in Africa.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack the Rapopo airfield 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

• In their unit’s combat debut, 7 B-24s of the 7th Heavy Bomb Group’s 493rd Heavy Bomb Squadron attack the dock area and shipping at Rangoon.
• 12 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s attack the marshalling yard at Mandalay.
• 51st Fighter Group P-40s attack a rail line near Meza, the marshalling yard at Naba, and a bridge at Shadazup.

Air Operations, Europe

• 24 Venturas and 12 Bostons are sent to attack railway targets in France and Belgium. Only 12 Venturas reach their targets.

• 157 aircraft including 139 Wellingtons, 11 Lancasters, 4 Halifaxes and 3 Stirlings are again sent to Lorient. The planes drop their bombs in poor visibility.
• 2 Wellingtons and 1 Lancaster are lost.

• 9 Halifaxes of No. 6 Group attempt to bomb shipping in the Gironde River and 3 aircraft bomb the docks at Bordeaux. 18 OTU sorties are flown.

During the night, IX Bomber Command B-24s attack Naples.

Air Operations, Libya

57th Fighter Group P-40 fighter-bombers supporting the British 8th Army become the first Allied aircraft to refuel at the newly captured Tripoli/Castel Benito Airdrome.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s attack supply dumps at Lae.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Finschhafen.

Air Operations, Sicily

• IX Bomber Command B-24s encounter such stiff headwinds while on a late-afternoon attack against Naples that they divert to Messina, where they attack the town and train ferry terminal.
• During the night, IX Bomber Command B-24s attack Messina again.

Air Operations, Solomons

• XIII Bomber Command B-17s attack the airfield on Ballale.
• 347th Fighter Group P-39s and Navy F4Fs attack revetments and antiaircraft emplacements at the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia. A 347th Fighter Group P-39 downs an A6M Zero near Choiseul Island at 0850 hours.

Britain, Home Front

The war expenditure is now running 14 million pounds per day.

North Africa

Rommel, who has seen his Italian allies fail to get convoys through, or halt the British routing of men and supplies, and has grounds for criticizing the performance of Italian units in the fighting, launches vitriolic complaints. After a series of quarrels with the Italian High Command, to whom he is nominally responsible, Rommel is told that he is to be relieved by the Italian Gen Messe. Rommel does not hand over the command at this stage.

French troops of the XIX Corps begin moving forward in the Ousseltia Valley and attempt to regain the Kairouan Pass.

Eastern Front

The Soviets reduce the German defensive perimeter at Stalingrad still further. Paulus, faithful to his oath of loyalty, resigns himself to the crucifixion of his soldiers and staff. Berlin radio announces 'Every Stalingrad defender considers his life has ended, but the will to resist remains unbroken.'

The Russians retake Voronezh.

The Italian Tridentina Alpine Division, engaged by superior forces as it continues to retreat in the great bend of the Don, suffers heavy losses at Nikolayevka.

At Stalingrad the German 6th Army is under intense pressure, fighting raging throughout the city as the Soviets press from west and east. The hard-pressed 297th Infantry Division, reduced to just 1,800 men from its original 10,000, surrenders to the 38th Guards Rifle Division. 65th Army links up with the 62nd Army betwen the Mamayev Kurgan and Red October factories, splitting the remnants of Paulus' force into two pockets.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against the Gasmata airfield on New Britain.

Air Operations, Europe

55 US bombers raid Wilhelmshaven, losing 3 of their number but claiming to have shot down 22 German planes. This is the first raid by the USAAF over a German target; previously they have been allocated easier objectives in France while they gained experience.

The American bomber leaders believe that their Fortress and Liberator aircraft will be able to defend themselves in unescorted daylight missions over Germany and that they can bomb specific industrial targets with considerable and damaging accuracy. The fortunate results of this first raid help to confirm these erroneous beliefs for the moment.

• 9 Mosquitos make a successful low-level attack on the Burmeister and Wain diesel engine factory in Copenhagen.
• 1 Mosquito is lost.

• 162 aircraft are sent to Düsseldorf - 124 Lancasters, 33 Halifaxes and 5 Mosquitors.
• This is the first raid where Pathfinder Mosquitos carry out 'ground marking'. Other Pathfinder Lancasters follow up the Oboe-aimed markers. There is a thin sheet of cloud over the target and without Oboe and the new target indicators, it could have been another unsuccessful raid on the Ruhr. The bombing is well concentrated on the southern part of the city. Reports from the ground include a wide variety of property damage with 66 people killed and 225 injured.
• 3 Halifaxes and 3 Lancasters are lost.

• 4 aircraft lay mines at Texel and in the Frisians.
• 1 Stirling is lost.

• In the first USAAAf attack against a target on German soil, 55 VIII Bomber Command heavy bombers (of 91 B-17s and B-24s sent) attack the Wilhelmshaven U-boat base and port shortly after 1100 hours with more than 120 tons of bombs.
• Luftwaffe fighters damage 32 B-17s and 9 B-24s; 2 crewmen are killed, 3 are wounded, and 30 crewmen are forced to bail out and are listed as missing
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Air Operations, Mediterranean

XII Bomber Command B-25s attack 2 Axis destroyer at sea off Algeria's northern coase and set 1 on fire.

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Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s and A-20s attack Lae.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against the Finschhafen area.

Air Operations, Sicily

IX Bomber Command B-24s attack Palermo after being diverted by bad weather from Naples.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 6 70th Medium Bomb Squadron B-26s and 8 347th Fighter Group P-39s attack targets on Kolombangara Island. 347th Fighter Group P-38s and P-40s down 8 A6M Zeros in two separate morning engagements between the Russell Islands and Guadalcanal. VMO-251 F4Fs down 4 A6M Zeros over Guadalcanal at 1330 hours.
• 3 Cactus fighters are lost, including 2 in a mid-air collision.
• As the air battle over the Russells rages, 8 G4M 'Betty' bombers make low-level strafing passes against US Army ground forces on Guadalcanal.

Air Operations, Tunisia

XII Fighter Command A-20s attack Mezzouna.

Battle of the Atlantic

• The US freighter Cape Decision (5106t), sailing independently from Charleston, South Carolina to Freetown, Sierra Leone, is torpeoded and sunk by U-105. All 45 crewmen and 26 Armed Guard sailors survive the attack.
• The US freighter Charles C. Pinckney (7177t), a straggler from Convoy UGS-4, is torpedoed by U-514 about 200 miles southwest of the Azores. The Armed Guard opens up and scores hits on the assailant driving her off for the time being.(see January 28).

Eastern Front

The fighting at Stalingrad goes on. Part of Army Group A has succeeded in getting back to the Ukraine thanks to Kleist's tactical skill; but the Russians are already pushing towards Rostov, and Kleist has to withdraw the rest of his forces in the Kuban and prepare to hold a bridgehead in the Novorossiysk area.

The rail line to Leningrad from Moscow is cleared, permitting delivery of supplies in the only partially recovered population of Leningrad.

Moscow announces the capture of 86,000 Axis troops, mostly Hungarians, on the Voronezh fron near Alekseyevka.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against a cargo ship near New Britain.

Air Operations, East Indies

90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against a ship at sea off Amboina Island.

Air Operations, Europe

2 Belgian fighter pilots of the RAF drop Belgian flags over the center of Brussels.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack Wewak.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against Salamaua.
• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack various targets around Mubo.
• The 3rd Light Bomb Group headquarters moves to Port Moresby from Australia to join its combat squadrons, which have been in action in New Guinea since March 1942.

Air Operations, Solomons

• 5 XIII Bomber Command B-26s and 12 347th Fighter Group P-39s attack the Vila airfield on Kolombangara.
• XIII Fighter Command P-38s and P-40s, with Cactus Air Force aircraft, attack shipping between Choiseul and Kolombangara islands.
• During the evening, XIII Bomber Command B-17s attack the Kahili airfield on Bougainville.
• A 347th Fighter Group P-40 downs an A6M Zero over Vella Lavella during an afternoon mission.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• XII Bomber Command B-17s, B-25s, and B-26s, respectively, attack the port, shipping, and marshalling yards at Sfax in three waves during the early afternoon. Bomber gunners claim 5 enemy fighters and a Bf-109 is downed by a 14th Fighter Group P-38 pilot.
• 1 B-26 and 1 P-38 are lost to Luftwaffe fighters.

Eastern Front

The Soviet 38th Army takes Kastornoye east of Voronezh near which a detachment of German 2nd Army is cut off.

Elements of 40th Army, moving north from Alexievka, link up with 13th Army, encircling the bulk of the German 2nd Army. Only the LV Corps on the northern wing of the German force is free to withdraw. The encircled units, comprising large parts of the VII and XIII Corps around Kastornoye, come under heavy attack by the 38th Army.

At Stalingrad, Soviet attack split the VIII and LI Corps in the city center apart from the XIV Panzer and IV Corps around the ruins of the Univermaag department store.

In the Caucasus, 37th Army captures Kropotkin after a brief struggle.

Germany, Home Front

After more than 3 years of war, a decree for the further mobilization of civilian men, aged 16 to 65, and women, aged 17 to 45, for war work is issued by Fritz Sauckel, the Director-General of Labor.

Guadalcanal

The American advance towards Cape Esperance continues against weak Japanese resistance. The CAM Division continues west from the Nueha River, eliminating sniper nests.

Air Operations, Europe

•   12 Bostons bomb a railway viaduct at Morlaix and 2 of 12 Venturas bomb a steelworks at Ijmuiden.
• 1 Boston is lost.

•   75 Wellingtons and 41 Halifaxes are sent to bomb Lorient. There is thick cloud cover and icing and with no Pathfinder marking, the bombs are well scattered.
• 2 Halifaxes and 2 Wellingtons are lost.

• 17 Wellingtons lay mines off the Biscay ports, and there are 5 OTU sorties over France in bad weather.
• 1 Wellington and 1 OTU aircraft are lost.

Air Operations, Mediterranean

XII Bomber Command B-26s claim direct hits on an Axis passenger liner during an anti-shipping sweep between Sicily and Tunisia.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• V Bomber Command B-25s attack targets around Mubo.
• 374th Troop Carrier Group C-47s mount an emergency airlift of Australian Army reinforcements to a remote blocking position at the airfield at Wau, which is directly threatened by a fresh Japanese Army overland drive toward Port Moresby. The airlifted reinforcements, many of whom are landed virtually in the midst of close-range fighting at the airfield itself, help defeat the Japanese force, forcing it to retreat the next day, January 30.

Air Operations, Solomons

• XIII Bomber Command B-26s and XIII Fighter Command P-39s attack the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia and a bivouac at Vila, Kolombangara.
• A 347th Fighter Group P-38 downs a G4M 'Betty' bomber over Guadalcanal at about 0600 hours.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• Three waves of XII Bomber Command B-17s attack port facilities and shipping at Bizerte.
• While escorting XII Bomber Command B-26s in an attack against Tunis/El Aouina Airdrome, 82nd Fighter Group P-38 pilots down 2 Bf-109s.

Germany, Home Front

• The Austrian Ernst Kaltenbrunner, SS Group Leader and Lt-Gen of Police, is appointed to head the SD. The previous chief was Heydrich who was assassinated in June 1942. (see above.)
• Sex murderer Bruno Lüdke claims his last victim - the 85th since 1928. Lüdke is subsequently arrested and given a fatal injection April 8, 1944.

Guadalcanal

The CG, XIV Corps, detaches the 147th Infantry from the CAM Division, reinforced by pack howitzers of the 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines, and Battery A of the 97th Field Artillery Battalion, under the command of Brig-Gen Alphonse De Carre, is ordered to pass through the 6th Marines and continue to drive along the coast to Cape Esperance. The 182nd Infantry reverts to the control of the Americal Division.

The auxiliary carriers operate too slow and Rear-Adm Robert C. Giffen is told they will never make rendezvous the next evening. As a result, Giffen leaves the carriers with 2 destroyers and steams ahead without his built in air cover. Japanese planes have reported the cruiser force heading for Guadalcanal and in mid afternoon Adm Kusaka orders an air strike of G4M 'Betty' bombers to be made after dark. The task force is maintaining radio silence which prevents them from sending planes to check on radar blips that could be shadowing Japanese planes. 31 twin-engined bombers take off from Rabaul and Buka. The cruisers, travelling in two columns, are 50 miles north of Rennell Island, close to where they are to meet the destroyers. Half an hour after sunset the Japanese bombers arrive. Radar picks them up 60 miles to the west, but the US force, relaxing for the night, is unprepared for an attack. The bombers circle around to attack from the dark side and split into two groups. A torpedo bomber launches against the destroyer Waller (DD-466) and misses, then strafes the destroyer and the cruiser Wichita (CA-45). Another attacks the Louisville (CA-28). Her captain avoids the torpedo with a sharp turn to port. It seems the attack may be over. Giffen does not attempt any evasive moves, but steams on in a straight line.

The torpedo bombers come in again. Several planes drop flares that light up the ships brightly. A torpedo hits the Louisville (CA-28) but does not detonate as the inexperienced pilot drops too soon and the torpedo does not arm itself. The Chicago (CA-29) is hit by 2 torpedoes. At 2000 the attack over. Other ships are scarred but the Chicago (CA-29( is seriously damaged. The Louisville (CA-28) takes her in tow and heads back for Espiritu Santo.

New Guinea

Australians airlift 800 troops to Wau, south of Lae, where a small Australian garrison faces overwhelmingly superior Japanese forces.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack port facilities at Rabaul.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against the Gasmata airfield on New Britain and a ship at sea.

Air Operations, Europe

• The RAF makes its first daylight raids on Berlin, timed to coincide with broadcasts by Göring and Goebbels. Göring says: 'A thousand years hence every German will speak with awe of Stalingrad and remember that it was there that Germany put the seal on her victory.' 6 RAF Mosquitoes are involved in the 2-wave attack. 1 is lost. Hamburg is also hit by the RAF in a saturation attack.
• 19 Wellingtons of No. 4 Group and 17 Bostons are sent to various places in Germany and Holland, but only 5 Wellingtons and 1 Boston find targets to bomb.
• 4 Wellingtons are lost.

• 148 bombers begin using H2S, in a raid on Hamburg. The total includes 135 Lancasters, 7 Stirlings and 6 Halifaxes.
• Thie is the first H2S raid of the war. H2S is a simple radar set which displays a rough picture of the ground below. It serves primarily as an all-weather bombing aid but is also used for navigational purposes. The early models are notoriously unreliable. Bombing is scattered over a wide area and most of the bombs appear to have fallen in the Elbe River and surrounding marshes. 119 fires are started, however, including 71 classified as large. 58 people are killed and 164 are injured.
• 5 Lancasters are lost.

The term 'H2S' seemingly had no real meaning, and so could not give away its purpose to German spies. (Many German codenames could, with a little lateral thinking, easily give away the purpose of secret equipment). However, when asked what 'H2S' stood for, the scientists responsible for the equipment replied "Home Sweet Home". After the initial trials of H2S had gone badly during 1942, many, who knew their chemistry commented "It stinks!". For those that don't, H2S is the formula for Hydrogen Sulphide.

• 4 Mosquitos are sent to targets in the Ruhr and 17 aircraft lay mines off St Nazaire and in the Frisians.
• There are no losses.
• Messina, Sicily is heavily bombed by US aircraft.

Churchill called the January 30th air raid a “devastating attack on the German homeland” and the news was celebrated around the world in the news and at the movies.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 3rd Light Bomb Group A-20s attack targets at Lae and Mubo.
• 374th and 317th Troop Carrier group transports begin a three-day emergency airlift of supplies to Australian Army ground forces withstanding a Japanese Army counterattack at Wau. On this first day of the airlift, the 317th Group makes its combat debut.

Air Operations, Solomons

XIII Bomber Command B-17s and B-26s, and XIII Fighter Command P-39s and P-40s attack the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• 12th Air Force A-20s and fighters conduct numerous attacks on Axis troops, positions, and facilities between Faid and El Guettar.
• Over 50 XII Bomber Command B-17s attack the port facilities and shipping at Ferryville.
• XII Bomber Command B-26s attack the rail line south of Reyville.
• XII Bomber Command B-25s attack rail installations and warehouses at El Aouinet. While escorting, 7 P-38 pilots of the 82nd Fighter Group's 96th Fighter Squadron down 8 Bf-109s about 1040 hours.

Diplomatic Relations

Over the next 2 days the Adana Conference takes place. Churchill and Alanbrooke confer with Turkish leaders and promise direct military assistance if Turkey is forced into the war.

Eastern Front

The Russians take Tikhoretsk, northwest of Kropotkin and southeast of Rostov, and the Maikop oilfields are taken by troops from the Trans-Caucasus Front. The German 17th Army in the Kuban Peninsula is now becoming separated from 1st Panzer Army which is managing to retreat toward Rostov. Manstein's Don Army Group is forced to retire northward and so can no longer giver any support to Army Group A.

In Stalingrad the Russians find Paulus' HQ in the southern pocket and begin to surround them. Paulus is created Field Marshal by Hitler.

Hitler promotes Paulus to field marshal, a cynical move to prompt the commander at Stalingrad to commit suicide rather than surrender (no German field marshal has yet surrendered to the enemy).

The 1st Guards Army attacks southwest of Krasny Liman, crossing the Krasnaya to close in around the town. Group Popov moves up between 6th and 1st Guards Armies.

For XIV Panzer, LI and VIII Corps the battle of Stalingrad ends as they are overrun by the 21st and 62nd Shock Armies. Among the prisoners is Gen Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach. Paulus' army is reduced to IV Corps around his own headquarters and the XI Corps in the factory district.

Tikhoretsk falls to the 9th Army while the Maikop oilfields are cleared by the 12th, 18th and 46th Armies. The 17th Army has now lost contact with the main German line.

In a radio broadcast Hermann Göring proclaims to the nation: 'A thousand years hence Germans will speak of this battle with reverence and awe, and that in spite of everything Germany's ultimate victory was decided there. In years to come it will be said of the heroic battle on the Volga: when you come to Germany, say you have seen us lying at Stalingrad, as our honor and our leaders ordained that we should, for the greater glory of Germany!'

France, Home Front

The Vichy regime begins the formation of a sort of French version of the Gestapo, called the Milice. It is mainly a political police force that will be used against the members of the Resistance. It will rapidly acquire an odious reputation. Its commander is Joseph Darnand, a supporter of Pétain and a fervent collaborationist.

Germany, Command

Adm Karl Dönitz is appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the German navy replacing Adm Raeder.

Air Operations, Bismarcks

• 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17s attack airfields and town areas at Rabaul.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s mount single-plane attacks against the Cape Gloucester airfield on New Britain.

Air Operations, Europe

There are heavy Allied air raids on Sicily hitting Catania, Trapani, Augusta and Messina. There are many hits on the ferry terminal in the Straits of Messina and heavy casualties including the Archbishop of Reggio.

Air Operations, New Guinea

• 3d Light Bomb Group A-20s attack targets between Mubo and Komiatum.
• 1 43rd Heavy Bomb Group B-17 attacks Wewak.
• 90th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s attack individual vessels without success in the Banda Sea and Solomon Sea.

Air Operations, Sicily

IX Bomber Command B-24s attack the ferry terminal at Messina.

Air Operations, Solomons

• XIII Bomber Command B-17s attack the Vila airfield on Kolombangara.
• Cactus Air Force light bombers and 347th Fighter Group P-39s attack shipping in Vella Gulf. Cactus Air Force fighters also mount several sweeps over the Munda Point airfield on New Georgia and the Vila airfield on Kolombangara.
• After sunset, a small force of Cactus Air Force SBDs and TBFs, with 6 Marine Corps F4F escorts, are attacked by numerous F1M 'Pete' reconnaissance float planes and A6M Zeros while preparing to attack a Japanese Navy cargo ship in Vella Gulf. The bombers miss their target, but strafing by the remaining F4Fs starts a fire that eventually sinks the vessel. 2 other A6M Zeros are downed by the remaining F4Fs.

Air Operations, Tunisia

• XII Bomber Command B-17s attack port facilities and shipping at Bizerte.
• XII Bomber Command B-26s attack Gabes Airdrome and escorting 1st Fighter Group P-38 pilots down 2 Bf-109s west of Gabes.
• Many 12th Air Force fighters attack ground targets and directly support Allied ground forces in the area between Faid and Gafsa.
• 82nd Fighter Group P-38 pilots donw 2 Bf-110s north of the Gulf of Tunis at 1300 hours.

Eastern Front

The Russians have now reduced the defenders of Stalingrad to two pockets crowded with starving, desperate men. Hitler appoints Paulus Field-Marshal, but this very day this newly promoted commander is forced to seek surrender terms. Hitler is furious that Paulus should prefer surrender to suicide. Flying into a rage, he swears that he will not create any more field-marshals. Hitler says: 'Paulus did an about-face on the threshold of immortality.' Two days later the last nucleus of resistance in Stalingrad, made up of men of the XI Corps commande by Gen Karl Strecker in the Alexandrovka quarter, lays down its arms. Of the 284,000 men surrounded at Stalingrad approximately 160,000 have died in action and about 34,000 have been evacuated by air. The Luftwaffe has lost about 500 transport aircraft. The survivors, numbering more than 90,000 are sent to Siberia on foot, and many of them die of starvation and exhaustion during that terrible march. Much later in the year, on November 7th, Stalin announces that 146,300 bodies have been found and buried.

Stalingrad is the first terrible check to the hitherto invincible Wehrmacht, a disaster that signalizes a military and psychological turing-point in the war.

Paulus surrenders at Stalingrad. Now only XI Corps in the northern pocket in the city continues to hold out. Hitler is disgusted, stating: 'Here is a man who can look on while fifty or sixty thousand are dying and defending themselves with courage to the end - how can he give himself up to the Bolsheviks?'

South of Izyum, at Slavyansk, the 3rd and 7th Panzer Divisions move into the frontline in an effort to halt the Red Army's advance.[MORE]

Guadalcanal

The 147th Infantry, with artillery and naval gunfire support, attempts to cross the Bonegi. Stiff resistance at the river mouth prevents the 1st Battalion from crossing, but the 3rd Battalion crosses about 2,500 yards inland from Tassafaronga Point. A small party from the 147th Infantry sails from Beaufort Bay to Lavoro to outpost the Titi area in preparation for a landing by the 2nd Battalion of the 132nd Infantry, reinforced, Americal Division. 6 of the party go ashore and suggest by radio that the landing should be made at Nugu Point.