CBI - China: Day 107 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1933 — , January 2
CBI - China: Day 2 of 142 of the 1st Battle of Hebei.
1937 — , January 2
Spain: Day 170 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1938 — , January 2
Spain: Day 535 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 180 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 25 of 54 of the Battle of Nanking.
Day 21 of 50 of the Rape of Nanking.
1939 — , January 2
USA: Time magazine names Adolf Hitler "Man of the Year" for 1938, but for the first time does not show the face of the "Man of the Year" on the cover.
Spotlight...
Cover of the January 2, 1939 issue of Time magazine
Time had chosen Adolf Hitler as the man who "for better or worse" (as Time founder Henry Luce expressed it) had most influenced events of 1938.
The cover featured a macabre drawing of the back of Hitler seated at a large pipe organ playing "his hymn of hate in a desecrated cathedral while victims dangle on a St Catherine's wheel and the Nazi hierarchy looks on." It was drawn by Baron Rudolph Charles von Ripper, a German Catholic who had fled Hitler's Germany.
From Time magazine's article...
"Führer of the German people, Commander-in-Chief of the German Army, Navy & Air Force, Chancellor of the Third Reich, Herr Hitler reaped on that day (30 Sep 38) at Munich the harvest of an audacious, defiant, ruthless foreign policy he had pursued for five and a half years. He had torn the Treaty of Versailles to shreds. He had rearmed Germany to the teeth - or as close to the tooth as he was able. He had stolen Austria before the eyes of a horrified and apparently impotent world."
A few Adolf Hitler related dates...
01 Apr 24: Hitler sentenced to prison, dictates Mein Kampf
18 Jul 25: Mein Kampf is published, clearly defining Nazi ideology
30 Jan 33: Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany
01 Aug 36: Hitler opens the Olympic games in Berlin
02 Jan 39: Time magazine names Adolf Hitler "Man of the Year"
23 Jun 40: Hitler arrives in Paris for some sightseeing
20 Jul 44: Stauffenberg bomb plot fails to kill Hitler
30 Jan 45: Hitler's final radio broadcast to Germany
01 May 45: Hamburg Radio announces Adolf Hitler is dead
CBI - China: Day 545 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1940 — , January 2
Finland: Day 34 of 105 of the Russo-Finnish War.
Finland: Day 2 of 7 of the Battle of Raate Road in central Finland.
CBI - China: Day 910 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 49 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
1941 — , January 2
USA: The Andrews Sisters record "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" at Decca's Hollywood studios as part of the production of the Abbott and Costello film "Buck Privates."
Spotlight...
Scene of the Andrews Sisters performing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy in the Abbott & Costello comedy Buck Privates
The "jump blues" song was a major hit for The Andrews Sisters and endures to this day among the most iconic World War II tunes. It is ranked #6 on the Recording Industry Association of America "Songs of the Century" list.
According to the lyrics of the song, a renowned Chicago street musician is drafted into the US Army during the Peacetime Draft imposed by the Roosevelt Administration. In addition to being famous, the bugler was the "top man at his craft," but the Army had little use for his talents and he was reduced to blowing the wake up call (Reveille) in the morning. This caused the musician to become dejected: "It really brought him down, because he couldn't jam."
His Captain took note of the blues man's blues and went out and conscripted more musicians to assemble a band to keep the bugler company. Thereafter, the bugler found his stride, infusing the military marches with his inimitable street flair: "He blows it eight to the bar - in boogie rhythm." Even his morning calls attain some additional flavor: "And now the company jumps when he plays reveille." But, the bugler is not only empowered, he is possibly spoiled, because thereafter, "He can't blow a note if the bass and guitar isn't with him."
Related dates (Swing, Jazz & Big Band)...
12 Oct 35: Nazis ban "degenerate" swing, jazz music from German radio
09 Jan 38: Nazi exhibit denounces "Degenerate Music"
02 Jan 41: Andrews Sisters record "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"
28 Jul 42: Spike Jones records iconic song "Der Fuehrer's Face"
01 Aug 42: Musicians Strike begins, leading to V-Disc recordings
27 Oct 43: V-Disc recordings allowed for distribution to armed forces
15 Dec 44: Glenn Miller is reported Missing In Action
Related WWII Store items (Swing, Jazz & Big Band)...
Hitler's Airwaves: The Inside Story of Nazi Radio Broadcasting and Propaganda Swing
ETO - UK: Day 119 of 258 of the Blitz.
MTO - North Africa: Day 25 of 63 of the UK's Operation COMPASS, their campaign in North Africa against the Italians stretching from Sidi Barrani, Egypt, to El Agheila, Libya. The Royal Navy bombards Bardia, Libya.
East Africa: Day 207 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,276 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
CBI - Thailand: Day 94 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1942 — , January 2
Russian Front - North: Day 117 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 93 of 98 of the Battle of Moscow. Soviet Army achieves a breakthrough at Rzhev.
Russian Front - South: Day 65 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula. All further German attacks against the Crimean fortress of Sevastopol are stopped for the winter.
CBI - Burma: Day 20 of 164 of Japan's Invasion of Burma.
CBI - China: Day 1,641 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 10 of 99 of the 3rd Battle of Changsha.
CBI - Malaya: Day 26 of 55 of the Battle of British Malaya. British troops are outflanked by the Japanese at Kampar and begin to withdraw to the river Slim.
PTO - Borneo: Day 18 of 107 of the Battle of Borneo.
PTO - Philippines: Day 26 of 152 of the 1st Battle of the Philippines. Japanese troops capture Manila and a US Naval base at Cavite.
1943 — , January 2
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force: Special-type B-24s fly a moling mission (bad weather operation) to harass the Luftwaffe in the area north of the Ruhr.
Russian Front - North: Day 482 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 45 of 59 of the Battle of Velikiye Luki, near Leningrad. This stalemate does help ease the siege a little, but mostly it keeps German troops from being sent to other fronts.
Russian Front - North: Day 243 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket, USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
Russian Front - South: Day 134 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, bloodiest battle in human history.
Russian Front - South: Day 22 of 69 of the USSR's Operation LITTLE SATURN. A successful drive into the Northern Caucasus and the Donets Basin pushing the Axis troops out. Germans troops begin a withdrawal from the Caucasus.
Romania: Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu meets with Hitler and expresses concern about the unfolding disaster at Stalingrad.
MTO - Crete: US 9th Air Force B-25s bomb at Heraklion while B-24s hit at Kastelli and Pediada.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 47 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. US 9th and 12th Air Forces provide Allied air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 13 of 104 of the 1st Battle of Arakan. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,006 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 210 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands.
PTO - Malaya: Day 318 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 45 of 66 of the Battle of Buna-Gona. Australian and US troops finally take Buna. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 149 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1944 — , January 2
ETO - Germany: Day 46 of 135 of the Battle of Berlin (RAF bombing campaign). Berlin is the main target, with 362 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos and nine dispatched (383 aircraft). German night fighters do not catch up to the bombers until they are over the city when they manage to shoot down 27 Lancasters, or 10% of the force.
ETO - Germany: Hitler's Chancellery is reported 75 percent destroyed with many trapped in the shelters below after a direct hit during an RAF raid on Berlin.
Russian Front - North: Day 847 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 608 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket. USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
Russian Front - South: Day 10 of 113 of the USSR's Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive in southwestern Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 10 of 22 of the Battle of Zhitomir, Russia. This will create a 70 mile gap in the German line.
MTO - Italy: RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops.
CBI - Burma: Day 4 of 99 of the 2nd Battle of Arakan.
CBI - Burma: US 10th Air Force attacks at Yenangyaung, Akyab and Loilaw.
CBI - China: Day 2,371 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
US 14th Air Force attacks targets at Hopang.
PTO - Marshall Islands: US 7th Air Force bombs targets on the Maloelap, Jaluit, and Mille Atolls.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 106 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 103 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 19 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US Marines and US 32nd Infantry Division make an amphibious landing at Saidor. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 63 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands.
1945 — , January 2
USA: All exclusion orders are rescinded entirely and Japanese-American internees begin to leave the relocation camps to rebuild their lives at home, although the camps will remain open for residents who are not ready to make the move back. The freed internees are given $25 and a train ticket to their former homes.
[+] show related dates
Dates related to civilian internment...
12 May 40: UK begins internment of German civilians
14 Jan 42: Japanese-Canadians ordered to vacate BC
14 Jan 42: FDR orders all aliens to register with government
ETO - France: Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsey dies in a plane crash near Paris and becomes the fourth prominent Allied leader to die like this.
ETO - France: Day 155 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 110 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Belgium: Day 18 of 41 of the Battle of the Bulge. Germans troops continue withdrawing from the Ardennes. US 9th Air Force hits rail bridges and communications centers in Belgium and Germany in support of ground forces.
ETO - Belgium: Day 3 of 26 of Operation NORDWIND, the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front.
ETO - Denmark: Danish saboteurs wreck a V-2 rocket factory in Copenhagen.
ETO - Germany: Day 106 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force heavy bombers attack targets in western Germany.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 110 of 223 of the Lapland War. Finland and Russia have joined forces to kick the Germans out of Finland's most northern province.
Russian Front - Center: Day 80 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 73 of 99 of the Siege of Memel, a border town of Lithuania and East Prussia.
Russian Front - South: Day 66 of 108 of the Battle of Budapest, Hungary.
MTO - Italy: US and Royal Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground units.
CBI - Burma: Day 277 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive.
CBI - Burma: US 10th and 14th Air Forces attack at several locations.
CBI - China: Day 2,737 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
US 14th Air Force make air raids at Lohochai, Pengpu and Sinyang.
CBI - Thailand: US 20th Air Force B-29s attack a railroad bridge at Bangkok.
PTO - Japan: US 7th Air Force B-24s hit Haha Jima Island while others pound Iwo Jima Island.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 372 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 256 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Philippines: Day 75 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 19 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. 5th Air Force provides air support.
Day-By-Day listings for January 2 were last modified on Saturday, February 6, 2016
Spotlight...
