CBI - China: Day 112 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1933 — , January 7
CBI - China: Day 7 of 142 of the 1st Battle of Hebei.
1937 — , January 7
Spain: Day 175 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1938 — , January 7
Spain: Day 540 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 185 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 30 of 54 of the Battle of Nanking.
Day 26 of 50 of the Rape of Nanking.
1939 — , January 7
Spain: Day 905 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 550 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1940 — , January 7
Finland: Day 39 of 105 of the Russo-Finnish War.
Finland: Day 7 of 7 of the Battle of Raate Road in central Finland. The battle ends with a Finnish victory. General Semyon Timoshenko takes command of all Soviet units in Finland and begins to rebuild his forces for a decisive offensive.
CBI - China: Day 915 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 54 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
1941 — , January 7
Atlantic: 200 miles south of Iceland, the Italian submarine GIACOMO NANI attacks convoy HX.99 without success. British corvette HMS ANEMONE and French corvette LA MALOUINE counter-attack, sinking the Nani. All 58 crew are rescued and taken prisoner.
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Italian submarine GIACOMO NANI
When Italy entered WWII, the Regia Marina Italiana (Italian Royal Navy) fielded around 115 submarines. It was the biggest fleet of its kind; almost double the number of Germany in 1939. The US had 100, France 86, Great Britain 69, Japan 65 (numbers may vary, depending from the sources). The Italian submarine fleet served mainly in the Mediterranean.
During the war, 88 Italian submarines, some two-thirds of its total strength, were lost.
ETO - UK: Day 124 of 258 of the Blitz.
MTO - North Africa: Day 30 of 63 of the UK's Operation COMPASS, their campaign in North Africa against the Italians in Egypt and Libya. Tobruk is surrounded, but the British are unable to assault it immediately as supplies and reinforcements need to be brought up.
East Africa: Day 212 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,281 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
CBI - Thailand: Day 99 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1942 — , January 7
Russian Front - Center: Day 98 of 98 of the Battle of Moscow. The Germans have been driven far enough back that Moscow is no longer under threat. The Battle of Moscow is over.
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German soldier surrendering during the Battle of Moscow
For a time, Moscow seemed to have been so close to falling to the Germans that Stalin's armored train was ready at the station to carry him east to safety. But the Soviets were aided in their efforts by extreme cold and poor weather, which minimized the Luftwaffe's operations. Add to it Hitler's decision to divert troops from Moscow south to the fighting at Stalingrad, assuming he could always come back and finish off Moscow later. Big mistake.
The failure of German forces at Moscow doomed Germany to fighting a prolonged struggle on the Eastern Front. This part of the war would consume the vast majority of its manpower and resources for the remainder of the conflict.
Casualties for the Battle of Moscow are debated, but estimates suggest German losses of between 248,000 and 400,000 and Soviet losses of between 650,000 and 1,280,000.
Slowly building strength, the Soviets would turn the tide of the war at the Battle of Stalingrad in late 1942 and early 1943.
USA: Roosevelt's first War Budget includes $29,250 billion of defense expenditure to build 60,000 planes, 45,000 tanks and 8,000,000 tons of shipping.
Russian Front: In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Minister denounces German atrocities in occupied Russia, where in Kiev alone 52,000 people have been massacred.
Russian Front - North: Day 122 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad. Soviets begin an offensive south of Lake Ilmen in an attempt to encircle Demyansk while other units attack the siege line.
Russian Front - South: Day 70 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 25 of 164 of Japan's Invasion of Burma.
CBI - China: Day 1,646 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 15 of 99 of the 3rd Battle of Changsha.
CBI - Malaya: Day 31 of 55 of the Battle of British Malaya. British troops continue to retreat south through central Malaya as the Japanese force a crossing of the river Slim.
PTO - Borneo: Day 23 of 107 of the Battle of Borneo. Japanese troops take Jesselton in northern Borneo.
PTO - Philippines: Day 31 of 152 of the 1st Battle of the Philippines. Japanese troops attack Bataan, thus beginning the 90 day Siege of Bataan.
1943 — , January 7
USA: Famed inventor and electrical genius Nikola Tesla dies in New York City at the age of 86.
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Nikola Tesla in 1890, age 34
Multiple exposure picture of Tesla sitting next to his "magnifying transmitter" generating millions of volts
Russian Front - North: Day 487 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 50 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 248 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 139 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, bloodiest battle in human history.
Russian Front - South: Day 27 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.
MTO: US B-24s hit the shipping in Palermo harbor, Sicily, and at Maiouli Quay at Piraeus, Greece.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 52 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. RAF and US Air Forces provide Allied air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 18 of 104 of the 1st Battle of Arakan. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,011 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
US 10th Air Force bomb fuel storage facilities at Mangshih.
PTO - Alaska: Day 215 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. US 11th Air Force B-24s bombs the Kiska submarine base.
PTO - Malaya: Day 323 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 50 of 66 of the Battle of Buna-Gona. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Warplanes of the US 5th Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force attack a Japanese convoy bound for Lae.
PTO: US 5th Air Force: Richard Bong shoots down two Japanese Oscars, his third and fourth victories.
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Dick Bong related dates...
09 Jan 42: Receives wings, commissioned 2nd Lieutenant
12 Jun 42: Reprimanded, grounded for reckless flying
10 Sep 42: Assigned to 9th Fighter Squadron, Australia
27 Dec 42: Shoots down his first two Japanese planes
07 Jan 43: Shoots down his 3rd and 4th Japanese planes
08 Jan 43: Gets 5th Japanese plane, becoming an Ace
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 154 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal. US B-17s bomb Bougainville Island while B-26s attack Rekata Bay on Santa Isabel Island.
1944 — , January 7
ETO: In preparation for the invasion of France, Allied planes begin dropping airborne operatives into the occupied country to help train their partisans in guerrilla tactics to support regular troops.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb at Ludwigshafen.
ETO - Germany: Day 51 of 135 of the Battle of Berlin (RAF bombing campaign). Small raids are made on Krefeld and Duisburg by 11 Mosquitos. 10 men are killed when an SOE support flight crashes shortly after takeoff.
ETO - France: US 9th Air Force B-26s bomb the Cherbourg/Maupertus Airfield.
Russian Front - North: Day 852 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 613 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 15 of 113 of the USSR's Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive in southwestern Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 15 of 22 of the Battle of Zhitomir, Russia. This will create a 70 mile gap in the German line.
Russian Front - South: Day 3 of 12 of the Battle of Kirograd, Ukraine.
MTO - Italy: US 5th Army drives closer toward the Rapido River. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops.
CBI - Burma: Day 9 of 99 of the 2nd Battle of Arakan.
CBI - Burma: US 10th Air Force attacks various targets throughout Burma.
CBI - China: Day 2,376 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
US 14th Air Force concentrates on hitting ships.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 111 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 108 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 24 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 68 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands.
1945 — , January 7
ETO - France: Day 160 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 115 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Belgium: Day 23 of 41 of the Battle of the Bulge. US 9th Air Force provides air support.
ETO - Belgium: Day 8 of 26 of Operation NORDWIND, the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front.
ETO - Germany: Day 111 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force heavy bombers hit targets in western Germany.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 115 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 85 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 78 of 99 of the Siege of Memel, a border town of Lithuania and East Prussia.
Russian Front - South: Day 71 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 282 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,742 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
US 14th Air Force bomb at Ft Bayard and attack shipping in Samah Bay on Hainan Island, claiming one vessel sunk.
PTO - Japan: US 7th Air Force B-24s bomb the airfields on Iwo Jima.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 377 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 261 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Philippines: Day 80 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 24 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon.
PTO - Philippines: Day 2 of 4 of the Allied Invasion landing at Lingayen Gulf. 5th Air Force provides air support.
Day-By-Day listings for January 7 were last modified on Friday, March 9, 2018
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