CBI - China: Day 126 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1933 — , January 21
CBI - China: Day 21 of 142 of the 1st Battle of Hebei.
1937 — , January 21
Spain: Day 189 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1938 — , January 21
Spain: Day 554 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 199 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 44 of 54 of the Battle of Nanking.
Day 40 of 50 of the Rape of Nanking.
1939 — , January 21
Spain: Day 919 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 564 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1940 — , January 21
Atlantic: The Admiralty announces that the destroyer HMS GRENVILLE was sunk. Casualties are reported at 8 dead and 73 missing, presumed dead.
Finland: Day 53 of 105 of the Russo-Finnish War. In southern Finland, the Soviet 8th Army launches an attack against the Finns at Talvela, without success.
CBI - China: Day 929 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 68 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
1941 — , January 21
USA: The US informs the Soviet Union that the "moral embargo" imposed on them after their 1939 attack on Finland no longer applies.
UK: The Communist newspaper The Daily Worker is suppressed in Britain.
ETO - UK: Day 138 of 258 of the Blitz.
MTO - North Africa: Day 44 of 63 of the UK's Operation COMPASS, their campaign in North Africa against the Italians in Egypt and Libya. British and Australian troops breach the Axis defenses at Tobruk. Libya.
East Africa: Day 226 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,295 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
CBI - Thailand: Day 113 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1942 — , January 21
ETO - UK: The Luftwaffe begins a series of raids against London and ports in southern England.
Atlantic: Day 8 of 169 of Germany's Second "Happy Time," during which U-boats sink 609 Allied ships with little risk.
Russian Front - North: Day 136 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 13 of 29 of the Battle of Toropets, Russia. A failed attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 14 of 103 of the Battle of Vyazma, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 14 of 103 of the Battle of Sychevsk, Russia.
Russian Front - South: Day 84 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula. All German attacks against Sevastopol are stopped for the winter.
MTO - Libya: Rommel begins his counter-offensive against the British 8th Army from El Agheila.
CBI - Burma: Day 39 of 164 of Japan's Invasion of Burma.
CBI - China: Day 1,660 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 29 of 99 of the 3rd Battle of Changsha.
CBI - Malaya: Day 45 of 55 of the Battle of British Malaya.
PTO - Borneo: Day 37 of 107 of the Battle of Borneo.
PTO - New Guinea: The Japanese bomb New Guinea for the first time.
PTO - Philippines: Day 45 of 152 of the 1st Battle of the Philippines.
1943 — , January 21
USA: 11 WAVES, graduates of the first training course for women at Cedar Falls, Iowa, report for duty at the Sand Point Naval Air Station, near Seattle, Washington.
Spotlight...
WAVES taking target practice at an indoor range, Treasure Island Naval Base, San Francisco Bay, 11 Feb 43
On July 30, 1942, the WAVES became a World War II division of the US Navy and consisted entirely of women. The name was the acronym for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service" (as well as an allusion to ocean waves). The word "emergency" implied that the acceptance of women was due to the unusual circumstances of World War II, and at the end of the war the women would not be allowed to continue in Navy careers. Their official name was the US Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), but the nickname of the WAVES stuck.
The important distinction between the WAAC (Women's Auxiliary Army Corps) and the WAVES was that the WAAC was an "auxiliary" organization, serving with the Army, not in it. From the very beginning, the WAVES was an official part of the Navy, and its members held the same rank and ratings as male personnel. They also received the same pay and were subject to military discipline. The WAAC became the Women's Army Corps (WAC) on July 3, 1943, giving its members military status similar to that of the WAVES.
The WAVES could not serve aboard combat ships or aircraft, and initially were restricted to duty in the continental United States. Late in World War II, they were authorized to serve in certain US possessions, and a number were sent to Hawaii. The war ended before any WAVES could be sent to other locations.
Within their first year, the WAVES were 27,000 strong. A large proportion of the WAVES did clerical work, but some took positions in the aviation community, Judge Advocate General's Corps, medical professions, communications, intelligence, storekeeper, science and technology.
Recruitment poster for the WAVES (Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service)
Obviously, this was the model used to create the WAVES recruitment poster.
Related dates...
30 Jul 42: Congress authorizes WAVES as a division of the US Navy
21 Jan 43: 11 graduates of first WAVES training course report for duty
Russian Front - North: Day 501 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 10 of 19 of USSR's Operation ISKRA (Operation SPARK) on the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, north of Leningrad. This Soviet victory will help ease the siege at Leningrad a little bit more.
Russian Front - North: Day 262 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 153 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, bloodiest battle in human history.
Russian Front - South: Day 41 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. Soviet troops capture the Caucasian railway town of Voroshilovskiy, claiming that 500,000 Germans have been killed and 200,000 captured during in the last two months of fighting.
MTO - Libya: RAF and US Air Forces provide air support.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 66 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. RAF and US Air Forces provide Allied air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 32 of 104 of the 1st Battle of Arakan. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,025 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 229 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands.
PTO - Malaya: Day 337 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 64 of 66 of the Battle of Buna-Gona. The US 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 168 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1944 — , January 21
ETO - UK: The Luftwaffe begins their 130-day Operation Steinbock, the last strategic air offensive on southern England that will be known as the Baby Blitz.
ETO - Germany: Day 65 of 135 of the Battle of Berlin (RAF bombing campaign). The RAF sends 648 bombers to Magdeburg, but loses 55 planes to the Luftwaffe's four.
ETO - France: US 8th and 9th Air Forces bomb 36 V-weapon sites
Russian Front - North: Day 866 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 627 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 - North: Day 8 of 48 of the Battle toward the Narva River, Estonia. This drive helps lift the Leningrad siege and liberate Narva.
Russian Front - North: Day 8 of 17 of the Battle of Krasnoye Selo-Ropsha, Russia (Operation JANUARY THUNDER). This victory will push the German line west of Leningrad back far enough so the Russians can reopen the Moscow-Leningrad railroad.
Russian Front - North: Day 8 of 33 of the Battle of Luga, Russia. Taking this town west of Leningrad will open the door toward Estonia.
Russian Front - South: Day 29 of 113 of the USSR's Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive in southwestern Ukraine.
MTO - Yugoslavia: US 12th Air Force P-40s hit shipping at Povlje.
MTO - France: US 15th Air Force heavy bombers hit targets in southern France.
MTO - Italy: Day 5 of 123 of the Battle of Monte Cassino. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops.
CBI - Burma: Day 23 of 99 of the 2nd Battle of Arakan.
CBI - Burma: US 10th Air Force provides ground support for the Allied troops near Sumprabum and Kamaing.
CBI - China: Day 2,390 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Marshall Islands: US 7th Air Force bombs targets in the Marshalls.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 125 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 122 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 38 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 82 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1945 — , January 21
ETO - France: Day 174 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 129 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Belgium: Day 37 of 41 of the Battle of the Bulge. US 9th Air Force provides air support.
ETO - Belgium: Day 22 of 26 of Operation NORDWIND, the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front.
ETO - Germany: Day 125 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force heavy bombers hit industrial targets in central Germany.
ETO: Day 2 of 66 of the Battle to the Rhine. US 9th Air Force provides air support.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 129 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 99 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 92 of 99 of the Siege of Memel, a border town of Lithuania and East Prussia. Soviet troops capture Hohenstein, East Prussia, but only after the Germans blow up the infamous Tannenberg memorial.
Russian Front - Center: Day 10 of 23 of the Battle along the Vistula and Oder Rivers in central Poland and eastern Germany.
Russian Front - Center: Day 8 of 21 of the Battle of Warsaw, Poland.
Russian Front - South: Day 85 of 108 of the Battle of Budapest, Hungary.
MTO - Austria: US 15th Air Force B-17s bomb the Lobau and Schweehat oil refineries at Vienna.
MTO - Italy: US and Royal Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground units.
CBI - Burma: Day 296 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 3 of 61 of the Battles of Meiktila and Mandalay. British troops enter Monywa, 60 miles to the west of Mandalay.
CBI - Burma: Day 1 of 39 of the Battle of Ramree Island.
CBI - China: Day 2,756 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
US 14th Air Force attacks targets in the Hong Kong area.
PTO - Caroline Islands: US 20th Air Force B-29s bomb Moen Airfield in Truk Atoll.
PTO - Japan: US 7th Air Force B-24s bomb targets on Iwo Jima at night and again during the day.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 391 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 275 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Philippines: Day 94 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 38 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. 5th Air Force provides air support.
Day-By-Day listings for January 21 were last modified on Friday, February 23, 2018
Spotlight...
