CBI - China: Day 129 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1933 — , January 24
CBI - China: Day 24 of 142 of the 1st Battle of Hebei.
1934 — , January 24
Germany: Jews are banned from the German Labor Front.
1937 — , January 24
Spain: Day 192 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1938 — , January 24
Spain: Day 557 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 202 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 47 of 54 of the Battle of Nanking.
Day 43 of 50 of the Rape of Nanking.
1939 — , January 24
Germany: SS leader Reinhard Heydrich is ordered by Goring to speed up emigration of Jews.
Spain: Day 922 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 567 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1940 — , January 24
Finland: Day 56 of 105 of the Russo-Finnish War.
CBI - China: Day 932 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 71 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
1941 — , January 24
USA: Convinced of an eventual stalemate between Britain and Germany, Colonel Charles Lindbergh testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee that aid to Britain was a mistake and a negotiated peace would be in the best interest of the United States.
Spotlight...
Famed aviator Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St Louis
Charles Lindbergh's life includes several chapters:
1)
his historic trans-atlantic flight;
2)
the tragic "crime of the century" kidnapping of his 20-month old son;
3)
his staunch anti-war "America First" involvement; and
4)
his tremendous contributions to the war effort after Pearl Harbor.
His anti-war involvement remains controversial to this day. Many labeled him as misguided, un-american and even racist. In his 24 Jan 41 testimony in opposition to the Lend-Lease Bill before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Lindbergh proposed that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Germany. President Roosevelt publicly criticized Lindbergh's views on neutrality three months later during a White House press conference as being those of a "defeatist and appeaser" and compared him to the leader of the "Copperhead" movement that had opposed the American Civil War. Three days later Lindbergh resigned his commission as a Colonel in the US Army Air Corps in a letter to the President in which he said that he could find "no honorable alternative" to his taking such an action after Roosevelt had publicly questioned his loyalty.
After the attack by the Japanese which forced America into war, Lindbergh immediately switched his anti-war position to one of seeking a swift and decisive victory over the Axis powers. He then dedicated himself to contributing to that end as best he could.
Related dates...
17 Sep 39: Lindbergh makes his first anti-intervention radio speech
24 Jan 41: Lindbergh testifies that aid to Britain was a mistake
23 Apr 41: Lindbergh again calls for the US to stay out of the war
Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America's Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941
ETO - UK: Day 141 of 258 of the Blitz.
MTO - North Africa: Day 47 of 63 of the UK's Operation COMPASS, their campaign in North Africa against the Italians in Egypt and Libya.
East Africa: Day 229 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt. General Cunningham's Southern Force invades Italian Somaliland from Garissa and Bura in Kenya.
CBI - China: Day 1,298 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
CBI - Thailand: Day 116 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1942 — , January 24
USA: The Special Court of Inquiry on Pearl Harbor places main responsibility for the 7 Dec 41 disaster on Admiral Husband Kimmel and Lieutenant General Walter Short.
Atlantic: Day 11 of 169 of Germany's Second "Happy Time," during which U-boats sink 609 Allied ships with little risk.
Russian Front - North: Day 139 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 16 of 29 of the Battle of Toropets, Russia. A failed attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 2 of 103 of the Battle of the Kholm Pocket, another attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 17 of 103 of the Battle of Vyazma, Russia. German troops recapture Sukhinichi.
Russian Front - Center: Day 17 of 103 of the Battle of Sychevsk, Russia.
Russian Front - South: Day 87 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula. All German attacks against Sevastopol are stopped for the winter.
CBI - Burma: Day 42 of 164 of Japan's Invasion of Burma.
CBI - China: Day 1,663 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 32 of 99 of the 3rd Battle of Changsha.
CBI - Malaya: Day 48 of 55 of the Battle of British Malaya. British 18th Division arrives at Singapore as reinforcements to boost its defenses.
[+] show related dates
Dates related to British Malaya and Singapore...
18 Feb 41: Elements of the Australian 8th Division arrive in Singapore.
18 Mar 41: Grand Admiral Erich Raeder urges Hitler to convince Japan to attack Singapore.
28 Apr 41: Churchill issues directive stating that at present there is no need to make provisions for the defense of Malaya and Singapore.
19 Jan 42: General Wavell warns Churchill that Singapore cannot be held, but is told that no question of surrender be entertained.
22 Jan 42: Day 46 of 55 of the Battle of British Malaya. Reinforcements reach Singapore with an Indian Brigade landing.
24 Jan 42: Day 48 of 55 of the Battle of British Malaya. British 18th Division arrives at Singapore as reinforcements to boost its defenses.
30 Jan 42: Day 54 of 55 of the Battle of British Malaya. British troops withdraw into Singapore.
30 Jan 42: Day 1 of 17 of the Battle of Singapore. The Japanese siege of British troops in Singapore begins.
14 Feb 42: Day 16 of 17 of the Battle of Singapore. Japanese soldiers advance toward the Alexandra Barracks Hospital. A British lieutenant, acting as an envoy with a white flag, approaches the Japanese forces but is killed with a bayonet. The Japanese troops enter the hospital and kill a number of patients, including those undergoing surgery at the time, along with doctors and members of the nursing staff.
15 Feb 42: Day 17 of 17 of the Battle of Singapore. 9,000 British and Australian troops have been killed, and the remaining 80,000 are taken prisoner as Japanese troops take the city, joining 50,000 taken in the earlier Malayan Campaign to be worked as slaves. It remains the largest surrender of British-led forces in history.
16 Feb 42: Australia's Prime Minister Curtin, calls the surrender of Singapore "Australia's Dunkirk."
04 Mar 42: The Australian sloop HMAS YARRA is sunk by Japanese cruisers while attempting to protect a convoy of vessels withdrawing from Singapore to Australia.
05 Sep 45: Following Japan's surrender, British land in Singapore.
PTO - Borneo: Day 40 of 107 of the Battle of Borneo.
PTO - Dutch East Indies: Day 2 of 2 of the 1st Battle of Balikpapan. Four US destroyers and some submarines attack a Japanese convoy in the Macassar Strait between Borneo and Celebes, sinking one destroyer and four transports. This gives the Allies the naval victory but the Japanese win on land.
PTO - New Guinea: >Day 2 of 18 of the Battle of Rabaul, New Britain Island. Japanese drive out the few Australian defenders.
PTO - Philippines: Day 48 of 152 of the 1st Battle of the Philippines.
1943 — , January 24
Russian Front - North: Day 504 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 13 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 265 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 156 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, bloodiest battle in human history. The last German airfield in the Stalingrad pocket falls.
Russian Front - South: Day 44 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. The offensive by the Soviet Trans-Caucasian Front toward the Kuban bridgehead is stopped at Novorossiysk and Krasnodar.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 69 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. RAF and US Air Forces provide Allied air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 35 of 104 of the 1st Battle of Arakan. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,028 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 232 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. Two Japanese aircraft bomb the Amchitka harbor area.
PTO - Malaya: Day 340 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 171 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1944 — , January 24
USA: In response to political pressure to help Jews under Nazi control, Roosevelt creates the War Refugee Board.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s attack targets at Frankfurt, Heddernheim, Main, Russelsheim and Eschweiler.
ETO - France: US 9th Air Force B-26s attack several V-weapon sites along the coastal areas.
Russian Front - North: Day 869 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 630 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 11 of 48 of the Battle toward the Narva River, Estonia. This drive helps lift the Leningrad siege and liberate Narva.
Russian Front - North: Day 11 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 11 of 33 of the Battle of Luga, Russia. Taking this town west of Leningrad will open the door toward Estonia.
Russian Front - South: Day 32 of 113 of the USSR's Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive in southwestern Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 1 of 25 of the Battle of the Korsun Bulge in Ukraine.
MTO - Bulgaria: US 15th Air Force B-17s hit at Vrattsa and Dolno Tserovene.
MTO - Yugoslavia: US 15th Air Force B-24s bomb at Skoplje.
MTO - Italy: Day 8 of 123 of the Battle of Monte Cassino. Hitler orders his German troops to hold the Gustav Line at all costs. The French attack to the north of Cassino. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops.
MTO - Italy: Day 3 of 136 of the Battle of Anzio. Allied ground troops capture Anzio and Nettuno. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops
CBI - Burma: Day 26 of 99 of the 2nd Battle of Arakan.
CBI - China: Day 2,393 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Chinese troops make further advances in the Hukawng Valley. US 14th Air Force sinks ships in the China Sea.
PTO - Marshall Islands: US 7th Air Force bombs various islands in the Marshalls.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 128 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. The Australian 7th Division clears the Shaggy Ridge area. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 125 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 41 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 85 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1945 — , January 24
ETO - France: Day 177 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 132 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - Belgium: Day 40 of 41 of the Battle of the Bulge. US 9th Air Force provides air support.
ETO - Belgium: Day 25 of 26 of Operation NORDWIND, the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front.
ETO - Germany: Day 128 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO: Day 5 of 66 of the Battle to the Rhine. US 9th Air Force provides air support.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 132 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 102 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 95 of 99 of the Siege of Memel, a border town of Lithuania and East Prussia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 13 of 23 of the Battle along the Vistula and Oder Rivers in central Poland and eastern Germany.
Russian Front - Center: Day 11 of 21 of the Battle of Warsaw, Poland. The Soviets capture Oppeln and Gleiwitz in upper Silesia.
Russian Front - South: Day 88 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 299 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 6 of 61 of the Battles of Meiktila and Mandalay. The US 10th Air Force provides air support,
CBI - Burma: Day 4 of 39 of the Battle of Ramree Island. The US 10th Air Force provides air support
CBI - China: Day 2,759 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
US 14th Air Force destroys 21 locomotives.
PTO - Alaska: US 11th Air Force bombs buildings on Torishima.
PTO - Indonesia: Day 1 of 6 of British Operation MERIDIAN. The Royal Navy's carrier planes destroy the Japanese oil refinery near Palembang, on Sumatra Island.
PTO - Japan: US 7th and 20th Air Forces bomb Iwo Jima four times during the day and five hours worth during the night.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 394 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 278 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Philippines: Day 97 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 41 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. US troops capture Clark Field. 5th Air Force provides air support.
1946 — , January 24
London: The United Nations adopts its first resolution, focusing on peaceful uses of atomic energy and the elimination of atomic and other weapons of mass destruction.
[+] show related dates
Related dates (United Nations)...
12 Jun 41: Inter-Allied Declaration is signed in London, first step to the UN
14 Aug 41: Atlantic Charter signed, defining goals for post-war world
01 Jan 42: First use of term "United Nations" in Washington DC
24 Oct 45: UN Charter ratified by 5 members of Security Council
19 Dec 45: Eleanor Roosevelt appointed delegate to the UN
10 Jan 46: First General Assembly held, 51 nations represented
17 Jan 46: First Security Council meeting, adopting rules, procedures
12 Apr 46: The League of Nations holds its final meeting
24 Jan 46: First resolution adopted, focusing on atomic energy
10 Dec 48: General Assembly adopts Declaration of Human Rights
24 Oct 49: Cornerstone laid for UN Headquarters in New York City
Guam: Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi, one of the last three Japanese holdouts of WWII, is discovered in the jungles of Guam, almost 28 years after US forces had regained control of the island in 1944.
Spotlight...
Shoichi Yokoi, circa 1941
When American forces captured the island in the 1944 2nd Battle of Guam (21 Jul - 10 Aug), Yokoi went into hiding with ten other Japanese soldiers. Seven of the original ten eventually moved away and only three remained in the region. These men separated, but visited each other until about 1964, when the other two died in a flood.
On the evening of 24 Jan 72, Yokoi was discovered in the jungle by two local men checking their shrimp traps along a small river. They had assumed Yokoi was a local villager, but he thought his life was in danger and attacked them. They managed to subdue him and carried him out of the jungle with minor bruising.
Despite hiding for twenty-eight years in an underground jungle cave, he had known since 1952 that the war had ended. He feared to come out of hiding, explaining, "We Japanese soldiers were told to prefer death to the disgrace of getting captured alive."
Shoichi Yokoi, 1972
"It is with much embarrassment, but I have returned," he said upon his return to Japan. The remark would become a popular saying in Japanese.
After a whirlwind media tour of Japan, he married, settled down and became a popular television personality and an advocate of austere living.
Although he never met Emperor Hirohito, while visiting the grounds of the Imperial Palace, Yokoi said, "Your Majesties, I have returned home... I deeply regret that I could not serve you well. The world has certainly changed, but my determination to serve you will never change."
Yokoi died in 1997 of a heart attack at the age of 82 and was buried at a Nagoya cemetery under a gravestone that had originally been commissioned by his mother in 1955, after Yokoi had been officially declared dead.
Related dates...
24 Jan 72: Holdout Shoichi Yokoi is found in the Jungles of Guam
09 Mar 74: Holdout Hiroo Onoda surrenders in the Philippines
18 Dec 74: Holdout Teruo Nakamura is "arrested" in Indonesia
Related WWII Store items...
No Surrender!: Seven Japanese WWII Soldiers Who Refused to Surrender After the War
Day-By-Day listings for January 24 were last modified on Friday, February 23, 2018
Spotlight...
