US NAVY
GENERAL—Office of Procurement and Material is established
in the office of the Under Secretary of the Navy; Vice Admiral Samuel M.
Robinson, Chief of the Bureau of Ships, is named its director. He must build,
from the ground up, inorganization that will assure the flow of vital materials
essential to the production of ships, planes, and other munitions. He will
instill in the production program the need for more production and greater
speed, and will apply himself to breaking complex bottlenecks in production,
settling conflicts in priorities, solving labor difficulties and curing the
multitudinous ills besetting the Navy's production efforts.
PACIFIC—TF 11 (Vice Admiral Wilson Brown Jr.), formed
around carrier Lexington (CV-2), departs Pearl Harbor to cover the
retirement of TF 8 (Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.) and TF 17 (Rear
Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher) from the Marshalls and Gilberts (see 1 February).
Japanese
troops land on Amboina Island, N.E.I.
Destroyer Helm
(DD-388) evacuates civilian radio operators and weather observers from
Howland and Baker Islands; she is bombed by a Japanese reconnaissance flying
boat (Yokohama Kokutai) off Baker, but is not damaged.
ATLANTIC—British tanker San Arcadio is torpedoed and
sunk by German submarine U-107 at 38°10'N, 63°50'W (see 11February).
British
tanker Tacoma Star is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-109 at
37°33'N, 69°21'W; destroyer Roe (DD-418), on temporary duty with the
Fifth Naval District defense forces due to the increase in ship sinkings off Cape
Hatteras, is sent to rescue survivors.
US ARMY AIR FORCE
ARMY AIR FORCES—General Eaker is designated CG, Bomber Command,
USAFBI and ordered to proceed to UK.
US ARMY
UNITED STATES—General
Stilwell, in memo to General Marshall, estimates his needs for China assignment
and requests that his staff and any forces that may join it be called a task
force. War Department subsequently approves designation of Stilwell’s forces as
U.S. Task Force in China.
LUZON—After air and artillery preparation, Japanese begin
attack on II Corps in evening but are halted by corps fire. Enemy regiment
concealed in bridgehead across Pilar River begins withdrawing under cover of
darkness. I Corps continues battle against enemy pockets in sectors of 1st and
11th Divisions. The pockets are now cut off from supply. In South Sector,
operations against enemy beachhead at Quinauan Pt continue with little change
in positions. Japanese reinforcements are ordered to the area. 192d Tank Battalion
(less one co) is sent to W coast to help reduce Quinauan Pt beachhead.
MALAYA—Malaya defense force completes withdrawal to
Singapore Island at 0815 and blows causeway. For defense purposes, Singapore is
divided into 3 sectors. Indian 3 Corps, under command of General Heath,
consisting of Indian 11th and British 8th Divisions and corps troops, is
responsible for N area. S Area, which includes Singapore town, is the
responsibility of Maj General F. Keith Simmons, commander of Singapore Fortress
troops, who has under his command in addition to fixed defenses, 1st and 2d
Malayan Brigs and Strait Settlements Volunteer Force. W Area, under command of General
Bennett, Commander AIF, is manned by Australians and Ind
44th Brigade, with attachments. Activity from this time until
Japanese invasion is confined to artillery exchanges, air attacks, and
patrolling. Chief targets for enemy planes are docks and Kalang airdrome.
BURMA—Moulmein garrison withdraws across the Salween to
Martaban. 48th Brigade of Indian 19th Division arrives in Rangoon and is held
in reserve. Another brief lull ensues in ground action as Japanese prepare for
further attacks, infiltrating across the Salween and bombing and shelling
Martaban.
ETHIOPIA—Great Britain recognizes independence of Ethiopia.
IRAN—Maj General John N. Greely, head of U.S. Military
Mission to USSR, which is to advise and assist Russians on lend-lease matters,
arrives at Basra, Iraq; from there proceeds to Tehran, Iran, where he establishes
his HQ.
US MARINE CORPS
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