Tuesday, 9 June 1942

US NAVY

PACIFIC—Submarine Trout (SS-202) picks up two survivors from sunken Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma.

            Naval Operating Base, Kodiak, Alaska, is established.

            Lieutenant Commander Lyndon B. Johnson, USNR, in the South Pacific theater on a congressional inspection tour, accompanies USAAF bombing mission, scheduled to attack Japanese installations at Lae, New Guinea. Johnson is to go along as a passenger in a B-26 (19th Squadron, 22d Bomb Group). Engine trouble, however, compels the pilot of Johnson's Marauder ("Heckling Hare") to abort the mission; the plane never sees combat. Inexplicably, however, Johnson receives Silver Star for "gallantry." He goes on to become the 36th President of the United States.

CARIBBEAN—U.S. freighter Merrimack is sunk by German submarine U-107 about 60 miles north of Cozumel Island, off the Honduran coast, 19°47'N, 85°55'W. Of the 51 men on board at the time of the attack (9 of whom comprise the Armed Guard), only 10 (including one Navy man) survive (see 15 June).

            British destroyer HMS Churchill scuttles damaged U.S. tanker Franklin K. Lane, torpedoed by German submarine U-502 the previous day, as a menace to navigation.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

EIGHTH AF—Second contingent of personnel for HQ Eighth AF and subordinate commands, including main body of VIII AF Service Command, arrives in UK.

FIFTH AF—B‑17’s, B‑25’s, and B‑26’s attack Lae and Salamaua.

SEVENTH AF—General Davidson, CG VII Fighter Command, also becomes CG Seventh AF following loss of General Tinker (see 7 Jun 42).

ELEVENTH AF—Patrols are flown but encounter no aircraft.

US ARMY

INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS—U.S. and Great Britain agree to pool food and production resources.

PHILLIPINE ISLANDS—Japanese conquest of the Philippines is completed, although small, isolated detachments continue to hold out. Combined U.S. and Filipino force of 140,000 is now eliminated as a fighting force. USFIP ceases to exist.

LIBYA—Free French continue to hold out at Bir Hacheim against furious ground and air attacks. Efforts to relieve them are unsuccessful.

US MARINE CORPS

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