HISTORICAL DATA-1942:

•  JANUARY:  

•     By January 1 of this year the German invasion of the Soviet Union has caused that country to lose some 12.8 million cows and the milk which they had produced, the actual number going from 27.8 million pre-invasion to just 15 million today. For pork and bacon production, the Soviet Union has lost more than sixty% of its pig herds.  (SOURCE:  Russia At War 1941-1945  Alexander Werth  E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. New York 1964, pg.23).

       On January 2 of this year the United States War Department sends a cable message to the Special Observer Group in England. The message says that the British Joint Staff Mission (in Washington, D.C.) has agreed to allow the Americans to send an initial contingent of troops to Northern Ireland under the code name of MAGNET. This force will be made up of two combat teams and service troops. This message doesn't go into specific details about the MAGNET plan; it is an outline statement only.

•     On January 4 of this year U.S. Army Air Force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Arnold attends a meeting in the White House with Presidential Assistant Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt, and British Prime Minister Churchill. General Arnold reports that Army Chief of Staff Marshall is in complete agreement with the Administration's 1 million man, 115 Group Program, and that, in fact, the only thing holding it back now was that it needed the President's approval to proceed. He adds that the War Department is in favor of getting that program, along with the general Army Program, to the President for approval "at an early date".  General Arnold says that, in carrying out the 115 Group Program, it is expected that there will be 34 groups of heavy bombers, and that the full 115 group total will be reached by December 31 of this year. Further, he says that of the total 34 heavy bomber groups, 800 planes will be in England by December, and that 2 pursuit [fighter] groups each will be in England, Ireland, and North Africa. As regards the Far East, General Arnold reports that the Japanese at this time have less than 1,000 planes in that area, and that those are widely scattered, so that, "we can concentrate more air force in any area than the Japs can."  (SOURCE:  Memorandum by Leutenant General Arnold, January 4, 1942 at:  http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/FRUS/FRUS-idx?type=turn&entity=FRUS.FRUS194143.p0233&id=FRUS.FRUS194143&isize=M   accessed 1/13/2013)

       On January 5 of this year eighteen U. S. Army officers who comprise the officer section of the advance detachment of the MAGNET Force meet up with the enlisted section at the New York Port of Embarkation.

       On January 6 of this year the eighteen officers and eighteen enlisted men comprising the advance detachment of the MAGNET Force leave New York harbor bound for the British Isles. They are under the command of Colonel Edward H. Heavy.

       On January 6 of this year also, U. S. Army Colonel Paul R. Hawley, who is the Chief Surgeon, United States Army Forces British Isles, begins a visit to Northern Ireland to carry out a preliminary survey of medical facilities there.

       On January 7 of this year U. S. Army Colonel Paul R. Hawley, Chief Surgeon for the United States Army Forces British Isles, continues his survey trip to Northern Ireland.

       On January 7 of this year the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET FORCE) is loaded on board HMT Bergensfjord at Halifax, Nova Scotia.

       On January 7 of this  year also the eighteen officers and eighteen enlisted men of the advance detachment of  the MAGNET Force are still at sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the British Isles.

       In the United States of America on January 7 of this year the United States Navy places its intiial production order for 1,040 F6F Hellcat carrier-borne fighter aircraft with the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. in Bethpage, Long Island, New York. The Hellcat is an upgraded version of Grumman's Wildcat fighter.  (SOURCE:  Flight Journal magazine special issue for F6F Hellcat, Summer 2006, pg. 14).

       On January 8 of this year the War Department in  Washington, D.C. sends a cable message to the Special [American] Observer Group in London, England. The message says that the initial component of the MAGNET Force has been raised in size to 17,000 men. It is to consist mainly of the reinforced 34th Division.

       On January 8 of this year the advance detachment (eighteen officers and an equal number of enlisted men) of the MAGNET Force are still at sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean to the British Isles. This small group is commanded by Colonel Edward H. Heavy.

       On January 8 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland.

       On January 8 of this year, the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force), is at sea enroute from Halifax, Nova Scotia to the British Isles. This group is on board HMT Bergensfjord.

       In England on January 8 of this year, Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles (USAFBI) is established with Major General James E. Chaney as commander. The organization is created by a reorganization and expansion of the existing Special Observer Group. A cable fom the War Department in Washington, D.C. dated January 8, 1942 gives authority for this administrative action.

       At Fort Benning, Georgia on  January 8 of this year the 2nd Armored Division of the U. S. Army undergoes an administrative reorganization. At this time the 2nd Armored is commanded by  Major General George S. Patton, Jr. On January 8,  the 92nd Armored  Artillery Battalion is activated at Fort Benning, drawing its men from  the 14th and 78th Armored  Artillery Battalions. At this same time the 68th  Armored Regiment (Light) is deactivated, with the War Department stipulating that its  personnel, equipment and  property are to be disposed of  at the direction of the commander of the  2nd Armored Division.

       At Fort Benning, Georgia on January 8 of this year, according to  General Orders Number 4 and 5 of the U. S. 2nd Armored Division,  the 14th Quartermaster Battalion and the 17th Ordnance Battalion are deacativated, and their personnel are transferred to the newly-established Maintenance Battalion of the 2nd Armored Division. Also on this date, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Armored Brigade is deactivated and the men formerly assigned to those units are transferred to the newly-established Trains Headquarters Company, which will supervise the new Maintenance Battalion, and have overall responsibility for  supply and maintenance for the entire division.

       On January 9 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

       On January 9 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is just beginning to function. It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

        On January 9 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland.

       On January 9 of this  year also the eighteen officers and eighteen enlisted men of the advance detachment of  the MAGNET Force are still at sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the British Isles.

        On January 10 of this  year also the eighteen officers and eighteen enlisted men of the advance detachment of  the MAGNET Force are still at sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the British Isles.

        On January 10 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland

         On January 10 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is just beginning to function. It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

        On January 10 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

  On January 10 of this year the U. S. 2nd Armored Division is still stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. It is commanded by Major General George S. Patton Jr., and it is currently undergoing administrative reorganization into a "triangular" three-command structure.

      On January 11 of this year the United States-British Joint Planning Committee issues a report on the stationing of American forces  in Northern Ireland. This action is based on the need to transfer British mobile units to North Africa.  The report forsees an eventual American force in the British Isles totalling 105,000 men, far above the 36,000 previously planned for. This force would be made up of three infantry and one armored divisions, with additional supporting troops. It assumes that the V Corps, led by Major General Edmund L. Daly, will transfer from the United States with its component 32nd, 34th, and 37th Divisions. The 1st Armored Division would be attached, along with the necessary supporting corps and army troops.

       Under this plan, the first task for the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers in Europe would be creating the bases and other infrastructure needed by the arriving troops.

       On January 11 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

   On January 11 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is just beginning to function. It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

  On January 11 of this year the U. S. 2nd Armored Division is still stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. It is commanded by Major General George S. Patton, Jr., and it is currently undergoing administrative reorganization into a "triangular" three-command structure.

  On January 11 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland

       On January 11 of this  year also the eighteen officers and eighteen enlisted men of the advance detachment of  the MAGNET Force are still at sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the British Isles.

       On January 12 of this year the Chiefs of Staff conference (Arcadia Conference) in Washington, D.C. reaches a decision to cut back on the  first contingent  troops going to the British Isles under the MAGNET plan. The new target level is just 4,100 men, and the reduction is decided upon in order to allow for the speedier movement of reinforcements to the Pacific Theater. At this meeting today, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill notes that the British are getting a new armored brigade into the Near East and that there will be a battle soon; he also states that information has been received concerning  an Axis supply convoy's arrival at Tripoli with more materiel for the Germans. He adds that there will now be a delay in the date when the Germans will be pushed back into Tripoli, and that more time will be available for the completion of the SUPER GYMNAST project [the combined British-American invasion of French North Africa].  (SOURCE:  Foreign Relations of the United States The Conferences at Washington, 1941-1942, and Casablanca, 1943-Historical Office, Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Deparment of State, editors, United States Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 1968, pg. 186).   

  On January 12 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland

    On January 12 of this  year also the eighteen officers and eighteen enlisted men of the advance detachment of  the MAGNET Force are still at sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the British Isles.

  On January 12 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is just beginning to function. It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

     On January 12 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

  On January 12 of this year the U. S. 2nd Armored Division is still stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. It is commanded by Major General George S. Patton, Jr., and it is currently undergoing administrative reorganization into a "triangular" three-command structure.

  On January 13 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is still just beginning to function. It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

   On January 13 of this  year also the eighteen officers and eighteen enlisted men of the advance detachment of  the MAGNET Force are still at sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the British Isles.

  On January 13 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

  On January 13 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland.

  On January 14 of this year the meeting of the highest-ranking British and American military and political leaders ends in Washington, D. C. Among the accomplishments of this meeting, code-named "Arcadia", are: an agreement to set up an overall directing group called the Combined Chiefs of Staff, composed of the most senior leaders of the British and American military establishments; formal agreement that "defeat Germany first" will be the guiding principle of British and American strategy; following from this, the agreement that, in the Pacific, the plan will be to contain and to resist Japanese expansion while denying her access to necessary raw materials for her war effort; and the decision that it was important to the Anglo-American strategy in the Atlantic area that French North Africa be occupied (Operation GYMNAST) and denied to the Axis forces.  (SOURCE:  TWELFTH AIR FORCE STORY...IN WORLD WAR II  KENN C. RUST  Historical Aviation Album  Temple City, California 91780 ((1975)), pg.5).

• On January 14 of this year in Washington, D. C. the top British and American military leaders approve document  U.S. ABC-4/CS-4, entitled Post-Arcadia Collaboration, which, among other things, formally defines the composition of the new overall directing group for managing the military aspects of the Allied war effort, as the British Chiefs of Staff or their representatives in Washington-the Joint Staff Mission-and their opposite numbers in the United States military establishment, who now have organized themselves as the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff. The overall international group is to be called the Combined Chiefs of Staff.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK by Gordon A. Harrison, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, page 2 and note 5).

  On January 14 of this year the United States Special Observer Group in London, England sends a cable message to the War Department in Washington, D.C. The Group informs the War Department of its arrangements for billeting the incoming troops of MAGNET Force.

       According to the Special Observers,  Headquarters of V Corps (amounting to 172 persons) will be established in a separate location; exact location still to be determined. Three British base areas large enough for a brigade--Coleraine, Doagh, and Limavady--will house 15,000 men.  Additional troops up to the number of 2,000 men will be assigned to quarters on the Londonderry naval base.

  On January 14 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland

  On January 14 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

   On January 14 of this  year also the eighteen officers and eighteen enlisted men of the advance detachment of  the MAGNET Force are still at sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the British Isles.

  On January 14 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is still just beginning to function. It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

  On January 14 of this year the first full contingent of troops for the MAGNET Force-4,058 men led by Major General Russell P. Hartle, commander of the U. S. 34th Division and his Chief of Staff, Colonel  Norman E. Hendrickson-boards ship at Brooklyn, New York, and spends the night on board ship before sailing tomorrow. This is supposed to be a secret overseas movement, but local bars and dining spots in NewYork City are rife with suspicions that the Division is going to Ireland.

  On January 15 of this year the U. S. War Department in Washington, D.C.  sends a cable message to the U. S. Special Observer Group in London, England. The message says that a decision has been made to  reduce the size of the initial segment of the MAGNET Force to just 4,100 men.  This is after the Special Observers had just completed an initial general plan to house a much larger force.

  On January 15 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is still just beginning to function. It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

  On January 15 of this  year also the eighteen officers and eighteen enlisted men of the advance detachment of  the MAGNET Force are still at sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the British Isles.

  On January 15 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland

  On January 15 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

  On January 15 of this year the first full contingent of troops for the MAGNET Force-4,058 men led by Major General Russell P. Hartle, commander of the U. S. 34th Division-departs New York harbor bound for Belfast, Northern Ireland.

• Also at about January 15 of this year in the Pacific Ocean area, according to Samuel Milner, while the Japanese are making rapid advances in Burma, Malaysia, and in the Netherlands Indies, and while most of General Douglas MacArthur's forces in the Philippines have already been cut off on Bataan, the Australian government has joined with other Allied governments to establish in the Far East the American, British, Dutch, Australian Command (ABDACOM), with British General Sir Archibald P. Wavell as Commander-in-Chief of the area. Americam Lieutenant George H. Brett is named as his Deputy.   (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War in the Pacific VICTORY IN PAPUA by Samuel Milner OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1957  ((Reprint, 1970)), page 1). 

• When General Wavell is appointed as Supreme Commander in the ABDACOM Area, his main assignment is to hold the Malay Barrier, which is a defense line which includes the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Timor, and which extends further eastward from Timor to the coastal waters of northwestern Australia. The island-continent is to be used as an important base of support for the ABDACOM area.  (SOURCE: 

  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War in the Pacific VICTORY IN PAPUA by Samuel Milner OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1957  ((Reprint, 1970)), page 2).

•     By about January 15 of this year the aerial defense forces available to the Australian government to cover New Guinea, Nw Britain, and all of Australia itself, except for Darwin, which has been made a part of the new ABDACOM area  are just 43 operational planes, which include no fighters at all: only 29 Hudson medium bombers and 14 PBY Catalina amphibian patrol craft.  (SOURCE:  The Army Air Forces in the War Against Japan, 1941-1942, Washington, 1945,page 62, by Headquarters, Army Air Forces--digitized by GOOGLE (tm), downloaded  from: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009139117;view=1up;seq=72 on 8/21/2017-GD).

  On January 16 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland

  On January 16 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

  On January 16 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is still just beginning to function. It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

  On January 16 of this  year also the eighteen officers and eighteen enlisted men of the advance detachment of  the MAGNET Force are still at sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the British Isles.

  Also crossing the Atlantic Ocean at this time is the first full contingent of troops for the MAGNET Force. There are 4,058 troops in this shipment, and they are led by Major General Russell P. Hartle, the commander of the U. S. 34th Division.

  On January 17 of this year the U. S. Special Observer Group  in London, England sends a cable message to the War Department in Washington, D.C. This message says  that the Group at this time has a strength in London of  just two dozen officers and 13 enlisted men. Five more enlisted men are en route to London. The Group says that the original staffing minimum for the planned establishment of  Headquarters, United States Army Forces in British Isles (USAFBI)  was to be 194 officers and 377 enlisted men, and that projections called for an ultimate need for as many as 1,500 men.

  On January 17 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is still just beginning to function. It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

  On January 17 of this  year also the eighteen officers and eighteen enlisted men of the advance detachment of  the MAGNET Force are still at sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the British Isles.

  On January 17 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland

  On January 17 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

  Also crossing the Atlantic Ocean at this time is the first full contingent of troops for the MAGNET Force. There are 4,058 troops in this shipment, and they are led by Major General Russell P. Hartle, the commander of the U. S. 34th Division.

  On January 18 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland

  On January 18 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

  Also crossing the Atlantic Ocean at this time is the first full contingent of troops for the MAGNET Force. There are 4,058 troops in this shipment, and they are led by Major General Russell P. Hartle, the commander of the U. S. 34th Division.

  On January 18 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is still just beginning to function. It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

  On January 18 of this  year also the eighteen officers and eighteen enlisted men of the advance detachment of  the MAGNET Force are still at sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean enroute to the British Isles. They are now just one day away from landing in Scotland.

  On January 19 of this year the advance detachment of the MAGNET Force docks at the Firth of Clyde and the troops go ashore at Gourock, Scotland. It has taken them thirteen days to cross the Atlantic Ocean from New York City. Major John Horner of the  U. S. Special Observer Group in London meets them at Gourock.  The detachment then moves on to Glasgow where Captain William  I. LeVan remains behind with the enlisted men  while the rest of the seventeen officers  go to London with Major Horner by train.

  On January 19 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is still just beginning to function. It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

  On January 19 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

  Also crossing the Atlantic Ocean at this time is the first full contingent of troops for the MAGNET Force. There are 4,058 troops in this shipment, and they are led by Major General Russell P. Hartle, the commander of the U. S. 34th Division.

  On January 19 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland

  On January 19 of this year the U. S. First Army photographic unit-a detachment from the 161st Signal Photographic Company that consists of Lieutenant Robert H. Lande and 6 enlisted men-lands in Northern Ireland.

  On January 20 of this year the eighteen enlisted U. S. Army men from the advance detachment of the MAGNET Force, accompanied by  Captain William I. LeVan obtain civilian clothing at the retail establishment of Austin Reed in Glasgow, Scotland.  This is in accord with the routine of the U. S. Special Observer Group to not appear in military uniform in public. Meanwhile, the officers who acompanied these enlisted men on the trip across the Atlantic are  now in London, England with their escort, Major John Horner of the U. S. Special Observer Group.

   On January 20 of this year the U. S. First Army photographic unit-a detachment from the 161st Signal Photographic Company that consists of Lieutenant Robert H. Lande and 6 enlisted men-remains in Northern Ireland.

  On January 20 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland

  On January 20 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

  Also crossing the Atlantic Ocean at this time is the first full contingent of troops for the MAGNET Force. There are 4,058 troops in this shipment, and they are led by Major General Russell P. Hartle, the commander of the U. S. 34th Division.

  On January 20 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is now settling into a regular routine in its new offices.  It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

  On January 21 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

  Also crossing the Atlantic Ocean at this time is the first full contingent of troops for the MAGNET Force. There are 4,058 troops in this shipment, and they are led by Major General Russell P. Hartle, the commander of the U. S. 34th Division.

  On January 21 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is now settling into a regular routine in its new offices.  It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

  On January 21 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his extensive survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland

  On January 21 of this year the U. S. First Army photographic unit-a detachment from the 161st Signal Photographic Company that consists of Lieutenant Robert H. Lande and 6 enlisted men-remains in Northern Ireland.

  On January 21 of this year the eighteen enlisted U. S. Army men from the advance detachment of the MAGNET Force, accompanied by  Captain William I. LeVan  are still in Glasgow, Scotland.  The officers who came with them on the trip across the Atlantic from NewYork City are now in London with the U. S. Special Observer Group.

  On January 22 of this year  twelve of the seventeen officers of the MAGNET advance detachment leave London, England to go to Belfast, Northern Ireland. They are travelling in civilian clothes.

  At about this time (January 22) the eighteen enlisted men who made up the enlisted contingent of the MAGNET advance detachment arrive in London,England. [Garrett Dempsey estimate.]

  On January 22 of this year the U. S. First Army photographic unit-a detachment from the 161st Signal Photographic Company that consists of Lieutenant Robert H. Lande and 6 enlisted men-remains in Northern Ireland.

  On January 22 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his extensive survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland

  On January 22 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is now settling into a regular routine in its new offices.  It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

  Also crossing the Atlantic Ocean at this time is the first full contingent of troops for the MAGNET Force. There are 4,058 troops in this shipment, and they are led by Major General Russell P. Hartle, the commander of the U. S. 34th Division.

  On January 22 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

  On January 22 of this year the U. S. Special Observer Group in London, England sends a cable message to the War  Department in Washington, D.C.  This  message is a report that the Group has changed its plan of January 14 for basing the MAGNET force. Under the new plan, the corps headquarters will be based at Wilmont. One division headquarters will be stationed at Ballymena and  a military police platoon and a postal detachment will be quartered near Belfast.  Quartermaster and ammunition depots will be set up in the vicinity of Antrim. All troops will be billeted in the area of Londonderry-Bellarina-Limavady.

  On January 22 of this year Brigadier General Dwight Eisenhower makes a personal notation regarding the thinking of the current Army staff when he writes, as the chief War Department operations officer for the Pacific area, that "The struggle to secure adoption by all concerned of a common concept of strategical objectives is wearing me down....We've got to go to Europe and fight. ... We've got to begin slugging with air at West
  Europe; to be followed by a land attack as soon as possible."  (SOURCE:  Notations by Eisenhower, 22 Jan 42 entry, Item 3, OPD Historical Unit File; quoted in UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War Department STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE `1943-1944  by Maurice Matloff  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1959, page 12).

  On January 23 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord.

  On January 23 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is now settling into a regular routine in its new offices.  It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

  On January 23 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is continuing his extensive survey of medical facilities in Northern Ireland

  On January 23 of this year the U. S. First Army photographic unit-a detachment from the 161st Signal Photographic Company that consists of Lieutenant Robert H. Lande and 6 enlisted men-remains in Northern Ireland.

  Also crossing the Atlantic Ocean at this time is the first full contingent of troops for the MAGNET Force. There are 4,058 troops in this shipment, and they are led by Major General Russell P. Hartle, the commander of the U. S. 34th Division.

  At about this time (January 23) the eighteen enlisted men who made up the enlisted contingent of the MAGNET advance detachment are now stationed in London,England. [Garrett Dempsey estimate.]

  In the United States the U.S. Army establishes the Air Corps Flying Training Command on January 23 of this year. The new command has a responsibility for construction which is like that of the four continental air forces, but it delegates the site-selection task to each of its three regional training centers, all of which will have difficulty getting into actual operation. (SOURCE: The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume VI: Men and Planes, Edited by Wesley F. Craven and James Lee Cate; Chapter 4, page 150).

• JANUARY:    In the Pacific theater the small town of Rabaul on the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archepelago falls to Japanese forces on January 23 of this year and, according to John Miller, jr., it gives the Japanese " a major objective", because of its location just 1,100 nautical miles southeast of the Japanese bases in the Palau Islands, and only 640 miles south of Truk in the Carolines. Rabaul had the best harbor in all of the Bismarcks and was easily defended.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The war in the Pacific GUADALCANAL: THE FIRST OFFENSIVE by John Miller, jr. HISTORICAL DIVISION DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1949, page 4).

  On January 24 of this year  Headquarters, United States Army Northern Ireland  Force is activated as a subordinate element of  United States Army Forces in British Isles, under General Orders 1 of USANIF with this date.

  At about this time (January 24) the eighteen enlisted men who made up the enlisted contingent of the MAGNET advance detachment are now stationed in London,England. [Garrett Dempsey estimate.]

  On January 24 of this year the U. S. First Army photographic unit-a detachment from the 161st Signal Photographic Company that consists of Lieutenant Robert H. Lande and 6 enlisted men-remains in Northern Ireland.

  On January 24 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is now settling into a regular routine in its new offices.  It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney

  On January 24 of this year, Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the United States Army Forces, British Isles, is  attending a two-day series of meetings in Belfast, Northern Ireland to discuss arrangements for the quartering and use of American forces in Northern Ireland.

  On January 24 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord. They are now just two days from  Belfast, Northern Ireland.

  Also crossing the Atlantic Ocean at this time is the first full contingent of troops for the MAGNET Force. There are 4,058 troops in this shipment, and they are led by Major General Russell P. Hartle, the commander of the U. S. 34th Division.

  In England on January 24 of this year, the remaining  five officer members of the advance detachment of the MAGNET Force leave London and travel  to Belfast, Northern Ireland. They are accompanied by a group of the United States Army Forces in British Isles command, and the purpose of this trip is to hold  two days of meetings in Northern Ireland (today and tomorrow).  Of this group, Major General Chaney, the commander of  USAFBI,  Colonel Dahlquist and Lieutenant Colonel William H. Middleswart, Quartermaster of USAFBI,  fly to Belfast; the rest of the party use the normal rail and ferry route. USAFBI personnel attending the meetings are Colonel McClure, Colonel Paul R. Hawley (Surgeon), Colonel Matejka, Colonel Case,  Lieutenant Colonel William L. Biddle, and Lieutenant Bruce Buttles. Personnel of the MAGNET Advance Detachment are: Lieutenant Colonel Charles E. Brenn, the V Corps Surgeon.

  On January 25 of this year the  USAFBI meetings continue and conclude in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Colonel Paul R. Hawley, the Chief Surgeon of the USAFBI is one of the participants at these meetings, along with Colonel McClure, Colonel Matejka, Colonel Case, Lieutenant Colonel William L. Biddle, and Lieutenant Bruce Buttles, all of the United States Army Forces in the British Isles command. Major General Chaney, USAFBI commander, also attends the meetings.

  On January 25 of this year  the advance detachment of the Headquarters Unit, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (MAGNET Force) is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard HMT  Bergensfjord. They are now just a day from  Belfast, Northern Ireland.

  Also crossing the Atlantic  Ocean today and just a day from Northern Ireland is the first full contingent of troops for the MAGNET Force. There are 4,058 men in this shipment, and they are led by Major General Russell P. Hartle, the commanding general of the U. S. 34th Division.

  On January 25 of this year, in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is now settling into a regular routine in its new offices.  It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

  On January 25 of this year the U. S. First Army photographic unit-a detachment from the 161st Signal Photographic Company that consists of Lieutenant Robert H. Lande and 6 enlisted men-remains in Northern Ireland.

  At about this time (January 25) the eighteen enlisted men who made up the enlisted contingent of the MAGNET advance detachment are now stationed in London,England. [Garrett Dempsey estimate.]

  On January 25 of this year  Headquarters, United States Army Northern Ireland  Force is now active and beginning to function as a subordinate element of  United States Army Forces in British Isles, under General Orders 1 of USANIF with date  of January 24, 1942.

  On January 26 of this year the initial contingent of the MAGNET Force lands at Dufferin Quay in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They had embarked at Brooklyn, New York on 14 January of this year, and sailed from New York  harbor on January 15. There are 4,058 men in this initial shipment, and they are led by Major General Russell P. Hartle, the commander of the U. S. 34th Division. Medical  personnel included in this initial group come to 41 officers, 42 nurses, and 322 enlisted men. Major General Hartle sets foot on Belfast soil at 1215 hours; he is met by a reception party that includes the Governor General-the Duke of Abercorn-the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (John W. Andrews), the Commander of British Troops in Ulster (General G. E. W. Franklyn), and the Secretary of State for Air (Sir Archibald Sinclair).  Newspaper correspondents, photographers,  and newsreel cameramen swarm around the disembarking men and ordinary citizens of Belfast cheer them on.  The British Red Cross serves tea and sandwiches to the "Yanks".

      Officially, the first man of this initial contingent of the MAGNET Force to land in Belfast is Private William H. Henke of Hutchinson, Minnesota, but that is just the official listing. Private Henke actually steps ashore after 500 other troops have already landed.

      Personnel of the U. S. 34th Division have landed from the HMTS  Strathaird, which is a British troop transport. Another vessel in this convoy is the USAT  Chateau Thierry.

      This first contingent of the MAGNET Force consists of, from the U. S. 34th Division:

          The Advanced command post of Headquarters Company, 34th Division (from HMTS Strathaird);

           The  133rd Infantry (less the 2nd and 3rd Battalions);

            The 1st Battalion of the 151st Field Artillery, which will shortly be redesignated as the 151st Field Artillery Battalion (from HMTS Strathaird);

            A Detachment of the 136th Medical Regiment, which will shortly be redesignated as the 109th Medical Battalion;

            A Detachment of the 109th Quartermaster Regiment, which will shortly be redesignated as the 109th Quartermaster Battalion (from the USAT Chateau Thierry);

           Company A, 109th Engineers, which will shortly be redesignated as Company A, 109th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (from the USAT Chateau Thierry); and

           A Detachment of the 34th Military Police Company, which will shortly be redesignated as the Military Police Platoon, Headquarters and Military Police Company,  34th Infantry Division.

          Non-34th Division units landing with this initial contingent of the MAGNET Force are:

          A Detachment ofthe 112th Engineer Battalion (Combat);

          The 10th Station Hospital; and

          A Detachment of the 63rd Signal Battalion. 

• On January 26 of this year, in Washington, D.C. U.S. General Henry Arnold, Air Force Chief, sends a plan to Chief of Staff George Marshal; this is a plan to station 4,648 American planes in the United Kingdom, and it would include 54 groups of heavy bombers, 10 medium bomber groups, and 10 pursuit plane groups.  (Source:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK by Gordon A. Harrison, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, page 19).   

• On January 27 of this year, U. S. Army Major General Russell P. Hartle--the commander of the 34th Division--begins a temporary assignment as commander of  the United States Army Northern Ireland Force command. This is in addition to his ongoing responsibilities as 34th Division commander. The V Corps commander, Major General Edmund L. Daley had not sailed with the first contingent of the MAGNET Force.

• On January 27 of this year  the Advanced command post of Headquarters Company, 34th Division is now ashore in Northern Ireland.

• On January 27 of this year the  133rd Infantry (less the 2nd and 3rd Battalions) of the 34th Division is also now ashore in Northern Ireland.

• On January 27 of this year the 1st Battalion of the 151st Field Artillery, which will shortly be redesignated as the 151st Field Artillery Battalion, is now stationed in Northern Ireland. It is another component of the U. S. 34th Division.

• On January 27 of this year a Detachment of the 136th Medical Regiment, which will shortly be redesignated as the 109th Medical Battalion, is now stationed in Northern Ireland. This unit, too, is part of the U. S. 34th Division.

• On January 27 of this year  a Detachment of the 109th Quartermaster Regiment, which will shortly be redesignated as the 109th Quartermaster Battalion, has landed and is now stationed in Northern Ireland. It is yet another component of the U. S. 34th Division.

• On January 27 of this year   Company A, 109th Engineers, which will shortly be redesignated as Company A, 109th Engineer Battalion (Combat), is stationed in Northern Ireland. Company A is another unit of the U. S. 34th Division.

• On January 27 of this year a Detachment of the 34th Military Police Company, which will shortly be redesignated as the Military Police Platoon, Headquarters and Military Police Company,  34th Infantry Division is now stationed in Northern Ireland.

• On January 27 of this year  a Detachment ofthe 112th Engineer Battalion (Combat)--which is not part of the U. S. 34th Division--is also now stationed in Northern Ireland.

• On January 27 of this year The 10th Station Hospital; and a Detachment of the 63rd Signal Battalion are both now stationed in Northern Ireland. Neither of these units is a part of theU. S. 34th Division.

• On January 27 of this year,at about this time, the eighteen enlisted men who made up the enlisted contingent of the MAGNET advance detachment are now stationed in London,England. [Garrett Dempsey estimate.]

• On January 27 of this year  the U. S. First Army photographic unit-a detachment from the 161st Signal Photographic Company that consists of Lieutenant Robert H. Lande and 6 enlisted men-remains in Northern Ireland.

• On January 27 of this year in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is now settling into a regular routine in its new offices.  It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

• On January 27 of this year the U. S. Army Forces in the British Isles command (USAFBI) is functioning in England, and Colonel Paul R. Hawley is the Chief Surgeon of the USAFBI.

• In the United States on Wednesday, January 28 of this year the 97th  Bombardment Group (Heavy) is ordered into being; its actual activation date is set for February 3 of this year.  (SOURCE:  Information on 97th Bombardment Group posted to Website of Eighth Air Force Historical Society, at  http://www.8thafhs.org/bomber/97bg.htm)

• On January 28 of this year in the United States, the 90th Bombardment Group (Heavy) is officially constituted as a new bomber group in the U. S. Army Air Corps.  (SOURCE: World Wide Web posting at: http://libraryautomation.com.westserver.net/nymas/usaaf4.html).

• In the United States on Wednesday, January 28 of this year a third heavy bombardment group is officially constituted; this is the 301st Bombardment Group (Heavy). It, too, will not be actually activated until February 3, and its initial station will be at Geiger Field, Spokane, Washington.  (SOURCE:  301st Bombardment Group History page, Eighth Air Force Historical Society website at:  http://www.8thafhs.org/bomber/301bg.htm  accessed 12/9/2013-GD). 

• In the United States on Wednesday, January 28 of this year, along with the creation of several new heavy bombardment groups, the Eighth Air Force is activated; it is destined for service in Great Britain. It is composed of the First, Second and Third Bombardment (later to be designated Air) Divisions.  (Source:  FIELDS OF LITTLE AMERICA by Martin Bowman, Patrick Stephens publisher, Cambridge, 1983, preface).

• On January 28 of this year  in England, the new unit called Headquarters, United States Army Forces in the British Isles is now settling into a regular routine in its new offices.  It is commanded by Major General James E. Chaney.

• On January 28 of this year in England   the U. S. Army Forces in the British Isles command (USAFBI) is functioning in England, and Colonel Paul R. Hawley is the Chief Surgeon of the USAFBI.

• On January 28 of this year  the U. S. First Army photographic unit-a detachment from the 161st Signal Photographic Company that consists of Lieutenant Robert H. Lande and 6 enlisted men-remains in Northern Ireland.

•  On January 28 of this year Headquarters, United States Army Northern Ireland Force (USANFI)  is officially established at Wilmont House, which lies some seven miles to the southwest of Belfast.

• On January 28 of this year  a Detachment of the 112th Engineer Battalion (Combat)--which is not part of the U. S. 34th Division--is also now stationed in Northern Ireland.

• On January 28 of this year G-2 (Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence) for the first MAGNET Force convoy is Major Richard E. O'Connor. Lieutenant Colonel Maurice E. Rovin is the Finance Officer assigned to this first contingent.

• On January 28 of this year the 10th Station Hospital; and a Detachment of the 63rd Signal Battalion are both now stationed in Northern Ireland. Neither of these units is a part of theU. S. 34th Division.

• On January 28 of this year the United States Army Northern Ireland Force Signal Section opens for service in Wilmont House outside  Belfast. This section is staffed by just two men at this time: Colonel Floyd T. Gillespie and Staff Sargeant Joel M. Hirsch.

• On January 28 of this year the Public Relations Officer in the first MAGNET Force convoy is Lieutenant Colonel Theodore  Arter, the Public Relations Officer of the U. S. Army V Corps. He will later on transfer to become the Public Relations Officer for the Northern Ireland Base Section of the Services of Supply.

• On January 28 of this year the men who will establish the initial postal service for American forces in Northern Ireland are led by Lieutenant Joseph E. Porch. Lieutenant Porch has 14 enlisted men in his postal detachment. Lieutenent Porch and six of the men set up Army Post Office 813 at Belfast. Six field post offices are set up at Limavady, Antrim, Londonderry, Eglinton, Ballymena, and Carrickfergus.

• On January 28 of this year a temporary mortuary and graves registration service for American forces in England and Northern Ireland is set up by contract with Wilton Funeral Directors of Belfast. Temporary use of the Londonderry and Belfast City cemeteries is also arranged.

•  

• On January 29 of this year the Public Relations Officer in the first MAGNET Force convoy is Lieutenant Colonel Theodore  Arter, the Public Relations Officer of the U. S. Army V Corps. He will later on transfer to become the Public Relations Officer for the Northern Ireland Base Section of the Services of Supply.

• On January 29 of this year the 10th Station Hospital; and a Detachment of the 63rd Signal Battalion are both now stationed in Northern Ireland. Neither of these units is a part of theU. S. 34th Division.

• On January 29 of this year the U. S. Army Postal System sends the first mail to the United States from Northern Ireland. It is processed by Lieutenant Porch and his 14-man mail detachment.

• On January 29 of this year G-2 (Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence) for the first MAGNET Force convoy is Major Richard E. O'Connor. Lieutenant Colonel Maurice E. Rovin is the Finance Officer assigned to this first contingent.

• On January 29 of this year  the U. S. First Army photographic unit-a detachment from the 161st Signal Photographic Company that consists of Lieutenant Robert H. Lande and 6 enlisted men-remains in Northern Ireland.

• On January 29 of this year  a Detachment of the 112th Engineer Battalion (Combat)--which is not part of the U. S. 34th Division--is also now stationed in Northern Ireland.

• On January 29 of this year ,at about this time, the eighteen enlisted men who made up the enlisted contingent of the MAGNET advance detachment are now stationed in London,England. [Garrett Dempsey estimate.]

• On January 29 of this year a temporary mortuary and graves registration service for American forces in England and Northern Ireland is now functioning by contract with Wilton Funeral Directors of Belfast. Temporary use of the Londonderry and Belfast City cemeteries has also been arranged.

• On January 30 of this year ,at about this time, the eighteen enlisted men who made up the enlisted contingent of the MAGNET advance detachment are now stationed in London,England. [Garrett Dempsey estimate.]

• On January 30 of this year G-2 (Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence) for the first MAGNET Force convoy is Major Richard E. O'Connor. Lieutenant Colonel Maurice E. Rovin is the Finance Officer assigned to this first contingent.

• On January 30 of this year the 10th Station Hospital; and a Detachment of the 63rd Signal Battalion are both now stationed in Northern Ireland. Neither of these units is a part of theU. S. 34th Division.

• On January 30 of this year the men who just yesterday sent out the first mail from Northern Ireland to the United States for American forces in Northern Ireland are led by Lieutenant Joseph E. Porch. Lieutenant Porch has 14 enlisted men in his postal detachment. Lieutenent Porch and six of the men set up Army Post Office 813 at Belfast. Six field post offices are set up at Limavady, Antrim, Londonderry, Eglinton, Ballymena, and Carrickfergus.

• On January 30 of this year the United States Army Northern Ireland Force Signal Section is operating in Wilmont House outside  Belfast. This section is staffed by just two men at this time: Colonel Floyd T. Gillespie and Staff Sargeant Joel M. Hirsch.

• On Saturday, January 31 of this year the United States Army Northern Ireland Force pays its attached troops directly from assigned funds in its first official Force payday transaction. Troops are paid in British currency, at the exchange rate of one pound Sterling for $4.035 of American money.

• On January 31 of this year G-2 (Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence) for the former first MAGNET Force convoy is Major Richard E. O'Connor. Lieutenant Colonel Maurice E. Rovin is the Finance Officer assigned to this first contingent.

• On January 31 of this year ,at about this time, the eighteen enlisted men who made up the enlisted contingent of the MAGNET advance detachment are now stationed in London,England. [Garrett Dempsey estimate.]

• On January 31 of this year-a Saturday-  a Detachment of the 112th Engineer Battalion (Combat)--which is not part of the U. S. 34th Division--is also now stationed in Northern Ireland.

• On January 31 of this year the United States Army Northern Ireland Force Signal Section is operating in Wilmont House outside  Belfast. This section is staffed by just two men at this time: Colonel Floyd T. Gillespie and Staff Sargeant Joel M. Hirsch.

• On January 31 of this year the men who just a couple of days ago sent out the first mail from Northern Ireland to the United States for American forces in Northern Ireland are led by Lieutenant Joseph E. Porch. Lieutenant Porch has 14 enlisted men in his postal detachment. Lieutenent Porch and six of the men set up Army Post Office 813 at Belfast. Six field post offices are set up at Limavady, Antrim, Londonderry, Eglinton, Ballymena, and Carrickfergus.

• On January 31 of this year a temporary mortuary and graves registration service for American forces in England and Northern Ireland is now functioning by contract with Wilton Funeral Directors of Belfast. Temporary use of the Londonderry and Belfast City cemeteries has also been arranged.

• On January 31 of this year  the U. S. First Army photographic unit-a detachment from the 161st Signal Photographic Company that consists of Lieutenant Robert H. Lande and 6 enlisted men-remains in Northern Ireland.

•   As of January 31 of this year there are a cumulative total of 4,058 United States troops in the United Kingdom, and 108 long tons of equipment aand supplies.  (SOURCE:  HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II The Invasion of France and Germany 1944-1945 BY SAMUEL ELIOT MORRISON An Atlantic Monthly Press Book LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY BOSTON 1962, page 51).

•   By the end of January of this year the U. S. 2nd Armored Division in America has completed its reorganization. Now the division has five main sub-headquarters; they are: Division HQ, Combat Command A,  Combat Command B,  Division Artillery, and  Division Trains.  There are two medium tank battalions in the tank regiments, along with one light tank battalion. The triangular theme has also been extended to the division's infantry regiment: it  has three battalions, and the three division artillery battalions each have three firing batteries, giving the division a total complement of fifty-four howitzers. The division reconnaissance battalion's infantry company has been removed, but it now has three reconnaissance companies and a light tank company. The engineer battalion, however, is still "square": it has four companies and a treadway bridge  company.` At this time, and with these changes, the number of men in the division now totals 14,618 officers and enlisted men.

•     At some time during January of this year in England General Sir Bernard Paget, who commands the British Home Forces, and who thus has the highest army field command in England, is directed by the Chiefs of Staff to study a cross-Channel attack plan which has (at this early date--G. Dempsey comment) been devised by the British Joint Planners. This plan is called ROUNDUP by the British Planners. General Paget's instructions are to study this plan "in consultation wih the designate Naval and Air Force Commanders in Chief (Admiral Sir Bertram H. Ramsay and Air Marshal Sholto Douglas respectively)", according to Gordon A. Harrison.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK by Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, pages 5-6).

•     At this time (January of this year) the British ROUNDUP plan is based upon the possibility of a major weakening of German strength in northwest Europe, and of a German withdrawal of their forces to concentrate upon a defense of the German homeland itself. In that case, the ROUNDUP forces would disrupt the Geman pullback, with British forces assaulting the area to the west and east of Le Havre on beaches from Deauville to Dieppe. Their initial object would be to dominate an area 75 to 100 miles deep between Calais and the Seine. Upon securing this area, the forces would then push north  to take Antwerp and move into Germany across the Meuse River north ofLi'ege. This would all be accomplished using 6 1/3 divisions of infantry, 6 armored divisions, 6 army tank brigades, and supporting troops. Seaborne fire support would be provided by just three naval vessels, to include one capital ship. However, while this plan will be studied by General paget and his associates, it will never be taken seriously as THE official allied invasion plan, nor will it be introduced into official combined discussions. It is only a first-draft, "what if" plan.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK by Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, pages 6-8). 

•    At some time during January of this year, in the Southwest Pacific Area,  the Japanese capture Rabaul on New Britain Island in the Bismarck A rchipelago, and this presents a serious threat to the Allied lines of communication from the United States to Australia. It also can block any planned Allied advance along the north coast of New Guinea in the direction of the Philippines.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II  The War in the Pacific  CARTWHEEL: THE REDUCTION OF RABAUL  by John Miller, jr.  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY  DEPART MENT OF THE ARMY  WASHINGTON, D. C. , 1959, pp. 1-2). 

•  FEBRUARY:    In the Pacific Ocean before dawn on February 1 of this year the Kwajalein Attack Group of 36 scout-bombers is launched from U.S. Navy aircraft carrier CV-6 Enterprise. Six fighters are also sent aloft on Combat Patrol. Seventeen SBD Dauntless dive bombers from the Kwajalein Group have Roi-a small island at the northern tip of Kwajalein Atoll-as their target. Roi has a landing field, and quite a bit of opposition from enemy fighter planes was expected, as was fire from anti-aircraft machinegun positions. Three of the seventeen Dauntlesses are lost in their first attack on this target. The Air Group Commander and eighteen planes from Bombing Squadron Six make a reconnaissance run over Roi, but they hold onto their bombs, as their primary targets are enemy ships, so they fly on south towards Kawjalein Island itself, which is at the atoll's southern end. At the Island they find about ten large ships, some shore facilities and a radio station for targets. Nine TBD Devastator torpedo bombers, which have beem somewhat late in arriving on the scene, also attack Kwajalein Island.  The SBD Dauntlesses drop one 500-pound bomb each, as well as two small 100-pound bombs. The TBD Devastators, for their part, attack with three 500-pound bombs. Many direct hits and near misses are scored by the attacking forces, and much damage results. One scout plane had been delayed from the original takeoffs by engine trouble, and it had joined the later-arriving Devastators; it is unfortunately lost in the attack on Kwajalein Island.  (SOURCE: Digitized version of  REPORT OF ACTION ON FEBRUARY 1, 1942 ((ZONE MINUS TWELVE)) AGAINST MARSHALL ISLAND GROUP By The Commanding Officer, U. S. S. Enterprise ((CV-6)), dated 7 Feb. 1942, at: http://www.cv6.org/ship/logs/action19420201.htm   accessed 11/17/2013-GD). 

•   

•  FEBRUARY:    In the United States on February 3 of this year orders are issued creating (on paper) the 98th Bombardment Group(Heavy).  (SOURCE:  THE DESERT RATS The 98th Bomb Group and the August 1943 Ploesti Raid-by Michael Hill PICTORIAL HISTORIES PUBLISHING CO. ((paperback))-July, 1990, pg. 1).

• FEBRUARY:    In the United States on Tuesday, February 3 of this year, the 97th Bombardment Group (Heavy) is officially activated at MacDill Field in Florida, and its first commander is Colonel Cornelius W. Cousland.  (SOURCE:  Information on 97th Bombardment Group posted to Website of Eighth Air Force Historical Society, at  http://www.8thafhs.org/bomber/97bg.htm)

• FEBRUARY:    In Washington, D.C. on February 5 of this year orders are issued which officially change the designation of the Hawaiian Air Force to the U. S. Seventh Air Force. Its duties remain unchanged, with its fighter units on standby alert to repel any new airborne attacks by the enemy, and its bombers assignd to conduct long-range overwater searches for possible approaches by enemy naval fleets.  (SOURCE:  SEEVNTH AIR FORCE STORY...IN WORLD WAR II by Kenn C. Rust  Historical Aviation Album Temple City, California 1979  ((paperback)), page 5).

• FEBUARY:      In Washington, D.C. on February 10 of this year the top-level American and British military commanders, after some discussion of proposed British amendments to document C. C. S. 9, approve it with the British amendments, to be published as C. C. S. 9/1, War Collaboration  Between United Nations. This document defines the duties of the newly-created Combined Chiefs of Staff organization as being the formulation and execution of policies and plans (under the direction of the heads of the United Nations) concerning the strategic conduct of the war, the broad program of war requirements, the allocation of munitions, and the requirements for transportation of personnel and munitions.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK by Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY WASHINGTON, D.C. 1951, page 2 and note 6).

• FEBRUARY:    On February 19 of this year in Washington, D.C. the Office of the Chief of Staff, Army approves the directive for creation of Task Force GYMNAST to carry out the operation of the same name, which is the invasion of French Northwest Africa.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Mediterranean Theater of Operations NORTHWEST AFRICA: SEIZING THE INITIATIVE IN THE WEST by George F. Howe  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON D.C., 1957 page 10, note 37).

• FEBRUARY:    On February 20 of this year,cadre for the recently-activated 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy) is separated from the already-established 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), and the men are then scheduled to report to their new base at Fort Myers, Florida on March 28 of this year.  (SOURCE:  THE DESERT RATS The 98th Bomb Group and the August 1943 Ploesti Raid-by Michael Hill PICTORIAL HISTORIES PUBLISHING CO. ((paperback))-July, 1990, pg. 1).

•  

• FEBRUARY:    On February 28 of this year in Washington, D.C. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9082. This order declares that the U.S. Army "is reorganized to provide under the Chief of Staff a ground force, under a Commanding General, Army Ground Forces; an air force, under a Commanding General, Army Air Forces; and a service of supply command, under a Commanding General, Services of Supply; and such overseas departments, task forces, base commands, defense commands, commands in theaters of operations, and other commands as the Secretary of War may find to be necessary for the national security.

               "  2. The functions, duties, and powers of the chiefs of the following-named branches of the Army of the United States are transferred to the Commanding General, Army Ground Forces: Infantry, Cavalry, Field Artillery, and Coast Artillery Corps (except those relating to procurement, storage, and issue).

               "  3. The functions, duties, and powers of the Commanding General, General Headquarters Air Force (Air Force Combat Command), and of the Chief of the Air Corps are transferred to the Commanding General, Army Air Forces.

               "  4. The functions, duties, and powers of the Chief of Coast Artillery relating to procurement, storage, and issue are transferred to the Commanding General, services of Supply."  (SOURCE: See text of this order at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=16227 ).

•    FEBRUARY:    On February 28 of this month Brigadier General Dwight Eisenhower, the Assistant Chief of Staff in the United States War Plans Division, writes to the Chief of Staff that "The task of keeping Russia in the war involves...immediate and definite action. It is not sufficient to urge upon the Russians the indirect  advantages that will accrue to them from Allied operations in distant parts of the world. ...Russia's problem is to sustain herself during the coming summer, and she must not be permitted to reach such a precarious position that she will accept a negotiated peace, no matter how unfavorable to herself, in preference to continuation of the fight." General Eisenhower believes that, while it is not possible to mount a sizable ground attack against Germany from England at this time, air operations could be begun now, to aid Russia by harming Germany.  (SOURCE:  quoted in UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK By Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, pages 11-12).  

• FEBRUARY (WHOLE MONTH):   All during this month, the United States continues to maintain a small but growing military presence in the United Kingdom. (Garrett Dempsey comment).

• FEBRUARY (NO SPECIFIC DATE):    At some time during this month the War Shipping Administration assumes the operating responsibilities which were formerly taken care of by the United States Maritime Commission, and vessels are allocated to the Army and the Navy according to their requirements.  (Source:  THE UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Technical Services THE TRANSPORTATION CORPS: MOVEMENTS, TRAINING, AND SUPPLY,  by Chester Wardlow, CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY  WASHINGTON, D.C., 2003, pg. 4).

• FEBRUARY (NO SPECIFIC DATE):    During this month in the United States the whole question of how military deployments to the Pacific area should fit into the overall context of the country's general military strategy is being studied by both War Department planners under the guidance of Brigadier General Dwight Eisenhower and by the Army and the Navy's Joint Staff Planners organization. They conclude that it will clearly be impossible to have unlimited future movements of Army forces to the Pacific, but that limiting such deployments would not by itself be the complete answer to the problem of defeating Germany. The real solution, the Joint Chiefs conclude, will be the concept of an invasion of Europe in sufficient force to achieve the desired result, and that such an invasion should be launched from English bases. Such an invasion should also have a date certain for its execution. This plan, devised by Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, calls for an assembly of forces to begin right now (an operation code-named Bolero), for a cross-channel attack to take place in the spring of next year (code-named Roundup).  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War Department STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE `1943-1944  by Maurice Matloff  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1959, page 12).

• FEBRUARY:    At some time during this month the U.S. 29th Division is reorganized into a "triangular"division, composed of three infantry regiments, including the 116th Infantry Regiment.  (Source:  Destination Normandy, by G. H. Bennett Stackppole Military History Series, pg. 8).

• FEBRUARY:    At some time during this month the recently mobilized 36th Infantry Division moves from its original station at Camp Bowie, Texas to Camp Blanding  near the small city of Starke, Florida. While there the division is prepared for an early overseas deployment, but their orders change and the men stay in Florida while the unit is "fleshed out" with new recruits and loses other cadres.  (Source:  A Pictorial History of the 36th "Texas" Infantry Division, by The 36th Division Pictorial History Team, Staff Sergeant Richard A. Huff, Editor, Published by The 36th Division Association, Ausin, Texas, no date, unpaged, should be page 4). 

•  MARCH:     In the United States on March 1 of this year, the 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy) is activated at Salt Lake City Air Base, Utah.  (SOURCE: World Wide Web posting at:  www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/254  retrieved 7/3/2020-GD).). 

•  MARCH:     On March 3 of this year,in a conversation with some of his close associates, Adolf Hitler reverts back to his youthful student days. He says that most of his early teachers were a little insane, and that the few good teachers were the exception.  (It is not known whether Hitler, at this time, is personally aware of how extensively the United States is mobilizing and increasing its military might--Garrett Dempsey observation).

• MARCH:    In Washington, D.C. on March 5 of this year the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff issue document JCS 23, Appendix II, which contains Joint Planning Staff plan JPS2/6, a detailed outline of a plan for a considerable invasion from England across the English Channel this year. Because the United States is just now building up its armed forces, this attack would have to, in the beginning, be carried out by mostly British forces, but with rapidly increasing American support. In that case, the Joint Planners say that such an attack could be launched as early as the summer of this year, with a target date sometime between July 15 and August 1. It would begin with a 15-day aerial bombardment to draw German air forces away from the eastern front and to gain control of the air over the Channel and over the air space for a distance of at least one hundred kilometers between Dunkerque and Abbeville while causing maximum damage to German military installations and lines of communication. While this aerial offensive was going on, commando raids would hit the coasts of the Netherlands, Belgium and Normandy. [G. Dempsey note: Even at this early date, the Normandy coast was mentioned as a target for attack, though on a small scale.] A second phase of this plan would begin about a month after the initial "D-day", with a major cross-Channel assault aimed at the high ground north of the Seine and Oise Rivers. This attack would also have the mission of destroying enemy ground and air forces in the area of Calais-Arras-St. Quentin-Soissons-Paris and Deauville. There was very little attention, if any, paid in this plan to what would later be the very crucial problem of providing enough landing craft to make such an invasion possible.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK By Gordon A. Harrison  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARMENT OFHE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, page 12).  

• MARCH:    On March 9 of this year the Office of the Chief of Transportation of the United States Army is created as part of the overall reorganization of the War Department currently underway.  (Source:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Technical Services THE TRANSPORTATION CORPS: MOVEMENTS, TRAINING AND SUPPLY by Chester Wardlow CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 2003, pg. 7).

• MARCH:    On March 9 of this year United States President Franklin Roosevelt sends a cable message to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Despite the cancellation of Operation GYMNAST, the President is continuing to press for action.  (Source:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK By Gordon A. Harrison  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARMENT OFHE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, page 15, note 37).   

• MARCH:    The American and British Combined Chiefs of Staff hold their 11th meeting in Washington, D.C. on March 10th of this year. At this meeting they finally concede that it will not be possible to carry out Operation GYMNAST or SUPER GYMNAST, the landings in French North Africa, in the near future, and they agree that it is "unnecessary for the Combined Chiefs of Staff to present any paper to the President or Prime Minister" on this subject.  (SOURCE:  CCS 11th Meeting 10 Mar 42).

• MARCH:    In Washington, D.C. the American Joint Chiefs of Staff issue document JCS 23, Annex C on March 14 of this year. In this document they write, "Although Russia's strength was greatly underestimated by military authorities, including the Germans, a true test of Russia's capacity to resist the enemy will come this summer."  (SOURCE:  JCS 23, Annex C, quoted in UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK By Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, page 11, note i28).

• MARCH:    A farewell dinner at Fort Meade in Virginia is held for the 116th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 29th Division on March 14 of this year. Miss Madeliene Carroll, the film actress from England, is named the "daughter of the regiment". She has already appeared in 22 films, including in last year's release named "Virginia".  (Source: Destination Normandy, by G. H. Bennett, ((paperback)), Stackpole Military History Series 2007, pg. 9).   

• MARCH:    In Germany Hitler delivers a Memorial Day speech on the radio from  the Berlin Sports Palace on March 15 of this year. In this speech he says that Germany has just come through, "...a year, not only of the greatest fight in human history, but also of the hardest trials of our own people...", but that both the people at home and the armies at the front have withstood the test and will win greater victories in the coming summer. Hitler thus admits that the just ended winter of 1941 into early 1942 has been extremely harsh for Germany.  (SOURCE:  See Engliksh translation of text at comicism tripod website:  http://comicism.tripod.com/420315.html  accessed 12/11/2015-GD).

• MARCH:    The U. S. Joint Chiefs of Staff hold their 6th meeting in Washington, D.C. on March 16 of this year. at this meeting, among other things, they agree that sufficient forces should be assembled in Britain this year to enable an offensive to be mounted "at the earliest possible moment", without committing themselves to a "date certain" for such an operation. Meanwhile, their strategy for the Pacific theater will be to use only the forces currently committed to, or allotted to, that theater to contain the Japanese there. They felt that this arrangement wo provide the most effective support to the Soviet Union, while keeping the forces already in the British Isles occupied; containment of the Japanese, they felt, would retain the vital British dominions of Australia and New Zealand as sources of supply for the Allies and as bases for future offensive operations in the Pacific.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War in the Pacific GUADALCANAL: THE FIRST OFFENSIVE by John Miller, jr. HISTORICAL DIVISION DWPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1949, pages 1 and 2).

• MARCH:    On the morning of March 17 of this year American General Douglas MacArthur's B-17 Flying Fortress bomber arrives at Batchelor Field near Darwin, Australia on its flight from the Philippine Islands. He had been ordered to leave the American forces still defending Corregidor by President Roosevelt; the President wants him to organize the defense of Allied positions in the Pacific and, eventually, to go on the offensive against Japan.  (SOURCE:  FLYING BUCCANEERS The Illustrated Story  of Kenney's Fifth Air Force  By Steve Birdsall With a Forward by General George C. Kenney  Doubleday & Company, Inc. Garden City, Nedw York 1977 Hardcover, pg. 1).

• MARCH:    In the United States today the March 23 issue  of LIFE magazine goes on sale. Its cover shows a young boy assembling a small model plane, to illustrate its feature article, "HOW TO MAKE PLANE MODELS". The magazine costs $0.10 per week to purchase.  (SOURCE:  Revell Inc. History About Revell Inc. at: http://www.revell.com/news/about-us.html?submenuheader=0  accessed 1/26/2013).

• MARCH:    In Europe on March 23 of this year Hitler at his Fuhrer Headquarters issues Directive Number 40, which outlines his plans for defending the coasts of Europe, and which designates areas of responsibility for theater commanders in all areas under German control, including Lapland, Norway, Denmark, the Balkans and the Baltic, as well as in France and the Netherlands and in the "Zone of Interior".  (SOURCE: English translation at: World War 2 Database website at: http://www.ww2db.com/doc.php?q=328  accessed 12/9/2015-GD).  

• MARCH:    On March 25 of this year President Roosevelt meets with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of War Stimson at the White House to get their advice on future offensive operations, especially as to whether U.S. troops could profitably be used in Syria, Libya, and northwest Africa, as well as in northwest Europe.  (Source:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK by Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON. D.C., 1951, pg. 15).

• MARCH:   On March 25 of this year in America the 90th Infantry Division is reactivated at Camp Barkeley, near Abilene, Texas, under the command of Major General Henry Terrell, Jr. The division is organized on the new triangular concept; it is made up of the 357th, 358th and 359th Infantry Regiments, the 315th Engineer Regiment, 315th Medical Battalion, 415th Quartermaster Battalion, 90th Signal Company and 90th Reconnaissance Troops. Brigadier General John E. Lewis is divisional artillery commander, and he has under his command three 105mm howitzer battalions: the 343rd, 344th and the 9154th Battalions. In addition, one battalion of 155mm heavy guns, in the 345th Field Artillery Battalion, is attached to the new division.

      Upon reactivation, and when it is "fleshed out" with manpower, the 90th Infantry Division begins basic training, which lasts for most of the rest of this year. (SOURCE:  A HISTORY OF THE 90TH DIVISION IN WORLD WAR II   6 JUNE 1944 TO 9 MAY 1945--THE BATTERY PRESS,  Nashville, TN--Reprinted 1999, pp.1-2).

• MARCH:    On March 25 of this year, in another unit activation, the 82nd Infantry Division-a deactivated World War I combat unit-is reactivated at Camp Claiborne in Louisiana. The division is led by Major General Omar N. Bradley.  (SOURCE:  82nd Airborne Division page, Fort Bragg website at:  http://www.bragg.army.mil/82nd/Pages/History.aspx  accessed 6/14/2014-GD). 

• MARCH:    In Washington, D.C. on March 27 of this year the War Plans Division of the U.S. Army, basing its plan on the Joint Strategic Committee's report of March 6, 1942, presents an outline plan to President Roosevelt which describes a possible invasion of Europe in the Spring of 1943.This invasion would be carried out by 48 divisions and 5,800 aircraft; America would provide 3,250 of those  planes and as  many as a million troops. This plan, called the Marshal Memorardum, set out three phases for such an invasion: a Preparation phase, in which ground forces and associated materiel would be accumulated in Great Britain-this, under the name Operation BOLERO-had already been started; a preparatory aerial bombardment of German-occupied Europe, along with raids on the European coast; provision for an emergency cross-Channel operation (SLEDGEHAMMER), directed at the Cotentin peninsula of France, should there be the serious threat of a collapse of Russia in 1942, or if Germany itself should unexpectedly loosen its hold on France. The second phase outlined in the Marshal Memorandum was the main cross-Channel operation aimed at securing broad beachheads in the general area between Boulogne and Le Havre. This major invasion was called Operation ROUNDUP in the memorandum. Finally, the third phase of the overall operation envisioned a consolidation period for the forces which would then be on the continent, to be followed by an advance into the heart of Germany. (SOURCE:  HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME XI The Invasion of France and Germany 1944-1945 by Samuel Eliot Morrison Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1962, page 9). 

• MARCH:    In England at this time (end of March, 1942) the British Joint Planners also believe that this summer's campaign season would be critical for keeping Russia in the war, and that Russia would require diversions in the west to do so. However, they also see little hope that much could be done in the west to achieve that goal, because such an attack would require extensive support by the Royal Air Force, support which was available only in the Pas-de-Calais area, where German defenses were the strongest. (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK By Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, page 12). 

• MARCH:    At this time the Allied strategy for actions in the Pacific area is to be limited to prevention of further Japanese expansion there, using just the forces which have already been committed or allotted to the area, according to U. S. Joint Chiefs of Staff document 23, "Strategic Deployment of Land, Sea, and Air Forces of the United States-14 March 42".  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War in the Pacific GUADALCANAL: THE FIRST OFFENSIVE by John Miller, jr.  HISTORICAL DIVISION DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1949, page 1).

• MARCH:    At this time forces necessary to hold the scattered Allied bases along the supply line from the United States to Australia and New Zealand, including New Caledonia, the Fijis, and Samoa, have already been sentt here. However, none of those bases can be made into an individual, invasion-proof fortress; they depend for their security upon their being mutually supportive of each other.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War in the Pacific GUADALCANAL: THE FIRST OFFENSIVE by John Miller, jr.  HISTORICAL DIVISION DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1949, page 2). 

• MARCH:    In the United States Brigadier General Dwight Eisenhower is promoted to Major General and assigned to be Chief of the Army's Operations Division on March 27 of this year.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War Department STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE `1943-1944  by Maurice Matloff  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1959, page 13, note 5). 

• MARCH:    On March 28 of this year the initial elements of  cadre for the recently-activated 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrive at their temporary training base at Fort Myers, Florida. But this is a time of rapid expansion for all military forces in the United States, so their stay here will be short-lived.   (SOURCE:  THE DESERT RATS The 98th Bomb Group and the August 1943 Ploesti Raid-by Michael Hill PICTORIAL HISTORIES PUBLISHING CO. ((paperback))-July, 1990, pg. 1).

• MARCH:    On March 30 of this year ground is broken in Marietta, Georgia for a new Bell Aircraft Corp. factory which will build bombers for the Army Air Corps.  (SOURCE:  See World Wide Web site at: http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/date/March_30 ).

•  

  MARCH:     On March 30 of this year, with the approval of President Franklin Roosevelt, the U. S. Joint Chiefs of Staff establish two separate commands for the conduct of operations in the Pacific theater. The two are the Southwest Pacific Area and the Pacific Ocean Areas; together, they embrace almost the whole land and sea areas of the ocean. The Southwest Pacific Area covers the Philippine Islands, the South China Sea, the Gulf of Siam, the Netherland East Indies except for Sumatra, the Solomon Islands, Australia, and the waters to the south; General Douglas MacArthur is named as Supreme Commander of Allied forces (CINCSWPA) in this Area. The even more extensive Pacific Ocean Areas include all the rest of the Pacific Ocean west of the North American Continent except for the Southeast Pacific Area, whose eastern  boundary ran from the western Mexican-Guatemalan boundary southwest to the 11th parallel of north latitude, to longitude 110 degrees west, and then due south from there along the 110th meridian. The Pacific Ocean Areas theater (POA) included three sub-Areas: the North, Central and South Pacific Areas. The North Pacific Area included all of the Pacific  north of latitude 42 degrees North. The Central Pacific Area, covering the Hawaiian Islands, Christmas, Palmyra, Johnston, most of the Gilberts which were currently occupied by the Japanese, and the Japanese-held Marshalls, Carolines, Marianas, Formosa, as well as most of the Japanese home islands, was located between the equator and latitude 42 degrees North. South of the Equator, west of longitude 110 degrees West, and east of the Southwest Pacific was the South Pacific Area. That Area covered several thousand mostly small islands and extended over more than a million square miles of ocean seas. The more significant features of this area were New Zealand, New Caledolnia, and the New Hebrides, Santa Cruz, Fiji, Samoan, Tongan, Cook and Society Islands. The Supreme Commander of the entire Pacific Ocean Areas was Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who was also serving as Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC); exempted from his command were those forces assigned to the land defenses of New Zealand, who were under the control of that country's Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Nimitz's headquarters were at Pearl Harbor.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War in he pacific GUADALCANAL: THE FIRST OFFENSIVE by John Miller, jr. HISTORICAL DIVISION DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1949, pages 2-3).

   

• MARCH:    At some time during this month in America H Company of the 66th Armored Regiment, U. S. 2nd Armored Division, is on a training exercise in their new medium tanks, and they practice eliminating an antitank gun position. During this exercise, one of the attacking tanks is hit by live machinegun fire from the tanks giving it support, but noone is injured. At this time, Major General Willis D. Crittenberger has assumed command of the 2nd Armored Division. Major General George S. Patton, Jr., the division's former commander, now commands the I Armored Corps.

• MARCH:    At some time during this month Colonel Harry A. Halverson is called to Washington, D.C. to be assigned the command of the 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy). This is a B-24 Liberator-equipped unit that is located at this time at Barksdale Field in Shreveport, Louisiana. He is ordered to prepare for a secret campaign overseas that will emphasize long-range missions, and he is to use the 98th Group to carry out these missions. His operation is officially called Halverson Project 63, but it is more informally called simply Halpro.  (SOURCE:  Fortress Ploesti The Campaign to Destroy Hitler's Oil-by Jay A, Stout-Casemate Havertown, PA ((2003)), pp. 8-9).

• MARCH:    In the period between July of last year and this month the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation of Long Island, New York has produced 144 of its J2F-5 Duck biplane amphibious patrol aircraft for the U.S. Navy, and this month it assembles the last Duck at its plant in Bethpage on Long Island.  (SOURCE: Article, Grumman's Seabirds by Jack Dean and caption on pg. 9 in WINGS magazine, August, 1994-also see text, ibid., pg. 11).

• MARCH:    At some time during this month the U.S. War Department sends Major General George S. Patton, Jr., commander of the I Armored Corps, to California to establish the headquarters for the projected Desert Training Center, which will straddle the California-Nevada border. Patton settles upon a site 20 miles east of  Indio and near the small town of Desert Center in California. This new camp will be named Camp Young, in honor of the first Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.  (SOURCE:  See pdf reprint of La Posta 1997 article  here:).

• MARCH:    During this month the War Department planners, guided by Brigadier General Dwight Eisenhower and the Army and the Navy's own Joint Staff Planners work on the question of the best strategy to follow to beat Germany in Europe. They are settling on the concept of an Operation Bolero to build up and to concentrate forces in Great Britain, followed by an Operation Roundup to use those troops in ths spring of next year for a cross-channel invasion of the Continent. Should there be a sudden collapse of either Germany or of the Soviet Union by the autumn of this year, they planned for a subsidiary operation to be launched, code-named Operation Sledgehammer).  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War Department STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE `1943-1944  by Maurice Matloff  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1959, page 12). 

• MARCH:    At some time during this month the Army Ground Forces command is established as part of a general reorganization of the Army administrative structure in the United States of America. At this same time, G-3 of the War Department General Staff endorses a public statement which emphasizes the importance of having high-quality personnel in ground combat units.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Army Ground Forces THE PROCUREMENT AND TRAINING OF GROUND COMBAT TROOPS by Robert R. Palmer, Bell I. Wiley and William R. Keast HISTORICAL DIVISION DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D. C. 1948, page 3).

• MARCH:    At some time during this month, as another part of the general reorganization of the U.S. Army's administrative structure, the former War Plans Division is reestablished as the Operations Division of the Army General Staff (OPD), with now Major General Dwight Eisenhower at its head.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Mediterranean Theater of Operations SICILY AND THE SURRENDER OF ITALY by Lieutenant Colonel Albert N. Garland and Howard McGaw Smyth Assisted by Martin Blumenson  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1965, page 3).

• MARCH:    At some time during this month in Washington, D.C. "the offices held by [Admiral Harold R.] Stark and [Admiral Ernest J.] King are combined under King." [This combines the offices of Chief of Naval Operations and of the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Fleet.-G. Dempsey] (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK by Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF TE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, page 3).

• APRIL:    In Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, April 1 of this year, President Franklin Roosevelt approves the Marshall Memorandum regarding a plan for an eventual Allied invasion of Europe, and promptly orders General Marshall himself, along with Roosevelt's "do everything" aide Harry Hopkins and Lieutenant-Colonel Albert C. Wedemeyer of the Joint Strategic Committee, to go to London and to discuss the memo with the British, with the aim of reaching an early decision on it.  (SOURCE:  HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME XI The Invasion of France and Germany 1944-1945 by Samuel Eliot Morrison Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1962, page 9).

• APRIL:    In Washington, D.C. Army Air Force chief "Hap" Arnold is also present at the White House luncheon meeting on Wednesday, April 1 of this year, at which President Roosevelt approves General Marshall's memorandum concerning plans for an eventual Allied invasion of northwestern Europe, as is the Navy's Admiral King. However, on this day, just before the working meal with the President, special aide Harry Hopkins has a frank discussion with General Arnold, at which Mr. Hopkins warns the Air Force general that the American Navy and our British allies may put some serious obstacles in the way of carrying out General Marshall's plan. General Arnold doubts that our Navy would have serious problems with the plan, but he does entertain doubts about British openness to the idea at this time. He thinks that the British will need some serious persuasion before they accept the Marshall invasion plan.

• APRIL:   Amid much secrecy 16 U.S. Army Air Force B-25 medium bombers are lifted aboard the Navy aircraft carrier Hornet at Alameda, California on Wednesday, April 1 of this year.  (SOURCE:  GLOBAL MISSION by H. H. Arnold  TAB BOOKS Inc. Military Classics Series Blue Ridge Summit, PA, 1989, page 299).

• APRIL:   On Thursday, April 2 of this year the U. S. Navy aircraft carrier Hornet, carrying 16 Army Air Force B-25 medium bombers on its flight deck sails out of San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate into the Pacific Ocean. It is being guarded by two cruisers and four destroyers; the whole force is commanded by Vice Admiral William F. Halsey. There is still strict operational secrecy about the mission of this small battle group. The pilots assigned to the army planes have recently completed an intensive training program in extremely short-field takeoffs and landings, but even they do not know where they are going now.

• APRIL:    On Easter Sunday, April 5 of this year, Catholic Mass is celebrated for the first time in the newly-renovated and enlarged church of St. Luke in Whitestone, New York. At this time Father Francis J. Dillon is pastor of St. Luke and, in spite of the current needs of a country newly at war, he has been able to see the construction and reconstruction project through to a successful conclusion.  (SOURCE: "History of St. Luke Church" page at St. Luke Church website:  http://www.stlukewhitestone.org/index.php/2012-07-13-08-59-19   accessed 6/28/2014-GD).  

• APRIL:    On Monday, April 6 of this year the OPD Division of the U. S. General Staff issues an analysis of the current troop buildup.  (Source:   UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK by Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, page 15, note 38).

•  APRIL:    In the Philippine Islands on April 8 of this year, while American forces are still fighting at Bataan, Carlos Romulo-who will be a future president of the Philippines-is flown from Cabcaben Airfield along with five other passengers in a well-worn U.S. Navy J2F-5 Duck amphibious aircraft.  (SOURCE:Grumman's Seabirds by Jack Dean in WINGS magazine, August, 1994, pg. 24).   

•  APRIL:    At a meeting of the British and American Chiefs of Staff in London on April 9 of this year, American Chief of Staff George Marshal reports that America can have two and a half infantry divisions, a single armored division, and 900 American aircraft available in England for use if a sudden opportunity opened up for an invasion of the mainland.  (Source:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK, by Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C. 1951, pp.16-17 and note 42).   

•  APRIL:   On April 12 of this year, during another of his informal private conversations with his close personal associates, Adolf Hitler again complains about his elementary-school teachers.  He calls them unkempt and unclean, and devoid of  the capacity for independent thought.

• APRIL:    By about this time (early April, 1942) the Japanese have occupied Buka, Bougainville and several other positions in the Shortland Islands area, and they are moving towards Tulagi, off Florida Island in the Solomons Islands.  (SOURCE:  FLYING BUCCANEERS The Illustrated Story of Kenney's Fifth Air Force by Steve Birdsall with an introduction by General George C. Kenney Doubleday  ompany, Inc. Garden City, New York 1977, pg. 2).

• APRIL:    In Germany on April 13 of this year the Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, Admiral Erich Raeder, submits a report to Adolf Hitler in which the admiral says that it is believed that Great Britain and the United States will use the Basra-Iran route to ship as many supplies to Russia for use on the Caucasus and southern fronts as they possibly can, and that these shipments will include troops as well as military equipment and other materiel. He says that these shipments will be "extremely disadvantageous to our land offensive. Every ton of supplies which the enemy manages to get through to the Near East means a continuous reinforcement of the enemy war potential, makes our own operations in the Caucasus more difficult, and strengthens the British position in the Near East and Egypt."  (Source:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Middle East Theater THE PERSIAN CORRIDOR AND AID TO RUSSIA, by T, H. Vail Motter, CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1985, page 5 and note 3 ). 

• APRIL:    On April 13 of this year while U. S. General George Marshal and Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt's special assistant, are in London, the British Chiefs of Staff issue their reply to General Marshal's memorandum concerning his plans for an invasion of France in 1943, to which they agreed.  (Source:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK by Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, page 16).  

• APRIL:    On April 14 of this year at a conference of Allied military leaders in London, England the British Chiefs of Staff accept an American proposal [the Marshal Memorandum] and agree that planning should start right away for initiating a major offensive in Europe next year, and also for mounting an emergency landing there, if the opportunity presented itself, or if Russia should be on the verge of collapse later this year.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War Department STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE 1941-1942 by Maurice Matloff and Edwin M. Snell, CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C. 1990, pg. 188).

• APRIL:    In London, England on April 14 of this year, at the meeting of Allied military leaders, General Alan Brooke, Chief of the British Imperial General Staff, says that his planners count on having seven infantry and two armored divisions if they have to invade the continent this year, but that he does not like the idea.  (Source:   UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK by Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, page 17).       

• APRIL:    The code name assigned to the planned major invasion of Europe, which is agreed to by the British at the conference in London of Allied military leaders on April 14 of this year is "ROUNDUP", and it envisions an all-out attack across the English Channel into northern France, to take place in the spring of 1943.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II TheMediterranean Theater of Operations SICILY AND THE SURRENDER OF ITALY by Lieutenant Colonel Albert N. Garland and Howard McGaw Smyth Assisted by Martin Blumenson OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF HE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C. 1965, page 3).

•  APRIL:     On April 15 of this year, the 90th Bombardment Group (Heavy) is activated at Key Field in Meridian, Mississippi. First Lieutenant Newman W. Enloe is the Activating Officer. The 90th has no aircraft, no pilots, and not much of any other equipment, either. The initial cadre of the Group consists of 90 enlisted men and 1st Lieutenant Enloe, and they spend most of their first month as a Group on the drill field.

• APRIL:    In Germany on April 20 of this year the first protype of the German "Tiger" heavy  battle tank is completed at the Henschel-Werke in Kassel. This tank is 4.93 meters [around 15-16 feet] long and weighs 1,310 kilograms [2,888 lbs.]. It carries an 88-mm cannon, and on this day both the Henschel and a different prototype built by the Porsche Company are demonstrated for Adolf Hitler at his Wolfschanze Headquarters. This demonstration is organized partly in rocognition thaat today is Hitler's birthday.  (SOURCE:  MICHAEL WITTMANN AND THE WAFFEN SS TIGER COMMANDERS OF THE LIEBSTANDARTE IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME ONE By Patrick Agte Stackpole Books Mechanicsburg, PA 1996 ((paperback)), pp. 2-3).

• APRIL:    In the United States on April 20 of this year, now Major General Eisenhower-now Chief of the Army's Operations Division- makes a personal notation of his feelings of relief now that there seems to be universal agreement upon the principle that Germany should be defeated first, by an invasion based in Great Britain:  "... at long last, and after  months of struggle, ... we are all definitely committed to one concept of fighting! If we can agree on major purposes and objectives, our efforts will begin to fall in line and we won't just be thrashing around in the dark."  (SOURCE:  Notations by Eisenhower, 20 April 42 entry, Item 3, in OPD Historical Unit File, quoted in UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War Department STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE `1943-1944  by Maurice Matloff  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1959, page 13, note 15).

• APRIL:    On April 29 of this year the U.S. V Corps ships out from Fort Dix, New Jersey, bound for Belfast, Northern Ireland.  (SOURCE:   THE U.S. ARMY IN THE OCCUPATION OF GERMANY 1944-1946 by Earl F. Ziemke CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON D.C., 1990, pg. 24).[G. Dempsey Note: This move may be partly a result of the American-British agreement reached in London on April 14 of this year, although V Corps had actually been alerted for possible overseas movement as far back as December 31 of last year.]

• APRIL:    In its April 30, 1942 edition the NEW YORK TIMES publishes a report filed from Washington, D.C. on April 29 of this year by the United Press syndicate which says that the Interstate Commerce Commission has "advised" (meaning "ordered") the nation's railroads to discontinue reporting information about the tonnage of strategic and/or critical materials which they transport; this ban is to last for the duration of the current war.  (SOURCE: PDF version of report at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F30D10FB3F5A1B7B93C2AA178FD85F468485F9  accessed 5/13/2014-GD). 

• APRIL:    All during this month, the new 90th Infantry Division continues its basic training activities at Camp Barkeley, Texas.  (SOURCE:  A HISTORY OF THE 90TH DIVISION IN WORLD WAR II   6 JUNE 1944 TO 9 MAY 1945--THE BATTERY PRESS,  Nashville, TN--Reprinted 1999, pp.1-2).

• APRIL:    All during this month also, the recently-activated 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy) continues its organizational and physical build-up at its assigned base in Fort Myers, Florida.  (SOURCE:  THE DESERT RATS The 98th Bomb Group and the August 1943 Ploesti Raid-by Michael Hill PICTORIAL HISTORIES PUBLISHING CO. ((paperback))-July, 1990, pg. 1).

• APRIL:    All during this month the recently-organized 305th Bomb Group has continued its organization and initial training at Salt Lake City  Air Base, Utah.  (Source: Web posting at:  www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/254  retrieved 7-3-2929-GD).

• MAY:    On the Eastern Front (Russia) on May 8 of this year the German XI Army sends five divisions to blockade the Russian Black Sea port of Sevastopol. These divisions are supported by the Luftwaffe's VIII Fliegerkorps and by Luftflotte IV.At this time the Luftwaffe enjoys a two-to-one advantage over the Russian Air Force in this area.  (SOURCE:  History Learning Site 1942 Seige of Sebastopol at http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/1942_siege_of_sebastopol.htm  accessed 1/21/2013).

• MAY:    At this time (May, 1942) "neither the President [Franklin Roosevelt] nor the Prime Minister [Winston Churchill] ha[ve] been fully persuaded" of the soundness of the American military's plan to invade Germany next spring, after a buildup of forces in Great Britain, according to Maurice Matloff.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War Department STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE `1943-1944  by Maurice Matloff  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1959, page 13).

• MAY:    At this time also in England (May, 1942) the newly-established Combined Commanders British organization holds its first meeting, and it will henceforth "until early 1943 [act] as the chief British planning agency concerned with the development of plans for a cross-Channel attack."  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK by Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951 page 6).  

•  MAY:    On May 12 of this year the men of the U. S. 97th Bombardment Group (Heavy) begin their movement from their initial training base at Sarasota, Florida to MacDill Field near Tampa, Florida for additional training and preparation for movement overseas. The B-17 aircraft of the Group's four squadrons first proceed to two separate bases for final modifications to battle-ready status. The planes of the 342nd and the 414th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) are sent to the Middletown Air Depot in Pennsylvania; the B-17s of the other two squadrons, the 340th and 341st, go to the San Antonio Air Depot.  (SOURCE:  The Hour Has Come  The 97th Bomb Group In World War II-by Thomas F. Gulley, Edmund Hicks, Ph. D., William McClintock, Lt. Col. ((Ret.)), Jerry Blackmer, D.D.S., and Christopher J. Karas, Lt. Col. ((Ret.))-Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas TX ((1993)), pg. 11).

• MAY:    At about this time (May 12, 1942)  the men of the still-forming 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy) move once again, leaving Fort Myers, Florida and arriving in Lakeland, Florida. As the Group gains personnel, it also starts to collect an assortment of well-used aircraft from other units, and the crews begin flying missions around the southern States of the U. S.  (SOURCE:  THE DESERT RATS The 98th Bomb Group and the August 1943 Ploesti Raid-by Michael Hill PICTORIAL HISTORIES PUBLISHING CO. ((paperback))-July, 1990, pg. 1).

• MAY:    Also on May 12 of this year, at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, salvage work continues on the USS West Virginia (BB-48), which is one of the battleships sunk by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. Today work is begun to "dewater" (pump out) the spaces that had been flooded due to enemy bomb and torpedo hits. This work is necessary in order to raise the ship off the harbor floor and to move it into a drydock for further repair. (Source: see salvage report here).

•     On May 15 of this year the men of the U. S. 90th  Bombardment Group (Heavy) receive orders to transfer from Mississippi to Barksdale Field, near Shreveport, Louisiana. Barksdale Field is a permanent station with full post facilities, as compared to the rougher conditions of Key Field. At Key Field the Group gets its first aircraft, B-24D heavy bombers. Personnel soon report from other stations: pilots from Randolph and Kelly Fields in Texas; mechanics from Chanute Field, Illinois, armorers from Lowry Field in Denver,Colorado; gunners come in from Las Vegas, New Mexico, and administrative staffs report in from Fort Logan, Colorado. Most are not professional soldiers, but rather draftees and volunteers. A somewhat high proportion of the men come from the South, and many have been transferred from the already-established 44th and 93rd Bombardment Groups, which have been earmarked for shipment to Europe to flesh out the then-forming 8th Air Force. Lieutenant Colonel Eugene P. Mussett is Group Commander, and Captain Robert B. Savage is Executive Officer. The Group consists of Headquarters Squadron, and the 319th, 320th, 321st and 400th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy).

•     On May 17 of this year the 90th Bombardment Group (Heavy) officially takes up station at Barksdale Field near Shreveport, Louisiana.  (SOURCE:  World Wide Web posting at: http://libraryautomation.com.westserver.net/nymas/usaaf4.html).

• MAY:    On May 28 of this year British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a cable message to U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt in which the Prime Minister tells of his discussion with Russian Foreign Minister Molotov. He says that both he and English Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden have been careful to not make any definite commitments regarding the establishment of a "second front" in western Europe for the rest of this year. Churchill writes that he and Eden have limited their comments to only those operations which have already been agreed to, such as BOLERO, SLEDGEHAMMER and ROUNDUP. The Prime Minister also informs President Roosevelt that Lord Mountbatten would soon be in Washington to let the President and the American Chiefs of Staff know the details of some troubles which have come up in planning on the British side. He will also present a new plan ("JUPITER"), which is a suggested landing in northern Norway, leading to a linkup with Russian forces by land. This would greatly aid in getting supplies through to the Soviet  Union. However, the Prime Minister then added in this message that it was still important never to forget operation GYMNAST-the projected invasion of French North Africa. After reading this message, and discussing it with his top aide Harry Hopkins, General Marshal and Admiral King, they all get their first thoughts that the British may be beginning to move away from the big plan-a full-on direct attack across the English Channel, in favor of other, diversionary attacks.  (Source:  Roosevelt and Hopkins An Intimate History BY ROBERT E. SHERWOOD Illustrated HARPER & BROTHERS New York, 1948, page 556).

• MAY:    Starting at some time during this month several early-production Tiger heavy battle tanks are sent from the Henschel and Porsche factories to the German Troop Training Grounds at Berka for extensive trials. The Wehrmacht sets up an evaluation committee headed by Oberst Thomale (for tactical considerations) and Professor Ing. von Eberan (for technical and mechanical considerations). Oberst Thomale is an awardee of the Knight's Cross and an experienced soldier, while Professor von Eberan was a member of the Dresden Technical Institute.  (SOURCE:  MICHAEL WITTMANN AND THE WAFFEN SS TIGER COMMANDERS OF THE LIEBSTANDARTE IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME ONE By Patrick Agte Stackpole Books Mechanicsburg, PA 1996 ((paperback)), pg. 3). 

• MAY:    At some time during this month negotiations are concluded in England allowing for the transfer of ownership of, and of operations at, the aircraft and engine repair facility at Burtonwood, which is located almost halfway between Liverpool and Manchster in England. This will now be an American base, but it will be jointly operated with the British for the present, until sufficient American personnel become available here to make this an all-American operation.  (SOURCE: UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations LOGISTICAL SUPPORT OF THE ARMIES In Two Volumes Volume I: May 1941- September 1944 by Roland G. Ruppenthal CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY  WASHINGTON, D.C., 1995, page 31; retrieved from archive.org website at:  https://archive.org/stream/CMHPub721LogisticalSupportOfTheArmiesVolumeIMay1941September1944#page/n47/mode2up/search/page+31  accessed 8/16/2014-GD).    

• MAY:    All during this month there is a constant movement of military units around the United States, mainly by train, as the country continues to gear up for the war that it has just entered.  (Source:  G. Dempsey observation-7-3-2020).

• MAY:    In the United States of America the 305th Bomb Group has continued to train and get organized all uring this month at the Salt Lake City Airbase in Utah.  (Source:  Web site:  www.americanairuseum.com/unit/254  retrieved 7-3-2020-GD).

• JUNE:    In England on June 1 of this year the cathedral city of Canterbury is bombed by the Luftwaffe; this is a retalliation raid for the British bombing of Cologne.  (SOURCE:  Posting in World War II Discussion Group ((wwii-l@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU)) by John Davis<jbdavis@POBOX.COM> on May 31, 1996).

• JUNE:    In Washington, D. C. on June 1 of this year the U. S. Supreme Court issues a decision that strikes down a 1935 Oklahoma State law which required the sterilization of criminals who had been convicted for the third time of committing a felony. The Supreme Court rules that this law is discriminatory because it leaves out liquor violations, embezzlement felonies, and political offenders. Also in America today the United Press news service reports that German agents and soldiers have killed probably more than 200,000 Jews in Russia, Poland and the Baltic States. The press service also says that milions of others have been forced to live in ghetto areas.  (SOURCE:  Posting in World War II Discussion Group ((wwii-l@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU)) by John Davis<jbdavis@POBOX.COM> on May 31, 1996).

• JUNE:    In Australia on June 1 of this year, several Japanese midget submarines enter Sydney harbor; while there, they manage to sink an Australian ship.  (SOURCE:  Posting in World War II Discussion Group ((wwii-l@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU)) by John Davis<jbdavis@POBOX.COM> on May 31, 1996).

• JUNE:    In Libya, North Africa on June 1 of this year German forces destroy the 150th Brigade of the British 50th Division; they also eliminate a good bit of the 1st Army Tank Brigade which is aiding the 50th Division. This is happening in the continuing attack on Sidi Muftah, and the British 8th Army will soon break off engagements as it prepares for a more general counterattack; the Germans will take advantage of the temporary lull to strengthen their own positions.  (SOURCE:  Posting in World War II Discussion Group ((wwii-l@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU)) by John Davis<jbdavis@POBOX.COM> on May 31, 1996). 

• JUNE:    In London, England the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) radio broadcasts the first report of  "killing[s of] the Jewish population on an unbelievable scale" by the Germans on June 2 of this year. The broadcast is prompted by receipt in London of a document which will become known as the "Second Letter of the Bund", addressed to the Polish Government in Exile in London. This letter stated that German actions against the Jews had gone far beyond just cruelty or ordinary cases of murder; the Germans were conducting deliberate, premeditated genocide. The Letter claimed the murder of 30,000 Jews in L'viv, Poland; of 15,000 in Stanislav; 5,000 in the town of Ternopil, and several thousand killings in many other locations. Children, elderly people, and even those confined to hospital beds have been executed, the "Letter" said. It also included the first reference to the "gassing" of victims, when it said, "These murders were performed by gassing, which took place in the village of Chelmno, twelve kilometres from Kolo,  in the Kolo district...".  (SOURCE:  "A Fish Breaks through the Net"  page at:  http://www.jozeflewandowski.se/texter/A_Fish_Breaks_through_the%20Net.htm  accessed 5/18/2014-GD). 

• JUNE:    On June 7 of this year the Second Air Division is activated at Detrick Field near Frederick, Maryland; it is initially established as the Second Bombardment Wing.  (Source:  FIELDS OF LITTLE AMERICA by Martin Bowman, Patrick Stephens publisher, Cambridge, 1983, preface). 

• JUNE:    On June 10 of this year British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a message to General Ismay for the Chiefs of Staff, saying that Churchill believes that Operation SLEDGEHAMMER should be launched only after a Russian success against the Germans and "demoralization in the West." (Source:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK, by Gordon A. Harrison, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, pg. 18, note 47).  

• JUNE:    In the United States of America, the 305th Bomb Group moves from its initial establishment and training site at Salt Lake City Airbase in Utah to its secondary training base at Geiger Field in Washington State on June 11 of this year.  (Source:  Website at:  www.americanairmuseaum.com/unit/254  retrieved 7-3-2020-GD).

• JUNE:    On June 15 of this year the First Amphibious Brigade and the 531st Enginer Shore Regiment are activated at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts. The commander of both units is Colonel Henry C. Wolf. This brigade is the first unit set up by the Army to set up and then to operate a beachhead mission.  (SOURCE:  THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LOGISTICAL HISTORY OF THE ETO PART VI NEPTUNE: TRAINING, MOUNTING, THE ARTIFICIAL PORTS by Lieutenant Clifford L. Jones, Historical Division United States Army Forces, European Theater March 1946 File 8-3.1 AA v.6, pp. 5-6).            

• JUNE:    On June 18 of this year, Lieutenant General Brehon B. Somervell, the commander of the U. S. Army's Services of Supply, sends a memo to the Chief of Staff of the U. S. Army. In this memo he says, among other things, that "The losses by submarine sinkings threaten failure of our war effort."  (SOURCE: quoted in UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II  The Technical Services  THE TRANSPORTATION CORPS: RESPONSIBILITIES, ORGANIZATION, AND OPERATIONS  by  Chester Wardlow  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY  UNITED STATES ARMY  WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, pg. 1).

• JUNE:    In North Africa on June 22 of this year Erwin Rommel has been promoted to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Mediterranean Theater of Operations  NORTHWEST AFRICA: SEIZING THE INITIATIVE IN THE WEST by George F. Howe OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1957, pg. 9, note 32). 

• JUNE:    On June 23 of this year General Dwight Eisenhower, newly-designated Commanding General of the European Theater of Operations, leaves Bolling Field in  Washington, D. C. on a Boeing Stratoliner for London, England. With him are his Aide-de-camp Captain Ernest Lee and Sergeant Michael McKeogh.  (SOURCE:  My Three Years  with Eisenhower by Captain Harry C. Butcher, USNR  Simon and Schuster New York 1946, page 4).   

• JUNE:    On June 29 of this year in England, U. S. Army Air Corps Captain Charles Kegelman and his American crew fly in one of a dozen British-owned Douglas Boston light bombers assigned to the RAF's 226 Squadron on a mission to the Hazebrouck Marshalling Yards in France. Captain Kegelman's crew is thus the first American bomber crew to attack a target in enemy-occupied Europe.  (SOURCE: MIGHTY EIGHTH WAR DIARY by Roger A. Freeman with Alan Crouchman and Vic Maslen  Jane's Publishing Incorporated London NewYork Sydney  1981, pg. 7).

• JUNE:    On June 30 of this year U. S. Navy Lieutenant Richard E. Schreder of Patrol Squadron-74 (VP-74), flying a Martin PBM-1 Mariner from his base in Bermuda, sinks German submarine U-158 off Bermuda. In actuality, Lieutenant Schreder was doing a daylight search to find any survivors of a ship which had been torpedoed in the area when he received a message from his base informing him that the radio operators at the base had obtained a bearing on radio signals sent by a German submarine, and that the bearing indicated that the enemy target was somewhere within Lieutenant Schreder's search area. However, the Bermuda radio-detection unit had not been able to get a precise "fix" on the exact location of the subnmarine, so Lieutenant Schreder flew along the indicated bearing and soon sighted a U-boat speeding on the surface of the sea and trailing a long wake. He made two attacks on the boat, dropping all four of his depth charges, and the enemy U-boat was blown apart as it tried to dive away from his attack. This is the first U-boat to be sunk by a U. S. Navy seaplane, the third by U. S. Naval aircraft of any kind, and just the fifth by any U. S. military component. Later, Lieutenant Schreder will be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for this achievement.  (SOURCE:  Article, ON PATROL FLYING THE MARTIN PBM MARINER IN WW II ((Pt. I)), by Bob Smith, in WINGS magazine, August, 1990, pp. 16-17).. 

•     In the period from January 1 until June 30 of this year, and including the men sent to Great Britain in January as part of the MAGNET force, still there have been many more troops sent to bases in the Pacific areas than to Britain under the BOLERO plan  which has been designed to establish a striking force in the British Isles. Although it has been impossible to send effective reinforcements to the Philippines, troops have been landed in Australia and on islands in the South Pacific that straddle the sea  and air lanes of communication to the Southwest Pacific. Other areas that have received American forces are bases in the Caribbean and in South America, as well as Iceland and Alaska.   (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II  The Technical Services  THE TRANSPORTATION CORPS: OPERATIONS OVERSEAS  by Joseph Bykofsky and Harold Larson  CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY  WASHINGTON, D.C., 1990, pg. 4).

• JUNE:    By about June 30 of this year, mainly due to the American Operation MAGNET forces, there are then somewhat over 41,000 men stationed in Northern Ireland.  (Source:  Destination Normandy, by G. H. Bennett, Stackpole Military History Series ((Paperback)), pg. 5). 

• JUNE:    All during this month the recently-formed 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy) continues training  at Lakeland, Florida. By now they have received their permanent aircraft, the light-tan painted B-24D Liberator, and the color of the planes signals to the crews that their eventual "overseas" destination will be the deserts of North Africa.   (SOURCE:  THE DESERT RATS The 98th Bomb Group and the August 1943 Ploesti Raid-by Michael Hill PICTORIAL HISTORIES PUBLISHING CO. ((paperback))-July, 1990, pg. 1).

•     In the second half of June of this year (after June 15), the recently-reactivated 79th Infantry Division is forming up and beginning its basic training program at Camp Pickett near the town of  Blackstone in southeastern Virginia. At about this time also, at least one new railroad spur is started to expedite the movement of troops into and out of the base. As yet, the base has no airfield for flight operations.  (SOURCE:  THE CROSS OF LORRAINE  A COMBAT HISTORY OF THE 79TH INFANTRY DIVISION  JUNE 1942-DECEMBER 1945 -no author listed-reprinted by THE BATTERY PRESS, INC.  P.O. Box 3107, Uptown Station  Nashville, Tennessee 37219 U.S.A.  Twentry-Ninth in the Divisional Series 1986, pg. 9, and Ft. Pickett website at:  http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/fort-pickett.htm). 

•     By the end of June of this year in North Africa the British have pulled back their forces all the way to the east; in all, they have come some 3oo miles from Tobruk to a new line of resistance at El Alamein in Egypt, where they intend to make a final stand to hold that country.  (SOURCE:  LOG OF THE LIBERATORS An Illustrated History of the B-24 by Steve Birdsall Color Illustrations by John Preston  DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC. Garden City, New York 1973, pg. 6).

•  JUNE:    At some time during this month in Great Britain the British 3rd Infantry Division, which up to this time has been a conventional infantry division, becomes a "mixed division" when it loses one of its infantry brigades and gains a tank brigade. At this time the division is stationed in England, where it has been since June 1, 1940.  (SOURCE: Order of Battle OPERATION OVERLORD Sword Beach & The British 6th Airborne Division By Christopher Chant Ravelin Limited Lincolnshire, England 1994 ((paperback)), pg. 6). 

•  JUNE:    At some time during this month Major General Mark W. Clark is sent to England to command the U.S. II Corps which is stationed there.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Mediterranean Theater of Operations CASSINO TO THE ALPS by Ernest F. Fisher, Jr. CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1989, page 9). 

•  JULY:    On July 1 of this year the Engineer Service, Services of Supply, European Theater of Operations, United States Army is officially activated in London, England. Brigadier General Donald A. Davison is commander of this new unit.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Technical Services THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS: THE WAR AGAINST GERMANY by Alfred M. Beck, Abe Bortz, Charles W. Lynch Lida Mayo and Ralph F. Weld CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1985, page 26). 

•  JULY:    On July 2 of this year the U. S. Joint Chiefs of staff  in Washington, D. C. send orders to the Allied forces stationed in the Pacific theater to prepare a limited offensive designed to bring the Japanese attacks in the area to a halt. The Chiefs want to prevent a Japanese rupture of the long supply lines from the United States to Australia and to New Zealand. The United States at this same time is also bound to a program to increase the number of troops that are being sent to Great Britain in order to mount an offensive from there towards the Continent in either this year or next. But a limiting factor to these plans is the scarcity of  warships, transports and cargo ships, suitably trained troops, proper weapons and supplies with which to carry out an offensive in the Pacific especially, where the United States would most likely have to play the leading role.  For these reasons, any American attack in the Pacific at this time would have to be limited in nature  and size.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN  WORLD WAR II  The War in the Pacific  GUADALCANAL  THE FIRST OFFENSIVE  by  John Miller, jr.  Barnes & Noble Books reprint(1995), pg. 1). 

• JULY:    In England on July 2 of this year the operating divisions of the newly-established Engineer Service of the Services of Supply, European Theater of Operations, United States Army come into existence. They are: Supply, Administration and Personnel, Construction, Quartering, Intelligence, and Operations and Training.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Technical Services THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS: THE WAR AGAINST GERMANY by Alfred M. Beck, Abe Boertz, Charles W. Lynch, Lida Mayo and Ralph F. Weld CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1985, page 26). 

• JULY:    The directive issued on July 2 of this year by the U. S. Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D. C. also defines their policy regarding the threat posed by Japanese forces in the central and northern Pacific Ocean areas  as a policy that calls for the execution of three tasks. The first assignment is to occupy  Santa Cruz and Tulagi Islands in the Solomon Island chain. This operation is to be carried out by forces commanded by Admiral Ghormley, and they would be supported by such support from air and naval units of the Southwest Pacific (General Douglas MacArthur's) command as he could give to them. To remove jurisdictional problems which might arise to complicate this effort, the Joint Chiefs moved the boundary between the South Pacific command and the Southwest Pacific theater command to the west (effective on 1 August 1942) to the 159th meridian; this was a line that would place within the South Pacific theater all of the lower Solomon Islands chain. Then, Task 2, to be under the command of General MacArthur, would involve capture  of the more northerly of the Solomon Islands and of Lae, Salamaua, and the northeast coast of New Guinea. Finally, Task 3 called for the seizure by General MacArthur's forces, of the large Japanese base at Rabaul and of adjacent parts of New Britain and New Ireland Islands. The Joint Chiefs reserve to themselves control over the makeup of the various forces, the timing of each task, and the "passage of command" under this directive would remain with the Joint Chiefs in Washington.  (SOURCE: Entry in ComSoPac War Diary for July 4, 1942).

•   On July 4 of this year Captain Charles Kegelman and five other American pilots and their crews from the 15th Bombardment Squadron fly with six Royal Air Force 226 Squadron aircraft in Douglas Boston light bombers which have been borrowed from the 226th for the Americans' first 8th Air Force operation against enemy-occupied European territory. Two of the American crews bomb De Koog airfield in Holland (one aircraft fails to return); another American crew hits Bergen/Alkamaar field but fails to return to base; a fourth U.S. crew attacks Haamstede airfield, and the final two American crews bomb the airfield at Valkenburg.  (SOURCE:  MIGHTY EIGHTH WAR DIARY by Roger A. Freeman with Alan Crouchman and Vic Maslen  Jane's Publishing Incorporated London NewYork Sydney  1981, pg. 7).

•     On July 6 of this year in London, England the British war cabinet declares that the Munich Agreements  regarding Czechoslovakia  are now invalid, and England agrees in principle to the relocation of the German  population living in central and in southeastern Europe to Germany proper  whenever and wherever such population shifts might prove to be  "necessary and desirable" after the war ends. At this time the United States has not agreed to such a plan.  (SOURCE:  AFTER THE REICH  THE BRUTAL HISTORY OF THE ALLIED OCCUPATION by Giles MacDonogh Basic Books  ((paperback)), 2009, pg. 14-Introduction). 

•     On July 8 of this year British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a message to U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt in which he tells the President that he and his advisers have come to the conclusion that there is no way that operation SLEDGEHAMMER (a preliminary cross-channel attack to gain a foothold on the continent) can be accomplished this year.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Mediterranean Theater of Operations NORTHWEST AFRICA: SEIZING THE INITIATIVE IN THE WEST by George F. Howe OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C. 1957, page 12). [However, there is no mention in this message of an intention to call off the present bombing campaign against Germany and German-occupied territories on the continent-GD].

•     On Wednesday, July 8 of this year in London, England Captain Harry C. Butcher, USNR-who has just been selected by General Eisenhower to be his naval aide-begins keeping a wartime diary. He writes today that General Eisenhower's headquarters are in an apartment building at 20 Grosvenor Square, which Butcher calls "quite an address for military headquarters." He says that the General is loking for other quarters away from the "distractions" of the capital city.  (SOURCE:  My Three Years  with Eisenhower by Captain Harry C. Butcher, USNR  Simon and Schuster New York, 1946, page 3). 

•     At some time early in July of this year Major General George C. Kenney is called to Washington, D.C., where he is told that he will be assigned to General Douglas MacArthur's staff in Australia. His task will be to replace Lieutenant General George H. Brett as head of the air forces in MacArthur's command. At this time, General MacArthur isn't happy with the performance of the forces led by Brett.  (SOURCE:  FLYING BUCCANEERS The Illustrated Story of Kenney's Fifth Air Force By Steve Birdsall Doubleday & Company, Inc. Garden City,  New York 1977, pg. 2).

•     On July 12 of this year the U. S. 15th Bombardment Squadron, led by now-Major Charles Kegelman, flies in six Douglas Boston light bombers which have been borrowed from the Royal Air Force, to attack the German air base at Abbeville/Drucat in France. The Americans suffer no casualties, nor do they lose any planes, on this short-range mission.  (SOURCE:  MIGHTY EIGHTH WAR DIARY by Roger A. Freeman with Alan Crouchman and Vic Maslen  Jane's Publishing Incorporated London New York Sydney  1981, pg. 7).

•  On July 13 of this year, the U. S. Army publishes Army Regulation 10-15, entitled "General Staff Organization and General Duties". Among other things, this regulation says that the Chief of Staff of the Army is responsible for the Army's actions, first in helping to work out common strategic plans and then in  carrying them out as agreed. He is the principal Presidential executive agent of the Army's "strategy, tactics, and operations," as well as being the immediate adviser of the Secretary of War in developing and supervising the entire Military Establishment. (SOURCE: UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II--The War Department--WASHINGTON COMMAND POST: THE OPERATIONS DIVISION---by Ray S. Cline   OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY  DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY   WASHINGTON, D. C., 1951, pg. 2). This is another step in the Army's efforts to improve its organizational structure at the highest levels.--GD.

•      On July 16 of this year the United States 11th Heavy Bombardment Group, which is currently stationed in Hawaii, is chosen to be the Mobile Air Force for the Pacific Ocean Areas.  (Source:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War in the Pacific GUADALANAL: THE FIRST OFFENSIVE by John Miller, jr. CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1989, pg. 27).

•    On July 18 of this year U. S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt writes in her syndicated newspaper column, "My Day", that today is American Heroes Day in the United States. She writes that "...cities throughout the nation will do honor to their war heroes by trying to break their record for War Savings Bonds and Stamps." She notes that some one million of the nation's retailers will try to exceed the one billion dollar quota which had been set for them earlier by the U. S. Treasury Department. She says that, as part of this effort, "...750 cities will stage drives today." She also says that, now that she has come to New York City, she finds that the city is "gray and cool" today. Mrs. Roosevelt begins today's report by noting that, "Yesterday morning Miss Alice Nichols, who is in charge of the Victory Food Campaign for the Department of Agriculture, attended my press conference." She says that she [Mrs. Roosevelt] was "...much interested..." to learn that there has been "...a splendid response..." to the Agriculture Department's recent call for increased food production. The First Lady urges even urban residents to buy possibly an extra amount of fresh fruit such as  peaches, and to make them into preserves if they have enough shelf space to store them "...for use in the winter months."  (SOURCE: Column, "My Day" by Eleanor Roosevelt for July 18, 1942-copyright 1942 by United Feature Syndicate, reproduced at  http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1942&_f=md056241 accessed 2/10/2013 by GD).   

•     On July 20 of this year Headquarters, 1st Air Force, Eastern Defense Command in the United States issues its General Orders Number 50 directive, which authorizes the activation of the 325th Fighter Group and the transfer of officers and enlisted men from the 79th Fighter Group to be the founding cadre of the new Group. Men from the 85th, 86th, and 87th Fighter Squadrons, led by Major Leonard C. Lydon form the new Group. Group Headquarters for the 325th, as well as headquarters for the Group's 317th Squadron, is set as Theodore Green Field, Hillsgrove, Rhode Island. The 318th Squadron of the 325th Group is assigned to Grenier Field, Manchester, New Hampshire; the 319th Squadron sets up its headquarters at Renschler Field at Hartford, Connecticut. Thus the 325th becomes an all-New England outfit, with a reporting structure that runs through the Boston Air Defense Wing and the I Fighter Command to the 1st Air Force.  SOURCE:  CHECKERTAIL CLAN  The 325th Fighter Group in North Africa and Italy  by Ernest R. McDowell and William N. Hess  Aero Publishers, Inc. Fallbrook, California 1969 (paperback), pp. 9-10).

•      At about this time, (Summer, 1942), the U.S.36th Infantry Division and other units engage in extensive military maneuvers "in the warm Carolinas".  ( Source:  A Pictorial History of the 36th "Texas" Infantry Division, by the 36th Division Pictorial History Team, Staff Sergeant Richard A. Huff, editor, Published by the 36th Division Association, Austin, Texas ((no date)), unpaged, should be page 4).   

      Also on July 20 of this year the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment is activated at Fort Benning, Georgia. As the Regiment is receiving its full compliment of men, jump training is started at Fort Benning.  (SOURCE:  The 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment page, The 82nd Airborne World War II website at:  http://www.ww2-airborne.us/units/507/507.html  accessed 6/1/2014-GD).

•      The United States and British Combined Chiefs of Staff meet in London, England on July 24 of this year. at this meeting, several conditional decisions are reached, namely that, if the Russians should show indications of a collapse under German attacks by September 15 of this year, such as would make Operation ROUNDUP-the invasion of the Continent from across the English Channel-impractical, then it should be decided to launch an attack against both the North and the Northwest coasts of Africa as soon as possible before December of this year; second, that planners should immediately begin to prepare plans for such an operation; third,that a task force commander for that whole operation should be appointed promptly; and  fourth, that it should be understood that a commitment to such African operation will render ROUNDUP most probably impractical in 1943 also, but that planning, training and  organization for such entry to the Continent should continue.  (SOURCE:  History of Allied Force HQ, Volume 1.pdf ).

•     On July 26 of this year in Europe, the U. S. 31st Fighter Group, flying in six British Spitfire fighters, conducts the first American fighter operation of the European war when they accompany RAF Spitfires from Biggan Hill on a sweep over Gravelines, St. Omer and the Abbeville area of France. Lieutenant Colonel Clark's plane is hit on this mission and he bails out and is captured by the enemy, to become a Prisoner of War.  (SOURCE:  MIGHTY EIGHTH WAR DIARY by Roger A. Freeman with Alan Crouchman and Vic Maslen  Jane's Publishing Incorporated London New York Sydney 1981, pg. 7). 

• JULY:    On July 31 of this year General Ernest N. Harmon assumes command of the U.S. 2d Armored Division.  (Source:  Hell on Wheels The 2d Armored Division, by Donald E. Houston, Presidio Press 1995, Forward, pg. XIII).

• JULY:    At some time during this month in England, Major General Mark W. Clark assumes command of the U.S. Army Ground Forces in the European Theater of Operations.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Mediterranean Theater of Operations CASSINO TO THE ALPS by Ernest F. Fisher, Jr. CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1989, page 9).  

•  
• JULY:    At some time during this month in Washington, D.C. the United States Navy establishes the Advanced Group Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet, to be commanded by Rear Admiral Andrew C. Bennett. His headquarters will be at Rosneath on the Firth of Clyde.  (Source:  HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II The Invasion of France and Germany 1944-1945 BY SAMUEL ELIOT MORRISON An Atlantic Monthly Press Book LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY BOSTON 1962, pages 51-52).). 
•  
• JULY:    At some time during this month in Washington, D.C. the U. S. Joint Chiefs of Staff receive a new member, as Admiral William D. Leahy is appointed as Chief of Staff to President Franklin Roosevelt when he is acting in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the nation's armed forces.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK by Gordon A. Harrison OFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISORY WASHINGTON, D. C., 1951, page 4).

•  AUGUST:    In the South Pacific area on  August 1 of this year the B-17 Flying Fortresses of the U. S. Army's 26th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) of the 11th Bombardment Group (Heavy) strike suspected Japanese positions on both Guadalcanal and Tulagi Islands in the Solomon Islands; this is in preparation for the iminent American invasion of those islands.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II-The war in the Pacific-GUADALCANAL-THE FIRST OFFENSIVE---by John Miller, Jr.: Barnes & Noble Books New York ((reprint of original edition published by The Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C.-1949)) Chapter III, pg. 59).

• AUGUST:    In the Gulf of Mexico on August 1 of this year a Grumman Widgeon patrol plane of the United States Guard's Patrol Squadron 212 achieves the war's first kill for the Coast Guard when it attacks and sinks the German U-166 submarine off the mouth of the Mississippi River.  (SOURCE:  Article, "GRUMMAN'S SEABIRDS DUCKS ON THE POND, GEESE IN THE AIR, WIDGEONS IN THE SKY!" by Jack Dean in WINGS Magazine, August, 1994, Volume 24, Number 4, pg. 54).

•  In the South Pacific area on August 2 of this year the B-17 Flying Fortresses of the U. S. Army's  26th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) of the 11th Bombardment Group (Heavy) hit suspected Japanese positions on both Guadalcanal and Tulagi Islands in a continuation of the preparations for the forthcoming American invasion  of the Solomon Islands.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II-The war in the Pacific-GUADALCANAL-THE FIRST OFFENSIVE---by John Miller, Jr.: Barnes & Noble Books New York ((reprint of original edition published by The Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C.-1949)) Chapter III, pg. 59). 

•   In the South Pacific area on August 2 of this year also, the U. S. 1st Marine Division finally gets some recent aerial photographs of the area which it is to attack. These pictures are sent to the  division by Admiral McCain; they have been taken by a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and have been developed aboard the American aircraft carrier Enterprise. They are of Tulagi and Lunga Point on Guadalcanal, and they show that the airstrip on Guadalcanal is almost finished.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II-The war in the Pacific-GUADALCANAL-THE FIRST OFFENSIVE---by John Miller, Jr.: Barnes & Noble Books New York ((reprint of original edition published by The Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C.-1949)) Chapter II, pg. 45).

•  In the United States of America on Monday, August 3 of this year the 319th  Fighter Squadron of the 325th Fighter Group is activated at Renschler Field near Hartford, Connecticut. The Squadron initially consists of 178 men under the command of Captain Lawrence E. Oldham; Captain Oldham is, at this time, the only officer assigned to the new Squadron.  (SOURCE:  CHECKERTAIL CLAN The 325th Fighter Group in North Africa and Italy By Ernest R. McDowell and William N. Hess Edited by Kenn C. Rust Aero Publishers, Inc. Fallbrook, California 1969, pg. 10).  

•   In the South Pacific area on Monday, August 3 of this year the B-17 Flying Fortresses of the U. S. Army's 26th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) of the 11th Bombardment Group (Heavy) bomb suspected Japanese positions on both Guadalcanal and Tulagi Islands in the Solomons in continuing preparation for the planned invasions of those islands.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II-The war in the Pacific-GUADALCANAL-THE FIRST OFFENSIVE---by John Miller, Jr.: Barnes & Noble Books New York ((reprint of original edition published by The Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C.-1949)) Chapter III, pg. 59).

•   In the South Pacific area on  Monday, August 3 of this year the convoy consisting of the Zeilin  and the  Betelgeuse, carrying the U. S. Marine 3d Defense Battalion, and escorted by two destroyers-having made a late departure from Pearl Harbor-now joins the naval forces that are preparing to invade Guadalcanal and Tulagi  Islands in the Solomons.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II-The war in the Pacific-GUADALCANAL-THE FIRST OFFENSIVE---by John Miller, Jr.: Barnes & Noble Books New York ((reprint of original edition published by The Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C.-1949)) Chapter III, pg. 55).

•  In the South Pacific area on Tuesday, August 4 of this year the B-17 Flying Fortresses of the U. S. Army's 26th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) of the 11th Bombardment Group (Heavy) once again hit suspected Japanese positions on both Guadalcanal and Tulagi Islands in the Solomons as the pre-invasion "softening-up" process for those islands continues.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II-The war in the Pacific-GUADALCANAL-THE FIRST OFFENSIVE---by John Miller, Jr.: Barnes & Noble Books New York ((reprint of original edition published by The Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C.-1949)) Chapter III, pg. 59).  

•   Also in the South Pacific area on Tuesday, August 4 of this year the transports Betelgeuse and Zeilin and their escorts, which are carrying the U. S. Marine 3rd Defense Battalion, join Transport Groups X and Y respectively for the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi Islands in the Solomons. The number of ships in the Expeditionary Force then becomes 82, and the number of men in the landing force then totals more than  19,000. The Expeditionary Force is sailing in three huge concentric circles, with the vulnerable transports in the center, the cruiser screening force in the next  ring, and the destroyers in the outer circle.  (SOURCE:   UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II-The war in the Pacific-GUADALCANAL-THE FIRST OFFENSIVE---by John Miller, Jr.: Barnes & Noble Books New York ((reprint of original edition published by The Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C.-1949)) Chapter III, pg. 59).  

•   In the South Pacific area on Wednesday, August 5 of this year B-17 Flying Fortress bombers from the U. S. Army's 26th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) of the 11th Bombardment Group (Heavy) hit suspected Japanese positions on both Guadalcanal and Tulagi Islands as part of the preparations for the forthcoming American invasion of the Solomon Islands. The 11th Group is based in the New Hebrides Islands. (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II-The war in the Pacific-GUADALCANAL-THE FIRST OFFENSIVE---by John Miller, Jr.: Barnes & Noble Books New York ((reprint of original edition published by The Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C.-1949)) Chapter III, pg. 59).  See also the 11th Group's website at:  http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/USAAF/11th_Bombardment_Group.html )

•     In the South Pacific area on August 5 of this year, as the Allied Amphibious Force is sailing northwards west of Guadalcanal Island in the Solomons, overcast skies  and a heavy layer of haze reduce visibility to four miles and put a limit on air operations, except for the bombing mission flown by the 26th Bombardment Squadron, 11th Bombardment Group (Heavy).  (SOURCE:   UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II-The war in the Pacific-GUADALCANAL-THE FIRST OFFENSIVE---by John Miller, Jr.: Barnes & Noble Books New York ((reprint of original edition published by The Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C.-1949)) Chapter III, pp. 59-60). 

•     In the South Pacific area on August 5 of this year American Lieutenant Commander Alderman brings seaplane tender McFarland to Ndeni of the Santa Cruz island group and immediately begins to provide food, fuel and "all the comforts of home" to five PBY patrol planes whose searches can now be extended by about 300 miles closer to the Japanese naval base at Rabaul.  (SOURCE:   HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME V The Struggle for Guadalcanal August 1942-February 1943 BY SAMUEL ELIOT MORRISON  LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY BOSTON  1962, Chapter II, pg. 23).

•     In the South Pacific area on August 6 of this year the B-17s of the U. S. Army's 26th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) of the 11th Bombardment Group (Heavy) complete seven straight days of bombing suspected Japanese positions on both Guadalcanal and Tulagi Islands in the Solomons in preparation for the coming invasion  of those islands.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II-The war in the Pacific-GUADALCANAL-THE FIRST OFFENSIVE---by John Miller, Jr.: Barnes & Noble Books New York ((reprint of original edition published by The Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C.-1949)) Chapter III, pg. 59).  

•   In the South Pacific area on August 6 of this year there are five American PBY Catalina patrol planes flying search missions from their new seaplane base with the tender MCfarland at Ndeni in the Santa Cruz island group. They are searching towards the northwest from Ndeni to protect the southern approaches to Guadalcanal and Tulagi as the American invasion fleet nears those islands. Of the five PBYs available, four are used with one spare.  (SOURCE:  HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME V The Struggle for Guadalcanal August 1942-February 1943 BY SAMUEL ELIOT MORRISON  LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY BOSTON  1962, Chapter II, pg. 23).

•    In the South Pacific area  on August 6 of this year, as the Allied Amphibious Force for the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi Islands in the Solomons is sailing northwards west of Guadalcanal, the weather remains overcast and with a heavy haze that puts a limit on air operations. Intermittent rain squalls are helping to cover the approach of the ships, as is their maintainance of radio silence. No enemy ships are met on this approach to the target.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II-The war in the Pacific-GUADALCANAL-THE FIRST OFFENSIVE---by John Miller, Jr.: Barnes & Noble Books New York ((reprint of original edition published by The Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C.-1949)) Chapter III, pg. 60).   

•    In the South Pacific area before dawn on the morning  of August 7, 1942, Admiral Richmond K. Turner's U. S. Expeditionary Force is rounding Cape Esperance, Guadalcanal preparatory to launching the forces that are to invade Guadalcanal and Tulagi Islands in the Solomon Island chain. At this same time, Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher's carrier group is maneuvering uneasily south of Guadalcanal and is ready to provide air cover for the landings.  (SOURCE:  HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME V The Struggle for Guadalcanal August 1942-February 1943 BY SAMUEL ELIOT MORRISON  LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY BOSTON  1962, Chapter I, pg. 15).

•     In the South Pacific area before 0700 on the  morning of August 7 of this year the U. S. 1st Marine Division lands on the northern beaches east of the Tenaru River on Guadalcanal, following a heavy bombardment by a naval gunfire support force.  (SOURCE: Brochure, THE U. S. ARMY CAMPAIGNS IN WORLD WAR II. GUADALCANAL  by Charles R. Anderson U. S. Army Center of Military History Washington, D.C., pg. 2).

•     In the Pacific Theater early on the morning of Friday, August 7 of this year-at about 0700- Japanese Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa receives word  of  the American landings at Guadalcanal and at Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. Vice Admiral  Mikawa is the Commander of the Japanese Eighth Fleet and of the Outer South Seas Force, with headquarters at Rabaul.  (SOURCE:  HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME V The Struggle for Guadalcanal August 1942-February 1943 BY SAMUEL ELIOT MORRISON  LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY BOSTON  1962, Chapter II, pg. 18).

•     Also in the Pacific Theater at about 0700 on the morning of Friday, August 7 of this year, five Japanese heavy cruisers have just departed from Kavieng, northwest of the large Japanese base  at Rabaul; three of these cruisers are bound  for the Admiralties Islands, and two for Rabaul itself.  (SOURCE:  HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME V The Struggle for Guadalcanal August 1942-February 1943 BY SAMUEL ELIOT MORRISON  LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY BOSTON  1962, Chapter II, pg. 18).

•     At about 0800 on the morning  of August 7 of this year at the Rabaul headquarters of Japanese Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa, Commander of the Eighth Fleet and of  the Outer South Seas Force,  the Admiral sends an urgent message to the five Japanese heavy cruisers  that have just departed from Kavieng. He orders them to head for Rabaul at top speed.  (SOURCE:  HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME V The Struggle for Guadalcanal August 1942-February 1943 BY SAMUEL ELIOT MORRISON  LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY BOSTON  1962, Chapter II, pg. 18).

•     Shortly after 0800 on the morning of August 7 of this year when the final message is received from the troops defending Tulagi Island in the Solomons, Japanese Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa, Commander of the Eighth Fleet and Outer South Seas Force at Rabaul, has already decided to launch a counterattack. Troops are quickly collected at Rabaul and embarked in six transports to reinforce the garrison at Guadalcanal.  (SOURCE:  HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME V The Struggle for Guadalcanal August 1942-February 1943 BY SAMUEL ELIOT MORRISON  LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY BOSTON  1962, Chapter II, pg. 18).

•     Early on the afternoon of August 7 of this year,  in the Pacific Theater, in the Solomon Islands area, Japanese heavy cruiser Chokai and destroyer  Yunagi split off from the force that is heading for Rabaul, to enter Simpson Harbor for further orders.  Meanwhile, the remaining four heavy cruisers in the group, and their escorts, steam at reduced speed toward a rendezvous in St. George Channel, between New Britain and New Ireland Islands northwest of Guadalcanal.  (SOURCE:  HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME V The Struggle for Guadalcanal August 1942-February 1943 BY SAMUEL ELIOT MORRISON  LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY BOSTON  1962, Chapter II, pp.. 18-19).

•     In the South Pacific area by nightfall of August 7 of this year landing craft from 15 transports have taken 11,000 U. S. Marines  ashore on a beach at Guadalcanal, about four miles east of Lunga Point.  (SOURCE:  HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME V The Struggle for Guadalcanal August 1942-February 1943 BY SAMUEL ELIOT MORRISON  LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY BOSTON  1962, Chapter II, pg.. 19).

•     In the South Pacific area at  some time on August 7 of this year 13 U. S.  Army Air Force B-17 heavy bombers hit Vunakanau Airfield on New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archepelago in coordination with Marine landings on Guadalcanal and several other islands in the Solomons.  (SOURCE:  See Website at:  http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/1942/08/07.htm ).

•     In the South Pacific area at 1400 hours on August 13 of this year COMSOPAC (Vice Admiral Robert Ghormley) reports to COMINCH [Commander in Chief, United States Fleet] (Admiral Ernest J. King) in Washington, D.C. that 10,000 troops were landed on Guadalcanal Island by 2000 hours on August 7, 1942. (SOURCE:  Entry in COMSOPAC War Diary for 13AUG42).

•     On August 15 of this year the 82nd Infantry Division, stationed at Camp Claiborne in Louisiana, is redesignated as the 82nd Airborne Division.  (SOURCE:  82nd Airborne Division page, Fort Bragg website at:  http://www.bragg.army.mil/82nd/Pages/History.aspx  accessed 6/14/2014-GD). 

•    In the United States of America on August 16 of this year the U. S. 101st Airborne Division is activated at Camp Claiborne in Louisiana; it is one of two new airborne divisions that has been formed from the former 82nd Infantry Division. The 82nd Infantry Division had formerly been commanded in its basic training phase  by Major General Omar Bradley, who has since gone on to a higher assignment.  (SOURCE:  RENDEZVOUS WITH DESTINY A HISTORY OF THE 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION by Leonard Rapport and Arthur Northwood, Jr. The Battery Press Nashville 2000 ((hardcover)), pg. 1).

•    On Wednesday, August 19 of this year the U. S.  Eighth Air Force carries out Mission 2 -its second combat mission in Europe. This is a raid by 24 B-17 heavy bombers (of which two abort the attack) on the Abbeville/Drucat airfield in France. It is intended as a diversionary raid to pin down Luftwaffe opposition while more than 5,000 Allied troops  (the bulk of them Canadians) stage an attack at Dieppe, France. The Americans suffer damage to three of the raiding B-17s, and two combat crewmen are wounded in action. Meanwhile, six other B-17s fly a mission that is a diversion from this main diversionary attack. The time over target (Abbeville) for this raid is from 1032 to 1040 hours.  (SOURCE:  Electronic posting at: http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/PopTopics/chron/42aug.htm 

•   On Thursday, August 20 of this year  Headquarters, Columbia Army Air Base at Columbia, South Carolina issues General Order 19, establishing the 487th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) at Columbia Air Base. Columbia Air Base issues its orders pursuant to War Department AG Letter 320.2, dated August 10, 1942 with subject, "Construction, Acrtivation, and Reassignment of Army Air Forces Units", and Paragraph 1 of General Order 239 issued by Headquarters, 3d Air Force at Tampa, Florida. Personnel for this new unit are to be obtained from the 309th Bombardment Group (Operational Training Unit)  and personnel placement pools  of the 3d Bomber Command, 3d Air Force at Tampa, Florida. The new squadon is designated as  a unit of 3rd Bombeer Command, III Air Force, Tampa, Florida.  (SOURCE:  "Outline History-487th Bombardment Squadron, 340th Bombardment Group" Prepared by 1st Lieutenant Clifford W. Swearingen, 487th Bombardment Squadon-Sheet Number 1: Digital copy at: http://57thbombwing.com/340th_History/487th_History/4a_Hist_Aug_1943.pdf  accessed 1/10/2014-GD).

•  Also on August 20 of this year the U.S. 12th Air Force is activated at Bolling Field in Washington, D.C. to control the U.S. Army Air Force units to be employed in Operation TORCH, the projected invasion of French Northwest Africa.  (SOURCE: TWELFTH AIR FORCE STORY...IN WORLD WAR II by Kenn C. Rust Historical Aviation Album Temple City, California 1975, ((paperback)), page 5). 

   On Friday, August 21 of this year in England, the U. S.  Eighth Air Force sends a dozen B-17 heavy bombers out on combat mission 4 for the command. This is to be an attack on the shipyards at Rotterdam in the Netherlands, but an attack by 25 German Bf 109s  and FW 190s causes the mission to be aborted; however, the bombers claim to have destroyed 2 enemy aircraft, damaged 5 more, and probably damaged an additional 6 Luftwaffe defenders. One of the attacking bombers is damaged, one crewman is killed in action and 5 airmen are wounded in action. There has been a lack of proper coordination with the British Spitfire fighter escorts, and this is a major cause of the failure of the mission.

•     On this same day (August 21), the Headquarters of VIII Ground Air Support Command moves from its base at Bushy Park to Membury Airfield.  (SOURCE: Both Aug. 21 notes:  Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Aug.42.html)

•    On Monday, August 24 of this year  in England, the U. S. Eighth Air Force launches its fifth combat mission, an attack by twelve B-17 heavy bombers against the shipyard of Ateliers et Chantiers Maritime de la Seine at Le Trait in France. Three of the attacking B-17s are damaged and five crewmen are wounded in this raid; no B-17s are shot down. (SOURCE:   Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Aug.42.html)

•     On Monday, August 24 of this year in the Eastern Solomons area of the Pacific Theater at 1025 hours this morning (local time=2255 hours Greenwich time) the USS Enterprise launches a flight of three VTB torpedo bombers for Inner Air Patrol for Task Force 11. All three planes are recovered without incident at 1354 hours.  (SOURCE:  See USS Enterprise War Diary entry for August 24, 1942 here:)

•     On Wednesday, August 26 of this year Major Robert L. Baseler arrives at Renschler Field near Hartford, Connecticut to assume command of the 319th Fighter Squadron of the 325th Fighter Group. Major Baseler has learned his leadership skills from Neel E. Kearby when both had been members of the famous 94th Pursuit Squadron, which was based at Selfridge Field in Michigan during 1939 and 1940. (SOURCE:  CHECKERTAIL CLAN The 325th Fighter Group in North Africa and Italy By Ernest R. McDowell and William N. Hess Edited by Kenn C. Rust Aero Publishers, Inc. Fallbrook, California 1969, pg. 10).  

•     On Thursday, August 27 of this year, the U. S. Eighth Air Force in England sends out its sixth combat mission; it is a strike at the shipyards at Rotterdam in the Netherlands, a repeat of the attack originally scheduled for August 21. That attack had been turned back because of the presence of  over two dozen enemy fighters. Today's mission involves just 9 B-17 heavy bombers, of which 7 hit the assigned target at 1740 hours.  Three of the attacking planes are damaged;  one crewman is wounded in action.

      On this same day the 92nd Bombardment Group (Heavy) completes a nonstop flight of the remainder of its four squadrons from Newfoundland to the United Kingdom without losing any aircraft.  Also today, a Combat Crew Replacement Center, which is the first of its kind in the Eighth Air Force, is set up at Bovingdon, England.

      Finally, also on this day, the 94th Fighter Squadron of the 1st Fighter Group, deploys from Kirton in Lindsey, England to Ibsley, England with their P-38 aircraft.  (SOURCE: [3 items]:Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Aug.42.html) 

•     On Friday, August 28 of this year the Eighth Air Force in England sends 14 B-17 heavy bombers out on its Mission #7, an attack on the Avions Potez aircraft plant at Meaulte near Amiens in France. Eleven bombers actually make it to the target and drop their bombs between 1337 and 1344 hours. Three bombers are damaged, none totally lost. One crewman is killed on the mission.  (SOURCE:  Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Aug.42.html)

•   On Saturday,  August 29 of this year in England the Eighth Air Force sends out 13 B-17 heavy bombers on Mission #8. This is an attack on the Courtrai airfield in Belgium. Eleven bombers make it to the target and drop their bombs between 1131 and 1136 hours. One B-17 bombs Steene airfield at 1137 hours. The bombers claim no enemy aircraft destroyed, one damaged, and one probably damaged. Three B-17s from this mission are damaged.  (SOURCE:  Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Aug.42.html) 

•   On August 29 of this year, in still another of his informal private conversations with some of his inner circle of aides and associates, Adolf Hitler once more castigates his grade-school instructors. He says that "half of them were abnormal..." He admits that he and his fellow students were merciless towards the teachers. He says that he himself displayed absolutely no talent for foreign languages, and for this he blames his teacher, saying that he could not stand the sight of him.

• AUGUST:    At some time during this month Major Karl H. Shriver and his men of the Army Corps of Engineers begin construction of what is to be a camp to house German prisoners-of-war at Aliceville, Alabama. It will eventually become the largest such camp in the United States.  (SOURCE:  waymarking.com website, Aliceville Prisoner of War Camp, 1942-1945 at: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3DW0_Aliceville_Prisoner_of_War_Camp_1942_1945 acessed 1/26/2013).

• AUGUST:    At some time during this month a new, special staff is created at Allied  Forces Headquarters in England. Its purpose is to provide political intelligence and information to General Eisenhower regarding the situation in French North Africa, as well as to devise plans covering the actual politics of a future invasion of that area. Mr. W. H. B. Mack, a Briton, is named head of this Political Affairs Section; he has been transferred from the British Foreign Office in a sign that the British already have insight into the political side of things in the projected invasion area.  (SOURCE: United States Army in World War II The Mediterranean Theater of Operations  Northwest Africa: Seizing The Initiative in the West, By George F. Howe   Center of Military History United States Army Washington, D.C. 1993 ((paperback)), pg. 54). 

• AUGUST:    At about this time the newly-established Joint Planning Staff is the "principal subordinate agency" in the United States military organization to the American Joint Chiefs of Staff organization itself, according to Gordon A. Harrison. Harrison says that the Joint Planning Staff is organized along similar lines to the organization of the British Joint Planners, and that the two planning staffs constituted the Combined Staff Planners, who were responsible to the Combined Chiefs of Staff.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ASSAULT by Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, pages 4-5). 

• AUGUIST:     All during this month the reorganized U.S. 29th Division is conducting training exercises in the southern United States.  (Source:  Destination Normandy, by G. H. Bennett, Stackpole Military History Series, 2007, pg. 9).  

• SEPTEMBER:    In a letter to American presidential adviser Harry Hopkins, sent on September 4 of this year, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill foresees "a peaceful occupation for liberation purposes of French North Africa", and he says that the follow-up to that will be assembling a large enough force to attack Sicily and Italy "as well as on Rommel's back at Tripoli."  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Mediterranean Theater of Operations SICILY AND THE SURRENDER OF ITALY by Lieutenant Colonel Albert N. Garland and Howard McGaw Smyth Assisted by Martin Blumenson OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1965, page 4 and note 7).  

•  SEPTEMBER:   On Saturday, September 5 of this year, the U. S.  Eighth Air Force in England sends out two groups of bombers as part of its Mission #9. In the first phase, 11 out of 12 DB-7 medium bombers attack the port area at Le Havre, France at 0932 this morning. The bombers are escorted by two dozen Spitfires.

      In the second part of the mission, 37 B-17 heavy bombers are dispatched to the locomotive depot at the Rouen/Sotteville marshalling yard in  France in a continuation of the Eighth's campaign against aircraft and transportation targets. Thirty-one of the heavies actually make it through, and this is the largest force of heavies assigned to one target so far in the war. Bombing results are fairly good: over 19% of the bombs hit within the limits of the rail yard.  (SOURCE: [Both items]:  Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Sept.42.html)

•   On Sunday, September 6 of this year in England, the U. S. Eighth Air Force dispatches its tenth combat mission of the war. This is a three-part attack and the largest operation so far by the Eighth; in the first phase, all twelve DB-7 medium bombers that are sent out reach their target and attack the Abbeville/Drucat Airfield at 1702 hours. They are escorted by 37 Spitfires and suffer no losses.

     In Part 2 of the mission, 51 B-17 heavy bombers are dispatched to hit the Avions Potez aircraft plant at Meaulte, France; 30 B-17s actually make it to the target and drop their bombs between 1740 and 1748 hours. They claim 4 enemy fighters destroyed, 19 damaged, and 20 probably damaged, for the loss of 2 B-17s and damage to 7 others. One crewman is killed in this  action, five are wounded and 18 go missing. This represents the first loss of aircraft in combat  for the VIII Bomber Command.

    Finally, in Part 3 of the day's mission, 11 out of 13 B-17s hit the St. Omer/Longuenesse Airfield, while two others attack the St. Omer/Ft. Rouge Airfield without sustaining any losses.

    On this day also, HQ of the 67th Observation Group arrives at Membury, England from the U.S., and the 367th, 368th and 369th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) of the 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) reach Thurleigh, England with their B-17 bombers.  (SOURCE: [Four items]:  Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Sept.42.html).

     

•  SEPTEMBER:     On Monday,  September 7 of this year, Adolf Hitler launches into another round of denunciations of his elementary-school teachers. This comes during one of his informal conversations with some of his close associates;  he calls the teachers tyrants who wanted  only to stuff the children's heads with rote learning, not to turn them into original or creative thinkers.

•    Also on Monday, September 7 of this year, in England, the U. S. Eighth Air Force sends out its Mission 11 since it has begun formal combat operations in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). This is another two-part mission, involving a total of 29 B-17 heavy bombers. In the first part of the mission, just 4 out of 15 bombers dispatched make an ineffective raid on the Wilton shipyards at Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The attack is thwarted by bad weather, but the attackers still claim to have destroyed 8 enemy aircraft, damaged 4, and probably damaged 7 others. Four B-17's are damaged, and one airman is killed, while three others are wounded in action.

•      In the second phase of this action, 5 out of 14 attacking B-17's look for targets of opportunity near the Dutch city of Utrecht, probably because of poor visibility at their primary target. They claim to have destroyed 4 Luftwaffe aircraft, damaged 6, and to have probably damaged 5 others, while sustaining damage to one of their own bombers, and having one of their crewmen return wounded from the mission.

      Arriving in England from the U. S. today (September 7, 1942) are HQ of the 2d Bombardment Wing at Old Catton airfield; HQ of the 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) and the 328th, 329th, 330th and 409th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) at Alconbury with B-24 Liberator aircraft.  Also,  HQ of the 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) at Thurleigh; the 12th, 107th, 109th and 153rd Observation Squadrons, 67th Observation Group, at Membury-minus all of their aircraft; and the 15th Photographic Mapping Squadron of the 3rd Photographic Group, also to Membury with their B-17 aircraft. This is all part of the continuing buildup of the Eighth Air Force into an all-around, fully-equipped fighting force.  (SOURCE: [3 items]: Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Sept.42.html). 

•      At this time the 2d Bombardment Wing is commanded by Major General James P. Hodges.  (Source:  FIELDS OF LITTLE AMERICA, by Martin W. Bowman, Patrick Stephens, Cambridge, publisher, 1983, preface).

•     In England on September 8, 1942, HQ of the 3d Photographic Group reaches the bustling Membury Airfield from the U. S. The 342d and 414th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) of the 97th Bombardment Group (Heavy) move from Grafton Underwood Airfield to Polebrook with their B-17's.  (SOURCE: [2 items]:  Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Sept.42.html).

•     On September 12 of this year the U. S. 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy), equipped with the B-17 heavy bomber, begins  ground operations at Grafton Underwood Air Base in England. The commander of the 305th is Colonel Curtis E. LeMay. The unit is assigned to the 1 Bombardment Wing of the VIII Bomber Command, U. S. 8th Air Force. The unit begins "settling in" at its new base; its aircraft are still in the United States, with the flying crews undergoing advanced flight training at Syracuse, New York.  (SOURCE:  World Wide Web posting).

•     Also on September 12 of this year in England the three Eagle Squadrons-American pilots flying for the Royl Air Force-the 71st, 121st and the 133rd-are transferred to the U. S. Army Air Force and officially reconsituted as the 4th Fighter Group with its home base at Debden Air Base, three miles from the town of Saffron Walden.  (SOURCE:  Aces of the Eighth Fighter Pilots, Planes & Outfits of the VIII Air Force by Gene B. Stafford and William N. Hess Squadron/Signal Publications Carrollton, Texas 1973 ((paperback)), page 8). 

•     On Monday, September 14 of this year in England, following the transfer of various U. S. Eighth Air Force combat units to the new Twelfth Air Force, the forces remaining under Eighth Air Force control are: HQ 3d Photographic Group and 5th, 12th, 13th and 14th Photographic Squadrons and 15th Photographic Mapping Squadron, equipped with F-4s, F-5s and B-17Fs; HQ 4th Fighter Group and the 3434th, 335th and 336th Fighter Squadrons , based at Steeple Morden with Spi5tfire Vs; HQ 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and 66th, 67th and 68th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), stationed at Cheddington Airfield with their B-24 Liberator bombers; HQ 67th Observation Group and the 12th, 107th, 109th and 153rd Observation Squadrons, based at Membury Airfield, but without their aircraft; also the HQ of the 91st Bombardment Group and its 322d, 3232rd, 324th and 401st Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy). The 91st and its squadrons are based Kimbolton Airfield with their B-17F bombers; the HQ of the 92nd Bombardment Group (Heavy) and its 325th, 326th, 327th and 407th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) are based at Bovingdon Airfield with their B-17F aircraft. Headquarters of the 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) and its 328th, 329th, 330th and 409th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) are stationed at Alconbury Airfield with their B-24D-model Liberators. The Headquarters of the 303d Bombardment Group (Heavy), and its 358th, 359th, 360th and 427th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) are stationed at Molesworth Airfield with their B-17F aircraft, and HQ of the 305th Bombardment Group  (Heavy), with its 364th, 365th, 366th and 422d Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) are stationed at Grafton Underwood Airfield with their B-17F aircraft. Finally,  Headquarters of the 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and its 367th, 368th, 369th and 423rd Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) with their B-17F planes are stationed at Thurleigh Airfield.  (SOURCE:  [all data]:  Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/htmlSept..42.html).  

•     As of Wednesday, September 16 of this year, certain administrative details regarding the ultimate composition and organization of the U. S. Eighth Air Force in England still remain unsettled. For example, it is still to be decided as to the site for the VIII Fighter Command headquarters, as well as to the exact mission that VIII Fighter Command will carry out in the Allies' overall air plans. However, today the VIII Air Force Services Command does decide upon Honington and Watton as sites for Bomber Command advance depots.  (SOURCE:  Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/htmlSept..42.html). 

•     On Thursday, September 17 of this year the XII Ground Air Support Command of the U. S. Twelfth Air Force is activated at Birmingham, Alabama. This will be the only component of the U. S. Twelfth Air Force to be organized exclusively in the United States. At a future date it will move straight to North Africa with the Western Task Force invasion fleet for Operation TORCH.

•    On Thursday, September 17 of this year also, in England, the HQ, XII Fighter Command is transferred from Wattisham to Bushey Hall, England.  (SOURCE: [Both entries]:  Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/htmlSept..42.html). 

•     On Friday, September 18 of this year the VIII Ground Air Support Command, based at Membury, England, is renamed VIII Air Support Command. The Twelfth Air Force assumes command of a dozen British units, consisting of signal, observer, radar and air warning types. Specifically, they are attached to the XII Fighter Command in the United Kingdom. Colonel Rosenham R. Beam takes command of the XII Ground Air Support Command.  (SOURCE:   Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/htmlSept..42.html). 

•     On Wednesday, September 23 of this year in England, Major General James H. Doolittle takes over command of the Twelfth Air Force here.  (SOURCE:   Electronic posting at:http://paul,rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/htmlSept..42.html). 

•  On September 26 of this year in New York harbor, most of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division boards the former British luxury liner Queen Mary for the transatlantic trip to Europe.  (Source:  Destination Normandy, by G. H. Bennett, Stackpole Military History Series, pg. 9). 

• .

•   On September 29 of this year in the United States orders are issued officially constituting the 353rd Fighter Group at Mitchell Field on Long Island, New York.  The first personnel who will staff this new unit will europe assemble at Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia next month. (SOURCE:  The Slybird Group   The 353rd Fighter Group on Escort and Ground Attack Operations  by Kenn C. Rust and William N. Hess  Aero Publishers, Inc.  Fallbrook, California ((paperback))  1968, pg. 9).

      All during the month of September of this year, the United States is maintaining a small but growing force of Army and Air Corps personnel in Great Britain and in Northern Ireland. These forces include the first MAGNET Force, which arrived in England earlier this year.

•     At some time during September of this year the men of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division move to Camp Kilmer in New Jersey from Camp Blanding in Florida. Camp Kilmer is the main holding camp for units which will sail for Europe.  (Source:  Destination Normandy, by G. H. Bennett, Stackpole Military History Series, pg. 9). 

•     According to G. H. Bennett, "Most of the [29th] Division embarked on the British passenger liner Queen Mary  on September 26 [of this year]".  (Source: Destination Normandy, by G. H. Bennett, Stackpole Military History Series, pg. 9).      
    

•  OCTOBER:    On October 2 of this year the first personnel assigned to the newly-created 353rd Fighter Group report to Richmond Army Air Base in Virginia. The assembled men include a few pilots, some administrative officers and enlisted men; they check in and begin to serve under the Group's first commander, Major Joseph A. Morris, who hails from Deadwood, South Dakota. He is a generally easygoing type, but he is a perfectionist when it comes to shaping up his new command. Most of his subordinate officers are just out of flight school, but a few have had a little more experience in the air, and these men take on the responsibility of training for the three squadrons assigned to the 353rd.  (SOURCE:   The Slybird Group   The 353rd Fighter Group on Escort and Ground Attack Operations  by Kenn C. Rust and William N. Hess  Aero Publishers, Inc.  Fallbrook, California ((,,paperback))  1968, pg. 9).

•  Also on October 2 of this year in England the recently activated U. S. 4th Fighter Group, stationed at Royal Air Force Base Debden, near Saffron Walden, flies its first combat mission; it is currently flying the British Spitfire fighter pending arrival of American-made aircraft.  (SOURCE:  Aces of the Eighth Fighter Pilots, Planes & Outfits of the VIII Air Force by Gene B. Stafford and William N. Hess Squadron/Signal Publications Carrollton, Texas 1973 ((paperback)), page 8).

•    On October 5 of this year the 319th Fighter Squadron of the U.S. 325th Fighter Group transfers from its initial base at Renschler Field near Hartford, Connecticut to join Group Headquarters at Theodore Green Field, Hillsgrove, Rhode Island. The unit has grown since its inception, and its personnel complement now stands at 29 officers and 312 enlisted men; among them, the pilots of the squadron have flown regular training patrols over the New England coastal area, with their flights being controlled by the Boston Air Defense Wing.  (SOURCE:  CHECKERTAIL CLAN The 325th Fighter Group in North Africa and Italy By Ernest R. McDowell and William N. Hess Edited by Kenn C. Rust Aero Publishers, Inc. Fallbrook, California 1969, pg. 10). 

• OCTOBER:    On October 5 of this year the remainder of the U.S.29th Division which had not left for Europe on September 26 of this year now does so. (Source:  Destination Normandy, by G. H. Bennett, Stackpole Military History Series, pg. 9).           

•     On October 9 of this year B-24Ds of the U.S. 93rd Bomb Group (H) join with 8th Air Force B-17s in a combined attack against the steel and locomotive engineering works at Lille, France. The 93rd loses one plane, Captain Alex Simpson's Big Eagle, which is hit by flak and goes down over Dunkirk, France with the loss of five crew members. Captain Simpson, Lieutenant Nick Cox, Lieutenant Carl Garrett, and Sargeant Michael Reardon bail out but are captured and made Prisoners of War after landing. Only Sargeant Arthur Cox, who also bails out, is able to evade capture. He eventually makes his way to neutral Spain with the help of the French Underground. Post-strike reconnaissance photographs of the target for this, the Group's first-and first for any 8th Air Force B-24 unit-mission show only slight damage to the target factories.  (SOURCE:  93rd Bombardment Group website, Entire History page, at: http://www.93rdbombardmentgroup.com/historyfull.html  retreived on 10/1/2013-GD).

•     On October 16 of this year bthe U.S. 2nd Infantry Division receives orders for a permanent change of station. The whole deivision, which is commanded by Major General Walter M. Robertson, is to move from its present location at Fort Sam Huston to a base in the far north, to Camp McCoy in Wisconson.  (Source:   COMBAT HISTORY OF THE SECOND INFANTRY DIVISION IN WORLD WAR II Reprinted by The Battery Press, 1979,page 17).

•  

•     Late in October of this year Group Headquarters of the 353rd Fighter Group is moved from Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia to the Municipal Airport in Baltimore, Maryland. The staff and men of the 350th Fighter Squadron, commanded by  1st Lieutenant Wallace E. Hopkins are also assigned to the Baltimore Airport, and the 352nd Fighter Squadron goes to Langley Field in Virginia, under the command of 1st Lieutenant William B. Bailey, while the 351st Fighter Squadron, led by 1st Lieutenant Shannon Christian, is sent to the Municipal Airport at Norfolk, Virginia. (SOURCE:  The Slybird Group   The 353rd Fighter Group on Escort and Ground Attack Operations  by Kenn C. Rust and William N. Hess  Aero Publishers, Inc.  Fallbrook, California ((paperback))  1968, pg. 9).

•     At some time during this month the 101st Airborne Division moves to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where it is  joined by the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment to begin its training under the Airborne Command. The 101st has both parachute infantry and glider-borne elements, and they develop strong rivalries, especially since the parachute men receive special, extra, jump pay which the glider men do not get.  (SOURCE: The 101st Airborne during World War II page at WWII Airborne-U.S. website:  http://www.ww2-airborne.us/18corps/101abn/101_overview.html  accessed 6/13/2014-GD).

•     For this month as a whole, 2,068,533 passengers travel by rail, motor, air, and water on War Department travel requests in the United States, and this is the peak month for such requested travel.  (Source:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Technical Services THE TRANSPORTATION CORPS: MOVEMENT, TRAINING AND SUPPLY by Chester Wardlow CENTER OF MILTARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C. 2003, pg. 12).

•     Also at some time during the month of October 1942 Major General Mark W. Clark leaves England to become Deputy Commander of Allied Forces in North Africa, under General Eisenhower.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The Mediterranean Theater of Operations CASSINO TO THE ALPS by Ernest F. Fisher, Jr. CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1989, page 9).     

• NOVEMBER:    In the period between June 22 of last year and November 1 of this year the German forces in Russia have captured 5,150,000 Red Army prisoners, and that is merely the P.O.W. total; it does not count the Russian losses in dead or seriously wounded troops. Yet, despite this, the Germans have still not penetrated deeply enough into the Soviet Union, according to Hugh M. Cole, "to deliver a paralyzing blow."  (SOURCE:  UN

• NOVEMBER:    Starting on November 2 of this year, U.S. Major General Russell P. Hartle begins serving as executive deputy theater commander of ETOUSA, the headquarters commanding United States forces in the United Kingdom, to relieve General Eisenhower of some of the burden of commanding both the North African and the European theaters.  (Source:   UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations CROSS-CHANNEL ASSAULT by Gordon A. Harrison OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1951, pages 46).