On This Day ... in 1833 & Others
Great Britain took control of the Falkland Islands
On January 2nd a British force had arrived at Port Louis (Soledad) and take possesion of the islands. The force consisted of HMS Clio under Captain Onslow and HMS Tyne. The Argentine armed schooner Sarandi under Don Jose Maria Pinedo was in port. Onslow gave Pinedo written notice that he had been ordered to exercise British rights of sovereignty and that the next morning he would raise the British flag and requested that Pinedo lower the Argentine flag and depart.
Pinedo waited upon Onslow and protested refusing to lower the Argentine flag. However on the morning of the 3rd, British troops landed raised the Union flag, lowered the Argentine flag, which was subsequently delivered to Pinedo. Sarandi left the islands taking aboard the Argentine soldiers that were on the islands.
1940: German U-Boat U-25 becomes the first Axis submarine to take advantage of Spain's offer to allow reprovisioning and refueling in its ports.
1941: At Alexandria, Midshipman Prince Philip of Greece joins battleship HMS Valiant, which, with battleships HMS Barham and Warspite, later bombarded Bardia, Libya, to assist with the British Army plans for its capture.
1942: Lieutenant Colonel Cumming commanded the 2nd Battalion of the 12th Frontier Force Regiment in a fierce defence against the Japanese at Kuantan, Malaya. When the Japanese took part of his position, Cumming led forward a small party in an immediate counterattack, winning time for the battalion to withdraw. Every man in the counterattack was killed or wounded, and Cumming himself suffered two bayonet wounds to the stomach. Nevertheless, he remained in command, and, using a Bren Gun Carrier, drove around the battlefield under heavy fire, collecting the wounded and mustering cut-off detachments. His gallantry and leadership allowed the remainder of the brigade to withdraw in relatively good order, and he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
1942: Roosevelt and Churchill announced creation of a unified command in the Southwest Pacific, with British General Sir Archibald P Wavell as supreme commander of American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) forces in that area.
General Wavell was directed to;
(1) to hold the Malay Barrier (the line Malay Peninsula-Sumatra-Java-Northern Australia) and operate as far beyond the barrier as possible in order to check the Japanese advance
(2) hold Burma and Australia
(3) restore communications with the Philippine Islands through the Netherlands East Indies
(4) maintain communications within the theatre.
In another move, Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek was named Commander in Chief of Allied Forces in China.
1942: Military planners come to the realization that it will be impossible to reinforce the Philippine Islands and the troops in those islands are doomed. When told of this, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson notes, "There are times when men must die".
1943: A two-man submersible Chariot, based on a modified torpedo, succeeded in penetrating Palermo harbour and sank the light cruiser Ulpio Traiano - the first such use of the device by the Royal Navy, which had copied it from the Italian Navy's Maiale that had been used to considerable effect against British shipping earlier in the war.
1945: British forces launched an attack on Akyab, Burma, including the deployment of a Royal Navy bombardment force. In the event, the Japanese proved to have withdrawn, and Akyab was liberated single-handed by a Royal Artillery officer.
1951: UN troops were forced to evacuate Seoul as Chinese and North Korean troops advanced south.
Comments
1942: Military planners come to the realization that it will be impossible to reinforce the Philippine Islands and the troops in those islands are doomed. When told of this, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson notes, "There are times when men must die".
Amazing - he'd get crucified for saying that in this day and age.
Posted by: SSG Jeff (USAR) | January 2, 2008 11:45 PM
Jeff, Google tells me that Secretary Stimson served in France in the First War, reaching Lt-Colonel rank. I guess he learned a few hard lessons there.
I think I am right that in 1940 most of the British leadership had served, one way or another, in WW1, and their experience was crucial in forming their refusal to give up in the face of disasters which would soon come.
You are right about this day and age. I don't doubt the quality of the servicemen of the Free World - I do doubt the backbone of the political leaderships, especially those here in Europe. If we faced a serious threat, we might have to start by shooting our own politicos.
A good thought, that. Happy New Year, everyone.
Posted by: Jeff Wood | January 3, 2009 11:11 AM