Monday, 8 December 1941
The United States, United Kingdom and Netherlands declare war on the Empire of Japan. Japanese bombard Wake and Guam, each garrisoned by small detachments of U.S. Marines; British-mandated Nauru Island and Ocean Island, Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.
Washington DC: In his address to the nation, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt describes December 7, 1941 as "a date which will live in infamy."
USN: Potomac River Naval Command with headquarters at Washington, D.C., and Severn River Naval Command with headquarters at Annapolis, Maryland, are established.
JAAF: At 8:19am seventeen Japanese planes bomb Camp John Hay near Baguio killing eleven soldiers including both Americans and Filipinos plus several civilians. Other Japanese planes bomb Tuguegarao.
IJN: Japanese land on Batan Island without opposition. Between 3:00am to 3:30am local time, the news about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and Oahu is received on Luzon via commercial radio. Within thirty minutes, the radar station at Iba Field plots a formation of airplanes 75 miles offshore bound for Corregidor. P-40's are sent out to intercept but make no contact. Shortly before 9:30am, after Japanese land based aircraft from Formosa are detected over Lingayen Gulf heading toward Manila, B-17's at Clark Field are ordered airborne to prevent being caught on the ground.
Fighters from Clark Field and Nichols Field are sent to intercept the enemy but do not make contact. The Japanese aircraft swing east and bomb military installations including Baguio, Tarlac, Tuguegarao, and Cabantuan Airfield (Maniquis).
By 11:30am, the B-17's and fighters sent into the air earlier have landed at Clark Field and Iba Field for refueling, and radar has disclosed another flight of Japanese aircraft seventy miles west of Lingayen Gulf headed south. Fighters from Iba Field make a fruitless search over the South China Sea. Fighters from Nichols Fields are dispatched to patrol over Bataan and Manila.
Around 11:45am a formation is reported headed south over Lingayen Gulf. Fighters are ordered from Del Carmen to cover Clark Field but fail to arrive before the Japanese attack Clark Field shortly after noon destroying many bombers and fighters caught on the ground including B-17D 40-3069 and B-17D 40-3095. At 12:35pm, three P-40B Warhawks from A Flight of the 20th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group managed to get airborne as bombs were hitting the runway: Joe Moore, Randall D. Keator and Edwin Gilmore and engage enemy fighters. 2nd Lt. Randall D. Keator was credited with the shoot down the first Japanese aircraft shot down over the Philippines.circumstantial evidence points to him shooting down A6M2 Zero piloted by Hirose Yoshio, Maki chutai of the Tainan Kokutai.
The P-40's earlier sent on patrol of the South China Sea return to Iba Field with fuel running low at the beginning of a Japanese attack on Iba Airfield. The P-40's fail to prevent bombing but manage to prevent low-level strafing of the sort which was so destructive at Clark Field.
At the end of the day's action it is apparent that the Japanese have won a major victory over the Philippines. The striking power of the Far East Air Force (FEAF) is reduced to almost half strength, the fighter strength has been seriously reduced, most B-17 maintenance facilities have been demolished, and about 90 men have been killed.
USN:
Task Force 5 (TF 5), Asiatic Fleet, under Rear Adm William A. Glassford departs Iloilo bound for the Makassar Strait. Sunk at Malalag Bay are PBY Catalina 1229 and PBY Catalina 1230.
IJN: Japanese aircraft strike Guam and Wake. Meanwhile a Japanese invasion force depart Kwajalien bound for Wake. Japanese forces also land at Kota Bharu in Malaysia. H5K2 Emily from Toko bombs Cebu.
RAAF: Hudsons bomb the Japanese invasion force off Kota Bharu. Lost is Hudson A16-94 and Hudson A16-19. Crashed is Catalina A24-15 crashed into Gemo Island off Port Moresby.
Caribbean Air Force: All Army Air Force units in the Caribbean begin flying ASW patrols.
IJA: Japanese from Indochina cross into Thailand and drive on Bangkok against negligible resistance. Others land unopposed at Singora and Patani on E coast and start SW across Kra Isthmus to assist in conquest of Malaya.
In the early morning, Japanese invade Malaya landing on east coast near Kota Bharu after naval bombardment of beaches, and are vigorously engaged by Lt Gen A. E. Percival's Malaya Command. Ind 3 Corps (under Lt Gen Sir Lewis Heath), which is responsible for all Malaya N of Johore and Malacca, employs Ind 9th Div against enemy in Kota Bharu area and sends Ind 11th Div, already poised to move into Thailand, across border to delay enemy on roads to Singora and Patani. Ind 9th Div, whose primary mission is to protect the 3 airfields in Kelantan (Kota Bharu, Gong Kedah, and Machang), fights losing battle for Kota Bharu, from which it starts withdrawing during night 8- 9. One Ind 11th Div column, driving toward Singora, engages tank-supported enemy force 10 miles N of frontier; another, advancing toward Patani, is opposed only by Thai police forces. In conjunction with ground attacks, Japanese planes strike repeatedly at airfields in N Malaya and greatly reduce strength of RAF Far East Command. RAF, after attacking enemy shipping and troops in Kota Bharu area, withdraws from the Kelantan airfields to Kuantan, far to S. Singapore, ultimate objective of Japanese 25th Army in Malaya, is also attacked by air.
China: Japanese seize the International Settlement at Shanghai and many ships are sunk or captured in Shanghai Harbor. Japanese troops move toward Kowloon on mainland across from Hong Kong.
IJN: Japanese Air Attack Force No. 1, 24th Air Flotilla, based at Roi, bomb Wake Island including Camp One and Camp Two and the Wake Island Airfield and destroy seven F4F Wildcats from VMF-211. An explosion destroys a gas tank with 25,000 gallon of aviation fuel, and numerous casualties were sustained.
Japanese naval land attack planes from Chitose Kokutai based at Roi bomb Wake Island, inflicting heavy damage on airfield installations and VMF-211 F4Fs on Wake. An explosion destroys a gas tank with 25,000 gallon of aviation fuel, and numerous casualties were sustained. The four-plane VMF 211 patrol is out of position to deal with the incoming raid (there is no radar on Wake). Pan American Airways Martin 130 Philippine Clipper (being prepared for a scouting flight with an escort of two VMF-211 F4Fs when the attack comes) in the aftermath of the disaster precipitately evacuates Caucasian airline staff and passengers only (Pan American's Chamorro employees are left behind). Another individual who somehow fails to get a seat on the outgoing flying boat is an official from the Bureau of the Budget who was on Wake to go over construction costs.
Japanese submarine I-123 mines Balabac Strait. I-124 the entrance to Manila Bay.
USN: Seaplane tender (destroyer) USS William B. Preston (AVD-7) is attacked by fighters and attack planes from Japanese carrier Ryujo in Davao Gulf. William B. Preston escapes, but two PBYs VP-101 she is tending are strafed and destroyed on the water.
Japan interns U.S. Marines and nationals at Shanghai, Tientsin and Chinwangtao, China. River gunboat Wake (PR-3) maintained at Shanghai as station ship and manned by a skeleton crew, is seized by Japanese Naval Landing Force boarding party after attempt to scuttle fails. Wake, the only U.S. Navy ship to surrender during World War II, is renamed Tatara and serves under the Rising Sun for the rest of the war. British river gunboat HMS Peterel, however, moored nearby in the stream of the Whangpoo River, refuses demand to surrender and is sunk by gunfire from Japanese coast defense ship Idzumo. American-flag merchant small craft seized by the Japanese at Shanghai: tug Meifoo No. 5, tug Mei Kang, Mei Nan, Mei Ying and Mei Yun.
U.S. passenger liner President Harrison, en route to evacuate marines from North China, is intentionally run aground at Sha Wai Shan, China, and is captured by the Japanese. Repaired and refloated, President Harrison is renamed Kakko Maru and later, Kachidoki Maru (see 12 September 1944). Among the baggage awaiting shipment out of occupied China along with the North China Marines are the bones of Peking Man, which are never seen again. Their fate remains a mystery to this day.
Japanese forces land on east coast of Malay Peninsula. RAF Hudsons bomb invasion shipping off Kota Bharu, Malaya, setting army cargo ship Awajisan Maru afire; destroyers Ayanami and Shikinami and submarine chaser Ch 9 take off Awajisan Maru's crew.
Japanese forces land on east coast of Malay Peninsula. RAF Hudsons bomb invasion shipping off Kota Bharu, Malaya, setting army cargo ship Awajisan Maru afire; destroyers Ayanami and Shikinami and submarine chaser Ch 9 take off Awajisan Maru's crew.
Japanese planes bomb Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippine Islands. Extensive damage is inflicted on USAAF aircraft at Clark Field, Luzon, P.I. During Japanese bombing of shipping in Manila Bay, U.S. freighter Capillo is damaged by bomb, set afire, and abandoned (see 11 December).
Japanese floatplanes from 18th Kokutai bomb Guam, damaging minesweeper Penguin (AM-33) and miscellaneous auxiliary Robert L. Barnes (AG-27). Penguin, abandoned, is scuttled in deep water by her crew. Robert L. Barnes, maintained in reduced commission as a floating oil depot, her seaworthiness reduced by age and deterioration, had served since 1 July 1937 as the training ship for Guamanian mess attendants recruited on the island.
References
December 8, 1941 (2003) by William H. Bartsch
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