1942 - 1944
the changing world
Although America's isolationism kept us out of the fighting, our industrial might in aid of the allied forces (and some famously aiding the Axis) sent munitions and materiel to the battlefields all over the world. War was becoming good business but it was only a matter of time before we became more deeply involved. Hitler and the Axis powers were annexing land, marching into countries and instigating regime change, killing hundreds of thousands of political opponents and marching on sovereign nations all over the world. But we kept out of the fray due to isolationist feelings. There was no stomach to get involved in a war in Europe or anywhere else. But without sanction, American pilots volunteered to fly combat and support missions from as early as 1937 in the Second Sino-Japanese war in Asia. We unofficially supported the Pro-Republicans fighting against Franco in the Spanish Civil war which later was considered to be a dress rehearsal for WWII. Then on October 17, 1941 the destroyer USS Kearny (DD-432) is torpedoed and damaged by U-568 near Iceland, killing eleven sailors. They were the first American military casualties suffered at the hand of an undeclared enemy. On October 30, 1941, the Executive and Legislative branches worked together to work out a 1 billion dollar lend-lease deal for the Soviet Union and other allied nations. The United Kingdom, Free France and China received a similar deal in March of 1941 as enacted under Public Law 77-11. The aid included food, oil, and materiel between 1941 and August 1945.
This included warships and warplanes, along with other weaponry. In general the aid was free, although some hardware (such as ships) were returned after the war. In return, the U.S. was given leases on army and naval bases in Allied territory during the war. Total value of the aid was $50.1 billion dollars, equivilent to $697 billion in 2019 dollars. The very next day on October 31, 1941, the destroyer USS Reuben James is torpedoed by Erich Topp's U-552 near Iceland, killing more than 100 US Navy Sailors.
It is the first loss of an American "neutral warship." American blood again had been shed and it was just a matter of time before our entry full force into the fray. Source: Wikipedia
Keep 'Em Flying (aka Up in the Air) is a 1941 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film was the third service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940.
The comedy team had appeared in two previous service comedies in 1941, before the United States entered the war: Buck Privates, released in January, and In the Navy, released in May. Flying Cadets, along with Keep 'Em Flying were both produced by Universal Pictures in 1941.
The film's title is taken from the official motto of the U.S. Army Air Corps, some five months after it had been reformed into the USAAF. Keep 'Em Flying reflected the "spirit of the times" and encouraged many young men to volunteer for flight training."
Source: Wikipedia
America was trying to maintain a spirit of optimism, but the reality of the war that had up to this time left American lives untouched was ending. How do you lead a nation into a conflict which has already been devastating to so much of the world? Hollywood, the music industry and the armed forces teamed up with dozens if not hundreds of films, shorts and songs designed to bolster American patriotism using humor, hard facts, sex appeal and anything else that would bring our men and women to the factories, enlistment offices and government in preparation for our eventual entrance to the war. Audiences had already seen for several years newsreels of the events world-wide. The time had come to get up close and personal with the agressors of the world.
October 1941
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2: Operation Typhoon – German "Central" forces begin an all-out offensive against Moscow. Leading the defense of the capital is General Georgi Zhukov, already a Hero of Soviet Union for his command in the conflict against the Japanese in the Russian Far East and at Leningrad.
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3: Mahatma Gandhi urges his followers to begin a passive resistance against British rule in India.
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7: Heavy RAF night bombings of Berlin, the Ruhr, and Cologne, but with heavy losses.
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8: In their invasion of the southern Soviet Union, Germany reaches the Sea of Azov with the capture of Mariupol. However, there are signs that the invasion is beginning to bog down as rainy weather creates muddy roads for both tanks and men.
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10: German armies encircle about 660,000 Red Army troops near Vyasma (east of Smolensk); some make a glowing prediction of the end of the war
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12: HMS Ark Royal delivers a squadron of Hurricane fighter planes to Malta.
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13: Germans attempt another drive toward Moscow as the once muddy ground hardens
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14: Temperatures fall further on the Moscow front; heavy snows follow and immobilize German tanks.
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15: The Germans drive on Moscow.
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16: Soviet Union government begins move eastward to Samara, a city on the Volga, but Joseph Stalin remains in Moscow. The citizens of Moscow frantically build tank traps and other fortifications for the coming siege.
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17: The government of Japanese prime minister Prince Fumimaro Konoye collapses, leaving little hope for peace in the Pacific.
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18: Red Army troop reinforcements arrive in Moscow from Siberia; Stalin is assured that the Japanese will not attack the USSR from the East.
: General Hideki Tōjō becomes the 40th Prime Minister of Japan.
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30: Franklin Delano Roosevelt approves US$1 billion in Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.
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31: The destroyer USS Reuben James is torpedoed by Erich Topp's U-552 near Iceland, killing more than 100 United States Navy sailors. It is the first loss of an American "neutral warship."
November 1941
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1: President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces that the U.S. Coast Guard will now be under the direction of the U.S. Navy, a transition of authority usually reserved only for wartime.
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6: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin addresses the Soviet Union for only the second time during his three-decade rule (the first time was earlier that year on July 2). He states that even though 350,000 troops were killed in German attacks so far, that the Germans have lost 4.5 million soldiers (a gross exaggeration) and that Soviet victory was near.
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7: Heavy RAF night bombings of Berlin, the Ruhr, and Cologne, but with heavy losses.
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15: The Germans drive on Moscow.
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17: Joseph Grew, the United States ambassador to Japan, cables the State Department that Japan had plans to launch an attack against Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (his cable was ignored).
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19: Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran sink each other off the coast of Western Australia. All 648 crewmen are lost on HMAS Sydney.
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22: Britain issues an ultimatum to Finland to end war with the Soviet Union or face war with the Allies.
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: Rommel starts a counteroffensive, retaking Sidi Rezegh (south of Tobruk) which the Allies had taken a few days earlier. British tank losses are heavy.
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23: Rommel's attack continues around Sidi Rezegh; Allied losses continue to rise.
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: The United States reaches an agreement with the Dutch government in exile whereby the Americans occupy Suriname to protect the bauxite mines there.
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24: : Rommel begins a surprising 15-mile foray into Egypt; he meets no opposition.
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25: U-331 sinks the British battleship HMS Barham while covering Mediterranean convoys.
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26: A Japanese attack fleet of 33 warships and auxiliary craft, including six aircraft carriers, sails from northern Japan for the Hawaiian Islands.
: The Hull note ultimatum is delivered to Japan by the United States.
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: The last Italian armed forces in East Africa surrender at Gondar.
December 1941
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1: Fiorello H. La Guardia publishes Administrative Order 9 creating the Civil Air Patrol for U.S Coastal Patrol and naming its national commander Major General John F. Curry.
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2: Prime Minister Tojo rejects "peace feelers" from the US.
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3: Conscription in the United Kingdom now includes all men between 18 and 50. Women will not be neglected since they will serve in fire brigades and in women's auxiliary groups.
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4: The temperature on the Moscow front falls to −31 °F (−37 °C).[9] German attacks are failing.
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Japanese naval and army forces continue to move toward Pearl Harbor and South-east Asia.
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5: Germans call off the attack on Moscow, now 11 miles away; the USSR counter-attacks during a heavy blizzard.
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6: The United Kingdom declares war on Finland.
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7: (December 8, Asian time zones) Japan launches an attack on Pearl Harbor, declares war on the United States and the United Kingdom and invades Thailand and British Malaya and launches aerial attacks against Guam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Shanghai, Singapore and Wake Island. Canada declares war on Japan. Australia declares war on Japan.
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