World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Monday January 27, 1941
Day 515

January 27, 1941: Front page of the Manchester Evening News, Manchester, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
*Historical note: On this day U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Joseph Grew sent a cable to the State Department stating the following;

"My Peruvian colleague told a member of my staff that he had heard from many sources including a Japanese source that the Japanese military forces planned, in the event of trouble with the United States, to attempt a surprise mass attack on Pearl Harbor using all of their military facilities. He added that although the project seemed fantastic the fact that he had heard it from many sources prompted him to pass on the information."


However, for reasons that are not clear to me, nobody seemed to take this too seriously. The thought of war with Japan was not surprising to anyone, and had been a frequent subject of reports seen in many newspapers of the day. For evidence of that just see the report at top right "Matsuoka's Threat To America" in the Western Mail and South Wales News below.

The military were certainly aware of the possibility of a war with Japan. Perhaps it was the target, Pearl Harbor, that they could not believe. I have, over the years, read many formerly secret documents which lead me to believe that officials, at the time, did not believe the Japanese capable to attacking Pearl Harbor. They did understand that the Philippines would be a target, as well as other places like Singapore, Hong Kong and even Midway Atoll, but to them, Pearl Harbor was a target out of reach of the Japanese and therefore a vigorous defense of the fleet base there was not undertaken. The whole story is far more complex than just these few words, but those arguments are well outside the scope of this page.


January 27, 1941: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 27, 1941: Front page of the Western Mail and South Wales News, Cardiff, Wales.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report at top right: "Matsuoka's Threat To America"
Also note the report in columns 5-6: "Halifax Tells U.S.A. Nazi Attack in Spring Expected"
(Whether this was just to emphasize how dire the situation in Britain was, or whether he actually believed it, the invasion, of course, would never come. Invasion talk had been in the press for eight or nine months now, and yet no invasion had happened, or could even be physically seen to be taking shape. Aerial reconnaissance photos showed no masses of troops, equipment or ships, and yet talk of the invasion that never was persisted.)


January 27, 1941: Front page of the Press and Journal, Aberdeen, Scotland.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 27, 1941: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 27, 1941: Front page of the Daily Telegraph, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report at top right: "37 Jews Stripped, Shot In Rumania"


January 27, 1941: Front page of The Telegraph, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 27, 1941: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 27, 1941: Front page of The Winnipeg Tribune, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 27, 1941: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 27, 1941: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 27, 1941: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 3: "Wilhelm At 82 Is Well, Content"


January 27, 1941: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 27, 1941: Front page of The Nevada State Journal, Reno, Nevada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 27, 1941: Front page of the San Mateo Times, San Mateo, California.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 27, 1941: Front page of the Hamburger Neueste Zeitung, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
1. Neue Abfuhr für Hull.
(New removal for Hull"
2. Graf Csaky gestorben.
(Count Csaky has died.)
[Count Stephen Csaky was the Hungarian Foreign Minister.]


January 27, 1941: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
1. Rudolf Heß sprach zu den deutschen Studenten.
(Rudolf Hess spoke to the German students.)
2. Kampf der Waffen und des Geistes.
(Battle of arms and spirit.)



   
Page published January 27, 2022