World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Thursday, January 8, 1942
Day 861

January 8, 1942: Front page of the News and Chronicle, London, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 5: "Axis U-Boats Run Air Gauntlet - Two More Sunk This Week.
(No German submarines had been sunk so far in 1942, but one Italian had. Ammiraglio Saint Bon was sunk on Jan. 5, by HM submarine Upholder, but it is unclear if the Italians were aware of this yet.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury, Leeds, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of the Western Mail and South Wales News, Cardiff, Wales.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of the Evening Telegraph and Post, Dundee, Scotland.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 6: "Cruel German Reprisals In Paris"


January 8, 1942: Front page of The Sydney Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in columns 6-7: "Chinese Smash 5 Army Corps: 60,000 Japs Die"
(The number of Japanese killed at Changsha, as reported by the press, has increased by 8,000 since first reported on Jan. 5.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of The Telegraph, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of the Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 3: "Dutch Sub Sinks Nazi U Boat"
(This report was true, but the event took place on Nov. 28, 1941 when HNLMS O-21 sank U-95.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the headline report: "Eight Drown As Navy Ship Sinks Off Isles Of Shoals"
(The ship that was sunk was the U.S. Army [not Navy] minelayer General Richard Arnold, not Arnold as stated in the report.)
 
Also note the report in column 5: "Lindbergh Arrives In Washington"
(Reports in other publications claim he was there to meet with Secretary of War Stimson, but this was denied by the War Department.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 6: "British Battleship Reported Damaged"
(This time the Italians were telling the truth, but they did not know the whole truth. In fact, on Dec. 19, 1941 the Italian submarine Scire did enter Alexandria Harbor and released several "human torpedoes" which were manned by frogmen. The teams attached limpet mines to at least three ships, which damaged the freighter Sagona and the battleship HMS Valiant. The battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth was sunk, albeit in shallow water, but sunk nevertheless. This was a story the Admiralty was not overly interested in making public. Queen Elizabeth was raised and temporary repairs were made, permanent repairs were made in the United States at Norfolk, Virginia.)
[See "Italians Claim Another British Battleship Damaged" in The Daily Mail of Jan. 9, 1942.]


January 8, 1942: Front page of the Tucson Daily Citizen, Tucson, Arizona.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of the San Mateo Times, San Mateo, California.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 7: "95,000 Lost By Japanese At Changsha"
(The number now inflated by an additional 35,000. This number is almost twice what was reported on Jan. 5. As with most events in China at this time, the true facts are not and probably will not ever be known. The Japanese reported less than 2,000 dead while the 52,000 number was the number given by the Chinese.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of the Teltower Kreisblatt, Kreis Teltow, Brandenburg, Germany.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
1. Neue sowjetische Landungskräfte auf der Krim zerschlagen.
(New Soviet landing forces in Crimea crushed.)


January 8, 1942: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
1. Nach der Methode "Haltet den Dieb!"
(According to the method "Stop the thief!")
2. Moskau hausiert mit Greuellügen.
(Moscow peddles atrocity lies.)



   
Page published January 8, 2023