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1/1/42 A Declaration of United Nations is signed with each signatory pledging not to make a separate peace with any enemy country.
1/2/42 Japanese occupy the city of Manila and the Cavite Naval base Philippines.
1/2/42 In the Alaska Defense Command, the 77th Bomb Squadron is assigned to the 28th Composite Group and the 11th Pursuit Squadron joins the Provisional Interceptor Command (IC). Alaskan air strength is comprised of 2 pursuit and 3 bomb squadrons.
1/4/42 Fighters based on the peninsula of Bataan in the Northwest Philippines, attempt to intercept Japanese bombing of Corregidor, the island guarding the entrance of Manilla Bay.
1/5/42 B-17’s from Malang on East Java Indonesia fly due north to stage through Samarinda in Northern Indonesia and attack shipping in Davao Bay, Philippines.
1/10/42 Fighter units complete their movement begun 24 December 1941 from various bases throughout the Northern island of Luzon onto the Bataan Peninsula, on Western Luzon, Philippines.
1/13/42 American and British Chief of Staffs’ (CoSs) formally adopt an agreement to begin movement of American air forces to the United Kingdom (UK) as soon as possible in order to intensify attack on Germany.
1/14/42 The Far East Air Force HQ (FEAF HQ) moves from Darwin, Australia to the island of Java.
1/15/42 The Alaskan Air Force is activated at Elmendorf Field. under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Everett S. Davis.
1/16/42 The first significant deployment of aircraft from the Hawaiian Air Force (AF) begins with movement of 6 B-17’s, under the command of Lt. Colonel Walter C. Sweeney, to Palmyra Atoll, located south of the Hawaiian Islands in the Central Pacific Ocean for duty with Navy Task Group (TG) 8.9.
1/17/42 B-17’s from Malang on East Java, staging through Kendari, hit Langoan Airfield (A/F) and ships in Menado Bay in Northern Indonesia near the Celebes Sea.
1/17/42 B-17’s of Navy Task Group (TG) 8.9 from Palmyra Atoll unsuccessfully attack submarines in Hawaiian area and proceed to Canton Island.
1/18/42 The first group of US forces, 1,400 men to be sent to the United Kingdom (UK) sails for Northern Ireland.
1/19/42 B-17’s, flying out of Malang, East Java, Indonesia, attack shipping at Jolo an island on the southwest Philippines bordered by the Celebes and Sulu Seas.
1/19/42 B-17’s of the Hawaiian Air Force (AF) assigned to Navy Task Group (TG) 8.9 fly an antisubmarine mission from Canton Island in the Central Pacific.
1/20/42 General Brett, CG USAFIA (Commanding General of US Air Forces in Australia), halts the ferrying of aircraft from India to the Netherlands East Indies. The Army Air Forces (AAF) had been sending Heavy Bombers (HBs) to Java, Indonesia on a south and easterly route through Africa and India, however the Japanese had started to intercept and inflict heavy losses on AAF aircraft along the last stops of this route.
1/22/42 From the 22nd until the 3rd of February, planes assigned to the Far East Air Force, fly at least 15 missions out of Malang on East Java, Indonesia against shipping moving through the Makassar Strait due north of the island. Four missions aborted due to bad weather, six end with negative results, and the
remaining five missions suffered heavy losses but sank four enemy ships.
1/21/42 B-17’s of the Hawaiian Air Force assigned to Navy, Task Group (TG) 8.9 fly from Canton Island to Nandi.
1/24/42 A Special Court of Inquiry on Pearl Harbor, headed by Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts, places main responsibility for the 7 December 1941 disaster on Navy Admiral Kimmel and Army General Short, accusing them of neglecting to heed attack warning, failing to confer with each other, and taking only minimum precautions with regard to attack, invasion, sabotage and overall defense of the islands.
1/25/42 The AAF 17th Pursuit Squadron, Provisional under the command of Major Charles A. Sprague, arrives in Java with 13 P-40’s flown from Australia.
1/26/42 General Hap Arnold in a organizational structure plan recommends to the Army Chief of Staff (CoS) that AAFIB (Army Air Forces In Britain) be composed of a Headquarters (HQ) and 3 commands: bomber, interceptor,
and base.
1/26/42 Fighters based on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines bomb and strafe Nichols and Nielson Fields on Luzon, inflicting considerable damage on Japanese aircraft and fuel storage.
1/28/42 The Eighth Air Force is activated at Savannah AB (Air Base) with Colonel Asa N. Duncan commanding.
1/28/42 B-17’s of the Far East Air Force (FEAF) flying from bases at Malang and Palembang attack Japanese Airfields (A/Fs) at Kendari and Kuala Lumpur.
1/29/42 B-17’s, striking out of bases at Palembang on West Java Indonesia, hit the Kuantan Air Field the mainland north of Singapore scoring numerous hits on runways and
hangars.
1/29/42 In the Hawaiian Air Force, the VII Bomber Command (BC) is activated. B-17’s assigned to Navy Task Group (TG) 8.9 fly from Canton Island to Palmyra.
1/30/42 In the Hawaiian Air Force, (AF), B-17’s of Navy TG 8.9 return to Hawaii, having completed a mission over the course of a few weeks. This mission provided a pioneer look at the problem of air operations over vast Pacific areas, revealing issues of navigation and the logistics of aircraft service maintenance.
1/31/92 General Ira Eaker is designated Commanding General (CG) of Bomber Command, US Air Forces British Isles (USAFBI) and ordered to proceed to this new post.
Q1: What major Philippine city did Japan occupy in January 1942?
A1: Japanese forces occupied Manila and the Cavite Naval Base in the Philippines on January 2, 1942, less than a month after the outbreak of war.
Q2: When was the Eighth Air Force activated?
A2: The Eighth Air Force was activated at Savannah Army Air Base, Georgia, on January 28, 1942, under the command of Colonel Asa N. Duncan.
Q3: What did the Roberts Commission conclude about Pearl Harbor?
A3: On January 24, 1942, the Roberts Commission, headed by Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts, placed primary responsibility for the Pearl Harbor disaster on Admiral Kimmel and General Short.
Q4: What began in January 1942 to build up American airpower in Britain?
A4: American and British Chiefs of Staff formally agreed on January 13, 1942, to begin moving American air forces to the United Kingdom, and the first 1,400 troops sailed for Northern Ireland on January 18.
Q5: What combat operations did Far East Air Force B-17s conduct in January 1942?
A5: B-17s flying from bases on Java, Indonesia, conducted repeated missions against Japanese shipping and airfields at locations like Davao Bay, Kendari, and the Makassar Strait throughout the month.
January 1942: Retreat, Reorganization, and the First Steps Toward a Global Air Force
a. The mood of the country
By January 1942, the initial shock and unifying anger of Pearl Harbor had settled into grim, determined resolve, but it was tested almost immediately by a string of discouraging news from the Pacific. The fall of Manila on January 2, just three and a half weeks into the war, was a serious psychological blow; the Philippines had been an American territory since 1898, and its loss signaled that the opening phase of the war would bring more retreat before any advance. The public mood in January 1942 can be characterized as sobering realism replacing the initial burst of righteous anger: Americans were beginning to understand this would be a long, difficult war fought on the enemy's terms in its opening phase, not a short punitive campaign.
b. Economic situation and manufacturing capability
January 1942 fell squarely in the transition period between America's peacetime economy and full wartime industrial mobilization. The War Production Board, which would coordinate the enormous conversion of American industry, was not established until January 16, 1942, meaning most of the industrial reorganization that would eventually produce the aircraft numbers of 1943-44 had barely begun. This chronology's repeated references to units flying with limited replacement aircraft, and to ferrying routes for heavy bombers being disrupted by Japanese interdiction, reflect an air force still operating largely on pre-war aircraft stocks and production rates. The activation of new commands like the Eighth Air Force on January 28 represented organizational readiness racing ahead of the industrial capacity needed to actually fill those commands with aircraft and trained crews at scale.
c. Status, readiness, and supply of US armed forces
The entries from the Far East and Pacific theaters in January 1942 paint a picture of a force fighting a desperate holding action with dwindling resources. Fighter units withdrawing to the Bataan Peninsula, B-17s staging repeated missions from scattered bases across Java and the Dutch East Indies against determined Japanese advances, and General Brett's decision to halt aircraft ferrying through India due to Japanese interdiction, all reflect a supply and reinforcement pipeline that could not keep pace with combat losses in the Pacific. Meanwhile, the parallel buildup toward Britain, the Combined Chiefs of Staff agreement on January 13 and the first troop movements to Northern Ireland on January 18, shows the beginning of the "Europe First" strategic priority that would define Allied grand strategy for the rest of the war, even as Pacific forces were left to fight with what they already had on hand.
d. Development of fighting men and command structures
This month marks important structural milestones: the January 24 Roberts Commission report formally assigned responsibility for the Pearl Harbor failures to Kimmel and Short, an early step in the institutional reckoning over command accountability that would influence how the Army and Navy structured joint operations going forward. The activation of the Eighth Air Force on January 28 and General Ira Eaker's assignment to Bomber Command, US Air Forces British Isles, at month's end represent the literal organizational birth of what would become the primary instrument of American strategic bombing in Europe, though at this stage it existed mostly on paper, awaiting the personnel, aircraft, and infrastructure buildup of the following two years. In the Pacific, officers like Major Charles Sprague, leading the 17th Pursuit Squadron's 13 P-40s into Java, were gaining hard combat command experience under the worst possible conditions, a foreshadowing of the leadership seasoning that would eventually produce the experienced mid-war Army Air Forces command structure.
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