World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Thursday, December 18, 1941
Day 840

December 18, 1941: Front page of the News and Chronicle, London, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
[Historical note: On this day President Franklin Roosevelt signed executive orders 8983 and 8984. The former appointed a commission to investigate the attack on Pearl Harbor and the later to outline the duties of the Commander-in Chief of the United States fleet and the cooperative duties of the Chief of Naval Operations.]


December 18, 1941: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
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December 18, 1941: Front page of The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury, Leeds, England.
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Note the report in columns 2-3: "British Light Cruiser Sunk"
(HMS Dunedin had been sunk by U-124 on Nov. 24th. The admiralty, in this report, did not disclose the high casualty rate, 419 men went down with the ship. Over 200 men survived the sinking, but over the next three days many men died of exposure, injuries and shark attacks, when all had been landed, tragically only 67 were still alive.)


December 18, 1941: Front page of the Western Mail and South Wales News, Cardiff, Wales.
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Note the report in column 6: "U.S. Changes in Pacific Commands - Admiral Kimmel Relieved"


December 18, 1941: Front page of the Evening Telegraph and Post, Dundee, Scotland.
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Note the report in column 2: "Japs Admit Loss of Five Submarines At Hawaii"
(Japan admits that five "special" submarines were lost during the attack on Pearl Harbor. These were the midget submarines which were launched from ocean going boats to attack battleship row. A photo of one of them is shown in the newspaper above.)


December 18, 1941: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
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Note the report in column 3: "More Terror Executions"


December 18, 1941: Front page of The Sydney Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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December 18, 1941: Front page of The Telegraph, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
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December 18, 1941: Front page of The Winnipeg Tribune, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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December 18, 1941: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
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December 18, 1941: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
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Note the headline report: "Laura Ingalls Arrested As Nazi Agent"
[The report is concluded here.]
(Laura Ingalls, not to be confused with the author Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House on the Prairie fame, was a famous aviatrix and Nazi agent operating with the Gestapo in the U.S.A. She infiltrated the America First Committee, of which Charles Lindbergh was a member, and gave several pro Nazi, anti-intervention speeches for the committee.

She was convicted of failing to register as a paid foreign agent and served 20 months in prison. After being released she continued to spread pro Nazi propaganda being arrested again in in July of 1944 while trying to enter Mexico carrying seditious material. She was not prosecuted in this event. She died in 1967.
Also note the report in columns 2-4: "The President Honors a Hero's Son"
(President Roosevelt offers the son of the late Capt. Colin P. Kelly, Jr. an appointment to West Point.)


December 18, 1941: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
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December 18, 1941: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
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December 18, 1941: Front page of The Nevada State Journal, Reno, Nevada.
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December 18, 1941: Front page of The Bakersfield Californian, Bakersfield, California.
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December 18, 1941: Front page of the Teltower Kreisblatt, Kreis Teltow, Brandenburg, Germany.
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1. Großer japanischer Geländegewinn auf Britisch-Borneo.
(Major Japanese gain in British Borneo.)


December 18, 1941: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
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1. Vorstoß der Japaner in den Südpazifik - 550 Feindflugzeuge vernichtet - Sechs Torpedo-und ein Kanonenboot versenkt.
(Japanese advance into the South Pacific - 550 enemy aircraft destroyed - Six torpedo boats and one gunboat sunk. )



   
Page published December 18, 2022