British surrender Singapore Feb. 1941; Wikimedia.com
In February 1941, after only a week of fighting, Singapore, the British “Gibraltar of the East,” fell to the Japanese. The capitulation of ~ 80,000 British, Indian and Australian troops was the largest surrender in British military history.
In response to a request from FDR, the Salvation Army, Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), National Catholic Community Service, National Travelers Aid Association and the National Jewish Welfare Board formed the United Service Organizations in February 1941 to provide morale and recreation services to U.S. uniformed military personnel.
Yosuke Matsuoka; Wikimedia Commons
“It is my firm belief that the establishment of a sphere of common prosperity throughout Greater East Asia is not only Japan’s policy, but indeed a historical necessity in the event of world history.”
- Japan’s Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka at the opening of the Thai-French Indo-China border dispute conference
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Will it ever end?
Charles Lindbergh; Wikimedia Commons
In January 1941 America First advocate Charles Lindbergh testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs against the Lend-Lease Bill. Instead, he proposed the creation of a neutrality pact with Germany. After President Roosevelt criticized his views on neutrality as appeasing and defeatist, Lindbergh resigned his commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps.
From 1934-1939, as the Imperial Japanese military attaché in Berlin, Colonel Hiroshi Ōshima, who spoke excellent German, became well acquainted with #Adolf Hitler and his foreign policy advisor Joachim von Ribbentrop.
Returning to Berlin in February 1941 as Ambassador, Ōshima reportedly discussed with von Ribbentrop the possibility of a joint German-Japanese initiative for war against the British Empire and the United States.
Captain Howard Wooten; Wikimedia Commons
The 99th Pursuit Squadron, an African-American unit from Tuskegee, Alabama was formed in January 1941.
Later renamed the 99th Fighter Squadron, the Tuskegee airmen fought throughout the Mediterranean and European theaters.
Battle of Koh Chang 1941; Wikimedia com
In January 1941 Vichy French defeated the Thai Navy in the battle of Koh Chang. A truce in the Franco-Thai War was arranged by the Imperial Japan Japanese government that also confirmed Japan’s military occupation of French Indo-China and access to Indo-Chinese rice, rubber, coal, and minerals.
French Indo-China 1941; Wikimedia Commons
The Four Freedoms January 1941; wikimedia commons
American Rhetoric: Franklin D. Roosevelt — “The Four Freedoms”.
The Shinto Yasukuni Shrine was created during the Meiji Restoration to commemorate the individuals who had died in service of the Empire of Japan. In the shrine are numerous photographs and war paraphernalia and the names, origin, birthdate and place of death of 2,466,532 men, women and children.
Recently, significant controversy has arisen regarding visits to the shrine by right wing members of the Japanese government who find little fault with Imperial Japan’s aggression earlier in the century and express little regret for the suffering inflicted on millions of people in Asia.
