Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.)

[dtravel]

Glad you like, helps to know people are reading and enjoying it.

I wouldn't call it a holiday.... Not working currently, lots of reasons but a big one is the ... mess ... my father left behind for me to clean up when he died. I do this inbetween bouts of frantic dealing with the estate.

Sorry 'bout the eyestrain. Is it something in the formatting?

Too soon to say anything about the AI yet.

[dtravel]

25 Jan 42

Japanese transports at Manila continued to unload under fire, with another one set on fire from the defender's shelling.

Two battleships shelled Rabaul. Apparently the Japanese high command is not pleased with their progress here. If it were cruisers I'd let the Mixed Force engage. But I'm reluctant to risk them, even reinforced, against enemy battlewagons.




In the Malacca Strait the Trusty continued to haunt the minefield, torpedoing a freighter with two hits. While to the north the O24 hit a transport. The KXI observed but wasn't able to attack a freighter outside Saigon. The Seadragon, returning to base to repair damaged suffered earlier, spotted and fired on a fleet oiler near Batan Island but wasn't able to hit it.

Overall, it was a surprising quiet day in the air. Chinese fighters continued to make unopposed sweeps over Wuhan but otherwise the CAF conducted no operations.

The enemy switched their attention from Kuala to Medan, doing minor damage to the airfield. A dozen Betty bombers attacked Singapore unescorted. They caught the CAP by surprise and were able to get past it before they could react. A similar number, with a small Zero escort, bombed Rabaul. More carrier based Kates and Zeroes bombed Manila, quickly sweeping away the two defending P-40s on the way.

Hudsons bombed Japs outside Singapore, Wirraways bombed Japs outside Rabaul. These are becoming routine missions, which is troubling on some level. The P-40C equipped contingent of the AVG flew back into Rangoon. They will have to wait for more E models to become available later before re-equipping. In the meantime the relief convoy is due to arrive in two days and they will need the maximum possible air cover.

The enemy's merchant marine wasn't as hard hit today. Bomb and torpedo hits on a freighter and two transports at Johore Bahru. Another transport torpedoed in the Strait.

The Nips continued to shell Bataan. The British report heavy casualties at Singapore where the enemy is not relenting in his attacks. The Japanese forces at Manila finally launched their attack, but were beaten back with moderate to heavy casualties. The forces outside Rangoon traded fire but neither side made any significant moves. The Australians continued to harry the Japanese around Rabaul and the Philippinos report there are no more enemy forces around Butuan.

Repairs are complete at Wake, the engineers are now beginning work on expanding the facilities and improving the defenses. Although I have a suspicion that they won't have time to do much.

Two enemy task forces containing at least one carrier each have been spotted navigating thru the Philippine Islands. If they are heading for Wake, then they will continue south along the west coast of Luzon before turning east between Luzon and Samar. This could get interesting as there are some five submarines either already along that route or due to arrive today. In addition, the Saratoga and Lexington have arrived back on station around Wake and the surface group should be there tomorrow. I have ordered the convoy carrying the first elements of the 71st Aviation Regiment to Wake to go to full speed. If they can arrive in time to get the Wildcats and Dauntlesses already there ready....

More reports to follow.

[dtravel]

26 Jan 42

The submarine Pickerel was forced to evade ASW forces near Camranh Bay. The KVIII suffered from dud torpedoes when she attacked a transport in Dead Jap Strait.

The minesweeper Townsville spent the night engaged with a Jap sub almost due east of the city it was named for. It evaded the torpedoes fired at it but was not able to hit the sub in return.

The Japanese fighters defending Chengting against the Chinese bombers broke off their defense abruptly after shooting down one of the SB-2cs. We are unable to come up with a reason for this.

Meanwhile, other Japanese aircraft launched from Chengting attacked Yenen. The defending Chinese fighters quickly broke thru the fighter escort and played havoc with the dive bombers. Some broke and ran while many others were shot down. Other Chinese fighters tried an attack on the enemy airfield at Wuhan but many were damaged by flak at the low altitude. The higher flying IL-4cs did better.

The attacks on Sumatra continued. This time it was Bankha. The forty or so Sonia and Sally bombers did some damage to the airfield and damaged or destroyed several Blenheim I bombers based here. We need more fighters in this area.

Rangoon was bombed. The raid was unopposed as the AVG and Hurricane pilots were busy elsewhere and the airfield suffered some more damage. The battle for the Rangoon relief convoy began. Over a dozen Zeroes and a smaller number of Oscars escorted a dozen Bettys in the morning attack. While the obsolete Sea Gladiators of the Hermes suffered, the AVG P-40s got the better of the Zeroes today. A good half the escorts were either shot down or heavily damaged before the defenders engaged the Bettys. Most turned back after the first few AVG passes and the single flight that pressed on wasn't able to score any hits on the Hermes. The morning's fight had obviously weakened the Japanese squadrons as the afternoon attack was only about half the size. Several of the Oscars were shot down and all of the bombers broke off the attack after the first of them was splashed.

Wirraways - bombs - jungle around Rabaul. Likewise Hurricanes and troops to the north of Rangoon. More bombers, about thirty Bettys with a equal size Zero escort, bombed Manila again. Martins bombed a freighter in the harbor.

A freighter was hit at Johore Bahru by Vildebeest bombs. A mixed Swordfish/Vildebeest strike put two torpedoes into the side of a freighter in the Strait. A flight of Vildebeests lost one of their own to flak when they tried to attack a destroyer outside Johore Bahru. Another flight of Vildebeests was forced to fight their way thru defending Oscar fighters on their way to torpedoeing a freighter near Kuala Lumpur. Yet another Vildebeest element torpedoed a transport twice outside Johore Bahru, sinking it. There were numerous other attacks that failed to report any damage or hits.

Either we missed spotting it or one of the IJN carrier groups is moving at flank speed. The carrier(s) is now somewhere east of Samar, having either slipped thru the subs or been already past them before they shifted stations. Which was extremely unfortunate. A convoy of three troop transports had just reached the strait between Leyte and Mindanao headed for Cebu. They were going to move the garrison there to Mindanao, consolidating our forces for the inevitable second attack on the island. But their mission relied on not being spotted. They were. Two waves of attacks from the carriers hammered all three ships. While they haven't sunk yet it seems unlikely they will survive. Even if they can reach one of the Mindanao ports, they are all in range of enemy bombers on Luzon and there is only a pair of P-35s to defend them.

The shelling of Bataan continued, as did the attack on Singapore. There were more heavy casualties and the Singapore forts are beginning to fall. The Japs fell back to shelling Manila as additional troops arrived to bolster their attack. There was more inconclusive fighting near Rangoon. The Rabaul garrison failed to engage the Japanese forces in the jungle

More reports to follow.

[dtravel]

27 Jan 42

We received word of another Japanese transport sinking in Johore Bahru. We also received word that one of our own transports in the Philippines sank before it could make it to Butuan. A small tanker, however, does appear to have managed to sneak into Brunei without being spotted and begun loading oil. We'll have to see how long they remain invisible to enemy scout planes.

The Dutch KVIII torpedoed an already damaged freighter in the Strait near Singapore. The Seal preformed a nocturnal surface attack on a freighter east of Legaspi, shooting it up with her .50 caliber machine guns as well as her deck gun and a torpedo.

The Townsville continued to hunt a Japanese sub in the same area as yesterday.

Enemy bombers launched a nighttime raid on Rabaul, but casualties are reported to be minimal.

The Chinese continued their air attacks on Chengting and Wuhan. While the Japanese tried to bomb Yenen again. The defending Chinese I-16cs shredded the dozen or so escorting Nates before shooting down or driving off the half-a-dozen Sonias.

The relief convoy reached Rangoon at the end of the day and is just about to start unloading. The Japanese are still making a strong effort to stop it with three attacks in the morning. The first was over 50 Sally bombers with a light escort of only about 10 Nates. The AVG, despite their reduced numbers (only 16 P-40s were able to fly), succeeded in hammering this attack. Most of the Nates were shot down as were many of the Sallys but the rest were able to bomb the airfield, doing further damage. The second attack was four Bettys with a mixed group of about a dozen Zeroes, Nates and Oscars. Again, most of the escorts were taken out of action. But the bought the Bettys enough time to make an attack run on the Prince of Wales. AAA fire downed half of them and damaged the others with no damage to the ship. The third and final attack was over a dozen Bettys with some twenty-five escorts of the same mixed types, but mostly Zeroes. By this time the defenders were tiring and somewhat scattered. They were not as able to handle this group of Zeroes and lost several aircraft without any confirmed kills of their own. Fortunately the Royal Navy's AAA fire was heavy and accurate, downing several of the Bettys as they made torpedo runs on the Hermes and saving the ship from damage. It is only going to get worse. Most of the Hermes' Sea Gladiators are gone and the AVG continues to get slowly worn away. There is no reason to believe that the enemy will not continue to make every effort to prevent as many of those ships from leaving Rangoon as they can.

The Rangoon Hurricanes retaliated with a particularly fierce attack on the Japanese division cutting Rangoon off by land.

More Nip shipping helped to line the bottom of Johore Bahru harbor and the Malacca Strait. Martins hit a freighter in the harbor and another flight hit a transport in the South China Sea. Swordfish and Vildebeests followed up and hit another transport with a torpedo, followed by another flight of Martins scoring a bomb hit on a third transport. All this in addition to many additional unsuccessful attacks.

Manila was bombed. A few of the unescorted bombers were damaged by the few remaining fighters on Luzon but most were able to attack without trouble. A second attack was stronger, almost 40 Bettys and twenty Zeroes. There was also a daylight raid on Rabaul.

As predicted, the enemy air on southern Luzon blasted the two surviving freighters at Butuan, sinking one of them and further damaging the survivor.

The shelling of Bataan and Manila continued. More of the defenses at Singapore were lost or destroyed in continued fighting there. It seems unlikely that the city can hold out much longer. Artillery fire was traded north of Rangoon and the Aussies continued in their efforts to locate the main strength of the enemy near Rabaul.

More reports to follow.

[dtravel]

28 Jan 42

A report came in that the Empire Summer has sunk near Timor. For the life of me I can't recall where or how this ship was damaged.

The British Truant has taken over haunting the minefield in Dead Jap Strait and was able to hit a damaged freighter. At the southern end of the Strait the Sealion was able to likewise hit another freighter with a torpedo. Nearby the KVIII pulled off a daytime surface attack, causing heavy damage with her 88mm AAA deck guns before putting three torpedoes into another freighter.

The two Japanese battleships visited Rabaul again. The New Mexico and Mississippi have just topped off their bunkers at Pearl and have been ordered south. Along with the Yorktown, they might be able to break the stalemate developing in the New Guinea/Bismarck/Solomon region.

A Japanese sub fired on on the transport Koolama in the danger region a few hundred miles off the Australian coast between Rockhampton and Townsville. Fortunately the warheads were duds, as the crew reports distinctly hearing at least one strike the ship. I need to find a way to get more ASW assets down there. The minesweeper Townsville continues its deadly hide-n-seek with at least one Japanese sub.

The Chinese attack on Chengting continues, with the bombers again managing to evade the defending CAP. More bombers attacked the Japanese troops still between Wuhan and Changsha. Hurricanes continued their attacks on the IJA 55th Division near Rangoon. And Rabaul Wirraways continued to harry the Japanese in the jungle.

The Japanese attacks on Sumatra focused on Medan today. Between 15 and 20 Oscars and ten or so Lily bombers caused minor damage to the airfield.

The Swordfish based at Singapore transferred to Singkawang. While this puts them out of range of the Strait, it keeps them in action when Singapore falls. The Vildebeests there will be moving out as they can, but there is a severe lack of adequate airfields in the area for them to operate out of. In the meantime they continue to attack the Japanese shipping. A freighter in the Malacca Strait was hit by a pair of bombs and a destroyer at Johore Bahru was hit. Blenheims were able to hit a subchaser with a bomb. In the South China Sea, Borneo based Martins were active. A pair of transports were hit, one suffering some kind of massive explosion as a result. Another flight put a pair of bombs into another transport. A fourth transport was hit by yet another flight of Martins, as was a fifth. As always, there were other unsuccessful attacks. In addition poor weather prevented some strikes from finding their targets.

Luzon based Lilys sank the last of the three troops transports that attempted to sneak in to Cebu. The massive escort force (35 Nates for 10 Lilys) quickly blew away the single P-35 trying to protect it.

That same poor weather that interferred around Singapore helped to protect Rangoon. Only two enemy attacks came thru. The first was a single flight of unescorted Bettys, quickly shot down or driven off. The second was two flights of Bettys. They suffered under the guns of the AVG and failed in their runs against the Hermes and cruiser Exeter. This is likely to continue for some time as the convoy needs to unload over 40,000 tons of cargo and is likely to try to load some of the raw materials that have built up in the warehouses. Although a final decision on that will have to wait until the unloading is complete.

A small group of Nells and Bettys attacked Singapore. Some of the attackers were damaged by the defending Buffaloes and Hurricanes but completed their bombing runs on the troops.

At Rabaul a total of less than half-a-dozen Zeroes and Bettys dropped some bombs in the morning. In the afternoon a somewhat stronger force of the same types also bombed the Rabaul defenders. Around 30 each of Zeroes and Bettys bombed Bataan, followed by a second raid of Nates, Anns and Lilys. The third raid was a near duplicate of the second. The few remaining USAFFE fighters fought valiantly, claiming several kills but losing a few more aircraft of their own against the Zeroes.

The ground assault on Bataan finally started. The reason for the timing became apparent as IJA sappers quickly blew a gap in the outer defenses. Casualties on both sides were heavy. At Manila fighting was mostly artillery fire. The defenses at Singapore are beginning to quickly crumble, with more of the fixed defenses being lost along with over 1600 Commonwealth troops. Actions at Rangoon and Rabaul continued as they have for the past several days.

More reports to follow.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Glad you like, helps to know people are reading and enjoying it.

I wouldn't call it a holiday.... Not working currently, lots of reasons but a big one is the ... mess ... my father left behind for me to clean up when he died. I do this inbetween bouts of frantic dealing with the estate.

Sorry 'bout the eyestrain. Is it something in the formatting?

Too soon to say anything about the AI yet.

No nothing wrong with the formatting at all, it's jusy my shortsightedness [:D] and a crappy monitor [:D]

Sorry to hear about your circumstances and I hope you get sorted out soon .. the ver best of luck on that score [8D]

PS did you see the thread about the AI not getting replacements if set to off at the start ?

[dtravel]

ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK

Glad you like, helps to know people are reading and enjoying it.

I wouldn't call it a holiday.... Not working currently, lots of reasons but a big one is the ... mess ... my father left behind for me to clean up when he died. I do this inbetween bouts of frantic dealing with the estate.

Sorry 'bout the eyestrain. Is it something in the formatting?

Too soon to say anything about the AI yet.

No nothing wrong with the formatting at all, it's jusy my shortsightedness [:D] and a crappy monitor [:D]

Sorry to hear about your circumstances and I hope you get sorted out soon .. the ver best of luck on that score [8D]

PS did you see the thread about the AI not getting replacements if set to off at the start ?

Ya, saw the AI replacement thread several weeks ago. I had it set to ON, so don't think its a problem for my game.

The estate is not going to get sorted out soon. After finally getting the main house as ready to sell as I could (filled a 15 cu yd dumpster completely) and listing the property with an agent, the tenant !$^@$#^@#R&@@$#$!^

There is a smaller separate building, basically an in-law apartment type thing, that my father was renting to someone. The tenant hasn't responded to anything I've sent him in nine months, won't give any kind of contact info. All he does is send in rent checks (late, every month). Well, with the property listed and a potential buyer interested we NEED to have the property inspected, yada yada yada, so I'm trying to contact him, the estate attorney is trying to contact him and the realtor is trying to contact him. Nothing. (And this is a small town, less than a thousand people.) Finally the neighbor calls the realtor because they haven't seen the tenant or his truck for a couple of weeks and the dog that had been barking from inside the apartment for the last four days isn't any more. (Keep in mind that I live a three hour drive away.) The realtor gets hold of a friend of the tenant and he climbs in a window, finds the dog alive, feeds, waters and walks it. He tells the realtor that the dog is okay and being taken care of. One of the realtor's agents goes out and manages to take a few pictures of the inside thru the window. (Prior to this all the windows were covered, either by blinds inside or blankets and tarps on the outside.) The inside is, literally, knee deep in garbage and animal waste (possibly human waste too, who knows). Well, that violates the lease. Not to mention a couple of laws. So now the tenant has been given a 72 hour vacate notice (don't have to deal with the 60-day ending the lease route anymore). If he doesn't (of course, at this point I'm not sure how we'd tell if he has or not) then we get to deal with calling in the Sherrif's Dept for a forced eviction and all that shit. Literally, all that shit. (Oh, cute. Just Previewed this post and discovered the board's auto censor. [:'(] Well, what the hey, I'll leave it like that.) What's worse, is it turns out this guy has a history of causing tenant/landlord problems. He was involved in a big legal case a few years back when he refused to pay homeowners association dues where he was living. Oops, the association had forgotten to put anything in their agreements or bylaws to cover that situation. Went to court, made headlines, blech.

Not looking forward to this. Now where are those Jap freighters and transports? I feel a need to smash things.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Not looking forward to this. Now where are those Jap freighters and transports? I feel a need to smash things.


[:D][:D][:D]


it is written' better to take vengance with a computer game than with a baseball bat' although the dull thwack of willow on human limbs has it's own appeal [:D]

whisper ' burn the place down and get the insureance(sp.) .. (kidding)

Sorry to hear your plight, moving hose myself in 2 days [:@].. and I hate it .. have to spend waking hours packing and not playing, not my idea of fun at all.

But compared to your tale it's a walk in the park , i do feel for you and hope you can find this guy and at least scoop out the house to restore some semblance of normality to it. Makes it even more surprising you post so much here , theraputic maybe [&:][:D].

[dtravel]

I would seriously consider just burning it down except that my father 1) lived in a small town, nosey neighbors, alibi would be hard to establish, 2) didn't have any insurance and 3) died over $100,000 in debt. Selling the property is the only chance of paying off the debts, let alone having anything TO inherit. [8|]

As for posting, a) no life, b) currently unemployed, c) "Kill, Smash, Grind and Destroy!!!!!" [:'(] Actually, its mostly in the hands of the lawyer and real estate agent now. They'll generate paperwork that I need to sign but there isn't actually much for me to do with it now. All the "heavy labor" part and decision making I finished some months ago.

Still, I'm just tired of cleaning up my father's mess yet one more time. [:(]

[dtravel]

29 Jan 42

It is already apparent that one of the critical aspects of this war is going to be keeping Australia and the SW Pacific supplied. As part of that effort we intend to build up Pago-Pago as a waypoint and refuel stop for the US-Aus convoys that are already enroute. The first moves of this effort have begun with the arrival of additional supplies and fuel at Pago-Pago today. More engineers to expand the facilities and some aircraft to defend the convoy route are also enroute.

The convoy carrying the lead elements of the 71st AV Regiment has just reached Wake and will begin unloading. I hope they can get the Marine aircraft ready in time. The Enterprise is heading back to Midway to top off her ammo supplies while the Lex and Sara patrol near Wake.

The 19th Bomb Group at Batavia has received a new compliment of B-17Es. Now they just need to get them flight ready. The last of the Vildebeests flew out of Singapore for Palembang. As much as I am enjoying the results of their attacks on enemy shipping, we are going to need those planes and pilots later.

The British have been able to move a large number of troops into or thru Diamond Harbor. Many of those are marching into Burma and it looks like they may be able to put together a good defensive line centered on Mandalay roughly along the Irrawaddy river.

Intelligence is reporting that another attack on Menado is planned. Radio intercepts indicate a SNLF is prepping for it.

A fresh wave of enemy troops began unloading at Manila. This force was accompanied by numerous minesweepers which began clearing the minefields. Again, they somehow slipped past Bataan and Corrigedor without being spotted. It wasn't all good for the enemy though. Reports are that at least one minesweeper and two transports were sunk, either by mines or gun fire from the Manila defenses. Many other ships were also damaged and casualties among the unloading troops are believed to be very high.

The minesweeper Townsville was forced to head for base to refuel. Shortly after starting she engaged and sank a Japanese sub.

The Chinese bombed Chengting and Wuhan. They also continued to harry the enemy troops outside Wuhan. The Japanese attacked Yenen. The defending Chinese fighters very quickly drove off the escorts and shot up several of the dive bombers before they were able to reach their target.

Medan was attacked. Some twenty Oscars and a somewhat larger number of Lilys bombed the airfield. Rangoon based Hurricanes continued to help in the efforts to clear the overland route to that city. While Hudson bombers dropped on the enemy forces closing on the center of Singapore.

With the last of the bombers having left Singapore and very poor weather over Johore Bahru, the tempo of operations against enemy shipping around Malaya slowed for the day. The center of Allied attacks was in the South China Sea, with Borneo based Martins making most of the bombing runs. They hit one freighter and came close to hitting an enemy cruiser.

The day started well at Rangoon. In the morning the Nips launched three weak, unescorted attacks by small groups of Nells and Bettys. The defending pilots were able to shot down or drive off most of these and only two planes even made it close enough to attempt attacks on the ships. However, this appears to have lulled the RN crews. The Japanese launched a massive attack in the afternoon. The defenders did their best but were overwhelmed by the thirty or so, mostly Zero, escort fighters. The survivors did manage to get in among the approximately sixty bombers but were not able to do much damage. Most of the ships' AAA crews failed to even fire and many of the aircraft were able to make their attack runs without being fired upon. The cruiser Exeter was hit by two torpedoes. The Hermes suffered one bomb hit and four torpedo hits, one of which set off her fuel stores. The resulting explosion sank the carrier.

The enemy is apparently trying to increase the pressure on Rabaul, with two raids launched on the defenders today. Bataan was subjected to three raids. The defending P-40s ripped into the escort Nates of the first attack, downing a good third of them before breaking up the bomber formations. The second attack was an unescorted group of Bettys who managed to avoid most of the CAP enroute to dropping their bombs. The third attack was a dozen Zeroes and a dozen Bettys. The defenders avoided engaging the fighters and managed to destroy one or two of the bombers, disrupting their attack.

The Nips shelled Bataan and launched an attack on Manila. The defenders there did well, losing little ground and inflicting good losses on the enemy. The last of the pre-prepared defenses at Singapore fell. Several more divisions and tank regiments were identified amongst the attacker's formations. It appears that the Vildebeests left just in time. Light fighting continues outside Rangoon. East of Hanoi, the enemy appears to be making an effort to cut off Hanoi. Several Chinese Corps moving to the city were attacked by a Japanese division. And another Chinese Corp that was probing towards Luang Prabang was driven back by a fierce attack from a Vietnamese milita unit. They fell back in good order, hurting the enemy's lead units as they did so. The Australians continue to try to locate and pin down the enemy forces at Rabaul.

More reports to follow.

[dtravel]

30 Jan 42

The Australian 30th Brigade began unloading at Shortlands, expecting to immediately come under fire from the enemy troops that were there. Surprisingly, they found nothing. The enemy appears to have evacuated the island. This may work out well. The Aussie 3rd Brigade has just finished unloading at Lunga on Guadalcanal. As the Aussie units contain organic engineers they have begun working on the facilities at both locations. Now if we can just get some more air assets in the region.

With the loss of the Hermes, her escorts have been redistributed among the battle group and the convoy. The CLAA Columbo will escort the CA Exeter as she attempts a run to Trimcomalee. Much as I wish them luck, I can't help but think that every enemy aircraft that attacks them is one less bombing Rangoon or the unloading freighters.

After a quiet day yesterday, the Submarine Command was active again today. In the Malacca Strait, the Dutch subs O23 and O24 each torpedoed a freighter. East of Camranh Bay the Perch missed an already heavily damaged freighter. Outside Singapore the Sealion fired on a heavily escorted freighter but wasn't able to score. Later in the day the KVIII appears to have encountered the same convoy and was also unable to cause any damage. Off the south coast of Japan itself the Tautog was able to hit an escorted troop transport, sinking it.

In the ocean east of Australia the minesweeper Latrobe was lost to a Japanese sub attack. The other three ships in that ASW force were unable to locate the attacker.

The Chinese Air Force continued their attacks on Chengting, Wuhan and the troops west of Wuhan. Its too bad they don't have more aircraft, they could be doing some serious damage.

Rangoon was socked in, protecting it from further air attack. Instead the enemy bombed Pagan. The few Buffalo fighters based here were not able to get past the escorting Oscars. Two flights of Bettys also bombed Singapore's defenders. Bettys with a Zero escort attacked the Rabaul defenders again.

Wirraways continued to blow trees away near Rabaul. The enemy here is becoming far too good at avoiding contact. Hudsons continued their bombings of Japanese forces at Singapore.

Johore Bahru was also subjected to heavy weather, preventing attacks on the shipping there. So the center of naval attacks was again in the South China Sea from Borneo, but none of their attacks were successful today.

Balikpapan was attacked several times. Japanese Nells and Bettys tried to hit the Marblehead but were unable to damage the ship. It still serves as a warning that the ships cannot remain in port here any longer.

The Japs attacked Bataan but suffered heavy casualties, unfortunately the defenders also suffered casualties. East of Hanoi the Japanese launched another attack on the Chinese. Despite losing almost three times as many men as the defenders, they don't seem inclined to give up the attack. Outside Rangoon the British/Indian forces launched an attack on the Jap division but again were unable to gain any ground. I can't imagine what it is going to take to get the enemy off that rail line, but it will have to be soon. The enemy's attack on Manila seems to have stalled for the moment. And the Australians continued to play hide-n-seek outside Rabaul.

The biggest news of the day is the loss of Singapore. Sensing victory the Japanese launched an all out attack and overran the defending forces. Two depleted fighter squadrons, one of Buffaloes, the other of Hurricanes, were destroyed and almost 70,000 Commonwealth troops were taken prisoner. While this was expected eventually, it is still a serious loss. Both in terms of the troop losses and the loss of the city and base.

More reports to follow.

[Rob Brennan UK]

"Wirraways continued to blow trees away near Rabaul" LOL better than trying to ram zeros in mid air i suppose [:)]

Ouch .. hurricanes dead in singapore.. thats got to hurt, they are the best a/c you have for a while.

anyway, 'hopefully' get back in a few days after getting the phone connected etc. and unpacking [:@].. blasted moving house ,, it's only about 300 yards away anyway.. i NEED a teleporter .. scotty available on short notice for quick one day contract ?[:D]

good luck

[dtravel]

Problem is that Hurricane IIs are fighter-bombers. Great for ground attacks and shooting up barges. Not so great at air-to-air combat. (At least not against Zeroes.) P-40s seem to be able to just about hold their own but when I tried using Hurricanes in CAP, they just got chewed up and spit out.

I've got enough bombers for the moment. What I'm lacking is fighters, both numbers and quality. (Of course, their low quality helps contribute to their low numbers. *sigh*)

[dtravel]

31 Jan 42

The Japs lost another freighter to the guns of Manila. Several other ships were also hit.

Japanese subs were active near Australia. The tanker Empire Steel sank after getting hit by three torpedoes. Another sub tangled with the minesweeper ASW group but neither side can claim any success. Yet one more sub attacked the cruiser Hobart but she was able to evade the torpedoes.

On our side, the Sealion missed an escorted freighter in Malacca Strait. Also in the Strait the Truant hit a troop carrying freighter with a trio of torpedoes. Near Camranh Bay the Pickerel had to evade an enemy destroyer.

The minelayer Prins van Oranje had the bad luck of arriving to lay mines at Rabaul just as Japanese battleships arrived to shell the base. Based on how short the radio message she got off was, they caught her completely by surprise. In the morning the Australians garrison was able to confirm that the ship had been sunk.

The Chinese bombed Wuhan again. Hudsons and B-17s began bombing the industrial centers of Singapore, although how long they will be able to do that is doubtful as the Japs have already moved Oscar and Zero fighters in to defend the city. The Japanese countered with a heavy raid on Bankha, damaging the field there and destroying some of the Allied aircraft.

Vildebeests bombed a freighter in the northern part of the Malacca Strait. Borneo Martins attacked but missed a battleship and cruiser in the SCS. Blenheims also missed a pair of destroyers at Johore Bahru.

More trees died at Rabaul, although this time the pilots say they caught some enemy troops too.

Enemy bombers hit the defenders at Bataan. The defending P-40s fought but at 20:1 odds there are limits as to what they can accomplish. The enemy also bombed Rabaul. We have got to get some kind of fighter cover down there that can at least attempt to fight Zeroes.

The Japanese continued to shell Bataan and attacked Manila again. The defenders there managed to hurt the enemy more than they were hurt themselves. There was more shelling outside Rangoon. The Vietnamese continued to drive the Chinese away from Luang Prabang. At least they were able to restore the overland connection to Hanoi, forcing the Japanese to retreat from their positions east of the city. More patrols around Rabaul failed to locate the enemy forces. I think we need to order them to stop wearing themselves out doing this and take up a defensive stance. At least for now, just retaining control of the base is enough if the enemy is willing to avoid contact.

More reports to follow.

[dtravel]

01 Feb 42

The Australians have agreed to allow the 23rd Brigade to be shipped out of Darwin to reinforce Menado. Despite the loss of one tanker, the first of the fuel supplies for Oz are arriving in Brisbane. Supplies are still an issue. Some freighters are already enroute but much more is going to be needed. Some freighters should be arriving back on the West Coast in the next few days, another convoy will have to be organized from those to carry more to the Aussies.

We have intelligence reports of the Japanese making a major effort to clear the Singapore minefields. A large number of minesweepers were apparently brought in and we have reports of either several destroyers hitting mines or one destroyer hitting several mines. Its not clear which.

A fresh enemy convoy arrived in Manila to unload more troops for the attack.

The Australian minesweepers managed to score several hits on one of the Japanese subs haunting their eastern coastal waters. But in return the MSW Townsville was hit and sunk to the north. The Dutch O21 pulled off an afternoon surface attack in the Malacca Strait, torpedoing a freighter in addition to hitting it with their deck guns.

The Chinese continued their air campaign in central China. The Chengting airfield was hit as was the one at Wuhan. They also continued their attacks on Japanese troops in the field.

Hudsons and B-17s attacked Singapore again. While the B-17s managed to get in past the defending Zeroes and Oscars, the Hudsons suffered heavily losing half their numbers. These attacks are going to have to stop until the British or Dutch can come up with a fighter that has a prayer of a chance against the Zero.

The air base at Bankha got hammered. Two raids totalling well over a hundred enemy planes attacked, causing serious damage.

Hurricanes hit the enemy's 55th Division north of Rangoon. And more trees fell before the wrath of Australian Wirraways. B-17s out of Port Moresby joined in the anti-tree crusade.

The loss of Singapore is already showing in the reduced number of successful strikes on enemy shipping. Vildebeests missed a converted destroyer at Johore Bahru. As did a flight of Martins attacking a battleship in the harbor. More Martins missed a subchaser in the SCS. Blenheims targeted but missed a destroyer at Johore Bahru. A second Blenheim attack was turned back by the defending Oscars.

The weather cleared over Rangoon. The few days without attack were put to good use and over a dozen P-40s were able to contest the attacks. The first was a dozen Zeroes and a lesser number of Bettys. The AVG pilots did well but the Bettys got thru. The Japanese have apparently realized what a problem for them the AAA cruisers are, as two of them were their immediate targets. The Ceres and Caledon each were hit by a torpedo. The second raid was more than a dozen Nells and Bettys without escort. The weakened CAP was able to damage or drive off many of those which helped prevent any of the targeted battleships from being hit.

More Zeroes and Bettys attacked Bataan. They fought their way past the defending P-40s to bomb the Philippinos there.

That raid was followed up by a heavy artillery attack on the defenders. The Japs continued to push on Manila and casualties on both sides are slowly climbing. The artillery duels and skirmishes outside Rangoon heated up, with some casualties from small scale actions.

I have been informed that the Royal Navy is withdrawing a light cruiser and two destroyers. They are apparently suffering even more serious problems in other theatres. The cruiser Dauntless, which was undergoing repairs in Columbo, and two destroyers that had just finished repairs at Trimcomalee have been tapped for this and are about to begin sailing.

More reports to follow.

[dtravel]

02 Feb 42

The first Pearl Harbor damaged ships to be repaired are about to set sail. A pair of destroyers have finished repairs in Los Angeles and will escort a freighter heading for Pearl.

The Yorktown Task Force has arrived in the New Hebrides. They are headed for Gili Gili for a final refueling and then they will see what they can do about Rabaul.

The tanker at Brunei appears to have gone unnoticed and is almost full. A second small tanker has almost reached Brunei also. It would be a minor coup if they can succeed in sneaking loads of oil out from under the Japs noses.

Wake is shaping up nicely. In addition to the 2nd Marine and 25th Army divisions, the 34th Engineer Reg is building up the facilities. The 206th Coastal AA Reg and the 3rd Marine Defense Brigade have unloaded and are setting up positions. The 71st AV Reg has already prepped a dozen of the Marine fighters and half-a-dozen dive bombers. The final unit is a Catalina squadron that flew in and is already flying search patterns. If the IJN is coming, as I suspect, I think we have a very good chance of breaking some of the enemy's teeth trying to take the island again.

We have lost the KVIII in the south of the Malacca Strait. The rest of Sub Command, however, managed to do reasonable well. The KXIV torpedoed for heavy damage a transport near Saigon. The O23 managed to avoid the escorts of a freighter in the Strait. The enemy appears to have invested a great deal of ASW assets to the Singapore region. Near Sasebo the Tautog tried to hit an enemy fleet oiler but missed. Near Mersing the Dolphin hit an enemy freighter. In the middle of the South China Sea the KXVI torpedoed a freighter.

More Chinese air attacks on Chengting and Wuhan, as well as Japanese units in the field near Wuhan. Chinese fighters continued to make attacking Yenen an expensive proposition for the enemy's fighters and dive bombers.

Rangoon came under further air attack. The first raid targeted the airfields but was lightly escorted. The AVG shot down many of the Sallys in that group. The second attack was only two Zeroes and three Bettys but they managed to put a torpedo into the side of the cruiser Enterprise. The final attack of the day was the largest. Twenty Zeroes, a dozen Nates and Oscars and almost twenty Bettys engaged the defending AVG pilots in a long running battle. In return for losing several of their own aircraft, the Japs managed to hit the battleship Revenge with a torpedo. This resupply of Rangoon is becoming an increasingly expensive endeavor.

Sinkep Island's airfield was attacked by a fairly large enemy force. Around thirty fighters and over fourty bombers. I'm not quite sure why since the only air assets we have there are a few Dutch amphibious patrol planes.

The war on Rabaul's trees continues. We're winning that one.

Hurricanes continued to bomb enemy forces near Rangoon.

Vildebeests and Martins continued to attack enemy shipping around Malaya and in the SCS. The pilots seem to be regaining their prowess. Martins hit two freighters in the western South China Sea. Johore Bahru was subject to a number of attacks. Blenheims and Martins hit a minesweeper, a destroyer transport and a transport. Vildebeests added a freighter to the total.

The daily raids on Rabaul's defenders continued. As did the air attacks on Manila.

The enemy continued to shell Bataan. While the attack on Manila started to gain ground, forcing the defenders deeper into the city with heavy casualties. There was more skirmishing outside Rangoon. It appears that the window of opportunity, what little there was, to reopen the land route to Rangoon has closed. Additional enemy forces have been spotted moving up to reinforce the IJA 55th Division.

More reports to follow.

[dtravel]

03 Feb 42

The enemy continues to work on clearing minefields from the Malaya ports. In addition to Singapore, intelligence reports minesweepers working at Kuala Lumpur.

Intelligence also reports that a Jap I-Boat has sunk off the Australian coast. We also have a report of a gunboat sinking near Bataan. Another, intact, enemy sub fired on but missed the transport Holbrook headed for Brisbane from the Solomons.

Our own subs did a bit better. The Truant hit an enemy freighter with multiple torpedoes in the Malacca Strait. The Pike had her attack on a transport in the SCS interrupted by several subchasers in escort.

Yenen continues to attrition the enemy's Nates and Sonias. Several more were lost in their continueing attacks on the Chinese airfield.

Rangoon was fortunate enough to have bad weather. The enemy turned his attention to Taung Gyi instead, bombing the airfield there. They are also making efforts to further extend their air supremacy over Malaya and Sumatra. Some seventy-five or so Oscars and Lillys attacked Palembang. The Dutch Hawk fighters proved to be almost completely useless, claiming only one kill for almost half a squadron of their own shot down or too damaged to fly again.

The Borneo Martins made a well co-ordinated strike against an IJN surface group in the South China Sea. While they have timing and navigation down, they may still need to work on the marksmanship as they were unable to score any hits on the cruisers and destroyers.

Over thirty Bettys hit the Rabaul defenses and Manila was bombed.

The Mixed Force had the misfortune to locate at least three of the enemy's carriers. They were hit by almost 200 enemy carrier-based aircraft as they took up station west of Buka. The Leander and Achilles were sunk and the Australia, Canberra and Perth were all crippled. The only ships not hit were the light cruiser Hobart and the destroyers Stuart and Voyager. The force is attempting to retreat to Gili Gili. If they can make it (which is doubtful) any surviving ships will try to control their flooding enough to attempt a retreat to Australia. In the meantime the Pensacola, which had just finished bringing her own floatation problems under control, will retreat from Gasmata accompanied by the Adelaide.

The Japanese launched attacks on both Bataan and Manila. They lost heavy casualties at Bataan but are continueing to gain ground in Manila against the increasingly less effective defenses. Commonwealth forces tried once again to re-open the Rangoon land route but were still unable to gain any ground. The enemy is just far too well dug in.

More reports to follow.

[dtravel]

04 Feb 42

The deadly game of hide-n-seek in the seas east of Australia continues. Minesweepers spend the day hunting a Jap sub. The hunt did not go well and one was torpedoed and sunk.

The O21 isn't able to score any hits on an escorted freighter near Georgetown.

More Japanese planes go down over Yenen, mostly Nates this time.

There were two raids on Rangoon. The AVG blew past the few group's few escorting Nates to wreck havoc among the Sallys before the rest broke for home. The second raid was escorted by Zeroes. The AVG pilots weren't able to completely avoid them as they closed on the Bettys, but they were successful enough that the enemy wasn't able to hit either the Prince of Wales or the Revenge.

Sinkep was bombed again as was Manila. The Chinese continued their attacks on Japanese forces in the field. Rangoon's Hurricanes continued their bombing runs against the Japanese forces near there.

Allied pilots continued to bomb enemy shipping at Johore Bahru, hitting two freighters. A freighter in the SCS near Singapore was hit by Martins.

The Japanese relented in their attack on Bataan, going back to long range shelling. They continued their push on Manila but the defenders were able to stand their ground today. Fighting outside Rangoon subsided. The British have identified a second enemy division as having reinforced the 55th already engaged.

The RN's Exeter failed to make it to Trimcomalee, sinking in the Indian Ocean. And the Yorktown Task Force reports seeing an enemy scout plane, so they may have been spotted themselves. They will continue west towards a position a few hundred miles southwest of the Louisiade Arch., but this just continues to highlite the severe disparity in aircraft ranges that we are suffering under.

Since the enemy does not appear to be immediately attacking Wake and the defenses there are now in good order, the task forces assigned to Alarm Clock are being released. The Lexington and Saratoga will move northwest to hit Marcus Island while the Enterprise will head south. Depending on what we can determine of the IJN carriers' movements they will try to raid the Gilbert Islands if possible. The surface group is returning to Pearl.

The Americal Division has just arrived in San Francisco. We'll ship them out to the South Pacific as soon as some of the shipping already heading for SF gets there.

The first tanker to leave Brunei has just reached the southern end of the Java Sea, so it appears they have been successful. Two more have managed to sneak in and are currently loading more oil. More shipping continues to carry more oil and other resources out of the DEI to Darwin and Madras.

More reports to follow.

[dtravel]

05 Feb 42

The day's actions began with a Japanese surface force surprising the Royal Navy at Rangoon during the night. The combat was short, fast, furious and very close range. The British lost the cruiser Cornwall and the destroyer Electra while sinking the enemy cruiser Aoba. One of the two enemy battleships was hit and suffered heavy damage while the Revenge was badly hurt. The cruiser Danae and another destroyer, the Panther, also suffered some damage. A Japanese destroyer is reported to have been on fire when the enemy broke off the action. All in all, I would say we got the worst of this. As the freighters have finished unloading the RN is pulling out. The Revenge will probably make it to Diamond Harbor, but there is a chance she won't. On the other hand the enemy's control of the air would make it suicidal for her to remain. It was expensive but they did their job, time to pull back.

The submarine O23 fired on but missed a transport in the Malacca Strait. The KXIV reports sighting a battleship near Saigon.

The enemy continues to destroy Australia's ASW ability. The Lismore, last of an ASW task force, was sunk by a Jap sub.

Rangoon was attacked by air. With the AVG pilots covering the freighters as they retreat north, the enemy had free rein over the city. They bombed the airfield and damaged or destroyed a number of the AVG's aircraft on the ground, as well as damaging the airfield itself. More raids followed, attacking the Royal Navy ships. Despite being smaller attacks, one of the Bettys got thru the flak and hit the Revenge with a torpedo. Another attack got thru the AVG defenders and torpedoed the CLAA Caledon, escorting the freighter convoy.

Sinkep was attacked twice. The unused airfield suffered minor damage and the port facilities were hit.

Bataan was attacked. The defending P-40s shot up the escorting Nates and managed to down one or two of the Sallys. It seems that where we have fighters, we can do well. We just don't have anywhere near enough to cover all the areas we need to.

The Chinese and British continue to bomb enemy troops near Wuhan and Rangoon. The Aussie Wirraways appear to be supporting the Rabaul engineers by clearing more jungle.

Singapore was the focus of Allied anti-shipping attacks in the Malaya region. Martins and Blenheims launched a number of raids, damaging several freighters. Intelligence reports that at least one was sunk, based on reports of Search and Rescue efforts for some troops. None of the attacks met with enemy fighters, so the heavy bombers will have to join the fray.

We are going to have to suffer thru another enemy carrier rampage, this time in the Solomons/New Guinea area. The carriers there attacked and sank the cruisers Australia, Canberra and Perth, as well as two transports fleeing from Gasmata. The Yorktown is going to have to avoid engagement, we can't risk her against at least 3:1 odds. If the Enterprise can reach the area in time, then we will reconsider. Especially since by that time the enemy should have expended most of his armaments.

The Chinese are attacking Pakhoi again. Somehow the enemy was too ready for this and began bombing them almost before they had begun marching. They will have to attempt a fast attack to avoid a repeat of the last time.

The enemy continues to shell Bataan. The attack on Manila ground on. Outside Rangoon the two enemy divisions attempted to throw back the Commonwealth forces but were stopped with very heavy casualties. It would appear that neither side is going to be moving forward here anytime soon.

More reports to follow.

[dtravel]

06 Feb 42

The Porpoise and the O23 were both forced to evade enemy ASW groups in their patrol areas. The Perch missed a tanker in the South China Sea. The S-36 observed but wasn't able to attack a freighter, also in the SCS, that was already damaged and showing fire damage.

The Chinese continue to wear down the enemy's air assets over Yenen. The Japanese attacked Bankha but did no damage. Enemy bombers also attacked the Chinese troops at Pakhoi.

The Nip carriers turned north and their fighters defended the Rabaul trees. They caught the Wirraways by surprise and several of them were shot down. They also did some damage to the B-17s out of Port Moresby when they tried to bomb an IJN minelayer at Rabaul. The enemy's land based Bettys took advantage to launch a stronger than usual raid on the Australians.

Chinese bombers hit Japanese troops outside Wuhan again. The Rangoon Hurricanes continued their efforts against the enemy forces cutting that city off.

Martins and Blenheims shifted their attention to Johore Bahru today, damaging a gunboat and a freighter. A flight of Martins also hit a freighter in the South China Sea.

The enemy attempted an attack on the Royal Navy ships retreating from Rangoon. But heavy AAA fire prevented any hits.

The attacks at Bataan and Manila continued. The defenders continue to do well at Manila. The fighting outside Rangoon continued at the low level skirmishing level. The Chinese succeeded in capturing Pakhoi, driving off the defending garrison with almost no losses.

More reports to follow.