January 3

1944: The US Fifth Army (Clark) begins an offensive against the German forces in Italy (Kesselring) entrenched in the Gustav Line along the Rapido river, with its center at Cassino.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html

1904 - Marines from USS Dixie arrive in Panama
1944 - Top Marine ace MAJ Boyington captured after shooting down 28 aircraft in his Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Zero.
1945 - Third Fleet carriers begin a 2 day attack against Formosa destroying 100 aircraft with loss of only 22 aircraft.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjan.htm

1941: 6th Division in action at Bardia, Libya - The attack against the Italians at Bardia was the beginning of Australia's first major ground campaign of the Second World War.
1951: Seoul evacuated by UN Command Forces - United Nations forces were forced to evacuate Seoul after a successful southward advance by Chinese and North Korean forces. It was the second time in the Korean war that Seoul had fallen; the first time was shortly after North Korea launched its invasion of the South.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1777 - American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
1945 - Admiral Chester W Nimitz is placed in command of all U.S. Naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_3

1941: St. John's Newfoundland - Canada and the US acquire air bases at Gander and Goose Bay on a 99 year lease.
1943: Algeria - Canadian Army troops arrive in North Africa.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Jan&day=03

1777: In a stroke of strategic genius, General George Washington manages to evade conflict with General Charles Cornwallis, who had been dispatched to Trenton to “bag the fox” (Washington), and wins several encounters with the British rear guard, as it departs Princeton for Trenton, New Jersey. Deeply concerned by Washington’s victory over the British at Trenton on December 26, 1776, Cornwallis arrived with his troops in Trenton on the evening of January 2 prepared to overwhelm Washington’s 5,000 exhausted, if exuberant, Continentals and militia with his 8,000 Redcoats. Washington knew better than to engage such a force and Cornwallis knew Washington would try to escape overnight, but he was left to guess at what course Washington would take. Cornwallis sent troops to guard the Delaware River, expecting Washington to reverse the route he took for the midnight crossing on December 25. Instead, Washington left his campfires burning, muffled the wheels of his army’s wagons and snuck around the side of the British camp. As the Continentals headed north at dawn, they met the straggling British rear guard, which they outnumbered 5 to 1.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?

January 4

1944: On the southern front in the Ukraine, Soviet forces cross the old Polish-Russian border in Volhynia.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html

1942: Japanese air attacks begin against Rabaul, New Britain - Rabaul possessed a number of airfields and one of the best natural harbours in the south-west Pacific. Its capture gave Japan a base from which to launch air attacks towards New Guinea and north-eastern Australia as well as a strong south-eastern corner to its defensive perimeter in the Pacific.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

871 - Battle of Reading - Ethelred of Wessex fights, and is defeated by, a Danish invasion army.
1642 - English Civil War: King Charles I of England attacks Parliament.
1717 - The Netherlands, England and France sign the Triple Alliance.
1762 - England declares war on Spain and Naples.
1944 - World War II: The Battle of Monte Cassino begins.
1951 - Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_4

1944: United States begins supplying guerrilla forces - U.S. aircraft begin dropping supplies to guerrilla forces throughout Western Europe. The action demonstrated that the U.S. believed guerrillas were a vital support to the formal armies of the Allies in their battle against the Axis powers.
1974: Thieu announces war has resumed - South Vietnamese troops report that 55 soldiers have been killed in two clashes with communist forces. Claiming that the war had "restarted," South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu asserted, "We cannot allow the communists a situation in which...they can launch harassing attacks against us," and ordered his forces to launch a counter-offensive to retake lost territory.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/tdih

1863 - Blockading ship USS Quaker City captures sloop Mercury carrying despatches emphasizing desperate plight of the South.
1910 - Commissioning of USS Michigan (BB-27), the first U.S. dreadnought battleship.
1989 - Aircraft (VF-32) from USS John F. Kennedy shoot down 2 hostile Libyan Migs.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjan.htm

1942: The Red Army captures Kaluga to the southwest of Moscow.
1943: The Japanese Navy orders the evacuation of Guadalcanal by the end of the month.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/index.htm

January 5

1941: The British 8th Army (Wavell) captures Bardia in Cyrenaica, taking 45,000 Italian prisoners.
1942: German forces in the Crimea repulse a Soviet landing at Eupatoria.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html

1477 - Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France.
1675 - Battle of Colmar: the French army beats Brandenburg.
1781 - American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
1913 - First Balkan War: During the Naval Battle of Lemnos, Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_5

1855 - USS Plymouth crew skirmish with Chinese troops
1875 - CDR Edward Lull begins expedition to locate best ship canal route across Panama. Route followed 30 years later.
1943 - USS Helena (CL-50) fired first proximity fused projectile in combat and shot down Japanese divebomber in southwest Pacific.
1968 - First Male Nurse Corps officer in Regular Navy, LT Clarence W. Cote.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjan.htm

1941: Bardia captured - The Australian 6th Division captured 40,000 Italian prisoners, including four generals, at a cost of 130 killed and 326 wounded in Australia's first major land battle of the Second World War.1945: HMAS Australia damaged by Kamikaze aircraft - Australian ships were operating in support of United States amphibious landings in the Lingayen Gulf, Philippines when the Australia, for the second time in the war, became one of seven Allied ships to be struck by Kamikaze aircraft. 25 of her crew were killed and 30 wounded.source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1940: The Finnish 9th Division begins an offensive on the Raate road, which leads to the almost complete destruction of Russian 44th division in 2 days. The Red Airforce makes its first air attack on the Finnish GHQ town of St. Michel causing 29 dead.
1942: 80,000 US and Filipino troops successfully complete their withdrawal to the Bataan Peninsula, along with 26,000 civilians, although food stocks are only sufficient to sustain 43,000 men for 6 months. The Japanese quickly close up to the first defensive position, which is based on Mounts Santa Rosa and Natib. German forces in the Crimea repulse a Soviet landing at Eupatoria.
1943: US Fifth Army is set up in Tunisia under Lieutenant General Mark Clark.
1944: The last of four German blockade-runners from Japan are sunk in the South Atlantic. Koniev’s 2nd Ukrainian Front extends the Russian general offensive in temperatures of -20°C.
1945: Australian troops land at Saposa to engage Japanese forces at Waitavolo.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/index.htm

1967: 1st Battalion, 9th U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese Marine Brigade Force Bravo conduct amphibious operations in the Kien Hoa Province in the Mekong Delta, located 62 miles south of Saigon. This action, part of Operation Deckhouse V, marked the first time that U.S. combat troops were used in the Mekong Delta. The target area, called the Thanh Phu Secret Zone by the Viet Cong guerrillas, was believed to contain communist ammunition dumps, ordinance and engineering workshops, hospitals, and indoctrination centers. During the course of the operation, which lasted until January 15, seven U.S. Marines and 21 Viet Cong were killed.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-h...rticle&id=1594

January 6

1941: In his annual message to Congress, President Roosevelt announces the "Four Freedoms". The Luftwaffe launches its first attacks against British convoys bound for Malta in the Mediterranean.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html

1916 - First enlisted flight training class at Pensacola, FL
1942 - Japanese capture 11 Navy Nurses in Manila, Philippines
1967- Operation Deckhouse V begins in Mekong Delta, Vietnam.
1996 - USS Hopper, named for RADM Grace Hopper, commissioned.
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjan.htm

1940: Finnish pilot Lt. Sarvanto, flying a Fokker, shoots down six out of seven Russian SB-2 bombers in just 5 minutes. The Russian 44th Division's commander General Vinogradov, authorizes the remainder of his troops to try escape back to Russian lines.
1941: The Luftwaffe launches its first attacks against British convoys bound for Malta in the Mediterranean.
1942: Rommel's battered forces reach the Tripolitanian frontier having evaded all British attempts to cut them off.
1944: The allies announce that jet-propelled aircraft will soon to be in production. The Air Ministry says that Bomber Command dropped 157,000 tons of bombs on Germany in 1943, while the Luftwaffe dropped only 2,400 tons on Britain.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/index.htm

January 7

1942 - World War II: Siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins.
1945 - World War II: British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge.
1979 - Phnom Penh fell to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_January

1952 -HMAS Tobruk bombards Chomi Do, Korea - The bombardment of Chomi Do, on the Haeju Gulf north-west of Seoul, forestalled a North Korean invasion of Yongmae Do, an island about 20 kilometres from Inchon.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1967 : Operation Cedar Falls is launched - About 16,000 U.S. soldiers from the 1st and 25th Infantry Divisions, 173rd Airborne Brigade and 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment join 14,000 South Vietnamese troops to mount Operation Cedar Falls. This offensive, the largest of the war to date, was designed to disrupt insurgent operations near Saigon, and had as its primary targets the Thanh Dien Forest Preserve and the Iron Triangle, a 60-square-mile area of jungle believed to contain communist base camps and supply dumps. During the course of the operations, U.S. infantrymen discovered and destroyed a massive tunnel complex in the Iron Triangle, apparently a headquarters for guerrilla raids and terrorist attacks on Saigon. The operation ended with 711 of the enemy reported killed and 488 captured. Allied losses were 83 killed and 345 wounded. The operation lasted for 18 days.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do

1960 - Launch of first fully-guided flight of Polaris missile at Cape Canaveral (flew 900 miles)
1967 - Mobile Riverine Force begins arriving at Vung Tau, Vietnam
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjan.htm

1940: General Semyon Timoshenko takes command of all Soviet forces in Finland and begins to build up his forces for a decisive offensive.
1941: Tobruk is surrounded, but the British are unable to assault it immediately as supplies and reinforcements need to be brought up.
1942: British forces continue to retreat south through central Malaya as the Japanese force a crossing of the river Slim. The British commander, General Arthur E. Percival, hopes to be able to hold at Johore until at least mid February. Japanese troops complete their capture of Sarawak and also take Jesselton in northern Borneo. The Soviet North West Front begins an offensive south of Lake Ilmen in an attempt to encircle Demyansk. At the same time the newly created Volkhov Front launches an attack to force the Germans back from around Leningrad.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/index.htm

January 8

1942: On the Northern front in Russia, the Red Army begins an offensive near Lake Ilmen.
1943: General Rokossovsky, C-in-C of Don Front, issues a surrender ultimatum to the troops of 6.Armee, guaranteeing "their lives and safety, and after the end of the war return to Germany', and promising that "...medical aid will be given to all wounded, sick and frost-bitten..."
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html

1916: Evacuation of Helles - British and French landings at Helles on 25 April 1915, had failed to secure their objectives, leading to a lengthy stalemate on the southern tip of the Gallipoli Penninsula.
1952: RAAF launch first meteor rocket attack against ground forces - Meteors proved unsuitable in air-to-air combat against the superior MIGs and were reassigned to ground attack duties.
1958: Last Australian servicemen return from Korea - At the end of hostilities in Korea the peninsula remained divided between North and South. The war has yet to officially end.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

871 - Battle of Ashdown - Ethelred of Wessex defeats Danish invasion army.
1815 - War of 1812: In the Battle of New OrleansHYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson"Andrew Jackson leads American forces in victory over the British.
1863 - Battle of Springfield of the American Civil War is fought.
1877 - Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle with the United States Cavalry (Montana).
1916 - World War I: Allied forces withdraw from Gallipoli.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_January

1847 - Battle of San Gabriel (Navy, Marines, Army defeat Mexicans in CA)
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjan.htm

1967: About 16,000 U.S. soldiers from the 1st and 25th Infantry Divisions, 173rd Airborne Brigade and 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment join 14,000 South Vietnamese troops to mount Operation Cedar Falls.
This offensive, the largest of the war to date, was designed to disrupt insurgent operations near Saigon, and had as its primary targets the Thanh Dien Forest Preserve and the Iron Triangle, a 60-square-mile area of jungle believed to contain communist base camps and supply dumps. During the course of the operations, U.S. infantrymen discovered and destroyed a massive tunnel complex in the Iron Triangle, apparently a headquarters for guerrilla raids and terrorist attacks on Saigon. The operation ended with 711 of the enemy reported killed and 488 captured. Allied losses were 83 killed and 345 wounded. The operation lasted for 18 days.
source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-h...yId=vietnamwar

January 9

1943: The Soviet ultimatum to 6.Armee at Stalingrad is ignored by order of Colonel-General von Paulus, and the battle continues with unabated ferocity.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html

1861 - American Civil War: The "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina. It is considered by some historians to be the "First Shots of the American Civil War".
1863 - American Civil War: the Battle of Fort Hindman occurs in Arkansas.
1916 - The Ottoman Empire prevails in the Battle of Çanakkale, as the last British troops are evacuated.
1917 - World War I: the Battle of Rafa occurs near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
1941 - World War II: The Greek Triton (S.112) sinks the Italian submarine Neghelli in Otranto.
1945 - The United States invades Luzon in the Philippines.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_9

1918 - Establishment of Naval Overseas Transportation Service to carry cargo during WWI
1945 - Carrier aircraft begin 2-day attack on Japanese forces, Luzon, Philippines
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjan.htm

1917: Light Horse captures Rafa - Following the capture of Magdhaba a fortnight earlier the Allies need to take Rafa, a former Egyptian police post on the Mediterranean border with Palestine, to enable their advance into Palestine.
1966: 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, in Operation Crimp - The operation became the scene of a major action against a Viet Cong tunnel complex.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1917: Battle of Khadairi Bend begins - After several months of preparations, British troops under the command of their new regional chief Sir Frederick Maude launch an offensive against Turkish forces at Khadairi Bend, to the north of Kut, Mesopotamia.
source: : http://www.history.com/tdih.do

1940: German bombers sink three merchantmen in North Sea.
1942: Japanese troops launch an attack against the eastern side of the Santa Rosa-Natib defence line on Bataan, making some gains, although US-Filipino counter-attacks forces them back to their start-line.
1944: British troops capture Maungdaw in Burma.
1945: British troops enter Thebes, to the Northwest of Athens. The U.S. Third Army counter-attacks towards Houffalize, on the southern side of the Ardennes salient.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/index.htm

January 10

1942: Colonel-General Ernst Udet, head of Luftwaffe aircraft production and development, commits suicide for failure to provide adequate replacements and new improved aircraft models.
1943: After a 55-minute bombardment by thousands of guns and rocket-launchers, and employing seven armies, the Red Army begins Operation Ring, the final annihilation of the tattered remnants of 6.Armee defending themselves desperately against all odds in the ruins of Stalingrad.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html

1940: Second AIF sails for the Middle East - Following in the footsteps of the first AIF, the second AIF were also sent to the Middle East rather than England. Unlike their earlier counterparts, however, most of their fighting took place in North Africa.
1942: Japanese air raid on Singapore - After their rapid advance through Malaya, Japanese forces paved the way for their invasion of Singapore with a series of air raids against the island.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

49BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_January

1940: Hitler informs his commanders that the attack in the west will begin on the 17th January. On this same day a German light aircraft makes a forced landing at Malines in Belgium, near the German border. The plane's occupants were carrying details of the German plans, which alerted the Belgium and Dutch governments to German intentions.
1941: Heavy air attacks begin on Malta. Germany and the Soviet Union sign a fresh treaty, which recognises their existing spheres of influence and affirms current trade agreements. German aircraft surprise the Mediterranean fleet, which is escorting 3 merchant ships to Greece. 40 Ju-87 Stukas attack them, scoring 6 hits on HMS Illustrious and severely damaging her. HMS Warspite also receives damage. Both ships make for Malta and arrive the next day.
1943: After a 55-minute bombardment by thousands of guns and rocket-launchers and employing seven armies, the Red Army begins Operation Ring, the final annihilation of the tattered remnants of 6th Army defending themselves desperately against all odds in the ruins of Stalingrad.
1944: The Russians capture Lyudvipol, 2-3 miles across the Polish border. The Russians propose new Polish border further west on the so-called ‘Curzon Line’. German forces in Dnieper bend are attacked by the Russians for the next five days, but and early thaw aids the German defense.
1945: The German 7th Gebirgsdivision retreats from it's positions in Lätäseno. Only a very small portion of Finland is still in German hands.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

1847 - American naval forces occupy Los Angeles.
1917 - Navy places first production order for aerial photographic equipment.
1934 - VP-10F flies first non-stop formation flight from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor, arriving 11 Jan.
1956 - Establishment of first Navy nuclear power school at Submarine Base, New London, CT
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjan.htm

January 11

1942: The Kriegsmarine begins Operation Drum Beat, the first coordinated attack carried out by five U-boats initially against US shipping along the East Coast of the United States. Their first victim is the 9,000 ton British freighter Cyclops which is sunk by U-123 (Kptlt. Hardegen).
1944: 660 heavy bombers of the US 8th Air Force carry out attacks against industrial targets at Braunschweig, Magdeburg and Ascherleben.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html

1957: Port Said Egypt - Canadian aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent arrives in Egypt with men and supplies for the UN emergency force; Canadian strength in Egypt now about 1,000 men.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Jan&day=11

1942: Japanese captured Tarakan island, Borneo - The success of Japan's war in South East Asia and the Pacific depended in large part upon the seizure of Borneo's oilfields, including those at Tarakan.
1973: Cessation of hostilities in Vietnam by Australian forces - The proclamation by the Governor-General, Sir Paul Hasluck, ended 11 years of Australian involvement in Vietnam, the longest duration of any war in Australia's history.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1941: The Cruisers HMS Southampton and HMS Gloucester are attacked by German aircraft in the Sicilian channel. HMS Gloucester receives damage, while HMS Southampton is sunk. British submarine's begin to make attacks on German and Italian convoys crossing to Libya.
1942: The Japanese 5th Division enters Kuala Lumpur, which is the main supply base for the Indian 3rd Corps. By this time Japanese forward elements are coming in to contact with the 8th Australian Division, which puts up fierce resistance, although Japanese amphibious landings to their south force them to retreat and ends British hopes of a protracted defense of Johore. The Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies begins with landings at Tarakan (Borneo) and Manado (Celebes). The Kriegsmarine begins Operation Drum Beat, the first coordinated attack carried out by five U-boats initially against US shipping along the East Coast of the United States. Their first victim is the 9,000 ton British steamer Cyclops which is sunk by U-123 (Kptlt. Hardegen), 300 miles to the east of Cape Cod.
1945: U.S. troops establish a firm hold on the Luzon beachhead. British troops capture Laroche, 20 miles Northwest of Bastogne.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm

1863 - CSS Alabama sinks USS Hatteras off Galveston
1944 - Aircraft from USS Block Island make first aircraft rocket attack on German submarine
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjan.htm

1863: Union General John McClernand and Admiral David Porter capture Arkansas Post, a Confederate stronghold on the Arkansas River. The victory secured central Arkansas for the Union and lifted northern morale just three weeks after the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg.
Arkansas Post was a massive fort 25 miles from the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. It was designed to insure Confederate control of the White and Arkansas rivers, and to keep pressure off Vicksburg, the last major Rebel city on the Mississippi River. The sides of the square fort were each nearly 200 feet long and the structure was protected by a moat. It sat on a bluff 25 feet above the river. The post was a major impediment to Yankee commerce on the Arkansas.
1916: To provide a safe and stable haven for the growing number of refugees pouring out of the devastated Balkan state of Serbia, French forces take formal military control of the Greek island of Corfu.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do

January 12

1943: The Red Army begins an offensive to restore the land communications with the encircled city of Leningrad. In the East, Heeeresgruppe A continues its withdrawal from the Caucasus to the Taman peninsula, i.e. the Kuban bridgehead.
1945: The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) launches an offensive from its bridgehead across the Vistula at Baranov.
source: http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html

1916: Ottawa Ontario - Cabinet Order in Council raises Canadian troop strength in World War I to 500,000.
source: http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_...mth=Jan&day=12

1943: Beginning of allied attack on Sanananda - The Japanese withdrawal from the Kokoda Trail enabled the allies to plan the encirclement of important Japanese positions in the Buna, Sanananda and Gona beachhead. Sanananda was last of the three to fall to the allies after weeks of heavy fighting.
source: http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/thismonth/index.asp

1991 - Persian Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_January

1962: The United States Air Force launches Operation Ranch Hand, a "modern technological area-denial technique" designed to expose the roads and trails used by the Viet Cong. Flying C-123 Providers, U.S. personnel dumped an estimated 19 million gallons of defoliating herbicides over 10-20 percent of Vietnam and parts of Laos between 1962-1971.
source: http://www.history.com/tdih.do?

1813 - US Frigate Chesapeake captures British Volunteer
1848 - Attack on Sloop Lexington, San Blas, Mexico
1953 - Landings tested on board USS Antietam, first angled deck carrier
source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesjan.htm

1942: British capture Sollum. Hitler orders Admiral Otto Ciliax, who commands the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the cruiser Prinz Eugen at Brest, to prepare to return to Germany. The new German battleship Tirpitz, sister ship of the Bismarck is ordered to Norway.
1943: Gen. Leclerc drives the last Germans troops out of the Fezzan in Southern Libya with his Free French forces from Chad.
source: http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/timelines-index.htm