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• Japanese troops made probing attacks at the opening of the Bataan peninsula at Luzon, Philippine Islands. Meanwhile, General MacArthur organized his forces into two corps and a rear area service command. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | TH]
• The Soviet Volkhov Front attempted to force Germans back from Leningrad. ww2dbase [Siege of Leningrad | TH]
• USS Pollack sank Japanese cargo ship Unkai Maru No. 1 off Japan with one of two torpedoes fired; this was the first confirmed sinking by the Submarine Force of the US Navy Pacific Fleet. ww2dbase [Pollack | CPC]
• Franz Halder noted that there was a very brief thought of using chemical weapons against Soviet troops, but discussions never went beyond this idea. ww2dbase [Franz Halder | CPC]
• During a meeting with top German leaders, Adolf Hitler noted his belief that the United States' commercial prowess would not be able to overcome the Axis powers. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | CPC]
• US President Franklin Roosevelt submitted a US$29,000,000,000 budget to the US Congress to fund the construction of 60,000 aircraft, 45,000 tanks, and 8,000,000 tons of shipping. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]
• Japanese tanks wiped out the Indian 11th Division at Slim River, British Malaya early in the morning; by 0930 hours, both the road and railway bridges were secured by Japanese troops. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | CPC]
• Archibald Wavell inspected troops and defenses in Singapore. ww2dbase [Archibald Wavell | CPC]
• A Japanese invasion force departed Davao, Mindanao, Philippine Islands for Tarakan, Dutch Borneo. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Borneo | CPC]
• ShCh-401 attacked an enemy ship with three torpedoes off Helnes, Norway at 0038 hours; all torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [ShCh-401 | CPC]
• George Brett was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant general. ww2dbase [George Brett | CPC]

• 18 Japanese Type 96 G3M bombers were spotted over Tabar en route to Rabaul, New Britain; when they struck Rabaul, they destroyed one Wirraway fighter and one Hudson bomber. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 1, Bismarck Islands | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Naka departed Davao, Mindanao, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Naka | Davao | CPC]

• Soviet Army began an offensive near Lake Ilmen in Russia, with the aim of encircling Demyansk. ww2dbase [Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive and the Demyansk Pocket | Demyansk, Leningrad | TH]

• USS S-44 departed Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. ww2dbase [S-44 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | CPC]

7 Jan 1942 Interactive Map