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• After gaining 60 miles, Timoshenko's offensive in Ukraine began to slow. ww2dbase [TH]
• Georgy Zhukov was promoted, with responsibility growing to include the Bryanksk, Kalinin, and West Fronts. ww2dbase [Georgy Zhukov | TH]
• Japanese troops occupied Rossel Island off southwestern New Guinea. ww2dbase [CPC]
• British fighter ace Robert Roland Stanford Tuck (27 kills) was shot down and was taken prisoner in Germany. ww2dbase [AC]
• Münster, Germany was bombed for the first time during the night of 28-29 Jan 1942 by mainforce aircraft of RAF Bomber Command. It would ultimately be bombed on six occasions, destroying 65% of the city. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | AC]
• Mortars and machine guns of the US 4th Marine Regiment were assigned to the 57th Philippine Scout Regiment at Longoskawayan Point, Bataan on Luzon, Philippine Islands, where the combined US-Filipino effort would soon wipe out the Japanese landing attempt. ww2dbase [Invasion of the Philippine Islands | CPC]
• US B-17 bombers based on Java, Dutch East Indies bombed Japanese positions at Kendari, Celebes, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Celebes and Moluccas | CPC]
• British submarine HMS Thorn sank Italian tanker Ninuccia one mile off Cape Planka, Yugoslavia at 1121 hours. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Indian troops destroyed port facilities at Benghazi, Libya as German forces approached. ww2dbase [Operation Crusader | CPC]
• Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld was mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht bulletin by the headquarters of the German Wehrmacht. ww2dbase [Egmont | CPC]
• Dispersed ships of Allied convoy QP-6 began to arrive in Allied waters. ww2dbase [Arctic Convoys | CPC]

• US 49th Pursuit Squadron, flying P-40 fighters, arrived in Australia by ship. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Four Australian Catalina aircraft from Port Moresby, British Territory of Papua attacked Rabaul, New Britain, causing little or no damage. ww2dbase [New Guinea-Papua Campaign, Phase 1, Bismarck Islands | Rabaul, New Britain | CPC]

• Japanese troops landed at Pemangkat, Dutch Borneo. At Balikpapan, part of the assault force for Bandjermasin, the capital of Dutch Borneo, departed by transports. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Borneo | Pemangkat, Borneo | CPC]

• Leonardo da Vinci departed La Pallice, La Rochelle, France at 1450 hours for a war patrol. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes | CPC]
• Sergio Bresina was made the commanding officer of Comandante Cappellini while at Bordeaux, France, relieving Aldo Lenzi. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]

• In Berlin, Germany, fighter ace Adolf Galland was awarded Diamonds to his Knight's Cross by Adolf Hitler for achieving 94 kills. ww2dbase [Adolf Galland | Berlin | AC]

• Hans-Joachim Marseille arrived in Sicily, Italy. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | Sicilia | CPC]

• Japanese troops outflanked and wiped out Indian 22nd Brigade at the village of Layang Layang, Perak, Malaya. Meanwhile, US B-17 bombers based on Java, Dutch East Indies bombed Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaya. After sundown, British gunboats HMS Dragonfly and HMS Scorpion evacuated British troops at Rengit, Johor, Malaya. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | CPC]

• Yugure received fuel from auxiliary tanker Kokuyo Maru in the Pacific Ocean. ww2dbase [Yugure | CPC]

• Chechen rebel leader Khasan Israilov formed the anti-Soviet organization Special Party of Caucasus Brothers. ww2dbase [Deportation of Caucasian, Altaic, and Turkish Peoples | Chechen-Ingush | CPC]

• RAF Bomber Command's No. 8 (Bomber) Group was disbanded. ww2dbase [AC]

• Phil Zampini became Robert Johnson's flight instructor at the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics in Sikeston, Missouri, United States. ww2dbase [Robert Johnson | Sikeston, Missouri | CPC]

28 Jan 1942 Interactive Map