World War II Chronicle: December 14, 1941
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Lieutenants George S. Welch and Kenneth M. Taylor stayed out all night dancing and playing poker at the Wheeler Army Air Field Officers’ Club, and had just hit their racks when the sounds of explosions and enemy aircraft woke them up. The young pilots — still wearing their dress uniforms — called ahead and had their Burtiss P-40B Warhawks warmed up and ready for action. They jumped in Taylor’s Buick and raced the ten miles to Haleiwa Fighter Strip, dodging fire from strafing enemy fighters.
Welch shot down four enemy warplanes and Taylor scored two victories (in addition to two probables), and Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold put them in for the Medal of Honor. However since they took off without orders, their commanding officer downgraded the request to Distinguished Service Crosses. Four other pilots are featured on the front page, cited for valor above Hawaii on Dec. 7.
One month after the Battle of the Duisburg Convoy, the Royal Navy has destroyed another Italian flotilla in a completely one-sided nighttime engagement.
The British intercepted a message with details about Italian warships loaded down with aviation fuel and supplies bound for Tripoli, so they sent a reconnaissance bomber overhead to make the Italians think they were discovered by a patrol — hopefully keeping them from realizing the Brits had cracked the Italian code.
After the light cruisers were “spotted,” the 4th Destroyer Flotilla (three British and one Dutch destroyers) raced to intercept. A radar-equipped Vickers Wellington bomber pinpointed the Italians at 0230 on Dec. 13, and in just under an hour the Allied destroyers had surrounded the cruisers off the coast of Tripoli. Completely undetected, the crews launched torpedoes and opened fire at the devastatingly close range of 1,000 yards.
The Italians barely had time to return fire, and within moments both cruisers were destroyed… Summary of the war’s 119th week on page 40… Sports section begins on page 48
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 14 December 1941. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1941-12-14/ed-1/
