I livetweet the Second World War as it happened on this date in 1941, & for four years to come. Third time's the charm. Alwyn Collinson, [email protected]
Britain
Joined August 2011
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I've been live-tweeting the Second World War since 2011. If you find this project interesting or enlightening, I'd value your support. Help keep history alive by joining my Patreon: patreon.com/RealTimeWWII
Tatsuro Matsuda, a US citizen of Japanese descent & owner of the Wanto grocery store in Oakland, California, wants to show where he stands in the newly declared war against Japan:
Japanese bombers have hit American bases at the Philippines, catching Far East Air Force on ground, despite warnings: over half US planes in Manila have been destroyed. youtube.com/watch?v=epbZn3vI…
President Roosevelt has addressed US Congress: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly & deliberately attacked by naval & air forces of the Empire of Japan."
Following President's request, US Congress has voted for war with Japan, by 470-1. Only Senator or Congressman to vote against war is pacifist Jeanette Rankin: "As a woman I can't go to war, & I refuse to send anyone else."
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has declared war on Japan for their "calculated & characteristic Japanese treachery" in attacking Pearl Harbor & British colony of Malaya: api.parliament.uk/historic-h…
60,000 Japanese troops are marching from mainland China into British colony of Hong Kong- they outnumber defenders almost 4-to-1.
Winston Churchill calls Roosevelt to confirm news of Pearl Harbor attack- President confirms: "We're all in the same boat now". Churchill: "Being saturated & satiated with emotion & sensation, I went to bed & slept the sleep of the saved & thankful."
~60 Hawaiian civilians dead in Pearl Harbor, some strafed by Japanese planes, but mostly killed by faulty, falling American anti-aircraft shells.
In Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, citizens hurry in shocked silence to buy first editions of the newspapers reporting outbreak of war with Japan:
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was over in little more than two hours. Over 2,400 Americans are dead, all 8 of the US Navy's battleships in Hawaii damaged, 4 sunk. 188 US planes destroyed. 29 Japanese attackers were shot down.
White House press corps, just told of Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, are rushing to phones to contact editors:
Destroyer USS Shaw, set afire by bombing, has exploded, scattering debris half a mile across Oahu island.
Army Nurse Corps Lt. Madelyn Blonskey, Oahu: "As I stepped out of the nurses’ quarters, I had an awful feeling. Usually, the smell of gardenias & hibiscus from the garden was delightful. But I smelled the odor of sulfur & burning oil."
"More bloody shrapnel wounds than I ever saw in my life." Nurses at Pearl Harbor hurriedly give the wounded morphine, marking each anesthetized man with a lipstick "M" on his forehead. military.com/history/madelyn…
