Eighty Years Ago: Asia Pacific, March 13 – 19, 1941

March 13, 1941: Captain H.C. Biard, military expert of the British Royal Air Force, says “the Japanese have not one single home-built war plane that could stand up for three minutes to a frontline equivalent from the United States, Britain, Germany – no, not even Italy or Russia!”

March 14, 1941: Kita Nagao arrives in Honolulu to take up post as Japanese consul. He will soon be conducting espionage against the naval base at Pearl Harbor

March 15, 1941: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces that Lend Lease aid will be extended to China: “China, through the Generalissimo, Chiang Kai-shek, asks our help. America has said that China shall have our hel

March 16, 1941: US military sets up Western Defense Command, in charge of defending US west coast and Pacific areas, under General John L. DeWitt

March 17, 1941: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt is subject to severe criticism in Japanese press following speech promising more help to China

March 18, 1941: Japanese military leaders concerned that China may be beefing up its air force

March 19, 1941: Admiral Erich Raeder, commander of the German Navy, calls on Japan to attack British colonies in Singapore and Malaya

Categories: War

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