February 22, 1942
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

SUNDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 1942

USA: U.S. President Frankin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur to leave the Philippines.

Burma: Japanese open strong attacks against 2 brigs of Ind 17th Div E of Sittang River in Mokpalin area before withdrawal through Sittang bridge bottleneck can be accomplished.

RAAF: During the early morning, Catalinas bomb Rabaul.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): Air echelon of 17th Bombardment Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group, arrives at Batchelor from Brisbane with A-24s. Ground echelon is on Bataan.

First American bombing mission against Rabaul.  Before midnight, nine B-17s took off from Garbutt Field in Townsville assemble for an overnight flight arriving February 23, 1942 at dawn to bomb Japanese shipping in Simpson Harbor near Rabaul. While taxiing, B-17E 41-2434 and B-17E 41-2416 are both damaged and unable to participate. Inbound, they experience bad weather that broke up the formation with the B-17s flying individually to the target area with B-17 pilot Speith aborting due to bad weather. Returning, the B-17s planned to land at 7-Mile Drome near Port Moresby to refuel then fly back to Garbutt Field.

U.S. Navy: USS Stewart (DD-224) damaged by gunfire last night during the Battle of Badung Strait (Bali Sea Battle) suffers further damage while entering Dutch drydock at Surabaya when improperly shored on blocks and rolls on her port side that bent her propeller shafts and sustains hull damage.