Second World War tweets from 1941

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:

Manila unprepared for bombing; civilians caught in parks "take shelter" around acacia trees, some ladies are opening parasols to huddle under.

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=epbZn3…

Rankin- the first woman ever elected to Congress- was followed out of the Capitol chamber by a mob angry at her anti-war vote; she's had to take shelter in a phone booth to call police.

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."

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."

Some MPs protest the ceremonial formality of Britain's declaration of war on Japan; Churchill responds: "When you have to kill a man, it costs you nothing to be polite."

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has declared war on Japan for their "calculated & characteristic Japanese treachery" in attacking Pearl Harbor & British colony of Malaya: #column_1358" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">api.parliament.uk/historic-hansa…

Britain's Far East empire has been stripped of troops to reinforce North Africa- Hong Kong's "symbolic garrison" is just 14,000 men.

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:

"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/madely…

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."

Destroyer USS Shaw, set afire by bombing, has exploded, scattering debris half a mile across Oahu island.

Japanese trying to sink battleship USS Nevada in mouth of Pearl Harbor, to block channel & stop ships entering the port- instead, crew have deliberately run her aground: