SOUTH CAROLINA MILITARY MUSEUM 
- WORLD WAR II 1942-
Amercia At War
1942
January 1, 1942 - Japanese troops entered Manila.
- Twenty-six nations sign the Declaration of the United Nations.
January 2, 1942 - Japanese troops, units of Japanese 48th Division, enter Manila, The Philippines, the Americans and MacArthur's forces withdraw to the peninsula of Bataan to set a defensive line along the route into Bataan Peninsula; some leave for Corregidor.January 4, 1942 - Chinese claim victory over Japanese at Changsha.
January 7, 1942 - President Roosevelt proposes a budget which will fund the production of 125.000 aircraft, 75.000 tanks, 35.000 guns and 8 million tons of shipping by the end 1943.January 11, 1942 - Japanese troops invade the Netherland East Indies with advance strategy which will take in Borneo, Sarawak, Sumatra and Bali and Timor. The Japanese plan to move from island to island, knocking out enemy aircraft on the ground and then delivering seaborne troops who will make good the airfield, or build a new one, ready for flights to the next obiective. The landing at Manado in Celebes is reinforced by paratroops and marks the first airborne operation in the Pacific.
- The US carrier Saratoga is attacked by Japanese submarine Hawaii.
- Japanese troops capture Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Operation "Paukenschlag" for the coast of the United States; U-boats sunk 142.373 ships tonnage.
January 15, 1942 - Japanese troops (16th Army) invade Burma.
January 17, 1942 - The isolated German troops falls at Halfaya and more than 5000 German and Italian troops are captured. The first U-boat attack on an Artic convoy by the U454; a destroyer and a merchantman were sunk.
January 20, 1942 - "Der Wannsee Conference" is held in Berlin, subject was to coordinate the Final Solution; Reinhard Heydrich, subordinate of Himmler and head of the RSHA (Reichssicherheitshauptamt) presides.
- Eichmann takes official notes at the meeting which survive as evidence, present were Schöngarth and Freisler.
January 21 - September, 1942 - Africa Corps Germany (Rommel) march from El-Agheila to El-Alamein.
January 22, 1942 - Chinese claim victory over Japanese at Changsha.
January 25, 1942 - Japanese troops landed in New Britain, Borneo, New Ireland and on the Solomons Islands.
- The first American troops arrives at Northen-Ireland.
February 6, 1942 - Japanese troops capture Borneo oil fields.
- Allies lose Benghazi and halt German advance at the Gazala line.
February 12, 1942 - The "Scharnhorst", "Gneisenau" and "Prinz Eugen" escape from Brest through the North-Sea..
February 15, 1942 - Singapore (and General Perceival) surrender to the Japanese (General Yamashita). General Percival surrenders Singapore to General Yamashita to bring to an end to a very sorry episode for the British. Britain have lost 138.000 men, Japan nearly 10.000. The British have been left in short numbers, equipment and air support.
February 22, 1942 - Formation of USA Army Bomber Command, leader General Eaker. President Roosevelt order D.MacArthur to leave Bataan.
February 27 - March 1, 1942 - The battle of the Java Sea, Japanese troops, defeat an Allied fleet, with 5 Cruisers and 9 Destroyers, under Dutch command, Rear-Admiral Doorman..
March 3, 1942 - During the night of 3 March, the English carried out a treacherous air-raid on the residential quarter of Paris, as a result of which more than 600 were killed and 1000 wounded. The British Government had the nerve to express their sympathy to the families of the victims of their cold blooded murder. The scale of the crime is incredible; entire streets are razed to the ground in the affected workers' quarter'.
March 7, 1942 - British citizens and troops are evacuated from Rangoon, Burma.
March 9, 1942 - American, British, and Dutch troops (General ter Poorten) surrender Java to the Japanese.
March 21, 1942 - Germans "Arbeitseinsatz" (Saukel); bring in 7.5 million "fremdarbeiter" and 30 million German citizen to work in German factories.
March 23, 1942 - Operation 'Ironclad'. Because of Churchill's fear that the island of Madagascar could become something of a 'halfway house'between the Japanese in the Indian Ocean and the Axis powers in the Middle East, he mounts Operation 'Ironclad', aimed at occupying that island.
March 28 1942 - First Jews (Slowakia) arrives at Auschwitz, Birkenau for gassing.
- British attack (raid) on the strategically important port of St.Nazaire. Through the pressure of Stalin to start a second front against Germany from Britain in the west, Churchill ordered an attempt to land at St. Nazaire at the mouth of the Loire with the aim of putting the German U-boat base out of action. In addition to high casualties of the British, a destroyer, 9 motor-boats and 4 torpedo boats were destroyed. The U-boat base suffered no damage'.
March 27, 1942 - A military coup in Yugoslavia over throws Paul, Regent of Yugoslavia and replaces him with King Peter II.
March 28, 1942 - Italian Navy ships attacks British convoys to Greece.
- British Royal Navy ships defeat the Italian Navy at Cape Matapan, the Mediterranean.
March 29, 1942 - The presence of Tirpitz in Norwegian waters, together with other large German ships, will now begin to exercise the minds of the British Admiralty to a remarkable degree.
April 2 - 8, 1942 - Heavy air attacks from the "Luftwaffe" and Italian bombers on Malta, to make the island "free for the storm".April 9, 1942 - Japanese forces capture Bataan, The Philippines. 75.000 men on their march over about 100 km to Camp O'Donnell, the "Death-March", 54.000 arrived.
April 12, 1942 - Rear Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten appointed Chief of Combined Operations with a seat on the British Chiefs of Staff Committee.
April 18, 1942 - The Doolittle raid, starting from Carrier "Hornet" with North American B-25B Mitchells, on Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan.
- After the winter at the Eastern front, German/Russia front for the new offensive.
April 29 , 1942 - Persecution of Jews: Order to wear the "Star of David" to all Jews in Europe.
- Japanese troops capture Lashio, Birma and cut off "the street of Birma". Begin of the allied air-lift Assam to China.
May 4 - 8, 1942 - Japanese and American navies clash in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Japanese lost carrier "Shoho" and heavily damage carrier "Shokaku"; American lost carrier "Lexington", a tanker and a destroyer.
May 4, 1942 - Operation "Ironclad": British troops land in Madagascar. British troops capture the Vichy French-controlled port of Diego Suazez, Madagascar (Africa).
May 6, 1942 - End of the American armed resistance (11.574 men) on The Philippines. Japanese troops capture Corregidor.
May 15, 1942 - British troops draw back at the border of India.
May 17 - 28, 1942 - The Battle of Charkow.
May 18, 1942 - Large American Expeditionary Force reaches Northern Ireland.
May 26, 1942 - Operation "Theseus"; Capture Tobruk. Africa Corps advance from Bir Hakeim, the turning movement at the battle of Gazala.
May 27, 1942 - The attempt on Heydrich. The "Gestapo" execute 1331 Czech.
- May 29 1942 - Mexico declares war on Germany, Italy, and Japan.
May 30, 1942 - The first 1000 bomber raid. A 1047 bombers of the Royal Air Force above Cologne, take off from 52 airfields, dropped 1455 ton bombs; 460 killed and 45.000 homeless. British losses: 40 bombers , 45 heavily damage of which 12 lost by landing.
Canterbury, England attack by the Luftwaffe.June 1, 1942 - RAF airraid, 1036 bombers (31 lost), on the "Ruhr gebiet" and Essen, Germany.
RAF bombed Germany regularly impotant places with long-range bomber; Hampdens, Vickers Wellington, Whitleys, Halifaxs, Lancasters and Stirlings.- The US build-up for Midway includes the positioning of 25 submarines in the area.
June 2, 1942 - The Germans add their new heavy 'super' artillery, the Karl mortar the 80cm Dora gun, to the bombardment of Sevastopol.
June 4 - 8, 1942 - The Battle of Midway. Begin of the 4-day air-naval battle of Midway. In this battle of planes; Japanese lost carriers "Akagi", "Kaga" , "Soryu" and "Hiryu", American lost carrier "Yorktown", sank by a Japanese submarine.
June 4, 1942 - Japanese offensive against the 12th Chinese Armygroup; result capture of airbase Fuchow.
June 10, 1942 - The Liquidation of Lidice in reprisal for the assassination of SS Leader Reinhard Heydrich. All men and boys over age 16 in the village were shot while the women were deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp where most died. Ninety young children were sent to the concentration camp at Gneisenau, with some taken later to Nazi orphanages if they were German looking. The village of Lidice was then destroyed building by building with explosives, then completely leveled until not a trace remained, with grain being planted over the flattened soil. The name was then removed from all German maps.
June 21, 1940 - The Nazi German Africa Corps under (just) Field Marshall Erwin Rommel capture Tobruk, about 25.000 British prisoners of war.
June 25, 1942 - Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower commander of U.S. forces in Europe.
June 30, 1942 - Rommel at El Alamein.
- Rommel pass the Egyptian border (24 June). Rommel establish the next destinations: El Alamein- Alexandrië-Nile-delta-Caïro; reach at 30 June!
July 1, 1942 - German and Romanian troops capture Sevastopol, Russia after 8 month siege. General on Manstein is promoted to Field Marshal. The Germans have expended more han 46.000 shells and 20.000 tons of bombs against Sevastopol; the figure is marginally less than the total dropped on the UK during 1941.
- The first heavy bomber from the US 8th Army Air Force, a B-17 Flying Fortress, lands a Prestwick.
July 1 - 31, 1942 - German U-boats sunk 93 Allied cargo-boats, 454.535 tons, to the bottom of the Ocean at the Atlantic Ocean, near the coast of the USA, North Sea and the Mediterranean.
July 7, 1942 - Over 1.000.000 German troops are diverted to capture the Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus.
July 15, 1942 - Camp Westerbork remained a deportation machine. The deportations came to dominate daily life. The first deportation train left Camp Westerbork from the station at Hooghalen on 15th of July.
July 17, 1942 - Himmler, on his second visit to Auschwitz, personally witnesses killing procedures using Zyklon B.
July 22, 1942 - Destruction Camp Treblinka openend.
July 22 - October 3, 1942 - Revolt at the Warsaw Gettho; 310.332 Jews on transport to Concentration Camps; Illness,starvation and searching food were rife in the ghetto.
July 26 - 27, 1942 - Mass attack from the RAF on Hamburg
July 27, 1942 - Germany capture Rostov-on-Don, Soviet Union..
July 28 - 29, 1942 - Second Mass attack from the RAF on Hamburg
August 1942 - Field Marshall Sir Harold Alexander is appointed Commander-in-Chief of British forces by Prime Minister Winston Churchill.. .
August 6, 1942 - German troops reach the Elbruz mountains in the Caucasus. Hitler had hoped to reach the oilfields at Baku. He dismisses Field Marshal List for not advancing fast enough. At 'Werewolf' there are arguments between Hitler and his military advisers who claim that his strategy has stretched out his forces too widely. When General Halder, the chief of the Army general staff warns that the Russians, with growing strength, could soon counter-attack, he too is dismissed and eventually sent to the concentration camp at Dachau. Von Paulus's 6th Anny takes most of Stalingrad and, with control of the air, seems to be on the way to break through the town to the river. But the Russians hold on, their backs to the river, their artillery supporting them from the other bank.
August 7, 1942 - U.S. Marines land at Guadalcanal, the Solomon Islands. The American begin landings in the Solomons, troops gain footholds on Guadalcanal, Tulagi and Gavutu.
When the Guadalcanal campaign began, it was the first land offensive by the United States against any Axis power. It continued to be the only land offensive by the United States until the major Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942.August 8 - 9, 1942 - Battle of Savo Island. Night surface actions; Japanese cruisers engages an Allied force and destroy 4 Allied cruisers near Salvo Island, Guadalcanal.
August 9, 1942 - Gandhi and his chief supporters of committee "Quit India" are jailed in India causing mass riots.
German troops reach Maikop oil-field in Russia.August 10 - 13, 1942 - Operation "Pedestal": Britsh attempt to sail a supply convoy to Malta.
August 17, 1942 - Japanese begin operations to reinforce Guadalcanal.
The first serious Air attack from the USA with 12 B-17's (Flying Fortress), from Eighth Air Force, on shunting yards from Rouen, France, escort by British Spitfire. In September the first B-24's Liberators arrived.August 19, 1942 - British raid on Dieppe. British and Canadian commandos, 4de and 6de brigade of 2de Canadian division (General-major Roberts) with tanks and air support, attempt a raid on Dieppe, France. German forces defeat and capture the commandos.
August 22, 1942 - Brazil declares war on Germany and Italy.
August 23 - 25, 1942 - Battle of the Eastern Solomons, air and surface actions.
August 26, 1942 - Russian bombers raid on Berlin and other German cities.
August 28, 1942 - Russian counter-attack at Leningrad (Lieutenant-general Goworow).
The German reach the Wolga north from Stalingrad.August 31, 1942 - The Battle of Alam Halfa (Egypt), British forces under General Montgomery defeat Rommel's Afrika Korps. Rommel attacks at Alam Halfa, but is repulsed and his armour is considerably weakened. Generals Alexander and Montgomery came, Generals Auchinleck and Ritchie are gone.
- The Eighth Army receives 300 Sherman tanks in September.
September 10, 1942 - British troops occupy Madagascar.
September 12 -13, 1942 - Battle of Edson's ridge (bloody ridge) successful defense of Henderson airfield.
September 15, 1942 - Begin of the Battle of Stalingrad.
September 22, 1942 - German troops at the centre of Stalingrad.
September 29, 1942 - In the second and final raid of its mission, a Japanese aircraft deployed from a submarine off the coast of Oregon, flies over forests inland to drop incendiary bombs. These were the only bombing raids made on the United States.
October 4, 1942 - The Sixth Army of General Paulus is out of ideas, how to break through into the centre of Stalingrad but one more effort is called for. The Germans have more skilled urban fighters in their ranks but they are still struggling to make an impact. The Sovjets plan to force any German breakthrough into zones which they control, and then counter on their terms.
October 7, 1942 - The tractory factory in Stalingrad is scene of the most fierce fighting in the city.
- On Guadalcanal the US 1st Marine Division breaks out from the beachhead to try to create a larger safety zone around the airstrip Henderson Field.
October 11, 1942 - Battle of Cape Esperance. Night surface actions to maintain Guadalcanal supply routes. The American have radar, but use it poorly, the Japanese have better torpedoes. Both sides troopships reach their destinations. The Americans get 3.000 men ashore; the Japanese will land artillery, tanks and other material, but lose more ships.
October 12, 1942 - A Coastal Command Liberator sinks U597 in the first success by a single aircraft from this RAF section.
October 23, 1942 - At 2140 the begining of the British offensive:"Lightfoot" at El Alamein.
- 25 days later, Rommel is back from Rome at the front.
October 24 - 27, 1942 - Battle of Santa Cruz. Long range naval battle between American and Japanese forces near Santa Cruz island. Japanese heavy losses on Guadalcanal.
November 5, 1942 - Operation "Super charge": The break through of the Battle of Alamein, British troops (Bernhard Montgomery) defeat Rommel's Afrika Korps, on the march to Tunis (March 1943).
- Admiral Darlan arrives in Algiers.
November 7, 1942 - The greatest combine British Air-Operation, during WW II, 387 Bombers on there way to different targets at the other side of the North Sea, also to Berlin ( 1700 km): Whitleys, Wellingtons, Stirlings, Halifaxs.
November 8, 1942 - Operation "Torch": Allied forces (110.000 men) under Dwight D. Eisenhower land in North Africa.
- Vichy France breaks-off diplomatic relations with the United States. Germany capture Vichy (South-France).
Hitler declares at the "Löwenbräukeller" te München : "Stalingrad is defeated"!November 11, 1942 - Operation "Anton": German-Italian troops occupy South France and Corsica.
November 12 - 15, 1942 - The Air-Sea battle of Guadalcanal
- Naval Battles of Guadalcanal; the turning point in the Pacific. The Japanese send 11.000 men to Guadalcanal in 11 transports escorted by destroyers. Another Japanese force of 2 battieships, 2 cruisers and 14 destroyers is sent to bombard Henderson Field. There are also 2 carriers in the area. With just 5 cruisers and 8 destroyers, US Admiral Callaghan moves to locate the ships heading for the position offshore of the airfield. When the 2 fleets engage the Japanese lose 2 cruisers and many of their other ships are damaged; the Americans lose 2 cruisers and 4 destroyers. Although the Americans should have used their superior radar to secure an even greater advantage, the Japanese transports are forced to turn away. On 14 November Admiral Tanaka attempts a new approach for his troops bound for Guadalcanal. The US carrier Enterprise is back on duty and her aircraft join with those from Henderson Field to attack the Japanese ships. 7 transports and 2 warships are lost, but Tanaka sails on, now receiving protection from a new formation consisting of the battleship Kirishima, 4 cruisers and 9 destroyers under the command of Admiral Kondo. The Americans have also reformed their fleet, deploying the battleships Washington and South Dakota and 4 destroyers. In the middle of the night the 2 forces clash. The naval action off Guadalcanal sees South Dakota retiring damaged early on, but Washington sinking Kirishima. Tanaka manages to land 4.000 troops but the hazards of surface approach and landing will see the Japanese resorting to submarine-borne supply in future.
November 13, 1942 - British forces recapture Tobruk from the Germans.
- Hitler assure Petain not to occupy Toulon.
November 19, 1942 - 7.30u; Soviet forces begin a counteroffensive to break-out of Stalingrad.The "South West front": about 3 tank-, 2 cav.corps and 21 inf.div., the "Donjetsfront": about 20 inf.div., 6 tankbrig. and 2 motor.brig.
November 21, 1942 - Field Marshall Von Manstein be in charge of leadership at the Armygroup "Don".Charge: "Stop the Russian attack". The German 6th Army try to defend Stalingrad against the Russian. Fight at fortress Stalingrad.
- November 25, 1942 - Operation "Lila", German troops capture Toulon, the French Fleet sunk their on war-ships.
22 German divisions captive between Wolga and Don.November 26, 1942 - Los Alamos is selected as the site for an Atomic Bomb Laboratory. Robert Oppenheimer is named the Director.
November 30, 1942 - Battle of Lunga Point. The continuing efforts of the 'Tokyo Express' to resupply the Japanese on Guadalcanal.
December 12 - 23, 1942 - German Armygroup "Hoth", with 2 tankdiv., try to set free the surrounded Germans at Stalingrad.Von Paulus with the permission of Hitler to do a break out of Stalingrad provided that Stalingrad must be hold..
December 22 , 1942 - Japanese troops land on Wake island.
December 24, 1942 - Japanese troops land in the Philippines near Luzon.
- Admiral Jean Francois Darlan, Head of French Armed Forces and High Commissioner in French North Africa, is murdered. He is replaced by General Henri Giraud.
December 30, 1942 - The Germans Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht give order retreat of the German Armygroup A out of the Kaukasus.
Next Section: World War II 1943 - Germany Losing Ground.
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