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Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie |
Monarch – King George VI
Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
Prime Minister – John Curtin
Premier of New South Wales – William McKell
Premier of Queensland – William Forgan Smith (until 16 September), then Frank Cooper
Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford
Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove
Premier of Victoria – Albert Dunstan
Premier of Western Australia – John Willcock
Governor of New South Wales – John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst
Governor of Queensland – Sir Leslie Orme Wilson
Governor of South Australia – Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey
Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark
Governor of Victoria – Sir Winston Dugan
Governor of Western Australia – none appointed
15 February – Singapore falls to the Japanese, with approximately 15,000 Australian troops taken prisoner.
16 February - The Bangka Island massacre takes place.
19 February – Darwin is bombed by Japanese forces for the first time. At least 243 persons are killed.
1 March – The cruiser HMAS Perth is torpedoed by Japanese destroyers in the Battle of Sunda Strait, sinking with the loss of 350 crew and three civilians.
3 March – 88 Allied civilians and military personnel were killed and 22 aircraft were lost when Japanese Zero fighters strafed Broome.
20 March – At Terowie, South Australia, American General Douglas MacArthur makes his famous speech which included the words "I came out of Bataan and I shall return."
4 May – The Battle of the Coral Sea begins.
19 May – The prototype CAC Boomerang, an Australian designed and built fighter aircraft, takes to the air for the first time.
22 May – American soldier Eddie Leonski is arrested and charged for the "Brownout Murders" of three women.
31 May – During an attack on Sydney Harbour, a Japanese midget submarine sinks the converted Sydney ferry, HMAS Kuttabul, killing 21.
7 June – The Income Tax (War-time Arrangements) Act 1942 is enacted, transferring the power to levy personal income tax from the states to the federal government.
8 June – Japanese midget submarines shell Sydney and Newcastle.
6 July – Elements of the Australian 9th Division arrive in El Alamein. The Division subsequently takes part in the First and Second Battle of El Alamein.
21 July - Australia Fights Japan in Kokoda Trail
30 October – Construction begins on the Burma Railway, begun by 15,000 Australian prisoners-of-war captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore.
16 November - Japan retreats from Kokoda Trail with Australia being the Victor
26 November – A violent brawl breaks out in Brisbane between United States military personnel and Australian servicemen and civilians, in what becomes known as the "Battle of Brisbane". One Australian soldier is shot dead.
1 December – HMAS Armidale, a corvette of the Royal Australian Navy, is sunk by Japanese with the loss of 100 men.
Arts and literature
The Pea-Pickers by Eve Langley is first published
William Dargie wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of James Heather Gordon VC
Colonus wins the Melbourne Cup
17 January – Ita Buttrose, journalist
19 February – David Williamson, playwright
24 February – Colin Bond, racing driver
13 March – George Negus, journalist
13 May – Richard Butler, diplomat and Governor of Tasmania (2003–2004)
15 May – Doug Lowe, Premier of Tasmania (1977–1981)
16 May – Margaret Court, tennis player
21 May – John Konrads, swimmer
2 June – Mike Ahern, Premier of Queensland (1987–1989)
18 June – Nick Tate, actor
30 June – Gerry Hand, politician
2 July – John Farrington, long-distance runner
7 July – Carmen Duncan, actress
12 July – Billy Smith, rugby league footballer
23 July – Sallyanne Atkinson, Lord Mayor of Brisbane
25 July – Bruce Woodley, musician
28 July – John Sattler, rugby league footballer
19 October – Bronwyn Bishop, politician
17 November – Derek Clayton, long-distance runner
23 December – Quentin Bryce, Governor of Queensland (2003–2008), Governor-General of Australia (2008-2014)
22 February – Frank Leslie Thomson Wilmot (born 1881), poet
27 April – Julian Ashton (born 1851), painter
12 May – Sir Harold Crisp (born 1874), Chief Justice of Tasmania
3 September – Mungo MacCallum – (born 1854), scholar
1942 in Australia Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
