Timeline of World War II (1942)

January 1942

1: Twenty-six Allied countries signed the Declaration by United Nations during the Arcadia Conference. 2: Manila is captured by Japanese forces. They also take Cavite naval base, and the American and Filipino troops continue the retreat into Bataan. 5: The beginning of a major Red Army offensive under General Zhukov. 6: The British advance continues to El Agheila, on the western edge of Libya. 7: The Soviet Winter counter-offensive comes to a halt, after having pushed the exhausted and freezing German Army back 62–155 mi from Moscow. 'Operation Barbarossa' had failed. 8: Japanese troops penetrated the outer lines of defense at Kuala Lumpur, Malaya. 9: Japanese advances in Borneo meet with little opposition. 10: Japan declares war on the Netherlands. 11: Japanese troops capture Kuala Lumpur, Malaya. 13: The Red Army takes Kirov and Medya, as its counter-offensive continues. 15: German authorities begin to deport Jews from the Lodz ghettos to the Chelmno Concentration Camp. 19: Japanese forces take large numbers of British troops prisoner, north of Singapore. 20: Nazis at the Wannsee conference in Berlin decide that the "final solution to the Jewish problem" is relocation, and later extermination. 21: Rommel's Afrika Korps begins a surprise counter-offensive at El Agheila; his troops, with new reinforcements and tanks, capture Agedabia, then push north to Beda Fomm.
: At the Vilna Ghetto the Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye a Jewish partisan organisation is established, including Aba Kovner. 23: The Battle of Rabaul, on New Britain begins. 24: American troops land in Samoa, as part of a strategy to stop the Japanese advance in the Pacific. 25: Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom. 26: The first American forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland. 27: The British withdraw all troops back into Singapore. 28: Brazil breaks off relations with the Axis powers. 29: Rommel's Afrika Korps recaptures Benghazi, Libya in his drive east. For the next few months, the two sides will rest and rearm. 30: Hitler speaks at the Berlin Sportpalast and threatens the Jews of the world with annihilation; he also blames the failure of the offensive in Soviet Union on the weather. 31: The Japanese take the port of Moulamein, Burma; they now threaten Rangoon as well as Singapore.

February 1942

1: Vidkun Quisling becomes the Nazi-aligned Minister-President of Norway 2: General Joseph ("Vinegar Joe") Stilwell is named Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai-shek and Commander-in-Chief of the Allied forces in China. 3: Japanese air power conducts airstrikes against Java, especially the naval base at Surabaya. 7: Americans continue their defence of Bataan against General Homma's troops. 9: British troops are now in full retreat into Singapore for a final defence. 10: The cruise liner SS Normandie catches fire and capsizes in New York harbour. Although the cause is probably a welder's torch, various conspiracies are imagined in the media. 11: The "Channel Dash" - The German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, rush out of Brest through the English Channel to northern ports, including Wilhelmshaven, Germany; the British naval units fail to sink any of them. 13: The battle for Bataan continues. 15: Singapore surrenders to Japanese forces; this is arguably the most devastating loss in British military history. 16: Being discussed in high American government circles are plans for the internment of Japanese-Americans living generally in the western US. 17: Orders are given for Rangoon to be evacuated as Japanese forces approach. 19: Japanese aircraft attack Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory. 20: Japanese troops cross the important Salween River in Burma. 21: The American Air Corps is now firmly established at bases in the UK. 22: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur to evacuate the Philippines as American defence of the nation collapses. 25: The internment of Japanese-American citizens in the Western United States begins as fears of invasion increase. 26: Vivian Bullwinkel, the only survivor of the Banka Island Massacre, is captured and imprisoned by the Japanese. 27: Battle of the Java Sea - Under a Dutch Rear Admiral Karl Doorman, the combined forces lose 2 light cruisers and 3 destroyers. 28: Japanese land forces invade Java.

March 1942

1: A Red Army offensive in the Crimea begins; in the north, the siege of Leningrad continues. 3: Japanese aircraft make a surprising raid on the airfield and harbour at Broome, Western Australia. 4: Japanese naval Operation K intended as a reconnaissance of Pearl Harbor and disruption of repair and salvage operations. 5: The Japanese capture Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East Indies. 6: Malta receives more fighters for its on-going defence. 8: The Japanese land at Lae and Salamaua, on Huon Bay, New Guinea, beginning their move toward Port Moresby, New Guinea, and then Australia. 9: Japanese troops entered Rangoon, Burma, which was abandoned by the British two days earlier. It appears that the Japanese are in control of Java, Burma, and New Guinea. 11: The Japanese land on Mindanao, the southernmost island in the Philippines. 12: American troops begin to land in Nouméa, New Caledonia; it will become an important staging base for the eventual invasion of Guadalcanal. 13: RAF launches an air raid against Essen, Germany. 14: Japanese land troops in the Solomon Islands, underscoring Australia's dangerous situation, especially if, as it is soon made clear, an airfield is built on Guadalcanal. 17: U.S. General Douglas MacArthur arrives in Australia, after leaving his headquarters in the Philippines. 20: Operation Outward begins, a program to attack Germany by means of free-flying balloons. 22: A fractured convoy reaches Malta, after heavy losses to the Luftwaffe and an Italian sea force. Continued heavy bombing attacks on the island with slight opposition from overtaxed RAF air forces. 25: RAF sends bomber raids against targets in France and Germany. 26: Jews in Berlin must now clearly identify their houses. 28: The RAF sends a raid against Lübeck, destroying over 30% of the city, and 80% of the medieval centre. Hitler is outraged.

April 1942

1: The Eastern Sea Frontier, desperately short on suitable escort vessels after the Destroyers for Bases Agreement, institutes an interim arrangement known as the "Bucket Brigaid," wherein vessels outside of protected harbors are placed in anchorages protected by netting after dark, and move only under whatever escort is available during the day. As word of this and similar measures reaches Dönitz, he does not wait to test their effectiveness, but instead shifts his U-boats to the area controlled by the Gulf Sea Frontier, where American anti-submarine measures are not as effective. As a result, in May more ships will be sunk in the Gulf, many of them off the Passes of the Mississippi, than off of the entire Eastern Seaboard. 2: Over 24,000 sick and starving troops (American and Filipino) are now trapped on the Bataan Peninsula. 3: Japanese forces begin an all-out assault on United States and Filipino troops in Bataan. 4: Germans plan "Baedeker raids" on touristy or historic British sites, in revenge for the Lübeck bombing. 5: On Bataan, the Japanese overwhelm Mt. Samat, a strong point on Allied defensive line. 6: Japanese naval forces put troops ashore on Manus Island in the Bismarck Archipelago (some sources give a date of 8 April for these landings). 8: Heavy RAF bombing of Hamburg. 9: The Japanese Navy launches an air raid on Trincomalee in Ceylon; Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Vampire are sunk off the country's east coast. Bataan falls to the Japanese. The "Bataan Death March" begins, as the captives are taken off to detention camps in the north. Corregidor, in the middle of Manila Bay, remains a final point of resistance. 10: Japanese land on Cebu Island, a large middle island of the Philippines. 12: Japanese forces capture Migyaungye in Burma. 13: Anton Schmid an Austrian soldier of the Wehrmacht is put to death, after witnessing the Ponary Massacre and saving Jews. 14: Winston Churchill, concerned that the situation in Malta will cause the Axis forces in North Africa to be better supplied than British forces, sends a telegram to Sir Stafford Cripps in Cairo, asking him to pressure General Auchinleck to take offensive action before this can occur. 15: Malta is awarded the George Cross by King George VI for "heroism and devotion". 17: French General Henri Giraud, who was captured in 1940, escapes from a castle prison at Königstein by lowering himself down the castle wall and jumping on board a moving train, which takes him to the French border. 18: Doolittle Raid on Nagoya, Tokyo and Yokohama. Jimmy Doolittle's B-25's take off from the USS Hornet. The raids are a great boost of morale for Americans whose diet has been mostly bad news. The Eastern Sea Frontier, the United States Navy operational command in charge of the East Coast of the United States, somewhat belatedly forces a blackout along the East Coast. This deprives U-boat commanders of background illumination, but provides only a very little relief from U-boat attack; as the nights grow shorter more U-boat attacks are occurring in daylight hours. 20: General Dobbie, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Malta, sends a message to Winston Churchill saying "it is obvious that the very worst may happen if we cannot replenish our vital needs, especially flour and ammunition, and that very soon...." Churchill concludes from this and other "disturbing news" that Dobbie is not capable enough for such an important job, and decides to replace him with Lord Gort. 23: Beginning of so-called Baedeker Raids by the Luftwaffe on English provincial towns like Exeter, Bath, Norwich, and York; attacks continue sporadically until June 6. 24: Heavy bombing of Rostock, Germany by RAF. 26: Hitler assumes a kind of supreme authority over Germany. 27: Rostock is bombed for fourth night in a row. 28: The bulk of the British assault troops depart Durban in South Africa for Madagascar; the slower ships, carrying transport and heavy weapons, have departed in great secrecy some days earlier. 29: The "Baedeker raids" continue, focused on Norwich and York.

May 1942

1: Rommel readies for a new offensive during the early part of this month. 2: In response to American intelligence intercepts, which warn of the impending Japanese landings, the Australian garrison is evacuated from Tulagi. 3: In the initial move of the Japanese strategic plan to capture Port Moresby, Japanese forces under Admiral Kiyohide Shima make unopposed landings on Tulagi, opening the Battle of the Coral Sea. 4: US Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher's Task Force 17 makes the first carrier strike of the Battle of the Coral Sea, attacking Japanese naval targets near Tulagi. 5: Heavy Japanese artillery attack on Corregidor. 6: On Corregidor, Lt. General Jonathan M. Wainwright surrenders the last U.S. forces in the Philippines to Lt. General Masaharu Homma. About 12,000 are made prisoners. Homma will soon face criticism from his superiors over the amount of time it has taken him to reduce the Philippines, and be forced into retirement (1943). 7: Vichy forces surrender Diego Suarez, the most important port in Madagascar, to British forces involved in Operation Ironclad. However, the Vichy forces are able to withdraw in good order. 8: In the Coral Sea, each side finally locates the other's main carrier groups, consisting of Japanese carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku, and American carriers Lexington and Yorktown. Several attacks follow. Only Zuikaku escapes unscathed; Shokaku has her flight deck bent, requiring two months' repairs; Lexington is sunk and Yorktown damaged. Fletcher retires; this action closes the Battle. While arguably a stalemate or even tactical victory for the Japanese, who have sunk the most tonnage and the only large carrier, the Battle of the Coral Sea is usually seen as a strategic victory for the United States, as Admiral Inoue cancels the Port Moresby operation, the first significant failure of a Japanese strategic operation in the Pacific Theatre. In addition, Yorktown will be repaired in time to make important contributions at Midway (although she will not survive), whereas neither the damaged Shokaku nor Zuikaku (which, although not directly attacked, has suffered unsustainable losses in aircraft), will be able to refit in time for Midway, giving the Japanese only four operable carriers available for that battle. The Germans take the Kerch peninsula in the eastern Crimea. 9: On the night of 8/9 May 1942, gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands rebelled. Their mutiny was crushed and three of them were executed, the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War. USS Wasp and HMS Eagle deliver a second contingent of Spitfires to Malta in Operation Bowery. A few days later, a grateful Churchill will signal Wasp "Who says a Wasp can't sting twice?" These aircraft, employed more aggressively than those previously delivered, turn the tide in the skies over Malta during the next few days, and the Axis is forced to abandon daylight bombing. This is a major turning point in the Siege, and thus in the North African Campaign, although the approaches to the island remain subject to deadly and accurate Axis air attack, preventing efficient re-supply of the island. In Burma, General Stilwell and his party begin crossing the Uyu River. Only four small rafts are available, and the crossing takes the better part of two days. 10: Unaware that the tide is turning even as he speaks, Kesselring informs Hitler that Malta has been neutralized. 12: German submarine U-553, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Karl Thurmann, sinks British freighter Nicoya near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, signalling the opening of the Battle of St. Lawrence. Second Battle of Kharkov – In the eastern Ukraine, Soviet forces of Marshal Timoshenko's Southwest Theatre of Operations, including Gorodnyanski's 6th Army and Kharitonov's 9th Army, initiate a major offensive to capture Kharkov from the Germans. 9th Army is to attack first, with a primary objective of Krasnograd, and a secondary one of Poltava; 6th Army is to follow immediately. After 9th Army has captured Krasnograd, 6th Army is to swing north and link up with 28th Army and 57th Army, the latter two formations having meanwhile cut the railway between Belgorad and Kharkov. The 33-page Amerika Bomber trans-Atlantic strategic bomber design competition proposal document makes it to Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering's offices, with ten copies printed — six of these were sent to the Luftwaffe, and four held in reserve. 13: General Stilwell and his party cross the Chindwin River. They are now almost certainly safe from the Japanese, but still dependent on their own supplies in a very remote area and racing to beat the monsoon. 14: In response to the Soviet offensive in the Kharkov area, Hitler orders elements of Richthofen's Fliegerkorps VIII north to do ground support missions. As a result, by the end of the day 14 May, the Germans have established a tentative but increasing air superiority over the Kharkov sector. In addition, on this day Hitler orders General Kleist, whose command is in positions opposite and to the south of the Soviets' left flank, to quickly prepare and launch a strong armoured counter-offensive. In Burma, General Stilwell and his party begin ascending the Naga Hills. They are met at Kawlum by a relief expedition headed by British colonial administrator Tim Sharpe. "Food, doctor, ponies, and everything," notes a grateful Stilwell in his diary. 15: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) is signed into law. 16: United States 1st Armored Division arrives in Northern Ireland. 17: In the salient north of Kharkov, Russian 28th and 57th Armies are having trouble making progress against General Paulus's (German) 6th Army. 18: The Red Army is in a major retreat at Kerch, after large numbers surrender. 19: At Kharkov, Kleist's counter-offensive continues to prosper; and now Paulus launches a second counter-attack from the north, designed to link up with Kleist's and encircle as many Soviet troops as possible. The Stavka, gradually becoming aware of the extent of the danger, orders Gorodnyanski's 6th Army to halt their advance. But by now Timoshenko is planning to extricate what forces he can before the two German spearheads link up. 20: The Japanese conquest of Burma is complete; it is called a "military catastrophe". Coincidentally, on this same day General Stilwell arrives in Imphal and dismisses his evacuation party. All 114 have arrived, although some have to be hospitalized due to exhaustion; one of whom, Major Frank Merrill, later commander of Merrill's Marauders, is diagnosed to have had a mild heart attack en route. 21: Invasion of Malta postponed indefinitely. 22: Mexico declares war on the Axis. 23: Kleist's and Paulus' tanks meet up at Balakleya, southeast of Kharkov, encircling most of the Soviets' 6th and 9th Armies. 25: In preparation for the next battle, the Japanese naval strategists send diversionary forces to the Aleutians. 26: The Anglo-Soviet Treaty: their foreign secretaries agree that no peace will be signed by one without the approval of the other. (An important treaty since Himmler and others will attempt to separate the two nations at the end of the war.) 27: Reinhard Heydrich, head of Reich Security, is fatally hurt in Prague during Operation Anthropoid by Czechoslovak soldiers; he will die on June 4 from his wounds. 29: The Jews in France are ordered to wear the yellow Star of David. 30: "The Thousand Bomber Raid" on Cologne, revealing new area bombing techniques. 31: Huge German successes around Kharkov, with envelopment of several Red Army armies. So effective has been the use of the Spitfires delivered to Malta in Operation Bowery earlier in the month, that Kesselring has only eighty-three serviceable aircraft left, as opposed to more than four hundred at the peak of Axis air strength earlier in the spring.

June 1942

1: First reports in the West that gas is being used to kill the Jews sent to "the East". 2: Further heavy bombing of industrial sites in Germany, centred mainly on Essen. 3: The British coal industry is nationalised. 4: In the Battle of Midway, the day opens with Admiral Nagumo's attack on the air defences of the island. 5: At Gazala, British forces of the Eighth Army commanded by General Ritchie launch a major counter-attack against Rommel's forces in the Cauldron. The attack fails, partly because Rommel has already recovered his critical logistics situation and has established an excellent defensive position, but also in large part due to German anti-tank tactics; 32nd Army Tank Brigade, for example, loses 50 of 70 tanks. By early afternoon Rommel is clearly in control of the situation and attacks the British position known as "Knightsbridge" with the Ariete and 21st Panzer divisions. Several British tactical headquarters positions are overrun and command and control of the British forces becomes problematic; as a result, several brigades are stranded in the Cauldron when the British retirement begins. In addition, the British suffer further heavy tank losses. 7: Japanese forces invade Attu and Kiska. This is the first invasion of American soil in 128 years. Japanese occupation of Attu and Kiska begins. 8: Malta receives a squadron of Spitfires. 9: Nazis burn the Czech village of Lidice as reprisal for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich. All male adults and children are killed, and all females are taken off to concentration camps. 10: Rommel pushes the Free French forces out of Bir Hakeim, a fortress south-west of Tobruk. Although the 1st Free French brigade is largely surrounded, their commander, General Koenig, is able to find and fight his way through gaps in Rommel's widely dispersed forces. 11: Two convoys set out for Malta, one from Gibraltar (code named 'Harpoon') and the other from Alexandria (code named 'Vigorous'), with desperately needed supplies of food, fuel, and ammunition. The hope is that the Axis will concentrate their attacks on whichever convoy they find first, allowing the other one to get through. 12: Heavy fighting in Sevastopol with serious losses of life on both sides. 13: The United States opens its Office of War Information, a centre for production of propaganda. 14: At the Gazala Line, the British position has become untenable, and General Auchinleck authorizes General Ritchie to make a concerted withdrawal from forward positions along the line. 15: General Auchinleck sends Churchill a reply to the latter's telegram of the 14th, saying in part, "...I have no intention whatever of giving up Tobruk." 16: Two convoys moving toward Malta suffer heavy losses; German air forces continue to bomb the island itself. Operation Harpoon arrives in Malta, but only two of the six supply ships survive; one of them has lost part of its cargo due to mine damage. The sinking of the tanker Kentucky means that there will be precious little aviation fuel added to the dwindling RAF stocks on Malta. Late in the day, Operation Vigorous is cancelled; the convoy diverts back to Alexandria. Churchill, about to leave for America, takes the unusual step of sending a letter to King George VI, advising him to make Anthony Eden Prime Minister should Churchill not survive the journey. 17: Tobruk is now surrounded. 18: Manhattan Project is started, the beginning of a scientific approach to nuclear weapons. 21: Afrika Korps recaptures Tobruk, with 35,000 men captured; the road to Egypt is now open as the British retreat deep into Egypt. Tobruk's loss is a grievous blow to British morale. German land forces have been assisted by Luftwaffe attacks. 25: General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrives in London ready to assume the post of Commander of American forces in Europe. 26: The Germans drive toward Rostov-on-Don. 27: Convoy PQ17 sets sail from Iceland; only 11 of 37 ships will survive. 28: Case Blue, the German plan to capture Stalingrad and the Soviet Union oil fields in the Caucasus, begins. Generally, forces are shifted to the South. 30: United States deploys II Corps to the European Theater.

July 1942

1: First Battle of El Alamein begins as Rommel begins first assault on British defences. 2: Churchill survives a censure motion in the House of Commons. 3: Guadalcanal is now firmly in the hands of the Japanese. 4: First air missions by the United States Army Air Forces in Europe. 11: Rommel's forces are now stalemated before El Alamein, largely because of a lack of ammunition. 12: It now becomes clear that Stalingrad is the largest challenge to the invaders. 15: The only action around El Alamein is light skirmishing. 16: Vel' d'Hiv Roundup: On order from the Vichy France government headed by Pierre Laval, French police officers mass arrest 13,152 Jews and hold them at the Winter Velodrome before deportation to Auschwitz. 18: The Germans test fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 V3 third prototype using only its jet engines for the first time. 19: Battle of the Atlantic: German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz orders the last U-boats to withdraw from their United States Atlantic coast positions in response to an increasingly effective American convoy system. 20: After landing in the Buna-Gona area, the Japanese in New Guinea move across the Owen Stanley mountain range aiming at Port Moresby in the south-eastern part of the island, close to Australia; a small Australian force begins rearguard action on the Kokoda Track. 22: The systematic deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto begins.
: Treblinka II, "a model" extermination camp, is opened in Poland. 24: Germans take Rostov-on-the-Don; the Red Army is in a general retreat along the Don River. 26: A second attack by the British under Auchinleck fails against Rommel. First Battle of El Alamein may be said to be over. 27: Heavy RAF incendiary attack on Hamburg. 29: The Japanese take Kokoda, halfway along the Owen Stanley pass to Port Moresby. 30: Continuing stalemate at El Alamein between Rommel and Auchinleck.

August 1942

1: The Germans continue their successful advance toward Stalingrad. 3: A convoy to Malta is decimated by the Luftwaffe and U-boats. 5: The U.S. planning team for Operation Torch, which includes George S. Patton; Jimmy Doolittle; Kent Lambert; and Hoyt S. Vandenberg, meets in Washington, D.C. to join the combined planning team from London, England.
: Henrik Hersch Goldschmidt aka Janusz Korczak and almost 200 children of his orphanage, along with his staff, are led to the Treblinka II death camp, and killed there that day, probably with gas. 7: Operation Watchtower begins the Guadalcanal Campaign as American forces invade Gavutu, Guadalcanal, Tulagi and Tanambogo in the Solomon Islands. 8: Six of the eight German would-be saboteurs involved in Operation Pastorius are executed in Washington, D.C. 9: Numerous riots in favour of independence in India; Mahatma Gandhi is arrested. 10: Rommel begins an attack around El Alamein, but by September he is back to his original lines. 11: The HMS Eagle, a carrier on convoy duty to Malta, is torpedoed and sinks with heavy loss of life. 12: At a conference in Moscow, Churchill informs Stalin that there will not be a "second front" in 1942. 13: General Bernard Montgomery appointed commander of British Eighth Army in North Africa; Churchill is anxious to see more offensive action on the part of the British. 15: Malta is supplied via Operation Pedestal. 17: First US Army Air Forces B-17 heavy bomber raid in Europe, targeting the Sotteville railroad yards at Rouen, France. 18: Japanese reinforce New Guinea; Australians land troops at Port Moresby. Meanwhile, American planes have destroyed Japanese air power at Wewak, New Guinea. 19: Operation Jubilee, a raid by British and Canadian forces on Dieppe, France, ends in disaster; they come under heavy gunfire and eventually most are killed or captured by the German defenders. 20: Henderson Field on Guadalcanal receives its first American fighter planes. 21: Japanese counter-attack at Henderson Field; in another foray at the Tenaru (or Ilu) River, many Japanese are killed in a banzai charge. 22: Brazil declares war on the Axis countries, partly in response to numerous riots by a populace angry at the sinking of Brazilian ships.
: Stanislau "reprisal" aktion. - After many repeated organized killings, the current head of the Judenrat, Goldstein is publicly hanged along with 20 of the Jewish police. Jewish girls are raped before being shot at the Gestapo headquarters, and 1,000 Jews are shot and killed. 23: Massive German air raid on Stalingrad. 24: The naval battle of the Eastern Solomons; the USS Enterprise is badly damaged and the Japanese lose one light carrier, the Ryujo. 26: Battle of Milne Bay begins: Japanese forces land and launch a full-scale assault on Australian base near the eastern tip of New Guinea. 27: Marshal Georgii Zhukov is appointed to the command of the Stalingrad defence; the Luftwaffe is now delivering heavy strikes on the city. 28: Incendiary bombs dropped by a Japanese seaplane cause a forest fire in Oregon. 30: The Battle of Alam Halfa, Egypt, a few miles south of El Alamein begins. This will be Rommel's last attempt to break through the British lines; RAF air superiority plays a large role. Luxembourg is formally annexed to the German Reich. 31: Start of the 1942 Luxembourgish general strike against conscription.

September 1942

1: US Navy Construction Battalion personnel, Seabees, began to arrive at Guadalcanal. 3: The Battle of Stalingrad proper may be said to have begun on this date, with German troops in the suburbs; even civilian men and boys are conscripted by the Red Army to assist in the defence. 4: Irish Republican Army riots occur in Belfast during the night. 5: Australian and U.S. forces defeat Japanese forces at Milne Bay, Papua, the first outright defeat for Japanese land forces in the Pacific War. Their evacuation and the failure to establish an airbase eases the threat to Australia. 6: The Black Sea port of Novorossiysk is taken by the Germans. 9: A Japanese plane drops more incendiaries on Oregon, but with little effect. 10: RAF blasts Düsseldorf with large incendiary bombing. 12: RMS Laconia, carrying civilians, Allied soldiers and Italian POWs, is torpedoed off the coast of West Africa and sinks.
: SS commander Brandt orders 3,000-4,000 Stanislau Jews deported to the Belzec death camp on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year holiday, and they were killed there that day. 12-14: American troops push back the Japanese in the Battle of Edson's Ridge. 13: The Battle for Stalingrad continues; it is now totally surrounded by the Germans. On the Soviet Union side General Vasily Chuikov is put in charge of the defence. 14: The Japanese retreat again from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. 15: Americans send troops to Port Moresby as reinforcements for the Australian defenders. 18: Battle of the "grain silo" in Stalingrad; the Germans are beaten back. The Red Army begins ferrying troops across the Volga at night. 19: Allied attack on Jalo, Libya is repulsed by Germans. 20: RAF bombs Munich and Saarbrücken. 23: General Rommel leaves North Africa for medical treatment in Germany. 23-27: In the Third Battle of Matanikau River, Guadalcanal, Japanese naval bombardment and landing forces nearly destroy Henderson Field in an attempt to take it, but the land forces are soon driven back. 24: United States of America deploys the I Corps to the Pacific Theater. 28: The Japanese continue their retreat back down the Kokoda Track in New Guinea. 30: The Eagle Squadron (American volunteers in the RAF) are officially transferred to the US Army Air Force.

October 1942

3: First successful launch of A4-rocket at Peenemünde, Germany. The rocket flies 147 kilometres wide and reaches a height of 84.5 kilometres and is therefore the first man-made object reaching space. 4: British Commandos raid Sark, a Channel Island, capturing one German soldier. 6: By mutual arrangement, the Allies agree on a strategy whereby Americans will bomb in the daytime and the RAF at night. 7: Third Battle of the Matanikau. 11: Battle of Cape Esperance. 12: The Red Army methods of ferrying troops across the Volga and into Stalingrad directly seems to be a success, as the German advance comes to a halt. 13: Heavy bombardment of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal by the Japanese navy. 14: A German U-boat sinks the ferry SS Caribou, killing 137. 18: Hitler issues Commando Order, ordering all captured commandos to be executed immediately. 21: Heavy RAF activity over El Alamein. 22: Conscription age in Britain reduced to 18. 23: Second Battle of El Alamein begins with massive Allied bombardment of German positions. Then Australian forces, mainly, begin advance while offshore British naval forces support the right flank (n.b. the ongoing concurrent victories being prepared at Guadalcanal and Stalingrad). 23: Battle for Henderson Field 24: US Navy Task Force 34, consisting of aircraft carriers, a variety of support ships, including Troop Ships and other vessels, set sail from Hampton Roads, Virginia with Patton's forces for Operation Torch, the landing in North Africa. The other two task forces of Operation Torch, the first American-led force to fight in the European and African theatres of war, depart Britain for Morocco. 25: Rommel hurriedly returns from his sickbed in Germany to take charge of the African battle. (His replacement, General Stumme, had died of a heart attack). 26: The naval Battle of Santa Cruz. The Japanese lose many aircraft and have two aircraft carriers severely damaged. The USS Hornet is sunk and the USS Enterprise is damaged. 29: The Japanese continue to send troops as reinforcements into Guadalcanal. 31: The British make a critical breakthrough with tanks west of El Alamein; Rommel's mine fields fail to stop the Allied armour.

November 1942

1: Operation Supercharge, the Allied breakout at El Alamein, begins. 3: Second Battle of El Alamein ends - German forces under Erwin Rommel are forced to retreat during the night. 6: Carlson's Patrol begins. 8: Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of Vichy-controlled Morocco and Algeria, begins. 10: In violation of a 1940 armistice, Germany invades Vichy France; they are responding to the fact that French Admiral François Darlan has signed an armistice with the Allies in North Africa. 11: Convoys reach Malta from Alexandria; an official announcement proclaims that the island is "relieved of its siege". 12: Battle of Guadalcanal - A climactic naval battle near Guadalcanal starts between Japanese and American naval forces. Notably, the USS Juneau is sunk with much of its crew, including the five Sullivan brothers. The Red Army makes an attempt to relieve Stalingrad at Kotelnikov. 13: British Eighth Army recaptures Tobruk. 14: The USS Washington sinks the Japanese battleship Kirishima. 15: The naval battle of Guadalcanal ends. Although the United States Navy suffers heavy losses, it still retains control of the sea around Guadalcanal. 17: Japanese send reinforcements into New Guinea; Americans are stymied at Buna. 18: Heavy British RAF raid on Berlin with few losses. 19: At Stalingrad the Soviet Union forces under General Georgy Zhukov launch Operation Uranus aimed at encircling the Germans in the city and thus turning the tide of battle in the USSR's favor. 20: The Allies take Benghazi, Libya; the Afrika Corps continues the retreat westward. 21: The Red Army attempt at encirclement of Stalingrad continues with obvious success. 22: Battle of Stalingrad: The situation for the German attackers of Stalingrad seems desperate during the Soviet counter-attack; General Friedrich Paulus sends Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th Army is surrounded. 23: "Der Kessel"-- the Cauldron, a description of the heavy fighting at Stalingrad; Hitler orders General Paulus not to retreat, at any cost. 25: The encirclement of Stalingrad continues to stabilise. Hitler reiterates his demand of Paulus not to surrender. 26: Hostilities erupt between the American and Australian soldiers in Brisbane. Fighting breaks out which results in multiple fatalities, it is dubbed the Battle of Brisbane. 27: At Toulon, the French navy scuttles its ships (most notably the Dunkerque and Strasbourg) and submarines to keep them out of German hands; the French have declined another option – to join the Allied fleets in North African waters. 29: The Allied offensive in Tunisia meets with only minimum success. 30: The naval Battle of Tassafaronga (off Guadalcanal); this is a night action in which Japanese naval forces sink one American cruiser and damage three others.

December 1942

1: Gasoline rationing begins in the United States. 2: Heavy fighting in Tunisia, as German forces are pushed into the final North African corner. 4: The first US bombing of mainland Italy --Naples. 6: RAF bombs Eindhoven, the Netherlands. 7: On the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, the USS New Jersey, America's largest battleship is launched (commissioned five months later). British commandos conduct Operation Frankton a raid on shipping in Bordeaux harbour. 9: The Marines turn over Guadalcanal to the American army. 12: Rommel abandons El Agheila and retreats to Tripoli; the final stand will be at the Mareth line in southern Tunisia. 13: The Luftwaffe flies in meagre supplies to the beleaguered Stalingrad troops. 15: American and Australian troops finally push Japanese out of Buna, New Guinea. 22: The Germans begin a retreat from the Caucasus. 24: French Admiral Darlan, the former Vichy leader who had switched over to the Allies following the Torch landings, is assassinated in Algiers. 25: American bombers hit Rabaul. 26: Heavy fighting continues on Guadalcanal, now focused on Mount Austen in the west. 28: The governor of pro-Vichy French Somaliland surrenders to invading British and Free French forces. 31: In the Battle of the Barents Sea, the British win a strategic victory, leading Hitler to largely abandon the use of surface raiders in favor of U-boats.