1942 May - December

Intro.....

May 27 - June 29.   North Africa:   German and Italian forces under Gen. Erwin Rommel launch a second offensive against Allied forces, capturing Tobruk on June 21 and continuing to Bardia and Bir-el-Gobi. At the end of the offensive, they are at El Alamein, only 70 miles from Alexandria and the Nile River.

June 3-4.   Aleutian Island, Alaska:   Japanese carrier airplanes launch attacks for 2 days against the Dutch Harbor Naval Base and Fort Mears as a diversion from the main attack on Midway Island. The harbor and installations are moderately damaged. One Japanese Zero airplane crashed intact that will assist US airplane designers in designing a competing airplane. Japanese army forces occupy Kiska island on June 6 and Attu island on June 6 in the western Aleutians, capturing a few Americans and Aleut Indians. The force will serve as a picket force against US attacks against Japan through the North Pacific Ocean until invaded and captured by a US force in 1943.

June 4-7.   Midway:   The Japanese attempt to seize the strategic island of Midway and (2) in the central Pacific and destroy US aircraft carriers that eluded attack in the Pearl Harbor attack of Dec 7, 1941. Their force is large and includes 4 aircraft carriers. Forwarned by American cryptanalysts who had broken the Japanese naval code, JN-25, American air and naval forces surprise the Japanese fleet, inflicting heavy losses, including 4 aircraft carriers. The American victory checks the Japanese advance across the central Pacific and eliminates the threat to Hawaii. The loss of 4 aircraft carriers with their airplanes and pilots will impair the defense of Japan's Pacific empire. Japan is never again able to conduct a major campaign against US.

June 9.   Washigton:   US and UK governments agree to share food and production resources to promote more efficiency. This agreement results in the creation of the Combined Production Resources Board and the Combined Food Board. ^League

June 19-25.   Washington:   Pres. Roosevelt and PM Churchill and their staffs meet at the Second Washington Conference to coordinate US and UK strategy abut (1) aid to USSR, (2) invasion of North Africa, (3) appointment of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower as Commander in Chief of US Forces in the European Theater of Operations.

June 30.   Washington:   US Congress authorizes a record $42 billion for defense.

July.   London:   Combined Chiefs of Staff (US and UK) decide to postpone a Second Front in Europe and in the Pacific. Instead, UK and US forces will invade North Africa. USSR will bitterly oppose this plan, wanting relief by a European invasion from the Atlantic to relieve their forces fighting against Germany.

August 7.   Solomon Islands:   Allied forces, mostly US Marines, invade Tulagi, Guadalcanal and (2), and Florida Islands in the first offensive operation against Japanese forces. They secure Guadalcanal's important airfield. Japan will later reinforce its force and a series of naval and land battles continue until Japanese finally withdrawal on February 9, 1943. Using Guadalcanal and Tulagi as bases, Allied forces will push north through the Solomons in 1943. After this victory, Japan is on the defensive in the Pacific Ocean for the remainder of the war.

August 8-9.   Savo Island, Solomon Islands:   In response to the Allied invasion of Guadalcanal, Japanese navy sends 7 cruisers and 1 destroyer to attack the Allied convoy that was still unloading at night. They encounter 5 cruisers and 7 destroyers, sinking 4 cruisers with the loss of over 1,000 men. The remaining 4 cruisers and 15 destroyers retreat. The supply ships are undamaged as the Japanese ships withdraw before daylight, fearing an air attack from carriers, which unknown, had withdrawn on August 8 to refuel and replane. The Japanese withdrawal saves the Allied invasion force from a serious setback and allows the eventual capture of Guadalcanal and the Solomons.

August 12-17.   Moscow:   UKs Churchill, USSRs Stalin, and USs Harriman meet to discuss common strategy against Germany. Churchill and Harriman explain to Stalin why it is impossible to invade Europe, but instead plan to invade North Africa.

August 13.   Washington:   Pres. Roosevelt appoints Brig. Gen. Leslie Groves commander of Manhattan Project. US wil construct 3 major installtions: (1) U-235 separattion plant at Oak Ridge, TN, (2) bomb development laboratory at Los Alamos, NM, and (3) plutonium production plant at Hanford, WA.

August 19.   Dieppe, France:   In the largest raid of WWII, 6,000 allied troops, mostly Canadians, supported by ships and airplanes, unsucessfully assault Dieppe, a German-occupied port. The objective is to hold a major port for a short period to prove its feasibillty and gather intelligence from prisoners and captured weapons and documents. 3,600 raiders are killed, wounded or captured, 106 airplanes are lost, and none of the objectives are achieved. However faulty the mission, the faulty methods of landing troops and equipment on beaches will be improved for future landings in North Africa and Europe, so many troops will have been saved in those invasions.

September 26 - November 19.   New Guinea:   Having failed to invade Port Moresby by nea, Japanese forces attempt to invade by land across the Owen Stanley Range. Beginning September 26, Australian forces push them back across the range by October 10 and then to the northeast coast of New Guinea by November 20.

October 3.   Peenemünde, Germany:   The first ballistic missile is successfully launched in a test flight. It will be called the V-2 when operational and will be used by Germany to terrorize European cities under Allied control and the UK beginning September 8, 1944. The US and USSR will use captured German scientists to develop the V-2 into intercontinental ballistic missiles and space rockets after the war.

October 9.   Washington & London:   US and UK relinquish extra-territorial rights and special privileges in China to make China an equal partner in the war against Japan. These rights and privileges were imposed by US and European countries on China (and Japan) under so-called unequal treaties in the 19th century.

October 23 - January 24.   North Africa:   Allied forces mount a major offensive against German forces in western Egypt. Allies are victorious at El Alamein on November 4, which forces the Axis forces to retreat from Egypt by November 12. Allies continue to advance through Libya, capturing Bardia on November 12, Tobruk on November 13, and Tripoli on January 24. UK and US forces assist by invading French North African colonies on November 8.

November.   Kilindina, near Mombasa, Kenya   The UK Far East Combined Bureau outstation breaks the Japanese naval JN-40 code, which had replaced JN-25. This will enable the Allies to continue to read Japanese naval movements. Allied submarines were thus able to attack Japanese shipping.

November 8 - December 1.   Morocco & Algeria:   UK and US forces invade Morocco and Algeria. Vichy France forces surrender after some fighting and then the Allies push east to attack German forces while UK strikes east against them. This is the beginning of the end for the Axis occupation of Africa.

November 11.   Vichy France:   In response to the Allies invasion of North Africa, German forces occupy Vichy France to prevent an invasion of southern France.

December 2.   Chicago:   The first self-sustaining nuclear fission is achieved at the Argonne Project at the U. of Chicago. This feat makes possible nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors.

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