Year 1942

WW2 War Diary for Saturday, February 14, 1942: Air War Pacific: Japanese paratroops land at Palembang (Sumatra). Dutch destroy one oil refinery, but the second and airfield are captured. Germany: […]

WW2 War Diary for Tuesday, February 13, 1942: Far East Malaya: Japanese cut off water supply to Singapore. Eastern Front Central Sector: Russians re-enter Byelorussia. Sea War Pacific: Japanese bombers

WW2 War Diary for Thursday, February 12, 1942: Sea War Pacific: ‘Anzac Squadron’ formed at Suva (Fiji) – cruisers Australia, Chicago (American), Achilles and Leander plus 2 US destroyers. Politics

WW2 War Diary for Wednesday, February 11, 1942: Sea War THE CHANNEL DASH (Operation Cerberus): German battlecruisers Gneisenau, Scharnhorst and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen leave Brest (night February 11-12) under

WW2 War Diary for Tuesday, February 10, 1942: Occupied Territories Russia: Only 702 of 30,000 Jews in Dnepropetrovsk (Ukraine) have escaped repeated SS massacres. Sea War Atlantic: Churchill offers to

WW2 War Diary for Monday, February 9, 1942: Southeast-Asia Burma: Japanese cross river Salween. Air War Pacific: Japanese raid airfields near Batavia, capital of Dutch East Indies. Home Fronts USA:

WW2 War Diary for Sunday, February 8, 1942: Home Fronts Germany: Todt, Minister of Armaments and Munitions, killed in air crash at Rastenburg, East Prussia; aged 50. Professor Albert Speer

WW2 War Diary for Saturday, February 7, 1942: Eastern Front Central Sector: Fierce fighting in suburbs of Rzhev, 209 km northwest of Moscow. Southern Sector: In Ukraine, Timoshenko recaptures Trosna,

WW2 War Diary for Friday, February 6, 1942: North Africa Rommel’s offensive grinds to a halt west of Gazala. Politics Philippines: Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino nationalist leader, broadcasts appeal to embattled

WW2 War Diary for Thursday, February 5, 1942: Sea War Pacific: Troopship Empress of Asia (16,400t) sunk by Japanese bombers off Singapore. Politics USA: Government declares war on Thailand. Home

WW2 War Diary for Wednesday, February 4, 1942: Sea War Pacific: US cruiser Marblehead severely damaged by Japanese bombers. Southeast Asia Malaya: Japanese demand unconditional surrender of Singapore. Wavell declares

WW2 War Diary for Tuesday, February 3, 1942: Eastern Front Southern sector: Russians recapture Lozovaya in Barvenkovo Salient, southwest of Kharkov. Air War Pacific: Japanese bomb Port Moresby (New Guinea)

WW2 War Diary for Monday, February 2, 1942: Secret War Britain: British Naval Staff reports that Gneisenau and Scharnhorst will probably attempt to leave Brest and pass up Channel through

WW2 War Diary for Sunday, February 1, 1942: Occupied territories Norway: Quisling Government established in Norway. Sea War Pacific: US carriers Enterprise and Yorktown and cruisers Northampton and Salt Lake

WW2 War Diary for Saturday, January 31, 1942: Eastern Front Siege of Leningrad: total number of deaths from starvation, typhus, dysentery, heart failure, etc., in January-February 1942 is more than

WW2 War Diary for Friday, January 30, 1942: Southeast Asia Malaya: British and Commonwealth forces withdraw to Singapore Island and blow up 1-km-Iong Causeway across Johore Street. Politics Eire: Government

WW2 War Diary for Thursday, January 29, 1942: North Africa Rommel recaptures Benghazi. Home Fronts Britain: Churchill wins Parliamentary Vote of Confidence, 464-1. First broadcast of ‘Desert Island Discs‘ –

WW2 War Diary for Wednesday, January 28, 1942: Air War USA: 8th USAAF formed in Georgia. Eastern Front Southern sector: Russian successes in Ukraine. Politics Brazil: Government breaks off diplomatic

WW2 War Diary for Tuesday, January 27, 1942: Eastern Front Southern sector: Russians recapture Lozovaya, railway junction and supply base south of Kharkov. Sea War Pacific: 6 American submarines carry

WW2 War Diary for Monday, January 26, 1942: Sea War Pacific: 68 British aircraft (13 lost) attack Japanese troop convoy off east coast of Malaya. In night January 26-27 destroyers