Eighty Years Ago: Asia Pacific, May 21 – 27, 1942

May 21, 1942: Japanese control of Philippines nearly complete, except for scattered pockets of resistance

May 22, 1942: Kanga Force, Australia’s weak garrison in the isolated outpost of Wau, New Guinea, receives first reinforcements

May 23, 1942: American fighter planes land on new air base on Umnak island, Aleutians

May 24, 1942: Chinese 38th Division reaches India for rearming and reorganization in preparation for future strikes against Japanese Army in Burma

May 25, 1942: Japanese Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku presides over tabletop exercise of planned twin offensive against Aleutians and Midway island

May 26, 1942: US carrier task force commanded by Admiral Raymond Spruance arrives in Pearl Harbor from South Pacific

May 27, 1942: US Army’s Americal Division, a contraction of ‘American’ and ‘Caledonia’, is activated in New Caledonia

Categories: War

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