Eighty Years Ago: Asia Pacific, July 30 – Aug 5, 1942

July 30, 1942: WAVES, the US Navy’s Women’s Reserve, is established

July 31, 1942: Guadalcanal invasion forces leaves Fiji

Aug 1, 1942: Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek approves plan to invade Burma ahead of seeking to liberate China from Japanese occupation

Aug 2, 1942: Lieutenant Commander Mildred McAfee becomes the first commandant of WAVES, the US Navy’s Women’s Reserve

Aug 3, 1942: Flying Fortresses attack Japanese targets on Guadalcanal and Tulagi

Aug 4, 1942: Major General George Kenney is named Air Commander Southwest Pacific

Aug 5, 1942: Japanese Navy’s Musashi, one of the two largest battleship ever built, is commissioned

Categories: War

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