Sep 17, 1942: US General Joseph Stilwell presents plan for China Air Task Force, whose main job will be to act as ferry route from India Sep 18, 1942: Elements of the US Army’s 32nd Division transfer from Australia to New Guinea. Image: Signal Corps Sep 19, 1942: On Guadalcanal. Marine General Alexander Vandegrift, right,…
Sep 10, 1942: Japan inaugurates the Bukit Batok War Memorial in Singapore to commemorate its soldiers killed in the battle for the city (see photo above) Sep 11, 1942: Subhas Bose, the Indian independence leader seeking support from the Axis, attends event at Hotel Atlantic in Hamburg where the German city’s radio symphony orchestra performs…
Sep 3, 1942: Brigadier General Roy Geiger assumes command of Cactus Air Force on Guadalcanal Sep 4, 1942: Australian troops push east along Milne Bay Sep 5, 1942: Prisoners at Japanese-run Changi camp, Singapore, sign pledge not to try to escape (see photo) Sep 6, 1942: Royal Australian Air Force dispatches Beaufort planes to Milne…
Aug 27, 1942: Japan decides to move its garrison on the Aleutian island of Attu to the island of Kiska nearby Aug 28, 1942: Milne Force, in southeastern New Guinea, repels determined frontal assaults by Japanese Aug 29, 1942: Japanese battleship Yamato arrives at Truk lagoon Aug 30, 1942: US military occupies Adak island in…
Aug 20, 1942: First planes arrive on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal Aug 21, 1942: Battle of Alligator Creek, Guadalcanal, leaves hundreds of Japanese soldiers dead Aug 22, 1942: Major General Cyril A. Clowes takes command of Milne Force, New Guinea Aug 23, 1942: Battleship USS Washington transfers to the Pacific Aug 24, 1942: Battle of the…
Aug 13, 1942: Japan’s Imperial General Headquarters orders 17th Army at Rabaul to take charge of ground operations on Guadalcanal Aug 14, 1942: US Navy Department issues statement saying “the task of consolidating the shore positions now held by U. S. Marines in the Solomon Islands is progressing satisfactorily” Aug 15, 1942: US government learns…
Aug 6, 1942: American B-25 bombers attack Japanese positions in Guangzhou, southern China Aug 7, 1942: US Marines land on Guadalcanal Aug 8, 1942: Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi calls on Britain to end colonial rule Aug 9, 1942: US Navy withdraws from waters off Guadalcanal following heavy attacks by Japanese destroyers and cruisers Aug…
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…
July 23, 1942: Japanese troops move up Kokoda trail and clash with Australian forces July 24, 1942: Lieutenant Colonel William T. Owen, commander of Australian Army’s 39th Battalion, flies to Kokoda village, New Guinea, which is in immediate danger of being overrun by the Japanese July 25, 1942: US Admiral John S. McCain issues orders…
July 16, 1942: US Vice Admiral Frank Fletcher is put in command of Task Force 61, charged with commencing Allied offensive in the Solomons July 17, 1942: Allied commanders issue movement orders for Operation Providence, the occupation of Buna in New Guinea July 18, 1942: Japan’s Navy invites Nishina Yoshio, the father of modern physics…
