|
9 Jan |
Japanese forces start to
attack the Philippines. |
|
10 Jan |
The Allies in the
south-west Pacific set up a combined force ABDA
(American, British, Dutch and Australia) under the
command of General Sir Archibald Wavell. |
|
14 Jan |
In Europe the Tirpitz
moved into Trondheim, Norway, as Germany reinforces
the Artic Convoy routes. |
|
15 Feb |
Singapore
surrenders to the Japanese on 'Black Sunday'. |
|
19 Feb |
135 Japanese planes
attack Darwin in northern Australia. 240 people are
killed and 10 wounded. |
|
27 Feb |
Battle of Java Sea - a
failed attempt by the Allies to stop the Japanese
attacking Java. |
|
8
March |
Dutch East Indies
surrenders unconditionally to Japanese forces. |
|
12 March |
Douglas MacArthur, under
orders from Roosevelt, leaves the Philippines for
Darwin, Australia. |
|
17 March |
Three US fighter
squadrons arrive in Darwin and the Japanese attacks
on the city decrease. |
|
20 March |
The German all-out
aerial assault on Malta starts. |
|
9 April |
Allied forces at Bataan
surrender and the Philippines fall to Japan. 78,000
prisoners are forced on the 65 mile 'death march'. |
|
18 April |
16 B-25 bombers,
launched from aircraft carriers, carry out the first
air raids on Japan. |
|
20 April |
47 Spitfires are sent to
Malta but almost all are destroyed on landing. |
|
8 May |
Battle of Coral Sea ends
in US victory. |
|
4 June |
US forces defeat the
Japanese in their attempt to capture Midway Island. |
|
10 June |
The massacre of Lidice -
a Czechoslovakian village ceases to exist, under the
direct orders of Hitler. |
|
21 June |
Tobruk captured by
Rommel. Churchill called the defeat a "disgrace". |
|
25 June |
General Auchinleck takes
over command of the 8th Army in North Africa. |
|
27 June |
Convoy PQ-17 sails from
Iceland for Archangel, it includes 33 merchant
ships. |
|
28 June |
7,000 prisoners from the
8th Army are captured by Rommel. |
|
4 July |
Convoy PQ-17 is attacked
by German torpedo-bombers and dive-bombers. Two
merchant ships are sunk and two more damaged. The
Admiralty give the order for the convoy to scatter. |
|
5 July |
Germany launches an
all-out assault on Convoy PQ-17. |
|
10 July |
Only two out of the 33
ships reach Archangel. More will arrive in the
following days. A total of 23 merchant ships
carrying 430 tanks, 210 planes, 3,350 vehicles and
nearly 100,000 tons of cargo remain missing. |
|
7 Aug |
Americans land at
Guadacanal. |
|
|
13 Aug |
General Montgomery gives
a private speech to Eighth Army officers before El
Alamein. Listen
now to his famous speech "Here we will stand and
fight..." (right) |
|
17 Aug |
After a day's delay in
leaving British ports due to bad weather, the start
of the Allied attack on Dieppe |
|
19 Aug |
The decision is made to
evacuate survivors from Dieppe. |
|
23 Aug |
The German Army reaches
the banks of the River Volga in Stalingrad. |
|
25 Aug |
Heavy Russian fighting
halts the German advance in Stalingrad. |
|
13 Sept |
The Japanese launch a
major offensive against the Americans at Guadacanal
but sustain heavy casualties. |
 |
|
23 Oct |
British forces attack
the German army at El Alamein in North Africa. |
|
4 Nov |
With Montgomery
victorious at El Alamein, Rommel starts his retreat
in North Africa. |
|
8 Nov |
The start of Operation
Torch - the Allied invasion of North Africa. Allied
troops land near Casablanca, Oran and Algiers.
With
a large Allied army in the west of North Africa and
with Montgomery advancing from the east, Rommel is
caught between two major forces. |
|
24 Nov |
After weeks of heavy
fighting the Russians launch an attack that
encircles the Germans at Stalingrad. |
|
12 Dec |
The Germans launch
'Operation Winter Storm' to relieve their army in
Stalingrad. It fails after 11 days, leaving the VI
Army trapped. |
|
31 Dec |
The Japanese plan to
withdraw their troops from Guadacanal after
suffering heavy losses in a number of battles. |