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(51)
1939
September
03
India, Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland at war
On 3 September 1939 the Viceroy declared India at war without consulting Indians. Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland also entered the war that day.
December
18
Canadian and Indian troops reach Europe
On 17 December 1939 the 1st Canadian Division’s first flight reached Greenock, as Churchill announced. Indian mule companies landed at Marseille on 26 December.
1940
August
11
The Battle of Tug Argan
On 11–15 August 1940 General De Simone's Italians stormed the British-held hills in the Tug Argan pass. After four days the defenders were ordered to withdraw.
1941
January
19
The British offensive in East Africa
On 19 January 1941 British and Indian troops entered Kassala, abandoned by the Italians, and pushed into Eritrea. The offensive on Italian East Africa began.
31
The Battle of Agordat
On 31 January 1941 the 4th Indian Infantry Division, backed by Matilda tanks, broke the Italian defences at Agordat in Eritrea. It took the town next morning.
February
28
Raids on Asmara and fighting at Keren
On 28 February 1941 British aircraft bombed Asmara, capital of Eritrea. For four weeks Platt’s troops had been held by the Italians before the Keren mountains.
March
27
The British take Keren
On 27 March 1941 the Italians abandoned Keren and British tanks drove into the town. After twelve days of assault Platt had opened the road to Asmara.
April
18
The British land at Basra
On 18 April 1941 the 20th Indian Infantry Brigade landed at Basra; the day before, aircraft had begun flying a British infantry battalion into Shaibah.
June
11
The fall of Assab
At dawn on 11 June 1941 an Indian battalion from Aden landed at Assab and took the last Italian port on the Red Sea without a fight.
22
Auchinleck replaces Wavell
After the failure of Operation Battleaxe Churchill swapped commanders. Wavell was to take command in India, General Claude Auchinleck in the Middle East.
July
01
The British take Palmyra
On 1 July 1941 the Arab Legion routed a Vichy company at Sukhnah. Palmyra, besieged since 21 June, surrendered on 3 July, and Slim's Indians took Deir ez-Zor.
October
03
Gandhi and individual satyagraha
In autumn 1941 Gandhi kept up his individual satyagraha against India’s part in the war. Begun on 17 October 1940, it put thousands of participants in jail.
December
08
The Malayan campaign begins
Just after midnight on 8 December 1941 the Japanese landed at Kota Bharu in Malaya and in Thailand. Five days later Yamashita's army beat the British at Jitra.
11
The Japanese invasion of Burma begins
In mid-December 1941 the Japanese took Victoria Point in southern Burma; on 23 and 25 December their bombers struck Rangoon, setting off a flight from the city.
1942
January
11
The Japanese take Kuala Lumpur
On 7 January 1942 Japanese tanks shattered the 11th Indian Division at the Slim River. Wavell gave up central Malaya; on 11 January Kuala Lumpur fell.
19
The Battle of Muar
In Johor on 14–22 January 1942 the Japanese destroyed the 45th Indian Brigade and two Australian battalions, and murdered some 150 wounded POWs at Parit Sulong.
31
The Japanese take Moulmein
On 31 January 1942 the British garrison of Moulmein withdrew across the Salween and the Japanese 55th Division took the town. The road to Rangoon lay open.
February
15
Key event
The fall of Singapore
On 15 February 1942 Percival surrendered Singapore to Yamashita at the Ford factory at Bukit Timah, the largest capitulation in British military history.
20
The Sittang Bridge disaster
On 23 February 1942 the British blew the Sittang bridge with most of the 17th Indian Division still on the far bank. The road to Rangoon lay open.
March
08
The Japanese take Rangoon
On 8 March 1942 the Japanese 33rd Division entered abandoned, burning Rangoon. The British army in Burma lost its only port, and China its supply route.
April
03
The bombing of Mandalay
On Good Friday, 3 April 1942, Japanese bombers burned most of Mandalay. Accounts speak of some 2,000 dead, and the city emptied.
15
The Battle of Yenangyaung
On 15 April 1942 the British set the Yenangyaung oilfields ablaze. The Japanese encircled 1st Burma Division, which broke out of the pocket with Chinese help.
May
06
Stilwell's walk out of Burma
On 6 May 1942 General Joseph Stilwell abandoned his vehicles and led 114 people on foot from Burma to India. Two weeks later all reached Imphal alive.
20
The end of the Burma campaign
On 20 May 1942 the remnants of Burma Corps came under IV Corps in India. After the longest retreat in British Army history, Burma was lost.
June
05
Operation Aberdeen
On 5–6 June 1942 the Eighth Army attacked the Cauldron at Gazala. The attack broke down under gunfire; Rommel's riposte shattered HQs and Indian brigades.
August
09
The arrest of Gandhi
On 9 August 1942, the day after the Quit India resolution, Gandhi and the Congress leaders were arrested. Riots, strikes and sabotage swept India.
December
23
Japanese air raids on Calcutta
In the last days of December 1942 Japanese bombers from Burma struck Calcutta several times by night. Damage was slight, but hundreds of thousands fled.
1943
February
08
The first Chindit expedition
On 8 February 1943 Orde Wingate's 77th Brigade set out from Imphal behind Japanese lines in Burma. The Chindit raid cost dearly but brought hope.
March
02
The Chindits cross the Irrawaddy
In early March 1943 Wingate’s Chindits blew up the railway in northern Burma and crossed the Irrawaddy. At the end of the month they were ordered back to India.
09
Operation Creek in Goa
On the night of 9–10 March 1943 volunteers from Calcutta attacked the German ship Ehrenfels in neutral Goa. The crews of four Axis ships scuttled them.
April
07
The Battle of Wadi Akarit
On 6 April 1943 the Eighth Army broke the Axis position on the Wadi Akarit, and on 7 April its patrols met Americans of II Corps on the road to Gabès.
October
03
Mountbatten takes command in South-East Asia
In early October 1943 Louis Mountbatten, appointed at Quebec in August, flew to India to take over the Allied South East Asia Command.
November
20
The Eighth Army on the Sangro
On 20 November 1943 the British 78th Division seized a bridgehead over the Sangro, but downpours and floods again halted Montgomery's Eighth Army.
December
29
The Andamans for Azad Hind
On 29 December 1943 Subhas Chandra Bose reached Port Blair in the Andamans, which Japan had handed to his Azad Hind government. Real power stayed Japanese.
30
The end of Japanese raids on Calcutta
War chronologies end the Japanese raids on Calcutta on 30 December 1943. The last big one was the daylight attack on Kidderpore docks on 5 December.
1944
January
09
The British take Maungdaw
On 9 January 1944 the 5th Indian Division took Maungdaw, a small port on the Naf – the first gain of the second Arakan offensive, before Japan's Ha-Go attack.
30
The Homfreyganj massacre
On 30 January 1944 the Japanese shot 44 Indians accused of espionage at Homfreyganj in the Andamans, most of them Indian Independence League activists.
March
07
Key event
Operation U-Go begins
On the night of 7–8 March 1944 the Japanese 33rd Division moved on Tiddim. So began Operation U-Go – the Fifteenth Army's thrust on Imphal and Kohima in India.
15
The third battle of Monte Cassino
On 15 March 1944 bombers flattened the town of Cassino and the New Zealand Corps attacked. Until 23 March German paratroopers held the ruins and the abbey.
22
The Japanese cross into India
In late March 1944 Japanese divisions entered Manipur. At Sangshak a parachute brigade held them for a week, and the 17th Division fought its way to Imphal.
24
The death of Orde Wingate
On 24 March 1944 a B-25 bomber carrying General Wingate crashed in the hills of Manipur. The Chindits' creator died in the middle of his second expedition.
April
06
The siege of Kohima
In early April 1944 the Japanese 31st Division surrounded Kohima; Imphal had been cut off since late March. Kohima's garrison held a few hills for two weeks.
24
The relief of Kohima
Relief from Dimapur reached Kohima's defenders on 18 April 1944. In late April the fight for the ridge went on and the road to besieged Imphal stayed shut.
May
13
The breakthrough on the Gari
On 13 May 1944 engineers finished the Amazon bridge over the Gari under fire, and tanks reinforced the Liri valley bridgeheads. The French took Monte Maio.
31
The retreat from Kohima
On 31 May 1944 Lt Gen Kōtoku Satō began, against orders, to withdraw his starving 31st Division from Kohima. The retreat from Imphal was ordered only in July.
June
22
The end of the siege of Imphal
On 22 June 1944 the British 2nd Division from Kohima and the 5th Indian Division from Imphal met at Milestone 109. The siege of Imphal was over.
August
22
The end of the Japanese invasion of India
In August 1944 the shattered Japanese Fifteenth Army, pursued through the monsoon by Slim's Fourteenth Army, fell back from Manipur to the Chindwin in Burma.
1945
January
05
The pursuit to the Irrawaddy
In early 1945 Japan's Fifteenth Army fell back behind the Irrawaddy; Slim's Fourteenth Army crossed the Chindwin and pursued it over the Shwebo plain.
March
03
The capture of Meiktila
On 3 March 1945 the 17th Indian Division and 255th Tank Brigade took Meiktila, the Japanese supply hub in Burma. Fighting for it went on until late March.
20
The liberation of Mandalay
On 20 March 1945 the 19th Indian Division took Fort Dufferin, the last point of Japanese resistance in Mandalay. The royal palace burned in the fighting.
May
03
The liberation of Rangoon
On 3 May 1945 the Indian 26th Division, landed from the sea in Operation Dracula, took Rangoon unopposed; the Japanese had left a few days earlier.