United Kingdom
Tag
(515)1942
January
- 31
- The Japanese take MoulmeinOn 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.
- The retreat to SingaporeOn 31 January 1942 the last Commonwealth units crossed from Johor to Singapore Island and sappers blew up the Causeway. The Battle of Malaya was over.
February
- 01
- The front at GazalaIn early February 1942 Eighth Army stood on the Gazala–Bir Hakeim line, 60 km west of Tobruk. Rommel, out of fuel, halted near Timimi and Mechili.
- The end of civilian car productionIn February 1942 American factories stopped making passenger cars for civilians. Detroit began building tanks, bombers, jeeps and engines.
- 09
- The Japanese land on SingaporeOn the night of 8–9 February 1942 two divisions of the 25th Army crossed the Johor Strait to the north-west shore of Singapore, held by the Australians.
- The first meeting of the Joint Chiefs of StaffOn 9 February 1942 Marshall, Stark, King and Arnold held the first formal meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a new US high command body.
March
- 28
- The bombing of LübeckOn the night of 28–29 March 1942, 234 RAF bombers burned the western part of Lübeck's old town. Over 300 died. Hitler demanded revenge on English cities.
- Key eventThe St Nazaire raidOn 28 March 1942 the explosive-laden destroyer Campbeltown rammed the gate of the Normandie dock at St Nazaire. The dock was wrecked; of 611 men, 169 died.
April
- 15
- The George Cross for MaltaOn 15 April 1942 George VI awarded the George Cross to the whole of Malta, bombed and starving. It was the first collective award of the decoration.
- The Battle of YenangyaungOn 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
- 20
- The end of the Burma campaignOn 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.
- Molotov in LondonOn 20 May 1942 Molotov landed in Scotland. In London he demanded recognition of the 1941 Soviet borders; when talks stalled, Eden offered a treaty without them.
- 26
- The Anglo-Soviet TreatyOn 26 May 1942 Eden and Molotov signed in London a treaty of wartime alliance and twenty years of co-operation. It said not a word about the Soviet borders.
- The Battle of Gazala beginsOn 26 May 1942 Rommel struck the Gazala Line. At night his panzer divisions swung round Bir Hakeim and on 27 May smashed 3rd Indian Brigade and 7th Armoured HQ.
June
- 01
- The Bund ReportIn late May or early June 1942 the Bund Report reached London, reporting 700,000 Jews murdered in Poland and gassing at Chełmno. The West did not believe it.
- The destruction of the 150th BrigadeOn 1 June 1942 Rommel took the British 150th Brigade's box at Sidi Muftah. Brigadier Haydon was killed; Rommel won a supply route through the minefields.
- 18
- The Manhattan Project beginsOn 18 June 1942 Colonel James C. Marshall was ordered to organise the military side of the American atomic programme. So the Manhattan Project was born.
- Churchill in WashingtonOn 18 June 1942 Churchill flew to Washington for talks with Roosevelt. Before leaving he named Anthony Eden to the King as his successor.
July
August
- 12
- Churchill in MoscowOn 12 August 1942 Churchill flew to Moscow and told Stalin in the Kremlin that there would be no second front in France in 1942.
- Americans in the New HebridesOn 11 August 1942 a US Navy construction battalion landed on Espiritu Santo. The New Hebrides were becoming the rear base for the fight for Guadalcanal.
September
October
- 24
- The Operation Torch convoys sailOn 24 October 1942 Admiral Hewitt's fleet with Patton's troops left Hampton Roads for Morocco. Convoys from the Clyde were already bound for Algeria.
- The crisis at El AlameinOn 24 and 25 October 1942 British tanks stuck in the minefield corridors at El Alamein. Montgomery ordered them to keep attacking despite the losses.