June 1942

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.
• 02

  • The thousand-bomber raid on EssenOn the night of 1–2 June 1942 the RAF sent 956 bombers to Essen. Haze and cloud scattered the raid, Krupp's works survived and bombs fell on neighbouring towns.
• 03

  • State control of coal miningOn 3 June 1942 Churchill's government published a White Paper on coal. The state took over the running of the mines; private companies still owned them.
  • The attack on Dutch HarborOn 3 and 4 June 1942 aircraft from Ryūjō and Jun'yō bombed Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians, opening the Aleutian campaign alongside Midway.
  • The Battle of Midway beginsOn 3 June 1942 a Catalina sighted Japanese transports heading for Midway. B-17s hit no ship, and Nagumo's carriers were still hidden in the fog.
• 04

  • Key eventThe sinking of Nagumo's carriersOn 4 June 1942 at Midway American dive-bombers set Akagi, Kaga and Sōryū ablaze, and Hiryū that evening. The Japanese managed to hit Yorktown first.
  • The death of HeydrichOn 4 June 1942 Reinhard Heydrich, wounded eight days earlier, died in a Prague hospital. The Germans gave him two funerals and stepped up the terror.
• 05

  • Operation AberdeenOn 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.
  • The US declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary and RomaniaOn 5 June 1942 Roosevelt signed Congress's resolutions on a state of war with Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania – the last formal US declarations of war.
• 07

  • The Japanese on Attu and KiskaOn 6–7 June 1942 the Japanese took Kiska and Attu unopposed. Attu's Aleuts were deported to Japan, and the US removed Aleuts from other islands.
  • The end of the Battle of MidwayOn 5–7 June 1942 Yamamoto called off the Midway attack, US planes sank the cruiser Mikuma, and a Japanese submarine finished off Yorktown, which sank on 7 June.
  • The first action of ELASOn 7 June 1942, in the village of Domnista in Evrytania, Aris Velouchiotis and a dozen partisans announced the start of ELAS's fight against Greece's occupiers.
• 08

  • The shelling of Sydney and NewcastleOn the night of 8 June 1942 the Japanese submarines I-24 and I-21 shelled Sydney and Newcastle. Damage was slight and no one died, but the fear was immense.
• 10

  • Key eventThe destruction of LidiceOn 10 June 1942 the Germans shot 173 men of the Czech village of Lidice, sent the women to Ravensbrück and the children to Łódź, and razed the village.
  • The defence of Bir HakeimOn the night of 10–11 June 1942, after two weeks defending Bir Hakeim, General Koenig's 1st Free French Brigade broke out of encirclement to the British lines.
• 11

  • Operation HarpoonOn 11 June 1942 two convoys set out for Malta. Of the six Harpoon ships sailing from Gibraltar, only two reached Valletta.
• 12

  • The third assault on SevastopolOn 12 June 1942, after five days of attacks, Manstein's 11th Army was biting into the northern sector of Sevastopol's defences. Both sides lost heavily.
• 13

  • The Office of War InformationOn 13 June 1942 Roosevelt created the Office of War Information. The journalist Elmer Davis was to run US wartime information and propaganda at home and abroad.
  • Black Saturday at GazalaOn 12–13 June 1942 Rommel smashed the British armoured brigades at Knightsbridge and El Adem. On the night of 13–14 June the Guards abandoned Knightsbridge.
• 14

  • The retreat from the Gazala LineOn 14 June 1942 the Eighth Army began to abandon the Gazala Line. Churchill presumed Tobruk would not be given up; Auchinleck said he had no such intention.
  • Operation VigorousOn 14 June 1942 the Alexandria–Malta convoy learned that the Italian fleet had sailed. After two days of air attacks and conflicting orders it turned back.
• 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.
• 21

  • Key eventThe fall of TobrukOn 21 June 1942 General Klopper surrendered Tobruk to Rommel after a day’s assault. Some 33,000 soldiers were captured and Rommel was made a field marshal.
• 24

  • Eisenhower in LondonOn 24 June 1942 General Dwight Eisenhower, the new commander of US forces in Europe, flew into London with General Mark Clark, commander of II Corps.
• 25

  • The thousand-bomber raid on BremenOn the night of 25–26 June 1942 the RAF sent 1,067 aircraft to Bremen. Cloud limited the damage and 48 bombers were lost. It was the last 1942 “thousand” raid.
• 27

  • Convoy PQ 17 sails from IcelandOn 27 June 1942 convoy PQ 17 sailed from Iceland for the USSR – 35 ships carrying equipment for the Red Army, covered by British and American warships.
• 28

  • Key eventCase Blue beginsOn 28 June 1942 Army Group Weichs struck from Kursk at Voronezh, opening the Wehrmacht’s great summer offensive in the southern USSR, aimed at Caucasus oil.
  • The Battle of Mersa MatruhOn 26–29 June 1942 Rommel routed the badly co-ordinated Eighth Army at Mersa Matruh. The New Zealanders broke out, and the port fell on the morning of 29 June.