Map
of the Japanese Empire at its peak in 1942.
January 2, 1942 - Manila and
U.S. Naval base at Cavite captured by the Japanese.
January 7, 1942 - Japanese
attack Bataan in the Philippines.
January 11, 1942 - Japanese
invade Dutch East Indies and Dutch Borneo.
January 16, 1942 - Japanese
begin an advance into Burma.
January 18, 1942 - German-Japanese-Italian
military agreement signed in Berlin.
January 19, 1942 - Japanese
take North Borneo.
January 23, 1942 - Japanese
take Rabaul on New Britain in the Solomon Islands and also invade Bougainville,
the largest island.
January 27, 1942 - First
Japanese warship sunk by a U.S. submarine.
January 30/31 - The
British withdraw into Singapore. The siege of Singapore then begins.
February 1, 1942 - First
U.S. aircraft carrier offensive of the war as YORKTOWN and ENTERPRISE conduct
air raids on Japanese bases in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands.
February 2, 1942 - Japanese
invade Java in the Dutch East Indies.
February 8/9 - Japanese
invade Singapore.
February 14, 1942 - Japanese
invade Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies.
February 15, 1942 - British
surrender at Singapore.
February 19, 1942 - Largest
Japanese air raid since Pearl Harbor occurs against Darwin, Australia; Japanese
invade Bali.
February 20, 1942 - First
U.S. fighter ace of the war, Lt. Edward O'Hare from the LEXINGTON in action
off Rabaul.
February 22, 1942 - President
Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General MacArthur out of the Philippines.
February 23, 1942 - First
Japanese attack on the U.S. mainland as a submarine shells an oil refinery
near Santa Barbara, California.
February 24, 1942 - ENTERPRISE
attacks Japanese on Wake Island.
February 26, 1942 - First
U.S. carrier, the LANGLEY, is sunk by Japanese bombers.
February 27- March 1 - Japanese
naval victory in the Battle of the Java Sea as the largest U.S. warship in
the Far East, the HOUSTON, is sunk.
March 4, 1942 - Two
Japanese flying boats bomb Pearl Harbor; ENTERPRISE attacks Marcus Island,
just 1000 miles from Japan.
March 7, 1942 - British
evacuate Rangoon in Burma; Japanese invade Salamaua and Lae on New Guinea.
March 8, 1942 - The
Dutch on Java surrender to Japanese.
March 11, 1942 - Gen.
MacArthur leaves Corregidor and is flown to Australia. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright
becomes the new U.S. commander.
March 18, 1942 - Gen.
MacArthur appointed commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater by President
Roosevelt.
March 18, 1942 -
War Relocation Authority established in the U.S. which eventually will round
up 120,000 Japanese-Americans and transport them to barb-wired relocation
centers. Despite the internment, over 17,000 Japanese-Americans sign up and
fight for the U.S. in World War II in Europe, including the 442nd Regimental
Combat Team, the most decorated unit in U.S. history.
March 23, 1942 - Japanese
invade the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.
March 24, 1942 - Admiral
Chester Nimitz appointed as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific theater.
April 3, 1942 - Japanese
attack U.S. and Filipino troops at Bataan.
April 6, 1942 - First
U.S. troops arrive in Australia.
April 9, 1942 - U.S.
forces on Bataan surrender unconditionally to the Japanese.
April 10, 1942 - Bataan
Death March begins as 76,000 Allied POWs including 12,000 Americans are forced
to walk 60 miles under a blazing sun without food or water toward a new POW
camp, resulting in over 5,000 American deaths.
April 18, 1942 - Surprise
U.S. 'Doolittle' B-25 air raid from the HORNET against Tokyo boosts Allied
morale.
April 29, 1942 - Japanese
take central Burma.
May 1, 1942 - Japanese
occupy Mandalay in Burma.
May 3, 1942 - Japanese
take Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
May 5, 1942 - Japanese
prepare to invade Midway and the Aleutian Islands.
May 6, 1942 - Japanese
take Corregidor as Gen. Wainwright unconditionally surrenders all U.S. And
Filipino forces in the Philippines.
May 7-8, 1942 - Japan
suffers its first defeat of the war during the Battle of the Coral Sea off
New Guinea - the first time in history that two opposing carrier forces fought
only using aircraft without the opposing ships ever sighting each other.
May 12, 1942 - The
last U.S. Troops holding out in the Philippines surrender on Mindanao.
May 20, 1942 - Japanese
complete the capture of Burma and reach India.
June 4-5, 1942 - Turning
point in the war occurs with a decisive victory for the U.S. against Japan
in the Battle of Midway as squadrons of U.S. torpedo planes and dive bombers
from ENTERPRISE, HORNET, and YORKTOWN attack and destroy four Japanese carriers,
a cruiser, and damage another cruiser and two destroyers. U.S. loses YORKTOWN.
June 7, 1942 - Japanese
invade the Aleutian Islands.
June 9, 1942 - Japanese
postpone further plans to take Midway.
July 21, 1942 -
Japanese land troops near Gona on New Guinea.
August 7, 1942 - The
first U.S. amphibious landing of the Pacific War occurs as 1st Marine Division
invades Tulagi and Guadalcanal