The
Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the
Correlates of War estimates that the prior year,
1941, was the deadliest such year. Death toll estimates for both 1941 and 1942 range from 2.28 to 7.71 million each.[1]
Events
Below, the events of
World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January 1 – WWII: The
Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in which they agree "not to make any separate peace with the
Axis powers".
WWII: "
Second Happy Time", the German submarine commanders' name for Operation PP (Operation Drumbeat), the phase in the
Battle of the Atlantic during which German submarines are successful in attacking Allied shipping along the
East Coast of the United States, opens early this morning when
German submarine U-123 under the command of
Reinhard Hardegen sinks a Norwegian tanker within sight of
Long Island, before entering
New York Harbor and sinking a British tanker off
Sandy Hook the following night, as she leaves heading south along the coast. U-boat successes continue until around June 12.
The
Sikorsky R-4 first flies in the United States; it will become the first mass-produced
helicopter.
January 17 – WWII: South African forces of the British
8th Army conquer the
Halfaya Pass ("Hellfire Pass"). The Halfaya garrison of 4,200 men of the Italian
55th Division "Savona" and 2,100 Germans surrender.
January 23 – WWII: The
Battle of Rabaul begins. Before dawn, 5,000 troops of Japan's elite
South Seas Detachment storm ashore at
Rabaul on the island of
New Britain. With control of the air and support from the guns of their own ships, the Japanese overwhelm the small Australian garrison: the majority are either killed or captured. This marks the start of the
New Guinea campaign.
WWII:
Marshalls–Gilberts raids: Admiral
William Halsey Jr sends airstrikes from the carrier
USS Enterprise against
Kwajalein,
Taroa,
Wotje in the
Marshall Islands. At the same time, cruisers and destroyers bombard Taroa and Wotje. The strikes inflict light to moderate damage on the three islands' naval garrisons, sink three warships and damage several others, including the light cruiser
Katori and damage 15 Japanese aircraft. Further south, the carrier
USS Yorktown attacks
Jaluit,
Mili and
Makin in the
Gilbert Islands. They inflict moderate damage to the Japanese naval installations and destroy three aircraft.
February 9 – The
ocean linerSS Normandie catches fire while being converted into the troopship USS Lafayette (AP-53) for WWII at Pier 88 in New York City; she capsizes early the following morning.
Battle of Palembang: Japanese paratroopers (240 men) are dropped near
Palembang, and capture the oil refinery complex undamaged. Dutch forces counter-attack and manage to retake the complex but take heavy losses. A planned demolition fails to do any serious damage to the refinery, but the oil stores are set ablaze.
The
SS Vyner Brooke, Scottish steamship, is bombed and sunk by Japanese planes while evacuating nurses and wounded servicemen from Singapore. Rescue boats with many survivors reach
Bangka Island.
Bombing of Darwin: The Japanese
1st Air Fleet under Admiral
Chūichi Nagumo bombs
Darwin, Australia. This force comprises the aircraft carriers
Akagi,
Kaga,
Hiryū and
Sōryū and a powerful force of escorting surface ships. During the attack, 188 planes led by
Mitsuo Fuchida destroy 11 vessels and wreck a lot of the harbor infrastructure, killing some 240 people.
February 19–
23 – WWII:
Battle of Sittang Bridge: Indian forces of the 17th Division are ordered to defend the Sittang Bridge, but eventually blow up the bridge to halt the Japanese advance to
Rangoon. Survivors of the 17th Division (some 3.500 soldiers) swim and ferry themselves over the Sittang River.
February 22 – WWII: General
George Marshall transmits a direct order to
General MacArthur in
President Roosevelt's name, ordering MacArthur himself to turn over command of the
Philippines to a subordinate, and report to Australia to assume command of the large American force being built up there. The orders are worded to allow MacArthur to choose the exact moment of his
departure; for various reasons, he will not leave until March 11.
Struma disaster:
MV Struma, carrying Jewish refugees from Axis-allied Romania to British-administered Palestine, is torpedoed and sunk by
Shch-213, killing about 791 men, women, and children, with only 1 survivor.
February 25 – "
Battle of Los Angeles": Over 1,400 AA shells are fired at an unidentified, slow-moving object (probably a meteorological balloon) in the skies over Los Angeles. The appearance of the object triggers an immediate wartime blackout over most of
Southern California, with thousands of air raid wardens being deployed throughout the city. At least 5 deaths are related to the incident. Despite the several-hour barrages no planes are downed.
Battle of the Java Sea: An allied (
ABDA) task force of 14 vessels under
Dutch command, trying to stem a Japanese invasion of the
Dutch East Indies, is defeated by a 19-vessel Japanese task force in the
Java Sea; 2.300 sailors die, including the commander, Admiral
Karel Doorman; Japanese attain naval hegemony in East-Asia.
The
USS Langley, first aircraft carrier of the
United States Navy, is attacked by 9 Japanese bombers while ferrying a cargo of USAAF
P-40 fighters to Java. Langley is so badly damaged that she has to be
scuttled to avoid falling into Japanese hands.
March 4 – WWII:
Operation K: The Japanese launch an unsuccessful attack carried out by two
Kawanishi H8K ("Emily") flying boats at
Pearl Harbor. This is the longest distance ever undertaken by a two-plane bombing mission, and one of the longest bombing sorties ever planned without fighter escort.
March 5 – WWII: Japanese forces of the
16th Army under General
Hitoshi Imamura enter triumphantly the Dutch colonial capital of Batavia without opposition.
March 8–
13 –
Invasion of Salamaua–Lae: Japanese forces invade and occupy the
Salamaua–
Lae area in the
Territory of New Guinea to establish an air base for the support of further operations in the region. A small Australian garrison (some 200 men) in the area withdraws to
Wau after executing demolition operations to prevent the use of their facilities for the invaders. In response to the Japanese landings,
Task Force 17 with aircraft carriers
Lexington and
Yorktown led by Admiral
Wilson Brown, attacks the invading naval forces and destroys three transports, and damages the cruiser
Yūbari and several other ships.
The Dutch Commander-in-Chief of the Allied forces on Java, General
Ter Poorten, surrenders to the Japanese. Ter Poorten's surrender announcement is made without consulting the commanders of the British and US forces, who want to continue the war.
March 12 – WWII: American troops land at
Nouméa on
New Caledonia to build a base and garrison the island. This landing includes the first
Seabees that are out on active service. The Seabees are Naval Construction battalions, and their name comes from the C and B in construction battalion.
March 15 – WWII:
Dünamünde Action: 1,900 central European Jews are shot dead north east of
Riga, 1,840 are killed on the 26th.
March 16 – WWII: New Zealand and Australia declare war on
Thailand.
March 19–
30 – WWII:
Battle of Toungoo: Chinese forces under General
Dai Anlan set up a perimeter around
Taungoo. The Japanese
55th Division bombards the positions on the west bank of the
Sittaung River with artillery. The Japanese
56th Division links up with the 55th and crosses the river. Taungoo is surrounded and finally taken, while the remnants of the Chinese
200th Division withdraws to new defensive positions at
Yedashe.
March 23 – WWII: The Germans burn down the Ukrainian village of Yelino (
Koriukivka Raion), killing 296 civilians.[8]
March 24 – The evacuation of Polish nationals from the Soviet Union begins. It is conducted in two phases: until April 5; and between August 10 and 30, 1942, by sea from Krasnovodsk to Pahlavi (Anzali), and (to a lesser extent) overland from Ashkabad to Mashhad. In all, 115,000 people are evacuated, 37,000 of them civilians, 18,000 children (7% of the number of Polish citizens originally exiled to the Soviet Union).[9]
St Nazaire Raid (Operation Chariot) – British Commandos raid
Saint-Nazaire on the coast of Western France, to put its dockyard facilities out of action.
March 29 – WWII: Following a coup d'état, the Free Republic of Nias is proclaimed by a group of freed Nazi German prisoners in the Indonesian island of
Nias; the republic exists for less than a month until the island is fully occupied by Japanese troops.
77
Uzbek prisoners of war held at
Amersfoort concentration camp in the occupied Netherlands are shot by Nazi German guards, 24 of their compatriots having previously died there as a result of forced starvation.[10]
Bataan Death March: American and Filipino prisoners of war are forced to march from
San Fernando to
Capas (some 65 miles). During the march some 15,000 soldiers are killed by severe
physical abuse and wanton killings.
The United States
Federal Communications Commission's minimum programming time required of television stations is cut from 15 hours to 4 hours a week during the war.
April 15 – WWII:
Award of the George Cross to Malta: King
George VI awards the
George Cross to the island of
Malta to mark the
Siege of Malta, saying, "To honor her brave people I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta, to bear witness to a heroism and a devotion that will long be famous in history" (from January 1 to July 24, there is only one 24-hour period during which no bombs fall on this tiny island).
April 17 – WWII:
Henri Giraud, French general captured in 1940, escapes from
Königstein Fortress near
Dresden. He lowers himself down the cliffside fortress with a 50-meter 'rope' he made with odds and ends smuggled in to him. After traveling for three days, Giraud safely reaches the Swiss border.
April 18 – WWII:
Doolittle Raid: Lieutenant Colonel
James "Jimmy" Doolittle leads a bombing mission against
Japan, along with 79 airmen of the US. Air force, flying 16
B-25 Mitchell land-based bombers. They take off from the
USS Hornet in the
Pacific Ocean, some 700 miles (1,126 km) east of
Tokyo. Thirteen of the B-25 bombers fly over Tokyo and drop their bombs on oil storage facilities, factories and military targets. The other three B-25s drop their bombs over
Yokohama,
Nagoya and
Kobe. All but one of the B-25s run out of fuel before reaching friendly forces in western
China and are forced to land in Japanese-occupied China. With the support of Chinese farmers, 71 airmen reach free China. Eight airmen are captured by the Japanese – who execute four of them in retaliation for the raid.
April 20 – WWII:
Operation Calendar: The American aircraft carrier
USS Wasp, escorted by the British battlecruiser
HMS Renown, two cruisers and six destroyers, brings 47 planes (
Spitfires) to
Malta. They are successfully delivered – but 30 of them are immediately destroyed on the ground by German bombers. Within 48 hours all planes are destroyed.[13]
WWII: The
Reichstag meets for the last time, dissolving itself and proclaiming
Adolf Hitler the "Supreme Judge of the German People", granting him the power of life and death over every German citizen.
A gas and coal dust explosion at
Benxihu Colliery in
Manchukuo kills as many as 1,549 workers, the world's all-time worst mining disaster.
The Jewish
Star of David is required wearing for all Jews in the Netherlands and Belgium; Jews in other Nazi-controlled countries have already been wearing it.
The
Battle of the Kerch Peninsula: The German
11th Army with Romanian forces launches Unternehmen Trappenjagd (Operation Bustard Hunt) and destroys the
bridgehead of the three Soviet Armies (44th, 47th, and 51st) defending the
Kerch Peninsula in the eastern part of the
Crimean Front.[16] The battle ends in an Axis victory.
The
Battle of the Coral Sea between Japanese and American/Australian fleets, the first battle in naval history where the opponents fight without seeing each other's fleets. The Japanese achieve a tactical victory in terms of tonnage lost (including aircraft carrier
USS Lexington) but are prevented from invading
Port Moresby.
Second Battle of Kharkov: In the eastern
Ukraine, the
Soviet Army initiates a major offensive to capture the city of
Kharkov from the German Army, only to be encircled and destroyed.
May 23 – WWII: German forces of the
6th Army under General
Friedrich Paulus and the
1st Panzer Army led by General
Ewald von Kleist meet up at
Balakleya, southeast of Kharkov, and encircle most of the Soviet 6th and 9th armies, capturing a 250,000-strong Soviet force inside the pocket.
Battle of Gazala: German forces of
Panzer Army Africa led by General Erwin Rommel launch a frontal attack on the central
Gazala positions. During the day, the bulk of Rommel's forces move forward, giving the British the impression that this is the main Axis assault. When night falls, the armoured formations turn south in a sweeping move around the southern end of the Gazala line.
Battle of Bir Hakeim: The Free French and British troops slow the German advance in North Africa.
May 29 –
Thai spelling reform of 1942 is initiated by the government of Prime Minister Field Marshal
Plaek Phibunsongkhram with his office announcing a simplification of the Thai alphabet. The announcement is published in the Royal Gazette on June 1. The reform is canceled by the government of
Khuang Aphaiwong on August 2, 1944.
May 30–
31 – WWII:
Bombing of Cologne – British
RAF Bomber Command's "Operation Millennium", its first "1,000 bomber raid", with associated fires make 13,000 families homeless and kills around 475 people, mostly civilians; 3,330 non-residential buildings are destroyed.
Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942): German forces of the
11th Army under General
Erich von Manstein begin renowned infantry attacks against the fortress city of
Sevastopol. The Germans advance cautiously behind air and artillery support. Manstein has enough firepower to destroy the Soviet fortifications: some 1,300 guns and Heavy Artillery Battalion 833 (including a Karl-Batterie with three howitzers of 54 cm nicknamed "Thor", "Odin" and "Loki"). Firing in support, the German 80 cm
Schwerer Gustav railway gun fires seven shells.
June 8 – WWII:
Attack on Sydney Harbour: The Australian cities of Sydney and
Newcastle are shelled by Japanese submarines. The eastern suburbs of both cities are damaged, and the east coast is blacked out.
Free French forces (some 2,700 men) evacuate Bir Hakeim and escape through a minefield, where they are picked up by British patrols of the
7th Armoured Division.
Lidice massacre: Units of the Nazi Ordnungspolizei and Sicherheitsdienst shoot all 173 male residents of the Czech village of
Lidice in retaliation for the killing of
Reinhard Heydrich. Of 503 inhabitants, a total of around 340 are killed, including 82 children deported to
Chełmno extermination camp, and the remainder are removed. All domestic animals are killed and graves despoiled, the village is burned, remains blown up and the site landscaped out of existence; Nazi propaganda (which is open about the event) states "The name of the village was immediately abolished."[18]
June 12–
15 – WWII:
Operation Harpoon: An Allied convoy under Admiral
Alban Curteis leaves from
Gibraltar with 6 merchant ships escorted by the British battleship
HMS Malaya, aircraft carriers
HMS Argus and
HMS Eagle, 4 cruisers and 17 destroyers to
Malta. Two of the six merchant ships completes the journey, at the cost of several Allied warships.
German forces of the
21st Panzer Division advance from the west and attack the British tanks of the
22nd Armoured Brigade. Erwin Rommel demonstrates superiority in tactics, compressing the British armoured forces between two Panzer Divisions of the Panzer Army Africa and the Italian
Ariete and
Trieste Divisions. By the end of the day, the British tank strength is reduced from 300 tanks to about 70. Rommel establishes armour superiority and surrounds the "Knightsbridge" positions. Due to the many losses, this defeat becomes known as "Black Saturday" to the
Eighth Army.[19]
June 14 – WWII: The British Eighth Army under General
Neil Ritchie is forced with two divisions to withdraw from the Gazala Line. The defenders of El-Adem and two neighbouring boxes hold out against the Germans. The South African
1st Division retreats along the coast road, practically intact. General
Claude Auchinleck orders Ritchie to hold the line south-east from
Acroma (west of
Tobruk) through El-Adem to Bir El Gubi.[20]
June 15 – WWII: Erwin Rommel sends German forces from the 21st Panzer Division and 90th Light Division to attack the defensive boxes at El-Adem and Sidi Rezegh. In the evening, Point 650 box at El-Adem is overrun.
June 17–
21 – WWII:
Siege of Tobruk: German forces of Panzer Army Africa led by Erwin Rommel attack Tobruk with massed air support. On June 21, they penetrate a weak spot on the eastern defensive perimeter, capturing the port and 33,000 prisoners.
June 18 – WWII: The SS surrounds the church in Prague where
Jan Kubiš and
Jozef Gabčík, the assassins of
Reinhard Heydrich, are hiding. Kubiš is fatally wounded in the ensuing shootout, and Gabčík commits suicide to avoid capture.
Erwin Rommel arrives in
Bardia and gives the 90th Light Division orders to attack eastwards. The British 8th Army withdraws to
Mersa Matruh, where the Indian
10th Division, elements of the Indian
5th Division and the British
50th Division take up positions.
The experimental early-type nuclear reactor L-IV has
an accident, becoming the first nuclear accident in history and consisting of a steam explosion and reactor fire in
Leipzig.
June 26–
29 – WWII:
Battle of Mersa Matruh: German forces of the Panzer Army Africa under Erwin Rommel pursues the Eighth Army as it retreats into Egypt. On June 28, the fortress port of Mersa Matruh and more than 6,000 prisoners are captured, along with plenty of supplies and equipment.
June 27 – WWII: Allied
Convoy PQ 17 sails from
Iceland, with 35 merchant ships and 3 passenger ships that have been refitted for rescuing the crews of torpedoed ships. There are also one tanker, 6 destroyers and 13 smaller ships for close escort. The convoy is destined for the Soviet port of
Archangelsk.
German forces of the 11th Army under General Erich von Manstein take Sevastopol, although fighting rages until July 4. The city is evacuated by the Soviets, some 90,000 prisoners are taken and von Manstein is promoted to Field Marshal.
German forces of Panzer Army Africa under Erwin Rommel approach the
Alamein positions, only 106 km from
Alexandria. The Axis forces are exhausted and Rommel has supply problems, because the
RAF attacks his supply lines.
July 1–
27 – WWII:
First Battle of El Alamein: British forces prevent a second advance by Axis forces into Egypt. The 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions are halted and Erwin Rommel orders his forces to regroup. The panzer strength of the German Afrika Korps has been reduced to only 26 vehicles.[21]
July 3 – WWII:
Guadalcanal, occupied only by aborigines, falls to the Japanese Naval construction force deployed to construct an airfield on the island.
Twenty-four ships are sunk by German bombers and submarines after
Convoy PQ 17 to the Soviet Union is scattered in the Arctic Ocean to evade the
German battleship Tirpitz.
The United States
Eighth Air Force inauspiciously flies its first mission in Europe, using borrowed British planes, and bombs targets in the Netherlands, such as De Kooy Airfield, attached to the
Den Helder Naval Base. Three of six aircraft return;[22] For this mission, Captain Charles C. Kegelman is the first member of the Force to be awarded the U.S.
Distinguished Flying Cross.[23]
July 7 – German forces of the 4th Panzer Army reach the outskirts of Voronezh, but the Soviet army mounts a successful counterattack that ties up Hoth's forces for days.
July 19 – WWII:
Battle of the Atlantic: German Grand Admiral
Karl Dönitz orders the last
U-boats to withdraw from there the United States Atlantic coast positions, in response to an effective American convoy system.
July 21 – WWII: The Japanese establish a beachhead on the north coast of
New Guinea in the Buna-Gona area; a small Australian force begins a rearguard action on the
Kokoda Track campaign.
August 1 – The
1942–44 musicians' strike begins. The American Federation of Musicians goes on strike against the major U.S. recording companies because of disagreements over royalty payments.
August 3–
15 – WWII:
Operation Pedestal: A British convoy of 14 merchant ships with a massive escort of two battleships, 4 aircraft carriers, 7 cruisers, 32 destroyers and smaller ships commanded by Admiral
Edward Neville Syfret, sets sail to
Malta under relentless attacks by day and night from enemy submarines, aircraft and Axis surface forces. The 55,000 tons of food and fuel delivery by this convoy saves Malta from surrender and allows Malta-based aircraft and submarines to resume their attacks against Rommel's supply lines.
WWII:
Battle of Savo Island: The Japanese Imperial Navy under Admiral
Gunichi Mikawa wins a spectacular victory over the US Navy and the Australian Navy at
Savo Island. Five cruisers and one destroyer are sunk, Mikawa's decision to withdraw under cover of the night rather than attempt to destroy the Allied invasion transports is primarily because of a possible Allied carrier strike against his fleet.
WWII: Allied North Atlantic
convoy SC 94 loses 10 ships, as the first to be heavily attacked by
U-boats resuming mid-Atlantic
wolf pack attacks, through the climactic winter of 1942–43.[25]
WWII: In Washington, D.C., six German
saboteurs are executed for their role in the failed mission
Operation Pastorius (2 others are cooperative and receive sentences of life imprisonment instead, being freed a few years after the end of the war).
August 11 –
Hedy Lamarr's and her friend
George Antheil's frequency-hopping system for radio-controlled torpedoes is granted a patent under U.S. patent 2,292,387.[26] In 1962 (at the time of the Cuban missile crisis), an updated version of their design will at last appear on Navy ships.[27]
August 13 – A
Quit India resolution is passed by the
Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), which leads to the start of a historical civil disobedience movement across India.
WWII:
Raid on Makin Island: US Marines of the
2nd Raider Battalion (211 men) under Lt. Col.
Evans Carlson embark aboard the submarines
Argonaut and
Nautilus at
Pearl Harbor. The aim is to destroy the Japanese installations and gather intelligence. Only the first of these objectives is achieved, but the raid does boost morale and provide a test for Raider tactics.
WWII: Heavy bombers of the U.S.
Eighth Air Force, based in England, conduct their first raid against occupied France.
August 19 – WWII:
Dieppe Raid: An Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of
Dieppe in northern France is repulsed. Some 6,000 men of the Canadian
2nd Infantry Division under General
John Roberts, supported by
3 and
4 Commando, 50 or so
US Rangers and Free French Commandos, are put ashore. The raid is designed to provide battle experience for the troops and to gain information about German defense methods. The casualties are some 3,600 men, 1 destroyer, 30 tanks and 33 landing craft.
August 29 – WWII:
Tokyo Express: The Japanese navy starts night-time delivery of reinforcements, supplies and equipment to the Japanese forces operating in and around
New Guinea and the
Solomon Islands.
August 30–
September 5 – WWII:
Battle of Alam el Halfa – British forces in the Western Desert resist a German attack under Erwin Rommel. German tanks get slowed down in the minefields around Alam el Halfa Ridge and are forced to withdraw.
September 2 – WWII: The island of
Les Casquets in the Channel Islands is raided by the forerunner of the British
SAS, the
SSRF, led by Major
Gus March-Phillipps; this is one of the first raids by
Anders Lassen VC. In the raid, the entire garrison of 7 is abducted and returned to England as prisoners, and the radio and lighthouse are wrecked.[29][30]
WWII: Erwin Rommel orders a general retreat and carries the German forces of
Panzer Army Africa back to the line running from Tel el Eisa – Deir el Shein - west of Deir el Munassib down to the
Qattara Depression. Allied forces of the
2nd New Zealand Division and the British
7th Armoured Division ("Desert Rats") begin an assault, but they are repelled in a fierce rearguard action by the German
90th Light Division. During the attack, Rommel loses some 2,900 men, 50 tanks, a similar number of guns, and 400 vehicles.[31]
September 12 – WWII: The
RMS Laconia, carrying civilians, Allied soldiers, and Italian prisoners of war, is torpedoed off the coast of West Africa and sinks, killing 1,649 people.
British cruiser
HMS Curacoa collides with liner
RMS Queen Mary (carrying troops from the United States) off the coast of
Donegal and sinks; 338 drown.
WWII: Japanese troopship Lisbon Maru sinks, following a torpedo attack the previous day by submarine
USS Grouper off the coast of China; 829 are killed, mostly British prisoners of war who (unknown to the attacker) were being held on board.
October 3 – The first
A-4 rocket is successfully launched from
Test Stand VII at
Peenemünde, Germany. The rocket flies 147 kilometers and reaches an altitude of 84.5 kilometers, becoming the first man-made object to reach space.
October 29 –
The Holocaust: In the United Kingdom, leading clergymen and political figures hold a public meeting to register outrage over
Nazi Germany's persecution of Jews.
French Resistance Coup in
Algiers: 400 French civil resisters neutralize the Vichyist XIXth Army Corps and the Vichyist generals (Juin, Darlan, etc.), thus allowing the immediate success of Operation Torch in Algiers, and ultimately the whole of
French North Africa.
German forces of the 6th Army under general Friedrich Paulus reach finally the river bank of the Volga, capturing 90% of the ruined city of Stalingrad and splitting the remaining Soviet forces into two narrow pockets.
U.S. serviceman
Edward Leonski is hanged at Melbourne's Pentridge Prison, for the "Brown-Out" murders of three women in May.
November 11 – The
Turkish parliament passes the
Varlık Vergisi,[41] a capital tax mostly levied on non-Muslim citizens with the unofficial aim to inflict financial ruin on them and end their prominence in the country's economy.[42][43][44]
November 21 – The completion of the
Alaska Highway (also known as the Alcan Highway) is celebrated (however, the "
highway" is not usable by general vehicles until
1943).
A
U-boat sinks the
SS Benlomond off the coast of Brazil. One crewman, Chinese second steward
Poon Lim, is separated from the others and spends 130 days adrift, until he is rescued on
April 3,
1943.
Legislation approves the
United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve, to help fill jobs and free men to serve during the war effort. They are known as the
SPARS ("Semper Paratus, Always Ready!")
December 20 – WWII:
First Arakan Campaign: Allied forces begin a counter-offensive into
Burma. During the offensive, Japanese defenders occupying well-prepared positions repeatedly repulse the British and Indian forces.
An avalanche in
Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, kills 26, including Vulcan Crucible Steel heir-apparent Samuel A. Stafford Sr., when two 100 ton boulders fall on a bus filled with wartime steelworkers on their way home.
An airplane carrying prominent Ustashe general
Jure Francetić crashes. Francetić dies as a result of the injuries on
December 27.
December 24 – French
Admiral Darlan, the former
Vichy leader who has switched over to the Allies following the Torch landings, is assassinated in
Algiers.
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^USPTO.
"Patent 2,292,387 Full Text". United States Patent and Trademark Office. USPTO.
Archived from the original on January 10, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
^Milner, Marc (1985). North Atlantic Run. Naval Institute Press. pp. 159–163.
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^Muggenthaler, August Karl (1977). German Raiders of WWII. Prentice-Hall. pp. 241–242.
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^Angelucci, Enzo (1987). The American Fighter: the Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft from 1917 to the present. New York: Orion Books. p. 50.
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Turkey, the Jews, and the Holocaust. Cambridge University Press. p. 73.
ISBN978-0521769914.
Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023."After preliminary propaganda, the Turkish Parliament passed Law No. 4305, which introduced the Varlık Vergisi, on November 11, 1942."
^Çetinoğlu, Sait (2012). "The Mechanisms for Terrorizing Minorities: The Capital Tax and Work Battalions in Turkey during the Second World War". Mediterranean Quarterly. Vol. 23. DUKE University Press. p. 14.
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S2CID154339814."The aim was to destroy the economic and cultural base of these minorities, loot their properties and means of livelihood, and, at the same time "turkify" the economy of Turkey."
^Guttstadt, Corry (May 2013).
Turkey, the Jews, and the Holocaust. Cambridge University Press. p. 76.
ISBN978-0521769914.
Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023."... We will use it to eliminate the foreigners who control the market and hand the Turkish market over the Turks." "The foreigners to be eliminated" referred primarily to the non-Muslims citizens of Turkey."
^Blair, Clay (1998). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942–1945. Random House. pp. 118–120.
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^Gill, G. Hermon (1968). Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945, pp. 244–245. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy: Volume II. Canberra: Australian War Memorial.
OCLC65475.
^Richard D. Schupbach (1991).
Stanford Slavic Studies. Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Stanford University. p. 406.
ISBN9780926953062.
Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2021.