|
|
Compiled By David Wolf
I compiled this timeline from a variety of sources including Hero Games excelant WWII Suplement "Golden Age of Champions" as well as a several internet resources including the Gearkrieg webpage. If you haven't already seen them please check them out, they're well worth the read.Index
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1931
Sept.18 Japanese begin conquest of Manchuria.
"Nothing but rumors... unfounded rumors, told
by uneducated peasants. It is my firm opinion that they just saw a tank
for the first time. I remember in the Great War...
(General Mott quoted by the London Times. June
17, 1937).
July 7 Marco Polo Bridge incident near Peiping
sets off Sino Japanese War.
Dec.12 Japanese planes sink United States
gunboat Panay in Yangtze River.
Dec.13 Japanese sack Nanking.
June Superman makes his debut in Action Comics, No.1.
Sept 29 The Munich Conference, Czechoslovakia's Sudentland ceded to Germany. According to Neville Chamberlain the Munich agreement means "peace in our time."
The PzG 1 B enters final testing in Germany's annexation of Czechoslovakia.
Oct 31 Halloween: Misinterpreting the radio play "The War of the Worlds" as the real thing, thousands panic as Orson Wells describes an invasion from Mars.
Nov 9 Kristallnacht night of Broken Glass) The assassination of German Envoy in Paris is used as an excuse by Nazis to burn and loot Jewish shops and synagogues. Germany also starts placing Jews in Concentration camps and fines them $400,000,000.
Dec 8 The German aircraft carrier, Graf Zeppelin, is launched (it is never finished, however). A 2nd carrier, Peter Stasser, is planned.
PzG 1 B is used in the invasion of Poland where it encounters difficulty with the faster horse cavalry. PzG 11 enters development to solve the problems of the PzG 1. The world gets its first look at the Panzerganger from the German newsreels on the invasion.
Sept 3 England and France declare war on Germany.
Sept 5 President Roosevelt declares US neutrality.
Sept 6 The Prussian Eagle leads first air attack
on Britain.
Sept 10 Canada declares war on Germany.
Sept11 Great Britain
sends expeditionary force to France (the superheroes are held back for
home defense).
Sept 17 USSR invades
Poland.
Sept24 US starts
"Cash and Carry" program to trade with warring nations.
Sept27 Poland Surrenders
to USSR.
Sept28 Germany
and USSR divide Poland between themselves.
Oct. 6 Last organized Polish resistance
is broken at Kock
Oct 24 Airship ZR 3, the USS Los Angeles is stricken
from the Navy lists and dismantling starts.
Nov 8 Assassination attempt on Hitler fails.
Nov 9 Betts and Stevens (MI 6 agents in Netherlands,
in charge of spy ring in Germany) are lured to a Dutch town on the border
of Germany for a meeting with an alleged Nazi turn coat. They get snatched
and dragged into Germany and are implicated in the assassination attempt
on Hitler. They spend the rest of the war in jail. British spy operations
ground to a halt and they must start over and rebuild operations from scratch.
Nov30 USSR invades
Finland.
Dec 17 Germans scuttle Battleship Graf Spee off
Montevideo, Uruguay after battling with British cruisers.
POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC DEVELOPMENTS OF THE WAR AND POSTWAR PERIODS
March 15 Hitler occupies rest of Czechoslovakia.
March 28 Insurgent forces complete conquest
of Spain.
April 7 Mussolini invades Albania.
Aug.23 Germany and the USSR sign non-aggression
pact.
Sept. 3 Great Britain and France declare
war on Germany.
Sept.28 Germany and the USSR revise non-aggression
pact.
Jan 12 1st German air raid on London.
Mar 12 Finland
signs treaty with USSR ceding Karelian Isthmus and other territory.
April 9 Denmark and Norway fall to Nazi forced under Teuton, the Ubermensch (Blitzen, Donner, Loge, Fels, Der Schrecken, and Muse), and Atlan, a Danish hero, is killed. First use of Supers militarily, the governments of the world are shocked as new reel footage is "leaked" to the allies.
May 5 King Haakon VII escapes Norway for
England.
May 10 German mecha
walk through "impassible" Ardennes forest. Germans invade Holland, Belgium
and Luxembourg. Invasion of France begins.
May 11 British
Prime Minister Chamberlain resigns and is replaced by Winston Churchill.
May 13 Igor Sikorsky
makes 1St US helicopter free flight in his VS 300 at Statford, Connecticut.
May 15 Holland surrenders
to Germany and Queen escapes to England.
May 28 Begian army surrenders. King Leopold III remains as a German prisoner.
June 4 Germans occupy Dunkirk following the largest organized route in history. About 1200 Allied naval and civilian craft managed to rescue 338,266 British and French military personnel when they were forced to abandon the European continent to the Germans. The British Silver Sword falls at the evacuation of Dunkirk while covering withdrawal of the forces. A monument in his honor is constructed in London.
June 10 Italy enters war
on Germany's side.
June 13 French forces
manage to capture a damaged PzG 1.
June 14 German mecha
overwhelm what's left of French forces. France falls. Germans occupy Paris.
French government moves to Bordeaux.
June 16 General Petain
forms new French government to make peace with Germany.
June 18 General De Gaul
forms free French government in exile in England.
June 22 French/German Armistice is signed. Nazi troops occupy three fifth of France. Nationalistic French super heroes escape to England and the US rather than become Nazi puppets. Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, and Jongleur begin working undercover for the French Resistance. British engineers get the salvaged PzG 1 and begin reverse engineering it with French and American scientists in London.
June 24 Marshal Petain moves his government to Vichy, France.
June 28 Alien Registration Act passes. All Aliens age 14 and above must report for registration and finger printing with government officials and their families being exempted. Over 5 million eventually register.
July 3 British destroy French fleet at Oran to prevent it from falling to Germany. France severs diplomatic ties.
July 16 Hitler orders preparations for Operation Seelowe( Sea Lion) the anticipated German invasion of England. The Battle of Britain Starts as German planes strike in preparation for the invasion.
July 30 Germans occupy England's Channel Islands (Alderney, Guernsey, Jersey and Sark.)
Aug 3 Italians begin African campaign against the British.
Aug 25 British begin massive bombing campaign over German capital, Berlin.
Sept 3 US trades 50 WW1 destroyers to England for Navy bases in the Caribbean.
Sept 7 Britain withers under the Blitz, Government moved from London to Aberdeen, Scotland.
Sept 20 Tide turns in the battle of Britain, as the Black Fox, a British super agent, goes on a suicide run against French based bomber bases; destroying several before he is killed. U boat blockade of England is strengthened.
Sept 27 Tripartite Pact signed forming the German, Italian, Japanese Axis. Axis agreement divides the world into spheres of influence as follows: Europe to Germany, the Mediterranean to Italy, and the Orient4o Japan.
Oct 12 Operation Sea Lion, the planned German invasion of England, is called off.
Oct 16 All US men, age 21-35, required to register for military draft. Actual selection begins in two weeks.
Oct23 Hitler fails to convince Franco to let German troops march through Spain to attack English at Gibralter.
Oct 24 Hitler fails to convince Vichy France to ally with Germany.
Oct 28 Italians invade Greece. Greek heroes Marathon and Nike battle Italian heroes Veltro and Decurian for the first time.
Dec 12 Germany unveils "Himmelstutzpunkten" (skybases): giant Zeppelins that can launch fighters and bombers while in the air.
March 12 Finland capitulates, signing Treaty
of Moscow.
April 9 Germans begin invasion of
Norway and seize Denmark.
April 14 Anglo French forces reach
Norway.
May 2 Anglo French forces are driven
from central Norway.
May 10 Germans invade the Netherlands,
Belgium, and Luxembourg.
May 14 Dutch Army surrenders.
May 20 Germans break through to English
Channel at Abbeville.
May 28 Belgium surrenders unconditionally.
June 4 British complete evacuation of Dunkerque.
June 8 Allies leave Narvik.
June 9 Norwegian Army agrees to armistice.
June 14 Germans enter Paris.
June 22 German French armistice is signed
(fighting ends June 25 after signature of Italo French armistice June 24).
July 3 British attack French Fleet at Oran
and Mers el Kebir.
July 10 Battle of Britain begins.
Aug. 5 Italians invade British Somaliland
(conquest is completed Aug.19).
Sept.13 Italians invade Egypt.
Sept.23 British and Free French attempt
unsuccessfully to take Dakar (attack ends Sept.25).
Oct.28 Mussolini invades Greece.
Oct.31 Germans begin breaking off Battle
of Britain.
Dec. 9 Gen. Sir Archibald Wavell launches
British counter-offensive in Egypt.
POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC DEVELOPMENTS OF THE WAR AND POSTWAR PERIODS
March 12 Finland capitulates, signing Treaty
of Moscow.
May 10 Winston Churchill becomes prime
minister of Great Britain.
June 10 Italy declares war on France and
Great Britain (effective June 11).
June 15 The USSR begins seizure
of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia (ends Aug. 6).
June 22 German French armistice is signed
(fighting ends June 25 after signature of Italo French armistice June24).
June 28 USSR seizes Bessarabia and northern
Bucovina.
July 25 United States begins embargo on
shipment of strategic materials to Japan.
Sept. 3 United States trades 50 destroyers
for naval base sites in British possessions.
Sept.16 President Roosevelt signs first
American peacetime Selective Service Act.
Sept.22 Japanese begin occupation of northern
French Indochina.
Sept.26 United States imposes total embargo
on scrap shipments to Japan.
Sept.27 Japan joins Axis (Tripartite Pact).
Nov.20 Hungary joins Axis.
Nov.22 Romania joins Axis.
Capt. America makes his debut in Capt. America Comics #1.
Mar Although officially still neutral, the US seizes Axis ships in US ports. Several heroes battle with Kreigsmariner to prevent Axis ships from leaving US ports.
Mar 1 Bulgaria joins Axis powers.
Mar 11 Lend Lease act passes enabling FDR to:
"Sell, transfer, exchange, lend, lease, or otherwise dispose of defense
materials for the government of any country whose defense the President
deems vital to the defense of the US. Several US super heroes volunteer
for "Lend Lease" to help Britain combat the Axis super villains.
Mar 31 General Rommel, "the Desert Fox", takes control of German and Italian troops in a new African Offensive. Rommel, with his Afrika Mecha Corps (Made up of PzG il's), decimate allied resistance in N.Africa.
Apr 6 Germany invades Greece and Yugoslavia.
Apr 17 Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
Apr21 Greece surrenders to Germany. Greek heroes go undergroung.
May 11 Rudolf Hess, the 3rd ranking member of the German Nazi government, is captured after parachuting into Scotland in an attempt to deal for peace between England and Germany.
May 20 Germans occupy Creete.
May 22 US seizes Portuguese Azores islands to prevent them from falling into German hands.
May 24 The HMS Hood is destroyed by the Inner Cadre while pursuing the Bismarck.
33 Abwehr agents are arrested in US. Considered the biggest spy round up in US history and the biggest disaster for the Germans.
June 20 US Army Air Corps becomes US Army Air Force (USAAF)
June 22 After his success in Africa, Rommel and his mecha are sent to lead the invasion of USSR, breaking the non aggression pact. US "Lend Lease" super heroes already in Britain volunteer to help USSR combat the Axis super villains.
July FDR forms office of COI "(Coordinator of Information) predecessor of the OSS Ground breaking ceremony for the Pentagon Building, in Washington DC. At the time it is the largest office building in the world. Nazi super agent attempting to place time bomb in foundation of Pentagon are stopped by US supers.
July 12 British sign pact with USSR.
July 16 US occupies Iceland. Germans capture Smolensk.
Aug 14 Aboard a US Cruiser in Argentina Bay, Churchill and Roosevelt sign Atlantic Charter and agree to take care of Germany first.
Aug28 Germans occupy Baltic states.
Sept 19 Kiev falls
to Nazis.
Oct 16 USSR government flees Moscow for Kuibyshev.
German ally, Rumania, occupies Odessa.
Oct 24 Germans take Kharkov.
Oct 31 Although not at war, US destroyer Reuben James is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine.
Nov 15 Russian and
lend lease super heroes help beat back the Nazis at the gates of Moscow.
First battlefield appearance of the Collective Star, Bolshoi, Red Knight
and Mikhail.
Nov 18 British begin counteroffensive in Libya.
Dec Wonder Woman makes her debut in All Star
Comics #8.
Dec 7 Pearl Harbor and Hawaii attacked by Japanese
mecha, aircraft, and supers. Only the presence of Capt. Freedom prevents
the invasion from succeeding. US loses S battleships, 2 cruisers, 1 destroyer,
several smaller craft, and severely damage 3 other battleships. All most
all US air power destroyed on the ground.
America enters the war.
Hitler issues Night and Fog Decree ~act und Nebel
Erlass) to suppress anti Nazi activities in Europe. Suspects were rounded
up in the middle of the night by the Gestapo never to be seen again (they
were usually secretly executed.
Dec 8 US declares war on Japan.
Dec 10 Japanese invade Philippines and Guam.
German and Italian supers cease embassy based operations in the US and quickly go underground.
Dec 11 Germany and Italy declare war on US, who return the compliment.
First major battle on US mainland between US and
German/Italian superbeings following surprise attack bombing of several
super hero headquarters.
Dec 12 The Wolfman movie debuts.
Dec 14 The Germans fail in their attempt to capture
Moscow.
Dec 15 Argentina joins the Axis.
Dec 17 German and Italian troops retreat from
Libya.
Dec 22 Prime Minister Winston Churchill of England visits Canada, then US to affirm "Germany First" strategy and issue United Nations Declaration. Axis Ubermensch make two kidnapping attempt: Vs Churchill in Canada and Vs Churchill and FDR in Washington. US supers intervene.
Dec 25 Hong Kong surrenders to Japanese invaders led by Golden Samurai.
With Rommel gone, the Allies counter attack in North Africa. They begin the long drive toward Tripoli. First use of lend lease mecha ~ew allied Mecha).
Feb. 7 Trapped Italian army surrenders to
British at Bedafomm, Libya.
Feb.12 Gen. Erwin Romel arrives in Tripoli
to take over North African campaign for Axis.
March 1 Italians finally check Greek counteroffensive.
March 5 British forces reach Greek mainland.
March 16 British land at Berbera, British
Somaliland.
March24 Axis forces launch offensive in
North Africa (Tobruk is invested by April 11).
April 6 Axis forces invade Yugoslavia and
Greece; British occupy Addis Ababa.
April 17 Yugoslav Army capitulates; British
begin evacuating Greek mainland.
April 30 Organized resistance ends on Greek
mainland.
May 2 British attack insurgents in Iraq
(campaign ends May 31 with occupation of Baghdad).
May 20 Germans begin airborne attack on
Crete.
May 31 Germans complete conquest of Crete.
June 8 British attack Vichy French forces
in Syria, defeating them in six days.
June 22 Hitler invades the USSR.
Aug.21 Hitler turns German main effort
southward toward Kiev.
Sept. 8 Leningrad's land connections with
rest of the USSR are severed.
Sept.19 Kiev is captured.
Nov.18 British begin second invasion of
Libya.
Nov.20 Germans capture Rostov.
Nov.27 Conquest of Italian East Africa
is completed with surrender of Gondar.
Nov.28 Germans are forced to evacuate Rostov.
Dec. 5 German offensive stalls 25 miles
from Moscow.
Dec. 6 Russians launch counteroffensive.
Dec. 7 Rommel begins withdrawal to El Agheila.
Dec.10 British advance in Libya relieves
Tobruk.
Dec.24 British enter Benghazi.
PACIFIC AND EASTERN ASIAN OPERATIONS
Nov.26 Pearl Harbor striking force sails
from Kuril Islands.
Dec. 7 Japanese carrier aircraft attack
United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and nearby Army air bases;
Japanese destroyers bombard Midway Island.
Dec. 8 Japanese planes raid American air
bases in Philippines; Japanese invade Thailand and Malaya; seize Shanghai
International Settlement; attack mainland territories of Hong Kong; bombard
Wake and Guam.
Dec. 9 Japanese invade Gilbert Islands.
Dec.10 Japanese seize Guam and begin landings
on Luzon; British warships Repulse and Prince of Wales are sunk off Malaya.
Dec.11 Attempt by Japanese to seize Wake
Island is repulsed; Japanese begin invasion of Burma.
Dec.13 Japanese force British to withdraw
from mainland to Hong Kong Island.
Dec.16 Japanese invade British Borneo and
Burma.
Dec.18 Japanese invade Hong Kong Island.
Dec.20 Japanese land near Davao, Mindanao,
Philippines.
Dec.22 Japanese make major landing at Lingayen
Gulf, Luzon, Philippines; Chiang Kai shek offers Chinese troops for defense
of Burma; first American troops reach Australia.
Dec.23 Japanese overrun Wake Island; Gen.
Douglas MacArthur decides to withdraw into Bataan Peninsula, Luzon.
Dec.25 Japanese complete conquest of Hong
Kong.
POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC DEVELOPMENTS OF THE WAR AND POSTWAR PERIODS
March 1 Bulgaria joins Axis.
March 11 Congress passes Lend Lease Act.
March25 Yugoslavia joins Axis.
March26, 27 Anti Axis coup d'etat takes place
in Yugoslavia.
April 13 Japan and the USSR sign neutrality
pact.
May 27 Roosevelt proclaims unlimited national
emergency.
June 14 German and Italian assets in the
United States are frozen.
June 22 Germany, Italy, and Romania declare
war on the USSR.
June 26 Finland declares war on the USSR.
June 27 Hungary declares war on the USSR.
July 23 Japan occupies southern Indochina.
July 25 Japanese assets in the United States
are frozen.
Aug.14 Roosevelt and Churchill issue Atlantic
Charter.
Sept.17 British and Soviet troops occupy
Teheran, Iran.
Dec. 8 Japan declares war on the United
States and Great Britain; the United States and Great Britain declare war
on Japan.
Dec. 9 China declares war on Japan, Germany,
and Italy.
Dec.11 Germany and Italy declare war on
the United States, which then declares war on them.
Dec.24 British American Arcadia conferences
open in Washington (end Jan.14, 1942).
Jan 1 UN Declaration Signed by US, UK, USSR, and 22 other countries (and later signed by 20 more). It pledged a united front against the Axis powers.
Jan 2 Manila, capitol of the Philippines, falls
to Japan. Although ordered to return to the US, some heroes stay behind
in the Philippines long enough to cover retreat of a hospital ship.
Jan 5 Rubber rationed in US.
Jan 13 Operation Paukenschlag (Drum beat): Germans place S U boats off US coast with orders to sink US shipping and mine US harbors.
Jan 16 Actress Carol Lombard (wife of actor Clark
Gable) dies in a plane crash on way to US War Bond Drive.
Feb 2 Automobiles rationed in US
Feb 9 In NY harbor, the largest and most luxurious
ship afloat, the French ocean liner Normandy (rechristened USS Lafayette)
burns and capsizes from fire caused by Nazi's sabotage. Huge super combat
occurs. 1st appearance of US super team Strikeforce A (AKA the Psycho Squad)
Lucifer, Sgt. Strike, Hunter, and Gadgeteer get their mugs in the paper.
Feb 13 Japanese supers, based on submarine cruiser
117 off the US West Coast, start series of raids against American industrial
targets.
Feb 16 US requires 20 40 year olds and all Supers to register for the draft.
Feb 18 Free French submarine cruiser Surcouf accidentally rammed by US freighter in Gulf of Mexico and sunk.
Feb 19 FDR signs Executive Order no.9066. 112000 Issei (Japanese Americans) and Nisei (2nd generation Japanese Americans) are forcibly taken from a 150 mile wide strip of the US West Coast and placed in internment camp (Initially 5000 German and Italian Americans are also rounded up but most were released within the year). By the end of the war, about 55000 Japanese Americans were allowed to leave the camps for jobs or college (away from the west coast) or the armed services.
Feb 25 Race riots start in Detroit over housing of Black Americans in Polish American neighborhoods. Numbers of Black and White superhero squads work together with State militia in stopping riots.
Mar 18 US and Canada complete the Alaska Canadian (Alcan) Highway linking Alaska to the mainland US by road.
Apr 9 Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines falls to Japanese. 12000 US and 64000 Filipino troops are force marched 85 miles, May 6 then packed in freight cars and sent by rail to prison camps. 24000 die en route.
Apr 18 Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle leads 16 B 25 bombers off the deck of the aircraft carrier Hornet on an air raid of Tokyo, Japan. One of Doolittle's B 25's contains a Government sponsored super hero raiding party bent on ruining the Master's day. While doing little physical damage, it boosts US morale.
May 4, 8 Battle of the Coral Sea. The United States'
Fleet suffers heavy losses, loosing the carrier Lexington, an oiler and
a destroyer, but is victorious.
May 6 Last US stronghold on the Philippines, the island fortress of Corrigidor, falls to Japan.
Sugar is rationed in US (1/2 lb. Per person per week).
May 8 Liberty League's 1St mission is Vs Nazi spy ring in Connecticut.
May 15 Gas and bicycles are rationed.
June CIO becomes OSS(forerunner of the postwar CIA).
Jun 3 6 After a fierce battle, Midway island lost to the Japanese. Elements of the Japanese army attack and occupy the Aleutian Islands. Approximately one half of the American Fleet is out of action by this point.
Der Stepenwolf steps up US Abwehr activity.
Jun 3 US declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary and
Rumania.
June 7 The GI newspaper "Yank" starts publication.
Jun 20 Japanese submarine I 26 shells a wireless station on Estewan Point, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Jun 21 British garrison at Tobruk in N. Africa surrender to German and Italian forces. Japanese submarine I 25 shells Ft. Stevens, Oregon (1St naval bombardment of a US military base in the US by a foreign power since the war of 1812).
June26 Germany, launching
modified JU 88's from a Zeppelin, bomb Baltimore. The "High War"over the
Atlantic begins between carrier fighters and the elusive Zeppelins.
Jul 2 German and Rumanian troops capture Sevastopol.
Jul 22 Gasoline rationing coupons are issued.
Public ID superheroes with automobiles are issued X cards allowing unlimited
gasoline.
Jul 25-27 Churchill meets FDR in Washington to
discuss strategy.
FBI announces the capture of 8 Nazi saboteurs
who were delivered to the US by U boat. Within 2 weeks, 6 are executed
by electrocution and 2 receive life sentences for giving information. American
and Axis supers slug it out over other saboteurs drops off Long Island,
New York and Florida.
Aug 7 US Marines retake Guadadalcanal from the
Japanese.
Aug 9 Japan wins battle of Savo Island. The US
loses 3 cruisers, and one more and two destroyers are badly mauled. Australia
also loses a cruiser.
Aug 10 German troops reach oil fields in Caucasus.
Aug 12 Churchill meets with Stalin in Moscow.
Aug 16 US Navy Blimp
L 8 crash lands in Daley City, CA. Several hours after leaving on a routine
patrol from Treasure Island. Its engines are shut off and its two man crew
are missing.
Aug 17 B 17 bombers make 1st US air strike over
Europe against rail yards in Rouen, France.
Aug 20 US invasion fleet lands on Guadalcanal,
the first real American offensive begins.
Sept 9 Japanese submarine cruiser 1 25 launches seaplane to bomb Oregon's forests in hopes of starting massive forest fires.
Sept 10 After a
fierce battle, the drive towards Stalingrad ends in a costly German defeat.
Soviets manage to capture several PzG ill's in Stalingrad. Stalin orders
the development of an entirely Soviet Gear to end reliance on American
Lend Lease Gears. Soviets field two more new team of supers made up of
survivors of the horrific battle at Leningrad.
Sept 15 Cruiser USS Juneau sunk with the loss
of 676 men.
Farm machines are rationed.
Sept 29 Japanese submarine cruiser I 25 once again launches seaplane to bomb Oregon's forests in hopes of starting massive forest fires.
Oct 2 1st US jet plane, the Bell XP 59A is test flown at Edwards Airforce Bases in CA. West Coast super group prevents Japanazis saboteurs from stealing Bell XP 59A.
Oct 18 Hitler issues "Commando Order". Henceforth,
all British commandos and Allied meta humans and parachutists are to be
immediately executed whether in uniform or not.
Oct 22 Fuel oil rationed in US.
Oct 23 General Montgomery's British troops make
headway Vs German and Italian troops in N. Africa.
Oct 31 Stalingrad falls to Germans.
Nov 4 Rommel recalled to Africa too late, El Alamein falls. American and British forces take the rest of N. Africa by May 1943.
Nov 8 US troops enter Algeria and Morocco in N. Africa.
Nov 11 Germans occupy remaining French territory (except Toulon).
Nov 13-14 US and Japanese forces battle again at Guadalcanal.
Nov 22 German 6th army is surrounded and trapped in Stalingrad. They try establishing and air corridor for supplies.
Nov 27 Toulon is
captured by Germans but the French naval squadron there is sunk.
Nov 29 Coffee is rationed in the US.
Nov 30 Popular Boston night club, the Coconut Grove, catches fire. 484 of 800 patrons die in the hour it takes to put the blaze out. Disaster leads to laws requiring nightclubs to have fireproof fixtures, sprinkler systems, exit markers, and workable emergency exits.
Superheroes battle Japanese cruiser class submarines
I 400, I 401, 113, and 114: their compliment of six bombers and two reconnaissance
planes; and several Axis Supers in raid against Campaign City.
Dec 18 Oil and coat stoves are rationed.
Dec 22 The movie debut of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (all of Universal's Sherlock Holmes movies were set during the war, so Prof. Moriarty became a Nazi agent).
Jan. 2 British capture bypassed fortress
of Bardia, Libya.
Jan.11 Rommel withdraws westward toward
El Agheila.
Jan.17 British reduce bypassed German garrison
of Halfaya.
Jan.20 Russians recapture Mozhaisk, 65
miles west southwest of Moscow.
Jan.21 Rommel launches major counteroffensive.
Jan.26 First United States troops arrive
in Northern Ireland.
Jan.28 British Eighth Army withdraws to
El Gazala Bir Hacheim Line.
Feb. 1 Soviet counteroffensive begins to
bog down in German hedgehog defense system.
Feb.12 German warships Scharnhors4 Gneisenau,
and Prinz Eugen escape from Brest and run up English Channel to German
ports.
March27 British carry out successflil raid against
St. Nazaire, France.
May 8 Germans begin minor operations to
prepare for summer offensive in the USSR.
May 12 Russians launch large scale spoiling
offensive against Kharkov.
May 17 Germans counterattack in Kharkov
sector.
May 27 Rommel launches major offensive
against El Gazala Bir Hacheim line.
May 28 Germans complete defeat of Soviet
Kharkov offensive.
May 30 Royal Air Force begins major air
offensive against Germany with heavy raid on Cologne.
June 10 Rommel forces evacuation of Bir
Hacheim.
June 14 British withdraw toward Egypt.
June 20 Rommel breaks into Tobruk, completing
its capture June 21.
June 24 Rommel reaches Sidi Barrani, Egypt.
June 28 Germans launch main summer offensive
in the USSR.
June 30 British are forced back on prepared
positions at El Alamein.
July 1 Germans complete capture of Sevastopol.
July 2 British Eighth Army begins limited
counterattacks against Axis forces in Egypt.
July 4 American crews participate in Royal
Air Force raid on airfields in the Netherlands, in the first United States
air operation in Europe.
July 6 Germans capture Voronezli, near
Don River.
July 9 German offensive in the USSR divides,
one army group advancing through Rostov into the Caucasus oilfields and
the other toward Stalingrad.
July 23 Germans capture Rostov.
Aug. 9 Germans penetrate northern foothills
of the Caucasus.
Aug.19 British and Canadians, accompanied
by small detachment of United States Rangers, make amphibious raid on Dieppe,
France.
Aug.31 Axis forces attack El Alamein position
(Battle of Alam el Halfa).
Sept. 7 Lt. Gen. Bernard Law halts British
counterattack at Alam el Halfa; begins elaborate preparations for major
counteroffensive.
Sept.16 Germans penetrate Stalingrad suburbs.
Oct.23 British Eighth Army opens El Alamein
offensive.
Nov. 1 Heavy fighting continues in Stalingrad
and the Caucasus; Russians are gradually wearing down German offensive.
Nov. 5 Axis troops withdraw from El Alamein
area.
Nov. 8 British and Americans land in Morocco
and Algeria.
Nov. 9 German troops begin occupying Tunisia.
Nov.10 Adm. Jean Francois Darlan orders
French forces in North Africa to cease resistance to' Allied invasion.
Nov.11 Eighth Army's pursuit crosses Egyptian
frontier into Libya, taking Bardia; Axis troops move into unoccupied France.
Nov.19 Russians begin offensive in Stalingrad
area.
Nov.22 Converging Soviet attacks cut off
German Sixth Army around Stalingrad.
Nov.27 French warships in Toulon harbor
are scuttled to prevent seizure by Germans.
Nov.30 Determined German resistance halts
Allied invasion of Tunisia.
Dec.12 Germans counterattack to relieve
Sixth Army at Stalingrad.
Dec.16 Soviet offensive against Italian
Eighth Army on middle Don River forces abandonment of effort to relieve
Stalingrad.
Dec.24 Lt. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, commanding
Allied forces in North Africa, decides to postpone Tunisian offensive until
end of rainy season.
PACIFIC AND EASTERN ASIAN OPERATIONS
Jan. 7 American and Philippine forces complete
withdrawal into Bataan Peninsula.
Jan.11 Japanese begin invasion of Netherlands
East Indies.
Jan.20 Japanese begin major offensive in
Burma.
Jan.22 MacArthur orders withdrawal to final
Bataan defensive position.
Jan.23 Japanese make amphibious landings
behind American Philippine positions on Bataan, but are contained; seize
Rabaul, New Britain; and land on New Ireland and Solomon Islands.
Jan.24 United States destroyers raid Japanese
shipping off Balikpapan, Borneo (Battle of Makassar Strait).
Jan.26 Withdrawal to final Bataan defensive
position is successfully completed.
Jan.27 British forces in Malaya begin withdrawal
to Singapore Island.
Jan.31 British complete withdrawal to Singapore
Island.
Feb. 1 United States Pacific Fleet attacks
Japanese bases in Marshall and Gilbert Islands.
Feb. 2 Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell is appointed
chief of staff to Chiang Kai shek.
Feb. 4 Dutch United States naval force
is badly damaged by Japanese aircraft in Madoera Strait, Netherlands East
Indies.
Feb. 8 Japanese forces break off Batam
attacks to reorganize for fliture decisive offensive; Japanese gain foothold
on Singapore Island.
Feb.14 Japanese paratroopers seize Palembang
area, Sumatra.
Feb.15 Singapore surrenders unconditionally.
Feb.18 Japanese seize Bali, isolating Java.
Feb.19 Darwin, Australia, is badly damaged
by massive Japanese air attacks.
Feb.22 President Franklin D. Roosevelt
orders MacArthur to leave Philippines.
Feb.23 British in Burma are forced back
across Sittang River; Japanese submarine shells refinery near Santa Barbara,
Calif.
Feb.27 Allied naval forces are decisively
defeated during attack on Japanese convoy (Battle of the Java Sea).
Feb.28 Japanese invade Java.
March 7 British evacuate Rangoon, Burma.
March 7,8 Japanese land on New Guinea.
March 9 Dutch forces surrender to Japanese
on Java.
March 11 MacArthur, family, and staff leave
Bataan (reach Darwin March 17).
March24 Japanese begin heavy air and artillery
bombardment of Bataan and Corregidor.
April 3 Japanese launch major offensive
against Bataan.
April 4 Japanese carrier task force begins
large scale raid into Indian Ocean, attacking Colombo and
Trincomalee, Ceylon, during following week.
April 9 American Philippine forces on Bataan
surrender; Japanese concentrate planes and artillery against Corregidor.
April 18 MacArthur assumes command of Southwest
Pacific area; Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle leads air raid on
Tokyo.
April 29 Japanese seize Lashio, southern
terminus of Burma Road.
May 3 Japanese occupy Tulagi, Solomon Islands.
May 4 United States carrier planes raid
Tulagi.
May S British invade Madagascar; Japanese
make assault landing on Corregidor.
May 6 Lt. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright surrenders
all forces in Philippines unconditionally.
May 7 Battle of the Coral Sea begins (ends
May 8).
May 10 American Philippine forces in Mindanao,
Palawan, and Visayan Islands begin surrendering (Process is completed June
9).
May 20 Japanese complete conquest of Burma.
June 3 American aircraft from Midway locate
main Japanese fleet approaching that island.
June 4 Japanese are decisively defeated
in Battle of Midway (')ursuit continues into June 6).
June 6 ,7 Japanese land troops on Aleutian
islands of Attu and Kiska.
July 2 Joint Chiefs of Staff order recovery
of New Britain New Ireland New Guinea area, beginning with occupation of
lower Solomon Islands.
July 22 Japanese land at Gona and Buna,
New Guinea, for overland advance against Port Moresby.
Aug. 7 United States Marines begin landing
on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
Aug. 8 ,9 Japanese naval task force inflicts
serious losses on Allied fleet off Guadalcanal (Battle of Savo Island);
Allied naval forces retire from Guadalcanal area.
Aug.21 First Japanese assault on Henderson
Field, Guadalcanal, is repulsed.
Aug.24 Uni