WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO DECEMBER 1942
Find out what all happened January to December 1942

World War II: Australian and US forces inflict a significant defeat upon the Japanese at the Battle of Milne Bay. (7. September 1942)

World War II: The Japanese capture Kuala Lumpur. (11. January 1942)

World War II: First use of an aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter. (13. January 1942)

World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River. (6. October 1942)

The Bombing of Lübeck in World War II is the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city. (29. March 1942)

World War II: The Battle of Guadalcanal ends in a decisive Allied victory. (15. November 1942)

The Union of Pioneers of Yugoslavia is founded. (27. December 1942)

World War II: Nazi Germany started its strategic summer offensive against the Soviet Union, codenamed Case Blue (28. June 1942)

The first gold record is presented to Glenn Miller for "Chattanooga Choo Choo". (10. February 1942)

The George Cross is awarded to "to the island fortress of Malta – its people and defenders" by King George VI. (15. April 1942)

World War II: Nazi Germany completes its occupation of France. (11. November 1942)

World War II: The first female prisoners arrive at Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. (26. March 1942)

World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy launches a carrier-based air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean Raid. Port and civilian facilities are damaged and the Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island. (5. April 1942)

World War II: Tobruk falls to Italian and German forces. (21. June 1942)

World War II: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war. (9. February 1942)

The B-29 Superfortress makes its maiden flight. (21. September 1942)

World War II: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal – U.S. and Japanese ships engage in an intense, close-quarters surface naval engagement during the Battle of Guadalcanal. (13. November 1942)

World War II: The Imperial Japanese Army begins the systematic extermination of perceived hostile elements among the Chinese in Singapore. (18. February 1942)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) convicts 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history—the Duquesne Spy Ring. (2. January 1942)

World War II: The Battle of Midway begins. The Japanese Admiral Chuichi Nagumo orders a strike on Midway Island by much of the Imperial Japanese navy. (4. June 1942)