1942

Events

Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.

January

* 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".
* January 5 – WWII: Two prisoners, British officer Airey Neave and Dutch officer Anthony Luteyn, escape from Colditz Castle in Germany. After travelling for three days, they reach the Swiss border.
* January 7 – WWII:
** Battle of Slim River: Japanese forces of the 5th Division, supported by tanks, sweep through sixteen miles of British defenses, shattering the exhausted 11th Indian Division and inflicting some 3,000 casualties.
** Operation Typhoon, the German attempt to take Moscow, ends in failure.
* January 11 – WWII:
** Dutch East Indies campaign: Japan declares war on the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. Japanese forces invade Borneo and Celebes.
** Malayan Campaign: The Japanese capture Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the Federated Malay States.
* January 13
** Heinkel test pilot Helmut Schenk becomes the first person to escape from a stricken aircraft with an ejection seat.
** Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile that would be 30% lighter than a conventional car.
* January 14
** WWII: "Second Happy Time", the German submarine commanders' name for ''Operation Paukenschlag'' (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 16 – American film actress Carole Lombard and her mother are among all 22 killed aboard TWA Flight 3 when the Douglas DC-3 plane crashes into Potosi Mountain near Las Vegas while she is returning from a tour to promote the sale of war bonds.
* 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 19 – WWII:
** Japanese forces invade Burma.
** The following Commands of the United States Eighth Air Force are established: VIII Bomber Command initially at Langley Field in Virginia, and VIII Fighter Command at Selfridge Field in Michigan.
* January 20 – The Holocaust: Nazis at the Wannsee Conference in Berlin decide that the "Final Solution (''Endlösung'') to the Jewish problem" is deportations to extermination camps.
* January 21 – WWII: Erwin Rommel launches his new offensive in Cyrenaica.
* January 23 – WWII: The Battle of Rabaul begins. Before dawn, 5,000 troops of Japan's elite South Seas Detachment storm ashore at Rabaul. With control of the air and support from the guns of their own ships, the Japanese overwhelm the small Australian garrison, the majority is either killed or captured.
* January 25 – WWII:
** German forces under Erwin Rommel of Panzer Group Afrika reaches Msus. General Alfred Godwin-Austin orders the 4th Indian Division from the British 13th Corps to evacuate Benghazi.
** Thailand declares war on the United States and the United Kingdom.
* January 26 – WWII: The first American forces arrive in Europe, landing in Northern Ireland.
* January 31 – WWII: Malayan Campaign: The last organized Allied forces leave British Malaya, ending the 54-day campaign, and the Johor–Singapore Causeway is severed.

February

* February 1 – 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.
** The ''Kriegsmarine'' introduces the M4 (German Navy 4-rotor) Enigma machine for U-boat traffic, blinding Allied cryptanalysts to their radio signals for most of the year.
** The Command staff of the United States Eighth Air Force reaches England.
** Mao Zedong makes a speech on "Reform in Learning, the Party and Literature", starting the Yan'an Rectification Movement in the Chinese Communist Party.
* February 3 – WWII: Rommel suspends his offensive in Cyrenaica.
* February 7 – United States Maritime Commission fleet operations are transferred to the War Shipping Administration (lasting until September 1, 1946).
* February 8 – WWII:
** Battle of Singapore: Japanese forces of the 5th Division and 18th Division (some 23,000 men) begin to cross the Johor Strait and attack the Australian 22nd Brigade (some 3,000 men) at Singapore.
** Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war.
** António Óscar Carmona is elected president of Portugal.
** Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States.
* February 9 – The ocean liner 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.
* February 11– 13 – WWII: Operation Cerberus: A Kriegsmarine (German navy) squadron comprising the ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'', heavy cruiser ''Prinz Eugen'' and their escort, dash from Brest through the English Channel to German ports; the British fail to sink any of them.
* February 14– 18 – Battle of Bilin River: Indian forces of the 17th Division under General John Snyth are ordered to halt the Japanese advance but are outflanked and retreat to the Sittang River.
* February 14 – WWII:
** 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 , 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.
* February 15 – WWII: Fall of Singapore: Commonwealth forces under General Arthur Percival surrender to the Japanese 25th Army. About 80,000 British, Indian, Australian, and local troops become prisoners of war, joining the 50,000 soldiers taken in the Malayan campaign.
* February 16 – WWII: Bangka Island Massacre: Japanese soldiers machine-gun 22 Australian Army nurses and 60 Australian and British soldiers and crew who have survived the sinking of SS ''Vyner Brooke''.
* February 18 – WWII:
** Japanese occupation of Singapore: ''Sook Ching'' – Japanese forces begin the systematic extermination of perceived hostile elements among Chinese Singaporeans.
** More than 200 American sailors die in Newfoundland when runs aground near Chambers Cove and runs aground at Lawn Point.
* February 19 – WWII:
** 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.
** A returning Japanese fighter plane crashes on Melville Island (Australia) and its pilot, Hajime Toyoshima, becomes the first Japanese captured on Australian soil, when indigenous resident Matthias Ulungura takes him prisoner.
** President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, allowing the United States military to define areas as exclusionary zones. These zones affect the Japanese on the West Coast, and Germans and Italians primarily on the East Coast.
* 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) swam and ferried themselves over the Sittang River.
* February 20 – Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first U.S. Navy flying ace of the war.
* February 21 – WWII: Invasion of Sumatra: Japanese forces of the 38th Division under General Tadayoshi Sano capture Tanjungkarang airfield, which is put to work for air operations against Java.
* 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.
* February 23 – WWII: fires 17 high-explosive shells toward an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, causing little damage.
* February 24
** '' Struma'' disaster: , carrying Jewish refugees from Axis-allied Romania to British-administered Palestine, is torpedoed and sunk by , killing about 791 men, women, and children, with only 1 survivor.
** Propaganda: The Voice of America begins broadcasting.
** Internment of Japanese Canadians is ordered.
* 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.
* February 26 – The 14th Academy Awards ceremony is held in Los Angeles; '' How Green Was My Valley'' wins Best Picture.
* February 27 – WWII:
** 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

* March 1 – WWII: Japanese forces of the 2nd Division land in Port of Merak on western Java with the intention to advance on Batavia.
* 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 6 – WWII: Yugoslav Partisans, operating in Nazi-occupied Serbia, assassinate Đorđe Kosmajac in Belgrade.
* 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.
* March 8 – WWII: Japanese forces of the 33rd Division under General Shōzō Sakurai capture Rangoon. The Allies manage to escape and try to make a stand in central Burma.
* March 9 – WWII:
**Executive order 9082 (February 28, 1942) comes into effect, reorganizing the United States Army into three major commands: Army Ground Forces, Army Air Forces, and Services of Supply, later redesignated Army Service Forces, with Henry H. Arnold as Commanding General of the United States Army Air Forces.
** 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 11 – WWII: Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines – U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, his family and key members of his staff are evacuated by PT boat, under cover of evening darkness, from Corregidor in the Philippines. Command of U.S. forces in the Philippines passes to Major General Jonathan M. Wainwright.
* 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 17 – The Holocaust: Operation Reinhard – The Nazi German Bełżec extermination camp opens in occupied Poland, about 1 km south of the railroad station at Bełżec in the Lublin district of the General Government. At least 434,508 people are killed here up to December 1942.
* March 18 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, signs Executive Order 9102, creating the War Relocation Authority (WRA), which becomes responsible for the internment of Americans of Japanese and, to a lesser extent, German and Italian descent, many of them legal citizens.
* 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 20 – WWII: After being forced to flee the Philippines, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur announces (in Terowie, South Australia), "I came through and I shall return."
* March 22 – WWII: Second Battle of Sirte: Escorting warships of a British convoy to Malta ward off a much more powerful ''Regia Marina'' (Italian Navy) squadron, north of the Gulf of Sirte.
* March 23 – WWII: The Germans burn down the Ukrainian village of Yelino (Koriukivka Raion), killing 296 civilians.
* 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).
* March 25– 26 – The Holocaust: First mass transport of Jews to Auschwitz concentration camp, 997 women and girls from Poprad transit camp in the Slovak Republic.
* March 28 – WWII:
** St Nazaire Raid (Operation Chariot) – British Commandos raid Saint-Nazaire on the coast of Western France, to put its dockyard facilities out of action.
** Bombing of Lübeck in World War II: St. Mary's Church, Lübeck is destroyed by an Allied bombing raid.
* 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.
* March 31 – WWII: Battle of Christmas Island – Japanese troops occupy Christmas Island without resistance, following a mutiny by British Indian Army troops against their British officers.

April

* April
** The Holocaust: the Nazi German extermination camp Sobibór opens in occupied Poland, on the outskirts of the town of Sobibór. Between April 1942 and October 1943, at least 160,000 people are killed here.
** 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.
* April 3 – WWII: Japanese forces begin the last phase of the Battle of Bataan, an all-out assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.
* April 5 – WWII: Easter Sunday Raid – Aircraft of the Japanese Navy attack Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Royal Navy cruisers and are sunk southwest of the island.
* April 9 – WWII:
** Battle of Bataan: The Bataan Peninsula falls, American and Filipino forces (some 75,000 soldiers) surrender to the Japanese 14th Army under General Masaharu Homma.
** Bataan Death March: American and Filipino prisoners of war are forced to march to San Fernando to Capas (some 65 miles). During the march some 15,000 soldiers are killed by severe physical abuse and wanton killings.
** The Japanese Navy launches an air raid on Trincomalee in Ceylon (Sri Lanka); the Royal Navy aircraft carrier and Royal Australian Navy destroyer are sunk off the country's East Coast.
* April 10 – The Holocaust: Construction of the Nazi German extermination camp Treblinka II commences in occupied Poland near the village of Treblinka. Between July 23, 1942, and October 1943, around 850,000 people are killed here, more than 800,000 of whom are Jews.
* April 13 – WWII: Japanese forces of the 56th Division under General Masao Watanabe cross the Sittang River and defeat the Chinese 6th Corps in the Karen Hills area battles of Mawchi.
** 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 14
** WWII: British submarine is probably sunk by Axis forces in the Mediterranean.
** WWII: is sunk by off North Carolina.
* 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 ran out of fuel before reaching friendly forces in western China and is 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.
* April 23
** WWII: Exeter becomes the first historic English city bombed as part of the Baedeker Blitz, in retaliation for the British bombing of Lübeck.
** Exeter-born William Temple is enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
* April 25 – Princess Elizabeth registers for war service in the U.K.
* April 26
** 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.
* April 27
** WWII: A national plebiscite is held in Canada on the issue of conscription.
** 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.
* April 29 – WWII:
** Burma campaign: Japanese forces of the 15 Army under General Shōjirō Iida capture Lashio. The allies are in full retreat.
** An explosion at a chemical factory in Tessenderlo, Belgium leaves 200 dead and 1,000 injured.

May

* May – Operation Pluto: The plan to construct oil pipelines under the English Channel, between England and France, is tested in the River Medway.
* May 3– 4 – WWII: Tulagi is invaded by Japanese forces in the British Solomon Islands of the South Pacific, as part of Operation Mo.
* May 5 – WWII: Battle of Madagascar (Operation Ironclad) begins when British forces land on the Vichy French colony of Madagascar. On May 7 the northern city of Diego Suarez surrenders.
* May 7 – WWII: On Corregidor, the last American and Filipino forces in the Philippines under command of 2LT Robert L. Obourn ( 92nd Coast Artillery Regiment, G Battery) from Fort Mills, surrender to the Japanese as directed by Lt. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright, the overall commander.
* May 8 – WWII:
** The Battle of the Kerch Peninsula: The German 11th Army begins Operation ''Trappenjagd'' (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 Crimea.
** The Battle of the Coral Sea (first battle in naval history where 2 enemy fleets fight without seeing each other's fleets) ends in an Allied victory.
** The Battle of the Kerch Peninsula: German and Romanian forces launch Unternehmen Trappenjagd (Operation Bustard Hunt), aiming at defeating the Soviet Crimean Front defending the Kerch Peninsula. The battle ends in an Axis victory.
* May 8– 9 – WWII: At night, gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands revolt. The mutiny is crushed, and 3 soldiers are executed (the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny).
* May 9 – WWII: Operation Bowery: The USS ''Wasp'' and HMS ''Eagle'' bring 61 Spitfires to Malta ( "Club Runs"). The fighter aircraft are desperately needed to bolster the island's defense against German Luftwaffe air raids.
* May 12 – WWII:
** Second Battle of Kharkiv: 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.
** Japanese minelayer ''Okinoshima'' is sunk by American submarine .
* May 15 – WWII: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) is signed into law.
* May 20 – The first African-American seamen are taken into the United States Navy.
* May 21 – WWII: Mexico declares war against Nazi Germany, after the sinking of the Mexican tanker '' Faja de Oro'' by off Key West.
* 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.
* May 26 – WWII:
** 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.
** The Anglo-Soviet Treaty of 1942, to help establish a military and political alliance between the USSR and the British Empire, is signed in London by foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov.
* May 27 – WWII: Operation Anthropoid: Czech paratroopers attempt to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich in Prague, and succeed in wounding him.
* 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'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.
* May 31–June 1 – WWII: Attack on Sydney Harbour: Japanese midget submarines infiltrate Sydney Harbour in Australia, in an attempt to attack Allied warships.

June

* June 1 – WWII:
** Mexico declares war on Germany, Italy, and Japan.
** The Grand Coulee Dam is finished on the Columbia River.
* June 4 – WWII: Reinhard Heydrich succumbs to wounds sustained on May 27, from Czechoslovakian paratroopers acting in Operation Anthropoid.
* June 4–June 7 – WWII: Battle of Midway: The Japanese naval advance in the Pacific is halted.
* June 5 – WWII: The United States declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.
* June 7 – WWII:
** Siege of Sevastopol: 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 had enough firepower to destroy the Soviet fortifications, he has 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.
** Japanese forces invade the Aleutian Islands (the first invasion of American soil in 128 years).
* 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.
* June 9 – WWII: Nazis burn the Czech village of Lidice, in reprisal for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich.
* June 10 – WWII:
** 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: The Gestapo massacres 173 male residents of Lidice, Czechoslovakia, in retaliation for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich.
* June 11 – WWII: German forces of the 15th Panzer Division together with the 90th Light Division reach El Adem. Panzer Army Africa captures the area around El Adem, and the 29th Indian Brigade, which has defended El Adem is almost wiped out by the Germans.
* June 12 – WWII: The Holocaust: On her 13th birthday, Anna Frank makes the first entry in her new diary.
* June 12– 15 – WWII: Operation Harpoon: A 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.
* June 13 – WWII:
** 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.
** German scientists under Ernst Steinhoff at Peenemünde Army Research Center tests a 12-ton rocket (known later as the V-2 rocket) with a one-ton warhead.
** The United States opens its Office of War Information, a propaganda center.
* 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.
* 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 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.
* June 21 – WWII: The Japanese submarine ''I-25'' surfaces off the US Pacific Coast and bombards Fort Stevens at the mouth of the Columbia River. The fort itself is not damaged, though a nearby baseball field is destroyed.
* June 23 – WWII:
** 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 takes 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's also one tanker, 6 destroyers and 13 smaller ships for close escort. The convoy is destined for the Soviet port of Archangelsk.
* June 28 – WWII: Operation Blue: German forces of Army Group South under Generalfeldmarshall Fedor von Bock drive to Stalingrad and the Baku oil fields. Spearheads of the 4th Panzer Army under General Hermann Hoth drive towards Voronezh, advancing nearly 50 km on day one. They crossed two rivers and cut the link one between the Soviet 13th and 40th armies.
* June 30 – WWII:
** 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

* July – The Holocaust: Inmates of Westerbork transit camp in the occupied Netherlands begin to be shipped to Nazi extermination camps. From now until 1944 around 107,000, mostly Jewish, from here will be killed.
* 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.
* July 3 – WWII: Guadalcanal, occupied only by aborigines, falls to the Japanese Naval construction force deployed to construct an airfield on the island.
* July 4 – WWII in the European Theater of Operations:
** 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; For this mission, Captain Charles C. Kegelman is the first member of the Force to be awarded the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross.
* July 5 – German forces of the 4th Panzer Army under General Hermann Hoth reach the Don River near Voronezh and become embroiled in the battle to capture the city.
* July 6 – The Holocaust: Anne Frank's family goes into hiding in an attic above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.
* 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 8 – Turkish prime minister Refik Saydam

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