Over 800 aircraft of the Axis Air Forces are launched against 140 aircraft defending the island. The German all-out aerial assault on Malta starts. Three US fighter squadrons arrive in Darwin and the Japanese attacks on the city decrease. The was the first and largest of almost 100 air raids that Australia would endure during 1942-43.īattle of Java Sea – a failed attempt by the Allies to stop the Japanese attacking Java.ĭutch East Indies surrenders unconditionally to Japanese forces.ĭouglas MacArthur, under orders from Roosevelt, leaves the Philippines for Darwin, Australia. Several weeks after Japan had joined the war, 135 Japanese aircraft attack Darwin in northern Australia. In what Winston Churchill describes as the “worst disaster” and “largest capitulation” in British history, around 80,000 Commonwealth troops are taken prisoners of war. In Europe the battleship Tirpitz moved into Trondheim, Norway, as Germany reinforces the Arctic Convoy routes.Īfter just 7 days the “Impregnable Fortress” of Singapore surrenders to the Japanese. The Allies in the south-west Pacific set up a combined force ABDA (American, British, Dutch and Australia) under the command of General Sir Archibald Wavell. Japanese forces start to attack the Philippines. Important events of 1942, including the battle of El Alamein in North Africa (pictured to the left).
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