Timeline of World War II (1942) - February 1942

February 1942

1: Vidkun Quisling becomes the Nazi-aligned Minister-President of Norway
: Rommel's forces reach El Gazala, Libya, near the border with Egypt; during a "Winter lull" he will remain there.

2: General Joseph ("Vinegar Joe") Stilwell is named Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai-Shek and Commander-in-Chief of the Allied forces in China.

3: Japanese air power is thrown against Java, especially the naval base at Surabaya.
: Port Moresby, New Guinea is bombed, increasing the threat to Australia.

7: Americans continue their defence of Bataan against General Homma's troops.

8: The German armies in the Soviet Union are driven from Kursk, an important point in the German strategy.

9: British troops are now in full retreat into Singapore for a final defence.
: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war.

10: The cruise liner "Normandie" catches fire and capsizes in New York harbour. Although the cause is probably a welder's torch, various conspiracies are imagined in the media.

11: The "Channel Dash." The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen rush out of Brest through the English Channel to northern ports, including Wilhelmshaven, Germany; the British naval units fail to sink any of them.

13: The battle for Bataan continues.

15: Singapore surrenders to Japanese forces; this is arguably the most devastating loss in British military history.

16: Being discussed in high American government circles are plans for the internment of Japanese-Americans living generally in the western US.
: The Japanese commit the Banka Island Massacre in which they open fire on Australian military nurses, killing 21.

17: Orders are given for Rangoon to be evacuated as Japanese forces approach.

19: Japanese aircraft attack Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory.
: 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.
: A military conscription law is passed in Canada.

20: Japanese troops cross the important Salween River in Burma.
: Japanese invade Bali and Timor by a combined use of paratroops and amphibious troops.

21: The American Air Corps is now firmly established at bases in the UK.

22: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur to evacuate the Philippines as American defence of the nation collapses.

25: The internment of Japanese-American citizens in the Western United States begins as fears of invasion increase.
: Princess Elizabeth registers for war service

26: Vivian Bullwinkel, the only survivor of the Banka Island Massacre is captured and imprisoned by the Japanese

27: Battle of the Java Sea. Under a Dutch Admiral, the combined forces lose one aircraft tender (the Langley), six destroyers, and five cruisers off Java.

28: Japanese land forces invade Java.