Timeline of World War II (1942) - January 1942

January 1942

1: Twenty-six Allied countries signed the Declaration by United Nations during the Arcadia Conference.

2: Manila is captured by Japanese forces. They also take Cavite naval base, and the American and Filipino troops continue the retreat into Bataan.

5: The beginning of a major Red Army offensive under General Zhukov.

6: The British advance continues to El Agheila, on the western edge of Libya.
: in his State of the Union speech, President Roosevelt promises more aid to Britain, including planes and troops.

7: Siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins.
: Heavy air attacks on Malta; it is estimated that the bomb tonnage dropped on the island is twice that dropped on London.

8: Japanese troops penetrated the outer lines of defense at Kuala Lumpur, Malaya.

9: Japanese advances in Borneo meet with little opposition.

10: Japan declared war on the Netherlands.

11: Japanese troops capture Kuala Lumpur, Malaya.
: Japan invades the Netherlands East Indies.

13: Red Army take Kirov and Medya, as their counter-offensive continues.
: The German U-boat offensive comes closer to the US shores starting the Second Happy Time.

15: German authorities begin to deport Jews from the Lodz ghettos to the Chelmno Concentration Camp.

19: Japanese forces take large numbers of British troops prisoner, north of Singapore.

20: Nazis at the Wannsee conference in Berlin decide that the "final solution to the Jewish problem" is relocation, and later extermination.
: Japanese bomb Singapore as their troops approach the city.

21: Rommel begins a surprising counter-offensive at El Agheila; his troops, with new reinforcements and tanks, capture Agedabia, then push north to Beda Fomm.

23: The Battle of Rabaul, New Guinea begins.

24: American troops land in Samoa, as part of a strategy to stop the Japanese advance in the Pacific.

25: Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom
: Japanese troops invade the Solomon Islands.

26: The first American forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.

27: The British withdraw all troops back into Singapore.

28: Brazil breaks off relations with the Axis powers.

29: Rommel enters Benghazi, Libya in his drive east. For the next few months, the two sides will rest and rearm.

30: Hitler speaks at the Berlin Sportpalast and threatens the Jews of the world with annihilation; he also blames the failure of the offensive in Soviet Union on the weather.

31: The Japanese take the port of Moulamein, Burma; they now threaten Rangoon as well as Singapore.
: On the Eastern front, the Germans are in retreat at several points.
: The last organised Allied forces leave Malaya, ending the 54-day battle.