1939 – Rationing Tightens in France
France expands its wartime conservation measures by banning the sale of meat on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. The pressure of shortages and the need to sustain the army at the front continues to reshape civilian life.
1940 – Sidi Barrani Encircled
British forces tighten their grip on Sidi Barrani as General Wavell’s Western Desert Force drives deeper into Italian positions.
Troops from the camps at Sofafi and Rabia flee westward, threatened by the encircling maneuver of the 7th Armoured Division.
1941 – War Expands Across Continents
German Spy Executed in Britain
Karel Richter, a German agent who parachuted into Hertfordshire, is executed at Wandsworth Prison after being convicted of espionage.
Retreat in Thailand and Malaya
British forces that had advanced into southern Thailand begin withdrawing after the Japanese capture of Kota Bharu airfield. Troops in northern Malaya also fall back as Japanese pressure increases.
The Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse
In a devastating blow to British naval power in the Pacific, the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse are attacked and sunk off the northeastern coast of Malaya.
Japanese aircraft, operating from bases in occupied French Indo-China, overwhelm the ships after RAF losses leave them without air cover.
Japanese Advance Across the Pacific
Japanese forces land on and capture Guam. Additional landings take place on the northern tip of Luzon and on Camiguin Island in the Philippines.
Relief of Tobruk
British forces enter Tobruk, ending the 242-day siege that had tested the resolve of Commonwealth troops holding the port against repeated Axis assaults.
First U.S. Bombing Mission of WWII
B-17 bombers of the 19th Bomb Group conduct the first U.S. bombing mission of the war, targeting Japanese ships off Luzon in the Philippines.
1942 – Deportations to Auschwitz Begin
The first transport of Jews from Germany arrives at Auschwitz, marking another escalation in the Nazi regime’s systematic campaign of extermination.
Australian troops capture Gona, securing full control of the Gona area in New Guinea.
1943 – Allied Offensives Intensify Across Europe
Allied aircraft bomb Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, as pressure mounts on Axis positions in southeastern Europe.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs legislation postponing the draft of fathers who had children before Pearl Harbor.
In Italy, the British Eighth Army seizes Vino Ridge as it advances toward the heavily defended town of Ortona.
1944 – The Allies Push Toward Victory
The U.S. Third Army captures Hagenau and Saargemünd, tightening the grip on German positions in the West.
Norwegian paratroopers sabotage rail lines to block German retreat routes from northern Norway.
On Leyte, the U.S. 77th Infantry Division captures Ormoc, the main Japanese supply base, and clears Buri Airfield.
Japan makes its final attempt to reinforce Leyte by sea, but the effort proves insufficient to alter the course of the campaign.