1937 – Nanking Falls
Japanese forces occupy Nanking, China, completing their capture of the city.
The occupation marks the opening phase of one of the most infamous atrocities of the war in Asia.
1939 – Battle of the River Plate
In the South Atlantic, the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee engages three British cruisers— HMS Achilles, HMS Ajax, and HMS Exeter.
The running battle leaves all sides damaged. HMS Exeter is reduced to a blazing wreck, while the Graf Spee sustains serious hits and withdraws to the neutral port of Montevideo, Uruguay to make repairs—setting the stage for a dramatic conclusion days later.
1940 – Axis Plans and Allied Opportunity
French leader Philippe Pétain dismisses Vice-Premier Pierre Laval, revealing growing divisions within the Vichy government.
In North Africa, British General Richard O’Connor determines that a successful armored raid against Italian forces has grown into a full-scale offensive.
One officer famously reports capturing “five acres of officers and 200 acres of other ranks” as Italian troops surrender in massive numbers.
Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 20, ordering preparations for Operation Marita—the planned German intervention in the Balkans to rescue Italy’s faltering campaign.
As part of the directive, twenty-four German divisions begin redeploying through Hungary into Romania, positioning for the future invasion of Greece.
1941 – Counteroffensives and Withdrawals
The Soviet press announces the successful repulse of German forces outside Moscow.
The Red Army launches a new counteroffensive under Timoshenko’s Southwestern Front, striking northwest between Yelets and Livny.
The attack forces the German 2nd Army to withdraw, exposing the right flank of Panzer Group 2. Facing mounting danger, Field Marshals von Brauchitsch and von Bock secretly agree that Army Group Centre must retreat nearly 90 miles west to establish a winter defensive line.
At sea, British forces successfully bluff an Italian supply convoy bound for Libya into retreat by convincing it that the Mediterranean Fleet is nearby.
In the Far East, the British Governor of Hong Kong formally rejects a Japanese demand for surrender.
British troops at the southern tip of Burma begin withdrawing north toward Rangoon.
Meanwhile, a U.S. naval task force under Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher sails from Pearl Harbor with orders to relieve the besieged garrison on Wake Island.
1942 – Retreats and Landings
In North Africa, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel begins withdrawing from positions at El Agheila as the British Eighth Army presses deeper into Libya.
In the Pacific, Japanese forces conduct new and successful landings north of Buna in New Guinea.
1943 – Air War and War Crimes
Captain James Stewart, Hollywood actor turned U.S. Army Air Forces officer, flies his first combat mission with the 445th Bomb Group in a B-24 Liberator with the Eighth Air Force over Europe.
In a major milestone for long-range escort operations, 54 P-51 Mustangs escort B-17 bombers on a 490-mile raid over Kiel, Germany, successfully defending the bombers for 40 minutes over the target area and shooting down enemy fighters.
At Kharkov, a war crimes trial accuses four German defendants of murdering thousands of civilians using specially designed carbon-monoxide gas vans.
Meanwhile, Army Group Centre becomes locked in heavy defensive fighting around Vitebsk as Soviet pressure intensifies.
1944 – Air Power and Kamikaze Strikes
The U.S. Army Air Forces carry out the first damaging raids on Japanese industrial targets, marking a significant escalation in the strategic air war against Japan.
In the West, German forces of the 7th Army withdraw into the fortified defenses of the Westwall.
In the Pacific, the U.S. cruiser USS Nashville is badly damaged by a Japanese kamikaze suicide attack. The strike kills 138 sailors, underscoring the deadly effectiveness of the new tactic.