1939 – Fighting in Finland and Neutrality Violated
During heavy fighting at Summa in the Winter War, Soviet forces lose 20 tanks out of 100 while continuing their assault against determined Finnish defenses.
Off the coast of Florida, inside U.S. territorial waters, the British light cruiser HMS Orion fires upon the German freighter Arauca, violating the
Pan-American Neutrality Zone. Damaged, Arauca puts into port at Port Everglades, Florida.
1940 – Axis Appeals and Naval Incidents
Facing disaster in North Africa, Benito Mussolini formally requests German assistance for his hard-pressed forces in Cyrenaica, asking for a Panzer division, Luftwaffe units, and extensive logistical support.
As the air war intensifies, 10,000 civilians from Malta are evacuated to Britain.
Off the coast of Morocco, German submarine U-37 mistakenly torpedoes and sinks the Vichy French submarine Sfax and the support ship Rhône.
The U-boat commander chooses not to record the incident in the ship’s log.
Meanwhile, German submarine U-111 is formally commissioned into service.
1941 – A World at War on Every Front
Home Front Mobilization
The United States establishes the Office of Censorship, tightening control over wartime information. The Department of Agriculture also convenes a National Defense Garden Conference, encouraging Americans to grow victory gardens at home and in their communities.
Hitler Assumes Direct Command
Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch resigns as Commander-in-Chief of the German Army. Adolf Hitler assumes personal command and issues a strict order of “no withdrawal”, demanding German forces stand and fight wherever they are.
Combat Across the Mediterranean and Asia
The Indian 4th Division recaptures Derna from Axis forces in North Africa.
British troops evacuate Penang in Malaya as Japanese pressure mounts.
Colombia severs diplomatic relations with Germany and Italy.
In one of the most daring naval raids of the war, Italian Navy frogmen penetrate the harbor at Alexandria, Egypt, crippling the British battleships HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth, along with a destroyer and a tanker. Admiral Cunningham is left without operational battleships in the Mediterranean.
In the Pacific, the Japanese invasion of Davao in the Philippines begins.
At sea, the British light cruiser HMS Neptune is sunk by naval mines off Tripoli.
Nicaragua declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.
1942 – Pressure Around Stalingrad and Asia
Field Marshal Manstein’s armored forces advance to within 30 miles south of Stalingrad in a desperate attempt to relieve the encircled Sixth Army.
In North Africa, French forces capture Pichon, Tunisia from German troops.
Japanese aircraft conduct the first air raid on Calcutta, attacking the city overnight.
1943 – Justice, Resistance, and Tragedy
An estimated 50,000 people gather in Kharkov to witness the public hanging of four German war criminals convicted of mass murder.
In eastern France, fierce fighting is reported between German troops and resistance fighters near Bernex.
In New Guinea, American forces at Arawe capture the Japanese airstrip and successfully hold it against repeated counterattacks.
On the Philippine island of Panay, ten American Baptist missionaries, three other Americans, and two children—hidden for two years—are captured by Japanese forces.
The adults volunteer to be executed in exchange for the release of Filipino captives.
Known as the Hopevale Martyrs, the adults are beheaded by sword, and the children are killed by bayonet.
1944 – Bastogne and the Battle of the Bulge
During the Battle of the Bulge, the U.S. 101st Airborne Division arrives in Bastogne, Belgium to defend the critical crossroads.
German forces capture two regiments of the U.S. 106th Infantry Division on the Schnee Eifel, taking approximately 7,000 prisoners, including future author Kurt Vonnegut. It is the largest U.S. mass surrender of the war outside of Bataan.
Additional German units capture roughly 9,000 surrounded American troops in the. Schnee Eifel region and push Allied forces back off German soil.
At sea, the Japanese aircraft carrier Unryū is torpedoed and sunk in the East China Sea by the U.S. submarine Redfish.
In Norway, German submarine U-737 sinks following a collision with depot ship MRS 25 in Vestfjorden.
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz is promoted to Fleet Admiral, becoming one of America’s five-star commanders.
1945 – The Postwar World Takes Shape
Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, is appointed as one of the first United States delegates to the United Nations, helping shape the foundations of the postwar world.