World war II chronology - July 1942

1 July 1942	In North Africa, Axis forces attack the defensive line before El Alamein, but cannot get past a defensive box defended by the 18th Indian Brigade until evening. In Canada, the War Cabinet Committee approves the organization of a parachute battalion.
2 July 1942	In North Africa, Axis forces attack the defensive line before El Alamein, but halt when faced with British tanks. German forces capture Sevastopol, taking 97,000 prisoners. An order of the US War Department activates the First Special Service Force, an elite unit made of Canadian and American troops. American Colonel Robert T. Frederick is the commanding officer.   The first American B-17 bombers cross the Atlantic for Britain.
3 July 1942	In North Africa, Axis forces attack the defensive line before El Alamein, but halt again by strong British fire. Off Georges' Bank, Nova Scotia, Canada, British warship HMS Le Tigre sinks German submarine U-215.
4 July 1942	In North Africa, British General Claude Auchinleck counterattacks German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's forces outside El Alamein. The Axis defence holds. First Sea Lord Dudley Pound orders the British aircraft carrier Victorious, plus battleships and cruisers to abandon Arctic convoy PQ-17 of 33 ships headed for the Soviet port of Murmansk. Six remaining destroyer escorts also leave the slow-moving freighter convoy. The merchant ships are instructed to disperse and proceed to Soviet ports. This was done for fear of the German battleship Tirpitz attacking the convoy.
5 July 1942	German battleship Tirpitz and accompanying ships leave Alten Fjord, in northern Norway, to attack convoy PQ-17. After a short time, it is learned that the convoy's escort ships left, so Tirpitz heads back, leaving the convoy's destruction for the submarines and the Luftwaffe. During the day, 14 freighters out of 33 in convoy PQ-17 to Murmansk are sunk. Only nine ships reach Soviet ports.
6 July 1942	In Russia, Voronezh falls to German forces.
7 July 1942	Operation Rutter, an amphibious assault on Dieppe, is cancelled by General Bernard Montgomery, due to bad weather. In Canada, Bill 80 passes second reading in Parliament, giving government power to conscript soldiers for war duty overseas. Japanese forces invade New Guinea.
10 July 1942	The surviving seven ships (out of 33) from Convoy PQ-17 reach the Soviet port of Murmansk. Because of this disastrous convoy, the Murmansk run is temporarily suspended.
11 July 1942	Montbatten calls a meeting of the main staffs involved in planning Operation Rutter, seeking support to remount the raid. His request is turned down. After the meeting, Mountbatten convinces a few to proceed with a new plan, Operation Jubilee, again on Dieppe, even without authority of the Chiefs of Staff. Adolf Hitler issues Directive 43, for a continuation of operations in the Crimea, expanding into the Caucasus.
12 July 1942	Adolf Hitler removes Field Marshal Fedor von Bock from command of Army Group South, for failing to eliminate Soviet forces west of the Don River in Russia. Convoy OS-34 departs from west of Ireland, heading to Sierra Leone. The Canadian Army authorizes almost 700 officers and men to move to the United States for training as part of the First Special Service Force.   American light cruiser Raleigh, torpedoed at Pearl Harbor, returns to active duty. The United States loans Britain US$425 million. British Bomber Command commits to dropping about 1000 mines per month against German shipping, ten times the level of 1941. The British Royal Air Force sets Target Force G for Bomber Command, which means to have 2000 front line aircraft in place by December 1943.
19 July 1942	In convoy OS-34 from Ireland to Sierra Leone, SS Empire Hawksbill is torpedoed by German submarine U564, leaving no survivors. MV Lavington Court is also torpedoed.
21 July 1942	Adolf Hitler issues Directive 44, regarding operations in Northern Finland. The northern supply route linking Soviet Russia with the Western powers is to be cut.
22 July 1942	Japanese troops land on the northeast coast of New Guinea, proceeding toward Port Moresby. Germany begins deporting Warsaw Jews to concentration camps.
23 July 1942	The Russian city of Rostov falls to German forces. Adolf Hitler creates Army Group A with 17th Army and 1st Panzer Army, under Wilhelm List. Adolf Hitler creates Army Group B with 2nd and 6th Armies and 4th Panzer Army under Maximilian von Weichs. Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 45, for the continuation of Operation Braunschweig. Army Group B is ordered to destroy enemy forces at Stalingrad, capturing the city. Army Group A is to move south to cross the Don River east of Rostov, to enter the Caucasus.
24 July 1942	In convoy ON-113 across the Atlantic ocean, Royal Canadian Navy destroyer St. Croix sinks German submarine U-90. Britain and the US decide to invade French North Africa, code named Operation Torch. Original code name was Gymnast.
25 July 1942	An unidentified submarine shells and sinks Canadian merchant ship Lucille M. off Cape Sable, in the Atlantic Ocean.
26 July 1942	Dutch bishops issue a public protest of the arrest and deportation of Dutch Jews. 403 British aircraft attack Hamburg, Germany, destroying or damaging 6000 houses, killing 337, and leaving 14,000 homeless.
28 July 1942	Josef Stalin orders forces at Stalingrad to not retreat. The German 6th Army reaches the Don River near Kalach.
29 July 1942	The British Royal Navy's Second Support Group of five sloops commanded by Johnnie Walker defeats three German submarines in the Bay of Biscay. In the Caribbean off British Guyana, German submarine U-160 torpedoes and sinks Canadian merchant ship Prescodoc.
31 July 1942	In convoy ONS - 115 across the Atlantic ocean,Royal Canadian navy destroyer Skeena and corvette Wetaskivin sink submarine. 630 british aircraft attack Dusseldorf,Germany,setting off 954 fires,and destroyng and damaging over 1500 buildings.