World war II chronology - March 1942

1 March 1942	US cruiser Houston sinks in Sunda Strait, surrounded by numerous ships of the Japanese task force. German commander in the West von Witzleben is replaced by Gerd von Rundstedt.
2 March 1942	In Broome, Australia, a large Japanese Navy reconnaissance flying boat is sighted circling the city. Military personnel see it as a prelude to an attack.
3 March 1942	In Broome, Australia, another Japanese flying boat is sighted making low passes over the town. In Koepang, Japan, nine Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter planes and a C5M2 Babs reconnaissance plane take off for an attack on Broome, Australia. Japanese Zero fighters arrive over Broome, Australia. With no Allied fighter opposition, all but one of the Allied planes are attacked. 22 aircraft are destroyed. Only one Japanese plane is downed. (This becomes known as Australia's Pearl Harbor.) 235 British aircraft are sent to attack the Renault works at Billancourt, France. 224 planes drop their bombs right on target, with only one plane lost. The factory area is out of commission for four months. British Bomber Command begins first operational use of the Lancaster bomber, for laying mines at sea.
4 March 1942	In Canada, Orders-in-council authorizing relocation of Japanese Canadians on west coast goes into effect.
6 March 1942	Adolf Hitler gives approval for battleship Tirpitz and three destroyers to intercept Arctic convoy PQ-12 of sixteen ships headed to Russia. Acting Commander of Canadian Corp, Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar, and Brigadier-General (Staff) Guy Simonds discuss arrangements to create a Canadian Commando force of about 200 men, to be known as the Viking Force, for European coastal raids.
7 March 1942	British forces evacuate Rangoon, Burma.
8 March 1942	British Bomber Command sends Boston bombers against Matford factories at Poissy, France. British Bomber Command begins an intense three-night attack on Essen, Germany, using the "Gee" aircraft navigation equipment for the first time in active duty. On this first night, 211 bombers attack. Rangoon, Burma, falls to Japanese forces.
9 March 1942	Dutch colonial authorities surrender the islands of the Netherlands East Indies. All Allied forces in the Netherlands East Indies surrender unconditionally to Japan. 187 British bombers attack Essen.
10 March 1942	126 British bombers attack Essen. After three nights of bombing, the armament works of Krupps remains essentially undamaged. This is also the first bombing operation using the four-engined Avro Lancaster bomber.
11 March 1942	American General Douglas MacArthur leaves the Philippines, with his wife, son, and a nurse.
12 March 1942	Allied forces surrender in Java. The Canadian Chiefs of Staff Committee recommends adopting draft plans for a "scorched earth" policy, in the event of enemy invasion on either coast of Canada.
13 March 1942	135 British aircraft attack Cologne, Germany, starting 237 fires, destroying or damaging several factories and over 1500 houses.
15 March 1942	Adolf Hitler predicts a German victory over Russia by the end of Summer. Submarine U-161 torpedoes and sinks Canadian merchant ship Sarniadoc in the Caribbean. There are no survivors. Bombers and fighters from US carrier Enterprise attack Marcus Island. No planes are lost. In Suffield, Alberta, Canada, 280 oil drums containing 95 tons of phosgene are detonated in an experiment to test gas masks. The $200,000 explosion creates a cloud that travels for 17 miles. A large American delegation is impressed. The Canadian War Cabinet Committee agrees to adopt draft plans for a scorched earth policy in the event of enemy invasion.
17 March 1942	In Australia, American General Douglas MacArthur issues a message to the Filipino people: "I have come through, and I shall return.". Several ships in Göteborg, Sweden, loaded with special steels for Britain, are declared by the Swedish Supreme Court free to leave.
18 March 1942	The British Admiralty instructs the Eastern Fleet not to engage its fleet against any superior Japanese fleet that might attack Ceylon. The loss of Ceylon is considered preferable to the loss of the fleet for communication to the Middle East and India.
22 March 1942	In the first nine months of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, German casualties total over one million.
23 March 1942	Adolf Hitler issues Directive 40, ordering that Atlantic coast defences be built and manned such that any invasion attempt would be stopped at landing or shortly thereafter. British Royal Air Force units withdraw from Burma into India.
27 March 1942	In Canada, an order-in-council is issued giving the Custodian of Enemy Alien Property the power to sell confiscated property. A British commando raid is staged on St. Nazaire, France. A huge dry dock is destroyed, the only one capable of servicing German battleships on the Atlantic.
28 March 1942	234 British aircraft attack Lübeck, Germany. 12 planes are shot down. One-third of the area is burned, leaving 16,000 homeless. The central power station and several factories are destroyed. This raid is the first to have a major impact on the German homeland. The port is closed for three weeks. A week later Joseph Goebbels writes in his diary: "The damage is enormous. It is horrible." British Deputy Chief of Air Staff Arthur Harris writes of the attack, ". . . the first German city went up in flames".
30 March 1942	Japanese forces capture Toungoo, Burma.
31 March 1942	Operation Performance begins. Ten British-chartered Norwegian ships begin leaving Göteborg, Sweden, for Britain, loaded with special steels vital to the British war effort. Only two ships make it through the German blockade to Leith, Scotland, but deliver a valuable 5,000 tons of cargo.