World War II Chronicles

Five weeks after the Battle for Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal in the South Pacific, the Marines defeated an all-out offensive launched by the Japanese. By November, the war had become one of attrition.

During 1942, in an effort to conserve rubber, the Office of Price Administration had instituted gas rationing, or mileage rationing as it was officially called. This was part of the greater effort on the home front to contribute to the global war that was consuming the lives of Americans.

All Americans participated in total war as a wartime economy took over the United States home front. Supplies of oil, tin, and rubber were cut off, while the rationing of other good such as aluminum took place. By the fall of 1942, scrap & salvage drives had become a patriotic duty.

On September 15, 1942, German ground forces began what was meant to be their final assault on the Soviet city of Stalingrad. But Soviet troops held tenaciously. On September 22, German troops reached the center of Stalingrad -- but the Russians refused to surrender.

Labor Day in 1942 was no day of rest, as most war plants were churning out production 24 hours a day. The War Production Board was considering an extended work week to meet wartime production demands.

Since their defeat at the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese regrouped in their efforts to invade Australia. Heavy fighting progressed in New Guinea as the Japanese sent in reinforcements towards the Allied base. It would be some time before the Allies finally moved towards a counterattack.

On August 23 1942, a massive Japanese invasion fleet was dispatched to the island of Guadalcanal in response to American landings earlier than month. The Battle of the Eastern Solomon Islands began the following day.

On August 19, 1942, assault troops from Canada, Britain, and America made the first amphibious landing of the war in Europe. Their mission, a raid on the French coastal town of Dieppe. However, German defenses proved formidable.

General Carl Spatz was an early advocate of the use of bombers. He was appointed to command US air forces in Europe in July of 1942. On August 17, 1942, the first All-American bombing raid over Europe commenced, carried out by the US 8th Air Force in B-17 bombers.

After the Battle of Midway, the United States Navy felt prepared to launch their first offensive attack in the Pacific. On August 7th, 1942, US Marines hit the beaches of three of the Solomon Islands: Guadalcanal, Florida, and Tulagi Islands. In 24 hours, nearly 18,000 US troops had landed, taking the Japanese completely by surprise.