World War II Chronicles

General George C. Marshall encouraged the creation of a Women's Auxiliary Corps—known as WAC for short—to help the war effort, and on April 14th, 1942, Congress authorized its creation. Women from all over the country flocked to recruiting stations not only for the first chance to serve in the United States Army, but to become one of the 450 officers.

Commanding General Jonathan Wainwright surrendered to the Japanese on the Filipino island of Corregidor. After over five months, the Japanese had conquered the Philippines - a task they believed would take fifty days. This delay was crucial in helping destroy the Japanese momentum in the South Pacific.

The Japanese High Command chose to extend its defensive perimeter and prepared an assault on Australia. As a result, on May 4th a series of skirmishes broke out which became known as the Battle of the Coral Sea.

By the spring 1942, both German and the U.S. were facing a crisis on the home front. The Germans' morale was sinking, and Roosevelt faced rising inflation.

After the US began to provide military aid to China, a squadron of fighter planes was allocated for air defense over the China-Burma-India Theater. Known as the "Flying Tigers," the American Volunteer Group would prove formidable in the skies.

With morale among the military and among Americans staggeringly low in early 1942, a dangerous mission was planned to strike Japan. On April 18, 1942, 16 B-25 bombers took off from the USS Hornet, deep in enemy waters, in what would become known as the Doolittle Raid.

The final assault on the Philippines was in full force. On April 9, American Resistance on Bataan collapsed in the largest surrender in American history - marking the beginning of the Bataan Death March.

Winning the Battle of the Atlantic was vital to the success of the Allies in World War II - something that the Germans knew. The threat of u-boat attacks made delivering supplies a great risk.

By the last week in March 1942, the German battleship Tirpitz was in need of repair. The British commandos had achieved their objective in the raid on the St. Nazaire dry dock.

In the Spring of 1942, the United States faced a shortage of materials necessary for wartime production, and began issuing ration stamps to help the war effort.