Pacific Theater World War 2 timeline

  • Hundred Regiments Offensive Ends in Victory for Chinese

    The Japanese North China Area Army estimated the strength of communist regulars to be about 88,000 in December 1939. Two years later, they revised... Read more

  • Japanese Forces Retreat from Shanggao

    On high at about 120 km southwest of Nanchang, the Jinjiang River north, briefly Hunan and Jiangxi Road (Nanchang to Changsha) hub of the east... Read more

  • Battle of South Shanxi

    The Battle of South Shanxi (simplified Chinese: 晋南会战; traditional Chinese: 晉南會戰; pinyin: Jìn Nán Huìzhàn), also known as the Battle of Jinnan and... Read more

  • Second Battle of Changsha

    In Sep 1941, more than 120,000 Japanese troops embarked on the second attempt to take the Chinese city of Changsha. The first engagement took place... Read more

  • Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor

    The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl... Read more

  • Battle of Wake Island

    Wake Island was an American outpost in the central Pacific. Wake is a coral atoll, made up of three islands. Wake Island itself is the largest,... Read more

  • First Battle of Guam

    The First Battle of Guam, was an engagement during the Pacific War in World War II, and took place on December 8, 1941 on Guam in the Mariana... Read more

  • Japanese Forces Invade Malaya

    Air Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, commanding officer of the British Forces in the Far East, fearing that the Japanese Fleet was trying to... Read more

  • Battle of Jitra

    The Battle of Jitra was a major engagement fought between the invading Japanese and Allied forces in Malaya. The battle lasted from 11 to 13... Read more

  • Third Battle of Changsha

    With 120,000 soldiers organized in four divisions, the Japanese attempted a third attack on the Chinese city of Changsha. 300,000 men defended the... Read more

  • Battle of Kampar

    The Battle of Kampar was an engagement of World War II between the 11th Indian Infantry Division and the Japanese 5th Division. The battle lasted... Read more

  • Battle of Slim River

    The Battle of Slim River occurred during the Malayan campaign in January 1942 between the Imperial Japanese Army and the British Indian Army on the... Read more

  • Battle of Manado

    The unit of Compagnie Menado, which numbered only 188 men under Captain W.F.J. Kroon and Landstorm Compagnie with its 200 troops under 1st... Read more

  • Battle of Tarakan (1942)

    The Battle of Tarakan took place on January 11–12, 1942. Even though Tarakan was only a small marshy island at northeastern Borneo in the... Read more

  • Battle of Gemas

    The Battle of Gemas—part of the wider Battle of Muar—during the invasion of Malaya in the Pacific Campaign of the Second World War. The action... Read more

  • Battle of Muar Begins

    The Battle of Muar was the last major battle of the Malayan campaign. It took place from 14–22 January 1942 around Gemensah Bridge and on the Muar... Read more

  • Battle of Balikpapan (1942)

    While the Japanese invasion force was landing at Balikpapan, on the early morning of January 24, at around 02:45, the Allied (ABDACOM's) 59th US... Read more

  • Battle of Rabaul (1942)

    The Battle of Rabaul (Operation R), on the island of New Britain, in the Australian Territory of New Guinea, in January and February 1942,... Read more

  • Parit Sulong Massacre

    On January 23, 1942, the Parit Sulong Massacre was committed against Allied soldiers by members of the Imperial Guards Division of the Imperial... Read more

  • Battle of Ambon

    From 6 January onwards, Ambon was attacked by Japanese aircraft. Allied aircraft made some sorties against the approaching Japanese fleet, with... Read more

  • Battle of Makassar Strait

    The Battle of Makassar Strait, also known as the Action of Madura Strait, the Action North of Lombok Strait and the Battle of the Flores Sea, was a... Read more

  • Battle of Sarimbun Beach

    The Battle of Sarimbun Beach was the first stage of the Japanese assault on Singapore in February 1942, during World War II. Sarimbun, in the west... Read more

  • Battle of Kranji

    The Battle of Kranji was the second stage of the Japanese plan for the invasion of Singapore during the Second World War. On 9 February 1942 the... Read more

  • Battle of Palembang

    The Battle of Palembang was a battle of the Pacific theatre of World War II. It occurred near Palembang, on Sumatra, on 13–15 February 1942. The... Read more

  • Alexandra Hospital Massacre

    At about 1.00pm on 14 February Japanese soldiers advanced towards the Alexandra Barracks Hospital. A British lieutenant, acting as an envoy with a... Read more