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| 1942, Jan. 2 |
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| Manila and Cavite were captured by the Japanese. U.S. and Philippine forces fortified their position on Bataan Peninsula and held out until April 9. The island fort of Corregidor at the entrance to Manila Bay did not fall until May 6. | 1 |
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| Jan. 11 |
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| Japanese forces commenced an occupation of the Netherlands East Indies, landing on Celebes, at Rabaul (Jan. 23), New Ireland (Jan. 25), the Solomon Islands (Jan. 26), and Amboina (Jan. 31). | 2 |
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| Jan. 24–27 |
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| Allied forces sank five Japanese transports in a naval engagement in the Macassar Straits. | 3 |
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| Feb. 15 |
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| Japanese forces, which had penetrated Malaya, captured Singapore from the north by land, taking 60,000 prisoners. | 4 |
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| Feb. 27–March 1 |
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| Battle of the Java Sea. Naval units of the Allied powers were largely destroyed, opening the way for the Japanese conquest of the East Indies. Batavia fell on March 6. | 5 |
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| March 7 |
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| The British evacuated Rangoon, and the Japanese rapidly occupied Burma. Lashio was taken (April 30), closing the Burma Road at that point, and Mandalay fell on May 2. | 6 |
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| March 9 |
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| The conquest of Java was virtually completed by the Japanese, who had won Timor (Feb. 20) also. The growing threat to Australia was checked in the jungles of New Guinea, and Gen. Douglas MacArthur assumed command of the combined Allied forces in the southwest Pacific (March 17). | 7 |
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| April 18 |
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| U.S. carrier-based bombers, commanded by Col. James H. Doolittle, raided Tokyo and landed on Chinese bases. | 8 |
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| May 5 |
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| To avert possible Japanese penetration, British forces landed at Diego Suarez, the naval base on the north end of Madagascar, and proceeded to occupy this French colony, entering the capital, Tananarive, on Sept. 23. | 9 |
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| May 7 |
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| BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA. Allied naval and air power frustrated a possible Japanese invasion of Australia or the New Hebrides by destroying 100,000 tons of Japanese shipping between New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. | 10 |
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| June 4–7 |
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| A Japanese naval force attacked Midway Island and was dispersed with heavy losses by U.S. naval and air units. | 11 |
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| June 12 |
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| Japanese invaders occupied Attu in the Aleutian Islands and later landed on Kiska. The Japanese tide of conquest was at its height, coinciding with the German drive for the Caucasian oil fields. | 12 |
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