Timeline - Hirohito's War
| 1930 | January, June, November |
| 1931 | September |
| 1932 | May, October |
| 1933 | January - March |
| 1934 | July - October |
| 1935 | January - September |
| 1936 | February - December |
| 1937 | June - December |
| 1938 | January - November |
| 1939 | March - December |
| 1940 | March - December |
| 1941 | March - November |
| December | |
| 1942 | January |
| February | |
| March | |
| April - June | |
| July - September | |
| October - December | |
| 1943 | January - March |
| April - June | |
| July - September | |
| October - December | |
| 1944 | January - March |
| April - June | |
| July - September | |
| October - December | |
| 1945 | January - March |
| April - June | |
| July - October | |
PACIFIC WAR TIMELINE
JULY 1942
21 July: New Guinea: Japanese troops seize Buna, Gona and Sanananda.
23 July: New Guinea: The Battle of Kokoda. Battle for the airfield at Kokoda on the northern side of the Owen Stanley Mountains.
AUGUST 1942
5 August: New Guinea: The Second Battle of Kokoda. Australian attempt to retake Kokoda is turned back.
7-8 August: Guadalcanal. Ist Marine Division led by General Vandegrift seizes Tulagi and half built Japanese airfield on Guadalcanal later to become known as Henderson Field.
8 August: Guadalcanal. US submarine S-38 sinks Meiyo Maru Japan troop transport bound for Guadalcanal. 342 Japanese soldiers drown.
New Guinea: Japan’s 25th Air Flotilla begins air raids on Milne Bay.
Guadalcanal: Saburai Sako’s Zero versus Wildcat dogfight with James ‘Pug’ Sutherland over Guadalcanal.
8-9 August: Guadalcanal: The Battle of Savo Island. Surface naval battle delivers a crushing victory for Japan with 3 US heavy cruisers and one Australian cruiser sunk.
20 August: Guadalcanal: Henderson Field airstrip completed and flight operations of the Cactus Air Force starts.
21 August: Guadalcanal: The Battle of Tenaru. Ist Marines repulse Japan’s first assault on Henderson Field.
24 August: Guadalcanal: The Battle of the East Solomons. US carriers Saratoga and Enterprise led by Admiral Jack Fletcher win carrier battle, sinking the light carrier Ryujo and shooting down 75 Japanese aircraft.
25 August: New Guinea: The Battle of Milne Bay. First significant land battle defeat of Japanese forces under the command of Australian General Wootten.
Guadalcanal: Captain Tanaka fails to bring food, munitions and reinforcements convoy to Guadalcanal.
26 August: New Guinea: The Battle of Isurava. Australians pushed back again on the Kokoda Trail.
31 August: Guadalcanal: Admiral Slew McCain, a naval aviator appointed Commander of Air South Pacific makes first visit to Guadalcanal.
Pacific Ocean: USS Saratoga torpedoed by I-26 but manages to reach port for repair.
SEPTEMBER 1942
5 September: New Guinea: The Battle of Brigade Hill (Efogi/Mission Hill): MacArthur, unaware of conditions and enemy strength demands that Brigadier Potts advances.
9 September: America: Japanese seaplane drops incendiary bombs on forests of Oregon.
12-14 September: Guadalcanal: Battle of Edson’s Ridge (Bloody Ridge). Marine repel Japanese attack on Henderson Field’s southern perimeter.
13 September: Russia. Battle of Stalingrad begins.
15 September: Guadalcanal: USS Wasp, a fleet carrier is sunk off Guadalcanal by Japanese submarine I-19.
23 -27 September: Guadalcanal: Battle of Manatikau River. Over ambitious flanking attack on Japanese lines repelled and US Marine survivors rescued by destroyer USS Monssen.
27 September: Burma: First Battle of Arakan. British Army defeated on the southwest border of Burma adjacent to the Bay of Bengal.