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
OCTOBER 1943
1 October: Italy: Allies enter Naples.
7 October: Wake Island: 100 American POWs murdered by Japanese commander on Wake Island.
25 October: New Guinea: Finschhafen taken by MacArthur’s forces after General Katagiri orders his forces to retreat to Sattelberg, a monastery situated high on the eatern tip of the Huon Peninsula.
28 October: Solomons: Admiral Halsey launches diversionary raids on Choiseul Island to the southeast of Bougainville.
31 October: India: Rag-tag group of soldiers, the 5307th Composite Unit, later known as Merrill’s Marauders after Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Merrill, arrive in India.
NOVEMBER 1943
1 November: Bougainville: US Marines land at Cape Torokina at the northern head of Empress Augusta Bay on the east coast half way up Bougainville.
2 November: Bougainville: The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay: (off Bougainville Island) Admiral Merrill scores a minor victory in a surface engagement. It is the last major sea battle of the Solomons campaign.
5 November: New Britain: Led by Admiral Sherman carriers USS Saratoga and USS Princeton successfully raid Rabaul to help relieve pressure on Halsey at Empress Augusta Bay. As a result of this successful attack Admiral Koga withdraws his naval forces back to Truk Atoll. Koga’s air fleet crews ‘loaned’ to Rabaul destroyed. It would take 6 month to replace them.
11 November: New Britain: Admiral Montgomery with Task Force 38 (including carriers USS Bunker Hill, USS Essex and USS Independence) joins Admiral Sherman for another attack on Rabaul.
20 November: Tarawa Atoll: Battle of Tarawa: 2nd Marines lead assault on the heavily defended Tarawa Atoll. More marines killed in four days than in six months on Guadalcanal.
Bougainville: Battle of Piva Forks: (at Empress Augusta Bay) is won as Thanksgiving Day ends.
25 November: Battle of Cape St. George: In the final engagement of the Solomons campaign Captain Burke’s 45th Destroyer Division (five destroyers) ambush a supply convoy to Bougainville and sink 3 Japanese destroyers.
27 November: New Guinea: Battle of Sattelberg: Month-long battle ends with General Katagiri retreating westwards along the north coast of New Guinea toward Madang.
23 November: Egypt: SEXTANT Conference: Meeting in Cairo between Churchill, Roosevelt and Chiang Kai-shek.
28 November: Iran: EUREKA Conference: Meeting in Tehran between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin.
DECEMBER 1943
1 December: Egypt: Cairo Declaration announces that Manchuria, the Pescadores Islands and Formosa would be returned to China while Korea would become independent.
China: Chiang Kai-shek returns home in triumph.
4-6 December: Egypt: SEXTANT Conference continued in Cairo with Churchill and Roosevelt.
15 December: New Britain: Battle of Arawe (south western tip of New Britain Island).
18 December: Bougainville: Battle of Hellzapoppin Ridge. At Empress Augusta Bay General Geiger takes Hellzappopin Ridge after 10-day battle. Clearance of Japanese artillery enables the completion of airfields at Piva Uncle and Piva Yoke.
26 December: New Britain: Battle of Cape Gloucester. 1st Marine Division led by General Rupertus makes an amphibious landing at Cape Gloucester on the western tip of New Britain Island.
27 December: Burma: The Ledo Road being built by General Stilwell reaches Shimbwiyang in northwest Burma.
30 December: Burma: General Slim’s 14th Army advances into the Arakan. (2nd Arakan Campaign).
India: 32,000 Chinese troops under General Sun, Stiwell’s X-Force, being trained at Ramgarh, Bihar State (now Jharkhand).