World Aviation in 1942 - Part 1

Part 2

January - May
German troops cut off by Soviet forces at Kholm are re-supplied by air by using DFS230 and Go242 transport gliders (sailplanes) in the first large scale air supply of Germany's own forces behind enemy lines.

1 January
The United Nations Declaration is signed. The name United Nations is adopted by the Allied coalition against Axis forces.

13 January
The first emergency aircraft ejection is made by the German Major Schenk when ejects from a Heinkel He280 Jet fighter prototype when it crashes at Rechlin following problems with heavy icing. He ejects at 7,875 feet and makes a safe landing.

1 February
The first United States carrier offensive is made by the USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown. Their aircraft attack Japanese targets on several of the Marshall and Gilbert Islands.

11-12 February
The German battle-cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the cruiser Prinz Eugen leave Brest and escape through the English Channel. They are provided with a strong Luftwaffe air umbrella during the passage.

19 February
The first air attack on Australia takes place when Japanese bombers attack shipping in the harbour at Port Darwin.

22 February
The first United States Army Air Force (USAAF) headquarters in Europe are established in the United Kingdom with Brigadier General I.C. Eaker commanding.

16 March
Japanese aircraft bomb targets at Port Darwin in Australia.

27 March
The United States Navy (USN) is given sole charge of anti-submarine warfare off the United States coastline.

2 April
The 10th United States Army Air Force (USAAF) makes its first combat operation when heavy bombers attack shipping in the Andaman Islands.

2-9 April
Japanese carrier aircraft operate off the coast of Ceylon and India.

6 April
Japanese carrier aircraft make the first air attack on India.

12 April
United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Boeing B17 Flying Fortresses and North American B25 Mitchells based in Australia make the first attack against Japanese shipping and installations in the Philippines.

18 April
In a one-way attack on Tokyo, sixteen North American B25 Mitchells led by Lieutenant Colonel J.H. Doolittle are flown off the carrier USS Hornet, some 400 miles off the Japanese mainland. Following the attack, the aircraft are forced land in China.

22 April
Assam, Burma, China Ferry Command is established to air ferry supplies into China over the Himalayas (The Hump).

7-8 May
The Battle of Coral Sea is fought. This is the first naval action to be fought by opposing carrier-based aircraft where the surface ships on both sides never sight the enemy. The United States Navy (USN) loses USS Lexington and 69 aircraft and the Japanese lose Shoho and 85 aircraft and Shokaku is also damaged.

10 May
USS Ranger, operating off the west African Gold Coast flies off sixty United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Curtiss P40 aircraft to Accra. They are then flown on by stages, to 10th USAAF in India.

2 June - 4 July
A costly but successful German assault on Sevastopol takes place, supported by concentrated German Air Force bombing attacks.

Part 2