Download Timeline of WWII in Asia

TIMELINE OF WORLD WAR II IN ASIA
1937 - 1940:

July 7, 1937: Marco Polo Bridge Incident, beginning of Second Sino-Japanese War

September 1 - November 9: Battle of Taiyuan, Japanese capture capital of Shanxi Province and China's
arsenal of weapons

December 9 - 13, 1937: Battle of Nanking, Chinese provisional capital falls to Japanese, Republic of China
government flees to Wuhan

December 13, 1937 - Jan. 31, 1938: Nanjing Massacre / Rape of Nanking, Japanese troops rape, loot, and
murder civilians of Nanjing, approx. 300,000 killed

Winter/Spring 1938: Japanese Imperial Army officers in China ignore orders from Tokyo to halt southward
expansion

June 1938: Chinese forces break dams along Yellow River, halting Japanese advances but also drowning
1,000,000 Chinese civilians

March 17 - May 9, 1939: Battle of Nanchang, Japanese victory breaks Chinese National Revolutionary
Army supply lines, threatens all southeast China

December 27, 1940: Tripartite Pact, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan formally align as Axis
Powers
1941-1943:
Although the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy controlled China's coastline, the Chinese armies simply retreated
into the vast interior. When a Chinese army unit was defeated, its surviving members would carry on as guerrilla
fighters. China was proving so valuable an ally to the western anti-fascist coalition that the French, British, and
Americans were more than willing to send supplies and aid to the Chinese, despite Japan's attempts at a blockade.
Japan needed to cut China off from resupply, while also expanding its own access to key war materials like oil,
rubber, and rice. The Japanese government decided to drive into British, French, and Dutch colonies in Southeast
Asia, rich in all of the necessary supplies.

April 1941: Volunteer American pilots called the Flying Tigers begin to fly supplies to Chinese forces from
Burma over "the Hump" - the eastern end of the Himalayas

August 1941: The United States, which had supplied 80% of Japan's oil, initiates a total oil embargo, forcing
Japan to seek new sources to fuel its war effort

December 7, 1941: Japanese attack on US Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii kills 2,400 American service
members and sinks 4 battleships

December 7, 1941: Japan initiates Southern Expansion, launching massive simultaneous invasion aimed at
the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, Malaya, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Midway Island

December 8, 1941: United States and United Kingdom formally declare war on Japan

December 8, 1941: Kingdom of Thailand surrenders to Japan

December 10, 1941: Japan sinks British warships HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales off Malaya
TIMELINE OF WORLD WAR II IN ASIA

December 10, 1941: US base at Guam surrenders to Japan

December 22 - 23, 1941: Major Japanese invasion of Luzon, the Philippines begins - American and Filipino
troops withdraw to Bataan

December 23, 1941: United States base at Wake Island surrenders to Japan

December 25, 1941: British Hong Kong surrenders to Japan

January 10, 1942: Japanese invade Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)

February 15, 1942: British Singapore surrenders to Japan, entire British garrison of 85,000 British, Indian,
and Australian troops either killed or captured

February 19, 1942: Japanese launch major bombing raid against Darwin, Australia

February 19, 1942: Japanese capture island of Bali, Dutch East Indies

March 21, 1942: Japanese push into central Burma, hoping to take Britain's "crown jewel" - British India

April 8, 1942: American and Filipino troops surrender at Bataan, and Bataan Death March begins

April 18, 1942: Doolittle Raid, US launches first bombing raid against Tokyo and other parts of Japanese
home islands

May 4 - 8, 1942: Battle of the Coral Sea, Australian and American naval forces fend off Japanese invasion of
New Guinea

May 5 - 6, 1942: Battle of Corregidor, Japanese take fortified Corregidor Island in Manila Bay, completing
conquest of the Philippines

May 20, 1942: British finish withdrawing from Burma

June 4 - 7, 1942: Battle of Midway, pivotal American naval victory over Japan at Midway Atoll, west of
Hawaii

June 7, 1942: Japanese invade Alaska's Aleutian Island chain

October 25 - 27, 1942: Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, hard-won Japanese naval victory against US in the
Solomons

November 12 - 15, 1942: Battle of Guadalcanal, decisive American naval victory in campaign for Solomon
Islands, but 1,700 dead on US side including 2 admirals, 1,900 Japanese

April 18, 1943: Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's plane shot down by Americans, Yamamoto is killed

May, 1943: China's National Revolutionary Army launches offensive along Yangtze River
1944-45:
By 1944, the tide of war was turning and the Axis Powers, including Japan, were at a stalemate or even on the
defensive in many places. The Japanese military found itself over-extended and out-gunned, but many Japanese
soldiers and ordinary citizens believed that they were fated to win. Any other outcome was unthinkable.
TIMELINE OF WORLD WAR II IN ASIA

January, 1944: China launches major offensive in Hukawng Valley, northern Burma, a vital part of the Ledo
Road supply line into China

February 17 - 23, 1944: Americans land at Eniwetok, drive out Japanese defenders after 5 days' fierce
fighting

March 22, 1944: Japanese advance halted at Tamu, India

April 4 - June 22, 1944: Battle of Kohima, Japanese besiege British and Indian troops, but are forced to
retreat into Burma

June 15 - July 9, 1944: Battle of Saipan, Mariana Islands; US Marines defeat Japanese defenders, Navajo
code talkers play key role

June 19 - 20, 1944: Battle of the Philippine Sea, key naval battle that effectively wiped out the Japanese
Imperial Navy's carrier fleet

October 21, 1944: At Leyte, Japan deploys first kamikaze pilot attack against US Naval fleet

November 24, 1944: First American B-29 bombing raid against Tokyo

February 1945: Allies reopen Burma Road

February 19 - March 26, 1945: Battle of Iwo Jima, bloody American victory over Japan

March 3, 1945: Last Japanese in Manila, Philippines surrender

March 10, 1945: Allies begin fire-bombing Tokyo

April 1 - June 22, 1945: Battle of Okinawa, Allied forces capture Ryukyu Islands just south of Japanese
home islands

May 3, 1945: Allies recapture Rangoon, Burma from Japanese

August 6, 1945: American atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan
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August 9, 1945: American atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan
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August 9, 1945: Soviet Red Army invades Japanese-held Manchuria
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August 15, 1945: Japanese Emperor Hirohito formally surrenders, World War II ends