Editing 1942 (section)

===March===
{{Main|March 1942}}
* [[March 1]] &ndash; WWII: Japanese forces of the [[2nd Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|2nd Division]] land in [[Port of Merak]] on western [[Java]] with the intention to advance on [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]].
* [[March 4]] &ndash; WWII: [[Operation K]]: The Japanese launch an unsuccessful attack carried out by two [[Kawanishi H8K]] ("Emily") flying boats at [[Pearl Harbor]]. This is the longest distance ever undertaken by a two-plane bombing mission, and one of the longest bombing sorties ever planned without fighter escort.
* [[March 5]] &ndash; WWII: Japanese forces of the [[Sixteenth Army (Japan)|16th Army]] under General [[Hitoshi Imamura]] enter triumphantly the Dutch colonial capital of Batavia without opposition.
* [[March 6]] &ndash; WWII: [[Yugoslav Partisans]], operating in [[Nazi-occupied Serbia]], assassinate Đorđe Kosmajac in [[Belgrade]]. 
* [[March 8]]&ndash;[[March 13|13]] &ndash; [[Invasion of Salamaua–Lae]]: Japanese forces invade and occupy the [[Salamaua]]–[[Lae]] area in the [[Territory of New Guinea]] to establish an air base for the support of further operations in the region. A small Australian garrison (some 200 men) in the area withdraws to [[Wau, Papua New Guinea|Wau]] after executing demolition operations to prevent the use of their facilities for the invaders. In response to the Japanese landings, [[Task Force 17]] with aircraft carriers [[USS Lexington (CV-2)|''Lexington'']] and [[USS Yorktown (CV-5)|''Yorktown'']] led by Admiral [[Wilson Brown (admiral)|Wilson Brown]], attacks the invading naval forces and destroys three transports, and damages the cruiser [[Japanese cruiser Yūbari|''Yūbari'']] and several other ships.
* [[March 8]] &ndash; WWII:
** Japanese forces of the [[33rd Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|33rd Division]] under General [[Shōzō Sakurai]] capture [[Yangon|Rangoon]]. The Allies manage to escape and try to make a stand in central [[Myanmar|Burma]].
** [[NIROM]], the Dutch East Indies' privately funded broadcaster, closes.
* [[March 9]] &ndash; WWII: 
** [[Executive order]] 9082 (February 28, 1942) comes into effect, reorganizing the United States Army into three major commands: [[Army Ground Forces]], [[United States Army Air Forces|Army Air Forces]], and [[Services of Supply]], later redesignated [[Army Service Forces]], with [[Henry H. Arnold]] as Commanding General of the [[United States Army Air Forces]].
** The Dutch Commander-in-Chief of the Allied forces on Java, General [[Hein ter Poorten|Ter Poorten]], surrenders to the Japanese. Ter Poorten's surrender announcement is made without consulting the commanders of the British and US forces, who want to continue the war. 
* [[March 11]] &ndash; WWII: [[Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines]] &ndash; U.S. General [[Douglas MacArthur]], his family and key members of his staff are evacuated by [[PT boat]], under cover of evening darkness, from [[Battle of Corregidor|Corregidor]] in the [[Philippines]]. Command of U.S. forces in the Philippines passes to [[Jonathan M. Wainwright (general)|Major General Jonathan M. Wainwright]].
* [[March 12]] &ndash; WWII: American troops land at [[Nouméa]] on [[New Caledonia]] to build a base and garrison the island. This landing includes the first [[Seabees in World War II|Seabees]] that are out on active service. The Seabees are Naval Construction battalions, and their name comes from the C and B in construction battalion.
* [[March 15]] &ndash; WWII: [[Dünamünde Action]]: 1,900 central European Jews are shot dead north east of [[Riga]], 1,840 are killed on the 26th.
* [[March 16]] &ndash; WWII: New Zealand and Australia declare war on [[Thailand]].
* [[March 17]] &ndash; [[The Holocaust]]: [[Operation Reinhard]] &ndash; The [[Nazi Germany|Nazi German]] [[Bełżec extermination camp]] opens in [[Occupation of Poland (1939–45)|occupied Poland]], about 1&nbsp;km south of the railroad station at [[Bełżec extermination camp|Bełżec]] in the [[Lublin]] district of the [[General Government]]. At least 434,508 people are killed here up to December 1942.
* [[March 18]] &ndash; [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], President of the United States, signs [[Executive Order 9102]], creating the [[War Relocation Authority]] (WRA), which becomes responsible for the internment of Americans of Japanese and, to a lesser extent, German and Italian descent, many of them legal citizens.
* [[March 19]]&ndash;[[March 30|30]] &ndash; WWII: [[Battle of Toungoo]]: Chinese forces under General [[Dai Anlan]] set up a perimeter around [[Taungoo]]. The Japanese [[55th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|55th Division]] bombards the positions on the west bank of the [[Sittaung River]] with artillery. The Japanese [[56th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|56th Division]] links up with the 55th and crosses the river. Taungoo is surrounded and finally taken, while the remnants of the Chinese [[200th Division (National Revolutionary Army)|200th Division]] withdraws to new defensive positions at [[Yedashe]].
* [[March 20]] &ndash; WWII: After being forced to flee the Philippines, U.S. General [[Douglas MacArthur]] announces (in [[Terowie, South Australia]]), "I came through and I shall return."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48749454 |title=I Came Through; I Shall Return |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |location=Adelaide |date=March 21, 1942 |access-date=2013-03-20 |page=1 |archive-date=March 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320165840/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48749454 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[March 22]] &ndash; WWII: [[Second Battle of Sirte]]: Escorting warships of a British convoy to [[Malta]] ward off a much more powerful ''[[Regia Marina]]'' (Italian Navy) squadron, north of the [[Gulf of Sirte]].
* [[March 23]] &ndash; WWII: The Germans burn down the Ukrainian village of Yelino ([[Koriukivka Raion]]), killing 296 civilians.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.russia-today.ru/2012_13_37.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130113222535/http://www.russia-today.ru/2012_13_37.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 13, 2013 |script-title=ru:Великая Отечественная: когда захороним последнего солдата? |language=ru |work=Russia Today |access-date=September 21, 2012}}</ref>
* [[March 24]] &ndash; The evacuation of Polish nationals from the Soviet Union begins. It is conducted in two phases: until April 5; and between August 10 and 30, 1942, by sea from Krasnovodsk to Pahlavi (Anzali), and (to a lesser extent) overland from Ashkabad to Mashhad. In all, 115,000 people are evacuated, 37,000 of them civilians, 18,000 children (7% of the number of Polish citizens originally exiled to the Soviet Union).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parstimes.com/history/polish_refugees/exodus_russia.html |title=Iran and the Polish Exodus from Russia 1942 |publisher=parstimes |access-date=October 25, 2012 |archive-date=October 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030164045/http://www.parstimes.com/history/polish_refugees/exodus_russia.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[March 25]]&ndash;[[March 26|26]] &ndash; The Holocaust: [[First mass transport of Jews to Auschwitz concentration camp]], 997 women and girls from [[Poprad]] transit camp in the [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovak Republic]].
* [[March 28]] &ndash; WWII:
** [[St Nazaire Raid]] (Operation Chariot) &ndash; British Commandos raid [[Saint-Nazaire]] on the coast of Western France, to put its dockyard facilities out of action.
** [[Bombing of Lübeck in World War II]]: [[St. Mary's Church, Lübeck]] is destroyed by an Allied bombing raid.
* [[March 29]] &ndash; WWII: Following a coup d'état, the Free Republic of Nias is proclaimed by a group of freed Nazi German prisoners in the Indonesian island of [[Nias]]; the republic exists for less than a month until the island is fully occupied by Japanese troops.
* [[March 31]] &ndash; WWII: [[Battle of Christmas Island]] &ndash; Japanese troops occupy [[Christmas Island]] without resistance, following a mutiny by [[British Indian Army]] troops against their British officers.