Editing 1942 (section)

===May===
{{Main|May 1942}}
* [[May]] &ndash; [[Operation Pluto]]: The plan to construct oil pipelines under the [[English Channel]], between England and France, is tested in the [[River Medway]].
* [[May 3]]&ndash;[[May 4|4]] &ndash; WWII: [[Invasion of Tulagi (May 1942)|Tulagi is invaded]] by Japanese forces in the [[British Solomon Islands]] of the South Pacific, as part of [[Operation Mo]].
* [[May 5]] &ndash; WWII: [[Battle of Madagascar]] (Operation Ironclad) begins when British forces land on the [[Vichy French]] colony of [[Madagascar]]. On May 7 the northern city of [[Diego-Suarez|Diego Suarez]] surrenders.
* [[May 7]] &ndash; WWII: On [[Corregidor]], the last American and [[Philippines|Filipino]] forces in the [[Philippines]] under command of 2LT Robert L. Obourn ([[92nd Coast Artillery (United States)|92nd Coast Artillery Regiment]], G Battery) from [[Fort Mills]], surrender to the Japanese as directed by Lt. Gen. [[Jonathan M. Wainwright (general)|Jonathan M. Wainwright]], the overall commander.<ref name="ref1">{{cite book |last=Quigley |first=Carroll |title=Tragedy And Hope |year=1966 |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=0-945001-10-X |page=745 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KQZxAAAAIAAJ&q=tragedy+and+hope |access-date=September 21, 2016 |archive-date=December 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207090537/https://books.google.com/books?id=KQZxAAAAIAAJ&q=tragedy+and+hope |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[May 8]] &ndash; WWII:
** The [[Battle of the Kerch Peninsula]]: The German [[11th Army (Wehrmacht)|11th Army]] with Romanian forces launches ''Unternehmen Trappenjagd'' (Operation Bustard Hunt) and destroys the [[bridgehead]] of the three Soviet Armies (44th, 47th, and 51st) defending the [[Kerch Peninsula]] in the eastern part of the [[Crimean Front]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Forczyk |year=2008 |title=Sevastopol 1942, Von Manstein's triumph |url=https://archive.org/details/sevastopolvonman00forc |url-access=limited |pages=[https://archive.org/details/sevastopolvonman00forc/page/n18 35]–37 |publisher=Bloomsbury USA |isbn=978-1-84603-221-9}}</ref> The battle ends in an Axis victory.
** The [[Battle of the Coral Sea]] between Japanese and American/Australian fleets, the first battle in naval history where the opponents fight without seeing each other's fleets. The Japanese achieve a tactical victory in terms of tonnage lost (including aircraft carrier [[USS Lexington (CV-2)|USS ''Lexington'']]) but are prevented from invading [[Port Moresby]].
* [[May 8]]&ndash;[[May 9|9]] &ndash; WWII: At night, gunners of the [[Sri Lanka Artillery|Ceylon Garrison Artillery]] on [[Horsburgh Island]] in the [[Cocos (Keeling) Islands|Cocos Islands]] revolt. The mutiny is crushed, and 3 soldiers are executed (the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny).
* [[May 9]] &ndash; WWII: [[Operation Bowery]]: Aircraft carriers [[USS Wasp (CV-7)|USS ''Wasp'']] and [[HMS Eagle (1918)|HMS ''Eagle'']] bring 61 Spitfires to Malta ([[Club Run|"Club Runs"]]). The fighter aircraft are desperately needed to bolster the island's defense against German [[Luftwaffe]] air raids.
* [[May 12]] &ndash; WWII:
** [[Second Battle of Kharkiv|Second Battle of Kharkov]]: In the eastern [[Ukraine]], the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] Army initiates a major offensive to capture the city of [[Kharkiv|Kharkov]] from the German Army, only to be encircled and destroyed.
** Japanese minelayer [[Japanese minelayer Okinoshima|''Okinoshima'']] is sunk by American submarine {{USS|S-42|SS-153|6}}.
* [[May 15]] &ndash; WWII: In the United States, a bill creating the [[Women's Army Corps|Women's Auxiliary Army Corps]] (WAAC) is signed into law.
* [[May 20]] &ndash; The first African-American seamen are taken into the [[United States Navy]].
* [[May 21]] &ndash; WWII: Mexico declares war against [[Nazi Germany]], after the sinking of the Mexican tanker ''[[Faja de Oro]]'' by {{GS|U-160|1941|6}} off [[Key West]].
* [[May 23]] &ndash; WWII: German forces of the [[6th Army (Wehrmacht)|6th Army]] under General [[Friedrich Paulus]] and the [[1st Panzer Army]] led by General [[Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist|Ewald von Kleist]] meet up at [[Balakliia|Balakleya]], southeast of Kharkov, and encircle most of the Soviet 6th and 9th armies, capturing a 250,000-strong Soviet force inside the pocket.
* [[May 26]] &ndash; WWII:
** [[Battle of Gazala]]: German forces of [[Panzer Army Africa]] led by General Erwin Rommel launch a frontal attack on the central [[Gazala]] positions. During the day, the bulk of Rommel's forces move forward, giving the British the impression that this is the main Axis assault. When night falls, the armoured formations turn south in a sweeping move around the southern end of the Gazala line.
** [[Battle of Bir Hakeim]]: The Free French and British troops slow the German advance in North Africa.
** The [[Anglo-Soviet Treaty of 1942]], to help establish a military and political alliance between the [[USSR]] and the [[British Empire]], is signed in London by foreign Secretary [[Anthony Eden]] and Soviet foreign minister [[Vyacheslav Molotov]].
* [[May 27]] &ndash; WWII: [[Operation Anthropoid]]: Czech paratroopers acting for the Czech government in exile and trained in Britain attempt to assassinate [[Reinhard Heydrich]], acting ''Reichsprotektor'' of the Nazi [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]], in [[Prague]], and succeed in wounding him.
* [[May 29]] &ndash; [[Thai spelling reform of 1942]] is initiated by the government of Prime Minister Field Marshal [[Plaek Phibunsongkhram]] with his office announcing a simplification of the Thai alphabet. The announcement is published in the Royal Gazette on June 1. The reform is canceled by the government of [[Khuang Aphaiwong]] on August 2, 1944.
* [[May 30]]&ndash;[[May 31|31]] &ndash; WWII: [[Bombing of Cologne in World War II|Bombing of Cologne]] &ndash; British [[RAF Bomber Command]]'s "Operation Millennium", its first "1,000 bomber raid", with associated fires make 13,000 families homeless and kills around 475 people, mostly civilians; 3,330 non-residential buildings are destroyed.
* [[May 31]]&ndash;[[June 1]] &ndash; WWII: [[Attack on Sydney Harbour]]: Japanese [[midget submarine]]s infiltrate Sydney Harbour in Australia, in an attempt to attack Allied warships.