Second World War timeline

New Zealand military involvement in the Second World War

A brief outline of the key events of the Second World War, particularly focusing on the involvement of New Zealand.

Jump to: 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945

By 1938 developments internationally over the previous 20 years, specifically the rise of Nazi Germany, had made the possibility of war very real.

1939

• 14 March: German troops occupy Prague
• 31 March: Britain and France extend guarantee to Poland
• 7 April: Italy invades Albania
• 14 June: Japanese blockade British concession at Tientsin, China
• 22 August: Soviet Union and Germany sign non-aggression pact
• 1 September: Germany invades Poland
• 3 September: Britain, France, New Zealand and Australia declare war on Germany
• 5 September:
  • First New Zealander, a flying officer with RAF, taken prisoner of war.
  • South Africa declares war on Germany
• 10 September: Canada declares war on Germany
• 12 September: Enlistment for 2 New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2 NZEF) begins
• 17 September: Soviets invade Poland
• 27 September Germans take Warsaw
• 29 September: Germany and Russia partition Poland
• 3 October: First Echelon, 2 NZEF training begins at Burnham, Trentham, Hopuhopu and Papakura
• 4 October: New Zealand Government announces the formation of a Maori battalion for 2 NZEF
• 16 October: First German air raid on Britain
• 8 November: Assassination attempt on Hitler fails
• 23 November: Major-General Bernard Freyberg is appointed to command 2 NZEF
• 11 December: First Echelon advance party sails from Wellington
• 13 December: Battle of the River Plate-New Zealand cruiser HMS Achilles involved in battle with German pocket battleship the Admiral Graf Spee
• 17 December: Empire Air Training Scheme agreement commits New Zealand to produce 3000 trainees per annum

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1940

• 5 January: First Echelon embarks for the Middle East
• 7 January: First Echelon advance party arrives Port Said, Egypt
• 8 January: Rationing begins in Britain
• 12 January: Second Echelon, 2 NZEF, begins training
• 28 January: 28 (Maori) Battalion assembles in Palmerston North
• 12 February: First Echelon, 2 NZEF, main body arrives at Maadi Camp, Egypt
• 19 March: First British air attacks on a land target - the island of Sylt in the Frisian Islands
• 27 March:
  • New Zealand airmen take part in first leaflet raid on Hamburg as members of the RAF (Royal Air Force)
  • Michael Savage, Prime Minister of New Zealand, dies
• 1 April:
  • Formation of No. 75 (NZ) Squadron in Britain by the British Air Ministry
  • Peter Fraser becomes Prime Minister of New Zealand
• 9 April:
  • Germany invades Denmark and Norway
  • RAF and Royal Navy involved in campaign in Norway, including New Zealanders
• 15-18 April: British troops land in Norway
• 29 April: Empire Air Training Scheme commences in Canada, Australia and New Zealand
• 30 April: Evacuation of British forces from Andalsnes, Norway
• 2 May: Second Echelon, 2 NZEF, sails from Wellington
• 10 May:
  • Germany invades Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
  • Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
  • RAF begins bombing raids on Germany.
• 12-14 May: Germans break through on the French front
• 15 May: Holland surrenders to Germany
• 17 May: Third Echelon, 2 NZEF, begins training
• 20 May: Germans reach the Somme battlefield
• 25 May: Germans surrounded the Belgian Army, French forces and most of British Expeditionary Force
• 26 May: Evacuation at Dunkirk begins
• 28 May: Belgium surrenders to Germany
• 3 June: Germans bomb Paris. Evacuation of Dunkirk ends
• 5 June: New Zealand begins raising an infantry brigade group for Fiji
• 7 June: Fighter ace, Flying Officer E.J. ('Cobber') Kain (Wellington), serving with RAF, is killed in a flying accident in France (see his biography at www.dnzb.govt.nz)
• 10 June:
  • Italy declares war on Great Britain and France.
  • Canada declares war on Italy.
• 11 June: Australia, New Zealand and South Africa declare war on Italy
• 11-12 June:
  • First air raids on Italy.
  • East Africa campaign begins.
• 14 June: Germans enter Paris
• 16 June: 2 Echelon, 2 NZEF, arrives at Greenoch, Scotland
• 22 June: France accepts German armistice terms
• 25 June: Hostilities in France end
• 28 June: Britain recognises General Charles de Gaulle as the Free French leader
• 2 July: Adolf Hitler orders preparations for the invasion of Britain
• 5 July: French Vichy government breaks off relations with Britain
• 10 July: Battle of Britain begins with German attacks on Channel convoys
• 15 July: RAF attacks enemy shipping in North Sea and Channel ports
• 23-24 July: First British aircraft over Berlin
• 2 August: New Zealand Home Guard established
• 4 August: Italians invade British Somaliland
• 8 - 18 August: Battle of Britain. Intense air raids on British shipping and daylight raids. Airfields main objectives of attack.
• 20 August: German raider Orion sinks the steamer Turakina off Cape Egmont
• 23 - 24 August: German air raids on London begin
• 25 - 26 August: First British air raids on Berlin
• 27 August: Third Echelon, 2 NZEF, embarks for the Middle East
• 10 September: Advance party of 8 Infantry Battalion leave for Fiji
• 13 September:
  • Italians invade Egypt
  • Pte, G. R. Osbourne, 4 Reserve (MT) Company is killed by explosion of thermos bomb. First New Zealander in 2 NZEF killed as the result of enemy action.
  • Headquarters New Zealand Division (HQ NZ Division) moves to Baggush in the Western Desert
• 15 September: Germans suffer heavy losses to RAF with whom about 100 New Zealanders serve as fighter pilots
• 27 September: Tripartite (Axis) Pact signed by Germany, Italy and Japan
• 28 September: First United States destroyers reach Britain under the destroyers for bases deal
• 29 September:
  • HQ NZ Division returns to Maadi Camp
  • Third Echelon 2 NZEF arrives in Egypt
• 28 October: Italy invades Greece
• 3 November: HQ 8 Infantry Brigade established in Fiji
• British troops land in Crete, Greece
• 14 November: German raid on Coventry. Coventry Cathedral destroyed.
• 25 November: Steamer Holmwood sunk by German raiders off Chatham Islands
• 27 November: Rangitane sunk by German raiders 480km from East Cape
• 8 December: New Zealand steamer Komata sunk by German raiders off Nauru Island
• 9 December: The first Western Desert offensive begins including some New Zealand support troops
• 16 December: British offensive opens in Italian East Africa
• Egypt cleared of Italian forces

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1941

• 16 January: Establishment of Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF)
• 22 January: Tobruk in Libya falls to British and Australian troops
• 3 February: First blackout restrictions gazetted
• 7 February: Benghazi, Libya captured by British
• 12 February: German forces under General Erwin Rommel arrive in Tripoli, Libya
• 17 February: Instructions issued to Allied military commanders for a Greek expedition
• 3 March:
  • Bulk of 2 NZEF now in the Middle East
  • Kiwi Concert Party formed
• 6-7 March: British troops including most of 2 NZ Division begin to enter Greece. (Freyberg wrongly assumes New Zealand government has agreed to this while the government, also wrongly, assumes Freyberg believes it is a militarily feasible operation.)
• 24 March: Rommel strikes and captures El Agheila, Libya with little resistance
• 30 March: Enemy counter offensive in the Western Desert. German armour and Italian infantry advance.
• 31 March: New Zealand Division in position on Aliakmon line north of Mt Olympus, Greece
• April: Bombing raids continue over Britain and Germany
• 2 April: Rommel attacks, meeting little resistance
• 3 April: British evacuate Benghazi
• 6 April: Germany invades both Yugoslavia and Greece. NZ Division withdraws along eastern seaboard.
• 10 April: Australians forced to withdraw to Tobruk
• 11 April: First New Zealand prisoners of war (fighting as members of a New Zealand unit) taken at Klidhi Pass (11 men of 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion).
• 12 April: Germans breakthrough at Klidhi Pass. Allied forces begin to abandon Mt Olympus-Aliakmon line.
• 12-13 April: Rommel encircles Tobruk. Siege begins.
• 14 April: German attack on Tobruk repulsed
• 22-29 April: Evacuation of troops from Greece, some to Crete, others to Egypt
• 27 April: Germans enter Athens. Greece surrenders to Germany.
• 17 May: Italian forces in East Africa surrender
• 20 May: German airborne invasion of Crete begins. Capture of Maleme airfield.
• 24 May: Bismarck sinks the British battlecruiser HMS Hood
• 27 May: Bismarck sunk
• 28-31 May: British and Dominion (Australian and New Zealand) troops evacuated from Crete
• 1 June: Second Lt. Charles Upham and Sgt. V.C. Hulme awarded Victoria Cross for gallantry during Crete campaign. New Zealand troops regroup and complete training exercises in Egypt.
• 14 June: United States freezes German and Italian assets
• 15-18 June: British Operation Battleaxe fails to relieve Tobruk
• 22 June: Germany invades USSR
• 28 June: Germans capture Minsk
• 10 July: Germans cross the River Dnieper in the Ukraine
• 14 July: British occupy Syria
• 25-27 July: Britain, Australia, New Zealand and United States freeze Japanese assets
• 28 July: Japanese troops move into southern Indo-China
• 31 July: All married men in unreserved occupations have been called up for military service
• 3-4 August: German air raids over Moscow
• 5 August: Sgt. Pilot J.A. Ward (75 Squadron) awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry during attack on Munster. First New Zealand airman to receive this award. (Later killed in action September 1941.)
• 7 - 8 August: Soviet Air Force raids Berlin
• 14 August: Britain and America announce Atlantic Charter
• 20 August: Siege of Leningrad begins
• 1 September: Nazis order Jews to wear yellow stars as identification
• 12 September: 2 NZ Division moves to Baggush in the Western Desert
• 19 September: Germans take Kiev
• 2 October: Operation Typhoon begins (German advance on Moscow)
• 4 - 6 October: Raids on Benghazi and Tripoli by RAF; continued during October
• 16 October: Germans take Odessa
• 18 October: General Tojo Hideki forms Cabinet in Japan
• 24 October: Germans take Kharkov
• 11 November: 2 NZ Division moves from Baggush to assembly point near Matruh - Siwa. This is the first time the entire New Zealand force has been together (20,000 all ranks).
• 18 November: British Crusader offensive begins in the Western Desert. 2 NZ Division crosses the Libyan frontier into Cyrenaica.
• 21 November: Tank battle between 8 Army and Axis begins south and south-east of Tobruk
• 26 November: 2 NZ Division links up with garrison at Tobruk. NZ troops (4 Brigade) capture Belhamed, and (6 Brigade) Sidi Rezegh.
• 27 – 30 November: Axis army returns to Tobruk front. Overruns several NZ held points, taking many prisoners of war.
• 2 December:
  • 2 NZ Division withdraws from Libya
  • Heavy RAF raids on Axis supply bases in Tripoli and Benghazi
  • Royal Navy Force Z arrives in Singapore
• 5 December: German attack on Moscow is abandoned as Soviets launch counter-offensive
• 7 December: Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
• 7 - 8 December: Japanese troops land in Thailand and north-eastern Malaya
• 8 December: Britain, USA, and New Zealand declare war on Japan
• 10 December: Siege of Tobruk lifted
• 11 December:
  • Germany declares war on United States
  • 5 Brigade, 2 NZEF advance westward from Ascroma and captures large force of Italians
• 16 December: Rommel begins retreat to El Agheila
• 18 December: Japanese land in Hong Kong
• 22 December: Japanese land in the Philippines
• 23 December: New Zealanders serving with 67 Squadron RAF have first encounter with enemy during Japanese air raid on Rangoon, Burma
• 24 December: British take Benghazi
• 25 December: Hong Kong falls to Japanese troops
• 31 December: Martial law declared in Singapore

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1942

• 1 January: Declaration of the United Nations signed by 26 Allied Nations
• New Zealand casualties in the Libyan campaign: 671 killed in action, 209 died of wounds, 1699 wounded, 2042 prisoners of war
• 2 January:
  • Bardia taken by 8 Army – 1000 British prisoners of war set free
  • Japanese occupy Manila
• 3 January: 488 Sqn RNZAF in action at Singapore
• 6 January: Rommel commences offensive at El Agedabia
• 8 January: Rommel repulsed and withdraws during sandstorms
• 10 January: More New Zealand reinforcements to Fiji
• 21 January: Rommel commences second offensive
• 23 January: Axis troops take El Agedabia
• 26 January: First American forces arrive in Britain
• 29 January: Rommel's forces retake Benghazi
• 30 January: Japanese within 25 km of Singapore
• 8 February: Japanese invade Burma
• 10 February: US naval vanguard arrives in Wellington
• 15 February: Fall of Singapore
• 19 February: Japanese attack Dutch East Indies [now Indonesia]. Darwin, Australia, raided for the first time.
• 20 February: Western Desert frontline stabilised at Gazala
• February: 2 NZ Division deploys to Lebanon-Syria
• 3 March: No 486 (New Zealand) fighter squadron formed in RAF in Britain
• March: Japanese air raids over Australia
• 8 March: Japanese submarine I-25 sends reconnaissance plane over Wellington
• 13 March: Reconnaissance flight from I-25 over Auckland
• 7 - 8 April: Peak of air attacks on Malta
• 18 April: US General Douglas MacArthur assumes command of the South West Pacific Area. New Zealand in South Pacific Area a US Navy responsibility under Admiral Chester Nimitz
• Doolittle raid on Tokyo
• 30 April: New Zealand prepares for possible invasion. Evacuation plans for some cities prepared.
• 1 May: Rationing now includes sugar, clothing, boots, hosiery, and knitting yarns. (Petrol has been rationed since September 1939.)
• 7 7#8211; 8 May: Battle of Coral Sea. Japanese forces heading for Port Moresby turn back.
• 8 May: German summer offensive begins in Crimea
• 27 May: Rommel launches new offensive in Libya
• 31 May: Japanese midget submarine raid on Sydney Harbour
• 3-6 June: US victory at Battle of Midway effectively ends the danger of invasion of New Zealand
• 11 - 12 June: First US Air Force attack in the Middle East/Mediterranean
• 14 June: With defeat of 8 Army in Libya, 2 NZ Division recalled from Lebanon-Syria
• 21 June: Rommel captures Tobruk
• 28 June: 2 NZ Division narrowly escapes destruction with breakout at Minqar Qaim (1,000 casualties)
• 30 June: Rommel reaches El Alamein near Cairo
• 1 July: First Battle of El Alamein
• 5 July: Soviet resistance in the Crimea ends with the fall of Sevastopol
• 9 July: Germans begin drive toward Stalingrad
• 12 July: New Zealand motor-ship Hauraki captured by Japanese raiders in Indian Ocean
• 14 – 15 July: 2 NZ Division advances to Ruweisat Ridge but are overrun by German tanks (1400 casualties or POWs). Keith Elliott earns Victoria Cross and Charles Upham earns bar to Victoria Cross.
• 22 July: Two New Zealand battalions destroyed at El Mreir (900 casualties including 500 POWs)
• 23 July: Germans cross the River Don in Russia
• 24 July: Due to US assuming control in Fiji, 2 NZEF troops from Fiji return to New Zealand
• July: 9 Sqn RNZAF deployed to New Caledonia. First RNZAF involvement in area.
• 1 August: Air raid drills being held regularly in New Zealand schools
• 7 August:
  • First America land offensive against Japan at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands
  • General Bernard Montgomery takes command of 8 Army in North Africa
• 17 August: Enemy transport ship Nino Bixio torpedoed carrying prisoners of war. 120 New Zealanders are killed.
• First all American air attack in Europe
• 23 August: Massive German air raid on Stalingrad
• 25 August: Two companies of the 28 (Maori) Battalion inflict heavy casualties on Italians on the El Alamein Line
• 2 September: Rommel driven back by Montgomery in the Battle of Alam Halfa
• 13 September: Battle of Stalingrad begins
• 21 September: Rommel hands over command of Italian-German Panzer Army to General Georg Stumme and proceeds to Germany
• September: HMNZS Leander involved in Solomons campaign
• 5 – 13 October: US forces continue attacks against Japanese at Guadalcanal
• 18 October: Hitler orders the execution of all captured British commandos
• 23 October: Operation Lightfoot – the second battle of El Alamein – begins with massive air support of the 8 Army
• 2 NZ Division captures Miteiriya Ridge
• 25 October: General Stumme dies and Rommel returns to Africa
• 28 October: RAF breaks up German armour reforming for possible counter attack in the Western Desert
• October: 3 Sqn RNZAF deploys in South Pacific theatre
• 2 November: Operation Supercharge – Allies forces break Axis forces at El Alamein. 2 NZ Division opens way for British armour.
• 8 November: Operation Torch begins – US invasion of North Africa. Lt. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in command.
• 11 November:
  • Germans and Italians invade unoccupied Vichy France.
  • Axis forces now driven out of Egypt.
• 13 November: Tobruk falls to the 8 Army
• 19 November: Soviet counter-offensive at Stalingrad begins
• 20 November: Benghazi recaptured by British forces
• 2 December: Professor Enrico Fermi sets up an atomic reactor in Chicago
• 3 December: 3 NZ Div. HQ temporarily established in New Zealand. Throughout December troops are sent to New Caledonia from New Zealand.
• 13 December: Rommel withdraws from El Agheila
• 16 December: Soviets defeat German attempt to relieve Stalingrad
• 31 December: German forces retreat from Caucasus

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1943

• 5 January: HMNZS Achilles badly damaged by bomb off Guadalcanal
• 22 January: Australian and US forces defeat Japan in the Papua campaign
• 23 January: Eighth Army under General Montgomery takes Tripoli
• 29 January:
  • Eighth Army advance parties enter Tunisia
  • Japan withdrawing land forces from Guadalcanal
• 29 – 30 January: RNZN corvettes Kiwi and Moa sink Japanese submarine I-1 off Guadalcanal
• 2 February: Germans surrender at Stalingrad — the biggest defeat of Hitler's army to date
• 16 February: Soviets take back Kursk
• 27 February: Eighth Army takes up position on the Mareth Line
• 6 March: Rommel attacks Eighth Army in Tunisia and is repulsed
• 9 March: Rommel leaves Africa
• 16 – 20 March: Battle of Atlantic climaxes with 27 merchant ships sunk by German U-boats
• 20 – 28 March: Eighth Army breaks through the Mareth Line
• 27 March: 2 NZ Division executes 'left hook' at Tebaga Gap. Axis troops retire from Mareth Line.
• 6 April: Axis forces in Tunisia withdraw as British and American forces link up
• 26 April: First Army offensive against Tunis begins
• 7 May: Allies take Tunis
• 13 May: German and Italian troops surrender in North Africa
• 15 May: 2 NZ Division begins to return from Tunisia to Maadi Camp
• 18 May: Japanese begins an offensive along Yangtze River
• 20 May: New Zealand government agrees to keep 2 NZEF in the Middle East to be available for operations in Europe. A furlough scheme for those with long service in the Middle East is decided upon. The division in the Pacific to be reduced.
• 3 June:
  • Committee formed by General de Gaulle and General Henri Giraud for liberation of France
  • Chinese win victory in Yangtze fight
• 5 July: Germans begin major offensive at Kursk, but progress is limited. Soviets eventually win greatest tank battle in history. This effectively decides outcome on eastern front.
• 9 – 10 July: Allies land in Sicily
• 12 – 13 July: HMNZS Leander suffers heavy damage when torpedoed off New Georgia
• 14 July: Axis counter attack in Sicily
• 19 July: Allies bomb Rome
• 22 July: Americans capture Palermo, Sicily
• 24 July: British bombing raid on Hamburg
• 25 July: Benito Mussolini arrested and Italian fascist government falls. Marshal Pietro Badoglio takes over and negotiates with Allies.
• 1 August: Germans disarm Italian troops in Crete and other Greek islands
• 12 – 17 August: Germans evacuate Sicily
• 15 August: US troops land at Vella Lavella in the Solomon Islands
• 16 August: American daylight air raids on Regensberg and Schweinfurt in Germany.
• Heavy Allied air attacks on Japanese at Wewak, Papua New Guinea
• 23 August: Soviet troops recapture Kharkov
• 8 September: Italian armistice is announced
• 9 September: Allied landings at Salerno and Taranto, Italy
• 11 September: Germans occupy Rome
• 12 September: Germans rescue Mussolini
• 14 September:
  • Allied landings in Sardinia
  • Heavy fighting at Salerno
• 22 September: New Zealand troops land on Leros in the Dodecanese Islands off eastern Greece. (Germans invade and recapture these islands by mid November.)
• 23 September: Mussolini re-establishes Fascist government in northern Italy
• 1 October: Allies enter Naples
• 3 October: 3 NZ Division secures Vella Lavella. First troops of 2 NZ Division arrive at Taranto, Italy.
• 5 October: US force attacks Wake Island
• 13 October: Italy declares war on Germany
• 16 – 17 October: 4 and 5 NZ Brigades leave Port Tewfik for Italy
• 27 October:
  • Soviets break through between Dnieper River and the Sea of Azov
  • 3 NZ Division lands on Mono in the Treasury Islands
• 28 October: Butter rationing is introduced in New Zealand
• 1 November: US invades Bougainville
• 6 November: Soviets recapture Kiev in the Ukraine
• 9 November: Eighth Army takes Castiglione, Italy
• 22 November: Offensive on the Sangro River by 8 Army begins
• 1 December: German line on the Sangro River broken
• 3 – 24 December: 2 NZ Division battles for Orsogna north of Sangro River
• 20 December: Japanese air raid on Calcutta
• 31 December: Soviets take Zhitomir

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1944

• 13 January: Decision made to move NZ troops from Orsogna across the Italian peninsula to Cassino
• 17 January:
  • US 5 Army offensive along the Gustav line begins. 2 NZ Division assembling in army's rear.
  • First attack towards Cassino.
• 22 January: Allied landing at Anzio, behind the German lines at Cassino
• 27 January:
  • Siege of Leningrad is raised after nearly 900 days
  • January: US invades Marshall Islands
• 3 February: First counter attack by Germans at Anzio
• 15 – 18 February:
  • Allies bomb the monastery at Monte Cassino
  • 3 NZ Division lands on Nissan Island in the Solomons. Organised Japanese resistance ceases by 20 February.
• 16 February: Second German attack at Anzio
• 17 February: 28 Maori Battalion crosses the Rapido River south of Cassino and captures railway station. Forced to withdraw the following day as Germans counter attack.
• 29 February: US General Douglas MacArthur's force invades Admiralty Island
• 4 March: Soviets begin an offensive on the Byelorussian front
• 6 March: Meat rationing introduced in New Zealand
• 7 March: 20 New Zealand warplanes take part in attack on Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, their first attack on this Japanese base
• Japan invades India near Imphal
• 15 March: NZ Corps begins the assault on Cassino town after further Allied bombing. Assault continues until 23 March when they withdraw.
• 2 April: Russian forces enter Romania
• 8 April: Soviets begin offensive to liberate Crimea
• 10 April: Soviets recapture the port of Odessa on the Black Sea
• 16 April: Imphal plains (India) now in British hands
• 8 May: Japanese launch offensive against British troops in Burma
• 9 May: Soviets recapture Sevastopol
• 11 – 12 May: Allied forces open new offensive against Gustav line in Italy
• 15 May: Germans in Italy withdraw to the Adolf Hitler Line
• 18 May: Polish troops capture Cassino
• 5 June: Allies enter Rome
• 6 June: D-Day: Allied landing in Normandy, France
• 9 June: Soviet offensive against the Finnish front begins
• 13 June: First German V-1 rocket attack on Britain
• 15 June: Main body of 3 NZ Division HQ sails for New Caledonia
• 16 June: China-based B-29s bomb southern Japan
• 18 June: Eighth Army captures Assisi in central Italy
• 27 June:
  • US troops liberate Cherbourg
  • German forces overwhelmed by Soviets beyond Vitebsk
• 3 July: Soviets recapture Minsk
• 9 July: British and Canadian forces enter Caen
• 17 July: Allies cross the Arno river in Italy
• 20 July: Attempted assassination of Hitler
• 21 July: US troops land in Guam
• 27 July: Allied breakthrough west of Saint Lo, France
• 31 July: Completion of Normandy breakthroughs with the capture of Avranches
• 1 August: Polish Home Army uprising against Nazis in Warsaw, Poland
• 4 August:
  • Allied forces advance into Florence
  • Soviets at the gates of Warsaw
• 7 August: Germans begin counter offensive towards Avranches
• 10 August: Japanese resistance in Guam ends
• 12 August: Germans begin to evacuate Normandy
• 15 August: Allied forces land in southern France
• 22 August: Germans retreat to the Gothic Line in Italy
• 23 August:
  • French troops take Marseilles
  • Romania surrenders to Soviets
• 24 August: Liberation of Paris
• 31 August:
  • Eighth Army attacks the Gothic Line
  • Soviets enter Bucharest
• 2 September:
  • Eighth Army breaks the Gothic Line. US troops capture Pisa
  • Allied 1 Army enters Belgium
• 3 September: US and French troops capture Lyon
• 4 September:
  • Finland signs armistice with Russia
  • Allies take Antwerp
• 8 September: Soviet troops enter Bulgaria
• 13 September: US troops reach the Siegfried Line
• 17 September:
  • Operation Market Garden — Allied airborne attack on Holland — begins
  • Germans contain landing at Arnhem
• 26 September: Allied forces at Arnhem surrender
• 30 September: Allies capture Calais
• 2 October: Warsaw uprising ends as Polish Home Army surrenders to Germans
• 5 October: British forces land in Greece
• 10 October: Soviets reach Baltic coast
• 11 October: British troops occupy Corinth, Greece
• 14 October: Athens is liberated. Rommel commits suicide.
• 20 October: Philippines campaign begins
• 21 October: German surrender at Aachen, Germany (close to the Belgium/Germany border)
• 22 October: Soviets reach Norwegian frontier
• 23 October: Soviets enter East Prussia
• 30 October: Last use of gas chambers at Auschwitz
• 2 November: Greek mainland cleared of German forces
• 5 November: Allied planes bomb Singapore
• 18 November: US troops cross German border
• 24 November: B-29s bomb Tokyo
• 4 December:
  • Civil war begins in Greece
  • Eighth Army enters Ravenna, Italy
• 16 – 27 December: Battle of the Bulge in Ardennes
• 24 December: Last Japanese attack on Calcutta
• 27 December: Soviet troops besiege Budapest, Hungary

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1945

• 1 in which New Zealanders were involved 17 January: Germans withdraw from Ardennes
• 12 January: Soviets launch offensive in southern Poland
• 16 January: Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz
• 17 January: Soviet troops enter Warsaw
• 20 January: Hungary signs an armistice
• 22 January: Burma Road is reopened
• 13 February: Budapest is occupied
• 13/14 February: Firebombing of Dresden, Germany
• 19 February: US troops land on Iwo Jima, Japan
• 6 March: Last German offensive of the war begins to defend oil fields in Hungary
• 7 March: US troops take Cologne and cross the Rhine River
• 17 March: Soviet troops take Brandenburg, west of Berlin
• 21 March: British forces take Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar)
• 1 April:
  • US troops encircle Germans in the Ruhr Valley
  • Allied forces begin offensive in northern Italy
  • US troops invade Okinawa
• 8 April: Soviets capture Vienna
• 12 April: US troops cross the Elbe River
• 16 April: US troops enter Nuremberg
• 18 April: Germans in the Ruhr surrender
• 21 April: Soviets enter Berlin
• 25 April: US and Soviet troops join forces at Torgau, central Germany.
• 28 April:
  • Mussolini executed by partisans
  • Allies take Venice
• 29 April: Germans in southern Austria surrender
• 30 April: Hitler commits suicide
• 2 May:
  • 2 NZ Division enters Trieste
  • Germans in Italy surrender
  • Surrender of Berlin to Soviets
  • Surrender of German troops in Yugoslavia
• 3 May: Rangoon recaptured
• 5 May: German forces in the Netherlands, northwest Germany and Denmark surrender
• 7 May: German High Command surrenders unconditionally to Allied forces
• 8 May: Victory in Europe (VE) Day
• 13 May: Australian troops occupy Wewak, Papua New Guinea
• 26 May: 700,000 incendiary bombs fall on Tokyo
• 1 June: First landing of US troops on Okinawa
• 20 June: Australian troops land in Sarawak
• 21 June: US forces capture Okinawa
• 26 June: United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco
• 5 July: Liberation of the Philippines completed
• 14 July: US Navy bombards Honshu and Hokkaido
• 16 July: First atomic bomb test in New Mexico
• 3 August: Japanese home islands blockaded
• 6 August: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan
• 8 August: Russia declares war on Japan
• 9 August:
  • Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan
  • Soviet troops enter Manchuria
• 12 August: Soviet troops enter Korea
• 14 August: Japan accepts Allied surrender terms
• 15 August: VJ (Victory in Japan) Day. (Some prefer 2 September as VJ Day as this date on which Japan signed the surrender agreement.)
• 28 August: US troops enter Japanese main islands
• 30 August: British troops re-occupy Hong Kong
• 2 September: Formal Japanese surrender on deck of USS Missouri
• 24 October: United Nations officially born
• 20 November: Nuremberg War crimes trials begin