Eighty Years Ago: Asia Pacific, March 26 – April 1, 1942
- By Peter Harmsen
- 3 April, 2022
- 1 Comment
March 26, 1942: Japanese carrier force leaves Dutch East Indies for the Indian Ocean
March 27, 1942: In Burma, Japanese Army continues onslaught on Toungoo while amassing forces on Irrawaddy front
March 28, 1942: Last 2,000 Dutch defenders of Sumatra under command of Major General Roelof Theodorus Overakker surrender to the Japanese. Overakker is later executed by his captors in January 1945, on his 55th birthday
March 29, 1942: British Labor politician Sir Stafford Cripps is on a mission in India to secure support for the war effort, meeting independence leader Mahatma Gandhi
March 30, 1942: Near the town of Prome, Burma, Japanese forces breach defenses manned by British-led Indian troops. Photo shows Indian prisoners being led to the rear
March 31, 1942: Japanese troops occupy Christmas Island in the easternmost Indian Ocean
April 1, 1942: US-based New Argosy pulp magazine on the prehistory of Pearl Harbor (see above)
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My grandfather, then a Lieutenant Colonel Quartermaster, took part the first expedition in 38th Division and the second expedition in the New 1st Army all led by General Sun Li-jen. He survived the war and followed General Sun to Taiwan in 1947.