List of Events from March 1941 to December 1942
Events described in this volume are printed in italics
| 1941 | 31 Mar | Enemy counter-attack in North Africa |
| 3 Apr | British evacuate Benghazi | |
| 6 Apr | Germans invade Greece and Yugoslavia | |
| 7 Apr | British and Australian troops evacuate Derna. Generals O’Connor and Neame captured by Germans | |
| 11 Apr | Siege of Tobruk begins | |
| 14 Apr | General Morshead appointed commander of Tobruk fortress | |
| 22 Apr | Embarkation of troops from Greece begins | |
| 20 May | Germans invade Crete | |
| 27 May | German battleship Bismarck sunk 400 miles west of Brest | |
| 8 Jun | Allied invasion of Syria begins | |
| 15–17 Jun | Operation Battleaxe | |
| 22 Jun | Germany invades Russia | |
| 12 Jul | Armistice in Syria | |
| 29 Aug | Mr Fadden becomes Prime Minister of Australia | |
| 7 Oct | Mr Curtin becomes Prime Minister of Australia | |
| 18 Nov | British offensive in Western Desert (Operation Crusader) begins | |
| 30 Nov | Germans capture Sidi Rezegh | |
| 7–8 Dec | Japanese attack Malaya and Pearl Harbour | |
| 10 Dec | Prince of Wales and Repulse sunk off Malaya | |
| 26 Dec | British garrison at Hong Kong surrenders to Japanese | |
| 1942 | 23 Jan | Japanese capture Rabaul |
| 19 Feb | First Japanese air raid on Darwin | |
| 8 Mar | Japanese occupy Lae and Salamaua | |
| 17 Mar | General MacArthur arrives in Australia | |
| 26 Mar | General Blamey becomes Commander-in-Chief, Australian Military Forces | |
| 5-8 May | Battle of the Coral Sea | |
| 20 May | Allied forces withdraw from Burma | |
| 31 May–1 Jun | Japanese midget submarines attack Sydney Harbour | |
| 4–6 Jun | Battle of Midway Island | |
| 21 Jun | Axis forces capture Tobruk | |
| 25 Jun | General Auchinleck assumes command of the Eighth Army | |
| 9th Australian Division ordered to move to Egypt | ||
| 21 Jul | Japanese land in Gona area, Papua | |
| 7 Aug | Americans land in the Solomons | |
| 13 Aug | General Montgomery takes command of the Eighth Army | |
| 15 Aug | General Alexander succeeds General Auchinleck as Commander-in-Chief Middle East | |
| 25–26 Aug | Japanese land at Milne Bay | |
| 30–31 Aug | Battle of Alam el Halfa | |
| 1 Sep | Operation Bulimba | |
| 23–24 Oct | Battle of El Alamein begins | |
| 2 Nov | Kokoda recaptured | |
| 7-8 Nov | Allied landings in French North Africa | |
| 9 Dec | Australians capture Gona |