OBSOLETE
~1942: Stalemate
January 1942: The Soviet winter offensive is gaining substantial ground and has driven the Germans back from Moscow. The Soviets begin their attempts to reduce the Rzhev salient, leading to a bloody battle of attrition that will inflict massive losses on both sides.
January 1942: The Commonwealth recruit Robert Oppenheimer and Niels Bohr to work on Tube Alloys.
January 1942: The Lockheed and Douglas designs having been abandoned, the prototypes of the XB-29 and XB-32 make their first flights.
January 1942: The Merlin engined Mustang enters RAF service in Burma. It proves to be a superb long range fighter, rapidly gaining air superiority over the Japanese Ki-43.
January 1942: The Commonwealth secures agreement from the Belgium government in exile for the entire stockpiled output of the Shinkolobwe uranium mine in the Belgium Congo. The flooded mine with be reopened, with an exclusive Commonwealth contract for the next five years.
February 1942: With the Salween line holding steady, the Japanese launch Operation C to occupy the Andaman Islands and cut off supplies to Rangoon. The newly commissioned carriers Junyo, Hiyo and Ryuho under Admiral Kakuji Kakuta are assigned to cover the operation. Opposing is the Commonwealth Indian Ocean Fleet with the light carriers Glory, Venerable and Theseus under Admiral Bruce Fraser. Fraser's new Seafire fighters prove capable of dealing with the A6Ms and the two forces are evenly matched. The Battle of the Andaman Sea will be inclusive, leaving both Hiyo and Theseus heavily damaged. However, Katuka's failure to defeat Fraser will lead to the abandonment of Operation C.
February 1942: Commonwealth forces land in Flores and Sumba. Unlike the landing in Timor, the assault is opposed. However the the Commonwealth establishes a strong beachhead, though suffering heavy casualties.
February 1942: The second Eagle division, now including volunteers directly recruited from the US military, is committed to Burma.
February 1942: Albert Speer is appointed Reich Minister for Production.
March 1942: President Wallace orders the conversion of six merchant vessels to escort carriers
February 1942: With the Soviet winter offensive continuing and a clear Commonwealth build up for a resumption of hostilities, Hitler offers to withdraw from the Norway in return for its demilitarisation and a twelve month extension of the ceasefire. The Commonwealth cabinet is still deeply divided between the European and Far Eastern factions and the Soviets are pressing hard for the Commonwealth to rejoin the war in Europe. However the prospect of liberating occupied territories through diplomatic means proves too tempting. The Commonwealth agrees to extend the ceasefire. This will lead to a major deterioration in relations between the Commonwealth and Soviets, as well as the other occupied states governments in exile.
February 1942: French West Africa declares for De Gaulle's Free French.
February 1942: Air Marshall Arthur Harris, the new commander of RAF Bomber Command, produces a plan for a resumption of Germany focused on strategic bombing. The plan quickly gains the favour of Churchill and is accepted by the war cabinet as the the main thrust of resumed war with Germany. In the interim, the bulk of Bomber Command will be deployed in the Far East to work up.
March 1942: A further three new fleet carriers are ordered, along with eight light carriers of an improved design.
March 1942: Germany begins their withdrawal from Norway. The puppet Quisling regime will enter a coalition with the returning government in exile.
April 1942: The Treaty of Berlin formally ends the war between France and Germany. Germany will also continue to occupy northern France until a peace treaty with the Commonwealth is signed. A massive indemnity is imposed and France is required to cede Alsace-Lorraine, along with the colonies taken after the Great War, French Guiana, Madagascar, French Polynesia and Guiana to Germany. In addition, French Indochina is ceded to Japan. Civil control of northern France is returned to Pétain's government which relocates back to Paris.
April 1942: The war cabinet meets to discuss the developments due to the Treaty of Berlin. The European faction headed by Churchill demands an immediate resumption of war with Germany to prevent any German occupation of French colonies. The Far East faction lead by Fraser counter that diplomatic pressure should be attempted first, highlighting their willingness to withdraw from the Norway and the prevention of the construction of submarine pens in 1941. The Commonwealth inform the Germans that any occupation of French colonial possessions will be considered a breach of the ceasefire and the Germans quietly shelve the plans.
April 1942: With Commonwealth support De Gaulle's Free French occupy the remaining French Colonies in the Pacific.
April 1942: Commonwealth heavy bombers based in Burma, escorted by the new Mustang fighters, begin a strategic bombing campaign. The first target is Bangkok, to drive home to the Thai government the cost of standing with the Japanese. Over the next few months, Bangkok will be reduced to ruin, as it is hit time and time again.
April 1942: The Soviet offensives come to a close with a crushing defeat at Kharkov.
May 1942: Oppenheimer is appointed to head weapon development at Tube Alloys.
May 1942: President Wallace hands over the administration of all the French colonies in the Americas currently under US occupation to De Gaulle's Free French government. This places virtually the entire French fleet in FFL hands.
May 1942: The Commonwealth loan the newly repaired carrier Ark Royal to the Free French under the name Arche Royale.
May 1942: The construction of four battleships in Commonwealth yards is suspended due to financial pressure. The funds will instead be dedicated to Tube Alloys.
May 1942: While Sumba was secured in March, the fighting on Flores is bogged down due to difficulty of interdicting supplies and stubborn Japanese resistance. However by May the barrier for northern Australia is considered to be in place and the focus shifts to the need to secure New Guinea. The Commonwealth land at Guadalcanal in early May and an airfield is quickly established. Nagumo's fleet sorties to challenge. Summerville's Australian Fleet now consists of the armoured carriers Indefatigable, Inflexible, Indomitable and Invincible. Nagumo has been reinforced by Kakuta's three carriers for a maximum push. The Battle of the Coral Sea is the largest carrier battle to date. Nagumo's seven carriers bring 461 aircraft against Somerville's 324, but the heavy defences of the Commonwealth carriers and their radar equipped aircraft prove decisive. Despite the crippling of the Invincible and Inflexible, neither of which will see service again until 1944, Akagi and Ryuho are sunk, with the core of the IJN's pilots destroyed.
May 1942: The Germans resume the offensive with a diversionary attack toward Voronezh.
June 1942: The monsoon season brings the fighting in Burma to an end. The Commonwealth line Salween has been tested by the Japanese have suffered heavy casualties and failed to break through.
June 1942: The Germans launch a massive offensive toward the Caucasus.
June 1942: After extremely heavy fighting, the Commonwealth clear Flores.
July 1942: The Quebec Commonwealth Conference discuss strategy. The divisions in the Commonwealth are deep. The financial cost of the war is proving immense and it is reluctantly agreed to allow Westminster to directly tax the entire Commonwealth. Indian Premier Lord Hari Singh, Duke of Kashmir and Jemmu, demands greater Indian participation in government and is able to extract a promise of not only greater representation in Westminster post war, but that those representatives will be selected by the Indian government. The Dominions and India demand the focus on the defeat of Japan be maintained, the British, still by far the majority of the Commonwealth's economic power demand the war in Europe be resumed and Germany defeated. Finally no agreement can be reached. The status quo will be maintained and another conference held in November to make final decision.
July 1942: With Commonwealth naval support, Free French forces invade Madagascar. After token resistance, the colony goes over to De Gaulle.
July 1942: American industrialist Henry Kaiser proposes mass producing fifty escort carriers to a single design
July 1942: The Comanche and Cherokee enter production in Australia, Canada and the US.
July 1942: Guadalcanal is cleared and the Commonwealth continue advancing through the Solomon Islands.
August 1942: President Wallace swiches diplomatic recognition of France from Pétain's Vichy regime to De Gaulle's Free French.
August 1942: The German summer offensive has been a huge success reaching the Don river, inflicting heavy losses on the Soviets.
September 1942: The Germans reach the Volga river, however forces are diverted from the drive into the Caucasus to support fierce fighting here. The Germans will eventually breach the Volga line with an airborne assault but the cost is massive and they are unable to expand the bridge head.
November 1942: After nearly two years of ceasefire in Britain, Churchill's calls for the resumption of hostilities with Germany has lost significant popular support. The Nairobi Conference sets the goal of attempting to extract further German withdrawals in Europe by diplomatic means. However their is still consensus the war should be resumed if "suitable" concessions can not be extracted and redeployments from the Far East should be made to provide a credible threat.
November 1942: The Soviets launch another offensive attempting to reduce the Rzehev salient. Another offensive will be launched simultaneously in the Caucasus.
November 1942: Commonwealth economic strength is now starting to show with the first two Irresistible class fleet carriers and four more light carriers joining the fleet. Operation Zipper is planned for the recapture of Singapore. It opens with Operation Dracula, a landing in northern Sumatra to secure Medan and is followed by Operation Tidepool, a landing on the Malaya coast.
November 1942: The isolations lose control of the US senate in mid term elections.
December 1942: Hitler issues a stand fast order in Russia, prohibiting withdrawals.
December 1942: After revisiting their earlier calculations, Einstein and Szilard, supported by Edward Teller, write to President Wallace imploring him to urgently begin work on atomic weapons in light of German advances in Russia. They state their earlier calculations regarding the critical mass to be in error. As a result, Wallace forms a civilian committee headed by Hans Bethe with Klaus Fuchs as deputy to investigate the feasibility of nuclear weapons.
December 1942: Medan is recaptured.
December 1942: President Wallace signs into law the Military Assistance Act, allowing him to freely supply military equipment to nations deemed vital to US interests. All existing Commonwealth contracts for military equipment in the US are taken over by the US government under this program.
December 1942: The battle for the Rzehev salient ends in a resounding victory for the Germans, holding off the assault and inflicting huge casualties on the Soviets. However, their badly over extended forces in the south are in full retreat and two entire Army Groups are in danger of being destroyed.
December 1942: President Wallace authorises the completion of the Free French battleships Richelieu and Jean Bart in US yards under the Military Assistance Act.
