1 February 1942 Air attacks from the carrier USS Enterprise on the Marshall Islands Roi, Taroa, and Kwajalein. Under dense fighter cover, the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst , Gneisenau and the cruiser Prinz Eugen pass through the Channel. Japanese bombers attack Port Darwin in Australia. 20 February 1942 Ira C. Eaker, commander of the 8th AF, arrives in Britain. March 1942 AI Mk.
VII radar is declared operational.
Fw 190A-3 enters service. This model is armed with four 20mm cannon and two 7.92mm guns. The first production Tupolev Tu-2 bomber is delivered. After the Allied defeat in the Battle of the Java Sea, the Dutch Netherlands-Indies are abandoned. 3 March 1942 First operational mission of the Avro Lancaster.