| 10th January 1942 | The last German air-raid on Liverpool destroys the home of William Patrick Hitler, Adolf Hitler's nephew. After his house is destroyed, William Hitler travels to the United States, joining the navy to fight against his uncle. |
| 25th February 1942 | Princess Elizabeth, heir to the throne, registers for war service. |
| 15th April 1942 | King George VI awards the George Cross to Malta in honour of the bravery and resilience shown by their people during the attempted siege by Germany and Fascist Italy in the early stages of the Second World War. The King says in a letter, "To honour her brave people, I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta, to bear witness to a heroism and a devotion that will long be famous in history.” |
| 5th May 1942 | United Kingdom forces invade the French colony of Madagascar in ‘Operation Ironclad‘. |
| 8th May 1942 | The Battle of the Coral Sea draws to a close in the Pacific Ocean, having been fought by the Imperial Japanese Navy and the successful Allied forces of the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. It is the first battle in Naval history where two enemy fleets had fought without seeing each other. |
| 31st May 1942 | Japanese submarines infiltrate Sydney Harbour in an attempt to attack Allied warships. |
| 12th June 1942 | Annelies Marie “Anne” Frank writes the first entry in her new diary, on her 13th birthday. |
| 1st July 1942 | The First Battle of El Alamein begins between Axis and Allied forces in Egypt. The fighting lasts until 27th July 1942. |
| 6th July 1942 | Anne Frank's family goes into hiding during the German occupation, in an attic above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse. Her experiences and thoughts whilst hiding are recounted in her diary. |
| 22nd July 1942 | The systematic deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto begins. |
| 31st July 1942 | The Oxford Committee of Famine Relief (OXFAM) is founded. |
| 12th September 1942 | The ‘RMS Laconia‘, carrying civilians, Allied soldiers and Italian Prisoners of War, is torpedoed off the coast of West Africa and sinks. |
| 2nd October 1942 | The British cruiser ‘Curaçao’ collides with the ‘Queen Mary’ off the coast of Donegal and sinks; 338 people drown. |
| 23rd October 1942 | British troops go on the offensive against the Axis forces in the Second Battle of El Alamein. |
| 29th October 1942 | Leading clergymen and political figures hold a public meeting in the United Kingdom to register outrage over Nazi Germany's persecution of Jews. |
| 7th December 1942 | British commandos conduct ‘Operation Frankton‘, a raid on shipping in the Bordeaux harbour. |