sMarch 2, 1942
Today in World War II Pacific History
Day by day chronology

MONDAY, 2 MARCH 1942

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, 5th Air Force): On Java, five B-17's and three LB-30's (the last airplane taking off just before midnight) evacuate the last 260 men from Jogjakarta Airfield on Java as Japanese soldiers approach within 20 miles. HQ V Bomber Command ceases operating on Java and ceases to function as an operational unit. Headquarters Squadron (HQ), 19th Bombardment Group transfers from Singosari Airfield (Malang) to Melbourne. On Bataan, P-40E Warhawks attack shipping in Subic Bay claiming considerable damage but four P-40s are lost.

In Australia, the 2d Bombardment Squadron (Medium) and 19th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 22d Bombardment Group (Medium), transfer from Brisbane to Ipswich with B-26s. Their first bombing mission will be in April 1942.

RAAF: Hudson A16-101 performs a high altitude reconnaissance mission over Rabaul and encounters heavy anti-aircraft fire over Simpson Harbor.

Royal Navy: HMS Stronghold (H50) sunk by heavy cruiser Maya in the Indian Ocean.

IJN: Japanese Main Body, Southern Force (Vice Admiral Kondo Nobutake) overtakes fleeing Allied ships southwest of Bali; heavy cruiser Maya and destroyers Arashi and Nowaki sink British destroyer HMS Stronghold; heavy cruisers Atago and Takao attack what they initially identify as a "Marblehead-class cruiser" and sink her with gunfire; their quarry is actually destroyer USS Pillsbury (DD-227), which is lost with all hands at 14°30'S, 106°30'E.