World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 2 Jun 1942

• Vichy French government granted Germany the use of the port of Bizerta, Tunisia to bring in food, clothing, and other supplies not directly related to the military. Troops, military equipment, and ammunition were explicitly forbidden. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Remy Van Lierde, flying a Spitfire Mk.Vb fighter, damaged a German Do 217 bomber over Skegness, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Remy Van Lierde | CPC]
• Light carrier Hosho launched aircraft to search for light cruiser Sendai and destroyer Isonami which had fallen out of formation due to heavy fog. ww2dbase [Hosho | CPC]
• German submarine U-159 sank US ship Illinois 450 miles southeast of Bermuda at 0253 hours; 32 were killed, 6 survived. In the same general area at 0255 hours, U-558 sank Dutch ship Triton with the deck gun; 6 were killed, 30 survived. Several hours later, U-553 sank British ship Mattawin off northeastern United States at 0718 hours; all aboard survived. Between 0332 and 0705 hours, U-213 gave chase to Norwegian ship Berganger, which evaded all 5 torpedo attacks, but at 2027 hours she would fall prey to U-578 southeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United States; 4 were killed, 43 survived. Finally, 85 miles south of Freetown, British West Africa, Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci sank Panamanian schooner Reine Marie Stewart. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• German submarine U-158 sank US ship Knoxville west of Cuba at 0257 hours; 2 were killed, 55 survived. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• British Baltimore aircraft of No. 815 Naval Air Squadron attacked German submarine U-652 12 miles northeast of Bardia, Libya; the crew of U-652 abandoned the submarine after sustaining heavy damage; all 46 aboard were later rescued by U-81. ww2dbase [CPC]

• About 50 German Jews from Berlin arrived at Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in occupied Czechoslovakia. They were the first German Jews to arrive at this camp. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Theresienstadt Concentration Camp | Terezín, Cechy | CPC]

• 195 British bombers (97 Wellington, 38 Halifax, 27 Lancaster, 21 Stirling, 12 Hampden) attacked Essen, Germany, causig little damage; 14 bombers were lost on this attack. ww2dbase [Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities | Essen | CPC]

• Nachi arrived at Paramushiro (Paramushir) Kurile Islands. ww2dbase [Nachi | Paramushiro, Hokkaido | CPC]
• Kamikaze departed Kashiwabara, Japan to support the Aleutian Islands attack. ww2dbase [Kamikaze | Kashiwabara | CPC]

• Troops of German 90th Light Division and Italian Trieste Division mounted a new attack on the French-held fort of Bir Hakeim, Libya; French General KÅ“nig refused to surrender. ww2dbase [Battle of Gazala | Bir Hakeim | CPC]

• USS Yorktown made rendezvous with USS Enterprise and USS Hornet 350 miles northeast of Midway. Rear Admiral Fletcher took overall tactical command of this fleet. ww2dbase [Yorktown (Yorktown-class) | CPC]
• USS Enterprise made rendezvous with USS Yorktown and USS Hornet 350 miles northeast of Midway. Rear Admiral Fletcher took overall tactical command of this fleet. ww2dbase [Enterprise | CPC]
• USS Hornet made rendezvous with USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise 350 miles northeast of Midway. Rear Admiral Fletcher took overall tactical command of this fleet. ww2dbase [Hornet (Yorktown-class) | CPC]
• US Navy deployed 25 submarines west of Midway in an attempt to detect the incoming Japanese fleet, while Midway-based US Army B-17 bombers attacked Japanese transports 600 miles west of the atoll, inflicting no damage. ww2dbase [Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Islands | CPC]

• Australian auxiliary patrol boat HMAS Kuru arrived at Portuguese East Timor from Australia, delivering supplies to the Sparrow Force. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | CPC]

• German forces began a 5-day bombardment of Sevastopol, Russia. One the ground, large weapons such as the 600mm Mörser Karl mortars and the 800mm "Gustav" railway gun were used. From the air, hundreds of sorties delivered 500 tons of high explosives, damaging port facilities, fuel tanks, and water pumps at the cost of only one Ju 87 dive bomber. ww2dbase [Battle of Sevastopol | Sevastopol | TH, CPC]

• Naka exited the drydock at Keppel Harbour, Singapore. ww2dbase [Naka | Singapore | CPC]

• German bombers attacked Canterbury, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | Canterbury, England | CPC]

• I-168 observed Sand Island, Midway Atoll with her periscope, reporting heavy aircraft activity. ww2dbase [Midway Bases | I-68 / I-168 | Midway | CPC]

2 Jun 1942 Interactive Map