~April to June 1942 (Transpacific War, North American Theatre): Almost there
April 1942: The US begin their London offensive in Ontario. US casualties immediately begin to mount as General Courtney Hodges Third Army is forced to attack the CW fortifications on a narrow front. The assault sees the first use of the US's specialist assault vehicles. While somewhat effective, numerous defects, predominantly caused by their hasty development, quickly come to light particularly reliability, armour protection and their high silhouette. Work immediately begins on rectifying these defects. The M1 Grizzly assault gun however proves to be the only US vehicle capable of effectively dealing with the heavily armoured CW Churchill tanks.
April 1942: The Pacific Alliance launch their assault on Vancouver Island. Unlike previous Pacific Alliance amphibious assaults, these landings benefit from far greater planning and preparation. While the inexperienced 101st Airborne suffers heavy casualties, a beachhead is soon established.
April 1942: With the situation in the Far East now seeming stable, Singapore likely to fall, forcing the CW to abandon the China Sea and the success of Ingersoll's raid in the Caribbean, the battleship lobby is able to force a limited resumption of battleship construction. A pair of ship of a new design with the speed to operate with the carrier force ordered . The Arizona class will displace 48,000 tons, carry nine 16" guns and be capable of 32 knots. However to strengthen the carrier force three further Essex class are ordered. With the growing success of Nimitz's submarine campaign, a further 100 boats are ordered along with four experimental boats patterned after the high speed CW vessels. In addition, to counter those submarines, a new class of high speed escorts is ordered along with the development of new anti submarine weapons. To further strengthen the anti submarine force ten further merchants are to be converted to escort carriers. The Bogue class will displace 9,500 tons, be capable of 17 knots and carry 28 aircraft.
April 1942: With his submarines in position Nimitz begins Operation Timpani, beginning his new strategy of attacking vulnerable CW shipping in the South Atlantic and Gibraltar to Southampton route. His new strategy immediately begins to yeild results, with heavy losses to CW shipping.
April 1942: With 14 divisions now trained for mountain warfare, General Bradley's Seventh Army begins probing attacks into British Colombia.
May 1942: The US Second, Fourth and Fifth Armies begin the main US offensive in Maine. Once again the performance of the US assault vehicles proves disappointing. However the weaker CW defences as allow General Drum's First Army Group to begin to make progress. However again the two inexperienced airborne divisions suffer heavy casualties before they are relieved.
May 1942: With it clear CW air defences are superior to their own regardless of the restructuring of the Rickenbacker Report, the USAF begins a through investigation into the cause of the CW's efficiency.
May 1942: With casualties in the Hodges Third Army reaching alarming levels and having failed to draw off significant CW reserves, Stilwell overrules Drum and calls a halt to the offensive.
June 1942: The USAF accepts proposals from Northrop and Republic for the development of an airlaunched cruise missile. The Northrop JB-1 Bat will be a turbojet powered flying wing, while the more conventional Republic JB-2 Loon is intended to be powered by a improved development of Robert Goddards 1931 pulsejet engine.
June 1942: With CW troops continuing to pour into Canada, the raising of an additional 54 US divisions is ordered. Despite the heavy casualties suffered, the use of airborne forces is considered to be a success and these divisions are to include two further airborne divisions.
June 1942: After two months of heavy fighting, Pacific Alliance forces take Victoria, clearing Vancouver Island and opening access to Puget Sound. Despite the success of the operation, the campaign has resulted in heavy casualties to the Pacific Alliance marine units which will require six months to refit.
June 1942: The US Seventh Army begins an offensive from Chilliwack aimed at taking Hope. Despite having committed three divisions to the single division of defenders, the offensive only makes slow progress against the strong prepared defences. However Bradley adopts a program of rotating out his divisions to avoid excessive losses in any one unit.
June 1942: The US First Army Group crosses the St John River in Maine. However by now US casualties, especially among the newly raised divisions, have reached 95,000 for only 50,000 CW casualties.
