1942 Philadelphia Inquirer WWII Pictorial Map of the Pacific and East Asia

This is a stunning visual summary of the first year of World War II in the Pacific, published by The Philadelphia Inquirer on December 6, 1942, one day before the one year anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941). Vignettes and text highlight pivotal events in the theater of 1942. Beginning with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the most eye-catching illustration (drawn over continental Asia) depicts the B-25s of the Doolittle Raid bombing Tokyo on April 18, 1942. Other vignettes illustrate the Japanese invasion of the Aleutians, the valiant American resistance at Wake Island, MacArthur's flight from Corregidor in a PT boat and arrival in Australia, and the fabled Flying Tigers dogfighting over southern China. Three truly pivotal events, the Battle of Midway, the invasion of Guadalcanal (labeled here simply as Solomons), and the naval engagement around Guadalcanal in mid-November, are depicted. For a contemporary reader, these events would have been instantly remembered. The Battle of Guadalcanal was followed closely by Americans at home, as this was the first American offensive of the war.

Publication History and Census

This map was created for and published by The Philadelphia Inquirer on December 6, 1942. This is the only known cataloged example.