Today in World War II History—December 14, 1942: US and Australian troops occupy Buna, New Guinea. On sub USS Grayback in the Bismarck Islands, an appendectomy is performed by a pharmacist's mate.
Reports Sarah Sundin.
Ethiopia declared war on Germany, Italy and Japan.
The country had lost a bitter war against the Italians prior to World War Two, the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, but then was liberated by the British Army in 1941, after which the remaining Italian forces launched a forgotten guerilla war that continued on into 1943, ending with the Italian surrender to the Allies.
Ethiopian head of state, Emperor Haile Selassie I at Jubilee Palace in 1942.
Royal Navy cruiser Argonaut was torpedoed and heavily damaged in the Mediterranean by Italian submarine Mocenigo.
