14 May: The minesweeper
HMNZS Puriri was sunk by a mine while sweeping in the
Hauraki Gulf, and sank with the death of five of her crew.
20 May - 1 June:
Battle of Crete - New Zealand forces suffer heavy losses: 671 dead, 967 wounded, 2,180 captured. On the first day of the German invasion,
Charles Upham wins the
V.C
8 October: four police officers and three civilians are shot and killed at Kowhitirangi, near
Hokitika, by
Stanley Graham
7 December: Hawaii bombed in a surprise attack by Japanese carrier forces on the US Navy.
8 December: New Zealand declares war on Japan in response to Japanese attack on the United States.
10 December: British battlecruiser
HMS Repulse and battleship
HMS Prince of Wales sunk by Japanese torpedo planes, effectively taking Britain out of the sea war in the Pacific.
15 December: A
RNZAFLockheed Hudson bomber returning to Nelson from a coastal patrol hit the top of a limestone bluff near Collingwood in thick fog, killing all four crew.[6]
19 December: New Zealand suffers its worst naval loss when 150 New Zealanders on board
HMS Neptune are killed after the ship strikes mines and sinks off the coast of Libya.[7]
German surface raiders operated in New Zealand waters in 1940 and 1941, sinking four ships.
14 May: The minesweeper
HMNZS Puriri was sunk by a mine while sweeping in the
Hauraki Gulf, and sank with the death of five of her crew.
20 May - 1 June:
Battle of Crete - New Zealand forces suffer heavy losses: 671 dead, 967 wounded, 2,180 captured. On the first day of the German invasion,
Charles Upham wins the
V.C
8 October: four police officers and three civilians are shot and killed at Kowhitirangi, near
Hokitika, by
Stanley Graham
7 December: Hawaii bombed in a surprise attack by Japanese carrier forces on the US Navy.
8 December: New Zealand declares war on Japan in response to Japanese attack on the United States.
10 December: British battlecruiser
HMS Repulse and battleship
HMS Prince of Wales sunk by Japanese torpedo planes, effectively taking Britain out of the sea war in the Pacific.
15 December: A
RNZAFLockheed Hudson bomber returning to Nelson from a coastal patrol hit the top of a limestone bluff near Collingwood in thick fog, killing all four crew.[6]
19 December: New Zealand suffers its worst naval loss when 150 New Zealanders on board
HMS Neptune are killed after the ship strikes mines and sinks off the coast of Libya.[7]
German surface raiders operated in New Zealand waters in 1940 and 1941, sinking four ships.