– The 14th Academy Awards ceremony is held in Los Angeles; How Green Was My Valley wins Best Picture. February 27 – WWII: Battle of the Java Sea: An allied (ABDA) task force of 14 vessels under Dutch command, trying to stem a Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies, is defeated by a 19-vessel Japanese task force in the Java Sea; 2.300 sailors die, including the commander, Admiral Karel Doorman; Japanese attain naval hegemony in East-Asia. The USS Langley, first aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, is attacked by 9 Japanese bombers while ferrying a cargo of USAAF P-40 fighters to Java. Langley is so badly damaged that she has to be scuttled to avoid falling into Japanese hands. March March 1 – WWII: Japanese forces of the 2nd Division land in Port of Merak on western Java with the intention to advance on Batavia. March 4 – WWII: Operation K: The Japanese launch an unsuccessful attack carried out by two Kawanishi H8K ("Emily") flying boats at Pearl Harbor. This is the longest distance ever undertaken by a two-plane bombing mission, and one of the longest bombing sorties ever planned without fighter escort. March 5 – WWII: Japanese forces of the 16th Army under General Hitoshi Imamura enter triumphantly the Dutch colonial capital of Batavia without opposition. March 6 – WWII: Yugoslav Partisans, operating in Nazi-occupied Serbia, assassinate Đorđe Kosmajac in Belgrade. March 8–13 – Invasion of Salamaua–Lae: Japanese forces invade and occupy the Salamaua–Lae area in the Territory of New Guinea to establish an air base for the support of further operations in the region. A small Australian garrison (some 200 men) in the area withdraws to Wau after executing demolition operations to prevent the use of their facilities for the invaders. In response to the Japanese landings, Task Force 17 with aircraft carriers Lexington and Yorktown led by Admiral Wilson Brown, attacks the invading naval forces and destroys three transports, and damages the cruiser Yūbari and several other ships. March 8 – WWII: Japanese forces of the 33rd Division under General Shōzō Sakurai capture Rangoon. The Allies manage to escape and try to make a stand in central Burma. March 9 – WWII: Executive order 9082 (February 28, 1942) comes into effect, reorganizing the United States Army into three major commands: Army Ground Forces, Army Air Forces, and Services of Supply, later redesignated Army Service Forces,