In January 1941, Devereux was ordered to Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands and later dispatched to Wake Island as the officer-in-charge of the First Marine Defense Battalion's Detachment on Wake Island, located in the northwest Pacific Ocean. On the morning of Monday, December 8, 1941, he received the message that Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japanese a few hours earlier (Sunday, December 7, 1941). In the fight that followed, (the Battle of Wake Island) then-Major Devereux, and his Marines, supported by Marine Fighter Squadron 211, damaged two cruisers, sank two destroyers, one escort vessel, and destroyed or damaged a total of 72 aircraft, and probably sank one submarine. Two more destroyers were damaged the last day. However, later, after a second more intensive larger invasion force attacked, after days of bitter fighting, the 449 Marines surrendered to the Japanese on December 23, 1941.