The Pacific Theater Important Events

War in the Pacific On Dec. 7, 1941, about one-half of General MacArthur’s air force was destroyed on the ground at Clark Air Field in the Philippines. Within days, a large Japanese force landed in the Philippines and MacArthur withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula on Manila Bay. There he set up defenses, hoping the US Navy could evacuate his men to safety.

The Philippines By March, 1942, FDR ordered General MacArthur to escape to Australia. He left with the words: “I shall return.” On May 6, 1942, 11,000 Americans and Filipinos surrendered. When the Bataan Peninsula fell, approx. 76,000 Filipinos and Americans became prisoners of war.

Bataan Death March Japanese soldiers split the prisoners into groups of 500-1000 and marched them 60 miles to a railroad. About 10,000 prisoners died during the 6 -12 day march and some were shot by the guards. Those who survived were shipped to prison camps where they were held captive for the rest of the war.

Bataan The Japanese general responsible for organizing the march was one of 6 Japanese executed for war crimes after the war.

Japanese Expansion Japanese forces continued to expand and were not stopped by allied forces until the Battle of the Coral Sea in May, 1942. This battle fought entirely with planes from aircraft carriers. Enemy ships never came within sight of one another.

Battle of the Coral Sea Although both the US and the Japanese navy lost about 1/2 of their forces, this battle stopped the Japanese from establishing the bases they needed to invade Australia.

The Battle of Midway June 4, 1942: This battle was also fought entirely from the air. The US destroyed 3 of the 4 Japanese aircraft carriers while they were still loading bombs in their planes. This carried with it the loss of 250 Japanese planes. This was the last Japanese offensive.

Battle of Guadalcanal 1st US offensive of the Pacific war. August 1942: 11,000 US Marines landed at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands and about 2,200 Japanese fled into the jungle. They fought there for 3 months. Feb. 1943: Japan abandoned Guadalcanal.

Island-Hopping From February 1943 on, the US forces began to selectively attack enemy-held islands in the Pacific. The Japanese fiercely defended their positions and both sides suffered heavy casualties.

American Offensives The US first captured the rest of the Solomon islands and then the Gilbert islands. After seizing the island of Tarawa in the Gilbert islands, it was used by US Admiral Nimitz to launch bombing raids on Japanese bases in the Marshall islands.

More US Offensives By Feb. 1944, the US had crippled Japanese air power and seized the Marshall islands. By June, 1944, the US captured parts of the Mariana Islands. The Mariana Islands were important because they enabled US planes to bomb Japanese cities.

The Philippines Mid-October 1944: US forces invaded the Philippine island of Leyte. Although the US quickly captured the island, a huge naval battle ensued. The Japanese used kamikaze pilots for the 1st time in this battle. The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest in Naval history, engaging more than 280 warships. As a result of the battle, the Japanese navy was virtually destroyed.

Japanese Kamikazes Japanese kamikazes were suicide pilots who crashed their planes which were heavily loaded with bombs into allied ships. During the war, the US experienced about 4,900 kamikaze attacks which destroyed 57 American ships and damaged about 650 others.

A Kamikaze Pilot

The Philippines After securing Leyte, the US invaded Luzon in an attempt to capture Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. In one month’s time, 100,000 Filipinos died, 80,000 Japanese died, and 27,000 Americans also perished. The US did not fully secure the Philippines until June, 1945.

The Battle of Iwo Jima The battle for this 14 square mile island was one of the bloodiest battles of the war. 25,000 Japanese protected the small rocky island and it took over 110,000 Americans to defeat them. Only 216 Japanese surrendered--the rest died. More US medals of honor were given for this battle than any other single battle of the war.

Marines Raising the US Flag at Iwo Jima

American Offensives Iwo Jima was located about 700 miles from Japan. Its capture was another step toward an eventual invasion of the Japanese home islands. The next island to fall to the Americans was Okinawa, which was located about 350 miles from Japan.

Battle of Okinawa April-June 1945: In another bloody battle, nearly 100,000 Japanese defended the island from an allied force of 180,000 soldiers and 1,300 warships. Japanese kamikazes launched nearly 2,000 attacks against the British and American fleets. This was the single bloodiest battle of the Pacific war with nearly 50,000 allied deaths and 93,000 Japanese deaths.

Okinawa

The Bombing of Hiroshima August 6, 1945: On President Truman’s orders, the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. It destroyed about 90% of the city and killed about 140,000 people.

Nagasaki When the bombing of Hiroshima did not elicit a surrender from the Japanese government, a 2nd atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The bomb on Nagasaki was equally destructive and led to a Japanese surrender.

V-J Day August 14, 1945: Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender. The formal surrender was signed on September 2, 1945 on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, officially ending WWII.

The Results of the War After the defeat of the Axis powers, all territories that had been taken over by Japan were returned to their pre-war status. All of the German-occupied territories were supposed to be given free elections, but only the W. European nations became democratic. Stalin refused to honor the Yalta agreements and made E. Europe into a series of Communist dictatorships.

World War II Allied Deaths

World War II Axis Deaths