Pacific Theater of World War II September August 14, 1945

Prewar

Japan invades Manchuria September 1931 Start of World War II

1932

1937

1940

Axis Powers Formed September 1940 – Germany – Italy – Japan

Flying Tigers December 1941 – July st American Volunteer Group (AVG) Secretly recruited from US Air Corps, Navy, and Marines Approved by President Roosevelt to fight for China Paid salary PLUS $ bonus for each Japanese plane taken out Early success against Japanese fighters provided a key morale boost to the Allies after Pearl Harbor. Brought down 286 Japanese Aircraft in six months of operations, with only 23 loses.

1941 Dec 8/7 1941

Attack on Pearl Harbour Dec 7, “A day that will live in infamy” Dec 8, United States declares war on Japan

1941

Philippines US Commander General Douglas MacArthur December 9, 1941 – Japanese troops land on the Philippines – MacArthur and US troops retreat to Bataan Peninsula February 22, 1942 – Roosevelt orders Mac Arthur to Australia – MacArthur vows to return to the Philippines April 9, 1942 – Remaining defenders of Bataan surrender to Japanese

Bataan Death March April 1942 – 78,000 Prisoners of War captured – 12,000 Americans walked 60 miles to a POW camp – No food or water – 5,000 died May 1942 The last remaining forces in the Philippines surrender.

Doolittle Raids The Plan – B52’s were put on an aircraft carrier (could take off but not land on carrier) – Fly off carrier – Drop bombs on Tokyo – Land in China What really happened – Japanese saw carrier – Planes took off too soon – Dropped bombs on Tokyo – Not enough fuel to make it to Chinese airfields – Crews crash landed or bailed out (71 of 80 crew members did not survive) The Effect – Boost to American morale as it was the 1 st time American bombs fell on Japan – Japanese embarrassed and vowed to destroy the remains of US fleet.

1942

Code breakers broke the Japanese secret code and discovered March 1942 Japanese are unaware that US has broken code Plan two different attacks on US 1.Attack on New Guinea 2.Attack on Midway Island US sends two carriers to intercept the Japanese on their way to New Guinea in the Coral Sea

Battle of Coral Sea May 7, 1942 First naval battle carried out entirely by aircraft. USS Lexington and USS Yorktown damaged Result - Strategic Allied victory—halted the Japanese advance on Australia (to stop supply line)

The Battle Of Midway June Turning Point of the War for US Yamamoto seeks to capture Midway atoll and thus confront and destroy the US Navy’s carrier forces.

Plan of Attack

The Battle of Midway Japan still unaware that US has broken code US is waiting for Japanese as they approach Midway

The Battle of Midway US forces: 3 carriers, 1 lost ~50 support ships, 1 destroyer lost 360 aircraft, 98 lost 307 dead Japanese forces: 4 carriers, 4 lost 7 battleships, 0 lost ~150 support ships, 1 cruiser lost 264 aircraft, 228 lost 3058 dead

Strategic Bombing B-29 Superfortress bombers

Two Pronged Attack Pacific Fleet advances through central Pacific – Led by Admiral Chester Nimitz – Island-Hopping Warfare Troops advance from Solomon Islands to Philippines – Led by General Douglas MacArthur

Tarawa 20 ships ran aground due to running into coral reef 5,000 Marines had to wade to beach – Only 1 in 3 made it ashore – 1,000 Marines died Result of Tarawa – Discovered that the one amphtrac made it ashore and delivered Marines to the shore – More amphtracs were purchased

Marshall Islands Marines used Amphtracs to get ashore A lot less casualities Captured the Marshall Islands

Mariana Islands (Saipan, Tinian, Guam) Goal – Build a base for B-29s. They could bomb Japan from the islands. Captured August 1944 Bombing of Japan started a few months later – Bombs kept missing their targets because they didn’t have enough fuel to adjust when they got to Japan

Iwo Jima February 1945 Mariana Islands air base was too far to bomb with accuracy. Iwo Jima was halfway between Japan and Mariana Islands – 60,000Marines landed on Iwo Jima – 6,800 Marines killed in the capture of Iwo Jima Nimitz quoted as saying, “uncommon valor was a common virtue”

Bombing of Tokyo March 1945 Dropped firebombs – Napalm (a jellied gas) that is designed to start fires. 80,000 civilians killed 250,000 buildings destroyed

Okinawa Why invaded Okinawa? – There was no sign the Japanese were going to surrender – Needed a base close enough to launch invasion of mainland Japan Captured June 22, 1945 More than 12,000 US soldiers killed

MacArthur’s March from Solomon Islands to Philippines Guadalcanal New Guinea Molokai Philippines – Battle of Leyte Largest naval battle in history Japanese used Kamikaze attacks by deliberately crashing planes into American ships. – Long and grueling battle >80,000 Japanese soldiers killed <1,000 surrendered 100,000 Filipino civilians killed MacArthur returns to Philippines, “People of the Philippines, I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil.”

Guadalcanal—8/42-2/43 Who: US vs. Japan Where: Island near Australia— one of Solomon Islands What: One of the most vicious campaigns – Japanese put up a fierce resistance – US has superior air and naval power Results: – First time US land troops defeat Japanese – Americans are able to secure the island

Island-Hopping Warfare American Troops assaulting Iwo Jima

The Final Year The US retakes the Philippines in a long and costly campaign. Borneo, Iwo Jima and the Okinawa fall, with heavy losses on both sides. The military leadership of Japan refuses to give up, in spite of the loss of the bulk of their forces. An edict is issued, ordering civilians on the main Japanese islands to construct bamboo spears and meet the invaders on the beaches. US Bombers produce a firestorm in Tokyo, killing 100,000 people in two days. The US, Britain and China issue the Potsdam Declaration, demanding Japan’s surrender.

April 4, 1945

Okinawa Casualties –US—12,500 killed; 36,000 wounded –Japan—93,000 troops killed; 94,000 civilians killed (many killed themselves) Kamikazes—suicide pilots –Crashed planes loaded with explosives –Sank 30 US vessels

Manhattan Project Albert Einstein warns Roosevelt in 1939, that by using uranium “extremely powerful bombs of a new type may …be constructed.” Atomic Bomb program headed by General Leslie Groves. Secret laboratory set up in Los Alamos, NM headed by Robert Oppenheimer July 6, 1945, the 1 st atomic bomb detonated in New Mexico.

Dropping of the Atomic Bomb Hiroshima 90,000 to 100,000 persons were killed immediately 145,000 persons perish from the bombing by the end of Nagasaki Leveled Area: 6.7 million square meters Casualties Killed ,884 Injured ,909 Total ,793 (Large numbers of people died in the following years from the effects of radioactive poisoning.)

Dropping the Bomb Pros 1.The drop of atomic bomb triggered Japan to surrender and this ended the war faster. 2. This gave US superior strength since they have control over the atomic bomb. 3. This incident saves thousands of lives of American soldiers. 4. US become powerful and it has maintained peace with the atomic bomb as the needed leverage. 5. Many nations have witnessed the devastation brought by atomic bomb and this encouraged them to talk about peace talks rather than war. Cons 1.Dropping the atomic bomb enable other countries to start with their nuclear weapon buildup. 2.This incident has destroyed countless Japanese citizens who are innocent and has plagued radiation and serious medical condition like cancer. 3.Millions were spent in the development of the atomic bomb, a larger amount of money that can be use for further priorities should they decide not to allocate this on the atomic bomb preparation and development. 4.Firebombing also cause serious amount of damage. 5.Japan has made serious sacrifices for their power and for the lives of their people. 6.Dropping the bomb also built a wall that divides citizens of both nations. 7.o one can control the means on how the bomb caused devastation and the people that will be killed. 8.The incident has revealed the power that a nuclear weapon can do giving them the idea to utilize this weapon for battle.

Nuclear Strikes Aug 6, Uranium bomb “Little Boy” dropped on Hiroshima, killing 140,000 Aug 9, Plutonium bomb “Fat Man” dropped on Nagasaki, killing 74,000

Japan Surrenders Representatives of Japan’s Foreign Ministry, Army and Navy appear to sign the surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay

The Cost