1. War in the Pacific

2. Pearl Harbor & Naval Fleet
Attack had damaged naval fleet but missed American aircraft carriers—were at sea on mission
Had several carriers in Pacific
Commander of US Navy in Pacific- Admiral Chester Nimitz
Planned operations against Japanese navy

3. Fall of the Philippines
Japan attacked airfields in Philippines hours after Pearl Harbor
Landed troops 2 days later
American & Filipino forces outnumbered—Gen. Douglas MacArthur retreated to Bataan Peninsula
Rugged terrain allowed to hold out for over 3 months

4. Fall of the Philippines
By March 1942, running out of food & supplies, disease rampant, conditions poor
Roosevelt wanted MacArthur to evacuate to Australia & MacArthur vowed to return
April 9th- 140,000 soldiers surrendered

5. Bataan Death March
78,000 forced to march 65 miles to Japanese POW camp

6. Bataan Death March Almost 10,000 died on march
Many not allowed to drink water, killed if asked
Dead bodies littered trail

7. Bataan Death March https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPbAd1TUGJA
What were the conditions those on the Death March faced?
How did the survivor get through the march?

8. Bataan Bataan Death March later ruled a Japanese war crime
66 female nurses captured, sent to University of Santo Tomas in Manila, remained until 1945
Small force held out on Corregidor island in Manila Bay
In May, surrendered

9. Doolittle raid on tokyo
Roosevelt wanted to bomb Tokyo to raise morale
American planes couldn’t reach
Aircraft carriers couldn’t bring close enough with Japanese ships in North Pacific
Replaced carrier’s usual short-range bombers with long-range B-25 bombers that could attack from farther away
Although B-25s could take off from carrier, bombers couldn’t land on short deck—they’d have to land in China

10. Doolittle raid on tokyo
Mission led by Lt. Colonel James Doolittle
End of March 1942, 16 B-52s departed on aircraft carrier Hornet
April 18- American bombs fell on Japan for first time

11. Japanese strategy change
Japanese leaders were worried that Emperor Hirohito, revered as a god, could have been killed
Originally wanted to cut American supply lines to Australia by capturing south coast of New Guinea but turned to Commander of fleet, Admiral Yamamoto’s plan
Attack Midway Island—last American base in North Pacific west of Hawaii
Would lure American fleet into battle and enable his fleet to destroy
Attack on New Guinea would continue but only with three aircraft carriers

12. Battle of the coral sea
Japan thought could do two missions at same time since secret
American code breakers discovered messages
Yorktown and Lexington carriers sent to intercept Japanese in Coral Sea

13. Battle of the coral sea Both sides launched all-out airstrikes
Lexington sank, Yorktown badly damaged
Prevented Japan from landing on New Guinea’s south coast—kept supply line to Australia open
Explosion of Lexington

14. Navajo code talkers
Used radios to communicate when storming beaches—no time to translate messages
Navajos recruited to serve as “code talkers”
Navajo language- no written alphabet, known only to Navajo and few others
Recruits developed code words that stood for military terms
Jay-sho: buzzard- bomber
Lo-tso: whale- battleship
Ni-ma-si: potatoes- grenades
Mission not revealed until 1971
2001, awarded Congressional Medal

15. Battle of midway
Admiral Nimitz sent carriers to ambush Japanese at Midway
38 Japanese planes shot down
Japan prepared second wave to attack
Aircraft from Hornet, Yorktown, and Enterprise launched counterattack
3 Japanese carriers burned within minutes since had fuel, bombs, and aircraft exposed on flight decks
Fourth Japanese carrier sunk, and Admiral Yamamoto ordered remaining ships to retreat

16. Battle of Midway Turning point in war
Japan lost 4 large carriers—heart of fleet
Stopped Japanese advance
362 Americans & 3,057 Japanese killed

17. Battle of Midway https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-au50GxIXw
How were Americans successful despite being outnumbered 2:1?

18. Plan to drive back japan
2-pronged attack:
Pacific Fleet, commanded by Nimitz, would advance through central Pacific by island-hopping
MacArthur’s troops would advance through Solomon Islands, capture north coast of New Guinea, then launch invasion to retake Philippines

19. Island-Hopping
Problem: many islands were coral reef atolls- water over coral reef not always deep enough to allow landing craft to get to shore
If landing craft ran aground on reef, troops would have to wade to beach
Many learned at Tarawa Atoll, wading ashore could cause high causalities

20. Battle of Tarawa
Tarawa- part of Gilbert Islands—navy’s first objective
Japanese base had to be captured in order to put air bases in nearby Marshall Islands
At least 20 ships ran aground
Marines had to wade in under heavy Japanese fire—only 1/3 made it
Amphtracs, “Alligators”, boats with tank tracks, crossed reef & delivered troops to beaches
More than 1, Marines died—shocked Americans at home

21. Battle of Kwajalein Smooth assault—all went ashore in amphtracs
Captured Kwajalein & nearby Eniwetok with fewer casualties

22. Mariana Islands
After taking Marshall Islands, targeted Mariana Islands
Wanted to use as base for new heavy bomber, B-29 Superfortress
Could fly farther than any other plane in world
From Mariana, could bomb Japan
Captured 3 Mariana Islands, Saipan, Tinian, Guam by Aug. ‘44—few months later began bombing Japan

23. Mariana Islands

24. Solomon Islands campaign
Aug. ‘42- Invaded Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands, east of New Guinea, led by MacArthur
Continued until early ‘44 when troops captured enough islands to surround main Japanese base in region
Japanese withdrew ships and aircraft from base, but left ,000 troops behind to hold island

25. Solomon islands campaign

26. MacArthur’s Jump
MacArthur worried navy’s advance was leaving him behind
Ordered forces to leap nearly 600 miles to capture base at Hollandia on north coast of New Guinea

27. Shortly after, seized Morotai—last stop before Philippines

28. Battle of Leyte Gulf
Oct. ’44 over 700 ships & more than 160,000 troops
Oct. 20- troops begin lading on Leyte, island on eastern side
MacArthur fulfilled promise of returning

29. Battle of Leyte Gulf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DapU6pTetd4
What was Japan’s plan? What tactics were they going to use?

30. Battle of Leyte Gulf
Japanese sent 4 aircraft carriers from north & secretly dispatched another fleet from west
Most American carriers protecting the invasion left Leyte Gulf to go north to stop Japan, thinking main attack was there
Japan seized chance & warships ambushed remaining American ships to west

31. Battle of Leyte Gulf Largest naval battle
First time Japanese used kamikaze attacks
“Divine wind” -refers to great storm that destroyed Mongol fleet during invasion of Japan in 13th century
Pilots deliberately crashed planes into American ships, killing themselves & inflicting severe damage
Just as American situation became desperate, Japanese commander ordered retreat, thinking more American ships were coming

32. Philippines Campaign Campaign long and grueling
More than 80,000 Japanese killed, fewer than 1,000 surrendered
Manila not captured until March 1945
Battle left city in ruins, more than 100,000 Filipino civilians dead
Remaining Japanese retreated into rugged terrain north of Manila—still fighting in Aug when word came that Japan had surrendered

33. Assignment
Create a timeline of the important WWII Pacific Theatre battles
For each battle, include the following:
Date
Location
Effect of battle on war effort
Must include at least seven battles