The Battles for the Pacific

Japanese Advances Within Six months after Pearl Harbor, Japan

dwarfed the German Empire by taking the following:

Hong KongFrench Indochina

MalayaBurma

ThailandHalf of China

FormosaDutch East Indies

GuamWake

Solomon Islands2 Aleutian Islands

Japan takes the Philippines

December 1941 to May 1942

Gen. MacArthur held out for 4 months w/ 31,000 US troops and 110,000 under-trained and ill-equipped Filipino troops as 200,000 Japanese troops invaded

MacArthur abandoned, he and officers escaped to Australia, as he left he stated:“I shall return.”

American and Philippine troops suffered 14,000 KIA, 48,000 wounded, and approx. 80,000 endured cruel imprisonment or execution at the hands of the Japanese

Battle of Coral Sea

May 1942

America/Australia intercepted info that Japan was going to leave from New Guinea to invade Australia

Significance: First battle where ships never saw each other, airplanes

played large role First Halt of Japanese since Pearl Harbor

Allies lost more ships, but Japan ran out of fuel to continue to Australia

543 American causalities

Battle of Midway June 1942

US intercepted messages of Japanese naval force (largest assembled in history) heading toward Midway

Goal: continue to finish off Pearl Harbor

US was outnumbered 4 to 1 in ships and planes, but the US commander prepared a surprise reception

Battle of Midway By the end, Japan lost:

4 “irreplaceable” aircraft carriers A cruiser 322 Planes

American Casualties - 307

What strategy should the US take to defeat the Japanese?

US StrategyCan go hundreds of miles without seeing

land

Japanese dug in on hundreds of islands scattered over thousands of miles of ocean

Too costly to storm each one

Strategy: Bypass Japanese strongholdsSeize well fortified Islands, build

airfields, cut off enemy supply lines

Battle of Guadalcanal August 1942

Significance: First US land offensive First Japanese defeat on land

6 months until Japanese abandoned island, known as “Island of Death.”

US had 6,000 casualties, 1600 dead

Battle of Guam July 1944 (Mariana Islands – includes

Saipan and Tinian)

Guam was formerly a US possession until Japan took it in 1941

Strategic Importance great for Airbases Almost can fly from Guam to Tokyo

Approx. 3,000 Americans killed; 7,122 wounded

Second Battle of the Philippines: Battle for Leyte Gulf October 1944

Significance: MacArthur wanted revenge for 1st battle

“People of the Philippines, I have returned.”

First testing of the Kamikaze (suicide plane), 424 Kamikaze planes sank 16 ships, damaged 80

Disaster for Japanese – huge loss of naval force (3 ships, 13 cruisers, 400 planes)

Arguments over necessity cut off Japan from western possessions Did not really use it for US military purposes cost well over 2,000 American lives

Battle of Iwo JimaFeb 19-March 26, 1945

“Ugly, smelly glob of cold lava squatting in a surly ocean.”

Strategic Importance: critical as an air base from

which heavily loaded bombers could reach Japan.

Kamikazes would not be able to depart from here

Emergency landing strip from Mariana Islands to Japan

70,000 Marines invaded the Island of Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima Contd. Most heavily defended spot on earth 20,700

Japanese troops deeply entrenched in tunnels and caves. U.S. personnel 6,821 Killed 19,217 Wounded 2,648 Combat Fatigue Total 28,686

Japanese approx. 20,000 killed

Battle of Okinawa “Operation Iceburg”

April 1, 1945-June 22, 1945 April 12, 1945 – FDR dies

4 airfields on the island that America needed to control Location ½ the distance to Japan than of Iwo Jima much closer for invasion of Japan

Land and Naval fights Kamikazes did serious damage sank over 30 allied ships and killing 5,000 Navy men.

Okinawa – The Bloodiest US losses

50,000 casualties 12,000 KIA Huge rate of Non-Combat losses ie.

Stress

Japanese losses ~107,000 KIA

Civilian losses estimates around or above 100,000

What comes next?

What do you think the casualties will

be like?