Transcript Pacific Theater2

Pacific Theater
The Philippines
• 12/41Japanese invaded the Philippines causing
Gen. Macarthur to evacuate to Australia
The Philippines Cont.
•4/9/42 Bataan Death March: Captured
American and Filipino soldiers were
cruelly marched 5-6 days from Bataan
peninsula to prison camps without food
or water (65 miles)
•Thousands died or killed
“They’d halt us in front of these big artesian wells…so we could
see the water and they wouldn’t let us have any. Anyone who
would make a break for water would be shot or bayoneted.
Then they were left there. Finally, it got so bad further along the
road that you never got away from the stench of death. There
were bodies laying all along the road in various degrees of
decomposition-swollen, burst open, maggots crawling by the
thousands…”-quoted in Death March: The Survivors of Bataan
Prisoners on the march from Bataan to the
prison camp, May 1942. (National
Archives)
some of the Americans who died on
the "Death March" - April 1942
The Bataan Death March Memorial
Monument is the only federally funded
monument dedicated to the victims of the
Bataan Death March during WWII. The
monument was dedicated in April 2001
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Doolittle Raid
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt
authorized a dangerous mission: bomber
raid against Tokyo and industrial targets in
Japan
• Fly B-25 Army bombers from the flight
deck of a US Navy carrier USS Hornet on
a one-way bomb run
• Led by Lieutenant Jimmie Doolittle
• April 28, 1942
Lt. Jimmie
Doolittle
Navy Medal of Honor awarded to
Jimmie Doolittle after B-25 raid on
Japan
Battle of Midway (June 1942)
• US Intelligence cracked Japanese code
• Knew of planned invasion of Midway islands
• US strikes Japanese fleet first
– 4 carriers sunk
– 39 planes shot down
• Turning point of war in Pacific
Midway
illustration
Strategy—Island Hopping 1943
• Capture strategic islands getting closer and
closer to Japan
• Marines would storm beaches of island after
island invading from the sea
Strategy—Island Hopping (cont.)
• Gen. Macarthur would eventually
recapture the Philippines
Nimitz leads fleet across central
Pacific
• Gilbert Islands: 11/ 1943
• Tarawa: over 1000 marines killed
• After this started using Amphitracs to get
guys on land
• Marshall Islands 2/1944
• Kwajalein: major battle
Soldiers of the U.S. 7th Infantry
Division attack a Japanese
blockhouse on Kwajalein blockhouse is a
small, isolated fort in the form of a single building
• Mariana Islands: 6/
1944
Retaking of Guam
allowed for new B29 long-range
bombers to reach
Japan
Suicide Cliff
Saipan / Japanese Mass Suicide / 1944
Firebombing
Begins early1945
• Plan to demoralize the civilians hoping
they would pressure the Japanese
leadership to surrender
• Use of napalm bombs on Japanese cities
• Firestorms would grow so intense that the
oxygen was sucked out of the air
suffocating people
• Firebombed 67 Japanese cities
B-29s dropped
firebombs
Tokyo burning
80,000 dead;
250,000
buildings
destroyed
The mother was carrying the child on her back, the back
itself has not burned.
Battle of Iwo Jima Island
2/ 1945
• Japanese held Iwo Jima, which had an airfield
the US needed
• Miles of tunnels and caves were dug into the
volcanic rock and Mt. Suribachi
• 60,000 Marines invaded with 6,800 losing
their lives
• A photographer captured the (2nd) raising of
the American flag on Mt. Suribachi, which
became a symbol of valor
MacArthur is moving north from
Australia
• He will meet with Nimitz to invade Japan
• Guadalcanal: 8/ 1942- 2/ 1943
• Base of Japanese military in the South Pacific
region.
• Japanese finally withdrew their navy but left
100,000 men to hold the island.
• New Guinea:
MacArthur’s last stop before trying to take
the Philippines back
• MacArthur retakes the Philippines 10/
1944- 2/ 1945
• Brutal battle lasting months. Over 190,000
dead on all sides
• This is where the Japanese Kamikaze
attacks begin.
• Mac says, “I have returned.”
USS Bunker Hill was hit
by kamikazes piloted by
Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa
(see photo) and another
airman on May 11, 1945.
372 personnel were killed
from a crew of 2,600.
• Mac and Nimitz meet up in Iwo Jima and
Okinawa
• Okinawa: 4/1945
• Taken to serve as a supply depot in
preparation for the invasion of Japan.
• Not really much there now except a small
military base and landing strips. It is a
volcanic island that smells like rotten eggs.
Marines pass through a destroyed small
village where a Japanese soldier lies dead
Atomic Bombs
• President Truman ordered the use of
atomic bombs to avoid an invasion costing
a million lives
• Hiroshima (Aug 6), then Nagasaki (Aug 9)
• Finally, unconditional surrender of Japan
• Victory over Japan (V-J Day)
• August 15, 1945
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Nagasaki
Notes
The Philippines
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We took the Philippines in 1898
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-1898 Treaty of Paris which ended the Spanish-American war transferred control of the Philippines from Spain to the
United States.
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Japan wants it
Background
-Japanese damaged the American fleet at Pearl Harbor
-missed American aircraft carriers which were at sea on a mission
-U.S. had several carriers in the Pacific and Admiral Chester Nimitz was determined to use them
-in the days just after Pearl Harbor, however, he could do little to stop Japan’s advance into Southeast Asia
Fall of Philippines (p619)
-a few hours after they bombed Pearl Harbor, Japanese attacked American airfields in the Philippines
-2 days later Japanese troops landed in the islands
American & Filipino forces defending the Philippines were badly outnumbered
Commander General Douglas MacArthur, decided to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula.(map is of Philippines and close up of peninsula)
Using the peninsula’s rugged terrain, MacArthur’s troops held out for more than 3 months.
-Gradually, the lack of supplies along w/ diseases
malaria[tropical atmosphere caused by parasites]
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Scurvy -disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans
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Scurvy leads to the formation of spots on the skin, spongy gums, and bleeding from the mucous membranes
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like the nostrils, the lips, the ears, the genital area, and the anus.
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-spots are most abundant on the thighs and legs, and a person with the ailment looks pale, feels depressed, and is partially immobilized. In advanced scurvy
there are open, suppurating(puss) wounds and loss of teeth.
Dysentery- disorder of the digestive system that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and blood in the feces.[1] typically the result of unsanitary water containing micro-organisms which
damage the intestinal lining.
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Realizing MacArthur’s capture would demoralize the American people, President FDR ordered the general to evacuate to Australia.
MacArthur made the :”I came through, and I shall return”
The Filipinos have always revered MacArthur; first because of his father, who was governor there and regarded as a near saint for his kind and helpful rule, and second for his continuation of
that when he was stationed there. He did not want to leave and he knew that his leaving would demoralize the Filipinos so he made the statement to give them hope and have them keep the
dream alive that the States would return to help them from the Japanese
MacArthur escaped by night fall with his wife and 4 year old son and 14 of his officers by 4 damaged patrol torpedo boats
Notes
The Philippines Cont
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So, on April 9, 1942, defenders of Bataan finally surrendered
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-nearly 78,000 prisoners of war were forced to march- sick, exhausted, and starving 65 miles to a Japanese prison camp
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Where are the Philippines in relation to the equator? Close so know it is tropical hot
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-Japanese are trying to prisoners from point A to B…not going to stop & bury someone
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You have to understand Japanese culture
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-At this time Japan is very traditional…more westernized now
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-Believed in code of the warrior (last Samaria)
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-You WILL fight to the death
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-if you can’t & before you are captured to honor yourself and your family will kill yourself
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-ritual suicide
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-Seppuku
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-if you allow yourself to be captured you aren’t warrior enough
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-Thousands died on this march, which came to be known as the Bataan Death March
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Who all do you see in the picture on the left?
-Filipinos
-They don’t love us b/c want to be free but like us better than Japanese
-enemy of my enemy is my friend
Notes
Doolittle Raid
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After Pearl Harbor Americans pushing for retribution/retaliation
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-April of 1942 FDR approved a bomber raid against Tokyo & other industrial cities
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Why Tokyo?
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-Capital
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*what you need from this slide is bomber raid against Tokyo & other industrial targets
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-Even before the fall of the Philippines, FDR was searching for a way to raise the morale of the American people.
-wanted to bomb Tokyo, but American planes could reach Tokyo only if an aircraft carrier brought them close enough
-But Japanese ships in the North Pacific prevented carriers from getting close enough to Japan to launch their short-range
bombers
-Early 1942, a military planner suggested replacing the carrier’s usual short-range bombers with long-range B-25 bombers
-could attack from farther away
-Although, B-25s could take off from a carrier, they could not land on its short deck.
-after attacking Japan, they would have to land in China
-FDR put Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle in command of the mission.
-a crane loaded 16 B 25s onto the carrier Hornet
-April 18, American bombs fell on Japan for the 1 st time
-While Americans were overjoyed that the air force had finally struck back, Japanese leaders were aghast.
-Doolittle’s bombs could have killed the emperor.
-Planners wanted to cut supply lines to Australia by capturing the south coast of New Guinea
-Raid convinced Japanese leaders to change their strategy to Commander of the Fleet, Admiral Yamamoto
Yamamoto wanted to attack Midway Island the last American base int eh North Pacific west of Hawaii.
-thought attacking Midway would lure the American fleet into battle and enable his fleet to destroy it
-attack on New Guinea would go ahead but only 3 aircraft carriers were assigned to the mission and all other carriers ordered to
prepare for Midway
Most of the sixteen B-25s, each with a five-man crew, attacked the Tokyo area, with a few hitting Nagoya. Damage to the
intended military targets was modest, and none of the planes reached the Chinese airfields (though all but a few of their
crewmen survived). However, the Japanese high command was deeply embarrassed. Three of the eight American airmen they
had captured were executed.
Doolittle Raid (discuss with pics)
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Now the Plan is to put B-25 bombers on an aircraft carrier and the bomber will take off from the carrier fly to Japan & drop
bombs and end up in Russia.
So they are not going back to the carriers why?
-can’t land on the short deck
Carriers would sail from Hawaii to about ½ way to Japan but we got scared and thought that the Japanese were going to detect
us had to take off 250 miles earlier
Now we can’t make where? Russia
Where do we go? China
-problem is Japan has invaded China (natural resources)
-land in a farmers field
-Chinese help the American pilots give them place to live and food
-Japanese find out
What do they do? Kill who is helping
-not real sure who helped
-so kill everyone in that area
-literally killed around 90,000 men women and children
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a crane loaded 16 B 25s onto the carrier Hornet
-April 18, American bombs fell on Japan for the 1 st time
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Picture from plane looking down at the bombers over Tokyo
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Battle of the Coral Sea
Japanese believed that they could proceed with 2 different attacks
-Japan thought the U.S. was unaware of their activity and would not be able to respond in time
-Japan did not know that an American team of code breakers, based in Hawaii, had already broken Japanese Navy’s secret code for
conducting operations
-In response to the planned attack on New Guinea, Nimitz sent 2 carriers: Yorktown and Lexington to intercept the Japanese in the
Coral sea.
-both sides launched an all-out airstrike against each other
-Japanese did sink the Lexington and damaged the Yorktown
-but American attacks forced the Japanese to call off their landing on the south coast of New Guinea.
-American Supply lines to Australia stayed open
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Not really island more like an atoll
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See the landing strip
-this is aerial view of Sand Island
-U.S used this as a coaling station back when we used coal for our ships, so we would stop here to
refuel
-We do have a small base there att
-Japanese wanted it to have a landing strip and base in the central Pacific
Notice the ring around here…normally when you see this type of configuration it means it used to be a
Volcano and it was so old that the crater collapsed and now the only part truly sticking up are the two big
islands and few smaller ones in b/w
-we still own Midway but not sure if we still use it as a base
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Illustration of what an artist thinks the battle of Midway would look like
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This is USS york town hit by a divebomber
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What are divebombers
Small and could get into smaller places so could drop bombs more strategically
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Battle of Midway (June 1942)
Turning point in the Pacific
-what was the turning point in Europe?
Stalingrad…when German territory wasn’t growing anymore
-same thing happens at Midway
-By June of ‘42 we broke Japanese Naval Code..so anything they send by radio we heard
-Find out they are planning to invade Midway
-where is Midway…close to Hawaii
-why would Japan want it?...could set up a base point for operations then could try to take Hawaii
So we know about their plan and instead of waiting for them to attack them first so we get the element of surprise this time
-This is devastating for Japan b/c sunk for of their carriers and at the same time we got 39 of their planes also
-So from this point on their territory is getting smaller and smaller
-Code-breaking team back at Pearl Harbor that alerted Nimitz to the attack on New Guinea now learned of the plan to attack Midway
-Nimitz immediately ordered carriers to take up positions near Midway.
-Unaware they were heading into an ambush, the Japanese launched their aircraft against Midway on June 4, 1942.
-Island was ready
- Japanese planes ran into a blizzard of antiaircraft fire, 38 of the were shot down.
-Japanese prepared a second wave of attack
-American carriers Hornet, Yorktown, and Enterprise launched a counter attack
-American planes caught the Japanese carriers w/ fuel, bombs, and aircraft exposed on their flight decks.
-w/in minutes 3 Japanese carriers were reduced to burning wrecks
-a fourth sunk hours later
_Admiral Yamamoto ordered his remaining ships to retreat
Turning Point
-Battle of Midway was a turning point in the war.
-Japanese lost 4 of its largest carriers—heart of its fleet
-So just six months after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. stopped the Japanese advance in the Pacific
Battle killed
-362 Americans
-3, 057 Japanese
JN-25 was mostly cracked by January 1942. Used the information to turn the Japanese back form Port Moresby New Guinea): Battle of
Coral Sea (May 7-8). US lost USS Lexington (heavy carrier) and damage to several other ships. Tactical victory for Japan (only lost a
light carrier). Moral victory for US. (first time Japan had had to turn back without reaching objective) Fought entirely from carriers. 1st time
in naval history, ships did not fire directly at each other.
Really able to use info in getting ready for Midway, though.
Not really island more like an atoll
See the landing strip
-this is aerial view of Sand Island
-U.S used this as a coaling station back when we used coal for our ships, so we would stop here to refuel
-We do have a small base there att
-Japanese wanted it to have a landing strip and base in the central Pacific
Notice the ring around here…normally when you see this type of configuration it means it used to be a Volcano and it was so
old that the crater collapsed and now the only part truly sticking up are the two big islands and few smaller ones in b/w
-we still own Midway but not sure if we still use it as a base
Illustration of what an artist thinks the battle
of Midway would look like
This is USS york town hit by a divebomber
What are divebombers
Small and could get into smaller places so could drop bombs
more strategically
Strategy—Island Hopping
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This is usually on the Taks
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When we fought in Pacific is different kind of war…Europe we made 2 invasions: Italy & Normandy
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Then after that you are on land in land battle
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-b/c Pacific is island after island and Japanese had control of so many we had to go in and take over island after island
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Why didn’t we go straight to Tokyo?
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-don’t want someone coming from the back
Nimitz leads fleet across central Pacific
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Tarawa part of the Gilbert islands was the Navy’s first objective in the Pacific
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-Marines had to plunge into shoulder-high water and wade several hundred yards to the beach.
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-raked by Japanese fire,
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Only 1 in 3 marines made it ashore
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-over 1,000 marines died on Tarawa
Marshall Islands 2/1944
Kwajalein: major battle
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Kwajalein (kwa-je-lein)
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-next major objective
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-in the Marshall islands
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-smoother…went ashore in amphtrac or amphibious tractors (boat with tank tracks)
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-Captured Kwajalein and nearby Eniwetok
Mariana Islands: 6/ 194
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After the Marshall Islands
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-navy targeted the Mariana Islands
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-wanted to use the Mariana Islands as a base for a new heavy bomber, the B-29
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-Nimitz decided to invade 3 of the Mariana Islands: Saipan, Tinian, and Guam
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-American troops captured all 3 by August of 1944
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-a few months later B-29s began bombing Japan
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Saipan
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-ppl who live there were convinced by the Japanese that Americans were monsters that when we came back we would kill rape women.
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-so Saipanese help Japanese military
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-we backed them up into the ocean on top of a cliff…before letting Americans kill them rape them jump off cliff
Firebombing
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We had American engineers that prepared airfields on Iwo Jima and B-29s were based in Marianas and we decided that B-29s
needed to be able to hit their targets
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-used napalm
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-created these fires and even if missed target still burned something and did some damage
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Turned to firebombing b/c felt no other way to destroy Japan’s war production quickly
Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused
by devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs.
The tactic originated during World War II with the use of strategic bombing to destroy the ability of the enemy to wage war.
London, Coventry and many other British cities were firebombed during the Blitz.
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napalm is the name given to any of a number of flammable liquids used in warfare, often jellied gasoline.
Napalm is actually the thickener in such liquids, which when mixed with gasoline makes a sticky gel.
Developed by the U.S. in World War II by a team of Harvard chemists led by Louis Fieser,
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Tokyo firebombing killed over 80,000 people and destroyed more than 250,000 buildings
By end of June Japan’s six most important industrial cities had been firebombed
By the end bombed 67 Japanese cities
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Use of firebombs was controversial b/c fires would also kill civilians
-As strong winds fanned the flames , firestorm grew so intense that it sucked the oxygen out of the air, asphyxiating
(smothering) thousands
-even through all this Emperor Hirohito will not surrender
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MacArthur North from Australia
The grand strategy in the Pacific involved the coordination of two Allied forces. A land force with naval support led by General
Douglas MacArthur would fight its way through the islands of the southeast Pacific north towards the Philippines. The fast
carrier task force commanded by Admiral Chester Nimitz would capture various island chains as it swept across the central
Pacific. The both battle groups would meet at the Philippines, and then move north towards Japan.
Battle of Iwo Jima Island
2/ 1945
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November 24, 1944, bombs fell on Tokyo for the first time since the 1942 Doolittle raid.
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-Above the city flew 80 B-29 Super fortress bombers that had traveled over 1,500 miles from new American bases in the
mariana Islands
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-At first, B-29s did little damage b/c missing targets
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-Japan was too far away
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-by the time the B-29s reached Japan, they did not have enough fuel left
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-solution
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-capture an island closer to Japan where B29s could refuel
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-decide to take Iwo Jima
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Geography of Iwo Jima was formidable (discouraged attack)
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-at its southern tip was Mount Surbachi, a dormant volcano
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-terrain was rugged
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-rocky cliffs,
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-jagged ravines (valley dug by streams cutting through)
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-dozens of caves
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Japanese have built a network of caves and concrete bunkers connected by tunnels
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-bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the from falling bombs or
other attacks.
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-February 19,1945 60,000 US Marines landed at Iwo Jima
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-As troops leapt from the amphtracs they sank up their ankles in the soft ash while being pounded with artillery
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-we lost more than 6,800 marines
Top of mount suribachi
Of the six men depicted in the picture, three (Franklin Sousley, Harlon Block, and Michael Strank) did not survive
the battle; the three survivors (John Bradley, Rene Gagnon, and Ira Hayes) became celebrities upon their
identification in the photo. The picture was later used by Felix de Weldon to sculpt the USMC War Memorial,
located adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington, D.C.
Guadalcanal: 8/ 1942- 2/ 1943
General MacArthur began a campaign with the invasion of Guadalcanal in August of 1942.
-continues until early 1944
-MacArthur’s troops finally captured enough islands to surround Rabaul, the main Japanese base in the region
-in response, Japanese w/drew their ships and aircraft from the base, althought they left 100,000 troops behind to hold the island
MacArthur retakes the Philippines 10/ 1944- 2/ 1945
-To take back the Philippines, the U.S. assembled an enormous invasion force
-October 1944, more than 700 ships carrying over 160,000 troops sailed for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines
-Oct. 20th troops began to land on Leyte, an island on the eastern side of the Philippines
-A few hours after the invasion began, MacArthur headed to the beach
-upon reaching the shore, he strode to a radio and spoke
-”People of the Philippines, I have returned. By the grace of the almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil”
-To stop the American invastion, Japanese sent 4 aircraft carriers toward the Philippines from the north and secretly dispatched another
fleet to the west.
-most of the American casrriers headed north to stop them
-seizing their chance, the Japanese warships to the west raced throught he Philippine Islands into Leyto Gulf and ambushed the remaining
American ships
Battle of Leyte Gulf
-largest naval battle in history
-1st time Japanese used Kamikaze attacks(divine wind)
-Refers to the the great storm that destroyed the Mongol fleet during its invasion of Japan in the 13th C.
-- Kamikaze pilots would deliberately crash their planes into American ships, killing themselves but also inflicting sever damage
-Lucky for U.S. the Japanese commander believed more American shops were on the way and ordered a retreat.
-Campaign to re-capture the Philippines was grueling
--over 80,000 Japanese killed
--less than 1,000 surrendered
-Left city in ruins and over 100,000 Filipino civilians dead
-MacArthur’s troops did not capture Manila until March 1945.
New Guinea When MacArthur arrived in Australia after evacuating Bataan, he was a General in search of an offensive army. The Americans did not yet have a
fighting force in the Pacific, and the Australians were committed in North Africa, enroute to Pacific stations, or in training or garrison in Australia. At one point in
early 1942, there were four operational P-40 fighter planes and one B-17 bomber. The only combat-worthy division was Australian, and it was needed to defend
Australia, not for offensive operations.
MacArthur was not going to wait for the Japanese to attack Australia. He wanted to use Port Moresby as a base of operations to move up through New Guinea
and advance to the Philippines. His problem, besides the Japanese, would be supply. He had to prove that the New Guinea campaign would be the definitive
campaign to get back to the Philippines and win the war.
Okinawa: 4/1945
Had Iwo Jima but needed closer
Chose Okinawa only 350 miles from Japan
-Instead of defending the beaches, Japanese took up int eh island’s rugged mountains
-Americans had to fight their way up steep slopes against constant machine fun and arillery fire
--more than 12,000 american soldiers, sailors, and marines died during the fighting
-June 22, 1945 Okinawa was captured
-Who Owns Oikinawa now 2009:That may seem like a completely stupid and obvious question as Okinawa is a part of Japan.
Yet someone else controls 20% of that small island and no its not Japan. The United States has about 38,000 Marines
stationed on Okinawa as part of the U.S. Japan defense treaty which has been in place since the end of the Second World War.
Okinawa's citizens have grown weary of this arrangement because crime, noise and various forms of pollution among other
complaints. http://ingoringasia.blogspot.com/2009/12/who-owns-okinawa.html
-Atomic Bombs
Truman believed it was his duty as prez to use every weapon available to save American lives
Japanese were convinced to fight to the death
Admiral William Leyhe opposed using the bomb b/c civilian loss
Secretary of war Stenson wanted to warn them and let them keep their emperor if they surrender
Others said to do an embargo so can’t get products in or out
Secr. Of state Barnes wanted to drop the bomb
Truman wanted to avoid loss of american lives
Colonel’s plain Enola Gay Tibets named after his mother
Fatman
Emperor still does not surrender so we drop the next one
We are the Only country in the world to drop a nuclear weapon on some one
-some people ask why didn’t we take emperor and show him in the ocean or
desert what it would do?
--we only had 2 of them and not going to waist them
25 miles everything gone…blown up
Outside 25mile-50 range have radiation falling out…about 8 hours skin melts
off
250-100 miles depending on wind have about 2-3 weeks then you die
We have enough to kill the world many times over
Then we go to work on the hydrogen bomb…Cold War