Transcript PPT: War Rages in the Pacific

Thursday, 15 May
• Australia and Oceania Test
War Rages in the Pacific
18 May 2011
Island Hopping
• Consisted of planning a series of
amphibious assaults on selected Japaneseheld island, progressively working closer
to the Japanese home islands, skipping
some islands along the way.
Battle of Coral Sea – 1942
 Japanese eyeing Australia
 New type of warfare
– Aerial naval battle (planes taking off from
aircraft carriers did the fighting)
 Victor?
– Tactically: Japanese victory
– Strategically: Allied victory
Battle of Midway – 1942
• Why a tiny group of islands in the middle
of the Pacific?
– Location, Location, Location
• Doolittle Raids by USA
• Opportunity for Japan to finish off US Pacific Fleet
Midway (cont’d)
• Significance
– IJN severely crippled
• 4 aircraft carriers, 100s of planes and pilots
– Shift in Japanese tactic
• No longer conquering but fighting a defensive war
– Tide of war shifts in favor of Allies
1943
March Bismark Sea (limited Japanese reinforcement
of Southern Pacific)
November Tarawa and Makin (Gilberts)
1944
February
Kwajalein & Eniwetok (Marshalls)
February-June New Guinea
June-August Saipan, Tinian, Guam (Marianas)
• B29s now able to be recovered after hitting Japan
October
Leyte Gulf
• Destroyed much of Japanese Navy
1945
February-March Iwo Jima
March Tokyo raids
• Low level incendiary bombing runs with much
destruction. Designed to force surrender but didn’t.
April-June Okinawa
August
• 6th Hiroshima
• 9th Nagasaki
• 14th Japan surrenders.
September 2 VJ Day
Battle of Iwo Jima
• Strategic Importance
– Provided a place where B-29 bombers
damaged over Japan could land
– Served as a base for escort fighters that
would assist in the bombing campaign
Battle of Iwo Jima
• Uniqueness of Iwo Jima
– The battle was marked by changes in
Japanese defense tactics--troops no longer
defended at the beach line but rather
concentrated inland
– Japanese soldiers used the network of tunnels
and dugouts to attack American soldiers
Battle of Okinawa