Section 4: The War in the Pacific

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Chapter 25

• Section 4 The War in the Pacific

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• Dec. 7th- hours after Pearl, attacked Clark
  Island, the main American base in the
  Phillippines
• Dec. 8th Japanese forces attacked American bases
  on Wake Island
• Dec. 10th- Attacked Guam

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• MacArthur was the commanding General (at Clark
  Island)
• Failed to prepare the Japanese destroyed about
  ½ of the planes lined up in rows on the ground

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• Days later landed on Luzon
• MacArthur withdrew most of his troops southward
  set up defenses
• No hope for a rescue, FDR ordered MacArthur to go
  to Australia
• Made a promise to his army I shall return

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The Japanese Advance 1941-1942

• Hoped the US would withdraw, leaving east access
  to natural resources of southeast Asia
• Oil rubber would give Japan economic freedom

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• Japan attacked a number of other Allied colonies
  in Dec 1941
• By March they seized Hong Kong, Singapore, the
  Dutch East Indies, Malaya, invaded Burma

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The Phillippines Fall

• Most of Bataans defenders surrendered in April
  1942
• 11,000 Americans Filipinos surrenders on May 6

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• Captured 76,000 as P.O.Ws
• Faced grueling tropical heat, forced to march 60
  miles to a railroad junction to board a train
  that took them to within 8 miles of an army camp
• They walked the rest of the way

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• Many were denied water rest, many were beaten
  tortured
• At least 10,000 died
• Many were executed by the guards when they grew
  too weak
• Bataan Death March

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Defending China Burma

• China joined the Allies on Dec. 1941
• US already set military advisors Lend-Lease
  arms equipment
• Chinas Nationalist leader Chiang Hai-Shek asked
  American Gen. Joseph Stilwell to serve as his
  chief of staff

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• Led the Chinese armies defending Burma
• The Flying Tigers fared poorly against the
  Japanese
• Lost control of the Burma Road

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The War at Sea

• Goal at Pearl Harbor was to destroy the 3
  aircraft carriers that formed the heart of the
  Pacific Fleet- failed
• The Lexington the Enterprise had been at sea
• The Saratoga was undergoing repairs in CA

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• April 1942- American B-52 medium bombers took off
  from the Hornet on their own secret mission
• Led by Lt. Col. James Doolittle
• Planes flew to Japan to carry out a counterattack

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• Dropped bombs on Tokyo other cities before
  crash landing in China
• Most pilots survived
• Caused little physical damage, but shocked
  Japans leadership boosted American morale

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• Japanese force continued to advance across the
  Pacific
• The fall of the Dutch East Indies opened the way
  to Australia

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• May 1942- Battle of the Coral Sea
• Aircraft launched from carriers bombed strafed
  enemy ships more than 70 miles
• 5 day battle cost both sides more than ½ of their
  planes
• Prevented the Japanese from invading Australia

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• First naval combat carried out entirely by
  aircraft
• Enemy ships never came within sight of one another

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Allied Victories Turn the Tide

• Summer of 1941 Soviet Union resisted German
  attacks
• Allies prepared to invade north Africa
• 2 critical battles took place in the Pacific

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The Battle of Midway

• Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku hoped to destroy what
  remained of the US Pacific Fleet by luring it
  into battle near Midway Island (1,100 miles
  northwest of Hawaii)
• Opened June 4, 1942 with a wave of Japanese
  bomber attacks on the island an unsuccessful
  American strike on the Japanese fleet

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• Fought entirely from the air
• First American planes tried to fend off Japanese
  carriers
• Then Americans carriers intervened, surprised the
  Japanese as they were refueling, fuel hoses
  caught fire
• Sank 3 of the 4 carriers finished the 4th later
  that day

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• Japanese planes were able to sink the Yorktown
• After Midway, Japan was unable to launch any more
  offensive operations in the Pacific

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The Battle of Guadalcanal

• Allies goal was now to capture Guadalcanal in the
  Solomon Islands, where the Japanese were building
  an airfield to threaten nearby Allied bases
• 11,000 marines landed in August 1942

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• 2,200 Japanese fled into the jungle
• American Navy took control of the waters in
  November, limiting Japanese troop landings

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Struggle for the Islands

• Island hopping- by capturing only a few crucial
  islands, the US effectively cut off the bypassed
  islands from supplies reinforcements

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Island hopping in the Pacific

• 1943-44 Allies pushed north from Australia west
  across the central Pacific
• Forces under Gen. MacArthur Adm. William Halsey
  leap-frogged through the Solomon Islands

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• Adm. Nimitz hopped around the Gilbert Islands,
  seizing Tanawa, then used it to launch bombing
  raids on Japanese bases in the Marshall Islands
• Feb. 1944, these attacks crippled Japanese air
  power, allowing Nimitz to seize Kwajalein
  Eniwetok

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• Captured parts of Mariana Islands in June
• For the first time, Japan was within reach of
  long range US bombers

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The Philippines Campaign

• Mid Oct- 160,000 US troops invaded the
  Philippines island of Leyte
• Greatest naval battle in world history developed
  off the coast
• Battle of Leyte Gulf (3 day battle)

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• 280 warships
• First time kamikazes were used
• American force virtually destroyed the Japanese
  navy emerged victorious
• Not until June 1945 did the Allies control the
  Philippines

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Iwo Jima Okinawa

• One of the bloodiest battles took place at Iwo
  Jima, less than 600 miles from Japan
• The natural terrain protected more than 600
  Japanese guns
• Nov. 1944 US bombers began to pound Iwo Jima

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• For 74 days, US planes warships poured nearly
  7,000 tons of bombs down
• Mid Feb.- Marines stormed the beaches
• After 3 days, they advanced only 700 yards

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• Eventually 110,000 Americans took part in the
  campaign
• Needed at least a month to secure the island
• Only 219 Japanese were taken prisoner
• US suffered 25,000 casualties

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Battle of Okinawa

• Fought from April to June 1945
• Approximately 350 miles from Japan
• Last obstacle to the Allied invasion of the home
  land

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• Allies gathered 1,300 warships 180,000 combat
  troops to drive the enemy from Okinawa
• Japanese pilots flew from 2,000 kamikaze attacks
  against the fleet

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• As American soldiers came ashore, defenders made
  desperate banzai attacks (attacks in which the
  soldiers tried to kill as many as possible until
  they themselves were killed)
• June- Japanese resistance finally ended after
  almost 3 months

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The Manhattan Project

• Aug. 1939- FDR received a note from Albert
  Einstein suggesting that a powerful new type of
  bomb could be built by the Germans
• FDR organized the top secret Manhattan Project to
  develop an atomic bomb

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• To make the bomb, scientists had to discover how
  to create a chain reaction, where particles
  released from the splitting of one atom would
  cause another atom to break apart, so on
• In theory, the energy released by the splitting
  of so many atoms would produce a massive explosion

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• 1942- Enrico Fermi produced the first controlled
  chain reaction in a lab at the University of
  Chicago
• July 16, 1945- first bomb was tested in New Mexico

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The Decision to Drop the Bomb

• Alternatives to ending the war
• Massive invasion of Japan
• Naval blockade to starve Japan bombing
• Demonstration of the atomic bomb on a deserted
  island to pressure Japan to surrender

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• Softening of Allied demands for an unconditional
  surrender
• Interim Committee met Spring 1945 to debate these
  ideas
• Couldnt recommend any alternatives
• Final decision rested with Truman

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Japan Surrendered

• Aug. 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped a single
  atomic bomb on Hiroshima
• Annihilated the citys center its residents in
  an instant
• 80,000 died at least 80,000 more were injured
  by fire, radiation sickness, force of the
  explosion

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• Aug. 9th- a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki
• Aug. 14th- Japan surrendered
• Aug. 15th- US celebrated V-J day
• Formal surrender agreement was signed on Sept.
  2nd aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay