Pacific Theater 1941-1945 FDR took steps quickly after Pearl Harbor. He formed the in 1942. He formed the for gathering of intelligence about Axis Powers. o Espionage o Sabotage o Secret Missions FDR and Churchill agreed to give to the, but Pacific Theater required immediate attention. RESULT: more US troops in Pacific Theater in 1942 o (soldiers), (ships) 1
1. First week of January 1942 Japanese occupied (Capital of Philippines) 2. March 1942 FDR orders (US commander of US occupied Philippines) left for to prepare a counteroffensive. 3. April/May 1942 US and Philippine defense forces on the Bataan peninsula and Corregidor surrendered Japanese ordered the Bataan garrison ( ) to walk 65 miles to a rail junction to be taken to a POW camp Exhausted, starving, blazing sun Approximately US and several thousand Philippine died or were murdered ( died in the POW camp) Known as. 4. Mid Spring 1942 Japanese had taken Overran square miles people Japanese Plan take rest of and move to US advantage we had broken knew approximately when and where the Japanese would strike 2
5. May 7-8, 1942 US navy beat back a Japanese force headed toward New Guinea (Battle of ) 6. June 1942 After some of our B-52 bombers had attacked within 700 miles of Japanese mainland, Japan wanted to get close to US soil Targeted (part of Hawaii) US won despite being severely outnumbered b/c we had deciphered their code and had Combo of Battle of Coral Sea and Midway ended Japan s naval offensive (meaning it would now be on ) New Era in Naval Warfare All offensives carried out over long distances by carrier based aircraft o The ships had never seen each other 7. August 1942 Japan continued to disrupt shipping to Australia via Marines - 1 st US in Pacific Japanese soldiers emerged from the jungle at night in wild, screaming suicide charges (Initially winning US Navy Left) Very significant vistory for US Marines 3
US decided to go on offensive from 2 directions: from large islands of the SW Pacific would approach Japan by taking the small islands of the central Pacific 8. The US Naval Offensive began - November 1943 Attack of and (small atolls in the Gilbert Islands) Makin fell easily Tarawa heavily defended by 5,000 Japanese troops o Dug in (, 20 foot deep bunkers) o Japanese forced out by, grenades and o Japanese mounted a suicidal charge at US o Indicated that Pacific Theater would be brutal * The full reality of the battle was depicted in the Oscar winning With the Marines at Tarawa (1 st US movie to show US dead) 9. Key Battle - Battle of Gloucester - December 1943 10.Early 1944 - Admiral Nimitz decided to bypass the islands which were Japanese strongholds Took islands of and 11. June/August 1944 - Targeted islands of,, and Close enough for new planes to reach Japan Won all 3 islands by mid-august 12. KEY BATTLE - "BATTLE OF PELELIU" - September 1944 13. October 1944 MacArthur returned to Philippines Bypassed Japanese strongholds 4
Japanese troops in Philippines naval battle in history attacks (550 pound bomb) Sunk ships US casualties By winter of 1944-45 fighting had become very savage Propaganda trained soldiers to think of the opponent as sub-human ( ) MacArthur won by end of 1944 and moved north to 14. 1945 General began bombing Japan from Saipan, Tainan, and Guam with the B-29 s targeted ports, aircraft factories large urban civilian areas Used jellied gasoline ( ) to burn wood and paper structures March 9-10, 1945 US firebombed civilians dead, ¼ city, 16 sq. miles By July Le May had burned % of Japan s cities 5
15. February 1945 for a staging platform to better attack Japan US invaded small island of 16. April 1945 also attacked larger island of Japanese fiercely defended both islands Dug into networks of tunnels and caves Heaviest US losses of Pacific Theater casualties ( dead) US victory by US frustrations Chinese nationalists using Aid to combat (Communists) instead of Japanese 6