Japanese Acquisition

6 months after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese had conquered an empire larger than the Third Reich.

The Japanese had control of Hong Kong, French Indochina, Malaya, Burma, Thailand, and much of China.

They also conquered many islands in the pacific.• The Dutch East Indies, Guam, Wake

Island, and the Solomon Islands.

Philippines The Japanese invaded the

Philippines on December 8, 1941 with their air attack on Clark Air Base.

American and Filipino troops battled the Japanese for several months for control of the islands before losing.

General Douglas MacArthur was the commander of the Allied forces on the islands.

On March 11, 1942 President Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to leave the Islands. MacArthur escapes and leaves the troops to be captured.

MacArthur utters the infamous words, “I shall return!”

Bataan Death March The Bataan Death March was

the forcible 60 mile transfer of 90,000 to 100,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war on foot by the Japanese army.

Prisoners were abused and murdered -Beheadings, cut throats and casual shootings were the more common and merciful actions — compared to bayonet stabbings, rapes, disembowelments, numerous rifle butt beatings and a deliberate refusal to allow the prisoners food or water.

The march lasted for nearly a week with temperatures nearing 100 degrees.

Bataan Death March

Bataan Death March 18,000 POW’s died on

the March to Camp O’Donnell.

Men were weak and dying from dysentery at the camp at an alarming rate.

Eventually the healthy prisoners were transferred to camps outside of the Philippines.

Bataan Death March

This process began with American prisoners moving from Camp O’Donnell to Cabanatuan-a prison camp in the northeast part of the island.

Many of these American prisoners then were sent from Cabanatuan to prison camps in Japan, Korea, and Manchuria working as slave labor.

All prisoners were released at the end of the war.

Bataan Death March The 512 prisoners-of-

war who still remained at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp as of January 1945 were freed during an attack on the camp led by United States Army Rangers later known as the Raid at Cabanatuan.

All 512 prisoners were rescued. Only 3 rangers were killed.

Bombing of Tokyo By spring of 1942, the

allies began to turn the tide against the Japanese.

On April 18th the U.S. began a bombing raid on Tokyo and other Japanese cities.

Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle led the attack with 16 bombers.

Battle of Midway Midway is an island which lies

northwest of Hawaii. The island was of strategic

importance to both the U.S. and Japan.

American code breakers were able to determine the date and location of the attack, enabling the forewarned U.S. Navy to set up an ambush of its own.

The Allies successfully defended Midway.

During the Battle of Midway the Japanese lost four aircraft carriers, a cruiser, and 250 planes.

The Battle of Midway was a turning point in the Pacific War inflicting irreparable damage to the Japanese carrier fleet.

Island Hopping Leapfrogging or Island Hopping was a military

strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against Japan. It involved attacking some islands but not others, effectively strangling the unattacked islands by not allowing them to be resupplied.

This saved time, men, and supplies. General Douglas MacArthur greatly supported this

“island hopping" strategy in his effort to regain the Philippines.

Battles in the Pacific The first Allied offensive began in August 1942. 19,000 troops stormed Guadalcanal in the

Solomon Islands. Guadalcanal marked Japan’s first defeat on land. In October 1944, the Allies defeated the Japanese

at the Battle of Leyte Gulf (Philippines). 178,000 Allied troops and 738 ships retook the

Philippines. The Battle of Leyte Gulf was a disaster for Japan. They lost 3 battleships, 4 aircraft carriers, 13

cruisers, and almost 500 planes. General MacArthur wades ashore announcing

“People of the Philippines: I have returned.”

Kamikaze The Japanese threw

their entire fleet into the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

They tested a new war tactic: kamikaze attacks.

Pilots crashed their planes loaded bombs into Allied ships.

The Japanese launched 424 kamikaze pilots during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

They sank 16 ships and damaged 80 others.

Iwo Jima The Island of Iwo Jima was

critical to the U.S. as a base.

From Iwo Jima the Allies could launch bombing raids against Japan.

Almost 21,000 Japanese troops were ready to defend the island rooted in tunnels and caves.

More than 6,000 marines died taking this island.

Only 200 Japanese survived the invasion.

The only obstacle between the Allies and a final assault on Japan was the island of Okinawa.

Battle of Okinawa April 1945, U.S. Marines invaded Okinawa. Fighting on Okinawa lasted until June 21,

1945. The Japanese unleashed 1,900 kamikaze

attacks on the U.S., sinking 30 ships, damaging 300 more, and killing 5,000.

7,500 American lost their lives. 110,000 Japanese died. The lose of life at Iwo Jima and Okinawa left

the Allies searching for a new plan of invasion for the island of Japan.

Navajo Code Talkers The Navajo Code Talkers, whose ranks exceed 400 during the

course of World War II in the Pacific Theater, have been credited with saving countless lives and hastening the end of the war. The Code Talker's served in all six Marine divisions from 1942 to 1945.

The Code Talker's primary job was to talk and transmit information on tactics, troop movements, orders and other vital battlefield information via telegraphs and radios in their native dialect. 

A major advantage of the code talker system was its speed. The method of using Morse code often took hours where as, the Navajos handled a message in minutes.   It has been said that if was not for the Navajo Code Talker's, the Marines would have never taken Iwo Jima.    

The Navajo's unwritten language was understood by fewer than 30 non-Navajo's at the time of WWII.  The size and complexity of the language made the code extremely difficult to comprehend, much less decipher. 

The Navajo code talkers finally received national recognition in 1969.