When considering the history of the
World War II as a whole, the year 1943
is of paramount importance. The strategies
put in place by the Allies are starting to bear fruit. Little by little, Hitler
and the Axis powers lose ground in Europe
and in the Pacific. Germans and Italians
were threatened with a humiliating defeat on the coasts of North Africa,
because the Allied armies, under the command
of American General Eisenhower, forced them
to abandon this continent. The theater of operations
from North Africa had already participated to mobilize significant
German military resources, far from the Eastern front, where the armies
of Hitler faced the Red Army. Furthermore, the Allies put
German territory put to the test by systematically bombarding the
main industrial cities of the country. At sea, the British in the Atlantic
and Americans in the Pacific began to resist
victoriously over enemy submarines. airplanes and submarines
came out at high speed equipped production lines
of the very latest technologies. The use of aircraft
maritime patrol and light aircraft carriers
was also increasing. The liberation of Europe
was not possible before the battle
of the Atlantic is won. The genocide of the Jews
of Europe by the Nazis had passed
at a quasi-industrial stage. Accounts of these atrocities
reached London and Washington. The Prime Minister
British Winston Churchill, and US President Roosevelt judged that
the only possible answer could only be total defeat
of Nazi Germany and its criminal ideology. Already focused
on the next step, march on italy
with Sicily as a starting point, the determination of the Allies
was getting stronger day by day. At the end of 1942,
American and British forces had successfully landed
in North Africa. The Allies had also managed
to retain many French officers previously loyal
to the Vichy government, who collaborated with the Nazis. In the spring of 1943, Germany and Italy had continued
to send reinforcements from Europe across the Mediterranean. allied troops,
essentially composed of Americans
relatively inexperienced were advancing
from Algeria to Tunisia and met
fierce resistance. They had to learn quickly,
in the worst conditions, but they were progressing. To the south the Eighth Army led
by English General Montgomery, repelled the Germans in Libya
and the desert fox, Erwin Rommel, exhausted by months of fighting,
had been recalled by Hitler and replaced. In the South Pacific,
Americans and Australians had undertaken operations
that they hoped to transform in a winning streak
in the Solomon Islands, north of Australia. Painfully and
at the cost of many lives, they succeeded in resuming
the first Guadalcanal Island. From this reconquest, they didn't let
no respite to the Japanese. Japan, the strongest
Hitler's allies controlled a large area
including part of China, much of Southeast Asia,
Papua New Guinea and in the North Pacific,
two small islands in the Aleutians. We had to keep
the Japanese on the defensive to prevent them
to strengthen their positions on the islands
of the Pacific they held, to build their airbases there and to make these territories
safe areas. In Africa, these strategic issues
were on the agenda. A conference was held in the city
Moroccan from Casablanca in January 1943. Churchill and Roosevelt, relying
on the advice of their staff, accepted the idea
of an invasion of Sicily as soon as possible, delaying the landing
in France the following year. This decision went against
of certain American generals who did not want
that the war in the Mediterranean takes up too much
resources and time. The objective was to put Italy
out of combat, allowing the Allies to gain time
for the preparation of the disembarkation in the north of France. The English knew they were fighting
an industrial and military power still practically intact. Hitler and the Powers
of the Axis should be weakened by a second front
first in Italy, before the direct attack in France
could be conceivable. At the beginning of April,
events in North Africa and the plans for the invasion of Sicily
had become extremely important for all belligerents. The commander of the German forces
in the Mediterranean and North Africa, General Keyserling
could congratulate his troops to have slowed down the progress
allied to western Tunisia. Time was not in favor
Germans and Italians. The Axis forces were gently, but surely postponed
to the capital Tunis. Improved panzers
after the clashes against Soviet heavy tanks, played an important role
in these fights. The British and the Americans
quickly reinforced their position, mobilizing a number
growing tanks and planes
in North Africa. Many airfields
now under their control, they were able to bring
their troops effective air support. In the first week of April, the Allies bombarded
not only Italian soil, but managed to intercept transport planes
and loaded ships supplies for Africa. Moving cautiously, sappers were working
mine detection and repairs
craters on the road. The troops were happy
to cross these agricultural lands and its olive groves, after months
passed on rocky tracks of the Libyan desert. Even better,
the Tunisian roads allowed them a conduct
much softer and more comfortable. Planting these banderillas on Kesselring,
US General Eisenhower was the commander-in-chief
allied forces in the Mediterranean, seconded by
Marshall Harold Alexander. Alexander reorganized
strategically the allied front, placing American troops
advancing from the west at the opposite
of the city of Bizerte, on the road that ran along
the north coast towards Tunis. The British First Army
arrival in North Africa with the Americans
a few months earlier, received the order to advance
to the Tunisian capital. One of the last engagements
for the men of montgomery took place in Wadi Akarit,
25 kilometers north of Gabès. The fight was fierce,
but the British infantry, supported by
a large artillery, was able to throw
a general attack on the plain. On the evening of April 7, the Americans
and the English of the First Army came into contact with the soldiers
of the Eighth Army which, for the most part, had never met
of American soldiers before. Allied troops
recently arrived, discovered the soldiers
of the eighth armed and very seasoned, scruffy and unruly, but animated by an esprit de corps
and an extraordinary combativeness. All units were regrouped
for the final push Allies in North Africa. They had lost
thousands of injured men or killed in the desert sands. Progress continued. The Allies took
the Tunisian city of Sfax which was quickly followed
by taking Sousse on the coast. Therefore, after leading
the most decisive and the hardest fights
for North Africa, the eighth army that had arrived
so far, got affected in a secondary role
that of holding positions as far as possible
from Tunis to Bizerte and did not participate
in the last battles for Tunis. The dice were cast for the Germans
and the Italians in North Africa. Among the Italians,
the cracks in their alliance with Germany
were more and more noticeable, aggravated by the imminence of a
Allied landing on their territory. Many Italian soldiers
were prisoners and support for the Axis was less and less obvious
in the population. enthusiasm for war
hadn't been very big in 1940. Libya, which Mussolini wanted to make
the crown jewel of the new Italian Empire,
was now lost. The duchy therefore did not reap from these fights
only paltry benefits. The treatment
Italian workers sent to Germany
was not the best. Even their leader, Benito Mussolini,
wondered on Hitler's intentions, because the supply promises
coal and oil that Germany had promised
never materialized. When Hitler and Mussolini
met near Salzburg, in Austria,
both appeared tense. Hitler's entourage was struck
to see how much Mussolini looked discouraged
and sick, pleading for the start of
peace talks with the Allies. The Führer did not want
hear about it and managed to make it bend
and to comfort Mussolini to continue the fight
to hold Tunis, convincing his reluctant ally
that was essential so that fascism
survive in Italy. Hitler's own situation
was far from brilliant. He had to face
to the criticisms of his people who now
came under enemy attack and who felt that the Third Reich
wasn't so invincible that he had been promised. Propaganda played a role
more important than ever. Events in Russia
provided Hitler with new arguments to justify his policy. In a village called Katyn,
in the Russian countryside near Smolensk, a Russian peasant made an amazing
declaration to the German occupiers. The bodies of thousands
missing Polish officers were buried
in the nearby forest. For Joseph Goebbels, Minister
propaganda, loyal to Hitler, that was the best news
received for months. After some investigation
from the story of the Russian peasant, the Germans discovered a mass grave
of more than 4200 Polish officers slaughtered by
the Soviets in 1939, when Stalin
was Hitler's ally. The Russian position was delicate
because of their new alliance with the English and the Americans
after Operation Barbarossa. The Allies considered Stalin
with great suspicion. Goebbels was quick
to condemn the unpardonable brutality Russians
towards the Polish officers, of course omitting to mention
of the barbaric treatment that the Germans themselves subjected the Poles,
especially when they were Jews. The situation became even more complicated. The Polish government,
in exile in London since 1939, desired that the atrocities of Katyn
lead to the end of the alliance with the Soviets. It took clever political maneuvering
to maintain this delicate alliance. Responsible officials
Americans and British managed to prevent what could have
be a disastrous split in the Allied Pact. Moreover, Poland remained
under the spotlight, because between April and May, the events
in the capital, Warsaw, occupied by the Germans,
would make headlines. Eastern Europe of 1943
kept too many secrets and concealed
too many horrors. At the beginning of April,
a new gas chamber was opened
in the Auschwitz camp, one of the six extermination camps
settled on Polish territory. Thousands of deportees,
mostly jews come from the nations
occupied Europeans, as well as
Poles and Gypsies, were routed
aboard cattle cars. Upon arrival, most men,
women and children were gassed. Only a minority was allowed
to live a little longer as forced laborers. In the Polish capital, Warsaw,
all Jews had been confined in the old Jewish quarter,
now guarded and isolated from the rest of the city
by high walls. About 400,000 Jews and some gypsies
survived there with minimum rations, because the Germans
used the deprivations to facilitate
the spread of typhus and tuberculosis
including this weakened population. Then the rhythm of the deportations to the extermination camp
of Treblinka accelerated. In April 43, only 60,000 people
remained in the Warsaw ghetto, mainly young adults. These survivors, now knowing
that he had nothing more to lose, had formed
resistance groups who had weapons
smuggled through the underground passages of the ghetto. After a first uprising
small scale of the Jewish resistance in January, Heinrich Himmler,
leader of the SS, decided the time had come
to completely raze the ghetto. On April 19,
he sent the SS there with tanks, flamethrowers
and demolition units. Despite desperate resistance
groups however summarily armed, the Germans
reduced everything to ashes, 13,000 Polish Jews were massacred
during this revolt. The ghetto uprising had been
a brave and desperate act of defiance. But he gave a taste
of what awaited Hitler and his generals
in a close future. Resistance against the Axis
was getting stronger and the fighting escalated
around the world. For the Allies,
the time was planning and strategic studies. Keep sea routes open
to move troops to destination was of vital importance. While the British Navy
regained control in the North Atlantic on the theater
of South Pacific operations, american pilots
and the marines were at the forefront of the counter-attack against Japan. In New Guinea
and in the Solomon Islands, north of australia,
the Japanese were now cornered on the defensive under command
of Admiral I Roku Yamamoto. Yamamoto had done
his studies in the United States. He initially opposed
to militarism who had driven
Japan at war, but now
he was a target for the Americans. He was the one who imagined
and planned the attack against Pearl Harbor
in December 41. The Japanese saw
in him a hero of the nation. The Americans were eager
eliminate the person responsible thousands of deaths. In 1943, the Americans intercepted
and decoded a radio message who revealed to them that Admiral Yamamoto
was going to come in the Solomons to inspect his troops. The bomber carrying
the admiral was to land on an island near Bougainville,
in the northern Solomons. On April 18, several American fighters
took off from Guadalcanal following orders
of President Roosevelt and headed for the route
Yamamoto's plane was to follow. The bomber on board
where the admiral was, was attacked and brought down in flames
above the Bougainville jungle. Yamamoto's body was discovered by
a Japanese research expedition, but Tokyo did not announce his death
only weeks later lest it affect
the morale of the population. The Americans, for their part, couldn't celebrate
their triumph publicly, because it would have revealed
that he had broken the communication code
of the Japanese Navy. They also did not announce
Yamamoto's death. On April 21, Roosevelt revealed that three airmen
Americans had been executed in Japan. These three men
two pilots and a gunner, were among the 80 men
who had survived the raid, led by Lieutenant Colonel
Jimmy Doolittle previously. Americans had hoped
strike the mind of the Japanese by bombing military targets
and industries in their territory. It was the first raid against Japan,
a humiliating provocation which they would seek revenge. The news of this execution
prisoners of war horrified the Americans. Roosevelt announced that those responsible
would not go unpunished. A message that was also
a warning to the Japanese regarding the treatment
of some 17,000 Americans then detained
by the Empire of the Rising Sun. In May 1943,
a confrontation between the United States and Japan unfolded
at the northern reaches of the Pacific Ocean, in the Aleutian Islands. A chain of small volcanic islands, spanning from Alaska
to Siberia and Japan. In 1942, Japanese forces
had seized of two islands
of the archipelago close to Japan, Attu and Kiska. Thanks to their intelligence services,
the Americans did not take into account this invasion, because they knew
it was just a diversion and what about the Japanese
were going to attack Midway Island in the central Pacific,
a strategically more important island. Japanese propaganda had largely
exploited this invasion of the Aleutians, and now the Americans
wanted to chase them away. They had begun to build an airfield
on Attack Island, near Alaska. At the end of April, an American expeditionary force
was sent by sea from San Francisco to Attu Island, a desolate island
where the wind was blowing so strong that practically
no trees were growing. After two days,
the warships were in position and began to bombard
the Japanese defenses. At the beginning of May,
a dense fog drowned the island. Infantry, using barges
landing, surprised the Japanese garrison. During fierce fighting which
took place throughout the month of May, American soldiers arrived to reach the valley
driving towards Chicago Harbor. The Japanese did not surrender. The last of
they left their position and charged the American lines
in a suicidal attack. She had no results. These fights were coming to an end and more
than 2000 Japanese had already been killed. Americans themselves
had lost 500 men and more than 2000 were evacuated,
victims of cold or disease. Attu again
in American hands was now between
Japanese territory and the island of Kiska, where were they still stationed
Japanese troops. This one wasn't going to stay
on the island for a long time. The Americans were just coming
to set foot on Attu in August 43, that the five men
of the Kiska garrison were evacuated, leaving the Aleutians and their climates
inhospitable to Americans. In North Africa,
German and Italian troops around Tunis
were trapped. They no longer had
possible way of retreat. Despite Rommel's request
addressed to Hitler and Mussolini to evacuate
these men from North Africa and prepare them prevented
an Allied landing in Europe, the Germans continued
to transport troops and equipment to Tunis, and this, practically
until the last minute. In May, Bizerte fell to the hands
American units and further south, General Alexander
launched a new offensive supported by important
artillery barrages against Tunis. Very quickly, the first
english armored vehicles entered the city. Thousands of people came out
in the streets to welcome them, throwing flowers to the soldiers. Outside the city,
enemy troops, although surrounded,
kept on fighting, rejecting all
surrender offers. Kesselring had already left
the African continent, when finally,
at the end of the second week of May, the Germans accepted
their fate and surrendered. prisoners of war
crowded into the camps 125,000 Germans and 115,000 Italians. It was the biggest concentration
prisoners at this stage of the war, with the consequence
serious logistical problems. Eisenhower was not particularly
disturbed by this minor complication and jubilant announcing to the world
that the armies of the Axis now retreated. Adolf Hitler had an army
which was called the Afrikakorps, commissioned by
General Erwin Rommel, also known by the nickname
of Desert Fox. [German spoken audio] The troops
du Renard were destroyed. All the men
of this army sent to Africa to fight under Rommel
were killed or captured. Three hours after the surrender,
Winston Churchill, in meeting
with Roosevelt in Washington, received a message
of General Alexander informing him: "The campaign in Tunisia is over. All enemy resistance ceased. We are the masters
off the coasts of North Africa. After three years of fighting, successes and reverses in the deserts
and in the mountains, the Allies finally rewarded, could celebrate the end of the stranglehold
of the Axis over this part of Africa. In Washington, President Roosevelt
and Winston Churchill discussed with the most senior decision makers
British and American military during a conference
codenamed Trident. May 19, Churchill addressed
to both houses of Congress, as he had done
in December 1941, following
of the Japanese bombardment against Pearl Harbor. He was welcomed
with warm applause even before
until he gives his speech. But Churchill was impatient
to get back to serious business. All plans, he said,
must be dominated by the ultimate goal
to attack the enemy. Germany's defeat
must occur first. It will inevitably lead
the defeat of Japan. There were disagreements
between Allied commanders on the way forward
regarding future operations. Churchill demanded that a landing
takes place directly in Italy, which, he thought,
would be used to attract German soldiers away from the Russian front
where Stalin was still fighting for the survival of his country. Americans, on the other hand,
wanted a landing on a large scale in France,
launched as soon as possible, and that no transaction likely
to delay this project from being undertaken. After a long debate, an agreement was reached
within the Allied Command to disembark in France
in 1944 with a deadline scheduled for May. Churchill obtained satisfaction
as for the Italian campaign, lower priority, in order to oblige
that country to cease hostilities. fierce fighting
took place in the Atlantic. Before a landing
in France can take place, the allies knew
than the Battle of the Atlantic had to be won. However, the heavy losses
experienced in early spring had seriously affected
supplies to the British Isles. The fear was great that the Germans
win the war at sea. Fortunately, in May,
the spell began to turn, slowly but surely. At the end of the month,
a quarter of the entire task force submarines
Germans had been sunk. Admiral Donitz's son,
commander in chief of the navy, perishes with
his crew on May 19. A few days later,
the command decided that it was time
to withdraw from the South Atlantic. The handle of U-Boats
who was still marauding no longer represented only a symbolic threat. The battle led by the Axis
for two years to break the roads
supply, was lost. Allied Factories
increased arms production, but the war effort was beginning
to be felt not only at sea, but also
in the skies of Germany. Throughout the spring of 1943,
waves of British bombers attacked the main cities
of the Third Reich, following orders
of Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris. Haunted by the memory of the trenches
of the First World War, the British saw
in aerial bombardment a way to avoid a front on the ground
and hasten the end of the conflict. The heavy bombings
did not aim only the most important industries. They were also used
as a psychological weapon to undermine
civilian morale. During the war,
hundreds of thousands of Germans found themselves homeless
following these attacks. Living conditions
were deteriorating in the cities. At the same time,
support for Adolf Hitler, inevitably weakened. In May 1943, the R.A.F worked out the final details
of a particularly daring raid to blow up
the Ruhr dams in Germany. The goal was to break
three dams in this region where were they located
the main production sites German heavy industry:
steelworks, chemical plants and coal mines. In the greatest secrecy,
an aeronautical engineer named Barns Wallis, developed
a barrel-shaped bomb which he hoped would bounce back
on the surface of the water towards the dam, thus avoiding anti torpedo nets
who protected him. The bomb then had to flow along
of the dam wall before exploding. On May 16, the air raid
successfully destroyed the first two dams,
but the third remained intact. Millions of liters of water
sprang from the breaches of the two dams flooding mines, coupons,
roads, railways, canals and water supply. At least 1650 people drowned. Unfortunately, only
nine of the 19 R.A.F aircraft managed to return to their base
and 53 crew were killed in action
in this operation. Despite these losses,
this event was a breath of fresh air for the morale of the British,
still subject to Luftwaffe raids. As for the people
of occupied Europe, the vision of these allied bombers
on the way to Germany, gave them hope. A landing on the French coast
of the Channel was preparing. This hope was therefore not
unfounded. To better prepare
this operation programmed in 1944, i.e. the following year, Roosevelt wanted to tie
contacts with the French resistance fighters. The French had been deeply divided by
the Second World War. There were divisions
between those who supported General de Gaulle based in London
and those who supported the collaborationist government
of Marshal Pétain in Vichy. There was also
deep divisions at the heart of the Resistance,
especially due to the communists who did not support de Gaulle. During the conference
from Casablanca in January, there was a rather tense meeting
and difficult between de Gaulle and his rival, General Giraud, who continued
maintain the Vichy regime in North Africa. However, together
at the head of the Free French Forces, they called all the French
to join their cause. Later, the National Council
of the Resistance was set up to organize
the various resistance groups who carried out operations
of sabotage against the occupier. Part of the French population
did what she could to help the Allies. During this time,
the american secret service began to build their own relationship
with the French resistance from contacts
established in Switzerland to improve funding
actions of resistance and thus gain access to
military and strategic information on the troops
Germans in France. But fight for freedom
was not without risk. Shortly after the first meeting of the
new National Resistance Council, lots of bosses
networks were shut down. During the war,
many men and women who fought
occupying troops in France were incarcerated,
tortured and killed by the Gestapo. But despite its dangers,
the fight had never stopped. In Europe, the process of genocide
was accelerating. In the summer of 1943, more than half of the Jews
of Europe had been massacred. quite proud
of their program of extermination, the Nazis never mentioned the details
of these operations in their propaganda, using euphemisms such as actions
specific or special measures. In Auschwitz, an average of 33,000 people
were gassed each month. After elimination
of the Warsaw ghetto, on June 11, the leader of the SS, Heinrich
Himmler, gave the order to dismantle and empty
all other remaining ghettos in some cities of Poland. Poland had
largest Jewish population of all the states of Europe,
about 3 million people. Most of them will be killed, as well as three million
others from elsewhere before the Allies
do not achieve victory. Further east, in the Baltic countries
and in the part of the Soviet Union occupied by the Nazis,
SS special units the Einsatzgruppen acted freely
behind the front line troops. Entire communities were massacred
ruthlessly in mass executions. While the Nazis pursued
their war of terror, the allies were closing in. Following the agreements
of the Trident conference in Washington, preparations for the landing
in Italy were beginning. North Africa, now rid
Axis troops Eisenhower concentrated
his focus on Mussolini in order to
to push him to end the war. American bombers intensified
their attacks on ports, airfields
and industrial areas. In Sicily, the towns of Palermo,
Catania and Syracuse were targeted. Sardinia,
where was an important garrison German soldiers,
was also affected. Messina and Naples, Italy,
came under heavy bombardment. Allied aircraft based
in Malta had begun to bombard
the port of Naples since 1940. The city knew
what an air attack was, but with
the acceleration of alerts, life in that summer of 1943
became unbearable. Explosions echoed
regularly in the city. Water shortages
and food were frequent. Despite significant reinforcements,
German air power in Italy marked time
against Allied aircraft. The Neapolitans suffered one
major bombings that they never have
known hitherto. The Germans were
unable to send the planes and D.C.A batteries
which Mussolini had urgently demanded. Fearing that the Allies
don't land any moment now, thousands of Italians
left their home in the south of the country. Convinced that it was
only a matter of time before the allies do not launch the attack,
the Germans moved troops from France to Italy. The Allies had, however, lost
a little time discussing the best way
to follow for their campaign before deciding that Sicily
would be the ideal bridgehead for the conquest of Italy. The tiny Italian island
from Pantelleria, located on the way to Sicily,
not far from the Tunisian coast, was a stage
on the main island road. With its steep cliffs,
Pantelleria had been used as an airbase
and submarine by the axis forces. Attacks had been launched
against British ships in Mediterranean
from this island. According to Winston Churchill,
Pantelleria, was a thorn in the side and now posed a problem
for the invasion of Sicily. To make sure
that nothing could prevent the success of these men
in their mission in Italy, Eisenhower designed a project
quite unpleasant for the small island. He and his staff wanted to check if it were possible to weaken
such a target from the air so that you can then
invade it with a reduced force. Pantelleria became a testing ground
to observe the effects from a saturation bombardment
on a well defended coast. Allied aircraft began
to bombard the small island from May and during
the next five weeks. Over 500 bomber raids
were made and 6300 tons of bombs dropped
on Italian and German troops. Barracks, depots
and planes were hit at the Pantelleria airfield, while the ships
british fighters opened fire on the port
and on the gun emplacement along the coast. June 10,
the offensive reaches its climax. Whole waves of bombers
take off from Tunisia, bombarding the island day and night,
only stopping to give time the Allies to invite
the island to surrender. Simultaneously from Washington, Roosevelt urged
the Italians to overthrow Mussolini. Those who wanted to get rid
of the dictator were many, but they would stay
in power for a while longer. In Pantelleria,
no surrender having taken place, a British infantry division
left the Tunisian coast aboard landing craft. Around 11 a.m.,
June 11, an allied aircraft spotted
a white cross on the airfield just before the infantry
does not arrive on the beach. It was the first time in history
than enemy territory only capitulated
following a bombardment, even before the troops
have not set foot on the ground. The operation proved
that the Allies were serious. Eisenhower could now
focus on preparations of the invasion of Sicily. On the other side of the globe,
in the Pacific theater of operations, events were accelerating. The Allies resumed
supremacy over the seas. As an island nation,
Japan depended on maritime relations with the rest of the world, and that's the same
which had led him to war. When the United States imposed
sanctions in Japan regarding the supply
in raw materials, the empire of the rising sun
had no other choice than to fight for its survival. In 1943, the Japanese having to defend
and administer new territories were facing
with considerable difficulties. It was vital for them that
maritime links are maintained, allowing the sending of troops and ammunition to
most isolated southern garrisons. The Attack on Pearl Harbor
in December 1941, during which
many American ships had been destroyed
or put out of action, had been an entry
in a resounding war for Japan. These troops encountered little
of opposition in the conquest of the islands around the Pacific. Their enemies still in shock, the Japanese did
everything possible to take advantage of
their success at Pearl Harbor. Japanese submarine crews
were particularly well trained. They were equipped
long lance torpedoes. They showed up
much more efficient than that of American submarines,
often victims of failure. These did not explode
on impact or exploded before reaching their target, or followed
aberrant trajectories. The American military
were more and more focused on technology
and tactics that could assure them of superiority
on the Japanese in the Pacific. Pearl Harbor events
showed them that they were not at the end of their
pains before reaching this result. At first
of the Pacific War, the commanders
American submarines knew they were ill-prepared
to the battles that awaited them. US military decision makers
finally heard their voices and in 1943,
designed new torpedoes, developing a model with
of a more powerful payload. Americans would benefit
the effect of surprise on their enemies and tilt the fate
battles in their favour. Applying
bold tactics, the Americans launched
surprise attacks against ships
Japanese merchants. This strategy
was quickly extended. It turned out to be very effective.
because US Navy submarines, have become more
bolder, attacked closer to the surface
rather than from the depths. A year ago,
the code breakers had succeeded to decipher the codes
of the Japanese Navy. Now they provide
more precise information to the submarine commander
regarding positions possible surface targets. As a result, submarines
Americans were equipped with radar to detect
ships in their vicinity, while the patrols, spotted submarines
Japanese in diving. The pace of attacks on ships
Japanese increased significantly throughout 1943, Americans attacking
as many military ships than merchant ships
and even fishing fleets. Slowly, but inexorably,
the allies regained control in the choppy waters of the Pacific. General Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander of the forces
allies in the Southwest Pacific, represented for the Japanese an implacable enemy at sea,
in the air and on the ground. Securing Air Superiority
was a constant concern in the South Pacific, where American troops
and Australians were now progressing growing inside
from the limit of the southern perimeter Japanese possessions. At the beginning of June, Admiral William Halsey ordered
the attack on new Georgia, largest island west of the islands
Solomon, who was immediately north of Guadalcanal. The Americans had been warned
that the Japanese were building an airfield in Munda, the largest colony
of New Georgia. Air attacks
against American troops would have represented
a significant hazard. The Japanese, they
feared that if the Americans managed to hold Guadalcanal, it would give them a starting point
for operations to reconquer the islands one after the other
north of the Solomons. This would put
the strategic base of Rabaul on the island of New England,
crucial for the Japanese under the threat
direct from the Americans. Everything Japan
could try to stop the American forces in their advance
was considered a priority. Although the Japanese attacks
against Guadalcanal has little chance of moving
the Americans from their position, they disturbed them, but the American advance
towards Rabaul does not slow down. The Marines landed
at the southern tip of New Georgia, left defenseless and started
to advance towards the port of Viry. Without waiting to have eliminated
the Japanese garrison strong of more than 10,000 men
who occupied the rest of the island, they started
to build an airfield where they landed. Allied planes
based on this new airfield provided them with air support
invaluable in their fight to conquer all
of New Georgia. When Munda Air Base
fell into the hands of the allies, few weeks later, the troops of Guadalcanal, who always fought the last
Japanese resistance strongholds, were somewhat relieved. Japanese bombing attempts
American positions at Guadalcanal from their base in New Georgia
allowed to imagine the problems to which went
to face the troops if we gave the Japanese time
to consolidate their positions in newly conquered territories. Japanese culture
to never lay down your arms meant that every square kilometer
of territory in the Pacific, on land or sea,
would be defended until death. The Allies had a goal
terribly hard to reach. The cost in terms of life lost
would become impressive, but it was the price to pay to end expansionism
Japanese in the Pacific. A heavy price also had to be paid
to defeat Hitler in Europe. The war also took
its due on the civilian population everywhere in proportions
which would become unbearable. England continued
to suffer the raids of the Luftwaffe. In every country
under the Führer's boot, the terror was permanent. The reports
of the atrocities committed were terrible. On the military level,
the immediate concern of the Allies was the landing in Sicily. Several questions
remained in abeyance, especially those
which concerned the political reaction when they landed in Italy. The conquest of Italy
would make it possible to appreciate to what extent those who had
embraced Hitler's utopia would be able
to turn against it.
