War in the Pacific (1951) | Compilation #1: Episodes 1 - 12 | Westbrook Van Voorhis | Kentaro Buma

[Music] [Music] is the 20th century has been a fateful one for the pacific world as the midpoint of that century was reached the attention of the entire world was focused on the pacific basin in korea the course of the earth's history was altered by the hundreds of thousands who fought in the cause of freedom on that battle-scarred peninsula the country which served as the setting for the historic struggle between the forces of slavery and the forces of freedom lay thoroughly devastated faced with the overwhelming job of rebuilding their country the people of korea began their task with virtually nothing to build on but the country was not laid waste in vain the men who had fought against the invaders from the north in korea were part of the first fighting force to resist aggression by direct military action on behalf of the united nations of the free world this determined resistance against superior forces served notice to the world at large of the integrity of the united nations this is the first time that enforcement action has been taken by the united nations this action should be hailed as encouraging faith in united states support of the peacemaking functions of the united nations the history of aggression in the pacific world is a long and bloody one the success of the japanese armies in manchuria helped strengthen the japanese militarist clique which celebrated the birth of what was piously called an independent nation the japanese installed the opportunistic buoyee as chief executive of the newly proclaimed nation but actually manchukwa was nothing more than a puppet state whose destinies were firmly controlled from japan this high-handed seizure of manchuria was taken under consideration by another body of nations dedicated to preventing aggression the league of nations japan's delegate matsuka protested his country's innocence it is a matter of common knowledge that japan's policy is fundamentally inspired by a genuine desire to guarantee peace in the far east and to contribute to the maintenance of peace throughout the world japan however find it impossible to accept the report abducted by the assembly japan subsequently withdrew from the league of nations that body proved itself incapable of stemming the tide of aggression either in europe or in asia it was inevitable that the japanese militarists should one day turn their attention southward toward china in 1937 china's large coastal cities came under attack in china japan's pattern for conquest was firmly established the chinese became the first refugees of the struggle which was to grow into the second world war shanghai fell to the aggressors in november 1937 and the japanese tightened their grip on the mainland of asia four years later japan's program of aggression in the pacific had grown to staggering proportions from a point 300 miles off oahu japanese planes took off on the strike which marked the start of world war ii in the pacific [Music] [Applause] [Music] the crippling of the u.s pacific fleet and the pearl harbor attack left the united states with only a small naval force in fighting conditions the careful employment of that inadequate complement of ships was the job of admiral chester nimitz commander-in-chief pacific fleet the navy's battered pacific fleet was all that stood between the enemy and further amphibious conquests the us navy won two great victories during the first half of 1942 victories which proved turning points in the war against japan in june after the u.s fleet had won the first round in an engagement with a powerful enemy naval force in the coral sea the two large fleets met again off midway island as in the coral sea battle the naval engagement at midway was primarily an air accident warfare took a new turn in early 1942 in the pacific and american carrier planes reinforced by land-based marine and army planes from midway dealt the enemy a crushing defeat [Music] the u.s navy had paid back the japanese for pearl harbor in those early months of war in the pacific american fighting forces were woefully under strength ill prepared for the job of stopping the japanese advances in the aleutians which lie between north america and japan's home islands the us garrisons were particularly undermanned american air units were severely handicapped by the unpredictable weather and by the generally difficult terrain each time a plane left its base even on a routine flight there was a strong feeling of uncertainty about its safe return though contact with the enemy was limited in the illusion it was of the most vital importance to the united states to keep the enemy from advancing along the island chain toward the american mainland [Music] southward the job of containing the enemy advance was quite a different problem [Applause] in the jungles of new guinea allied soldiers fought a determined campaign helped materially by friendly natives to keep the enemy from seizing control of the entire island and broadening the area of south pacific conquests the aussies quickly became acclimated to fighting in the mountainous jungle territory but getting at the enemy in that country was a slow business advances in the malaria-written jungle were made tortuously though the aussies sometimes felt they'd been forgotten there was evidence from time to time that they weren't really isolated after all [Music] and as the allies seized the offensive the foot soldiers were supported in increasing numbers by new bombers which gave the enemy a sample of things to come on a tiny coral atoll named tarawa in november 1943 the united states opened a new assault toward japan from another direction one division of marines the second was assigned the task of reducing this enemy stronghold [Music] tarawa was one of the most heavily fortified positions in japan's outer defense ring the 76-hour battle for that atoll assumed epic proportion the marines casualties were heavy but a most valuable piece of land had been taken from the enemy tarawa was a platform from which the american offensive in the central pacific would be continued driving closer and closer to the main target japan itself the asiatic pacific theater extended westward as far as india and encompassed the rugged spectacular himalayan country the sprawling china burma india area was one of the most confused commands of world war ii one of its few notable achievements was the building of the lido road under the direction of general vinegar joe stilwell commander of us and chinese forces in the cbi the ultimate target japan itself was as remote as the moon the war as it was fought in the cbi was marred by jealousies and lack of cooperation among the command a condition which was generally reflected in the dispirited performance of allied fighting men fortunately the campaign in the cbi consisted of a series of marginal actions virtually unrelated to the broader war the assault against the enemy's inner defense ring at saipan and the marianas came as a great shock to japan for this mountainous island the heart of japan's south seas empire was within striking distance of tokyo [Music] the fight for saipan was one of the toughest of the pacific war [Applause] at saipan the marines and soldiers who made the assault suffered some 14 000 casualties 3 000 dead in the 25-day battle still farther west an invasion of the philippines was made at leyte island [Applause] with the assault on the philippines by american gis who had driven north and west through the new guinea jungle a promise made two and a half years earlier was kept two years ago i said to the people of the philippines whence i came i shall return i repeat those words i shall return nothing is more certain than the ultimate reconquest and liberation from the enemy of those and adjacent lands america's newest long-range bombers the powerful b-29s took off on missions over the japanese homeland beginning in late 1944 the trip from bases in the marianas to japan and return totaled some 2500 miles just about all of it over water no other heavy bombers in any theater had such an assignment finally after seven hours the enemy's homeland lay just ahead the enemy began to have some doubts about the invincibility of the japanese war machine the effect of the raids on japanese morale was incalculable [Music] [Music] inevitably the submarine was destined to play an important part in the navy's war in the pacific throughout the war the exploits of american subs were generally classed as secret for security reasons but their achievements though unpublicized were notable down periscope during world war ii u.s subs accounted for 63 of the total of japanese merchant shipping sunk in the pacific and nearly a third of the enemy's combat ship sent to the bottom [Music] [Applause] once more in early 1945 a small heavily defended island fortress had to be taken and once more the job fell to the marines the assault on iwo jima was one of the bloodiest chapters in marine corps history three divisions of marines inched forward in the face of heavy fire from a thoroughly dug in enemy the battle for this inferno of eight square miles raged for 26 days 26 days of continuing bitter [Applause] fighting [Music] the marines lost 5 000 dead and 17 000 wounded but the rocky island was an american hand in april 1945 an assault was made against an enemy held stronghold even closer to japan at okinawa offshore kamikaze attacks on american ships by enemy suicide pilots reached a final frenzied peak the u.s navy lost 36 ships off okinawa more than 350 more were damaged casualties were heavy the navy alone lost nearly five thousand men killed and almost that many more wounded but u.s forces had successfully fought their way to the shore of japan itself in the seven divisions of soldiers and marines on okinawa there were nearly 40 000 casualties seven thousand of them dead amen with japan bracing itself for an invasion of its homeland a different kind of attack provided a terrifying conclusion to world war ii at hiroshima japan on august 6 1945 the world moved into a new era in which the threat of possible destruction of the planet earth hung menacingly over it from that day onward less than a month later in tokyo bay on board the u.s battleship missouri the formal surrender of japan was made to officers of the allied governments engaged in the war against that nation general of the army douglas macarthur presided at the ceremony we are gathered here representatives of the major warring powers to conclude a solemn agreement whereby peace may be restored it is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion [Music] a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past i now invite the representatives of the emperor of japan and the japanese government and the japanese imperial general headquarters to sign the instrument of surrender at the places indicated the once arrogant japanese whose aggressive sweep across the pacific had been begun less than four years earlier had finally been brought to bay the ceremony on the missouri concluded the most costly war the world had ever known fought over an expanse of hundreds of thousands of miles on that cloudy september morning in tokyo bay it seemed that a lasting peace had surely been brought to the pacific and to the world let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that god will preserve it always these proceedings are closed the enemy was finally completely defeated the future of japan was now the concern of the allies and particularly of the united states the administration of japan and the years directly following the end of world war ii was firm and efficient the american army supervised the operation of the conquered country assisted by japanese who had been classed as trustworthy helpers for the overtaxed american [Music] under the guidance of american occupation personnel the people of japan quickly learned the mechanics of democracy despite the dislocation of its national attitude the country rapidly recovered its composure but before five years had passed a new aggressor put an end to peace in the pacific the north korean invasion of south korea in june 1950 had far greater implications than the japanese attack on manchuria 19 years before acting with the endorsement of the united nations the united states quickly went to the defense of south korea but american forces in the far east were limited in strength and most of the troops were inexperienced through the summer of 1950 american gis fought on courageously against overwhelming odds at headquarters of the united nations the korean fighting won top priority on the discussion agenda the soviet delegate referred several times to quote the aggression of which the united states is guilty against the korean people and for this statement has been repeated over and over through every soviet-inspired channel on earth we've had it telegraphed to us by others and we've heard it again today it is a lie it is a big lie the debate continued through the summer who then is supporting the united nations charter and working for peace the 53 members of the united nations who are assisting the republic of korea is the soviet union one of the 53 no by august 1950 the other free nations of the world were sending troops to the support of south korea britain sent 13 000 soldiers to join u.s troops in the line the u.n forces were further swelled by the arrival of 5000 filipino soldiers most of the nations which had fought in the pacific war sent troops to south korea australia's diggers who had fought so well in the steaming jungles of new guinea arrived to battle under the u.n banner but the bulk of the fighting forces in the lines against the communists in korea were american troops as the tide of battle swept down into south korea then north almost to the border of manchuria then south again and finally north across the 38th parallel once more u.s soldiers and marines fought savagely to demonstrate beyond any doubt that the u.s is prepared to stand behind the u.n in resisting the aggressor the path of aggression led once again to the same inglourious end the north koreans and chinese reds who surrendered to u.n forces were far smaller in number than those who were killed while attempting to drive the un forces off the korean peninsula in its predatory invasion of south korea the enemy suffered roughly a million casualties finally just one year after the invasion of south korea soviet delegate to the un yakov malik indicated that perhaps the wind from the east was shifting the soviet people believe that as a first step discussions should be started between the belligerents for a cease fire and an armistice providing for the neutral withdrawal of forces from the 38th parallel can such a step be taken i think it can provided there is a sincere desire to put an end to the bloody fighting in korea but whether the world was technically at peace or a limited war was being fought on some far-flung battlefield the people of the united states realize that their country must be stronger than ever before if the ultimate war of world destruction was to be avoided in the pacific on anywhere at all the strength to resist any aggressor was being developed to the utmost on the efforts of the men occupied there defended the life or death of the free world [Music] in the 19th century hermann melville wrote of the pacific [Applause] [Music] there is one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath this mysterious divine pacific zones the world's whole bulk about makes all coasts one bay to it seems the tide beating heart of earth in this 20th century the world is growing more and more aware of this strategic area once explored by magellan and cook and immortalized by stevenson and conrad and now these once remote lands are covered with the evidences of modern history the tie between the pacific world and the united states first established by the visits to the orient of yankee merchant ships has grown increasingly strong through the years today the affairs of this republic and the pacific world are inextricably interwoven a modern author james a michener has written of this mighty sea our men lie buried there our ships and planes are in its bosom and i am convinced that along its shores will be determined the precise quality of our future [Music] [Music] the war which engulfed the pacific in 1941 marked the beginning of a new era in the history of that part of the earth never again could the pacific basin remain detached from the forces which were shaping the course of world history the first truly global war brought to the pacific the look of destruction and the smell of death already familiar in other parts of the earth the word pacific no longer meant an ocean paradise of peace for countless centuries the peoples of the pacific were largely untroubled by international crises life was simple for the natives of most of the lands touched by the world's largest ocean it once seemed wildly improbable that the people of these remote regions and the exotic lands they inhabited would one day be swept into the main current of the earth's affairs the united states first became vitally interested in the pacific world following the extension of america's frontiers westward in the mid 19th century the young republic pushed its way across the 3 000 miles separating its east and west coasts the attention of pioneering america was focused on the territory which lay along the western shores of the continent with the acquisition of oregon and california the united states became an important force in the affairs of the pacific world but the coastline did not check america's expansion westward the same spirit which motivated the exploration of the western united states prompted other americans men like secretary of state william h steward to extend the range of american influence into the pacific basin itself with the purchase of alaska from russia in 1867 the united states gained a bastion from which control of the north pacific area could be affected america's new territory was rugged magnificent country for well over a century this land had been ruled by the demands of the russian fur trade no serious attempt at colonization and development had been made by its former owner in the early days of u.s control alaska was a land of opportunity to a number of americans who had failed in their attempt to make a fortune but who still hoped to succeed one day the discovery of gold in alaska in the 1880s provided a strong incentive for americans to migrate to the new territory [Music] an orderly system of land surveys was inaugurated before the turn of the century and a succession of homestead laws became effective but in spite of alaska's natural advantages the development of the new territory was a slow process attempts to speed up colonization were hampered by the frequently unfavorable climate in many parts of alaska the weather was suitable for outdoor work for only a brief period each year early in the 20th century work was begun on the alaska railway which upon completion was to cover 500 miles of territory but despite these intimations of progress alaska remained a sprawling undeveloped outpost whose new residents were clustered in a few towns along its southern shore to the south the hawaiian islands became a link in america's pacific frontier in the closing years of the 19th century hawaii lies directly in the path of the trade winds its soft provocative climate helps make it one of the most popular of american possessions hawaii today is dotted with evidences of its colorful history its discoverer britain's captain james cook is commemorated on the island of hawaii and the memory of the reign of king kamehameha the first is kept vividly alive throughout the islands this popular monarch revered by the islanders as the napoleon of the pacific fostered a closer relationship with the united states hawaiians are a happy hospitable people today the polynesian strain in its pure form is not as prevalent as it was in former years due to years of intermarriage with other racial groups ancient polynesian customs are still celebrated in much the same spirit their ancestors observed in the days before the coming of the white man several generations ago all the islanders of whatever racial stock revel in the native ceremonies but life in hawaii also has its modern commercial side honolulu the crossroads of the pacific is the business hub of the hawaiian archipelago for many years a few principal industries supported most of the hawaiian population hawaii's increasing development and continued prosperity are associated directly with the size and quality of its crops of pineapple and sugarcane the island's chief exports technical improvements in growing cane and extracting the sugar content have made the hawaiian industry a more efficient operation than any of its mainland competitors but hawaii's principal industry was destined soon to be war work home base of the u.s pacific fleet hawaii assumed a tremendous importance as a u.s war with japan became a distinct possibility strategically situated almost midway between the american mainland and the home islands of japan hawaii would inevitably be directly concerned if war broke out with the tension in the pacific increasing army units continued their rehearsals for a defense of the hawaiian islands against a possible enemy attack to the west in the far reaches of the pacific the united states acquired a valuable far eastern outpost in guam in 1898 following the war with spain for many years the new american territory retained its largely primitive complexion habits of life passed along from generation to generation were not quickly altered when trans-pacific plane service was established in 1936 guam was made a regular stop and the island became an even more important link in the chain of american possessions in the pacific basin and it was quite apparent that the us recognized its importance [Music] american rule was strict but paternalistic the governor and his associates were navy officers appointed to their posts and the affairs of the island were regulated in precise military fashion in 40 years the guamanian population increased from nine thousand to twenty two thousand a rise which can be directly attributed to public health measures initiated by the navy guam was predominantly catholic like the philippines also rested from spanish ruled by the us at the end of the 19th century in the guamanians the united states had gained an intensely loyal people under american rule the people were classed as nationals but were not granted the privileges of citizens of the united states most guamanians whose lives had improved somewhat in recent years looked hopefully toward the day when they might attain the status of full u.s citizenship the u.s was not the only great power gaining a foothold in the pacific in a strategic position in the southwestern region lie two important members of the british commonwealth of nations australia and new zealand these down under countries have made great britain a more active participant in the affairs of the pacific for the past several generations the modern cities of the two lands today are inhabited by the descendants of the british settlers who migrated to british oceania this thoroughly occidental society developed and flourished though it was more than ten thousand miles removed from the mother country almost halfway around the globe today australia and new zealand are autonomous communities within the british family of nations an industrious and progressive people australians and new zealanders show an obvious pride in the steady growth of their countries although both nations have made considerable progress in developing their rich agricultural resources there is still room for expansion particularly in new zealand and in the reclamation of australian badlands both down under countries exist on an export economy or even if the purchasing power of the australian and new zealander were substantially increased they could not possibly consume the enormous meat and dairy yield the livelihood of both australians and new zealanders has been dependent directly on britain's purchases of their produce as these purchases fall off australia and new zealand are confronted with the problem of finding and expanding new markets for the problem of developing independent economies successfully could be solved only by the two dominions themselves but while the bonds of empire were no longer as strong in a material and political sense the spiritual tie between the dominions and the seat of the british commonwealth of nations remained as firm as ever for centuries the countries of southeast asia have constituted a potential trouble spot in the pacific world in the 30s the stirrings of nationalism became evident in these heavily populated countries peopled by a great variety of ethnic groups siam began to agitate for the return of territory allegedly usurped by the french in the 19th century its people dreamed of a greater thailand and a close bond was established with the japanese who sided with the siamese in their modest territorial expansion program hub of the oriental world for thousands of years china held a dominant position on the pacific basin throughout most of the 19th century china's principal point of contact with the outside world for almost 100 years was shanghai where british business interests first established a foothold the economic life of all of china was related directly to the business affairs of china's large coastal population centers whoever controlled china's port cities exercised a powerful influence on the country's overall economic structure the westernization of china's population centers had a profound effect on the country as a whole china's principal cities in the 20th century had a decidedly occidental caste the lives of a considerable percentage of china's population were directly affected by the beginnings of the machine age in china one of the most important aspects of china's modernization was the introduction of progressive methods in the manufacture of textiles but modern methods prevailed only in a few major cities throughout most of china traditional procedures were still followed or even in the 20th century china remained thoroughly oriental in the conduct of its affairs many chinese merchants still transacted their business chiefly in the local tea house all classes of chinese men enjoyed the luxury of spending a few hours at the tea house where the patrons discussed all their problems social as well as business with anyone who cared to listen through the years the local tea house became an informal extension of the magistrates court china's motive life for many striking resemblances to the manners of earlier generations so [Applause] so china's fortunes took an abrupt turn in 1911 when the chinese empire was overthrown by supporters of dr sunyat sen on whose political principles the young republic was founded a disciple of dr sun jiang kai shek dedicated himself to the task of extending the revolution throughout china america's interest in china which dates back a number of generations increased steadily through the early years of the 20th century the men of the u.s asiatic fleet became familiar figures in all china's coastal cities to many of the men china provided the best liberty ports in the eastern hemisphere if not in the world and business was always good when the fleet was in [Music] the regular visits of us warships were made chiefly for diplomatic reasons the appearance of a cruiser like the augusta even on a friendly call could hardly fail to leave a vivid impression of u.s military capabilities but there were other visitors in china's harbors japanese warships ignoring diplomacy simply occupied china's key ports for the center of influence in the orient was shifting to the north and east japan was taking a more and more active part in far eastern affairs the rise of the japanese nation as a world power was closely linked with the religious convictions of its people for the japanese believed that they were ordained by the gods to grow sufficiently strong to rule the earth one day much of the ritual was dedicated by the japanese shinto priests to the interests of the imperial government in these ceremonies the people celebrated their national unity their patriotism their prosperity the seasons of the year the abundance of their crops and any other aspects of their national life which seemed fitting the principal aims of the state shinto cult were to obtain support for the state affect national solidarity and create strength in critical periods to the occidental the japanese concept of existence was difficult to understand in fact until the mid 19th century japan and its people were virtually a complete mystery to the world at large the home islands of japan proper although not large in total area have supported a population of millions throughout recorded history every available square foot of land was carefully developed to provide the people with enough food for a bear existence the basic social unit in japan is the family whose members have grown accustomed to living frugally in the face of hardship the japanese have long been a stoic race women had a humble status in the japanese household but among the poorer classes the differences in social standing were less rigid from the earliest years of nepanese history the men have been great fishermen the export of marine products has been a thriving industry since nippon resumed contact with the outside world during the early decades of the 20th century japan stepped up the development of all her industries foreign influences had a considerable effect in the shaping of modern japan life in her large cities came to bear some resemblance to that in occidental commercial centers the reorganization of the currency system in the late 19th century eliminated the confusion resulting from the use of several types of money a stabilized banking system provided evidence to the public of the strength and efficiency of the government administration although it took some time to achieve the readjustment from the old way of operating the conversion to modern methods was made rapidly once the nation's business with foreign countries increased the telephone introduced in japan in 1877 helped materially in bringing the country back into the orbit of world affairs with their typical enthusiasm for anything new the people soon became addicted to the use of the mystifying gadget once begun the westernization of the home islands of japan quickly gained momentum as soon as they had become aware of what life was like outside their country the japanese addressed themselves to the task of imitating that life wherever possible once completely secluded the japanese now seemed obsessed with the desire to prove themselves as progressive as any people any place in the world [Applause] but this craze for western ideas did not completely transform japan its cultural life remained virtually unaffected by western influences [Applause] [Music] in the western world's 20th century after christ japan stood at the threshold of a new era the cult of emperor worship was appropriated by a small but powerful militarist clique which adopted the doctrine of extending japan's borders by force if necessary as the militarists gained greater control all japan was geared to the new program of expansion by aggression and the energies of all japanese were directed toward the building of a strong national fighting spirit [Applause] [Music] [Applause] but the development of the fighting spirit was not limited to adults japanese children were carefully indoctrinated in the glories of war the code of bushido the way of the warrior was eagerly instilled in japanese who were still muppets active military training began at the age of six from the beginning the children were taught that it was an honor to die for the emperor that they must become the equal and fighting ability of three soldiers of any other nation military training of grade school boys was a required part of their education no doubt was left in the mind of any young boy that he was destined to fight and die for his country by the time they reached their teens japanese youths were well prepared for their one mission in life the warlike spirit was by now well nurtured at every side the young soldiers were acclaimed as divinely inspired warriors as the recruits approached young manhood their training was intensified every technique of modern warfare was drilled into the young soldiers for accomplishment in the use of the newest weapons was vital if the enemies of the emperor were to be annihilated the process of turning the young recruits into warriors was a complex one but no effort could be spared in the development of the imperial fighting forces and during the fateful fourth decade of the 20th century complete control of the japanese empire fell to the militarists general hideki tojo and yosuko matsuaka gave impetus to a movement which was geared to one course of action barely six weeks after tojo became premiere the pacific world was plunged into a cataclysmic war oh throughout history the path of the aggressor has followed the same general course the pattern of quick successes and the eventual downfall of the conqueror has been repeated through the ages in the 20th century this pattern was repeated once again at several points on the globe in the orient the japanese embarked on a program of aggression which was to follow exactly the time-honored course for centuries the japanese lived in the conviction that their country was created by the gods as the center of the universe and that they were destined to rule the world this firmly rooted conviction was as old as the japanese nation itself soon after hirohito succeeded to the throne in 1926 as the 124th emperor allegedly descended directly from the sun goddess amaterasu the program for extending japan's rule began to gain momentum the command of hako ichiu to bring the eight corners of the world under one roof was part of hirohito's inheritance japan extended its control over a considerable area following world war one in which it participated on the allied side the plums of victory included german holdings in china and the mariana islands except guam the carolyn islands and the marshall islands all placed under japanese mandate in 1931 japan embarked actively on its program of conquest clashes between japanese and chinese and manchuria prompted the nepanese militarists to take action without waiting for any formal declaration of war japanese troops attacked [Music] on september 18 1931 japanese troops seized mukden manchuria's most important city and on march 1 1932 the new nation of manchu was proclaimed the new country was supposedly independent but actually it was purely a japanese puppet state the opportunistic weakling buhi was made the new ruler and was later installed on the ancient throne of the men choose by the japanese who kept a discreet but firm control over the affairs of the new nation to all outward appearances the new manchurian leaders were merely friendly neighbors of the nepanese actually imperial japan dictated the policy in manchuko in geneva switzerland in february 1933 foreign minister matsuka of japan piously disavowed any aggressive intentions it is a matter of common knowledge that japan's policy is fundamentally inspired by a genuine desire to guarantee peace in the far east and to contribute to the maintenance of peace throughout the world japan however finds it impossible to accept the report abducted [Applause] with japan's subsequent withdrawal from the league of nations its diplomatic position in relation to the other world powers deteriorated rapidly japan set out quickly to consolidate its gains in manchuria which it planned to transform into a large continental war base a program of planned economic development was initiated and it was indicated that foreign capitalists would not be allowed a free hand on the exploitation of manchurian resources the new country was rich in mineral deposits and the japanese army the real ruler of manchukuo quickly stepped up operations at key mines like the fusion calgaries in the hurried development of manchuria's resources thousands of chinese were pressed into service to work in labor gangs the chinese in manchuria who comprised some 90 of the population had the choice of working for the japanese for a meager living or starving to death opium was easily obtainable through a japanese monopoly even though laws had been passed forbidding its use except in the case of addicts but unauthorized persons were able to purchase the drug illegally and were then often fined for breaking the law thereby enriching their new rulers on both counts a government system of checks on opium addiction was announced and supposedly put into operation but no effective measures were ever taken to curb the practice [Music] in strengthening its strategic position on the mainland japan moved quickly to consolidate its control of as many railways as possible after seizing the chinese-owned lines the japanese army directed that new roads be built several important lines which link key cities with port facilities and a number of branch lines this ambitious program of railway construction was designed to produce a network of routes over which japanese troops could be moved quickly to meet emergencies at any point on the japanese perimeter control of the south manchurian railway japan realized would be a vital assistance in any movement southward if nippon were to extend its area of influence on the asiatic mainland by march 1935 scarcely three years after the new nation of manchuka was established the japanese succeeded in gaining complete control of all manchurian railways but manchuria was only a short stop on japan's road to domination in asia to the south lay the rich countryside of china proper a territory which had never been out of the thoughts of japanese leaders since the beginning of nippon's program of expansion in july 1937 japan accelerated its timetable of aggression following a skirmish at the marco polo bridge near beiping the war between japan and china anticipated for some time passed from the period of small local actions to more concentrated warfare after unsuccessful attempts at a truce japanese forces poured into north china from manchuria and an offensive was launched in the northern chinese province [Music] the japanese advance against a somewhat disorganized enemy was rapid within a few months the nepanese had gained strategic control of north china in tokyo in june 1937 a new cabinet headed by prince fumimaro kanoe assumed control of the japanese government as premier kanoe dominated the regime which threw japan into war with china and brought it to the brink of war with the west committed to a sizable war on the mainland of asia japan's militarists geared the whole nation to all-out production for the winning of that war and any other wars that might develop as japanese forces moved farther and farther from the home islands while the other major powers of the world were still at peace japan was busy testing the most modern weapons of war and learning from first-hand experience which were the most effective in battle in the air arm of the japanese forces pilots found that the new japanese fighter plane the zero was the fastest most maneuverable combat plane they had yet seen in the air but in china older model still proved more than adequate in china the japanese established their blueprint for victory nepanese planes bombed the largest chinese cities killing thousands of civilians special target of japanese air attacks was shanghai which withstood a series of bombings before japanese troops finally captured the city in november 1937 after a siege of three months with the capture of shanghai the appetite of the japanese army for still greater victories was wetted the nepanese troops prepared to press on at once toward nanking and an unforgettable orgy of rape and pillage in mid-december 1937 the u.s gunboat panay in the yangtze river was picked out by japanese naval planes the sinking of the panay might well have touched off a war between the u.s and japan but the pilots had made a mistake the japanese claimed among the victims were the first american fighting men to lose their lives at the hands of the japanese the chinese became the first refugees of the struggle which was to become world war ii this was the beginning of years of being always on the move for many chinese already peace was only a memory as the japanese seized new territory they took over the administration of the area at once in some localities the new rulers tried to act the role of sympathetic understanding administrators but the japanese plans for further conquest didn't permit this act to continue for long the japanese badly needed the services of the people they'd conquered chinese farmers continued to work their soil but now the harvest would benefit the japanese many men were put into labor gangs the chinese had no alternative to working for the japanese except death some chinese labor gangs had the privilege of repairing buildings which had been bombed out by their new rulers in one way or another all able-bodied chinese were worked on sparingly by the japanese in their drive to bring more and more of eastern asia under the emperor's rule with north china won and a continuing war with the chinese in progress the japanese militarists looked still further south in their search for other lands to conquer for the japanese program of aggression called for a coordinated series of attacks on smaller countries with valuable resources vital to the nepanese war effort the philippines would prove a rich prize indeed the philippines had enough good timber to help satisfy japan's wartime needs on the mainland in southeast asia malaya was of particular interest to the nepanese high command for malaya though not especially large an area produced some 56 000 tons of tin each year 30 percent of the world's output [Music] even more important was malaya's wealth in rubber that british territories plantations produced more rubber than the nepanese could use if japan should find itself involved in a large-scale war malayan rubber would help materially in stiffening the backbone of the japanese war effort at the same time by seizing the malayan peninsula japan would deny britain and the united states its two most important potential enemies one of their principal sources of rubber singapore at the southern tip of malaya had great strategic value to any nation waging war in the lands which lay along the equator the base at singapore had a commanding position with relation to the narrow straits separating the asian mainland and the dutch east indies the invaluable stalks of oil in these exotic islands made them a high priority area for seizure by any asiatic aggressor planning to wage all-out war these lush islands also produced most of the world's in kona bark from which quinine is made since quinine was the most effective preventive for malaria the cincona bark was of paramount military importance to japan still farther south australia would prove an important prize for any warring nation in the down under countries wealth consisted largely of wool and livestock both valuable commodities meanwhile in tokyo the nepanese demonstrated their friendliness with another aggressive power fascist italy the festive atmosphere was heightened by the favorable trend of the year old war in europe for the axis powers in 1940 the timetable called for further expansion on the asian continent in september of that year japanese troops put ashore on the coast of french indochina directly south of china the landings were made without resistance at berlin during that eventful september 1940 the three aggressor nations of europe and asia joined forces and forged the berlin rome tokyo axis the german fuhrer was well disposed toward making an alliance with any nation which would help further his own greedy aims and which would not cause him any trouble in return the tripartite treaty guaranteeing mutual assistance was signed eagerly by germany's foreign minister joaquin von ribentrop and with equal satisfaction by japan's ambassador saburo kurusu the alliance was further cemented in april 1941 when japanese foreign minister yosuke matsuaka paid a call on benito mussolini in rome the italian people acclaimed the representative of the strong asiatic power which would lend support to their dictator's own territorial ambition japan's treaty with the european fascists gave it the opportunity it wanted to take over french indochina now controlled by the french vc government in july 1941 japanese warships moved into the harbor of indochina's chief port saigon the formal ceremony which made that country a japanese protectorate was attended by the representatives of the french vichy government which was openly sympathetic to the fascist cause japan's army had gained an entire country lying along the vitally important coast of southeast asia without a struggle within a few days nipanese troops had taken possession of all of indochina to the borders of fertile thailand still an independent nation but freedom across that border was to be short-lived in tokyo in the autumn of 1941 relations between japan and the united states grew steadily more strained u.s ambassador joseph grew informed washington that japan might well strike with dangerous and dramatic suddenness attempts to affect conciliation of differences were continued but to no avail in an effort to weaken the japanese threat to the pacific world severe economic restrictions had been imposed by the us japan's exports dropped off sharply and the economy of the country delicately balanced with relation to its war industries and its foreign trade was violently upset japan's diplomatic negotiations did not mean much the militarists who controlled nippon's destinies were already convinced that there was only one sure course to be followed as the situation grew more tense they pleaded for a unified national spirit the japanese nation is faced with a serious crisis and will more and more carry out preparedness for national defense under the emperor it is expected that the whole nation will strive for the advancement of the far east in washington on sunday december 7 1941 secretary of state cordell hull worked in vain on new attempts at a solution to the crisis but negotiations ended abruptly early that afternoon he received two callers envoys nomura and kurusu who informed him that the japanese and american positions were irreconcilable in the pacific a fast japanese fleet stood off the island of oahu ready to carry out japan's secret decision to plunge the pacific into total war the pilots of the carrier planes which were to strike the first flows dedicated themselves to their task for the glory of their emperor and in honor of their ancestors [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] with the fleet less than 300 miles from the target area the planes took off for the kill [Music] [Music] even before the japanese envoys call on the u.s secretary of state japanese bombs were away over hawaii u.s forces had 260 planes destroyed during the attack and suffered the staggering loss of four battleships a cruiser and two tankers at pearl harbor in addition four battleships were badly damaged thus at one blow the u.s pacific fleet was all but demolished in tokyo premier tojo made it official the imperial rescript declaring war has just been promulgated the valiant imperial army and navy are at present engaged in a fight to the death now is the time for our hundred million countrymen to offer their all to pay their duty to their nation and to sacrifice themselves for their country the rise or fall of japan indeed the fate of the far east depends upon the outcome of this war in washington president roosevelt responded quickly offensive extending throughout the pacific area the facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves i believe that i interpret the will of the congress and of the people when i assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us both houses of congress acted immediately with but one dissenting vote america therefore being resolved by the senate and house of representatives of the united states of america and congress assembled that the state of war between the united states and the imperial government of japan which has thus been thrust upon the united states is hereby formally declared and that the president be and he is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the united states and the resources of the government to carry on war against the imperial government of japan and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the congress of the united states there can be no objection the american people solidly united behind their commander-in-chief volunteered eagerly to take an active part during the next four years millions of americans forsook the pursuits of a peaceful life to fight the enemy on battlefields all over the world [Music] is in every war the aggressor has an overwhelming advantage in the early phases the nation attacked is rarely prepared for the aggressor's first strike in the 1920s and 30s the people of the united states gave little thought to war the nation was geared completely to the pursuits of peace but in 1940 the picture changed abruptly and a year later peace was only a memory the japanese strike at pearl harbor in december 1941 was no isolated blow at the same moment the attacking planes were over hawaii japanese forces were sweeping south spearheaded by an advanced guard of fast japanese warplanes during the first month of war the japanese struck at hawaii and five other principal target areas wake fell to the enemy after a heroic 16-day stand by a small detachment of marines guam was quickly engulfed by the japanese tide of aggression the island fell after a few days japanese troops captured most of luzon island and were pressing the assault on the rest of the philippines the british colony of hong kong finally fell to the invaders on christmas day 1941. japanese troops landed on the coast of malaya and were pushing southward towards strategic singapore on december 10th just three days after the start of the war allied naval strength in the pacific suffered another staggering blow in the loss of the british capital ship's prince of wales and repulse sunk by the enemy the imperial navy's air force discovered the main force of the british far eastern fleet off quantum on the eastern coast of the melee peninsula and opened brave and daring attacks the battleship repulse was sunk instantly pummeled further with repeated direct hits the flagship prince of wales sank with a tremendous explosion singapore was now a naval base without a fleet but in the colony the fortress was still considered impregnable and the men prepared to fight what they confidently expected to be a successful defensive action morale in singapore had dropped after the loss of britain's two great warships but it was still optimistically felt that even if the japanese somehow succeeded in approaching singapore they could never take the island this faith in singapore's defensive strength soon led to a feeling of complacency in the dutch east indies defense preparations were somewhat more complex since the island chain extended more than 1500 miles native troops formed the principal garrison force most of the men were hastily trained in defensive techniques but throughout the islands even the best troops would be no match for the experienced japanese forces for the defending soldiers knowledge of warfare was all theoretical [Music] the japanese pattern of conquest called for an ambitious series of coordinated strikes and invasions before the allied forces had a chance to recover from their initial shock even before december 8th japanese units were on route to invasions of the rich countries of southeast asia and the islands offshore the success of these attacks depended to a large extent on the element of surprise in the early morning of december 8 japanese troops headed for shore at a number of points along the coast in the northern part of malaya thus from beachheads several hundred miles north of singapore was the campaign against that fortress begun within a few days a sizeable japanese force was successfully ashore ready to launch a full-scale offensive against the british down the malayan peninsula additional japanese troops moved southward into malaya across the border from french indochina which japan had occupied earlier and from thailand which surrendered on december 8th they advanced down the peninsula to singapore 580 miles from malaya's northern border was made over rugged terrain japanese units encountered resistance by the defenders in the north of malaya but under the weight of the nepanese attack resistance weakened and the invaders gained ground quickly [Music] although the campaign down the narrowing peninsula should have been a difficult one for the invaders they pressed onward rapidly against little resistance the malayan campaign was one of the most successfully fought actions in the series of japanese assaults in december 1941 within three weeks japanese forces had seized all of malaya south to a front less than 100 miles above singapore in the state of johor in malaya japanese adeptness in tropical fighting triumphed over a defensive force ill-prepared for that kind of battle beginning on december 8th japanese planes regularly bombed singapore the prize of the malayan campaign the [ __ ] bombers had a relatively easy time of it as the allies had no sufficient force of fighter planes in the area to combat the attacking bombers singapore became a prime target for japanese air attacks which had the desired effect in softening the city's defenses in addition to physical damage the attacks also achieved the lowering of morale among the defenders the british in singapore had not succeeded in becoming acclimated to the range and the japanese took full advantage of their air superiority to pound the city without lettuce meanwhile 1400 miles northeastward the british colony of hong kong became an early japanese target on december 8th nepanese troops advanced into the british leased territory on the mainland across from hong kong island six divisions made the attack against determined but ineffectual resistance on the kowloon peninsula with the british territory on the mainland completely won the japanese turned their attention to hong kong island after a siege of 16 days the invaders forced to surrender and took over control of britain's great far eastern port city with the capitulation of hong kong on christmas day 1941 the last major port into free china was lost lack of manpower was the key to the fall of hong kong and the japanese troops had their assignment made still easier by a poorly organized defense of the island stronghold on malaya the campaign entered its final phase in early february 1942 japanese troops pushed across johor strait and entered singapore the supposedly impregnable fortress the invaders pressed the attack in their final heavy offensive the japanese took a considerable number of prisoners who had never expected that this unpalatable situation could ever come to pass on february 15th the british defenders indicated that they were prepared to discuss negotiations toward a surrender led by lieutenant general a.e percival commander of the british force and escorted by a japanese officer a british delegation proceeded to the ford building to talk terms with lieutenant general tamayuki yamashita commander of the japanese forces yamashita the famed tiger of malaya was anxious to get on with the business at hand the british asked for time before deciding officially whether to agree to japanese terms but yamashita refused to give an inch his terms were immediate unconditional surrender the british wanted overnight or at least a few hours to consider the demand yamashita remained firm either the surrender would be made there and then or japanese troops would resume the attack in the face of this ultimatum the british commander capitulated with malaya on the point of being entirely one the japanese pressed on to other fields for conquest from newly won bases nipanese planes took off and headed south on february 14th one day before the fall of singapore the japanese planes carrying a cargo of troops crossed the strait of malacca and were soon over the dutch east indies near palambang sumatra the planes disgorged their human cargo this airborne invasion was made at a point where defending forces expected an attack the japanese objective was to overrun the rich sumatran oil fields and then rapidly to seize the entire island the spearhead units were soon reinforced until the total japanese force numbered some 100 000 troops large areas of sumatra were quickly seized and with the surrender of java on march 9th japan announced the complete conquest of the dutch east india japan's program of aggression had extended its control to the very shores of australia only a few hundred miles from forward japanese bases quick to capitalize on that proximity japanese planes again headed south as the advanced force in the familiar pattern of conquest on the morning of february 19th 1942 a japanese air striking force crossed the sea separating the indies and australia the aussies had their first intimation of the attack when the lead planes were spotted over bathurst island just off australia's northern coast the first warning was sent at 9 37 am by then a large formation of enemy planes was crossing over bathhurst the air raid spotter's filter center went into action at once and relayed the vital information relating to the plane's course to the royal australian air force the raaf sprang quickly to the defense of the port city of darwin a few japanese planes were knocked down during the attack but most escaped unharmed a total of 90 japanese planes made the raid on darwin 72 of them bombers the attack which began a few minutes after 10 am lasted for almost an hour and was eminently successful from the japanese point of view darwin sustained considerable damage and soon became a regular target for japanese planes in those early months of 1942 the job of holding the enemy depended on keeping open the lifeline between the united states and australia and new zealand for the shipment of desperately needed supplies from the united states was vital to allied hopes for a future victory in the pacific although the war in europe drew the great bulk of materiel from the u.s enough supplies were sent to pacific bases to keep the allied war effort functioning maintaining the lifeline to the down under countries kept a considerable number of u.s ships fully occupied fortunately australia-bound vessels were only rarely attacked each loss was keenly felt however all of our mass effort is none too great to meet the demands of this war we shall need everything that we have and everything that our allies have to defeat the nazis and the fascists in the coming battles on the continent of europe and the japanese on the continent of asia and in the islands of the pacific the united states turned its full attention to the job of winning the war on both fronts it was apparent that productive capacity would prove the deciding factor in the winning of world war ii luckily american industry was partially on a war basis at the time of the japanese attack on pearl harbor land lease and defense appropriations had greatly accelerated wall production before the us was itself actively at war pearl harbor attack provided the stimulus to american industry to convert thoroughly to a war basis in a relatively short time the weapons and vehicles of war were being produced in quantities which would have been considered impossible half a year earlier american industry was delivering the goods to australia and egypt to china england and new caledonia to persia and alaska american industry produced weapons and equipment not only for american armies but for allied forces all over the globe before the u.s had been at war a year american industry was producing more material than all the axis nations combined the us was clearly supreme at the business of turning out the machines of war equally important was the job of training the men who were to use that equipment preparation for battle in modern warfare meant strenuous training for the men who were to fight it especially in the pacific theater the men had to be prepared for battle conditions and tactics that had no precedent in american military history the gentle art of killing a man is to get him on the ground and kick it in this manner see sir the business of becoming a knowledgeable fighting man required great versatility and techniques of attack all right men get your guns loaded we're going down this village street clean it out i want you to remember the enemy's the other end of the street you want to move fast keep undercover and shoot him first in those early months of the war many soldiers were trained in types of warfare which they would never experience many units later sent to the pacific theater had no training in jungle warfare but thousands of soldiers and marines were trained under actual battle conditions with live ammunition all this disagreeable training was to prove its value quickly when the men found themselves in similar situations in combat against the enemy in anticipation of a war in the pacific basin someday the u.s marine corps had been experimenting in techniques of amphibious warfare since the early 20s landing exercises had been part of the marine curriculum for seven years before world war ii with war in the pacific a reality the marine technique of amphibious warfare was about to meet its sternest test on both coasts of the u.s new soldiers and marines learned how to make a landing and even more important how not to make a landing it took a while for the rough edges to be knocked off the boots but the intensified training program turned out troops ready for action in command of the men who were destined to seize the offensive in the first pacific invasion were generals with a thorough groundwork in amphibious warfare men like general alexander van de grift soon to be commander of the first marine division marine training also stressed close air support of ground portal in all large-scale tactical exercises vehicles designed especially for use in amphibious operations were beginning to come off the production line though no one knew for certain in early 1942 just how the japanese planned to defend their island fortresses america's invading forces were well prepared for almost any eventuality the time was approaching when freshly trained u.s troops would help defend the free world against the aggressors the day will come it will come when british and american armies march into countries not as invaders but as liberators and when from the soil that spring up in passionate hope and valiant effort the people who have been held down under acrylics of barbarian yolk the us navy had embarked on a new program of building up its strength before the attack at pearl harbor plunged the us into war in the pacific or navy leaders realized that if the u.s were to become involved in world war ii her navy must be prepared to wage effective warfare with vessels which could outmatch anything an anime could put afloat on that basis america's new navy was developed after pearl harbor the reinforcement of america's badly crippled pacific fleet was of top priority urgency while the u.s navy fought a holding action in the pacific during the early months of 1942 production was rushed on new ships among them new carriers from whose decks american planes would carry the fight to the enemy before many months passed the navy's score with the japanese would be pretty well settled in may 1942 part of the first marine division left its training camp at new river north carolina on the first leg of a journey that was to lead to the very shores of japan itself the men who were to make the first american assault of world war ii embarked on their trip in high spirits on june 22nd 1942 units of the first marine division left san francisco and the men took a long last look at the golden gate bridge for several weeks their ship was to be home to the men of the first the convoy headed west bound for a destination known only to the brass they weren't telling but everyone on board had his own private hunch wherever it was the men knew who would be there to greet them and they prepared carefully for that occasion all the men on board had been looking forward to that day for some time occasionally the trip had its lighter moments on many ships ceremonies were held at the court of king neptune on the day the equator was crossed those who were making their first crossing were initiated into the fraternity of shellbacks finally the convoy prepared to put into the port of a friendly nation from there the last leg of the trip would soon be started for many of the men this was their first sight of foreign soil most of them had never expected to see a country as remote as new zealand the first marine division arrived at wellington in mid-1942 and the stage was set for the launching of the first counter-blow at the enemy to the division's commanding officers speed was the most vital consideration for they were soon to find that they had only a few weeks in which to toughen up the assault troops in final training to stage a rehearsal of the planned attack and to complete the seven-day trip to the enemy-held island designated as the objective to be seized in australia as well as new zealand vital supplies from the us were beginning to arrive in somewhat greater quantity as the all-out attack against the enemy was mounted the down under countries were to grow into large bases from which the fighting men in the forward areas would be supplied with american troops firmly established on australia and new zealand the enemy threat against the two dominions diminished considerably the setting for the camps was new but otherwise the pattern wasn't very different from the routine the men had followed in camps in the u.s even the off-duty hours were spent in familiar pursuits but now the men alongside were foreigners with a different point of view different interests and even a different language at least it seemed like one to most americans who hadn't tried talking to an australian before but before long the gis came to regard the boys down under as good pals or fair dinkum coppers all the inhabitants of australia were concerned about the entertainment of their gi visitors and when life grew too monotonous there was always some way of stirring up a little excitement the old-fashioned rodeo appealed to american and australian alike at times like these they came to the conclusion that they really weren't such different peoples after all but there were enough interesting new aspects of life in australia to occupy the curious gi's time in his free moments many americans had never heard of a koala bear before much less seen one but most of the gi's time was not spent in relaxation their presence in the down under countries had one purpose and no one was allowed to forget it sparsely populated australia and new zealand were perfect training areas there was plenty of space for long marches too much space the gis sometimes felt in the early months of the war australia began serving as a base from which attacks were made against the enemy at airfields in the northern part of the island continent the men were no longer occupied with training this was the real thing u.s pilots kept the japs in new guinea off balance in those first bleak months of war but these raids were only moderately harassing to the enemy [Music] meanwhile the japanese sweep southward continued in the philippines invaded on the day of the pearl harbor strike the japanese consolidated their early gains and set about seizing control of all the islands is for centuries the orient has had a potent attraction for the rulers of many lands generations ago this fascination with the east was occasioned principally by its wealth of gold and precious gems in this 20th century the wealth of the orient still exerts a powerful attraction today in a new kind of material age that wealth is measured not in gems but in the abundant supply of natural deposits even more vital to a modern nation commodities like rubber and tin coveted by all the great countries of the world in washington in march 1935 an important new chapter was begun in the history of a group of seven thousand islands lying some ten thousand miles away in the pacific the philippines were represented at the white house ceremony by the president of their territorial senate manuel caisson with this signing by the president of the philippine constitution we have witnessed the birth of the new nation the people of the united states and the people of the philippine islands have been conducting together a great experiment and during the period of the commonwealth government this experiment will continue until the ultimate withdrawal of the united states sovereignty and the establishment of complete independence but on the other side of the world japan had no such altruistic intentions toward its neighbor to the south during the 1930s the japanese were preparing for the day when they would take away independence not granted the military clique was in firm control of japan steeped in the tradition of such military heroes as admiral heihachiro togo who had annihilated the russian fleet in 1905 the military forces grew increasingly strong and assumed a more and more dominant position in the public consciousness it was considered a high honor to serve in the armed forces and thereby become dedicated to the glory of the emperor and the imperial power of japan japan chauvinism was nurtured by the spreading of the concept of the divinity of the japanese islands and of the japanese people among the military japan's dreams of power were considered to be inspired by the gods the acceptance of the militarists in the japan of the 1930s was attributable partly to the fact that no wars had ever been fought on the japanese homeland the propaganda of the militarists presented war as a succession of glorious deeds and of heroic sacrifices made for the honor of their ancestors and in the name of their emperor soon japanese military leaders began to assume the stature of minor gods themselves with this growing support of the militarists the japanese empire moved closer and closer to a large-scale war a war which might well involve all the peoples of eastern asia and oceania from the heart of japan the philippine archipelago was only 1500 miles distant lying directly in the path of a japanese southward thrust the philippines were an obvious target if war should come japanese interest in the philippines was apparent long before war erupted in the pacific world thousands of japanese had settled in the philippines and had managed to make a fair living in the island the bond between the two oriental peoples was stronger than most westerners realized in the years which preceded the war relations between the japanese and filipinos were for the most part friendly in many ways the japanese contributed to philippine development they conducted experiments in the planting and cultivation of abba car from which hemp is made the introduction by the japanese of improved methods of stripping and baling the product helped stabilize the hemp industry the japanese produced more than one quarter of all philippine hemp and it was largely top grade camp many industrious japanese immigrants were among the most successful fishermen in the philippines even the filipinos admitted that the average japanese fisherman was the equal of about eight filipinos but the commercial activities of the japanese were looked on with a considerable degree of suspicion by many filipinos others considered the rumors about the japanese fantastic of greater concern to a large percentage of the native population was the progress being made toward philippine independence the islands had been moving slowly toward that national freedom for several decades these stirrings were stimulated by alert statesmen like manuel kason who had represented the philippine territory in washington from 1909 to 1916 and sergio osmena an attorney who had become speaker of the territories assembly in the 1930s caisson developed into the most popular political figure in the islands in november 1935 in manila the inauguration of the first president of the philippine commonwealth was celebrated before an audience of several representatives of the u.s government and a gathering of proud filipinos whose dreams of independence were gradually coming true president caisson worked toward the extension of the philippine educational facilities the university of the philippines was to be the moulder of the filipino mine was to produce men and women of character and wisdom trained in the arts and sciences men and women who could assume leadership in the embryonic philippine republic philippine education had benefited enormously by u.s supervision the public school system organized soon after the americans took manila had been modified during the 1930s to meet the needs of new generations of philippine citizens the judicial system which was established in the philippines during the american regime was patterned after that which existed under spanish rule in certain types of cases a decision of the philippine supreme court could be appealed to the u.s supreme court in 1934 it was ordered further that all cases involving the constitution of the new commonwealth is subject to review by the u.s court in 1940 a bicameral legislature was provided for in a series of amendments to the constitution the commonwealth's government now closely resembled in structure the government of the united states gradually the philippines were approaching the capacity for self-government in the 1940 amendments the term of office of the commonwealth's president was shortened to four years like the u.s president the philippine chief executive acted with the authority vested in him by a vote of the people the philippine president was granted broad executive power to enable him to rule effectively in critical periods but philippine capabilities for defending the islands throughout the 1930s were slight indeed filipinos were thrilled by parades and martial music but even in 1940 the commonwealth president was openly pessimistic about the country's ability to defend itself successfully against a strong aggressor the philippine army was being enlarged by some 40 000 conscripts a year but at that rate of expansion the desired strength of the philippine reserve four hundred thousand men would not be achieved until nineteen forty six in nineteen forty there were some six thousand philippine scouts on active duty in the pay of the us government in this service filipino enlisted men served principally under american officers in a specially created unit of the u.s army the most adept filipinos graduated from the ranks to the status of commissioned officers in this highly efficient branch of america's military complement on the island at the head of the philippine forces as field marshals since 1937 general douglas macarthur was placed in command of the combined philippine and u.s forces in the philippine islands in july 1941. the creation of this command by the us bolstered the confidence of the philippines in america's intentions toward the islands philippine cadets modeled on the west point product cut an impressive figure in the waning months of 1941. the military academy men were well disciplined and well trained in the essentials of their profession but for the defense of the philippines most of the manpower would be drawn from the reserves in 1941 the reserve force numbered some 130 000 men but they were still not completely familiar after five months of active training with the weapons and techniques of modern warfare to supplement us army forces in the philippines the fourth marine regiment had arrived from its china station in early december 1941. the u.s air force in the pacific which had consisted of a handful of obsolete planes in 1939 was strengthened by the addition of several shipments of new planes during 1941. for the defense of the islands in the fall of that fateful year the u.s far east air force had 123 aircraft in operating condition 33 of them bombers naval bases in the philippines were far from adequate for defense needs cavita on manila bay could not have serviced a wartime fleet although this navy yard served as home base for the u.s asiatic fleet in late 1941 it was generally considered to be insecure in the event of war with japan as the situation grew more threatening the men of the asiatic fleet prepared for the moment when their presence in the orient would assume far greater importance for if a major war in the pacific were touched off it was readily apparent that that war would be to a great extent a naval war whether the u.s asiatic fleet could hold its own in far eastern waters against the large enemy force was debatable but the men stationed at cavita were determined to give it everything they had for peace in the pacific time was running out early on december 8th japanese pilots prepared to take off for the glory of the emperor on the strikes which would plunge the pacific world into a catastrophic war when nippon embarked on its program of large-scale conquest its forces were ready to lash out immediately at a number of targets of prime importance from japanese bases on formosa soon after daybreak the advanced guard of the attacking forces started south only 270 miles away lay the great sprawling philippine archipelago the attack plan called for strikes against a number of u.s airfields scattered throughout the island as the planes flew southward on their mission ships of the imperial navy were already moving in the same direction the japanese had assigned an overwhelmingly strong fleet of warships to the operation just in case u.s naval units should elect to contest the nepanese invasion of the philippines but the japanese attack force was not challenged in those early moments of world war ii in the pacific it seemed to the men of the assault groups that a japanese victory would surely come to pass all this was the moment they were convinced that japan was destined to succeed in the divinely inspired plan to rule the earth any nation which opposed the expansion of nippon must be dealt with by the forces of the rising sun how unfortunate for the enemy that he should be foolish enough to oppose the emperor's warriors in little more than 12 hours the invasion of the philippines would be launched japan's program of conquest had been set in motion the fate of the pacific world was in the balance the japanese invasion of the philippines was conducted on schedule the first landing was made on december 8th and during the two weeks following beach heads were successfully secured at six points in the archipelago the nepanese assault troops had been well prepared for this kind of campaign on luzon the principal island the strategy called for the forces which had landed at several points to drive toward manila and seize that objective the main strength in that push was provided by the assault group which invaded the island at lingayen gulf 110 miles from manila across central luzon by christmas japanese invasions had been made at nine points in the philippines and the campaign to seize control of this important strategic area was well underway after a thorough softening up process the invaders pressed onward toward manila and what they hoped would be a quick victory on luzon during the first weeks of fighting on lusan the japanese steadily reinforced their original assault unit as 1941 neared its end the japanese were succeeding in closing in on manila from two directions the japanese plan for choking off the philippine capital was working perfectly planes began bombing manila in early december the air attacks continued as the invading ground forces drove closer to the philippine capital the japanese raids on u.s airfields took a heavy toll of u.s planes many destroyed on the ground at year's end advanced japanese units approached within sight of manila which was still bombed though it had been declared an open city in little more than three weeks the spearhead of the japanese ground offensive on the capital had driven within striking distance of the objective evacuated by its defenders manila was the invaders for the taking the philippine capital passed into the hands of the enemy on january 2nd 1942 the nepanese claimed they were liberating the islands but most filipinos scarcely considered it liberation japanese propaganda units went into action at once spreading the doctrine of asia for the asiatics are we not all of the far east they asked the advantages of life in the greater east asia co-prosperity sphere were dimmed into the consciousness of filipinos of all ages some filipinos helped the japanese in their campaign in manila streets filipino collaborationists spoke to their countrymen in tagalog a philippine native tongue the conquerors blamed the philippines troubles on the us but their campaign was not an overwhelming success most filipinos remained unconvinced they remembered the story of japanese rule in china and manchuria the greater east asia propaganda continued throughout the occupation but it needed strong backing in mid-march with the enemy in control of almost all of lusan general douglas macarthur the american commander left the island on orders from washington and assumed new duties in australia the general arrived on the down under continent to take over the preparations for mounting an offensive against the enemy at the earliest opportunity the general's family part of the small group which had made the hurried journey from the philippines remained as close to him as his military associates during those trying wartime years this was only the first stop in a series of moves which would eventually lead the macarthurs north again the early months of 1942 were decisive ones for the us the new commander of the southwest pacific theater general macarthur began at once to supervise the build-up of an offensive force and the people of australia were heartened at this evidence that the u.s planned to build up its military strength in australia the presence of general macarthur had a reassuring effect on all australians including the prime minister himself in manila the start of the japanese occupation was celebrated by the invaders with a parade through the center of the city the seizure of the philippine capital gave the nipponese more satisfaction than most of their other conquests most gratified of all was the japanese commander general masahiro hamad to whom this day was one of the most memorable of his military career general huma would have found it hard to believe that this city whose people regularly paid him deference on japanese proclaimed holidays would four years later be the setting for his execution for war crimes but during early 1942 it was hard for the filipinos to see beyond the japanese occupation to visualize their country again free from the yoke of the conqueror under japanese rule some filipinos openly collaborated with the invaders a few of these opportunists striving for favor with the conquerors had held important posts in the government of the philippine commonwealth before the fall of manila prompted them to become far eastern quislings most active of the filipino collaborationists was jose laurel former associate justice of the philippine commonwealth supreme court laurel became a spokesman for the japanese and for his labors was subsequently rewarded by being made puppet president of what the japanese euphemistically termed the independent republic of the philippines soon after the invaders gained control of most of the philippines the produce of the country attracted their attention a program of systematic looting of the island's products began the new rulers appropriated everything they wanted including vitally needed stores of rice tinned foods and cotton in the tradition of aggressors throughout recorded history the japanese seized everything which might prove of any value to them and deprived the inhabitants of the produce of their country japanese greed and the confiscation of philippine goods provided an effective contrast to the high sounding promises the invaders had made to the concord nation the greater east asia co-prosperity sphere worked in only one direction in late april 1942 corregidor in manila bay was the last outpost to resist the japanese invaders of lusan for almost a month the japanese bombarded the island fortress with every weapon at their command [Music] finally on may 5th 1942 japanese assault units crossed the narrow channel separating luson from corregidor and stormed the rock's sturdy defenses after nearly 24 hours fighting on the island ceased on may 6th that afternoon general jonathan wainwright the american commander met with general hama on nearby batan peninsula to effect the surrender at first the american commander surrendered only those forces on corregidor and neighboring islets in manila bay but not the american units still fighting the japanese elsewhere in the philippines later however general wainwright was forced to surrender all his philippine units and in a tremulous voice he announced his action to them over the japanese controlled radio the historic statement was recorded by the gloating conquerors wainwright to put a stop to further useless sacrifice of human life on the fortified islands yesterday i tendered to lieutenant general hamlet the commander-in-chief of the imperial japanese forces in the philippines they formed the surrender of all americans and philippine army troops in the philippine islands this decision on my part you will realize were forced upon me by means entirely beyond my control general huma the beast of batan soon set out to visit the scene of the epic battle for the island fortress after a difficult campaign which had lasted five months the invaders had finally succeeded in overpowering the remnants of the american luzon force the final battle had been one of the most bitterly fought defenses in history the victorious japanese inspected the area with interest the valiant stand made by the us fourth marine regiment with a mixture of soldiers sailors and filipinos attached will never be forgotten by the japanese who participated in the battle for corregidor the victors were especially curious about the weapons which had caused them so much trouble before the assault troops overran the island's defenses after the capture of corregidor the japanese quickly gained control of all the philippines in the united states a month later the philippine commonwealth government was represented by its president in exile manuel caisson the first steps toward philippine independence so hopefully planned seven years earlier in washington had received a staggering setback but with the support of the united states the philippines would fight on against the japanese aggressors to a final victory on some glorious future day i shall not tell the government and people of america what they should do by all by us in the days to home ruin destruction have neither daunted our spirit nor lessened our faith in america during early 1942 the toughest job the u.s faced was containing the japanese over water advance that job was the navy's my is prior to the 20th century a naval war fought across the vast reaches of the pacific would have been a physical impossibility but with the advances in the employment of power in the field of transport the pacific ocean gradually shrank to an area which could be traversed by a considerable force of fighting ships as the 20th century progressed the u.s navy was well aware that the pacific becoming a most strategically important body of water [Music] arriving in hawaii some two weeks after the attack at pearl harbor admiral chester w nimitz assumed command of the pacific fleet for the next three and a half years he faced the overwhelming job of fighting the japanese in an all-out war under handicaps of staggering proportions we were faced with a gigantic job the pacific ocean encompasses almost 70 million square miles to wage war across this trackless battleground was an enormous task for any fleet or combination of fleets with our crippled pacific fleet the job in early 1942 was all but impossible but with every available ship and every officer and man in the pacific fleet dedicating himself to the task we were determined to carry the war to the heart of the enemy's homeland the enemy had scored a devastating blow at pearl harbor but it was a blow from which we would recover from which we must recover the u.s navy in the pacific turned to and set about countering that blow japan strikes on december 8th turned world war ii into a truly global conflict they have certainly embarked upon a very considerable undertaking after the outrages they have committed upon us at pearl harbor in the pacific islands in the philippines in malaya and the dutch east indies they must now know that the states for which they have decided to play are mortal many people uh have been astonished that japan should in a single day have plunged into war against the united states and the british empire what kind of a people do they think we are is it possible they do not realize that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget the first move in the navy's plan of attack called for the establishment of bases in the far reaches of the pacific bases from which the navy's warships and amphibious forces could attack the enemy in his own bailiwick during the early months of the war the establishment of those advanced bases on islands with unfamiliar names was a matter of great urgency in as much as the islands were not many miles from enemy territory planes were the most important items of equipment the bases hurriedly rushed into operation in the south pacific in those early months of the war were in great measure responsible for staving off the enemy in his drive toward australia and new zealand without those bases the u.s would have been at such a disadvantage that it is quite doubtful that the enemy could have been checked in the far pacific but though planes did arrive at the new pacific bases they were few in number because of shortage of shipping in the pacific and because of the buildup of an offensive in the european theater the air bases in the pacific were scantily stocked with planes when a small shipment of new planes did arrive they were quickly assembled and ready for their first takeoff the army and its air force were convinced of the importance of these island air bases which were often referred to as unsinkable carriers army and marine engineers and navy seabees worked under constant pressure on the construction necessary to put the new u.s south pacific bases in operating condition everyone was well aware that he was involved in a race against time for the enemy was in a good position to move a little farther south and overwhelm the u.s island bases the engineer units accomplished almost impossible feats of construction occasionally in their haste they suffered a setback in their progress as the japanese swept southward and seized control of the pacific islands in their path they quickly built bases from which they could press the attack even further japanese military strength on its newly captured islands in the early months of the war was considerable and the first concern of the japanese militarists in taking over a new island was the preparation of the facilities necessary for the operation of an air base but once the basic military requirements were satisfied the japanese relaxed confident that they could hold their newly won territory without trouble in those early months of 1942 the aggressors had a fairly easy time of it there was even time for baseball a game they still loved even though it was the national sport of the hated american enemy the japanese navy was proud of its submarine service but somehow its subs had not been used to any extent as raiders of u.s shipping though the subs were well constructed the japanese simply didn't know how to use them to maximum advantage as an offensive weapon the japanese militarists had paid relatively little attention to the importance of supply in the maintenance of its far-flung conquests as they gradually awoke to their shortcomings on the planning level the japanese army command subsequently brought pressure to bear on the navy to provide combat submarines for transportation of army supplies but the main elements of the japanese navy were used to full advantage japanese sailors were proficient in the performance of their assigned duties and possessed a strong fighting spirit not for over a century had the us faced an enemy navy so tough and well trained as the japanese in february 1942 that navy was at peak strength ready and anxious to engage any allied naval units which could be located in late february two japanese naval forces proceeded southward in a pincer movement against java on february 27th in the java sea the japanese fleets gained their opportunity on that afternoon the japanese movement south was challenged by a ragtag allied force of american dutch australian and english warships which had never operated as a unit the japanese naval forces went into action at once the allied fleet operating with little coordination was for doomed to defeat while losing no ships of their own the japanese virtually annihilated the allied force sinking two cruisers and three destroyers in the eight hour long action and knocking out seven more allied warships attempting to escape from that point on the japanese held complete control of those waters but the picture was not all black for the allies in late january fast u.s carrier forces were assigned to move into enemy controlled waters and carry out a raid on the marshall islands a strong link in japan's outer defense ring early on the morning of february first the fleet was in position for the attack its planes and ships opened up against six atolls in the eastern and central marshals in command of task force eight in that first daring raid into enemy territory admiral bull halsey was overjoyed that he had been given this chance to hit back at the enemy the u.s striking force damaged a number of enemy installations on several islands but perhaps even more important was the lift the raid gave to american morale on the fighting fronts and in the us a few weeks later wake was hit in the first attack on that island which the japanese had had such difficulty in seizing some two months earlier early in march japanese positions in new guinea came under attack by a fast u.s carrier fleet which effectively plastered the enemy at lae and salamau stimulating as these raids were to american spirits the u.s high command felt that something incredibly bold was needed in mid-april 1942 the carrier hornet moved steadily westward equipped with a complement of b-25 bombers army air force lieutenant colonel jimmy doolittle and the hornet's captain mark mitchell were collaborating on a top secret assignment a raid on tokyo itself the navy's task force 16 was commanded from the enterprise by admiral halsey whose fervent desire to strike further and further into enemy territory was being gratified never before had the air force even considered the possibility of flying a bomber the size of a b-25 off the deck of a carrier although the air force personnel had practiced taking off from a restricted space at a florida base this was the first attempt at taking off from a real carrier deck every man in the fleet held his breath [Music] [Music] the 16 planes took off at intervals of several minutes early on the morning of april 18 1942 ahead lay the job all american pilots in the pacific dreamed of doing admiral halsey called the flight one of the most courageous deeds in all military history the raid on the heart of the enemy's homeland had an electrifying effect on the american people the strike group's commander colonel doolittle was justifiably proud of his team's performance a highly successful air raid on tokyo with the result of weeks of careful preparation each pilot co-pilot bombardier navigator gunner and the ground crews were volunteers and were carefully trained for the specific mission the men and the officers did a heroic job but the japanese were still confidently undertaking to extend their area of control in the pacific in an attempt to capture port moresby on the southeastern coast of new guinea a japanese naval force headed south from trook the fleet passed through the solomon's area and moved toward port moresby the invasion force included a powerful array of japanese warships [Music] the battle of the coral sea represented the notable development in naval warfare in the struggle with japan it proved a turning point for the us in the course of the war the japanese fleet moved steadily toward its objective meanwhile a u.s carrier task force was searching for the enemy fleet contact was almost established several times the american planes were prepared for launching soon after dawn on may 4th some were to attack a group of japanese ships at tulagi but the plan called for most of the us fighters to remain aloft over their own ships for their defense this arrangement meant that the attack squadrons would be operating without fighter cover furthermore no orders were given directing the bombers and torpedo planes to make a synchronized attack even by the standards of those early days of the war the attack could not be considered well organized but the command to hit the enemy's naval units was carried out on schedule [Music] however inept the planning the u.s forces took the initiative with great determination [Music] the burden of the search for the main body of the japanese fleet fell principally on the carrier planes operating from the town and lexington since land-based allied planes were only moderately helpful in spotting the enemy fleet as it proceeded toward new guinea the us planes continued the search for several days while the american planes were flying toward the enemy's surface force a group of japanese planes was searching for the u.s ships the pilots in both groups were hunting for big game the enemies warships so they were not interested in looking for enemy planes when the japanese pilots spotted their targets us gunners were waiting for them units of the japanese fleet were also discovered and zigzagged frantically to evade the american plane's attack the u.s plane sank a japanese light carrier early in the engagement but during the two days of the main phase of the battle japanese planes met with great success in their strikes at the american fleet their principal targets were of course the carriers at 11 18 a.m on may 8th japanese planes attacked the lexington the loss of the lexington was a heavy blow to the already crippled u.s pacific fleet in the key naval battle of the coral sea losses were almost evenly divided as far as ships were concerned but the japanese invasion force had been successfully put to route all the ships sunk in this first battle in a new kind of naval engagement were hit by planes the surface ships never exchanged a salvo the plane shot down constituted a considerable percentage of the carrier attack groups the japanese failed to realize that their plans for future attacks against u.s forces in the pacific were no longer a japanese secret shortly before the battle of coral sea the u.s navy had succeeded in breaking the japanese code this fortunate turn of events came at a point when the u.s pacific fleet was in feeble condition to fight a war across the stretches of that vast ocean as in the case of the coral sea the u.s navy had advanced information on the next japanese strike a planned attack on midway island westernmost outpost of the hawaiian archipelago america's spent pacific fleet raced up from the south to meet the japanese naval attack force the us fleet reinforced by ships from the states engaged the japanese force which had been counting on sneaking in unopposed off midway island in addition to its carriers the us had the advantage of having midway itself as an added launching platform the army air force had sent 18 b-17s from oahu to midway just a few days before the enemy force was expected offshore the air corps units reinforced the island's defense complement which consisted of a marine garrison and a marine air group the fighting men on the island readied themselves for a spirited battle as the expected enemy attack drew near on may 30th 1942 midway-based planes began flying search missions for several days they continued the hunt [Music] finally on june 3rd and 4th the search proved successful american planes from midway were reinforced by carrier aircraft and the most important single naval engagement of the war in the pacific was begun [Music] most of it was fought in the air the japanese carrier-based plane sped to the attack intent on knocking out the american airstrip and emplacements on midway but their arrival came as no surprise to the troops on the island [Music] the island and its garrison took a heavy pounding but successfully withstood the intensive raid during the frenzied three-day battle the japanese ships maneuvered desperately in an attempt to evade american planes which were performing magnificently in the decisive engagement american carrier-based aircraft assisted by land-based planes turned the tide of war in the pacific off the island of midway japan's sweep of aggression in the pacific was brought to a sudden jarring halt at midway u.s navy marine and air force pilots radically changed the complexion of the engagement which the japanese navy had fully expected would be another triumph for the emperor u.s torpedo planes off the carriers made heroic low-level attacks on the enemy's ships supporting u.s planes scored several hits all the japanese heavy carriers which participated in the battle of midway were put out of action during the engagement the sea and air surrounding midway were once again clear of the enemy the us fleet lost the yorktown but made the japanese pay heavily the american victory ended the threat to hawaii and the west coast of the us the battle of midway was the first decisive defeat the japanese navy had suffered in 350 years at midway the new important role of air power in naval warfare was accentuated the u.s pacific fleet still faced a gigantic job of fighting the japs across the far-flung pacific but the outlook had become much brighter two months later at an island in the south pacific most people had never heard of the first ground defensive by american forces in any theater was launched against the enemy on august 7 1942 us marines invaded guadalcanal uh during the first six months of war in the pacific the japanese conquered hundreds of thousands of miles of territory in eastern asia and oceania by mid-1942 they reached the solomon islands which just a few years earlier writers described as the most remote place on earth where one could escape completely from the cares of the world to the japanese guadalcanal was a most desirable piece of land using that island as a base they might well succeed in severing the lifeline from the us to australia but in june 1942 to japanese troops who occupied guadalcanal it was just another island conquest in their southward advance the forces of imperial japan have been overwhelmingly successful in their ambitious campaigns during that first half year of all-out war in washington the government's concern over japan's domination of eastern asia and the western pacific was voiced by its last ambassador to the japanese empire joseph grew i know by long experience of the overwinning ambition of that japanese military machine of his great strength and power of the intensiveness of its training over long years for any kind of fighting of its fanatical determination i know what it aims to do to these united states i've had ample evidence of the work of those barbarous hordes first bombing burning bayoneting and then when masters raping torturing our country is today in peril believe me where i know it must and shall not happen here and yet it will with mathematical certainty happen here if we lose this war the combined chiefs of staff in washington were prompted by the enemy threat to the vital us to australia lifeline to schedule a quick counter blow designed to stop the aggressors short on the south pacific in late july 1942 the first marine division embarked from its advanced training area in new zealand the division under the command of major general alexander van de grift was hurriedly loaded aboard the transports on the attack force the assault force moved north in deep secrecy for the first few days the seas were placid but this condition was not to prevail for long in view of the limited size of the naval force it was decided to make as much use as possible of the weather as cover in late july observers forecast a cold front sweeping northeastward passing across the northeast corner of australia on august 4th and moving toward guadalcanal at a speed of 300 miles a day under cover of the bad weather the assault force was able to move into enemy controlled waters with little chance of detection by japanese planes many of the men on board had never experienced any weather rougher than a squall on a mountain lake and when the weather turned bad in the pacific that ocean seemed to be poorly named indeed the assault on guadalcanal was timed so that the naval force would make the last part of the trip under cover of the cold front to a point just off the island target the plan worked perfectly during the night of august 6th the cold front passed over the guadalcanal area and on d-day morning august 7th the seas were calm soon after dawn naval guns announced the beginning of america's first offensive action in world war ii under the direction of officers who were experts in newly developed techniques of amphibious warfare the assault waves of the first marine division headed for the beach on shore the enemy was ominously quiet promptly at 8 a.m on that august morning in 1942 american marines set foot on the first piece of japanese held territory to laggy across the channel on guadalcanal the main landing was not opposed at any moment the commanders knew the enemy might launch a counter-attack which would surely be made before the assault forces had a chance to get well established no contact was made with the enemy until the second day when the japanese opened up on the american position while other marine battalions were fighting on tulagi and several other islands off guadalcanal the campaign for the key japanese stronghold in the southern solomons gathered momentum enemy soldiers adapt at jungle fighting were difficult targets for marine riflemen this was the first experience for american fighting men in a new kind of warfare by nightfall of the second day august 8th the marines beachhead extended less than a mile inland and four miles along the shore but at least they had a foothold as the campaign on guadalcanal continued the marines grew accustomed to fighting in jungle country where it was necessary to battle the enemy on his own terms in his own style it took a little longer to get accustomed to some of the routine features of life on a tropical island and this pre-war south sea paradise was inclined to be just a bit damp the first half of the six-month-long struggle for guadalcanal was fought during what was called the dry season the men often wondered what the wet season would be like on august 9th the first of a series of unprecedented naval battles for control of the waters surrounding guadalcanal was joined off savo island a fast japanese fleet of seven cruisers and one destroyer raced down the slot the passage through the central solomons bent on destroying u.s ships at guadalcanal the japanese fleet managed to sneak into the savo island waters unchallenged by the american warships the battle of sabo island turned into an overwhelming japanese victory augmenting the naval successes the enemy made effective use of his air superiority in the solomon operating from bases in the northern and central solomons from bougainville and nearby islands japanese planes dominated the skies over the area daily they came down the slot to bomb american forces on guadalcanal where the issue was still in doubt the japanese pilots who made the run to guadalcanal were among the best in the japanese air force the enemy was throwing his most thoroughly trained personnel into the frantic effort to stop the american counter-offensive on guadalcanal the american fighting men could almost set their watches by the regular visits of the enemy planes japanese pilots had things pretty much their own way the main target which all the enemy bombers concentrated on was the airstrip for which the american marines had fought so hard henderson field which had been seized on the second day and never lost was quickly repaired after each bombing the few american planes on the island took a steady beating from forward bases on american-held islands u.s fighter pilots took off to battle the enemy in the solomon skies as the guadalcanal campaign stretched from weeks into months the fight for the air over the solomons began to change complexion at japanese bases in the northern solomons gunners were pressed into action for the defense of their installations with increasing frequency the enemy was now forced to reconcile himself to the site of american planes over what he had come to regard as his territory the u.s bombers began to plaster jab air bases in the northern solomons regularly these attacks on enemy positions in the northern solomons helped lessen japanese pressure on guadalcanal air strikes by land-based us bombers mostly marine against enemy fields grew increasingly important as the solomon's campaign passed into its third month on guadalcanal marine commanders were helped materially by information supplied by friendly natives officers like raider colonel evans carlson received hearty cooperation from most of the melanesian inhabitants during october us forces fought off counter-blows by a stubbornly resisting enemy the japanese battled fanatically but their counter-attack failed the campaign began to look a little brighter to the marines and their commandant general thomas holcomb the battle of guadalcanal is now shaping up in our favor it's a fight of man against man in the jungle and man for man american marines and soldiers are superior warriors it is not yet one but we possess the balance of power and intend to hold this advantage the u.s foothold was now firmly established after months of bitter fighting there were decorations for uncommon valor to be made to men like marine raider colonel merritt edson for his heroic stand at bloody ridge in late october the japanese made another strong bid to turn the tide of battle in the solomon by sending a fast fleet into acton japanese naval units were to search out and destroy american warships operating in solomon's waters japanese pilots were to play the key role in the planned annihilation of the american fleet if the planes achieved their objectives the japanese were confident they could regain complete control of guadalcanal after two days and nights of preliminary sparring the battle of santa cruz was finally begun in earnest on october 26th this naval engagement followed the new pattern of pacific naval warfare with the planes functioning as the principal attack weapon and the ships zigzagging to keep out of the enemy plane sights the battle raged without let up throughout the morning carriers on both sides were under almost constant air attack a flat top like the hornet was a prime target for japanese pilots between nine and 10 am enemy planes scored several hits on the hornet and the big carrier was seriously crippled badly damaged the hornet played dead in the water at about 3 30 p.m all hands were ordered to abandon ship santa cruz was a tactical victory for the enemy on guadalcanal us army troops were arriving in considerable numbers to relieve the original assault unit their assignment was to hold at all costs the territory which had been seized by the invading force of marines and to resist all enemy attempts to retake that invaluable patch of ground equally important was the marine engineers assignment to build henderson field into a sizeable air base capable of accommodating bombers in some quantity the newly arrived units brought with them the material so necessary in the transformation of the waterlogged airstrip into a bomber base from henderson field large attack groups would carry american bombs north to be deposited on japanese positions in a very few weeks henderson field had the look of an efficient well-equipped airbase ready to handle any problem which its new complement of planes might present on december 9th four months after the invasion of the island the command of the u.s fighting forces on guadalcanal passed from the marine corps to the army the same day elements of the first marine division began leaving the island the weary assault troops were headed for a rare area for rest and relaxation most japanese soldiers refused to be taken prisoner but there were a few those who were taken spoke freely about their units and many carried military orders diaries and other valuable sources of information japanese money was a popular souvenir until the novelty wore off the first marine division could have set itself up in a tidy little business on tokyo's ginza if it hadn't had other matters to occupy it in january guadalcanal was visited by the navy's brass secretary of the navy frank knox had made the long trip from washington to see for himself how well the sailors and marines were carrying the fight to the enemy admiral chester nimitz commander-in-chief pacific fleet and admiral bull halsey were also in the party captured enemy equipment proved particularly fascinating to halsey the tour of inspection of the area seized in america's first offensive impressed the visitors with the capabilities of the fighting men under their command waddle canal was termed officially secure on february 9 1943 from an area of only a few dozen square miles american soldiers and marines held control of the island the us position was never again seriously threatened but the price paid for that small corner of an island in the south pacific was high more than 3 000 americans had died fighting the enemy at guadalcanal so that the u.s could seize the offensive and move forward in the long chain of bloody campaigns toward final victory the heroes of guadalcanal were fighting men of various races and creeds thanks to their supreme sacrifice the us had stopped the enemy's sweep of aggression us forces now held a commanding area in the strategic southern solomon from guadalcanal the us was in excellent position to follow up its first victory on the road to tokyo but although the us had won an important position in the solomons the enemy still controlled the major part of the island chain in february 1943 american soldiers and marines invaded the russell islands there was no opposition the us gained another foothold in its drive up the solomon's ladder in late june marine raiders and army troops invaded two key islands in the new georgia group in the central solomon on june 30th the army's 172nd regimental combat team headed for shore in the invasion of rendova island the landing was a pushover meanwhile on new georgia island itself the fourth marine raiders went ashore and quickly overcame the initial enemy resistance landings were also made at several other points on new georgia by the first marine raiders and by gis of the 37th and 43rd divisions all the landings in the new georgia group were quickly achieved and beach heads secured the terrain of the islands in the new georgia group was worse if possible than that at waddle canal in the drive toward munda airfield the troops were concerned not only with the enemy but with the swamps and impenetrable jungle which slowed the american offensive down this first taste of combat for some of the gi's in the new georgia operation was hardly what they'd been expecting artillery was brought into position for the shelling of munda corduroy roads were built to bridge the mud and facilitate transport wherever possible but most of the artillery had to be dragged into position through the everlasting mud the concentrated u.s attack in the fight for munda airfield included units of all branches of america's armed forces allied bombers supplemented the naval bombardment of japanese positions surrounding the strongly defended airstrip on new georgia for five weeks the embattled munda area held out against everything that u.s forces could pour on it but slowly the japanese area shrank the defenders often had to be dealt with individually by the americans finally the japanese grip on the area was broken nebanese troops who had defended munda so fanatically met the same end as their brothers in arms on guadalcanal american troops went to work quickly and cleaning out the area of any last ditch defenders but the japanese defense force had been virtually annihilated u.s bombers had done a thorough job on monda as american ground units discovered when they surveyed the airfield the reconstruction of munda airfield was most urgent to the american forces although the strip was less than 150 miles from strong enemy bases in the northern solomon munda was not heavily attacked by japanese air unit the job of reconstruction moved ahead with incredible speed while the work was being rushed planes were taking off from the widened strip meanwhile at sea another major battle was joined at kula gulf during the first week of july this time the japanese fleet was attempting to annihilate u.s invasion forces in the central solomon but as the battle in khula gulf began it was the american ships which surprised the japanese for a change although the cruiser helena was lost the u.s sank two japanese destroyers in the four-hour long engagement the american force gained a great tactical advantage in the battle by performing a classic naval maneuver crossing the enemy's tee this time-honored trick put the enemy in the unfavorable position of finding suddenly that only his lead ships could fire and only forward the american fleet on the other hand could fire simultaneous broadsides against the enemy ships but the first battle of the cooler gulf was not decisive exactly one week later before dawn the fleets joined battle again in the same waters in the second battle of the cooler gulf the u.s fleet suffered the loss of one destroyer but in addition two of her fast cruisers were seriously damaged the honolulu had taken several torpedoes in her side the saint louis was also hit by a [ __ ] fish in her bow at the height of the battle the enemy fleets had inflicted heavy damage in several major naval battles in the waters off guadalcanal between august 1942 and february 1943. this series of bitterly fought engagements in the seas of the south pacific marked a new era in the naval history of the world the final tabulation of the naval battles off guadalcanal indicated almost a draw but japan in particular could not afford the losses sustained by its navy in the solomons on august 15 1943 american soldiers and marines invaded vela lavella still farther up the solomon's ladder u.s forces now controlled the solomon's area almost to the shores of bougainville to relieve the original assault force which had landed virtually without opposition two new zealand combat teams were sent to occupy vela lavella and stave off any japanese attempts to wipe out the allied beachhead some of the kiwis in this unit had served with distinction in the quite different but gruelling war in the middle east this was their first active appearance in the pacific war but in the months ahead they and their countrymen were to play an important role in small unpublicized campaigns in which enemy pockets of considerable size were involved the kiwis were tough fighting men ideal for the war against japan the american position on the solomons had improved tremendously by virtue of the increased range of its air power until mid-1943 u.s planes in the solomons were limited to targets within range of henderson field but with munda in american hands u.s bombers could hit japanese positions anywhere in the solomons from munda u.s planes soon took off daily in a series of coordinated attacks on key japanese bases in the south pacific in addition to raids against the most important enemy fields in the northern solomons u.s planes were preparing to drop thousands of tons of bombs on major bases like rabal enemy's south pacific fortress in october 1943 the first large flights took off on missions to rebel 400 miles away [Music] from munda airstrip a much more formidable base than it had once been u.s planes headed north to neutralize rebel as the missions to rebowl continued u.s planes dropped the staggering total of nearly 2 000 tons of bombs on the japanese bastion in one month by december the skies over the solomon's area were undeniably american but in the northern pacific the war bore little resemblance to the war that was fought in the equatorial latitudes in the aleutians the troops were also indulging in island hopping but the islands were of quite a different type lying on the great circle route between north america and japan the aleutians were bleak isolated outposts but only 1500 miles from the heart of the enemy's home islands oh the word pacific has long suggested a language tropical paradise to some it brought to mind the steaming jungles of the islands near the equator but the vast pacific basin also includes lands which have quite a different climate and completely different terrain in the north the pacific is dotted by a chain of islands lying between japan and north america in 1941 the aleutians assumed a sudden immediate importance [Music] of all the lands which were to become battlefields in the first truly global war the aleutian islands were among the areas least suited to the conduct of successful military operations the us paid little attention to its desolate island chain before 1940 but japanese fishermen were well acquainted with the area since early in this century japanese fishing ships had worked all the waters off the aleutians and off the alaskan coast ignoring repeated u.s protests the nebanese fishing fleets investigated every cove and every passage which might be of interest to the japanese navy one day throughout the area it was felt that some of the japanese fishermen were probably naval officers in disguise the 30 000 americans who populated the territory of alaska were clustered chiefly in a few cities on the mainland the us army was represented by some 300 soldiers on alaska in 1939. and the navy boasted one small base and a few light warships the navy maintained a single radio station in the aleutians which were even more lightly defended than alaska itself in december 1941 when the japanese struck 2500 miles to the south alaska was still virtually defenseless with japan's forces fanning out across the pacific midway was an obvious target so two was america's base in the aleutians at dutch harbor both bases came under attack in late may 1942 an enemy fleet moved east and sneaked in toward dutch harbor on june 3rd under cover of bad weather the japanese headed straight for the target without being spotted by the american search planes which knew the japanese fleet was in the area the ships continued their run until they were only 165 miles from the target the poor weather which proved helpful to the ships was quite the opposite for the attacking planes of the planes which left the japanese carriers for the strike at dutch harbor many were subsequently forced to turn back but those that got through 17 planes made it a most successful strike from the japanese point of view over dutch harbor the weather was good and the pilots had no trouble finding likely targets the tank farm radio station army barracks and moored navy planes in two attacks dutch harbor suffered appreciable damage to its facilities on the west coast of the united states proper the attack on dutch harbor brought the war even closer preparations for the defense of the nation were intensified in the states bordering the pacific an enemy attack was considered imminent soon after the enemy strike on pearl harbor the japanese living along the west coast were quickly moved inland away from critical defense areas relocation centers were hurriedly built principally in the western states to house some one hundred thousand issei japanese-born aliens and nisei american-born u.s citizens of japanese parentage for the next three years the japanese areas of large west coast cities were to remain deserted in the pacific states defense preparations were taken with growing seriousness as enemy submarines ventured into waters just off the us mainland an enemy air attack was regarded as a distinct possibility at almost any moment the coastal area stretching inland for 150 miles was ordered thoroughly blacked out the simple dim out was over under the new ruling not a ray of light would be visible to guide any enemy vessel offshore coast artillery was emplaced along the shore from the canadian border to mexico the entire west coast became an armed camp troops by the thousands arrived and began rehearsals for combating an enemy attack these practice operations were conducted with grim efficiency if the japanese should strike against u.s coastal cities either by air or by sea they would receive a warm reception the west coast was fully alerted for any attack from the score of camps and the states bordering the pacific thousands of american fighting men embarked on the first leg of their trip to the fighting fronts in the pacific charged with stopping the enemy's continuing advance in the northern pacific a japanese fleet carrying an occupation force moved toward the aleutians on the second day of the strike on dutch harbor the seizure of several islands in the western aleutians would protect the enemy's northern flank and move japanese forces into position for regular attacks against u.s bases originally scheduled to occupy three islands japanese soldiers were now assigned to seize only two at two and kiska on june 6th while a large japanese fleet was being defeated at midway the emperor's troops went ashore at kiska and quickly took possession of the island with the enemy firmly situated on kiska and on at two at the tip of the aleutian chain the security of alaska was endangered the japanese and the illusions constituted a potential threat to the american mainland to halt the japanese advance along the island chain an american force occupied adac only 250 miles from the japanese on kiska the landing on adac was made on august 30th 1942 it marked the end of the period of strictly defensive operations for us forces in the northern pacific from this point onward american troops would be on the offensive in the aleutians as elsewhere in the pacific to implement that offensive the necessary materiel was brought up the mounting of the advance against the japanese in the aleutians involved a heavy investment to the u.s much of the equipment was not suited to use in the illusions the gis who were to make the offensive were handicapped by the twin problems of terrain and weather both abominable especially for military operations [Music] just as important as the combat units to the success of operations in the aleutians were the construction battalions [Music] building an airstrip in the northern pacific was somewhat more of an operation than it was anywhere else the work at adac was rushed from that island american bombers could plaster the japanese on both atu and kiska softening up those islands for us invasions [Music] throughout the pacific the construction of an airfield nearer japan always signaled an important step forward toward eventual victory only two weeks after the gis landed on adac the engineers put the finishing touches on the first airstrip in january 1943 us troops moved to amchitka only 50 miles from kiska in world war ii army life was summarized in the phrase hurry up and wait this pattern of living was followed especially closely by the gis and the aleutians life at an illusions base was simply a succession of drab days spent in the same rigidly monotonous routine there were precious few hours each day when a gi felt as though he was still part of the human race after a while it was hard to keep track of the days and weeks every day was just like every other day but sometimes there was a break in the weather the change was usually for the worst when a willow or a lucian windstorm started blowing all the gi's on the islands quickly battened down their shelters some of the men had seen some pretty strong twisters in the us but nothing to compare with a full-scale willow wall the illusion weather was of course a particular problem to the air force on an average day the weather ranged from poor to impossible keeping a north pacific air base in operating condition was a job that required plenty of patience and determination the job proved to be quite a novelty to those gi's who had spent all their time before the war in the southern states of the us some never would get used to the illusions when there wasn't a willow war to worry about there was often snow to complicate flying conditions and when there was snow at an aleutian air base everybody kept busy because of the frequency of thick fogs the planes were able to fly missions against the enemy only on comparatively good days and most of those were far from what was called ideal flying weather the planes of the 11th air force were ready to take off on strikes against the enemy at a few moments notice whenever weather permitted in late 1942 and early 43 all possible air power in the oceans was assigned to the job of knocking out japanese positions on atu and kiska the commanders of the units which were to bomb those islands carefully studied the latest air photographs of the areas by picking as targets the facilities most vital to the enemy the all-important airstrip the seaplane hangar coast defense guns the air force could [ __ ] japanese offensive operations from their newly won bases before every mission the pilots were briefed on their specific objectives then when the weather permitted they prepared to take off on the 250-mile hop to the target no matter how good the weather report the pilot could never be entirely sure that favorable conditions would hold over the target illusions weather was especially changeable and the pilots had learned not to expect much in the way of continuing clear visibility all they could do was head west and hope the us could not be sure of the extent of japanese intentions on the north pacific the only way to keep the enemy from expanding his area of control was for 11th air force planes to bomb the enemy's installations on atu and kiska as frequently as possible it had become apparent even to the usually skeptical navy that air power was the key to victory in the oceans the air force itself had come to the same conclusion somewhat earlier as far back as 1922 general billy mitchell had said alaska could become the stepping stone of invasion from the orient and it can be defended only by air power and in 1940 colonel putner ground forces commander in alaska stated one squadron of heavy bombers is of more use to me than a division of ground troops the regular bombing of kiska was a major factor in the turning of the tide of battle in the aleutians missions to kisco were far from routine enemy anti-aircraft fire was heavy on the early missions bombing of targets was entirely visual special attention was given to plastering the salmon lagoon runway on the island constant bombardment of the strip hampered construction and prevented the japanese from bringing in land-based heavy aircraft besides the heavy flak which the enemy threw up the attacking bombers had to cope with japanese fighters [Music] but bombing the enemy was only half the battle if the weather was clear over the target there was a good chance that their base would be fogged in the pilots in the 11th air force flew with the added mental strain of being aware every moment they were in the air that death from exposure would probably follow bailing out or a forced landing even if they were lucky enough to land in one piece after the flight back the best site in the world was the base control tower whatever the weather each landing in the aleutians was a new adventure even for veteran pilots many of the 11th air force pilots who had been trained in texas had to readjust completely to conditions in the northern pacific since the complement of planes in alaska and the illusions was fairly limited the loss of even one plane would be keenly felt the pilots always had to contend with fog high wind rain or ice always more of a hazard than the enemy at illusion bases emergencies were expected safely back on the ground the flyers swapped shrapnel and stories about their experiences over the target a successful raid on an enemy held island made enduring the cold and the monotony worthwhile after all in may 1943 a u.s assault force moved toward attu the japanese held island at the tip of the aleutian chain on the morning of may 11th the invasion force stood off shore from u.s submarines army scouts headed for shore in advance of the main landing force to reckon either the areas behind the landing beaches and to destroy enemy installations wherever possible then shortly after 2pm the warships laid down a barrage as cover for the main landing forces after several delays the northern force troops started ashore in mid-afternoon their landing was to be made at a point about three miles from the main japanese camp on the island air support was extremely limited because of the heavy fog over at two on the southern side of the island the main american force landed at the mouth of massacre valley the seventh division gis felt somewhat uneasy about landing at a spot so forbiddingly a foothold was gained without opposition but it was vital for the gis to try to gain some of the high ground commanding the valley area before the battle with the enemy began the men dug in ready to fight for that beachhead the high ground flanking the valley was dominated by the enemy japanese troops were outnumbered five to one but they held an important terrain advantage the battle for a two began late that first afternoon us weapons went into action against carefully prepared japanese positions the gis were handicapped by equipment and clothing which proved unsuited to the demands of illusion weather and terrain the enemy on the other hand was well prepared for this type of warfare the japanese fought savagely to retain possession of the strategic high ground some gis almost gained the heights before being driven back by the enemy's withering fire for 19 days the battle for a two raged [Music] on finally after a last desperate bonsai charge the japanese defense of the island was at an end the frenzied enemy attack had carried the japanese troops into the american lines where they were virtually wiped out by army engineers most of the remaining japanese who were not killed in the hand-to-hand struggle committed suicide rather than surrender after the annihilation of the japanese force which had made the bonsai charge the imperial japanese high command 1800 miles away in tokyo conceded defeat on may 30th in the retaking of that two by the us army's seventh division and supporting units eleven hundred soldiers were wounded four hundred soldiers gave their lives in the battle for at two o merciful god the father of our lord jesus christ who is the resurrection and the life and whom whosoever believeth shall live though he die and whosoever liveth and believeth in him shall not die eternally who also hath taught us by his holy apostle sent paul not to be sorry as men without hope for those who sleep in him we humbly beseech the o father to raise us from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness with that two once more in american hands kiska became untenable for the japanese and they abandoned the island in late july the evacuation was conducted under cover of a heavy fog the enemy ships were not detected by american patrol craft on august 15 a strong u.s invasion force prepared to assault the island making the attack were the u.s army's seventh division and supporting units of the canadian army and u.s western defense command the gis who were to spearhead the assault were warned to expect japanese defenses about seven times as formidable as those on at two the invasion troops were prepared to storm ashore and overpower the enemy seven thousand u.s troops went ashore within the first fourteen hours an additional four thousand men were ready to land in support of the original force benefiting from errors made it at two the kiska invasion had been carefully planned the supplies and equipment which would be needed in short order by the fighting men started arriving on the beach quickly after more than a year of fighting a holding action in the aleutians with inadequate equipment the us had finally mounted an invasion force worthy of the term kiska was the consummation of all the effort that had been poured into the aleutian war by the us but the assault troops found no japanese there was considerable evidence of the effective work which had been done in the area by the us navy and air force the enemy had been under heavy bombardment from sea and air for about a year before evacuating the island japanese equipment on kiska indicated that the battle would have been a bloody one if the u.s invasion had been made a month or two earlier many of the gis felt relieved that the invasion had turned into a simple occupation the japanese had left suddenly but not before booby-trapping the place thoroughly in japan the enemy's war production was geared to a more and more demanding schedule as japanese troops lost ground in the pacific soon after the start of war with the united states and western allies the shortage of labor in japanese war plants was aggravated only three months after the pearl harbor strike labor conscription was put into effect applying to everyone over 15 years of age of either sex factory workers could be moved from city to city as needed the daily fixed rate of pay ranged from one yen to one and three fifths yen between 25 and 40 cents in us money at the time the working day was increased to 16 hours the work week was a full seven days and in addition to the daily 16-hour stint workers had to fill two night shifts each week women comprised the majority of japan's war workers every available able-bodied person in japan above elementary school age was pressed into war work [Music] the energies and resources of all of japan were concentrated on crushing the hated american enemy and winning a brilliant victory for the glory of imperial japan and its militarist leaders with the illusions completely regained the us command turned its attention farther westward to the koreal islands para mushiro the most important target was bombed regularly by u.s planes beginning in mid-1943 on route to the koreals american pilots often practiced on japanese ships [Music] as they neared the japanese islands these opportunities increased [Music] the 800-mile trip from the western aleutians to the northern koreas soon became a routine mission the principal targets at paramushiro were airfields fisheries and canneries all were given careful attention from mid-1943 until the end of the war eleventh air force planes kept paramushiro effectively neutralized u.s air power had successfully disrupted japan's aggressive moves in the north pacific below the equator the job of pushing the japanese back involved a different kind of warfare in the jungles of new guinea allied fighting forces were engaged in combat with the enemy from the early months of the war is in early 1942 with the japanese in control of all the philippines the us position in the pacific was bleak indeed with the fall of corregidor in may the japanese greatly increased the area of their domination below the equator the enemy began making landings on the northern coast of strategic new guinea as early as march 1942 for the u.s the job ahead was an enormous one in australia american troops arrived in larger numbers as mid-1942 drew near to prepare for the moment when the offensive against the enemy could be seized in the southwest pacific new guinea was the major battlefield where the japanese and the allies were finally to come to grips its spine was a rugged mountain range tapering off into thick jungle the japanese were intent on pushing their advance even farther south from nearby island bases japanese planes moved out in the first of a series of raids on the island continent control of the air in the equatorial zone off the mainland of asia had been seized by the japanese who were able to fly over most of that territory with little fear of opposition japanese pilots ventured with impunity to the shores of australia itself the australian port city of darwin came under attack by japanese planes some 50 times during 1942 in those early raids the enemy had a relatively easy time of it in late august 1942 milne bay at the tip of new guinea became the newest japanese invasion target seizure of the milne bay area was an important step in japanese plans to gain control of all of new guinea but the invasion was not unopposed allied planes went to work on the enemy amphibious force the milne bay area was not to be the enemies for the taking the japanese invasion troops gained a slim foothold but were hit hard by u.s bombers american planes concentrated on the enemy's supply centers and badly crippled the japanese beachhead operation for several days the invaders fought for a firm foothold finally the enemy invasion force gave up the battle for the first time in world war ii a japanese offensive had been beaten off the enemy amphibious force returned to its base over land in new guinea japanese and allied troops were separated by the formidable owen stanley mountains but the japanese were filtering across that row of jagged ridges australian troops the principal allied ground forces in new guinea for some months were all that stood between the enemy and the rich rubber plantation country surrounding fort moresby so the aussies fell the job of driving the enemy back the route lay from port moresby across the precipitous owen stanleys to buna on the northeast coast the men who were to fight their way through that hazardous country along the kokoda trail were the diggers aussie soldiers of the seventh division for eight gruelling weeks beginning in late september 1942 the seventh division aussies drove doggedly across the mountains under conditions which would have stopped many a fighting force but the aussies never let down in spite of the trying conditions the morale of the fighting men was good right down to the privates and lance corporals pushing along the kokoda trail took some doing the country was tough and we even got used to crossing swamps if we had had the ruddy japs in the open we could have mopped them up quicker than you could have said jack robinson but it wasn't that easy in new guinea most of our blokes were in good condition but fair dinkum the jungle took it out of a man there was always something needed doing even when the [ __ ] wasn't about now and then we stopped for a bit of tucker and a quick look at a snapshot of that sheila in sydney and we couldn't let ourselves go to the pack even though we weren't in very civilized country but the stops were short it was always time to push on again through the jungle and on up the trail every time a twig snapped in front of us or behind us chances were to be a [ __ ] and most of the time the twigs didn't snap the japs knew this kind of country like a book when we did find them we'd give them a good doing over [Music] when you did to write some japs wouldn't be bothering us again [Music] day and night we had to be on the watch often new guinea seemed to be covered with nothing but kunai growth but sometimes we'd feel we were getting somewhere we knew there were japs ahead and we had an idea there might be some back of us there was no way of knowing it was up and up till it seemed we'd soon be in the clouds if there were any mountains higher than the owen stanley's we didn't want to hear about them just when we felt all in something would happen to back us up if that was a supply plane we couldn't take a ruddy chance on him missing us but a thin smoke signal in the owen stanley's wasn't always easy to spot in the air yank pilots were looking for signals just like ours we must have been in a good position and we were pretty lucky too at any rate our signal was spotted by the sharp-eyed yanks we didn't know it at the time but there were aussies in that plane too and at the right time they did an a1 job the rations usually got to us just when we were running a bit short thanks to the yanks and some of our own blokes too we wouldn't have to be living off the jungle there's nothing like running out of grub to set amanda thinking about food before those packets hit the ground we were after them talk about manner from heaven sometimes when the yank pilots couldn't spot any diggers they dropped their load into native villages along the trail the booms that's what we call them were a little scared at first when our boys got hit they were in good hands in a native village we were well taken care of by the fuzzy wuzzies most of them never let us down nothing like a fancy dinner in melbourne perhaps but a feast believe me after climbing the blasted trail it was heaven to pitch into some bully beef and biscuits knew some home was just what the doctor ordered our gear got a bit of trimming up every now and again then we'd chop off again up the sides of the razorbacks the top seemed thousands of miles away our coppers the booms gave us a hand as we got near the ridge they were sure-footed as mountain goats and much handier to have around up near the top we had to be especially lively about keeping an eye open for the enemy we were about due for another scrap we smelled trouble so we thought it might be a good plan to have a look-see and it turned out to be a good idea some japs numbers were coming up our attack on the enemy positions was sometimes an allied show yank planes would give us air support when we needed it to help knock out a strong point the yanks poured it on on the ground we tackle the job from a different angle the job was done but we didn't come through unheard moving our wounded back in that going wasn't easy were doubly glad to have the booms with us when any of our boys had to be taken out the men got the most careful handling possible in that country these wild new guinea natives were about as gentle when they were carrying our boys as anyone i've ever seen somehow our new guinea helpers always managed to get the wounded men back to safety no matter how tough that job was at the nearest native village our casualties would be taken care of took sweet everybody in the village turned out to do what they could including all the aussies who happen to be hanging around from then on the wounded were in the hands of the doc who pulled the boys through most times in october 1942 us forces pushed along the coast to a point just below buna a lilliput navy made up of pre-war island coastal ships snaked through the treacherous reefs the gis made the rest of the trip in outriggers the new guinea natives were most cooperative the gis of the 32nd division made a novel kind of landing and prepared to drive over land to link up with the aussies and lay seeds to buna the necessary supplies which would be needed on that drive were expertly unloaded the campaign to take booner was an expensive one for the allies unfortunately the necessary u.s strength in ground forces was lacking in northeastern new guinea during november 1942 the u.s command encouraged by the japanese withdrawal at milne bay expected to take buna almost without opposition but the gis were assigned the task of achieving that seizure were to find the situation quite the opposite from port moresby the us air force reinforced the allied troops in the buna area by ferrying soldiers in considerable numbers across the mountain plus an occasional stowaway this was the way to cross the owen stanley peaks in less than an hour the troops were making a trip which had taken the seventh division aussies almost eight weeks to do on foot some 15 000 troops were transported from port moresby over the owen stanley's to the battle area behind buna thanks to the ferry service provided by the us fifth air force the battle for buna was soon to change complexion the jungle didn't slow down these fighting men at the strips behind puna the men and material so vital to the allied effort were unloaded without delay some twenty thousand troops and great quantities of equipment were moved north by air during thirteen weeks again the new king natives were on hand to assist the buna campaign was now progressing into a larger scale allied offensive on november 20th aussies and gis joined forces and pressed the attack with renewed spirit [Music] for six weeks allied troops invested puna the enemy resisted stubbornly but finally the japanese defense of the area surrounding that coastal town collapsed allied forces took the japanese who were still alive prisoner and assumed control of buna on january 2nd 1943 the enemy hold on the northeastern coast of new guinea was loosened in early 1943 the situation in new guinea began to get brighter with the eastern section now in allied hands after buna fell enemy convoys from rabal moved westward bearing reinforcements for their troops at ly allied planes took the offensive in early march 1943 allied pilots took off in quest of a japanese convoy of some 16 ships north of cape gloucester new britain the pilots spotted their prey this was the occasion all the aussie and american pilots in the air over the bismarck sea had been praying for but allied pilots didn't have the air all to themselves for three days allied planes attacked their targets not a single japanese ship escaped undamaged allied pilots had a picnic [Music] in the battle of the bismarck sea u.s and australian planes sank 12 enemy ships and effectively put an end to this determined japanese attempt to strengthen their new guinea ground forces in september allied amphibious forces moved up the back of new guinea in an assault on the area surrounding life in another leapfrog operation typical of the allied campaign on new guinea aussies of the ninth division invaded life to implement the drive overland of u.s and australian troops moving west from buna the value of fresh amphibious assaults in an extended campaign on a large island was readily apparent by the time lie was invaded progress was far greater than it would have been if the ground forces had pushed overland through thick jungle against heavy troop concentration on the lengthy new guinea coastline landings could often be made at points where the enemy was not prepared to resist nearly the ninth division aussies encountered no opposition on the original landing once ashore they drove inland against scattered resistance the aussies caught the defenders of la [Music] off-balance on september 5th the eastern claw of the australian pincer thrust at ly moved quickly forward the australian attack group coordinated its drive with the force of american gis who were fighting a diversionary action to the south the fight for the huan gulf area was no easy operation from port moresby american paratroops prepared to fly north to reinforce their brothers in arms fighting in that sector this airborne assault was personally supervised by the southwest pacific theater commander himself the paratroopers were to help break the back of enemy resistance at life general macarthur demanded that the objective be seized at once seventeen hundred men of the five hundred third u.s paratroop infantry regiment were to make the jump parachute landings in combat were comparatively rare in the pacific since the terrain was not often conducive to successful jumps but on september 5th 1943 the u.s troopers took off on a large-scale combat operation on the success of this jump depended in large measure the effective wrapping up of the ly operation the men were intent on the job ahead scores of c-47s transported the paratroops across the owen stanleys supported by bombers and fighters in a b-17 general macarthur had a ringside seat from which to supervise the entire operation the general grew especially interested as the planes drew near the jump point as the vital area was reached the 820s laid down a smokescreen which effectively shut off the planes and the paratroopers in the air from the site of the enemy below the men prepared for their first combat jump at 10 22 a.m the paratroopers went into action the jump but not zob went off as smoothly as it had been planned the men of the 503rd performed like real veterans in all several hundred planes participated in the operation so vital to the success of the ly campaign the trip to earth that precisely the spot planned took the paratroopers exactly one minute and ten seconds the conversion to infantrymen was a matter of very few minutes a few of the men took a little longer the not-so-jump greatly improved the allied position salamau fell to the allies six days later and a few days after that lying itself was an allied possession the enemy had been pretty well cleaned out of the entire area the allies had another secure position in their westward course along the northern coast of new guinea in the fruitless struggle the japanese had fought a desperate delaying action the aussies entered lae itself on september 16th the enemy had completely evacuated the battered coastal town in the 12-day engagement the enemy had lost men and equipment in vain allied air power had provided the necessary added punch which helped to hasten the japanese defeat at life the ground gained on new guinea by virtue of the victory at ly was considerable the japanese controlled part of new guinea was still the larger but it was shrinking fast with the lai salamawa area one the allied troops consolidated their position and prepared for future assaults against other enemy concentrations in new guinea the gis and aussies who had taken the lying area in a truly joint operation moved on to extend the light control on the huan peninsula but for many there were a few days in which to relax before going back into action new guinea wasn't quite up to the standards of real rest areas but at least the men could take a short breather from the air strips near ly now in the light hands american and australian planes continued the attack against the enemy without pause from the new advanced spaces allied pilots could pound enemy positions in western new guinea without let up the missions against japanese army units supply dumps and shipping were stepped up during november and december [Music] [Music] by the end of 1943 the enemy in new guinea was finally completely on the defensive us fifth air force bombers carried the fight to the enemy softening up the areas where new leap frogging invasions were already planned to the eastward the japanese-held island of bougainville was about to occupy the attention of american marines on november 1st 1943 they invaded that island in force [Music] is in late 1943 the allied nations were gaining ground on all major fronts in the global war against the aggressors in europe and asia in october american and british fighting men were moving up the italian peninsula toward rome in eastern europe the red army was pushing back the nazis in the ukraine and the crimea in the south pacific american marines were preparing to assault a major japanese stronghold in the northern solomons the island of bougainville in washington in mid-1943 the chiefs of allied fighting forces agreed that the offensive against the enemy in the south pacific must be accelerated it was of the utmost importance to allied leaders that a strategic plan be formulated which would call for the knocking out of the enemy's key south pacific bases at the earliest possible moment with guadalcanal and the new georgia group in us hands the campaign up the solomon's ladder reached its final phase the assault against bougainville [Music] at newly won bases in the central and southern solomons preparations were made for the operation against that japanese island stronghold first step in the campaign was the mounting of an air offensive of sufficient proportions to soften up the island for the invasion and also to knock out other enemy airfields within fighter range of bougainville in the late summer of 1943 u.s forces prepared to launch the attack against japanese positions in the strategic northern solomons in the campaign which would give the us control of the entire solomon's chain every now and then the men at the forward bases took a few minutes off from military duties tireless performers like joey brown knew well how important it was for the men to relax uh [Music] hello even the big brass forgot about the war once in a while no to the westward in australia southwest pacific theater commander general douglas macarthur endorsed the proposed attack on bougainville though not under his direct command the operation was to be conducted under his supervision the offensive was carefully timed while gis drove up the coast of new guinea marines pushed the attack up the solomon chain to bougainville weeks before the invasion date planes equipped with cameras crisscrossed the target area taking numerous photographs of the island terrain below once the vital information was recorded on film the planes raced back to their base with their high priority cargo [Music] at the base other members of the unit were waiting ready to go to work on the film the job done by the photo reconnaissance units in the pacific during world war ii was a key factor in the success of u.s invasions in that theater on the reconnaissance camera and its sufficient use depended the lives of thousands of american fighting men the successive steps in the operation were carefully coordinated so that no time would be lost [Music] less than an hour after the enemy territory had been photographed the evidence was being developed at a forward u s base the most recently prepared enemy installations were now relatively easy for u.s intelligence officers to locate every square mile of the area under consideration was examined and re-examined by skilled photo interpreters who spotted camouflaged gun positions which would prove of particular interest to navy gun crews and bomber pilots with their targets pinpointed the pilots wasted no time in adding the finishing touches to the operation often it was only a few hours from the time the area had been photographed to the moment when bombs were falling on the newly spotted positions for several weeks us bombers gave bougainville and the adjacent islands a thorough going over preparatory to the invasion in early october 1943 troops of the third marine division which was to make the assault began boarding ship at forward u.s bases the vessels which were to carry the invasion units to the landing beaches were combat loaded that is equipment was packed into the ships in such a way that the vehicles and supplies which would be needed first could be unloaded immediately finally all the preparations were completed and the campaign against bougainville was ready to be launched the ships carrying the assault waves moved out of their births at the rendezvous area on the morning of october 31st the most important offensive against the enemy and the solomon since the attack on guadalcanal was underway every ship in the area that could be spared was pressed into service for the operation preceding the main assault at bougainville a preliminary landing was made on the treasury islands by new zealand troops in late october in addition u.s marines made a landing on swazil to draw the enemy's attention to that island meanwhile the main assault force moved toward bougainville on november 1st the invasion fleet was in position offshore american commanders anticipated very heavy enemy resistance at 6 45 on d-day morning marines of the third division took to the boats and prepared for their first engagement with the enemy but a few of the officers and non-coms were veterans of other campaigns with other divisions the operational plans called for the first wave of assault troops to land at the beaches of empress augusta bay at 7 30 on the morning of november first four minutes ahead of schedule the first waves of marines hit the beach under strong enemy fire the tension which always preceded an invasion was broken once ashore the marines went about their business as they'd been taught the battle for the beachhead was hardly contested after the initial foothold had been won the usual precautions had to be taken to ensure the successful defense of that tiny area any enemy counter-attack would have to contend with a firmly entrenched beachhead force but the invading troops were concerned not only with defense the marines subscribed to the theory that the best defense is a good offense and followed that course in the campaign on bougainville until the enemy force at cape torokina was overcome the battle was one of small groups marine emphasis on small unit training especially in rifle squad and platoon tactics paid off on bougainville [Music] the enemy had to be dug out of the [Music] jungle the pattern for reducing enemy positions was growing steadily more efficient the flamethrower enabled u.s combat teams to achieve their objectives more rapidly and thereby saved many american lives the seizure of cape torokina was the key to success the winning of the american beachhead on bougainville was no easy job the marines of the third division who made the assault and the soldiers of the 37th army division who joined the battle on the eighth day suffered considerable casualties but the strategy called for much more than a mere foothold along the beach the drive inland to establish a perimeter of larger proportions was stepped up and the marines and soldiers seized every advantage to extend the american health territory farther into the interior the close integration of ground forces with tanks functioning together smoothly proved its effectiveness in gaining ground against the enemy meanwhile directly following the invasion at empress augusta bay a japanese fleet raced southward from rebel toward bougainville bent on wiping out the beachhead force the japanese fleet included three heavy cruisers one light cruiser and six destroyers originally the enemy had planned to bring troop ships down for a counter landing but after the japanese fleet had been spotted by a allied aircraft the past warships continued alone intent on annihilating the american amphibious forces the enemy's plan called for a quick strike to be accomplished before u.s naval units could get set thus the enemy was counting on surprise but the u.s navy was not caught off guard a force of four cruisers and eight destroyers headed north from the central solomons and thanks to accurate information on the movements of the enemy fleet intercepted the japanese naval units at a point some 45 miles northwest of empress augusta bay the battle was joined at 2 45 in the morning of november second so the head-on battle raged for five and a half hours american gunners were finding their targets with considerable success [Music] the enemy force suffered severe losses the naval battle of empress augusta bay was an overwhelming us victory ashore the marines and soldiers were engaged in a series of continuing actions throughout november the campaign to extend the american beachhead was a grueling job of driving the enemy off virtually every square foot of the territory in question the assignment called for all the perseverance the u.s fighting men could muster with materiel arriving on bougainville in greater quantities the offensive against the stubbornly resisting enemy developed more and more power as the weeks went by the american ground forces knew well with what determination the enemy would fight before each thrust farther inland artillery was brought into play to soften up the area the artillerymen often had their targets pinpointed for them by light spotter planes which proved invaluable in locating new enemy positions for the gunners on november 10th admiral bull halsey arrived on bougainville and checked over the progress of the fighting with marine general roy geiger who had taken over as ground forces commander the day before the admiral who as commander of the south pacific area was in charge of the entire operation seemed well satisfied with the course of the action and the fight for control of the last major enemy island in the solomons one group of marines drove inland along the piva trail against mounting resistance by mid-november they had penetrated nearly three miles into the interior when they encountered an enemy ambush at coconut grove the marines attacked all along the line all that day the marines carried the fight to the enemy and slowly took possession of the area after the engagement at coconut grove there was a general advance along the entire front but there was trouble ahead and the troops were expecting it on november 15th marines gained more than a thousand yards along the newman trail while at other points along the front soldiers and marines gained up to 1500 yards in the day's advance november 19th the marines had progressed along the noumanuma trail beyond the juncture of two branches of the people river the advancing troops were occupied with small knots of the enemy along the route and these were taken care of with dispatch some 900 japanese were killed during the first three weeks of the fight for bougainville but the men sensed that the big battle was just shaping up that battle was fought at piva forks beginning on november 19th on that day advanced marine patrols ran into heavy enemy fire the battle of piva forks will live long in the memory of the men who fought there men like marine captain john scott of south bend indiana our battalion the third battalion of the third marine regiment was on the left flank our objective was the high ground which the enemy commanded to our battalion the taking of that ground was the toughest part of the bougainville campaign the enemy had penetrated our position and we had to shoot it out with him at point-blank range often the enemy was little more than 10 yards away [Music] one of our companies was all but knocked out in the pitched battle at people forks the 796 marines of our battalion were opposed by some four thousand enemy troops giving them man for man about a six to one advantage but we took the high ground and staved off a quick enemy counter attack in the late afternoon of november 21st after a day of very tough going we had our objective and we hung on to it we wiped out quite a number of enemy troops but there were still quite a lot left our japanese language specialists worked hard to get them to surrender was worth all the trouble it usually turned out to be most japanese soldiers of course preferred not to give themselves up they couldn't seem to believe that they wouldn't be tortured and shot from time to time our intelligence officers picked up some really valuable information sometimes from the prisoners themselves sometimes from documents which they carried with them strangely many of the captured japanese were quite willing to talk some volunteered information about their units in great detail naturally these indications of the current positions and plans for immediate movement of their units were of great value to our commanders in our part of the battle of piva forks 1 696 japanese were killed by our battalion alone we suffered some casualties too but not many in comparison of course to the men who were hit it was the toughest battle of all no matter how light the casualty figures in the 3rd battalion 3rd marine regiment 107 men were wounded at piva forks and 27 men in our battalion didn't make it with an extended beachhead secured via the victory in the six-day battle at piva forks and in other brief but bitter engagements with the enemy work was rushed on the airstrips which would give the us control of the entire solomon's area while the fighting continued a few miles inland seabees worked at top speed to finish the precious trips once again at bougainville the marston map proved its value as an effective foundation for a landing strip in a territory that was often likely to be muddy before long the strip was in perfect operating condition safe enough to enable the air force to bring in a precious cargo the first batch of army nurses who in a matter of moments turned bougainville from a hot fowl-smelling patch of ground into a pleasant stimulating tropical island by the end of 1943 the american perimeter which had been the u.s objective at bougainville was firmly established from that small area u.s forces controlled the island and the entire northern solomon's group as well but the u.s had to pay dearly for the territory inside that perimeter during the campaign on bougainville nearly a thousand marines and soldiers gave their lives and another field of crosses on one more pacific island marked their sacrifice by december the men who had been in the lines for weeks began to enjoy some of the little luxuries of life after a diet of straight curations the men had to get accustomed slowly to regular meals they'd almost forgotten food could taste so good less than a month after d-day the men on bougainville had their own bakery which turned out bread rolls and cake for thousands of hungry customers in 1944 a sizable quantity of fruits and vegetables was raised right on the island to help provide a balanced diet for the men who were still putting in a good day's work guarding the perimeter the camp truck farmers had the willing cooperation of the island's melanesian natives who worked at odd jobs the japanese soldiers who had been taken prisoner during the fighting felt a little more relaxed than they had at the time they passed into american hands their fears about their treatment by us troops had pretty well evaporated after the first few weeks occasionally new prisoners would be brought in captured in the minor skirmishes which still occurred in the interior and some japanese soldiers actually gave themselves up voluntarily how was the condition of supplies of the japanese force at the present time would that be one of the reasons why you decided to come over to our side give yourself [Music] a good [Music] life with the battle for bougainville one u.s troops could really relax and enjoy the programs from radio tokyo broadcast for their benefit and hello to all my little american blockheads on bougainville do my records remind you of home of your wives and sweethearts lay down your arms and go home to them why should you fight this stupid war for the four f's who are taking your girls away from you right this moment your sweetheart may be dancing with one of them with the lights down low are you listening the advance against the enemy below the equator was the left uppercut in the u.s attack in the central pacific the gilbert islands marked the enemy's outer defense in november 1943 the us threw its right cross is between the asiatic and american continents more than ten thousand islands large and small rise above the surface of the pacific ocean many of the islands are the shells of once active volcanoes which have lain dormant for centuries near the equator many of the dots and the expanse of blue pacific are atolls chains of tiny coral islands strung in a ring around a central lagoon in november 1943 it became urgent for u.s forces to seize certain strategic atolls on the gilbert islands tiny strips of coral and sand named macon and tarawa the japanese brought to the war in the pacific their first-hand experience in combat gained on the asiatic continent in the 1930s in manchuria and china through necessity the japanese soldier became practiced and adapting himself to any conditions no matter how miserable though shorter than occidental troops the japanese were husky and well geared to the demands of jungle fighting but the nebanese fighting man also had a good working knowledge of more formal warfare early in world war ii the japanese had gained the reputation of being fanatical fighting men it was a well-earned reputation before leaving the home islands of japan each soldier was thoroughly indoctrinated in bushido the way of the warrior under this code the only honorable alternative to victory in battle was death in the name of the emperor on islands spread all over the far pacific japanese fighting men had vowed to kill as many of the hated american enemy as possible and to die rather than surrender this fanatical will to die on the part of the individual japanese fighting man was to make of the pacific war a series of bloody engagements stretching across thousands of miles of ocean to the shores of japan itself some nine million japanese fighting men were dedicated to dying for their emperor and in honor of their ancestors during world war ii in the pacific many were to have that opportunity at quebec in august 1943 the state of the war was assessed by the allies and some basic agreements for the further prosecution of the war were reached with relation to the war against japan allied leaders concluded that it must be stepped up and that it was advisable to begin at once a new avenue of attack through the central pacific that important decision was to hasten the end of the war with japan [Music] in the central pacific the gilbert islands were the first objective seizure of these islands on the equator was a necessity if the central pacific route was to be pursued successfully the most urgent need before final planning of the operation began was for up-to-date air photographs of the islands these indicated that the enemy was thoroughly entrenched in the gilberts one atoll tarawa had been turned literally into a fortress the enemy had transported heavy guns to the atoll and had carefully constructed defense positions navy photo reconnaissance officers realized at once that this would be no routine operation tarawa looked like a ring of steel the next step in preparing for the invasion was to soften up the targets in the gilberts as well as neighboring islands with air strips in the marshals in october and november 1943 s planes operating in the central pacific flew a series of raids on japanese positions in the gilbertson marshalls the crews were well prepared for opposition it was apparent to all that the japanese would fight stubbornly for their central pacific bases the us airmen were not disappointed the principal targets in the marshalls were the airfields from which the japanese planes operated bases which were indispensable to the enemy's defense of the central pacific area the enemy's marshall island bases were visited regularly by american bombers from november 14th to november 21st american air force bombers flew 13 missions to the gilbertson marshal in late november 1943 cairo was the setting for a major conference of allied government leaders on that hot egyptian autumn day the conduct of the war against the enemy in the pacific was being crystallized the path to final victory charted the u.s england and china were committed to a policy of unrelenting pressure against the japanese at the same time on the front in china the japanese armies were driving ahead while the cairo conference was in session nepone's ground forces were attacking the chinese in hunan province in those same late november days in russia the red army was picking up momentum in its drive to roll back the nazi advance by november 21st russian troops had advanced beyond the shores of the nepal at the same moment halfway around the globe two american task forces from hawaii and new zealand were converging on the gilbert islands a key position in the japanese ring of outer defenses the trip to the target was made in radio silence to lessen the chances of an attack by enemy planes or subs in the two amphibious task forces some of the units had to be refueled on route that operation was often a delicate one when a fighting ship needed fuel the job had to be done and promptly regardless of what the weather was like in the southern attack force on route from new zealand the marines were briefed on every detail of basio island of tarawa atoll where one of the gilbert's invasions was to be made these briefings were repeated so that every man would be well familiar with the island's topography and landmarks the men put their spare time to good use they were well aware that a weapon in top working order would often save their lives as the ships neared the objective the crews expected an enemy air attack but the convoys were not disturbed by any organized enemy raid just before d-day the men dedicated their efforts that she body on chili suez consider avid aggramar um [Music] soon after dawn on november 21 1943 the assault on the atolls began at macon the bombardment by ships and carrier-based planes continued for almost five hours one reinforced regimental combat team the 165th of the army's 27th division was to make the attack against macon this was the first taste of combat for the men in the assault waves after the aerial bombing and strafing of the target and the supporting naval bombardment the actual seizing of the objective was finally as always the job of the men with the rifles the army troops invading macon had a six or seven to one superiority in numbers and firepower the soldiers landed against relatively light resistance it became apparent that the enemy had not planned a strong defense of macon against a sizable invasion force ashore on bhutaritari island of macon atoll the soldiers encountered some opposition but successfully overwhelmed the small enemy garrison the island was taken by the men of the 165th army regimental combat team after three days of sporadic fighting many military men felt that the job should have been achieved in a shorter time considering the light japanese defenses in any case the enemy had been thoroughly wiped out at macon a hundred miles to the south of macon beijou island of tarawa atoll was the target for the southern attack force early on d-day morning the navy went into action once more in an attempt to soften up the objective for the landing the plan called for carrier planes to coordinate their attacks with the warship's bombardment and with the invasion pattern itself but the schedule soon became upset and the confusion on the timing of various elements of the attack had a calamitous effect on the operation the navy shelled the target island of bay show on d-day morning for only three hours before the landing [Music] the bombardment was heavy while it lasted yet no one knew for certain of course what damage was being done to the enemy's defenses [Music] someone said confidently that not a [ __ ] would be left alive on the island to contest the marines assault before dawn the invasion vehicle started for the line of departure the naval bombardment continued at intervals almost to h hour the first waves of marines luckily were in amphibian tractors succeeding waves were in landing boats at the fringing reef fate and the tides were against the marines and the boats the tide was lower than expected and the boats were not able to clear the reef thus a great percentage of the assault force was stuck 500 yards from the beach fortunately the amphibian tractors which carry the first assault waves climbed right over the reef and continued into the beach but on that eventful d-day at tarawa the landing force had only about a hundred amp tracks these invaluable tracked vehicles made many trips from the reef to the shore before being knocked out by enemy fire as each hour neared carrier planes strafed enemy positions the assault marines continued towards shore while the carrier pilots had one last crack at the enemy at 9 10 the marines of the second division landed on the enemy's fortress the fight for a foothold on the tiny beach of tarawa was tougher than anything the marines had ever faced casualties were very heavy this was the first pacific invasion which was vigorously opposed on the beach during those first bitter hours it grew readily apparent that the fight for tarawa was to be a battle of epic proportions of the hundreds of marines who had been forced to wade into shore from the reef many were cut down by the enemy's fire but none had hesitated those who died were killed moving forward against the enemy with the marines at tarawa time and life correspondent robert sherrod was with the assault forces throughout the battle we got a sure all right at least a lot of us did but that was only the start except for our tiny beach head the enemy held the rest of the small island they had to be dug out of their pill boxes and bunkers we calculated that the chances of a man being killed or wounded within the hour were about 50 50. the enemy's defenses were incredible great coconut log bunker the job of getting the japanese inside was left to the men on foot men with rifles grenades and flame throwers we lost most of our flamethrowers trying to get ashore but the ones we had left worked overtime [Music] there was no such thing as a rear area in this battle the enemy was always only a few yards away the violence of tarawa was stunning the only way to get at the japanese was to flesh them out or kill them in their holes the decisive factor at the turning point of the battle was the fighting spirit of the united states marines there were no greater heroes on basil than the medical corpsmen as a number of wounded past a thousand there was an overwhelming amount of work for them to do as many wounded as possible had to be evacuated the final count was 2101 americans wounded in action ontario above all other islands of the pacific the devastation of modern warfare was laid out for all to see [Music] there was some mopping up to do as always after a battle there were still caves to blow up or close up still some die-hard japanese snipers to be routed out of their holes ontario we encountered the fanaticism that we had come to expect of the enemy four thousand five hundred japanese were killed on this tiny stinking island all together only seventeen japanese surrendered less than one half of one percent in addition 129 koreans gave up they had served as laborers but doubled as riflemen the enemy soldiers always seemed surprised when they found that we didn't kill prisoners judging by the nature of the enemies we had seen him in action the road to tokyo still some four thousand miles long would be a rough one for every prisoner taken on basio we would find hundreds of thousands of fanatical japanese between tarawa and tokyo who were ready to fight to the death the battle on this sandy square mile was the toughest single fight in the 167 year history of the marine corps whatever lay ahead the lessons learned at tarawa would prove invaluable in future operations against other islands closer to japan on november 24th at 1 30 in the afternoon only 76 hours after the first wave stormed the beach the island was declared secure the stars and stripes flew proudly over the island which the japanese had turned into a carefully constructed fortress nearby there was a second flag raising the union jack flying from another coconut palm proclaimed the return to british rule of tarawa the capital of the british crown colony of the gilbert and ellis islands [Music] two marine generals named smith holland and julian inspected the ruins in one brief battle one thousand american marines from a single division had given their lives so that other americans on other enemy beaches might live and fight their way on across the pacific what i saw on bay show was i am sure one of the greatest works of devastation wrote by man the enemy had boasted that he could hold this island against the onslaught of a million man but he hadn't reckoned with the fighting spirit of the united states navy and marine corps three thousand tons of bombs and shells fell on the tiny island of basio and knocked out most of the japanese heavy weapons in the last analysis credit for the job of annihilating the enemy on tarawa must go to the marines who stormed ashore against deadly rifle and machine gun fire and vote the enemy at arm's length of the men who died here in glory none died in vain and all americans can forever be proud of the name of tarawah the objective had been seized and the most important single part of that objective was the airstrip from which the attack against the enemy could be carried forward more effectively before the last japanese snipers were killed the seabees were hard at work repairing the strip the same day the island was termed officially secure the first carrier-based fighter a hellcat landed on the island the assault marines welcomed the first navy pilot to the airstrip now under new management on november 25th only four days after d-day the marines began to leave the island they had fought through 76 hours of the bloodiest battle the marine corps had ever experienced a battle which was to rank with other historic american struggles bella wood the alamo the bonham richard concord bridge on the tiny sand spit of basio at tarawa atoll under the equatorial sun in late november 1943 they had indeed made history from the airstrips in the gilbert's u.s planes extended their range over the eastern carolinas and the eastern and central marshals american bombers increased the frequency of their visits to the marshals the island group next on the invasion timetable in the central pacific theater u.s pilots in that area became most familiar with half a dozen atolls in the marshall group the lessons learned that tarawa were carefully remembered by the pilots who gave the marshals a pre-invasion going over [Music] [Music] and the lessons learned that tarawa and the gilberts were to save the lives of thousands of americans as u.s forces pressed the attack on the road to tokyo and final victory plunging deeper into enemy waters with each fresh assault the us navy paced the attack in the amphibious drive toward the enemy's home islands during world war ii the navy made maximum use of two weapons which had not therefore been used on a large scale by american forces the carrier with its complement of attack planes and the submarine the war at sea across the broad stretches of the pacific was an exciting enormously complex naval chess match [Music] in world war ii the u.s navy made effective use of two powerful weapons which had not theretofore been employed to any extent one was the carrier a mobile airstrip from which planes were launched with an easy range of enemy targets in the far corners of the pacific the other was the submarine the war with japan across the broad stretches of the pacific constituted the greatest naval struggle in history that war was fought not only on the surface of the sea but above and beneath it as well advanced techniques for waging war called for improved facilities for treating the men injured in this new kind of warfare the employment of the machines of modern war necessitated not only a drastic change in the strategy of warfare but required streamlined methods for saving the lives of the fighting men who fell victim to this high-speed 20th century type of battle in a large percentage of cases the saving of these lives depended directly on quick treatment of the wounds in the u.s navy ships waging war against the enemy anywhere in the pacific had to be prepared to deal efficiently with the most difficult cases the maintenance of these shipboard hospitals in constant readiness for any emergency was one small function of the navy's complex supply system during world war ii in the pacific the u.s navy was confronted with a supply problem unprecedented in history to provide desperately needed material to its ships at sea and to bases all over the broad pacific the navy went into the exporting business on a large scale u.s ports the equipment and supplies bound for american fighting men in the pacific asiatic theater were prepared for shipment it was no wonder there was a shortage of code names with so many islands in the pacific to label a most vital consideration in fighting a war across the pacific was of course the maintenance of u.s fleets in top condition equipped with every facility necessary to the conduct of a successful amphibious drive westward to japan in world war ii the u.s navy grew to proportions never dreamed of by even the most optimistic old-line admiral but the navy was concerned not only with war at sea its supply service stored and transported the machines of war needed in the countless land campaigns against the enemy in the pacific another high priority cargo on navy transports was the american fighting man who was in the last analysis the most important factor in the outcome of the war the job of keeping all the navy's warships all across the pacific in fighting shape was in itself a demanding operation the ability of a naval task force to wage war for an extended period was directly related to the speed and efficiency of the navy's supply service the great cruising range of the u.s fleets in the pacific was made possible only by means of regular rendezvous between the warships and supply vessels which delivered everything from aspirin to ammunition in enemy waters particularly nothing which might act as a marker for an enemy ship or plane could be simply thrown overboard of all the items transported to the fighting men from the u.s mail ranked close to the top of the list of most important cargo the arrival of a fresh batch of mail always had a tonic effect on the men the armed services soon came to realize there was nothing that could lift a man's morale so quickly as a letter from home but even the navy's fleet post office couldn't come through 100 every time sometimes luckily not very often a valuable shipment of supplies would fail to reach its destination due either to accident or enemy action [Music] keeping the ships of the line in good repair was also in large measure the job of the navy supply service at strategic points across the pacific naval facilities were prepared to put triple ships into top fighting condition in short order to achieve those miracles of repair some of the navy's far-flung bases were as well equipped as navy yards in the u.s one of the most demanding assignments on the navy supply system's crowded schedule was the transporting of the material needed for the launching of large-scale invasions against the enemy but the movement of vehicles weapons and supplies to bases in the far pacific was only part of the job each invasion large and small would involve still another trip across water to the ultimate objective 20th century naval warfare bore little resemblance to the classic sea battles of earlier generations during world war ii the submarine was used to good advantage by the us navy and especially so in the pacific the departure of a sub on a dangerous mission was always a dramatic moment for everyone involved it might be several months before she'd make home port again if she was lucky throughout the war in the pacific the submarines of the us navy were manned by volunteers only the inside of a sub was no place for a man with claustrophobia each sub was a living breathing being to the men and the crew who were fiercely proud of their battle a lot of people used to ask me why i volunteered for the submarine service they couldn't understand anyone wanting to spend months at a time cooped up with little chance for escape if anything happened but it wasn't so bad especially during the early days just out of court for my money life on a sub had crouching in a muddy foxhole beat six ways to sunday huh after a while there was some point in taking a look around every now and then you never knew when you might come across something interesting overtaking a japanese junk meant a break in the routine of the patrol it was easy to imagine the excitement the pirates must have had in the old days and after being down below for quite a while we felt as though we were really in the war when we hauled in honest to pete live japs we never managed to take many prisoners and it's just as well considering our limited quarters our prize was quickly disposed of any prisoners we took were always given a good going over every once in a while we actually got some tips on what the enemy was up to it wasn't hard to tell when we moved into enemy waters there was a change in the atmosphere the lookouts kept a sharper watch our first enemy ship was one of the most exciting moments of the patrol the lives of the crew depended on how fast the sub got underwater moving in on the enemy was a slow careful business but we all had the routine down cold the ideal position was about a thousand yards from the target if it was possible to get that close without being detected [Music] it was important that we be patient our position had to be just right for us to score the best possible hit down periscope angle on the bow starboard 15 right full rudder right pull right here all ahead two thirds i have two thirds new course two four zero new cars two four zero fire one fire too chalking up another chunk of enemy tonnage gave us a thrill every time but sometimes that feeling didn't last long if an enemy destroyer was in the neighborhood there was a good chance we'd be detected take her down we could expect a depth charge any second we could be sure there'd be more ass hands dropped than us if we didn't shake him right away needless to say we didn't waste any time doing just that on most patrols we stayed in enemy waters for several weeks before heading back to our base sometimes weeks went by without meeting a thing but every minute we were out we had to be ready to act quick the second we spotted the enemy for american sub crews several months in enemy waters was the longest stretch without a break like the navy's planes and ships the boats proudly displayed their record against the enemy during world war ii in the pacific submarines were sometimes used to transport army or marine raiders on quick strikes against enemy held islands whatever the assignment the submariners could be counted on to do the job well on oahu at the royal hawaiian hotel the men of the submarine service had every opportunity to take their minds off the war the navy had taken over the hotel and submariners had number one priority the men of the silent service could have almost anything their heart desired usually a submariner's leave at the royal hawaiian was for two carefree weeks at waikiki beach the war seemed a million miles away on their leave the submariners had a chance to navigate above the surface of the water for a change free of their cramped quarters for a few weeks some of the men welcomed the chance to get the kinks out of their [Music] legs the u.s navy's victories during world war ii in the pacific were due in large measure to the outstanding performance of her carriers and that performance was possible only through a high degree of teamwork on the part of each of the men in the crews of those fighting ships the job of loading the planes with the missiles which would soon be deposited on the enemy was quickly accomplished the men who armed the planes felt just as much a part of the strike against the enemy as the pilots themselves of the carrier's compliment the pilots were in one sense the most important members of the team before a mission everything possible was done to help them to relax in the ready room the airmen were briefed for the last time any new bits of intelligence about enemy activities on the target island were included [Music] man all like quarter stations as the time for the strike drew near the crew went into action [Music] some stood by prepared to cope with a sudden fire others readied the planes for the launching [Music] talker teleport the man the plane aye sir ready room from flight control pilots man your plane while the flat top turned into the wind the pilots prepared for the takeoff for some of the new pilots this was it with everyone on the mark the strike was officially begun [Music] standby to start engines then clear of propellers start engine each man on the ship had a specific assignment no matter how small each job had to be performed without a hitch or the entire operation would be upset finally with its wings unfolded and locked into place the lead plane was all set to go [Music] [Music] so sometimes when there wasn't much wind the planes could not be launched in the usual way but there was no need to postpone the strike in that kind of weather a catapult was used to push the planes into the air [Music] [Music] throughout world war ii u.s carrier-based planes kept up a steady attack against the enemy in the pacific carrier pilots flew tens of thousands of sorties against enemy shipping aircraft and land bases in a great percentage of cases the enemy targets could be reached only by carrier-based planes returning from a strike the airmen flew the most direct course back to that welcome spec on the sea taking the planes back aboard was an even more exacting operation than the launching [Music] once a pilot was given a come ahead he didn't waste any time getting himself and his plane back onto the flight [Music] the deck signal officer guided him in once again every part of the operation had to be accomplished with great speed while the flat top was taking her planes aboard she was vulnerable to enemy attack since she could not maneuver the planes had to be landed in the shortest possible space of time [Music] once a plane was safely aboard the deck was prepared for the next arrival in a matter of seconds the returning aircraft were quickly moved to their assigned positions on the flight deck on a carrier in action deck space was at a premium every available square foot was utilized sometimes the landing signal officer had a real cause for worry the firefighters and other crewmen moved fast an accident really upset the landing pattern especially when there was more than one plane in distress sometimes a pilot in trouble wouldn't even try to make the ship blue 35 oil pressure zero engine bucking can't hold altitude i'm gonna hit the drink while i've still got power rockets had to be jettisoned then the airman made ready to leave the plane as soon as it hit this would have to be the most skillful landing of his career the downed pilot was in luck once out of the plane the pilot had a rubber life raft handy to make his stay in the water a good deal safer and more comfortable during world war ii in the pacific theater hundreds of carrier pilots were able to cheat death thanks to the equipment which the navy had provided for such situations if necessary the pilot could exist for an extended period on the raft in as much as he was well supplied with food and water as well as preparations for combating the elements but for a pilot who had been spotted by a fellow american airman the stay in the raft would not be a long one the air sea rescue service could be counted on to function quickly in a very short time a navy patrol plane would arrive and the downed pilot's troubles were just about over in some cases depending of course on the location a pilot who was forced to ditch his plane was picked up within an hour and none the worse for the experience [Music] in no time at all he would be back at a base ready to become part of another flat tops complement of flyers in late 1943 and early 44 the japanese wall of defense in the pacific was punctured by fast u.s carrier fleets to the north marcus island was hit hard a heavy raid was made on the marianas another carrier task force hit truck with devastating results toward the end of 1944 formosa became a prime target for u.s navy carrier forces for several months in late 1944 and early 1945 navy carriers spanned the pacific almost to the asian mainland to get in position for the attacks marine pilots supplemented regular navy carrier airmen in the strikes against the enemy's important island stronghold off the china coast 120 miles from the target the planes were ready for the attack the crewman functioned almost automatically so familiar was the pattern of the takeoff operation the carrier strikes on important enemy islands helped materially to shorten the span of time involved in bringing the war to the enemy's doorstep the japanese on formosa fought back stubbornly but the carrier planes continue to press the attack it is impossible to assess exactly the amount of damage done to the enemy by carrier-based aircraft during world war ii but it has been proved beyond any doubt that the flat top was one of the navy's most potent weapons in the pacific early in 1944 the marshall islands were the principal objective for u.s amphibious forces in the central pacific on january 31st they invaded kwajalein

Channel: Classic TV Channel

Views: 921,907

Keywords: Entertainment, Film, WW-2, TV, war documentary, Movies, War in the Pacific tv show, japanese empire, Crusade in the Pacific, World War 2, War in the Pacific tv series, War in the Pacific episode, War in the Pacific, Westbrook Van Voorhis, Kentaro Buma, Frank Gibney

Id: l7_4IqbvIEE

Length: 306min 50sec (18410 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 27 2021