Mr. Ermer
U.S. History Honors
Miami Beach Senior High

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Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet
 Plans to use surviving aircraft carriers against Japan
 Cannot mobilize fast enough to stop Japan from taking S.E. Asia
Japan attacks U.S. bases in Philippines, land troops later
 Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s troops hid in Bataan for 3 mos.
 Gen. MacArthur evacuated to Australia
 McArthur’s troops captured by Japanese, marched 65 miles
Philippines falls to Japan
Doolittle Raid
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To raise morale, FDR orders bombing of Tokyo
April: 16 B-25s bomb Tokyo, land in China
Japan changes course
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Japan no longer worried about cutting off supply lines
New plan is to lure U.S. fleet into battle by attacking Midway

 Japanese plan to cut U.S. supply lines to Australia by attacking
New Guinea, but U.S. broke the secret code, Battle of Coral Sea
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Aircraft Carriers Lexington & Yorktown attack Japanese fleet
Carriers eventually sunk, but Japanese stopped
 Navajo “code talkers” used by U.S. Marine Corp
 Japanese could not “crack” the Navajo code, orders stayed secret and were quickly transmitted
 U.S. Code Breakers learn about attack on Midway
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Japanese carriers sail into an ambush
1 st wave of Japanese planes shot down by Americans
Four Japanese carriers sunk by American bombers
 Battle of Midway was a turning point in the war
 362 dead Americans, 3,057 dead Japanese

 Two part plan to defeat the Japanese:
 Admiral Nimitz’s Navy island hopping closer to Japan
 Gen. McArthur to lead army to recapture Philippines
 Amphtracs used to land Marines on coral atolls
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1943-45: Marines take islands 1 by 1, move closer to Japan
B-29 “Superfortress” bomber, fly farther than other planes
 MacArthur’s troops begin drive at Guadalcanal
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Catch up to Navy and take New Guinea
Next stop: Philippines (land on 10/20/1944)
Japanese launch surprise attack, use kamikaze pilots
 Early Japanese retreat saves U.S. at Battle of Leyte Gulf
 Battle for control of the Philippines lasts until end of war

 FDR wants badly to invade Europe, his advisors and
British PM Winston Churchill advise against
 Want to invade Africa for two reasons:
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Taking control of Africa would not be as difficult
The Army could get practice without needing too many troops
 After early losses, Gen. Eisenhower replaces leaders
 Gen. George Patton assigned to Africa
 Convoy system, radar, sonar help Allies control Atlantic
 With W. Europe under Nazi control, Hitler pushes east to destroy the Soviet economy—Stalingrad is main target
 Battle lasts from September 1942-February 1943
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Nazis not prepared for Russian winter
Heavy Nazi losses

 US, UK, USSR form Grand Alliance, stress military operations, not political differences
 Agree to fight until all Axis Powers surrender
 1942: War turns against Germany, Japan
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Nov ’42: Allies invade N. Africa, defeat Germans May ’43
Feb ’43: German Sixth Army surrenders at Stalingrad
June ’42: USA sinks 4 Japanese carriers at Midway
Gen MacArthur begins offensive in Philippines
Combined Army, Marine and Navy “island hopping”
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 Casablanca Conference: FDR and Churchill agree to destroy
German economic & military potential
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Weaken German morale
First, attack Italy “the soft underbelly” of the Axis Powers
September 1943: Allies invade Italian island of Sicily
 American & British bombing of Germany picks up
 Did not weaken German economy or morale, but created gas shortage, interrupted railroads, wrecked airplane factories—
Allies now controlled the air
 Allies invade Italy, move north quickly, Mussolini arrested by
King Victor Emmanuel III—Germans return him to power
 Allies land at Anzio, behind Nazi lines at Cassino, fighting lasts for three months—Allies take Rome in May 1944