World War II: Pacific Theater
Lsn 27
Imperial Japan
• Japan saw the US and
others as a threat to its
influence in Asia and in
1940 the Japanese
began developing plans
to destroy the US Navy
in Hawaii
• On Dec 7, 1941, the
Japanese attacked
Pearl Harbor
In May 1940, the main part of the
US fleet was transferred to Pearl
Harbor from the west coast
Broader Results
• In spite of the tactical
success, the attack on
Pearl Harbor was an
operational and
strategic failure for the
Japanese
– The attack failed to
destroy the American
aircraft carriers, fleet
repair facilities, or fuel
reserves
– The “sneak attack”
galvanized American
support for entry into the
war
Fall of the Philippines
• Shortly after Pearl
Harbor the Japanese
made initial landings
on Luzon, then made
their main landings
on Dec 22
• On Dec 24,
MacArthur ordered
his forces to
withdraw to the
Bataan Peninsula
• By Apr Bataan
surrendered
• By early May
Corregidor
surrendered
Douglas MacArthur in his
headquarters tunnel at Corregidor
in March 1942
Bataan Death March
• President Roosevelt
ordered MacArthur to
relinquish command
to Lieutenant
General Jonathan
Wainwright and
MacArthur escaped
to Australia
• 25,000 Americans
and Filipinos died on
the Bataan Death
March to captivity
Centrifugal Advance
• Japanese attacked Malaya, the Philippines, the Dutch
East Indies, Wake, Guam….
• Instead of halting, establishing a defense, and
pressuring the US to sue for peace (the prewar plan), the
Japanese decided to extend their control over the Pacific
planning operations in New Guinea near Port Moresby
and against Midway (1,300 miles northwest of Honolulu)
• US achieved a moral victory with Doolittle’s Raid on the
Japanese home islands on April 18, 1942
– Minimal damage but humiliated Japanese high
command and led them to advance the date for their
attack on Midway
Coral Sea (May 4-8, 1942)
• US had been able to intercept
Japanese radio traffic in an
operation called “Magic”
• Magic intercepts allowed
Admiral Nimitz to position two
carriers off the eastern tip of
New Guinea
• Both sides suffered heavy
losses but the Japanese were
forced to call off their
amphibious attack on Port
Moresby
• Battle waged exclusively via
air strikes
– Opposing surface ships
never made direct contact
Admiral Chester Nimitz,
Commander in Chief Pacific
and Pacific Ocean Areas
Midway (June 3-6, 1942)
• Japanese planned a diversionary attack on the
Aleutian Islands while the main force attacked
Midway to destroy the American fleet
• Thanks to Magic intercepts, US didn’t fall for the
Alaska feint and reinforced Midway
• Americans destroyed four Japanese carriers and
most of their flight crews
• Japanese advance was checked and initiative in
the Pacific began to turn to the Americans
Greatest Extent of Greater East
Asia Co-prosperity Sphere
China-Burma-India
• The Chinese Nationalist
government of Chiang Kaishek was on the Allied side
of World War II
• In the spring of 1942
Lieutenant General Joseph
Stilwell became commander
of the China-Burma-India
Theater and Chiang’s chief
of staff
– Stilwell was impatient, direct,
and indiscreet
– He was publicly critical of
Chiang and eventually would
be removed from command
over the controversy in 1944
Generalissimo and Madame
Chiang Kai-shek with Stilwell
in Burma
China-Burma-India
• In addition to Chiang and Stilwell’s command
difficulties, the Americans, Chinese, and British
lacked common objectives in the CBI
– The US wanted the Chinese to actively engage the
Japanese to keep the Japanese occupied as US
forces advanced through the Pacific theater to the
Japanese home islands
– Chiang’s main objective was to preserve his own
strength and political power
– The British wanted to preserve their colonial
administrations in Burma and India and initially
opposed giving any authority to Chiang
China-Burma-India
• In the spring of 1942 the Japanese launched an
offensive that captured Singapore, defeated the
Allied navies in the Battle of Java Sea (which
exposed Australia to attack), and drove the
Allies out of Burma into India
– General William Slim led British forces on a 900 mile
retreat to Imphal, India
– Stilwell had to personally march his staff 140 miles
through the wilderness to reach safety in India
China-Burma-India
• The loss of Burma
effectively cut China
off from its Allies
– The US responded
by supplying China
by air which meant
flying over the high
altitude Himalayas
(“The Hump”)
– The US also
constructed a road
from Ledo, India
through northern
Burma to southern
China
China-Burma-India
• In late Dec 1943, Stilwell
initiated an offensive to
retake Burma
– Key to the attack were
Merrill’s Marauders, a
commando unit that was
designed to conduct longrange patrols and raids well
behind enemy lines,
disrupting communications
and supply efforts
– Slim had also shown
excellent leadership in
rebuilding the British forces
and instilling in them an
offensive spirit
Field Marshall William Slim,
considered by many to be
the best British commander
of World War II
China-Burma-India
• The Japanese resisted
ferociously and the Allies
did not retake Burma until
May 1945
– In the meantime, relations
between Chiang and Stilwell
grew intolerable
– On Oct 19, 1944 Stilwell
received word that President
Roosevelt was recalling him
and that Stilwell had just 48
hours to leave
Stilwell’s nickname,
“Vinegar Joe,” gives insight
into his caustic personality
China-Burma-India
• While the Allies ultimately
retook Burma and the
Chinese army developed into
an effective fighting force,
China never became an
important arena of combat
operations
• After World War II, Chiang
led the Nationalist Chinese in
the civil war against the
Communist Chinese
– In 1949, the Nationalists lost
and fled to the island of Taiwan
which Chiang governed until his
death in 1975
Compromise
• King’s planned drive
would move first against
the Gilbert Islands and
then toward the
Philippines
• MacArthur would
likewise advance toward
the Philippines
– Joint Chiefs gave no
clear priority to either
drive
– “Mutual supporting” or
“mutually competing?”
Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief
Pacific and Pacific Ocean Areas and
William Halsey, Commander, South
Pacific Area and South Pacific Force
Operation Cartwheel
• MacArthur requested five additional divisions
and 1,800 aircraft to capture Rabaul
• Joint Chiefs of Staff concluded there were not
enough resources to capture Rabaul in 1943 so
they accepted MacArthur’s proposal for a twopronged drive to isolate it
Operation Cartwheel
• MacArthur would be in
overall command
• Admiral William Halsey,
commander of the naval
forces in the South
Pacific, would advance
up the Solomons as far
as Bougainville
• MacArthur would move
along the coast of New
Guinea before attacking
the western end of New
Britain
Operation Cartwheel
• Became the model for Pacific commanders
throughout the rest of the war
– don’t move island to island; advance by great
bounds using air superiority
– bypass major strongpoints and leave them
reduced to strategic and tactical impotence
– hit Japanese weak spots; avoid frontal assaults;
use deception and surprise
– seize existing airfields and ports and use these
newly acquired bases to support the next leap
forward
Battle of Leyte Gulf
• The American and
Japanese surface fleets
made contact the night of
October 24-25 in the San
Bernardino Strait
• Two Japanese task
forces entered the strait,
Halsey did the classic
naval maneuver of
crossing the “T” and sank
all but one enemy
destroyer
Battle of Leyte Gulf
• However, Halsey was
surprised shortly after
dawn when Japanese
heavy cruisers and
battleships passed
unopposed through the
San Bernardino Straits
and threatened the
invasion fleet
• American aircraft turned
back the already
weakened Japanese
• Still the Japanese did
not give up, delivering
their first wave of
kamikaze attacks
Escort carrier St. Lo
sunk by kamikaze attack
Battle of Leyte Gulf
• The Battle of Leyte Gulf
secured the beachheads of
the U.S. Sixth Army attack
on Leyte and destroyed
Japanese naval power
• By the end of December
1944, the Allies controlled
Leyte and MacArthur was in
position to attack Luzon, the
heart of the Philippines
Walter Krueger,
commander of
Sixth Army
“I shall return”
Final Campaigns
• From Feb 19 to Mar 11, 1945
the Marines captured Iwo Jima
• From Apr to June Americans
captured Okinawa
– Total American battle
casualties were 49,151, of
which 12,520 were killed or
missing and 36,631
wounded
– Approximately 110,000
Japanese were killed and
7,400 more were taken
prisoners
– Okinawa showed how
costly an invasion of the
Japanese home islands
would be
Raising the flag
on Mt. Suribachi,
Iwo Jima
Plan to Invade Japan
• US planned to invade
Japan with eleven
Army and Marine
divisions (650,000
troops)
• Casualty estimates
for the operation were
as high as 1,400,000
• Truman decided to
use the atomic bomb
to avoid such losses
Operation Cornet, the plan to take Tokyo
The Atomic Bomb
• In the early 1940s,
America had started
an atomic weapons
development program
code named the
“Manhattan Project”
• A successful test was
conducted at
Alamogordo in New
Mexico in July 1945
J. Robert Oppenheimer and
General Leslie Groves at the Trinity
Site soon after the test
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Hiroshima Aug 6, 1945
– 90,000 killed
• On Aug 8, the USSR
declared war on Japan
and invaded Manchuria
the next day
• Nagasaki Aug 9, 1945
– 35,000 killed
• Okinawa had been
much more costly than
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki
Captain Paul Tibbets piloted the
plane that dropped the bomb on
Hiroshima
Hiroshima, vicinity of ground zero
Surrender
Japan surrenders Sept 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri