18. WORLD WAR TWO

THE WAR IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

CONTENTS

In early 1942 it appears as if Japan is
unstoppable

The Doolittle raid on Japan – April 18,
1942

The Battle of the Coral Sea – May 4–8,
1942

The Battle of Midway – June 4–7, 1942

Now begins the counteroffensive against
a slowly retreating Japan

Up from the South: New Guinea and the
Solomon Islands (1942–1943)

In from the East: The Gilbert and
Marshall Islands (late 1943)

Heading West and getting closer to
Japan: Saipan and Guam (1944)

The advance on Japan: The
Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa
(1944–1945)

Burma, China and India

A Timeline of Major Events during this period

1940s

The War in Asia and the Pacific

1942    Sadly an American (and even larger Philippine) military force, surounded by Japanese troops and unable to resupplied by sea (the Pacific fleet largely disabled), is forced to surrender (May)
          But a planned Japanese surprise seizure of the vital mid-Pacific island of Midway is anticipated by American aircraft carriers (that had been out of Hawaii at the time of Japan's bombing there) whose planes do enormous damage to the surprised Japanese fleet (Jun); this battle will mark Japan's furthest expansion ... and the beginning of its retreat in the Pacific
1943   The battle in the Pacific moves north from New Guinea (Buna Beach - Jan) and the Solomon Islands (Bouganville - Nov) ... and west from the Gilbert and Marshall Islands (Tarawa - Nov)

1944   Americans advance against the Japanese from the East (Saipan, Tinian, Guam - Jun-Aug); MacArthur's American troops finally begin the liberation of the Philippines (Oct)

1945   American troops now find themselves on Japanese islands (Iwo Jima - Feb / Okinawa - Apr) ... with the Japanese seemingly willing to defend their land down to the last man, woman and child

IN EARLY 1942 IT APPEARS AS IF JAPAN IS UNSTOPPABLE

The attack on Pearl Harbor was timed by the Japanese to coincide with a general advance into the European colonial territories of Southeast Asia, held by the hard-pressed French, Dutch and British.

On the same day as the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese struck Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Ultimately their goal was to reach the area of Borneo and Java in the Dutch East Indies, to secure for themselves the rich holdings of oil and rubber trees located there. It would be a costly venture. But as they saw things, they had little choice in the matter. They would need these lands in order to maintain their Empire. But they seemed to believe that given the weakness of the British and Dutch – both under either German assault (the British) or German occupation (the Dutch) – the task would be fairly easy, especially if they struck quickly.

British Hong Kong and Singapore – and the Dutch East Indies

Indeed, a Japanese attack on Hong Kong brought that key city quickly to defeat. And likewise, Singapore fell fairly quickly – because the Japanese attacked not from the sea, where Singapore was protected by powerful walls and armaments, but from the land to the north of Singapore – where such defenses were quite weak. Likewise, the Dutch East Indies fell also fairly quickly.

British surrender at Singapore

The fall of the Philippines

The Philippines, where some 12,000 American troops were located, lay directly at the center of the Japanese path of conquest. Under fierce Japanese attack, the surprised Americans and their Filipino allies retreated into a fairly defensible land position on the Bataan peninsula and the island fortress of Corregidor – but found that the Japanese had cut off the surrounding sea routes from which they might draw resupply. Food and ammunition eventually ran out.

First at Bataan in April and then finally at Corregidor in early May, after nearly five months of hopeless struggle, the Americans and Filipinos there had to surrender. The Japanese, already contemptuous of the Americans and Filipinos as fighters, became even more contemptuous of them when they surrendered – forcing some of them to march sixty miles without food or water to a prison camp at Bataan. Thousands ¹ of American and Filipino troops died along the way – with even more dying soon after arriving at the prison camp.

The Japanese were at this point already famous for their cruel treatment of their enemies. But news of all this spun America into an intense fury. Nonetheless for the time being there was little America could do – because the country was still very unprepared for war.

¹Figures vary widely, from 2,500 to 10,000, because many of the Filipinos were able to escape along the way, affecting the count. Also, the original number of prisoners is not known with any precision, varying from 60,000 to 80,000 in the best estimates.

Surrender of American troops at Corregidor, Philippine Islands, May 1942
National Archives 208-AA-80B-1

Japanese banzai (hurrah) for victory in a 5-month siege against the Americans and Filipinos in the Philippines
U.S. Army

Some of the 12,000 GIs and 64,000 Filipino soldiers who surrendered to the Japanese at Bataan – May 1942. They were forced to take up a 65-mile march without water and in the tropical heat to a POW camp. Some 10,000 escaped en route – but 6,500 died along the way. Another 17,000 died in Japanese POW camps.

Americans surrendering to the Japanese at Bataan – May 1942

American troops on the "Death March" after a month-long siege on Corregidor Island – May 1942

"The March of Death. Along the March [on which] these prisoners were photographed, they have their hands tied behind their backs. The March of Death was about May 1942, from Bataan to Cabanatuan, the prison camp."

"This picture, captured from the Japanese, shows American prisoners using improvised litters to carry those of their comrades who, from the lack of food or water on the march from Bataan, fell along the road." Philippines, May 1942.

The Japanese Empire at its height – 1942

THE DOOLITTLE RAID ON JAPAN
APRIL 18, 1942

In the meantime, America took an action to give notice to the Japanese that the attack on Pearl Harbor did not produce the cowering of America as they had expected. In April sixteen B-25 bombers, led by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, flew from the aircraft carrier Hornet to bomb Tokyo and other Japanese cities – more a symbolic hit than a serious military strike. Their bombing was not terribly devastating – but achieved its psychological objective. All the planes crashed (ran out of fuel) before reaching their destinations in China. But the crews of fourteen of the planes eventually made it back to America.

Lt. Col James Doolittle, leader of the raid, talks with Navy Captain Marc Mitscher, skipper of the USS Hornet
U.S. Navy

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

"Take off from the deck of the USS HORNET of an Army B-25 on its way to take part in first U.S. air raid on Japan." Doolittle Raid, April 1942.
National Archives 80-G-41196

THE BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA â MAY 4â8, 1942

Then in early May, Americans, having cracked the Japanese code, learned of a pending attack on Australia and sent four aircraft carriers ² to intercept this Japanese move. And thus the Battle of the Coral Sea took place. Both sides took hits, although Japan claimed to its people that it had been a grand Japanese victory. But in fact it completely halted all Japanese advance to the south.

²They had been out on a training mission at the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, thus avoiding destruction like the rest of America’s Pacific Fleet.

The Japanese aircraft carrier Shoho, torpedoed at the Battle of the Coral Sea
U.S. Navy

A "mushroom cloud" rises after a heavy explosion on board USS Lexington (CV-2), 8 May 1942. This is probably the "great explosion" from the detonation of torpedo warheads stowed in the starboard side of the hangar, aft, that followed an explosion amidships at 1727 hrs. Note USS Yorktown (CV-5) on the horizon in the left center, and destroyer USS Hammann (DD-412) at the extreme left.

The Lexington, burning and sinking after the Battle of the Coral Sea

THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY â JUNE 4â7, 1942

Then even more amazingly, again aware of Japanese intentions, in June these same aircraft carriers headed north to the Central Pacific island of Midway which the Japanese were hoping to capture as a base from which attacks on America’s west coast could be launched. They were not expecting to find these aircraft carriers there, were caught completely off guard, and were badly mauled by American aircraft launched from these carriers. The Japanese loss was so big (but again they presented it to their people as another great win) that not only was their expansion east across the Pacific halted, but this marked the beginning of the Japanese retreat in the Pacific.

Midway Atoll, looking just south of west across the southern side of the atoll, November 1941. Eastern Island, then the site of Midway's airfield, is in the foreground. Sand Island, location of most other base facilities, is across the entrance channel.

Eastern Island, Midway Islands, under attack, 4 June 1942
U.S. Navy

3 Japanese carriers were sunk in the opening rounds of the battle; 2 days later a Japanese submarine finished off the crippled Yorktown – but the Japanese lost another carrier – and a total of 332 planes. This huge Japanese loss at Midway effectively ended their dominance in the Pacific.

USS Yorktown is hit by an aerial torpedo – Midway, June 4, 1942
U.S. Navy

"USS Yorktown (CV-5) is hit on the port side, amidships, by a Japanese Type 91 aerial torpedo during the mid-afternoon attack by planes from the carrier Hiryu, in the Battle of Midway, on June 4, 1942. Photographed from USS Pensacola (CA-24). Yorktown is heeling to port and is seen at a different aspect than in other views taken by Pensacola, indicating that this is the second of the two torpedo hits she received. Note very heavy anti-aircraft fire."
Though badly damaged, she survived this attack. But as she was making her way back for repairs, she was sunk by a Japanese submarine on June 7.

The aircraft carrier USS Yorktown listing heavily from a Japanese torpedo hit at Midway – June 4, 1942
U.S. Navy

The burning Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryu, photographed by a plane from the carrier Hosho shortly after sunrise on 5 June 1942. Hiryu sank a few hours later. Note collapsed flight deck over the forward hangar.
U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation

U.S. Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers about to attack the burning cruiser Mikuma
for the third time.
U.S. Navy – National Archives

"'Dauntless' dive bombers from USS Hornet (CV-8) approaching the burning Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma to make the third set of attacks on her, during the Battle of Midway. Mikuma had been hit earlier by strikes from Hornet and USS Enterprise (CV-6), leaving her dead in the water and fatally damaged."

Mikuma shortly before sinking. - west of Midway, June 6, 1942
U.S. Navy – National Archives

"Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma, photographed from a USS Enterprise (CV-6) SBD aircraft during the Battle of Midway, after she had been bombed by planes from Enterprise and USS Hornet (CV-8). Note her shattered midships structure, torpedo dangling from the after port side tubes and wreckage atop her number four eight-inch gun turret."

Crewmen on the US carrier Hornet watching approaching Japanese planes
United States Navy

A Japanese bomber hit by artillery fire from the Hornet
United States Navy

NOW BEGINS THE COUNTER-OFFENSIVE
AGAINST A SLOWLY RETREATING JAPAN

The roll-back of the Japanese Empire in the Pacific

Now it would be a matter of capturing island after island. Actually, this involved American "island hopping" or bypassing islands held by the Japanese, (who at this point would then find themselves isolated) and assaulting only those islands with aircraft bases – or with the potential for such.

The huge island of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific did not fall easily, taking from August of 1942 to February of 1943 to fully secure – against the Japanese tendency when faced with obvious defeat to simply conduct suicide runs (banzai charges) against American machine guns, rather than accept the humiliation of surrender. The Japanese military code of bushido demanded nothing less of its soldiers – and eventually even of its civilians. All of this slaughter of countless Japanese unnerved the American soldiers greatly. But it was a job that had to be done.

Peck and Deyle, p. 626

The Advance against Japan
Evans, pp. 322-323

U.S. Marines rest in the field on Guadalcanal, circa August-December 1942

GIs slogging their way forward against the Japanese at Guadalcanal – 1942

GIs washing up on Guadalcanal

Carrier-based US torpedo bombers and fighters in formation for an attack on the Japanese fleet

"A Chinese soldier guards a line of American P-40 fighter planes, painted with the shark-face emblem of the 'Flying Tigers,' at a flying field somewhere in China." ca. 1942.

"Officer at periscope in control room of submarine." ca. 1942

Torpedoed Japanese destroyer photographed through periscope
of U.S.S. Wahoo or U.S.S. Nautilus, June 1942

The Aleutians were intended to come under Japanese assault simultaneously with the attack on Midway Island. But the Aleutian assault proved to be a dud.

US airmen posted to the Aleutians relaxing inside a well-decorated hut

Airmen relaxing in their quonset hut in the Aleutians

What it was that kept the boys warm

Rita Hayworth

Betty Grable

UP FROM THE SOUTH: NEW GUINEA AND THE SOLOMON ISLANDS (1942-1943)

So, up from New Guinea Americans moved, launching the offensive at Buna Beach (where in January of 1943 photographers were allowed for the first time to take pictures of the war casualties on both sides) and from the Solomon Islands at Bougainville (taking from November 1943 to February 1944 to secure), making their way under General MacArthur’s command towards the Philippine Islands. Finally in October (1944) they were able to land on the Philippine Island of Leyte and the following January (1945) to the shores of Luzon, from which they then advanced on the Philippine capital Manila – which got heavily damaged in its liberation, occurring finally in late February.

"PT's patrolling off coast of New Guinea." 1943

"A PT marksman provides a striking camera study as he draws a bead with his 50 caliber machine gun on his boat off New Guinea." July 1943

GIs killed along Buna beach in New Guinea – January 1943

A dead GI washed in by the tide at Buna beach

A GI inspecting Japanese killed at Buna Beach – Jan. 1943

Doctors digging shrapnel from a GI's back in a field hospital

The Solomon Islands – Bougainville (late 1943 – early 1944)

"Landing operations on Rendova Island, Solomon Islands, 30 June 1943. Attacking at the break of day in a heavy rainstorm, the first Americans ashore huddle behind tree trunks and any other cover they can find."

"Crewmen lifting Kenneth Bratton out of turret of TBF on the USS SARATOGA after raid on Rabaul." Lt. Wayne Miller, November 1943

"U.S. troops go over the side of a Coast Guard manned combat transport to enter the landing barges at Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville, as the invasion gets under way." November 1943.

"Dynamic static. The motion of its props causes an `aura' to form around this F6F on
USS YORKTOWN. Rotating with blades, halo moves aft, giving depth and perspective." November 1943.

"U.S. Marine "Raiders" and their dogs, which are used for scouting and running messages, starting off for the jungle front lines on Bougainville." T.Sgt. J. Sarno, ca. November/December 1943.

"In an underground surgery room, behind the front lines on Bougainville, an American Army doctor operates on a U.S. soldier wounded by a Japanese sniper." December 13, 1943.

"Invasion of Cape Gloucester, New Britain, 24 Dec. 1943. Crammed with men and material for the invasion, this Coast Guard- manned LST nears the Japanese held shore. Troops shown in the picture are Marines." PhoM1c. Don C. Hansen.

"Marines hit three feet of rough water as they leave their LST to take the beach at Cape Gloucester, New Britain." Sgt. Robert M. Howard, December 26, 1943.

"Retreating at first into the jungle of Cape Gloucester, Japanese soldiers finally gathered strength and counterattacked their Marine pursuers. These machine gunners pushed them back." January 1944.

U.S. Soldiers at Bougainville (Solomon Islands) March 1944 "The Yanks mop up on Bougainville. At night the Japs would infiltrate American lines. At Dawn, the doughboys went out and killed them. This photo shows [M4 Sherman] tank going forward, infantrymen following in its cover." March 1944.

May 1, 1944. Members of the US 93rd (93d) Infantry Division, the first African-American infantry unit to see action in World War II, on the Numa-Numa Trail, Bougainville

"American troops of the 163rd Infantry Regiment hit the beach from Higgins boats during the invasion of Wadke Island, Dutch New Guinea." Lt. Kent Rooks, May 18, 1944.

IN FROM THE EAST: THE GILBERT AND MARSHALL ISLANDS – (LATE 1943)

At the same time, coming across the Pacific from the east, under the command of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the island of Tarawa was secured finally in November of 1943 – again at the great cost in human lives on both sides of the battle, although the Japanese suffered far worse in the process.³ From there they jumped to Kwajalein and Eniwetok (securing those islands in February of 1944) and then on to Guam (secured in August of 1944). From here they were close enough to Japan they could now conduct relentless bombing of the Japanese heartland itself.

³Debate would be ongoing even till today as to whether or not it was absolutely necessary to spill American blood to seize this off-path objective.

"165th Infantry assault wave attacking Butaritari, Yellow Beach Two, find it slow going in the coral bottom waters. Jap machine gun fire from the right flank makes it more difficult for them." Dargis, Makin Atoll, Gilbert Islands, November 20, 1943

"Marines storm Tarawa. Gilbert Islands." WO Obie Newcomb, Jr., November 1943

"Sprawled bodies on the beach at Tarawa, testifying to ferocity of the struggle for this stretch of sand" – November 1943

Two enlisted men of the ill-fated U.S. Navy aircraft carrier LISCOME BAY, torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Gilbert Islands, are buried at sea from the deck of a Coast Guard-manned assault transport." November 1943.

In from the East and heading west toward Japan: The Marshall Islands – Kwajalein and Eniwetok (early 1944)

"Jap torpedo bomber explodes in air after direct hit by 5 inch shell from U.S. aircraft carrier as it attempted an unsuccessful attack on carrier, off Kwajalein." U.S.S. Yorktown. CPhoM. Alfred N. Cooperman, December 4, 1943.

"Pilots pleased over their victory during the Marshall Islands attack, grin across the tail of an F6F Hellcat on board the USS Lexington, after shooting down 17 out of 20 Japanese planes heading for Tarawa." By Comdr. Edward J. Steichen, November 1943

"Men of the 7th Division using flame throwers to smoke out Japs from a block house on Kwajalein Island, while others wait with rifles ready in case Japs come out." Cordray, February 4, 1944.

"Back to a Coast Guard assault transport comes this Marine after two days and nights of Hell on the beach of Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. His face is grimey with coral dust but the light of battle stays in his eyes." February 1944.

HEADING WEST AND GETTING CLOSER TO JAPAN: SAIPAN AND GUAM

"Army reinforcements disembarking from LST's form a graceful curve as they proceed across coral reef toward the beach." Laudansky, Saipan, ca. June/July 1944.

With a canvas tarpaulin for a church and packing cases for an altar, a Navy chaplain holds mass for Marines at Saipan. The service was held in memory of brave buddies who lost their lives in the initial landings." Sgt. Steele, June 1944.

"After the Marines captured this mountain gun from the Japs at Saipan, they put it into use during the attack on Garapan, administrative center of the island." Cpl. Angus Robertson, ca. July 1944.

"A Water Buffalo, loaded with Marines, churns through the sea bound for beaches of Tinian Island near Guam." July 1944.

"First flag on Guam on boat hook mast. Two U.S. officers plant the American flag on Guam eight minutes after U.S. Marines and Army assault troops landed on the Central Pacific island on July 20, 1944."

"The crew of the USS South Dakota stands with bowed heads, while Chaplain N. D. Lindner reads the benediction held in honor of fellow shipmates killed in the air action off Guam on June 19, 1944." July 1, 1944.

"Marine Pfc. Douglas Lightheart (right) cradles his 30-cal. machine gun in his lap, while he and his buddy Pfc. Gerald Churchby take time out for a cigarette, while mopping up the enemy on Peleliu Is." Cpl. H. H. Clements, September 14, 1944.

"Burial at sea for the officers and men of the USS Intrepid (CV-11) who lost their lives when the carrier was hit by Japanese bombs during operations in the Philippines." Lt. Barrett Gallagher, November 26, 1944

While the war moves on, touches of home bring humor and comfort

A mess sergeant posting commentary on the food rations available to him

THE ADVANCE ON JAPAN: THE PHILIPPINES, IWO JIMA AND OKINAWA

Liberating the Philippines – beginning with Leyte – and then advancing to Luzon

When they landed at Iwo Jima (mid-February of 1945) they were now on Japanese territory itself, and the defensive battle was murderous. By the time six weeks later they had secured the island, ninety per cent of the Japanese force of 20,000 was killed (or committed suicide) in the action. They were getting another example of how brutal the task of bringing Japan to surrender would be. This same experience was repeated in the taking of the Japanese island of Okinawa. This large island was so strongly defended that it took three months of battle to finally bring it under Allied control. The Japanese killed in action numbered fourteen times the Allies killed, a clear indicator of the Japanese resolve to fight to the death rather than surrender.

What air action that the Japanese did offer at Okinawa was suicidal, a desperate effort of 4,000 young (and inexperienced) Japanese kamikaze pilots to hurl themselves and their explosives-laden planes at the American ships advancing on their islands. Only a small percentage were able to hit a ship. Nonetheless, the effort resulted in thirty ships sunk and over 300 others badly damaged by the fanatical kamikaze pilots.

Nonetheless, the Japanese naval attack on the American fleet failed to stop the American advance. By now it was clear that the Americans were unstoppable. But it was also clear that the Japanese did not seem willing to give up the fight as long as there were any Japanese still alive to fight. Even the women and youth were being trained in defense tactics. It looked as if the Allies were going to have to go village to village across the entirety of Japan to finally bring the war with Japan to an end. This might take years and millions of casualties to complete.

"The gun crews of a Navy cruiser covering American landing on the island of Mindoro, Dec. 15, 1944, scan the skies in an effort to identify a plane overhead. Two 5'' (127mm) guns are ready while inboard 20mm anti-aircraft crews are ready to act."
National Archives 80-G-47471.

"Two Coast Guard-manned LST's open their great jaws in the surf that washes on Leyte Island beach, as soldiers strip down and build sandbag piers out to the ramps to speed up unloading operations." 1944.
National Archives

USS PENNSYLVANIA and battleship of COLORADO class followed by three cruisers move in line into Lingayen Gulf preceding the landing on Luzon." Philippines, January 1945.
National Archives 80-G-59525

"A line of Coast Guard landing barges, sweeping through the waters of Lingayen Gulf, carries the first wave of invaders to the beaches of Luzon, after a terrific naval bombardment of Jap shore positions on Jan. 9, 1945." PhoM1c. Ted Needham.
National Archives 26-G-3856.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur comes ashore at Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines
National Archives

Douglas MacArthur returns to the Philippines – October 1944

"General MacArthur surveys the beachhead on Leyte Island, soon after American forces swept ashore from a gigantic liberation armada into the central Philippines, at the historic moment when the General made good his promise 'I shall return.'" 1944.
National Archives

"Veteran Artillery men of the 'C' Battery, 90th Field Artillery, lay down a murderous barrage on troublesome Jap artillery positions in Balete Pass, Luzon, P.I." Morton, April 19, 1945.
National Archives 111-SC-205918.

Meanwhile, America is stepping up its direct attacks on Tokyo

"Pilots aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier receive last minute instructions before taking off to attack industrial, and military installations in Tokyo." February 17, 1945.
National Archives 208-N-38374
Iwo Jima

"Marines of the 5th Division inch their way up a slope on Red Beach No. 1 toward Surbachi as the smoke of the battle drifts about them." Dreyfuss, Iwo Jima, February 19, 1945.
National Archives 127-N-110249.

"Across the litter on Iwo Jima's black sands, Marines of the 4th Division shell Jap positions cleverly concealed back from the beaches. Here, a gun pumps a stream of shells into Jap positions inland on the tiny volcanic island." ca. February 1945.
National Archives

U.S. troops raising the American flag on Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima – February 23, 1945
U.S. National Archives 80-G-413988

U.S. troops raising the American flag on Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima (sequel picture)

"Smashed by Jap mortar and shellfire, trapped by Iwo's treacherous black-ash sands, and other vehicles of war lay knocked out on the black sands of the volcanic fortress." PhoM3c. Robert M. Warren, ca. February/March 1945.
National Archives 26-G-4474

Kamikaze!

The briefing of Kamikaze pilots

The last ritual of the Kamikaze pilots
worldwar42.blogspot.com

Saki for the Kamikaze pilots
worldwar42.blogspot.com

Kamikazes attacking a US carrier

The American aircraft carrier Belleau Woods hit by a kamikaze bomber
U.S. Navy

USS Essex is hit by Kamikaze - 25 November 1944
U.S. Naval Historical Center

Aircraft carrier USS Franklin, hit by 2 Kamikazes, sinks – March 1945
U.S. National Archives, Wash. D.C.

A Kamikaze plane misses crashing into the U.S.S. Sangamon
National Archives

"USS Bunker Hill hit by two Kamikazes in 30 seconds on 11 May 1945 off Kyushu. Dead - 372. Wounded - 264."
National Archives 80-G-323712

"USS Bunker Hill hit by two Kamikazes
National Archives

"Transfer of wounded from USS Bunker HIll to USS Wilkes Barre, who were injured during fire aboard carrier following Jap suicide dive bombing attack off Okinawa." PhoM3c. Kenneth E. Roberts, May 11, 1945.
National Archives 80-G-328610

Okinawa

Marines of the US 10th Army in camouflage battle dress storm out of a landing craft to establish a beachhead, March 31, 1945 on Okinawa, largest of the Ryukyu (Loochoo) Islands, 375 miles from Japan.
National Archives, 39573-FMC

Japanese battleship Yamato blows up after receiving massive bomb and torpedo damage from U.S. Navy carrier planes, north of Okinawa on 7 April 1945. Three Japanese destroyers are nearby.
US Navy – National Archives

Flushing out Japanese troops with napalm on Okinawa – April 1945

Marines pass through a small village where a Japanese soldier lies dead. Okinawa, April 1945. Norris G. McElroy.
National Archives 127-N-95-119485

The attack on bloody ridge of 20 April was marked by severe fighting. During the fighting on Bloody Ridge two medium tanks were knocked out by Japanese artillery fire from the Pinnacle.
US Army

A demolition crew from the 6th Marine Division watch dynamite charges explode and destroy a Japanese cave. Okinawa, May 1945.
National Archives, 127-N-122154

A few yards behind the front lines on Okinawa, fighting men of the US Army's 77th Infantry division listen to radio reports of Germany's surrender on May 8, 1945.

"Their battle hardened faces indicate the impassiveness with which they received the news of the victory on a far distant front. One minute after this photo was taken, they returned to their combat post. Officially however, American forces on Okinawa celebrated the end of the war in Europe by training every ship and shore battery on a Japanese target and firing one shell simultaneously and precisely at midnight."

National Archives, FA 41224- FA

A GI under fire at Okinawa

"A Marine of the 1st Marine Division draws a bead on a Japanese sniper with his tommy-gun as his companion ducks for cover. The division is working to take Wana Ridge before the town of Shuri." S.Sgt. Walter F. Kleine, Okinawa, 1945.
National Archives 127-N-123170

"With the captured capital of Naha as a background, Marine Maj. Gen. Lemuel Shepherd, commanding general of the 6th Marine Division, relaxes on an Okinawan ridge long enough to consult a map of the terrain." Pfc. Sam Weiner, ca. June 1945.
National Archives 127-GR-95-122119

Lt. Gen Simon B. Buckner, Jr., USA, right, observing the 8th Marines in action on Okinawa for the first time since the regiment entered the lines in the drive to the south. This is the last photograph taken of him before he was killed on 19 June.
National Archives, 127-N-122154

"Corsair fighter looses its load of rocket projectiles on a run against a Jap stronghold on Okinawa. In the lower background is the smoke of battle as Marine units move in to follow up with a Sunday punch." Lt. David D. Duncan, ca. June 1945.
National Archives 127-GR-97-126420

A group of Japanese prisoners who preferred capture to suicide. They are waiting to be questioned by American officers.
US Army

Overcoming the last resistance on Okinawa was aided by propaganda leaflets, one of which is being read by a prisoner awaiting transportation to the rear. Many civilians gave up at the same time.
US Army

And the direct bombing attacks on Tokyo and Japan step up in intensity

"Tokyo burns under B-29 firebomb assault." May 26, 1945
Library of Congress

Charred remains of Japanese civilians after the 10 March 1945 firebombing of Tokyo
Ishikawa Koyo

"Task Force 58 raid on Japan. 40mm guns firing aboard USS Hornet on 16 February 1945, as the carrier's planes were raiding Tokyo." Lt. Comdr. Charles Kerlee, February 1945.
National Archives 80-G-413915

"USS ESSEX-based TBMs and SB2Cs dropping bombs on Hokadate (Hakodate), Japan." July 1945.
National Archives 80-G-490232

Japanese training for home defense in anticipation of American invasion of Japan - 1945

BURMA, CHINA AND INDIA

At the very beginning of its offensive in December of 1941, Japan and its ally Thailand had attacked British Burma (today's Myanmar) and by April of 1942 had forced the British out of its colony there. The Chinese meanwhile were largely holding the line against Japanese expansion in China, and were even able to come to the aid of British troops in Burma, which had found themselves surrounded by Japanese troops.

Then from their position in Burma, in March of 1944 the Japanese attempted a new offensive against the Allies by attacking the British position in Assam (northeast India) which the Allies had been using as a base to fly supplies across the mountainous hump into China. To counter the Japanese, India itself provided over three million troops to the Allied cause, some of the most dedicated soldiers in the Allied cause.

Gandhi and the INA

Strangely, it was at this desperate time for India that Mohandas (or Mahatma – the "Great Soul") Gandhi decided it was an opportune moment to disrupt British governance of India in order to achieve his long-standing dream of getting Britain to "Quit India." He was joined in this effort by a former ally (with whom he had earlier parted ways), the young Subhas Chandra Bose – who had assembled an army of British-haters, willing as the Indian National Army (INA) even to join the Japanese in fighting not only the British in northeastern India but also the multitude of Indians serving in the British Army.

Ultimately nothing came of either effort. The Indians did not show great interest in Gandhi’s attempt to make India ungovernable, especially in the face of a Japanese threat, the Indians being generally very well aware of how horribly the Japanese treated non-Japanese. And the INA did not do well against the heavily Indian-staffed British Army, nor did their Japanese allies, thus ending the Japanese threat to India – and the dreams of glory of the INA. However, Gandhi was subsequently arrested – which did finally stir Indian wrath.

Bose inspecting his Indian National Army

Bose with a German officer ... and with Hitler
When Hitler seemed unresponsive to Bose's offer of alliance of his INA with Germany, Bose turned to the Japanese ... who played along with his offer.

Gandhi announcing his "Quit India Movement" designed to oust the British
(and their culture) from India

Gandhi with INA soldiers at the INA Trials – 1945

Gandhi's answer to the British-introduced industrial revolution was to go back to ancient Indian ways ... which, had India done so, would foolishly have caused the population to starve back to its pre-British population size of about half of the then-current population.

"U.S. Convoy which operates between Chen-Yi and Kweiyang, China, is ascending the famous twenty-one curves at Annan, China." Pfc. John F. Albert, March 26, 1945.
National Archives, 111-SC-208807

Go on to the next section: The War in Europe

Miles H. Hodges