WORLD WAR II Battles of the Pacific Theatre

Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor December 7 th, 1941 Japan surprised American fleet in Hawaii and destroyed or damaged 19 ships 2, 300 Americans were killed Following day US declared war on Japan

Vocabulary Island Hopping: Allied troops moved past Japanese strongholds seizing islands that were not well defended and moved Allied troops closer to Japan

Vocabulary Kamikaze: Japanese suicide pilots crashed bombfilled aircraft into Allied ships

Bataan Death March January of 1942: Japanese attacked the Philippines Americans fought them from Bataan Peninsula 3 months of fighting before Japan overtook American forces

Bataan Death March Japanese considered it dishonorable to surrender and had contempt for prisoners of war Bataan Death March 50 mile forced march of POWs 70, 000 POWs only 54, 000 survived

Bataan Death March “I was questioned by a Japanese officer, who found out that I had been in the Philippine Scout Battalion. The [Japanese] hated the Scouts… Anyway, they took me outside and I was forced to watch as they buried six of my Scouts alive. They made the men dig their own graves, and then had them kneel down in a pit. The guards hit them over the head with shovels to stun them and piled earth on top. ” - Lieutenant John Spainhower (War Diary 1939 -1945)

Doolittle’s Raid US wanted revenge for Pearl Harbor Lt. Col. Doolittle led 16 B-25 Bombers on an attack of Tokyo Bombs did little damage but proved Japan was vulnerable to attack Raised American moral

Battle of Coral Sea May 1942 Japanese and Allied aircraft attacked enemy ships Allies suffered huge losses Stopped Japan’s southward advances

Battle of Midway June 1942 Key American airfield Allied code breakers learned of Japanese attack American forces surprised Japanese fleet and destroyed 332 planes and 5 ships Turned the tide of war

Battle of Guadalcanal Japanese were building a stronghold on island Mac. Arthur wanted to take before airbase was completed August 1942 Marines seized airfield Battle lasted for 6 months before Japan abandoned the island

Battle of Leyte Gulf Oct. 1944 Mac. Arthur returned to Philippines Japanese wanted to defeat US fleet and keep Allies from resupplying troops Four days of battle Entire Japanese fleet was destroyed

Battle of Iwo Jima February-March 1945 Heavy losses for both US Marines (4 Marines died for every yard taken) Airfields made it possible for US to attack closer to Japan

Battle of Okinawa April to July 1945 Japan’s last effort to protect the empire A bloody land battle 100, 000 Japanese died and 12, 000 Americans US is now 350 miles away from Japan’s main islands

Allies look to Japan With Japanese soldiers fighting to the death for their empire the US and Allies now looked at fighting Japan on the main islands How many more lives will an assault take?