The War in the Pacific1942 - 1945

Japanese Empire c. 1942

The War in the Pacific 1. Doolittle’s Raid – April 1942: the Allies, led by Colonel James Doolittle,

bombed Tokyo with a unit of 16 bomber jets

The War in the Pacific 2. Battle of the Coral Sea – May 1942: Allies succeed in stopping the

Japanese drive toward Australia in the five-day battle

Battle of the Coral Sea A) Tactical Victory for the Japanese (short term victory)

B) Strategic Victory for the Allies (long term victory)

Reason: Represents the first time in the war that a Japanese invasion had been prevented.

The War in the Pacific 3. The Battle of Midway – June 1942

A) Allies break Japanese code and discover that Midway is the next Japanese target

The Battle of Midway B) After Japanese codes were intercepted, Americans sent torpedo planes and

dive bombers to Midway

C) The Japanese were caught off guard with their planes still on their carriers

D) Japanese suffered devastating losses: 4 aircraft carriers, a cruiser, and 250 planes

E) After Midway, Allies began ‘island hopping’ – winning territory from the Japanese, moving closer to Japan

Americans had ‘avenged Pearl Harbor’ – Japanese official

The Allies Drive towards Japan 1. Iwo Jima - ‘Sulfur Island’ – A critical base from which heavily loaded

bombers might reach Japan

Iwo Jima Thought to be the most heavily defended place on earth (20,700 Japanese troops

on an 8-square mile island)

Highest number of casualties in any battle in the Pacific to that point: 6,000 marines died, only 200 Japanese survived.

Okinawa April 1945: U.S. Marines invade

Okinawa

Japanese unleash over 1900 kamikaze attacks on the Allies during the Okinawa campaign

Attacks killed an estimated 5,000 seamen

Okinawa By the time the fighting ended on June 21, 1945, more than 7,600

Americans had died

BUT the Japanese lost 110,000 lives in defending Okinawa.

After Okinawa, Churchill predicted the cost of invading the Japanese mainland would be a million American lives and half that number of British lives.

Critical Thinking #6 Due: Thursday, March 14.

In a 2-paragraph response, describe two significant military achievements for the Allies in the Pacific theatre of war. For each example you use, explain the strategic significance of the victory (i.e. What were the Allies hoping to accomplish? Hint: consider the long-term significance of the examples you choose)