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Bataan Death March ( April 9 to April 15, 1942)

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Bataan Death March ( April 9 to April 15, 1942)

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The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war from the municipalities of Bagac and Mariveles on the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell via San Fernando.

As many as 11,000 of the POWs died on the Death March as a result of the cruelty and inhumanity of their guards.

The siege of Bataan was the first major land battle for the Americans in World War II and one of the most-devastating military defeats in American history. It became a crucial turning point in World War II and the Pacific theater due to public outcry about treatment of the captured servicemembers – considered prisoners of war.

Bataan Death March

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Bataan Death March

Part of the Battle of Bataan, World War II

A burial detail of American and Filipino prisoners of war uses improvised litters to carry fallen comrades at Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, 1942, following the Bataan Death March.

Casualties and losses

Exact figures are unknown. Estimates range from 5,650 to 18,000 POW deaths.

The Bataan Death March ( Filipino: Martsa ng Kamatayan sa Bataan; Japanese: バターン死の行進, Hepburn: Batān Shi no Kōshin) was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000-80,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war from Saysain Point, Bagac, Bataan and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, via San Fernando, Pampanga, where the prisoners were loaded onto trains. The transfer began on April 9, 1942, after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. The total distance marched from Mariveles to San Fernando and from the Capas Train Station to Camp O'Donnell is variously reported by differing sources as between 60 and 69.6 miles (96.6 and 112.0 km). Differing sources also report widely differing prisoner of war casualties prior to reaching Camp O'Donnell: from 5,000 to 18,000 Filipino deaths and 500 to 650 American deaths during the march. The march was characterized by severe physical abuse and wanton killings, and was later judged by an Allied military commission to be a Japanese war crime.

When General Douglas MacArthur returned to active duty, the latest revision of plans for the defense of the Philippine Islands-called WPO-3-was politically unrealistic, assuming a conflict only involving the United States and Japan, not the combined Axis powers. However, the plan was tactically sound, and its provisions for defense were applicable under any local situation.

Under WPO-3, the mission of the Philippine garrison was to hold the entrance to Manila Bay and deny its use to Japanese naval forces. If the enemy prevailed, the Americans were to make every attempt to hold back the Japanese advance while withdrawing to the Bataan Peninsula, which was recognized as the key to the control of Manila Bay. It was to be defended to the "last extremity". General MacArthur assumed command of the Allied army in July 1941 and rejected WPO-3 as defeatist, preferring a more aggressive course of action. He recommended-among other things-a coastal defense strategy that would include the entire archipelago. His recommendations were followed in the plan that was eventually approved.

The main force of General Masaharu Homma's 14th Army came ashore at Lingayen Gulf on the morning of December 22. The defenders failed to hold the beaches. By the end of the day, the Japanese had secured most of their objectives and were in position to emerge onto the central plain. Late on the afternoon of the 23rd Wainwright telephoned General MacArthur's headquarters in Manila and informed him that any further defense of the Lingayen beaches was "impracticable". He requested and was given permission to withdraw behind the Agno River. MacArthur decided to abandon his own plan for defense and revert to WPO-3, evacuating President Manuel L. Quezon, High Commissioner Francis B. Sayre, their families, and his own headquarters to Corregidor on the 24th. A rear echelon, headed by the deputy chief of staff, Brigadier General Richard J. Marshall, remained behind in Manila to close out the headquarters and to supervise the shipment of supplies and the evacuation of the remaining troops.

On December 26, Manila was officially declared an open city and MacArthur's proclamation was published in the newspapers and broadcast over the radio.

The Battle of Bataan began January 7, 1942, and continued until April 9, when the USAFFE commander, Major General Edward King, Jr., surrendered to Colonel Mootoo Nakayama of the 14th Japanese Army.

Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma and his staff encountered almost twice as many captives as his reports had estimated, creating an enormous logistical challenge: the transport and movement of over 60,000 starved, sick, and debilitated prisoners and over 38,000 equally weakened civilian noncombatants who had been caught up in the battle. He wanted to move prisoners and refugees to the north to get them out of the way of Homma's final assault on Corregidor, but there was simply not enough mechanized transport for the wounded, sick, and weakened masses.

Following the surrender of Bataan on April 9, 1942, to the Imperial Japanese Army, prisoners were massed in Mariveles and Bagac town. They were ordered to turn over their possessions. American Lieutenant Kermit Lay recounted how this was done:

They pulled us off into a rice paddy and began shaking us down. There [were] about a hundred of us so it took time to get to all of us. Everyone had pulled their pockets wrong side out and laid all their things out in front. They were taking jewelry and doing a lot of slapping. I laid out my New Testament. ... After the shakedown, the Japs took an officer and two enlisted men behind a rice shack and shot them. The men who had been next to them said they had Japanese souvenirs and money.

Word quickly spread among the prisoners to conceal or destroy any Japanese money or mementos, as their captors would assume it had been stolen from dead Japanese soldiers.

Prisoners started out from Mariveles on April 10, and Bagac on April 11, converging in Pilar, Bataan, and heading north to the San Fernando railhead. At the beginning, there were rare instances of kindness by Japanese officers and those Japanese soldiers who spoke English, such as the sharing of food and cigarettes and permitting personal possessions to be kept. This, however, was quickly followed by unrelenting brutality, theft, and even knocking men's teeth out for gold fillings, as the common Japanese soldier had also suffered in the battle for Bataan and had nothing but disgust and hatred for his "captives" (Japan did not recognize these people as POWs). The first atrocity-attributed to Colonel Masanobu Tsuji-occurred when approximately 350 to 400 Filipino officers and NCOs under his supervision were summarily executed in the Pantingan River massacre after they had surrendered. Tsuji-acting against General Homma's wishes that the prisoners be transferred peacefully-had issued clandestine orders to Japanese officers to summarily execute all American "captives". Although some Japanese officers ignored the orders, others were receptive to the idea of murdering POWs.

During the march, prisoners received little food or water, and many died. They were subjected to severe physical abuse, including beatings and torture. On the march, the "sun treatment" was a common form of torture. Prisoners were forced to sit in sweltering direct sunlight without helmets or other head coverings. Anyone who asked for water was shot dead. Some men were told to strip naked or sit within sight of fresh, cool water. Trucks drove over some of those who fell or succumbed to fatigue, and "cleanup crews" put to death those too weak to continue, though some trucks picked up some of those too fatigued to go on. Some marchers were randomly stabbed with bayonets or beaten.

Once the surviving prisoners arrived in Balanga, the overcrowded conditions and poor hygiene caused dysentery and other diseases to spread rapidly. The Japanese did not provide the prisoners with medical care, so U.S. medical personnel tended to the sick and wounded with few or no supplies. Upon arrival at the San Fernando railhead, prisoners were stuffed into sweltering, brutally hot metal box cars for the one-hour trip to Capas, in 43 °C (110 °F) heat. At least 100 prisoners were pushed into each of the unventilated boxcars. The trains had no sanitation facilities, and disease continued to take a heavy toll on the prisoners. According to Staff Sergeant Alf Larson:

The train consisted of six or seven World War I-era boxcars. ... They packed us in the cars like sardines, so tight you couldn't sit down. Then they shut the door. If you passed out, you couldn't fall down. If someone had to go to the toilet, you went right there where you were. It was close to summer and the weather was hot and humid, hotter than Billy Blazes! We were on the train from early morning to late afternoon without getting out. People died in the railroad cars.

Upon arrival at the Capas train station, they were forced to walk the final 9 miles (14 km) to Camp O'Donnell. Even after arriving at Camp O'Donnell, the survivors of the march continued to die at rates of up to several hundred per day, which amounted to a death toll of as many as 20,000 Americans and Filipinos. Most of the dead were buried in mass graves that the Japanese had dug behind the barbed wire surrounding the compound. Of the estimated 80,000 POWs at the march, only 54,000 made it to Camp O'Donnell.

The total distance of the march from Mariveles to San Fernando and from Capas to Camp O'Donnell (which ultimately became the U.S. Naval Radio Transmitter Facility in Capas, Tarlac; 1962-1989) is variously reported by differing sources as between 60 and 69.6 miles (96.6 and 112.0 km). The Death March was later judged by an Allied military commission to be a Japanese war crime.

It was not until January 27, 1944, that the U.S. government informed the American public about the march, when it released sworn statements of military officers who had escaped. Shortly thereafter, the stories of these officers were featured in a Life magazine article. The Bataan Death March and other Japanese actions were used to arouse fury in the United States.

General George Marshall made the following statement:

These brutal reprisals upon helpless victims evidence the shallow advance from savagery which the Japanese people have made. ... We serve notice upon the Japanese military and political leaders as well as the Japanese people that the future of the Japanese race itself, depends entirely and irrevocably upon their capacity to progress beyond their aboriginal barbaric instincts.

In an attempt to counter the American propaganda value of the march, the Japanese had The Manila Times report that the prisoners were treated humanely and their death rate had to be attributed to the intransigence of the American commanders who did not surrender until the men were on the verge of death.

In September 1945, General Masaharu Homma was arrested by Allied troops and indicted for war crimes. He was charged with 43 different counts of crimes against humanity. Homma was found guilty of permitting members of his command to commit "brutal atrocities and other high crimes". The general, who had been absorbed in his efforts to capture Corregidor after the fall of Bataan, claimed in his defense that he remained ignorant of the high death toll of the death march until two months after the event. Homma's verdict was predicated on the doctrine of respondeat superior, but with an added liability standard, since the latter could not be rebutted. On February 26, 1946, he was sentenced to death by firing squad, and was executed on April 3 outside Manila.

Masanobu Tsuji, who had directly ordered the killing of POWs, fled to China from Thailand when the war ended to escape the British authorities.

In Japan, Generals Hideki Tōjō (later Prime Minister), Kenji Doihara, Seishirō Itagaki, Heitarō Kimura, Iwane Matsui, and Akira Mutō, along with Baron Kōki Hirota, were found guilty and responsible for the maltreatment of POWs. They were executed by hanging at Sugamo Prison in Ikebukuro on December 23, 1948. Several others were sentenced to imprisonment for between 7 and 22 years.[citation needed ]

Post-war commemorations, apologies, and memorials

In 2012, film producer Jan Thompson created a film documentary about the Death March, POW camps, and Japanese hell ships titled Never the Same: The Prisoner-of-War Experience. The film reproduced scenes of the camps and ships showed drawings and writings of the prisoners, and featured Loretta Swit as the narrator.

On September 13, 2010, Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada apologized to a group of six former American soldiers who had been held as prisoners of war by the Japanese, including 90-year-old Lester Tenney and Robert Rosendahl, both survivors of the Bataan Death March. The six, their families, and the families of two deceased soldiers were invited to visit Japan at the expense of the Japanese government.

Dozens of memorials (including monuments, plaques, and schools) dedicated to the prisoners who died during the Bataan Death March exist across the United States and in the Philippines. A wide variety of commemorative events are held to honor the victims, including holidays, athletic events such as ultramarathons, and memorial ceremonies held at military cemeteries.

The Bataan Death March had a large impact on the US state of New Mexico, given that many of the American soldiers in Bataan were from that state, specifically from the 515th Coast Artillery 200th and 515th Coast Artillery of the National Guard. The New Mexico National Guard Bataan Memorial Museum is located in the Armory where the soldiers of the 200th and 515th were processed before their deployment to the Philippines in 1941. Every year, in early spring, the Bataan Memorial Death March, a 26.2-mile (42.2 km) march/run is conducted at WSMR, New Mexico. On March 19, 2017, over 6,300 participants queued up at the starting line for the 28th annual event, breaking not only all previous records of attendance but also the amount of non-perishable food collected for local food pantries and overall charitable goods donated. Of the veterans from New Mexico who survived the Bataan Death March, only four were still alive in March 2017.

On April 3, 2002, the memorial "Heroes of Bataan" was dedicated at Veteran's Park, Las Cruces, New Mexico. It depicts three soldiers assisting each other during the Bataan Death March. Two of the soldiers are modeled after the uncles of Las Cruces resident J. Joe Martinez, with the Filipino soldier modeled after a NCO stationed at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) whose grandfather was killed during the March. Leading up to the statue is an area where footprints of survivors were cast in concrete.

As of 2012, there were fewer than 1,000 survivors of the March still living. The old state capitol building of New Mexico was renamed the Bataan Memorial Building and now houses several state government agency offices.

Abraham, Abie (1997). "Oh God Where Are You?". Vantage Press. ISBN 978-0533119875

Abraham, Abie (2001). Ghost of Bataan Speaks. Beaver Pond. ASIN B004L73AXC

Falk, Stanley L. (1962). Bataan: The March of Death. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. OCLC 1084550.

Jansen, Marius B (2000). The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 654-655. ISBN 978-0674003347. OCLC 44090600.

Levering, Robert (1948). Horror trek; a true story of Bataan, the death march and three and one-half years in Japanese prison camps. Horstman Printing. ISBN 978-1258206307. OCLC 1168285.

Lukacs, John D. (2010). Escape from Davao. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0743262781. OCLC 464593097.

Masuda, Hiroshi (2012). MacArthur in Asia: The General and His Staff in the Philippines, Japan, and Korea. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0801449390.

Moody, Samuel B.; Allen, Maury (1961). Reprieve from Hell. New York: Pageant Press. OCLC 14924946.

Morrow, Don; Moore, Kevin (2011). Forsaken Heroes of the Pacific War: One Man's True Story. Roanoke, VA: Wounded Warrior Project. ISBN 978-1565924796. OCLC 725827438.

Murphy, Kevin C. (2012). "'Raw Individualists': American Soldiers on the Bataan Death March Reconsidered". War & Society. 31: 42-63. doi:10.1179/204243411X13201386799172. S2CID 162118184.

Norman, Michael & Norman, Elizabeth (June 9, 2009). Tears in the Darkness (revised ed.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0374272609.

Resa, Jolinda Bull (2011). Honor Them Always: For the Sacrifice of Their Youth at Bataan. Outskirts Press, Inc. ISBN 978-1432775551. OCLC 782073328.

Stephens, Harold (October 16, 1994). "Memories of the War". Humboldt Co., CA.: "Times-Standard," Sect. Style/potpourri.

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Bataan Death March Part of the Battle of Bataan, World War II A burial detail of American and Filipino prisoners of war uses improvised litters to carry fallen comrades at Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, 1942, following the Bataan Death March. Casualties and losses Exact figures are unknown.

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From 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia, it was the first naval action in which the opposing fleets neither sighted nor fired upon one another, attacking over the horizon from aircraft carriers instead.

The Allies had stopped Japan's southward advance.

It was the world's first carrier-vs. -carrier battle, and the first naval battle in which neither side's ships sighted the others.

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Midway Atoll, United States Minor Outlying Islands

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Battle of Midway, (June 4, 1942 – June 7, 1942) Major World War II naval battle between the U.S. and Japan, won by the American navy after code-breakers discovered the date and time of the Japanese attack.

U.S. naval victory over the Japanese fleet in June 1942, in which the Japanese lost four of their best aircraft carriers.

This critical US victory stopped the growth of Japan in the Pacific and put the United States in a position to begin shrinking the Japanese empire through a years-long series of island-hopping invasions and several even larger naval battles.

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Battle of Guadalcanal (Aug 7, 1942 – Feb 9, 1943
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Battle of Guadalcanal (Aug 7, 1942 – Feb 9, 1943
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It was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of World War II. It was the first major land offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.

The outcome of the Battle of Guadalcanal was a decisive victory for the Allies, particularly the United States. Allies managed to secure the island of Guadalcanal.

Guadalcanal's location was strategically vital, marked a turning point in the Pacific War. The victory at Guadalcanal set the stage for subsequent Allied advances in the Pacific and ultimately contributed to the defeat of Japan.

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This article was most recently revised and updated by

Battle of Guadalcanal, (August 1942-February 1943), series of World War II land and sea clashes between Allied and Japanese forces on and around Guadalcanal, one of the southern Solomon Islands, in the South Pacific. Along with the naval Battle of Midway (June 3-6, 1942), the fighting on Guadalcanal marked a turning point in favour of the Allies in the Pacific War.

The naval campaign at Guadalcanal

Landings in the southern Solomons and the Battle of Savo Island

On July 6, 1942, the Japanese moved a force consisting of troops and labourers to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands and began constructing an airfield. The Allies recognized that land-based planes operating from this field would seriously menace bases in the New Hebrides and New Caledonia as well as Port Moresby in New Guinea. Immediate steps were taken to eject the Japanese, utilizing forces that were available in the South Pacific.

On August 7, 1942, some 6,000 men of the U.S. 1st Marine Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Alexander Vandegrift, launched an amphibious assault on Guadalcanal and Florida Island, surprising Guadalcanal's 2,000 Japanese defenders. The landings were made with strong naval and air support and met with little initial resistance, and the airfield on Guadalcanal and the harbour on Florida Island were seized in the first 36 hours. The Marines named the airstrip Henderson Field, after Maj. Lofton Henderson, a Marine aviator who had perished while leading a bombing run at the Battle of Midway the previous month. Henderson Field would quickly become the centre of gravity for the conflict on Guadalcanal.

The Japanese reacted quickly, and just before 2:00 am on August 9 they struck hard at the Allied naval force supporting the operation. A force of Japanese cruisers and destroyers engaged the Allied fleet in a furious night battle that came to be called the Battle of Savo Island. The result was a disaster for the Allies. Over the course of roughly a half hour, the Japanese sank the U.S. cruisers Astoria, Quincy, and Vincennes and crippled the Australian cruiser Canberra while suffering negligible losses. Over the following months, some two dozen Japanese and Allied ships would be sunk in the waters to the north of Guadalcanal; the sea lane between Guadalcanal and Florida Island would subsequently be known to Allied sailors as Ironbottom Sound.

The Battles of the Eastern Solomons, Cape Esperance, and Santa Cruz

Japanese forces began gathering at Rabaul, New Britain, some 650 miles (roughly 1,050 km) northwest of Guadalcanal, and Vice Adm. Robert Ghormley responded by concentrating Task Force 61, under Rear Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher, southeast of Guadalcanal. The carriers USS Enterprise and USS Saratoga and the battleship USS North Carolina were supported by numerous cruisers and destroyers, as well as land-based aircraft from Henderson Field. On August 24 contact was made with the powerful 1st Carrier Division under Nagumo Chūichi, and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons ensued. Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers from the Saratoga sank the Japanese light carrier Ryujo, and Saratoga dive-bombers seriously damaged the seaplane carrier Chitose. The Enterprise was struck by dive-bombers from the Japanese carrier Shokaku, and a fire deep in the ship caused its rudder to jam. It spent nearly an hour steaming in a circle before control was restored; if a second wave of Japanese planes had not followed an erroneous position report on the American carriers, the Enterprise almost certainly would not have survived the day.

Both sides withdrew their ships from the area by midnight, and a Japanese resupply convoy under the command of Rear Adm. Tanaka Raizō attempted to force its way through to Guadalcanal without the benefit of air cover on the morning of August 25. Dive-bombers from Guadalcanal struck Tanaka's flagship, the cruiser Jintsū, and inflicted heavy damage on a Japanese troop ship. U.S. Army Air Forces B-17s scored a direct hit on the destroyer Mutsuki, sinking it. Tanaka was forced to retire, but he quickly revised his tactics, and his destroyer squadron-the so-called "Toyko Express"-would ferry tens of thousands of Japanese troops and tons of vital supplies to Guadalcanal over the following months.

During the next six weeks, no major action took place in the Solomons, although Japanese planes and submarines continued to harass the U.S. resupply effort, and Japanese surface ships shelled Henderson Field. The most notable loss during this time was the carrier USS Wasp, which was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-19 on September 15. That single torpedo attack also fatally struck the destroyer USS O'Brien and damaged the USS North Carolina. The Japanese resupplied and reinforced their positions at Guadalcanal with nightly runs of the "Tokyo Express," and Tanaka would earn a reputation as arguably the most gifted destroyer captain in the Pacific War. Just before midnight on the night of October 11, five U.S. cruisers and four destroyers under the command of Rear Adm. Norman Scott intercepted a strong Japanese surface force that was en route to Henderson Field. In the ensuing Battle of Cape Esperance, the Japanese lost the heavy cruiser Furutaka and the destroyer Fubuki, while the Americans lost the destroyer USS Duncan.

Two weeks later the much larger Battle of Santa Cruz occurred against the backdrop of a major Japanese ground offensive on Guadalcanal. U.S. commanders were anticipating a Japanese attack, and Vice Adm. William ("Bull") Halsey, who had succeeded Ghormley as commander of U.S. naval forces in the South Pacific on October 18, concentrated his available assets into two carrier battle groups. The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, which had spent nearly a month at Pearl Harbor undergoing repairs, sailed with the battleship USS South Dakota, the heavy cruiser USS Portland, and a screen of light cruisers and destroyers. The carrier USS Hornet was supported by the heavy cruisers USS Northampton and USS Pensacola and a light cruiser and destroyer escort. Against this force was arrayed Vice Adm. Nagumo Chūichi's fleet carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku-both of which had participated in the Pearl Harbor attack-the light carrier Zuiho, the escort carrier Junyo, four battleships, and an assortment of destroyers and other support craft. The two forces met north of Guadalcanal on October 26, and the result was a tactical victory for Japan. The Hornet was sunk, as was the destroyer USS Porter, and the Enterprise was seriously damaged. Nagumo was forced to retire, however, as the Zuiho and the Shokaku had suffered numerous bomb hits and the loss of nearly 100 aircraft had left him without a significant portion of his naval air complement. The Japanese retreat bought the Americans a much needed breathing spell.

The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

The climax of sea fighting in the Solomons came in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (November 12-15, 1942). On November 11-12, the U.S. landed a sizable contingent of reinforcements and supplies on the island. At roughly the same time, a fleet of Japanese transports, carrying some 7,000 men, steamed southward from Rabaul behind an escort of several battleships and a large screen of cruisers and destroyers. When the Americans detected this force descending on their vulnerable transports and cargo vessels, they dispatched a force of cruisers and destroyers to fight a delaying action. The result was a series of violent confrontations that inflicted heavy losses on both sides, but left the United States in a position of strength in the southern Solomons.

Just after midnight on November 13, the U.S. task force, under the command of Rear Adm. Daniel Callaghan, engaged Japanese ships commanded by Vice Adm. Abe Hiroaki. The battle that followed was a brutal 24-minute melee that saw capital ships on both sides blasting away at extremely close range. The Japanese lost the battleship Hiei while the U.S. lost the cruisers USS Atlanta and USS Juneau as well as several destroyers. Callaghan and Rear Adm. Norman Scott were killed in the engagement; they were the only two flag officers of the U.S. Navy to be killed in a surface engagement in World War II.

On November 14 Japanese cruisers and destroyers shelled Henderson Field, and another invasion force was discovered north of Guadalcanal. The Japanese ships were subjected to air attacks throughout the day, and that night they were engaged by the battleships USS Washington and USS South Dakota. About midnight, contact was made north of Savo Island, and another fierce night action ensued. The Japanese lost the battleship Kirishima and the heavy cruiser Kinugasa, and the U.S. lost three more destroyers.

The land campaign on Guadalcanal

The initial amphibious assault on the southern Solomons represented a superb coordination of Allied naval, air, and ground forces. Warships laid down heavy barrages to screen the approach of troop transports and carrier-based planes, and U.S. Army Air Forces bombers softened Japanese defenses. Landing craft took the Marines ashore at key points throughout the islands. The Marines rapidly secured a beachhead on Guadalcanal and captured the almost-complete airstrip that would become Henderson Field. They also seized the smaller islands of Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tanombogo. While the Japanese construction units on Guadalcanal were overcome with comparative ease-or simply melted away into the jungle-the defenders of Tulagi and Gavatu included elements of the elite Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF), and they fought desperately. The battle for Tulagi saw the Japanese garrison destroyed virtually to the last man; this would serve as a grim preview of later engagements in the U.S. campaign in the Pacific.

Almost as soon as the U.S. Marines landed on Guadalcanal, Japanese commanders began making preparations for the retaking of the island. Vandegrift had concentrated some 11,000 Marines into a tight defensive perimeter centred on Henderson Field. He had been warned of an imminent attack, thanks to the efforts of U.S. cryptanalysts, who had penetrated the Japanese naval code. The Japanese, believing that the Americans had withdrawn many of their troops after the stinging defeat at Savo Island, vastly underestimated the strength of the U.S. presence on Guadalcanal. In the predawn hours of August 21, the Japanese launched their first ground offensive on Guadalcanal. At the Battle of the Tenaru (also called the Battle of Alligator Creek), U.S. Marine defenders annihilated a force of some 900 veteran Japanese army troops east of Henderson Field.

Shelling by Japanese ships and aerial bombardment from Japanese planes became routine, but the U.S. defenders were able to cling to their narrow toehold on Guadalcanal, thanks in part to the efforts of the so-called " Cactus Air Force," a motley collection of Marine, U.S. Army Air Forces, and U.S. Navy aviators operating out of Henderson Field. Cactus Air Force pilots shot down more than 150 Japanese planes in the first five weeks of the battle, and Henderson's bomber contingent pounded Japanese warships and transports. On September 13-14, U.S. Marine Corps Col. Merritt ("Red Mike") Edson, the 800 Marines of the 1st Raider Battalion, and a handful of Marine parachute troops were subjected to one of the most intense assaults on Henderson Field thus far, when they were attacked by a Japanese force more than three times their size. Their tenacious defense in what came to be called the Battle of Edson's Ridge helped to cement the reputation of the Raiders in Marine lore and earned Edson the Medal of Honor.

The Japanese forces on the island reached a peak strength of 36,000 troops by October, but they were unable to overwhelm the Americans' defensive perimeter and retake the airfield. The hardest fighting occurred on October 24-25, when a single Marine battalion was all that stood between Henderson Field and two Japanese regiments. The 1st Battalion of the 7th Marine Division, commanded by Lieut. Col. Chesty Puller, repelled the Japanese assault and inflicted heavy casualties on the attackers. Reinforced by soldiers of the 164th Infantry Regiment, the first U.S. Army unit to land on Guadalcanal, Puller's Marines weathered repeated Japanese charges and held their positions. Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone was awarded the Medal of Honor for "conspicuous gallantry" during the engagement, and Puller received his third Navy Cross (of an eventual five). By November the U.S. Navy was able to land reinforcements on Guadalcanal faster than the Japanese, and Allied counterattacks had steadily pushed the Japanese toward the northwest part of the island.

In December the 1st Marine Division was withdrawn after four months of intense combat, and the U.S. 25th Infantry Division began arriving on Guadalcanal. At the start of 1943, Allied combat strength on Guadalcanal stood at two U.S. Army divisions and a Marine regiment, totaling some 44,000 troops. Offensive operations continued through January 1943, narrowing and compressing the Japanese position. During the first week of February, light surface craft began evacuating the 12,000 remaining Japanese troops from Guadalcanal. On February 8, 1943, almost exactly six months after the initial landings, the last remaining Japanese pocket of resistance was eliminated, and Guadalcanal was at last firmly in Allied hands.

Outcome and casualties

Although U.S. losses were heavy in both the naval and ground campaigns, the Battle of Guadalcanal was decisive in that U.S. positions in the southern Solomons were never again seriously threatened. The Japanese lost a total of 24,000 men killed in the Battle of Guadalcanal, while the Americans sustained 1,600 killed, 4,200 wounded, and several thousand dead from malaria and other tropical diseases. The various naval battles cost each side 24 warships: the Japanese lost 2 battleships, 4 cruisers, 1 light carrier, 11 destroyers, and 6 submarines, while the Americans lost 8 cruisers, 2 heavy carriers, and 14 destroyers.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Michael Ray.

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Battle of Guadalcanal | Facts, Map, & Significance

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Battle of Guadalcanal, (August 1942-February 1943), series of World War II land and sea clashes between Allied and Japanese forces on and around Guadalcanal, one of the southern Solomon Islands, in the South Pacific. Along with the naval Battle of Midway (June 3-6, 1942), the fighting on Guadalcanal marked a turning point in favour of the Allies in the Pacific War.

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The Battle of Leyte Gulf, fought from October 23 to 26, 1944, was the largest naval battle of World War II and a turning point in the Pacific Theater. It involved American and Japanese naval forces off the coast of the Philippines. The battle consisted of several engagements, including the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the Battle off Samar, and the Battle of Cape Engaño.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was a decisive victory for the Allies. Although the Japanese inflicted heavy losses on the American escort carriers and their support ships during the Battle off Samar, the loss of Musashi and other heavy units weakened the Japanese navy considerably.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf effectively ended Japan's ability to contest Allied control of the Pacific. It allowed the United States to establish a firm foothold in the Philippines and paved the way for the eventual defeat of Japan in World War II.

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Operation Torch was a pivotal Allied military campaign during World War II, initiated on November 8, 1942. It was a large-scale amphibious invasion of French North Africa, involving British and American forces under the overall command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Allied victory, The success of Operation Torch ultimately led to the expulsion of Axis forces from North Africa, the collapse of the Vichy French regime, and the opening of vital supply lines to the Allies.

The operation was strategically significant as it marked the first major Allied offensive against Axis forces in the European theater, it set the stage for subsequent Allied offensives in the Mediterranean and ultimately the invasion of Italy and France, contributing significantly to the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany.

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Battle of the Atlantic (Sep 3, 1939 – May 8, 1945)

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Battle of the Atlantic (Sep 3, 1939 – May 8, 1945)

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The Battle of the Atlantic was a protracted naval campaign fought between Allied and Axis forces during World War II. It lasted for the duration of the war in Europe, it was primarily centered around the Atlantic Ocean, although it extended into other bodies of water such as the Arctic and Mediterranean.

The Allies ultimately emerged victorious in the Battle of the Atlantic. Their successful defense of the sea lanes allowed for the uninterrupted flow of troops and supplies

It was critical for the success of the D-Day landings in 1944 and the subsequent liberation of Western Europe. The defeat of the German U-boat threat was a significant factor in the overall Allied victory in World War II.

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Anzio, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Italy

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The Battle of Anzio was a World War II military campaign fought in Italy from January to June 1944. Allied forces, primarily American, landed at Anzio and Nettuno to outflank German defenses blocking the route to Rome. Despite initially catching the Germans off guard, Allied hesitation led to a prolonged and bloody stalemate.

Allies broke out of the beachhead, contributing to the liberation of Rome.

the Battle of Anzio played a significant role in the Italian Campaign and the broader context of World War II, contributing to the eventual Allied victory in Europe.

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The D-Day invasion, or Operation Overlord, was a pivotal military operation during World War II. It took place on June 6, 1944, when Allied forces launched a massive amphibious assault on the beaches of Normandy, France. This operation was a carefully coordinated effort involving troops from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and other Allied nations.

The Allied troops managed to establish beachheads on all five landing zones: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.

It was the largest amphibious assault in history and represented a turning point in World War II. By opening a new front in Western Europe, the Allies forced the Germans to fight a two-front war, stretching their resources thin and hastening their eventual defeat. The successful invasion of Normandy paved the way for the liberation of Europe and the eventual end of the war.

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The Battle of the Bulge was a major offensive launched by German forces against Allied troops in the Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg during World War II. The Battle of the Bulge was marked by intense fighting, harsh winter conditions, and heavy casualties on both sides.

The outcome of the Battle of the Bulge was a decisive Allied victory. The German offensive failed to achieve its objectives of splitting the Allied lines and halting the advance into Germany. Instead, it depleted German reserves, weakened their defensive positions, and hastened the collapse of Nazi Germany.

The Battle of the Bulge is considered one of the largest and bloodiest battles fought by the United States during World War II. Its importance lies in its significance as the last major German offensive on the Western Front and its role in hastening the end of the war in Europe.

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Iwo Jima, Iōjima, Ogasawara, Tokyo, Japan

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The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps and United States Navy landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, located in the Pacific Ocean, about 750 miles south of Tokyo, Japan.

The outcome of the Battle of Iwo Jima was a decisive victory for the United States. The capture of the island provided a crucial staging area for Allied aircraft and played a significant role in the air campaign against Japan. However, the battle was costly, with over 6,800 U.S. Marines killed and thousands more wounded, along with nearly all of the defending Japanese force of over 20,000 soldiers.

The Battle of Iwo Jima is considered one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific War and holds great historical significance. Additionally, the capture of Iwo Jima played a crucial role in the eventual defeat of Japan and the end of World War II in the Pacific.

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Japan, Okinawa, Motobu, Ohama, 861-6, islands

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The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army.

The outcome of the Battle of Okinawa was a decisive Allied victory. The capture of the island provided vital bases for further air and naval operations against Japan. However, the battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific War, with over 12,000 American soldiers killed and tens of thousands more wounded or missing. The civilian casualties, including Okinawan civilians caught in the crossfire, were also significant.

It was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War and represented the culmination of the Allied island-hopping campaign across the Pacific, foreshadowed the anticipated intensity of an invasion of the Japanese home islands. Additionally, it influenced subsequent decisions regarding the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ultimately leading to Japan's surrender and the end of World War II.