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Bombing of Pearl Harbour - 7th Dec, 1941

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Bombing of Pearl Harbour - 7th Dec, 1941

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From the 1930's-40's, Japan’s goal was to grow their empire strong enough to stand next to the likes of Britain and the U.S. After they joined the war on Nazi Germany's side, they needed more resources to fund their campaign, which they decided to get by invading the pacific, starting with China. The U.S were allies with most in the pacific, meaning Japan was cut off from American oil as punishment for their invasion and were under threat of counterattack. The bombing of Pearl Harbour meant to cripple the U.S’s navy and fleet, meaning Japan could carry out their plan without resistance.

On the morning of 7th Dec 1941, 340 aircraft attacked Pearl Harbour in 2 waves, torpedoing battleships in their harbour and bombing parked aircraft and hangers. Four battleships were hit, and one exploded. Many U.S servicemen and airmen managed to fight back despite the shock of the surprise.

By the end, 21 battleships were sunk, 188 aircraft destroyed and 2,403 American servicemen and women killed. Three of the U.S's battleships weren't present and so were unscathed. The battle had the opposite effect desired, causing America to angrily declare war on Japan in revenge.

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i asked you to go to the greenday concert, you said you never heard of them. HOW COOL IS THAT! so i went on a cruise and read my diary

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Battle of Singapore - 7 - 15th Feb, 1942

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Battle of Singapore - 7 - 15th Feb, 1942

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Japan’s campaign over the south pacific put Australia in fear of invasion. They looked to their ally Britain to defend them, together devising a plan of setting up a large military base in Singapore as a strategic stronghold for the rest of the pacific. If a pacific war broke out, Britain would deploy a large fleet from their navy to assist Australians present there. Some pointed out weaknesses in the strategy, but the cost of building their own military base made the Australian government overlook those claims.

On the 8th and 9th of Dec 1941, three divisions of the Japanese imperial army had landed in the north in Malay, forcing the fleets of British, Australian and Indian troops to surrender before going down the Malay peninsula and taking down the Singapore stronghold. While the stronghold was well fortified on its sea front, its landward sides were poorly fortified and left it easy for the Japanese to take, along with the rest of the island which was subjugated within 3 days. Troops were also too spread out along the island to be of any significant resistance to the Imperial army.

The result of the fall of the Singapore stronghold was Australia relying more on the U.S through WWII, since Britain was too occupied in Europe to reliably help them.

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Battle of the Coral Sea - 4th-8th May, 1942

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Battle of the Coral Sea - 4th-8th May, 1942

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Japan wanted to set up a base in the Solomon Islands for their aircraft and to take over Port Moresby, so their territories could be protected from air attacks, and they would be open to attacking other Australian territories. They planned to conquer the island of Tulagi in the Solomons, then use aircraft carriers supported by warships and soldiers to take over Port Moresby, but America received intel on their plans and so tried to stop them.

In battle, the critical target was the airship carriers, since warships and troops were especially weak to them and with no carrier, no aircraft. The battle lasted four days before

Japan had given up on their plan and retreated.

While the Japanese technically won the battle, as they had sunk more American ships than they had lost, America had managed to prevent Japan’s plan and weakened their forces ahead of the Battle of Midway.

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Japan wanted desperately to take out the U.S as a power in the Pacific so they could gain more territory around the southwest islands and east Asia, leading them to plan an attack on the U.S fleet, from which they could use the U.S’ base in Midway Atoll for an attack on Pearl Harbour. With their control over the region, they could force a negotiated peace on their terms with the allies.

The U.S had intercepted Japan’s comms and so knew of the attack on Midway as well as date, time, and even battle order. At the date and time, Japanese aircraft severely damaged the Midway base, not knowing that U.S carriers were waiting aside from the island when they returned from refuelling. A two-day battle was then fought, where the U.S rang victorious in forcing the Japanese to retreat and suffer heavy losses.

The U.S’ victory was critical in preventing the Japanese growing bigger and gaining the upper hand, and put the U.S in an advantage to start pushing the Japanese back.

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Battle of Milne Bay - 25th Aug -7th Sept, 1942

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Battle of Milne Bay - 25th Aug -7th Sept, 1942

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The Japanese had another plan to take Port Moresby, to invade and take over Milne Bay at the tip of Papua New Guinea and form a base to help support the takeover of Port Moresby.

Japan's attempts at the invasion were resisted by Australian forces, who had to deal with Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) ships and ground infantry who were equipped with artillery, mortars and machine guns. The Japanese forces didn’t make it very far, who then had to be evacuated by the Navy at an invasion base set up.

This loss for the Japanese forces meant a lack of air and sea support for their invasion up the Kokoda track and was a big turning point for Australia successfully defending Papua New Guinea.

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Despite their defeat in Milne Bay, the Japanese were still persistent in taking over Port Moresby, meaning the Australian soldiers situated there had to defend from Japanese troops still.

The battle significantly took place over the Owen Stanley range of mountains, meaning they had to use one of the only foot tracks there, the Kokoda Trail. At first, the Australians struggled and were pushed back, leading a critical village in Kokoda to be in Japan’s hands. After a four days defence, they were pushed back again, now even closer to Port Moresby. The Australian troops then began a counter-offensive which managed to push the Japanese back, before they had eventually liberated Kokoda from Japanese occupation. What's noteworthy is that Kokoda locals helped significantly in the war effort, evacuating and treating the sick and wounded, carrying supplies and building bases and airfields. They were affectionately named the “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels” by Australian troops.

Australian forces’ victory meant the successful defence of Port Moresby.

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Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima - 6th Aug, 1945

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Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima - 6th Aug, 1945

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The U.S had already suffered significant losses from invasions in Japan, like the previous invasion of Okinawa. President Truman knew what long and arduous battle awaited their full invasion of Japan. So, he sought desperate measures, and okayed the use of the U.S’ newly developed atomic bombs for use in Japan. Truman tried to warn the Japanese Government in an ultimatum requesting their surrender, but the Japanese Government heed the warning.

On August 6th an American bomber containing “Little Boy” flew over Hiroshima and dropped the atomic bomb. Many were killed instantly, from the heat of the explosion or from the high doses of radiation from being so close to ground zero. The surrounding area was completely flattened, and the city was crowded with flames and smoke.

The Japanese government stood their ground and refused surrender, only believing the U.S had one atomic bomb at their disposal.

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Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki - 9th Aug, 1945

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Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki - 9th Aug, 1945

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At the Japanese government’s persistent refusal to surrender even after the bombing of Hiroshima, America prepared the use for their second atomic bomb, “Fat Man”.

“Fat Man” was planned to be dropped on the city of Kokura on the day of the bombings, but due to bad weather they changed their targets, unfortunate for the residents of Nagasaki. Even though the bomb was a plutonium-based model and so more deadly, due to the hilly landscape of Nagasaki the bomb took less lives and had less severe radiation effects, although it would still significantly affect the people and area of Nagasaki for years, even decades to come.

On the next day, the Japanese government had agreed to an unconditional surrender. While it is widely thought of that the second bombing had convinced the government America had plenty more Atomic Bombs they were willing to use, it should be noted on the same day of the bombing the Soviet Union had declared war on Japan. That ruined Japan’s plan of using them as an intermediary to get a negotiable surrender, so the Government might have saw no other way out but surrendering.