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. 

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. 

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. 

 

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. 

 

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. 

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. 

“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.