WWII Day 4:

War in the Pacific

 Fighting the War
in the Pacific
◈ Although defeating the Nazis was
the main goal of the Allies, the
United States did not wait to move
against Japan in the Pacific.
◈ Japan had conquered more
territory in Asia than Hitler had in
Europe.
◈ New type of enemy, new strategies
 Island Hopping
◈ Island Hopping: a military strategy
where troops leapfrog from one
island to another.
◈ The strategy was used to leapfrog,
or bypass, islands that were
Japanese strongholds
◈ Instead, General Douglas
MacArthur, seized less-well-fortified
islands, built airfields on them, and
then used air power to cut supply
lines to enemy troops in the area
 Battle of Midway
◈ Battle of Midway:
Japanese forces
moved toward Midway
Island, a strategic
island in the Pacific
◈ If the Japanese
destroy the American
base on Midway, they
will be able to invade
Hawaii
 Battle of Midway
◈ Americans had broken the
Japanese code, and knew the
attack was coming
◈ Though they were out
numbered, the US won the
battle
◈ This American victory ended
the Japanese threat to Hawaii
and began a series of American
victories which brought the war
closer to Japan
 Other Pacific Battles
◈ Iwo Jima and Okinawa: Big
battles where Americans
invaded Japanese-held islands
◈ Though America won these
battles, they were incredibly
costly in American and
Japanese lives
◈ Battle of Leyte Gulf:
Japanese Navy suffered
devastating losses
Challenges of Fighting in
the Pacific
◈ Fighting conditions
◈ Climate, animal/plant life, unfamiliar
territory
◈ Kamikaze: Japanese war tactic of
suicide bombing
◈ Showed America that the Japanese
intended to fight fiercely without
surrender
◈ Even Japanese civilians were armed with
swords and bows and arrows and would
rather commit suicide than surrender
 A Personal Voice
“Hell was red furry spiders as big as your fist,
giant lizards as long as your leg, leeches falling
from trees to suck blood, armies of white ants
with bites of fire, scurrying scorpions inflaming
any flesh they touched, enormous rats and bats
everywhere, and rivers with waiting crocodiles.
Hell was the sour, foul smell of the squishy
jungle, humidity that rotted a body within
hours,…stinking wet heat dripping rain forests
that sapped the strength of any man.”
Ralph G. Martin, from The GI War