THE PACIFIC FRONT

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THE PACIFIC FRONT
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Philippines

• Dec-April 1942

• Americans and Filipinios outnumbered

• General MacArthur ordered to withdraw

36,000 U.S./Filipino Vs. 200,000 Japansese
5 months
MacArthur I shall return.
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Doolittle Raid

• April 1942

Light B-52 taking off Forced to land China 16
bombers 8 death

• Air attack on Tokyo

• No gains but U.S. happy

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Battle of Coral Sea

• May 1942

• Carrier-based plane fighting only (1st time)

• Stopped Japan from expanding
• southward

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• Japanese Losses
• 5 aircraft carriers
• (1/4 of entire fleet)
• 2 cruisers
• 3 destroyers
• 322 planes
• (280 on carriers)
• 3057 Japanese
• sailors
• US Losses
• 362 U.S. sailors

Battle of Midway

• June 1942

• U.S. controlled Midway gateway to Hawaii

• U.S. learned of the attack was prepared

• Huge losses to Japanese fleet now on defensive

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Island-Hopping

• 3,000 miles of water and islands surround Japan
• MacArthur strategy "leapfrog" across to Japan

• Attacked strategic islands only

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Guadalcanal

• Americans on the offense

• Marines experienced jungle warfare

• 6 months of fighting until Japan
• retreats

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Battle of Leyte Gulf

• Americans return to the Philippines

• Kamikaze" (suicide) pilots 1st used by
• Japanese

• controls of Philippines by July of 1945

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Iwo Jima

• Strategic location for U.S.

• Heavily defended by Japanese,
• bloody fighting

• Bushido style of fighting -no surrender

74 days of bombings 60,000 marines vs.
23,000 21,000 died only 200 were taken prisoner
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Okinawa

• located 350 miles from Japanese cities

• Pacific Front's largest amphibious operation

• Door to Japan now open

• 1,500 kamikaze pilots
• Japanese lost 100,000
• U.s. losses 12,000
• Little to no surrender

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Tokyo

• Spring-summer 1945

• Firebombing

• Killed many civilians
• Continued through August 1945

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Hiroshima and Nagasaki

• July 1945--Manhattan Project complete

• Japan refused to surrender

• No warning of atomic bomb

• Aug. 6 9, 1945 a-bombs dropped on Hiroshima
  Nagasaki

• Over 200,000 deaths

• Aug. 14, 1945--Japanese surrender