Practices — WWII in the Pacific

Key Japanese tactics (5)

1. Strategic defensive perimeter: protect acquired territories and resources

2. Mass fortification of islands (Iwo Jima, Okinawa)

3. War of attrition: wearing the Americans down

4. Suicide attacks & kamikaze: desperate by the end of the war

5. Total war tactics: use of civilians as human shields

Key US tactics (4)

• Initially used dual attack: forces were split as MacArthur (General) and Nimitz (Admiral) favoured different routes

• Island-hopping: Nimitz and MacArthur combined forces

  • Targeting strategically important islands with airfields and harbours

  • Could avoid heavily fortified strongholds, reducing casualties

• Amphibious landings facilitating island-hopping: started after Guadalcanal

• Intelligence and code breaking

Examples of sea tech and tactics

1. Aircraft carriers

2. Radio decryption

3. US total war tactics

Aircraft carriers

• Acted as mobile airbases, increasing the range of the US military

• US quickly outproduced the Japanese

By 1945:

US: 29 carriers in service, Japan: 4 carriers in service

Key battle: Battle of Midway (1942)

• Japan lost all 4 carriers deployed while the US lost only 1

• First battle fought almost entirely by aircrafts launched from carriers

• Midway presented an irreplaceable loss to Japan (US quickly began to outproduce Japan)

Radio decryption

US decoded Japan’s JN-25 code: gave the US a significant advantage in the Battle of Midway (1942)

US’ Navajo code was never broken by Japan

US total war tactics for island hopping

Nimitz and MacArthur joint forces to pursue island hopping

Examples for land technology and tactics

1. Japan’s Type 95 tank

2. US amphibious landings

3. Japanese total war tactics

Type 95 tank

• High mobility due to its small size —> cause of early success

• Agile in jungle warfare (success in Malayan jungles, leading to the Fall of Singapore)

• Quickly outclassed by Allied tanks

Amphibious landings

• Facilitated by landing crafts

• Carrier-based support

• naval bombardment to weaken defences

Battle of Guadalcanal (1942): first large-scale US amphibious landing

Japanese total war tactics

• Rooted in ultranationalism & bushido

• Militarisation of civilians

• ‘Fight to the death’ mentality

Iwo Jima: soldiers refusing to surrender

Okinawa: civilians as human shields, children at frontlines

Examples of air tech and tactics

1. Japanese dive bombers, zero fighters, and kamikaze

2. US island-hopping

3. B-29 bomber and atomic bombs

Japanese dive bombers, zero fighters, and kamikaze

Dive bombers: remarkable hit rates key in early victories (e.g. Pearl Harbor)

Zero fighters: high speed and manoeuvrability helped gain air superiority at the start of the war

Kamikaze: suicide attacks by pilots trying to hit Allied ships (after the loss of experienced pilots), great psychological effect (Okinawa)

US island hopping

Helped secure air bases, extending the operational range

B-29 bombers and atomic bomb

• Only Allied bomber capable of reaching Japan from island bases (long range)

• Could deliver massive payloads over long distances

Hence, the B-29 was used to deliver A bombs

Example: ‘Little Boy’ on Hiroshima —> directly ending the war

Key battles

1. Pearl Harbor 1941

2. Battle of the Coral sea 1942

3. Battle of Midway 1942

4. Battle of Guadalcanal 1942

5. Tarawa (1943), Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf (1944)

6. Iwo Jima & Okinawa (1945)

Pearl Harbor 1941

Key example of Japan’s early success

Battle of the Coral Sea 1942

• Draw in terms of figures

• Prevented Japan’s landing on Southern New Guinea (Australia protected)

Battle of Midway (1942)

• Landmark US victory

• 4 Japanese carriers destroyed, 1 US carrier destroyed

• Japan never fully recovered from losses (experienced pilots and naval officers)

Battle of Guadalcanal 1942

• First large-scale US amphibious landing

• Led to new tactics for the US (e.g. air assaults, naval bombardments)

Tarawa (1943), Philippines Sea, Leyte Gulf (1944)

• Major defeats for the Japanese as tactics failed

• Significant loss of experienced pilots and carriers

• Introduced desperate tactics (e.g. kamikaze)

Iwo Jima & Okinawa (1945)

• Key examples of Japan’s heavy fortifications

• No surrender policy

• Ferocious use of kamikaze

Japanese human mobilisation

Home front: National Mobilisation Law (1938)

• 4.5 million people kept in jobs

Women: very reluctant to use women in industry

Forced labour: millions of labour from captured soldiers (Koreans, Chinese, Australians etc.) who had low productivity

US human mobilisation

Home front:

• Unemployment reduced to 3%

• Effective propaganda: Rosie the Riveter

Women:

• 6 times more women used than in Japan

• Women in uniform: 1000+ women in the US Air Force (WASPs)

Recruitment & conscription

• Draft system

• Nearly 50 million men drafted

• Age bracket increased from 18-25 to 45

Japanese economic mobilisation

• Industrial capacity was 10% that of the US

• Industry suffered extensive strategic bombing (99% of Tokyo destroyed)

US economic mobilisation

• Allies controlled 2 thirds of global deposits of key raw materials

• Larger population (double Japan’s) aided economic production

• Outproduced the Japanese

3 key economic stats

1. The US had 4 times the number of aircrafts Japan had

2. US spending on munitions was 6 times that of Japan’s

3. US produced more than 99,000 while Japan produced 4800

US allies

China: crucial in wearing down the Japanese

Australia: a million men served in the army, women were crucial

Vietnam, Malaya, USSR were also important

Japan’s allies

Axis alliance never coordinate their efforts: provided very limited mutual aid