Important Battles of WW2 Japanese Front
Battle of the Java Sea (Feb 1942)
- Allies (USA, Great Britain, Netherlands, Australia) fought Japanese to prevent Japan from getting the Dutch East Indies
- Japanese easily defeated them
- Sank 3 of their destroyers and 2 cruisers
- Killed 2300 men
Battle of Midway (June 1942)
- Japan attacked Aleutian islands as a distraction
- real target was the Midway Atoll
- American codebreakers figured out the plan
- US won a decisive victory
- Japan now on the defensive for the rest of the war
- first battle where the carriers of both sides did not see each other
Battle of Guadalcanal (Aug 1942)
- American amphibious landing and seized airfield in southern Solomon Islands
- heavy Allied losses
- Japan lost and stopped expansion and attempts to disrupt American and Allied supply and communication routes
Battle of Saipan (June 1944)
- US attacked the Mariana Islands to have an airbase that could strike Japan
- many troops and civilians killed themselves or were killed in battle
- Americans won the battle and got a naval base but lost 13,000
Battle of Iwo Jima (Feb 1945)
- Americans invaded Iwo Jima to get airstrips
- fighting over a month
- famous picture of US Marines putting American flag on an island
- American victory but both sides suffered high losses
Battle of Okinawa (Apr 1945)
- Americans attacked Okinawa (southernmost tip of Japan)
- established an air raid base and practice runs to invade mainland Japan
- Americans won with high troops and civilian casualties
- Japan had double the number of troop casualties
- the high casualties led Truman to approve the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
