World War II The Pacific Front

Doolittle’s Raid – April 18, 1942

15 B-25 bombers, led by James Doolittle, took off from an aircraft carrier.

Bombed factories, steel mills, oil tanks and other military targets in Japan

This hits Japan’s spirits hard “We started to doubt that

were were invincible” – Japanese Civilian leader

Naval Warfare & Island Hopping

Naval Warfare Fighting was done by

carrier-based airplanes; opposing ships never saw one another or exchanged gunfire

Island Hopping General Douglas

MacArthur wanted to “leapfrog” or bypass Japanese strongholds and get the weaker islands.

Battles Battle of Midway

Led by Admiral Chester Nimitz

Japanese invasion force of over 110 ships was heading toward Midway!

Nimitz prepared a surprise reception for the Japanese at Midway!

Guadalcanal Japans first defeat 19,000 marines stormed

Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands

Japanese eventually abandon island

Battle of Saipan - 1944

U.S. wanted to gain an air base for U.S. planes

Japanese were ready and it was a brutal fight!

U.S. eventually takes the island of Saipan

http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-saipan

Battle of Leyte Gulf

Disaster for Japan Lost 3 battleships, 4 aircraft carriers, 13

cruisers and almost 400 planes. U.S. retook the Philippines and

liberated the American prisoners of war!

Kamikaze’s

Suicide-plane, attacks1 Japanese pilots crashed their bomb-

laden planes into Allied ships 424 kamikaze pilots on missions in

the Philippines

Battle for Iwo Jima - 1945

“Operation Detachment”

U.S. wanted a place where B-29 bombers could land & needed to invade Japan

5 weeks of fighting

Japanese fought from tunnels and underground caves and dugouts.

Mt. Suribachi http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima

Battle for Okinawa - 1945

“Operation Iceberg”

Largest amphibious assault in Pacific and LAST campaign in the Pacific

More than 1,900 kamikaze attacks on Allied forces during the Okinawa campaign

“It was a scene straight out of hell. There is not other way to describe it” – Japanese girl

http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa