Interesting information on war in the Pacific

" A Japanese staff functioned very differently from its Western counterpart. The commander bore the burden of spiritual responsibility, maintained contact with higher headquarters, and guided his staff. The chief-of-staff and operations officer possessed far more power than a Western chief-of-staff and G-3. Staff officers presented options to the chief and decisions were derived by negotiation, guided by the commander, to reach a common concensus. In reality, aggressive and opinionated staff officers, concerned with face-saving, often battled their way through planning sessions with factions of offficers taking sides. Planning was made more difficult in an environment where anyone advising caution was branded a coward, where major commanders took complete operational freedom ( Dokudan Senko ) from higher headquarters, and subordinates often ignored their commanders ( Gekokujo ).

From Okinawa 1945 by G Rottman

 

Military History Online - The Franco-Siamese War of 1941

 

Hewitt Wheless and B-17 and fight against 18 Zeroes(?!!)....


Wings of Valor II-  Harl Pease, B17 Pilot

B-17 Flying Fortress Units of the ... - Google-teoshaku

 

Bombing of Tokyo:

The New York Times reported at the time, "Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, commander of the B-29s of the entire Marianas area, declared that if the war is shortened by a single day, the attack will have served its purpose."

Curtis LeMay - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

General Douglas MacArthur signed the document ending World War II in the Pacific with his 20 year old Duofold.

The Parker Duofold Pen

GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR'S WIDOW TO BE PRESENTED WITH REPLICA OF PEN HER HUSBAND USED TO SIGN SURRENDER DOCUMENTS TO END WORLD WAR II - PR Newswire - HighBeam Research

 

HERO OR JAILBIRD

When Col. Paul Tibbits was told that he was to deliver the first atomic bomb to Japan, he was told he would probably emerge from the war either as a hero - or possibly go to jail.
Source: Lecture by Col. Tibbits

World War Trivia and Cartoons - Riebel-Roque Publishing Company

 

The Japanese strike force and Pearl Harbor and refuelling before attack:

Japanese Auxiliary Oilers

26 November 1941

Nagumo's orders from Admiral (Fleet Admiral, posthumously) Yamamoto Isoroku, CINC, Combined Fleet, are that if refueling proves impossible in the stormy winter waters of the Northern Pacific, Nagumo is to detach AGAKI, SORYU and HIRYU and his destroyers and make the attack with only KAGA, SHOKAKU and ZUIKAKU.

5 December 1941:

At about 1130, after fleet refueling is completed, the 2nd Supply Group's oilers TOHO, NIPPON and TOEI MARUs and destroyer ARARE are detached from the Striking Force and turn towards a designated rendezvous point with the carriers for the retrurn trip to Japan.

6 December 1941:

At 0630, the entire Striking Force engages in its final refueling. At 0810, after refueling is complete, the 1st Supply Group's oilers SHINKOKU, KENYO, KOKUYO and KYOKUTO MARUs and destroyer KASUMI are detached and turn N towards a designated rendezvous point with the carriers for the retrurn trip to Japan.
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From The Pearl Harbor papers by Goldstein and Dillon ( p 120-121 )

" What made me worry more than anything, however, was the fact that the time of our going to war was called off by one month, a fact which pressed me with intensified fear that refueling in the northern route, the only possible route to take, would no longer be possible to determine the fate of the operation.
As it turned out, however, I should say we were blessed by the War God, since a wide high pressure zone, the last one appearing in that district in this year, prevailed in the district extending as long as 2,000 miles. It was the first such phenomenon since 1938, which enabled refueling at sea."

Letter from Isoroku Yamamoto to Admiral Takahashi 19 December 1941

 

Actually, iirc, Nagasaki was the tertiary (i.e. third and last) target that day. Both of the first two were cloud-covered, and they had orders to bomb visually. What I have read is they at first thought Nagasaki would be the same, then the clouds opened enough for the bomb run...

 

Okinawa 1945

4 June

The 4th Marines landed on Beaches " Red 1 " and " Red 2 ", south of Naha, at 0600 hours to be followed by the 29th Marines. It was the last opposed amphibious assault in WW2.

26-30 June

Kume Shima, 55 miles west of Okinawa, was secured by the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion to establish a radar site and fighter direction center. Landing on the island´s southeast coast, the force met no opposition from the estimated 50-man garrison, which was later engaged. This was the final amphibious assault of WW2.

Also on Okinawa 1945 by Gordon Rottman






The Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa (Closing the Loop)

 

December 8, 1941

Admiral Halsey entered Pearl Harbor with his carrier Enterprise. Upon seeing the extent of the destruction, Halsey said, "Before we're through with 'em, the Japanese language will be spoken only in hell."

 

Back in 1983 I was invited to drinks by some young LTs of the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force. The bartender of the establishment we repaired to was a aging gent in his late 50s or perhaps early 60s. My companions introduced him to me as a kamikaze boat pilot. This man did not speak English and my inhebriated companions were not the best translators, but I was led to belive he had piloted explosive laden boat into the side of a US ship. His cargo failed to explode and he was snatched from the water by a generous American crew. The bartenders pantomine of a terrified seventeen year old surrendering was most convincing.

 

Sad info but knowing is important in my opinion

Eddie Leonski - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edward Joseph Leonski (December 12, 1917 – November 9, 1942) was an American serial killer who committed his crimes in Australia. Leonski was hanged at Pentridge Prison on November 9, 1942, only the second American serviceman to be executed during World War II.

 

The first German ship able to break through the Allied blockade was the Weserland (6,500 tons), under commander Krage who on December 28th, 1940 sailed from Kobe with a load of rubber, wolfram, felt, vegetable oil, tea, coffee and pharmaceutical products. The Waserland crossed the Pacific, Cape Horn, the Atlantic and arrived in Bordeaux on April 4th, 1941 after 98 days at sea.

After Italian surrender 1943:

Despite the awful Japanese behavior, many Italian submariners in the Indian Ocean kept fighting for several months. The Italian boats were transferred to the German U-Boat command in Penang and continued operating with a mixed Italian-German crew. After the German surrender, on May 8th 1945, about 20 sailors kept fighting along the Japanese (5).. For the record, the Torelli operated in Japanese waters until August 30th, 1945 and was even able to shoot down an American B-25 Mitchell, the last success of a "Japanese" naval vessel in War World Two.


Comando Supremo: Italian submarines and surface vessels in the far east: 1940-1945

 

I will be back!....to read all seven pages. There is some gold in thar.

 

My daughter went to Japan on a student exchange 3 years ago...I know there has been many incidents or ill will about Japanese atrocities committed towards the Chinese now being omitted from school texts...Now not to get into a heated dispute, and cause any ill-will i relay what a number of Japaneses kids knew, or believe was fact...that the sinking of Japanese midget subs was the actual start of WW2 and because of this unwarranted attack, the USA had in fact attacked Japan first and where to blame for WW2....I was out raged,,,not by the kids, but by historians/teachers/and whom taught these kids to believe this

 

That's an interesting attitude. Pearl Harbor was the US Navy's Pacific Fleet base and Japanese subs had no business being anywhere near it. Had US subs been lurking around the IJN's fleet bases in the Inland Sea, the Japanese would have felt quite justified in sinking them without warning. The Japanese midget subs were all sunk in, or very near, the US Navy anchorage at Pearl Harbor and, even if there had not been a simultaneous air attack, these sinkings cannot accurately be called "unwarranted".

It's a pathetic commentary on history, as taught in Japan, that a few years ago, when my wife and I were visiting the Pearl Harbor Memorial Museum at Pearl Harbor of all places, we met a Japanese family who had no idea what the museum was all about until, midway through the tour, they were horrified to learn it commemorated the Japanese sneak attack that began the Pacific war. They insisted that such a thing could not be, and that there must have been a terrible mistake. They were bewildered and overwhelmed by the angry reaction that provoked in some of the other visitors. My wife, who is Chinese, assured them there was no mistake, and that her parents and older siblings had endured the brutal Japanese occupation of Borneo. The poor Japanese were astounded to learn that what they thought they knew about WW II was badly flawed.

 

All nations behave badly when at war, no?... All nations control their media. ....(Which nation first flew a powered airplane?, Who invented radio?)....I've tried (not too hard) to find some info on Japan and it's religions up to 1945. 'Cause I couldn't understand everyone being so uptight about the "Emperor of Japan" and their loyalty to someone who is ...what? A god? And to hurl yourself to certain death for what?Why was the Emperor divine?

 

April 5, 1945 Sadao Munemori saves the lives of two other American soldiers by diving on a German grenade. He is the only Japanese American awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during World War II.

Japanese American National Museum: Hirasaki National Resource Center

 

Gregory Michno draws on American, British, Australian, and Dutch POW accounts as well as Japanese convoy histories, recently declassified radio intelligence reports, and a wealth of archival sources to present for the first time a detailed picture of what happened and the extent of the prisoners involved. His findings are startling. More than 150,000 Allied prisoners were transported in the hellships with more than 21,000 fatalities. While many of the deaths were attributable to beatings, starvation, disease, and lack of food and water, the most, Michno reports, were caused by Allied bombs, bullets, and torpedoes.

Amazon.com: Death on the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific War: Gregory F. Michno: Books

 

That sounds like an interesting book to read. I wish I had an extra $35 laying around !