Tragedy in the Pacific Trivia Quiz

The Battle of Singapore is sometimes known as the Fall of Singapore.

On February 8, 1942, the Japanese attacked British-held Singapore which was defended by 90,000 troops from British, Indian, Australian and local soldiers stationed on the island. Arthur Percival, the commander-in-chief expected the attack but he left Singapore's landward side virtually undefended (he did destroy the causeway between Singapore and mainland Malaya). Even though he thought the dense jungle and mangrove swamp on the Malay Peninsula were impassable, he had knowledge the Japanese were progressing at a rapid rate down the Malay Peninsula and was convinced that the attack would come from the sea. The Japanese attacked through the 'impenetrable' jungle. After only 7 days of fighting, the Commonwealth forces had to surrender. It was the largest surrender in British military history. Over 60,000 troops joined the 50,000 taken in Malaya and became prisoners of war. Many of these died from neglect, forced labour or physical abuse.

The day after the surrender on February 15, 1942, the Japanese began the Sook Ching purge, killing thousands of civilians who were considered 'anti-Japanese' elements in Singapore, and especially the Singaporean Chinese were particularly targeted.

The fall of Singapore, with the sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse nearby on 10 December 1941, all severely undermined British prestige. This was a major contribution to ending British colonial rule in Southeast Asia after the war.

The Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) produced large quantities of oil and commodities such as bauxite (for aluminium) and rubber. The Japanese Empire was keen to establish a large defensive perimeter around Japan, and the Dutch East Indies were an essential part of that plan, particularly as a source of oil and rubber, which were necessary for their war effort.

The Battle of the Java Sea was fought, on a single day, February 27, 1942, between the American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) and Japanese navies. The ABDA forces intercepted the invading Japanese in the Java Sea between Borneo and the island of Java with the sole purpose of stopping the Japanese advance in the Dutch East Indies. However, the Japanese annihilated the ABDA forces: three destroyers and two cruisers were sunk, killing 2,300 men including the ABDA commander-in-chief, Karel Doorman. The Japanese Empire did not lose a single ship. The Battle of the Java Sea caused great alarm in the Allied ranks as it appeared, that at this stage, the Japanese forces were unstoppable - the Japanese invasion of Java was postponed for just one day.

According to US Intelligence's "U.S. Navy Communications Intelligence and the Battles of Coral Sea, Midway, and the Aleutians" by FD Parker in 1993, the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet "Secret Order Number One", dated 1 November 1941, the goals of the initial Japanese campaigns in the upcoming war were to, "(eject) British and American strength from the Netherlands Indies and the Philippines".

The Japanese forces achieved this in early 1942 when they attacked and took control of the Philippines, Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, the Netherlands East Indies, Wake Island, New Britain, the Gilbert Islands, and Guam. However, the commander of the Japanese 4th Fleet, Vice Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue, who commanded all naval units in the South Pacific, wanted to expand this parameter by seizing Lae, Salamaua, and Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. This would allow greater security for Rabaul in New Britain, which was the major Japanese base in the South Pacific. This plan was endorsed and planning began to expand further by seizing Nauru, Ocean Island, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Samoa. This would sever supply lines between Australia and the US which in turn, would eliminate Australia as a threat to Japan in the South Pacific.

The Battle of the Coral Sea (May 4-8, 1942) was unique then as it was fought exclusively by aircraft. Not one - none of the ships involved in the battle shot a single shot at an enemy ship. The Allies were able to decipher the codes of the Japanese and determined the Japanese were going to attack Port Moresby and Talagi (in the Solomons) to enable major Japanese bases to be created. Aircraft carriers were deployed to intercept the Japanese forces heading south. The Japanese inflicted heavy casualties on the US and Australian fleets and the allies were forced to withdraw. The Japanese were concerned that there would be more Allied carriers in the region and cancelled their Port Moresby plans, thereby creating a strategic victory for the combined U.S. and Australian forces.

With Japan controlling most of the South Pacific, The US employed a dual-pronged attack. Rather than attack heavily fortified southern Pacific Japanese strongholds, pushing the Japanese forces back to Japan would have been a campaign fraught with massive loss of life to the Allies, so they decided to island-hop and cut supply lines. With the latter, a naval force would interrupt supply lines to heavy Pacific strongholds, such as the Philippines and the Solomon Islands, in effect weakening these forces. Meanwhile, another US force, the Marines, would take a westward path of storming lightly fortified islands so they could get close to the Japanese home islands and mount a final assault from these nearby islands.

The first of these island hops was at Midway, a tiny island at the western edge of the Hawaiian archipelago. The Japanese commenced an attack on the Aleutian Islands at the western extremes of Alaska, intending to divert the attention from their real goal - the Midway Atoll, on June 3, 1942. However, the Americans broke the Japanese codes and knew exactly what was happening.

What transpired was one of the first major encounters between the US and Japanese forces. There were three days of fighting commencing on June 3, resulting in the Japanese giving up on their attempt to invade Midway. Moreso, the Imperial forces' military might was drastically reduced. They lost all four aircraft carriers and over 250 planes. Japan then abandoned their plans to reach the US. While the battle was fought over a tiny piece of land, it was a turning point in the war.

The Battle of Guadalcanal was a series of land and sea battles fought both on land and sea for the largest of the Solomon Islands. Despite being a small island, the Japanese stronghold was a threat to supply chains between the US and Australia. On August 7, 1942, the Allied forces attacked Guadalcanal and succeeded in capturing the island. However, this took six months to overcome Japanese resistance.

Both sides drew heavy losses. The Japanese lost over 30,000 men, over 600 aircraft, and 24 warships. The Allies suffered heavy losses as well including 600 aircraft destroyed, 25 warships sunk and over 7,000 men killed in action. On February 9, 1943, the Japanese forces evacuated the 10,000 men who still survived. The route between the United States and Australia had been secured and was not threatened for the duration of the rest of the war.

After the direct threat to the US ended after the Battle of Midway, the US used its massive infrastructure to make more ships, aeroplanes, and train its military personnel. Japan lacked an adequate base to do the same. The time was used for other attacks rather than battles and as such Truk, Rabaul, and Formosa were neutralised without combat fighting forcing Japan to defend a smaller Pacific perimeter. The US did not go looking for the Japanese navy to engage in battle as any Allied advance could only be halted by a Japanese navy attack. The US knew this would never eventuate due to oil shortages in Japan US Submarines were used to sink the Japanese merchant fleet to stop oil from getting back to Japan. The Gilbert and Marshall Islands were taken quickly by the US, but there were high casualties on both sides at Tarawa in the Gilbert islands as the Japanese had concentrated personnel defending a smaller perimeter.

The US was trying to get close enough to Japan to be able to use their B-29s to bomb the Japanese home islands. Saipan (Mariana Islands) was one of those locations. This battle began on June 15, 1944. However, the Japanese dug in and refused to surrender even when they knew they could never win the battle. It took 24 days for U.S. troops to raise a flag in victory. The cost was enormous - over 30,000 Japanese troops were either killed or committed suicide. This included all four commanders (suicide). No more than a thousand Japanese soldiers were captured as prisoners of war. The Battle of Saipan was infamous for claiming thousands of civilian deaths, with many being suicides. The Americans lost 3500 men.

Four days after the Americans landed on Saipan, the Battle of the Philippine Sea was fought between the U.S. and Japanese carriers off its coast. The Japanese launched an ill-fated attack on the US. The battle commenced on the 19th June 1944, but by the afternoon of the 20th, the Japanese had to retreat as all three carriers were sunk, along with 400 planes.

The Japanese naval and air arms were now beyond repair.

The Battle of Leyte was where the two major advances on Japan - the central Pacific offensive commanded by General Nimitz and the southern Pacific approach under General MacArthur converged. MacArthur was given overall command whilst Nimitz provided naval support from the U.S. Pacific Fleet. It was the naval battle that saw the fiercest fight. The Japanese knew holding onto the Philippines was crucial to keep the Allies out of Japan itself, and threw everything at the Allied advance. It was the largest naval battle in World War II, and some historians believe it was the largest naval battle in history with over 270 warships (64 Japanese versus 216 American and two Australian warships).

The battle lasted four days in October 1944. This was the end of the Japanese Imperial Navy as a force. They lost their last four carriers, eleven destroyers, ten cruisers and three battleships with 12,000 souls lost. The Allies themselves lost 3500 men as well as three destroyers and two escort carriers.

The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the hardest-fought battles of WWII. With virtually no naval and air support, the Japanese infantrymen had been told to fight to the last on this tiny island (5 x 2.5 miles), only 760 miles southeast of Honshu. The US Armed Forces had superior numbers of soldiers and weapons, but the Japanese defended their positions fiercely - the battle took over five weeks in February/March 1945 for the Americans to triumph, culminating in the much-publicised raising of the flag on Mt Suribachi.

The Japanese did indeed fight to the last man. Over 21,000 of the 22,000 defenders were killed. The Americans also paid a high price with 6,800 killed and about 20,000 injured.

The Battle of Okinawa was fought from April 1 to June 22, 1945, and it was even bloodier than the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The Americans needed the island to the southwest of Japan to facilitate a base being built for air raids on Japan as well as to an area to practise and train for the planned invasion of Japan's home islands. The desperate Japanese offered fierce resistance and determination. The Japanese lost between 100,000 and 110,000 men. This was a densely-populated island, and an estimated 100,000 civilians were killed as well. The Americans lost 13,000 men and suffered over 50,000 casualties.

The Battle of Okinawa was a major factor in the US decision to drop atomic bombs on the main Japanese cities (with Hiroshima and Nagasaki being the tragic recipients). The fierce fighting on Okinawa revealed that the Japanese did not surrender but chose death as the 'nobler' option.

It was the Japanese emperor who directed Japan's military generals to unconditionally surrender. Their reluctance to do so was a factor in the dropping of the second bomb on August 9th. The Japanese unconditionally surrendered on August 12th.

The Pacific War was over.