20 Questions: World War II - Pacific Theater Multiple Choice Quiz | History

Answer: Wake Island

US Marines repeatedly foiled Japanese attempts to invade and capture Wake Island in December 1941. Only the addition of Japanese reserve ships, planes, and troops turned the tide during the third week of the month. The survivng Marines spent the remainder of the war in Japanese POW camps, where many died.

Answer: December 8, 1941

Japanese attacks on both American and British colonies in Asia were coordinated with their December 7, 1941 attack on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The attack on US forces in the Philippines occurred almost simultaneously, but, because of the International Date Line, the attack on the Philippines took place on December 8, 1941.

Answer: Gen. Douglas MacArthur

MacArthur was in command of all US Army and Army Aircorps personnel and Filipino units on Luzon and the other Philippine islands. After he was evacuated to Australia, MacArthur was appointed CINC of all land and air forces in the Southwest Pacific.

Answer: True

Enterprise bombing 6 attacked Kaga and Akagi. Yorktown's Bombing 8 attacked Soryu.
Lt. Cmdr. McClusky's divebombing squadron from the Enterprise spotted a lone Japanese destroyer. Using the ship's wake as a 'compass needle', he turned his squadron northeast, and began an attack that would turn the tide in the Pacific War.

Answer: June 4 - 6, 1942

The Battle of Midway occurred less than two weeks after the Battle of the Coral Sea, during which the Yorktown was severely damaged. Crews at Pearl Harbor, working around the clock, patched her together so that she could fight at Midway along with the Enterprise and the Hornet.

Answer: Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu

The Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu (the largest carriers) were sunk by US Navy divebombers on the morning of June 5. The carrier Hiryu was sunk late on the afternoon of June 5.

Answer: Yorktown

The Yorktown was attacked in the early afternoon of June 5th by dive bombers from the Japanese carrier Hiryu. Superior damage control and firefighting units from Yorktown and other ships, and skillful counter-flooding, righted the ship. As she was being towed back to Pearl Harbor, she took two fatal torpedo hits from a Japanese submarine.

Answer: US Marines invaded Guadalcanal

US Marines of the First Division went on the offensive for the first time, landing virtually unopposed on Guadalcanal.

Answer: Henderson Field

Henderson Field was named after a Marine fighter pilot who died defending the island of Midway from fierce Japanese air attacks on June 4, 1942.

Answer: Grumman F4F Wildcat

The F4F Wildcat was the principal fighter used by both Naval and Marine aviators in the first year of the war. The Japanese Zero could do almost everything better than the Wildcat -- except dive -- and the Zero lacked sufficient armor and self-sealing fuel tanks.

Answer: The Tokyo Express

Beginning in October 1942, Japanese battleships, heavy cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers cruised along the north shore of Guadalcanal, plastering Henderson Field with 5-, 8-, 12-, and 14-inch shells. They almost succeeded in knocking out the airfield.

Answer: Adm. Chester Nimitz

Nimitz was in charge of all US Forces in the Central Pacific. His 'island-hopping' campaign was meant to support MacArthur's forces in their attacks on Japanese-held territory in the South West Pacific. MacArthur felt slighted that Nimitz held so much power.

Answer: Betio

Betio, a parrot-shaped island, had been built into a fortress of bunkers, machine-gun nests, underground passageways, and underwater obstacles by the Japanese. The Marines were very nearly thrown back into the sea on the first day of the battle.

Answer: Saipan

After a failed mass 'Banzai' charge, Japanese soldiers began committing 'seppuku' (ritual suicide). Many civilians, believing that US troops were brutal barbarians ('gaijin'), chose suicide by jumping (sometimes as whole families) off the cliffs to their deaths on the rocks below.

Answer: Leyte

US Navy and Army forces landed in Leyte Gulf (southeast of Luzon) in October, 1944.

Answer: Adm. William 'Bull' Halsey

'Bull' Halsey, probably the most agressive Admiral in the US Navy at that time, was fooled into pursuing a group of Japanese carriers that had no planes. He was supposed to guard the invasion fleet which was anchored in Leyte Gulf. Halsey's actions allowed the Japanese super battleship Yamato and several cruisers and escorts to attempt a serious attack on the invasion force. US Task Force 17, consisting of DD's, DE's and 'jeep' Carriers, so confused the Japanese admiral, that he turned back, thinking that he'd run into Halsey's Third Fleet.

Answer: The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot

It was called the '...Turkey Shoot' because the Japanese carrier and land-based pilots, with very little training, were slaughtered at a ratio of almost 10:1 by the better-trained US Navy pilots, now flying the Gruman F6F Hellcat, a great air-superiority fighter. The 'Zero' was no match for it.

Answer: Leyte Gulf

Japanese land-based aircraft undertook suicide missions from their bases in the Philippines. Their first big score was the US Carrier 'Princeton'. Undertrained Japanese pilots volunteered for these suicide missions. 'Kamikaze' is Japanese for 'Divine Wind'.

Answer: Guadalcanal

The Battle for Guadalcanal lasted from August 1942 to February 1943. In the end, the Japanese Navy evacuated the lion's share of the Japanese garrison. It was one of the few times when the Japanese did not fight to the death.

Answer: Colonel Paul Tibbets

The B-29 that Tibbets flew, the 'Enola Gay', was named after Tibbets' mother. The lone B-29 dropped the 'Little Boy', a uranium bomb, on Hiroshima at about 8:15 a.m. (local time) on August 6, 1945.