cacbindoon.weebly.comcacbindoon.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/2/9/12296721/expert… · Web view. By the time of the fall of France, the Luftwaffe (the German air force) had 3,000 planes

Theatres of War During World War Two

The Phoney War‘Phoney War’ is the name given to the period of time in World War Two from September 1939to April 1940 when, after the blitzkriegattack on Poland in September 1939, seemingly nothing happened. Many in Great Britain expected a major calamity – but the title ‘Phoney War’ summarises what happened in Western Europe – near enough nothing.

The term 'Phoney War' was first used, allegedly, by an American senator called Borah. Winston Churchill referred to the same period as the ‘Twilight War’ while the Germans referred to it as ‘Sitzkrieg’ – 'sitting war'.

The Phoney War refers to what happened in Western Europe between September 1939 and the spring of 1940. To assume that nothing was going on in Europe would be wrong as Poland was in the process of being occupied with all that brought for the Polish people. However, in Western Europe very little of military importance did take place. In fact, so little occurred that many of the children who had been evacuatedat the start of the war, had returned to their families. To many, war had been declared by Neville Chamberlain, but nothing was actually happening.

In fact, things were happening but the public in Britain were not aware of them – or very few were. The sinking of the ‘Athenia’ sent a clear message to Britain that Germany was prepared to sink passenger liners and not just ships of military importance. The sinking of the ‘Royal Oak’ also brought the war home to Britain. Such was the shock to the government of the ‘Royal Oak’s’ sinking that many people first learned about it from the broadcasts of Lord Haw-Haw.

At 09.00 am September 3rd, U-30 attacked the‘Athenia’ which was bound for Canada. U-30's commander, Lemp, claimed that he believed that the ‘Athenia’ was a naval boat as it was sailing in a zigzag manner and in the poor light he could not differentiate between a liner and a naval vessel. Of the 1,102 passengers and 315 crew, 112 died. Germany attempted to shift the blame for the attack on the British by claiming that British intelligence, on the orders of Winston Churchill, had placed a bomb on board ‘Athenia’. In fact, U-boat commanders had been ordered not to attack passenger liners and Hitler himself issued an order that no further attacks should be made on passenger liners unless it was obvious that they were travelling in convoy.

During the Phoney War, Britain was also engaged in ‘bombing’ raids over Germany – but it was not bombs that were dropped but propaganda leaflets. Sir Kingsley Wood, Secretary of State for War, called them “truth raids”. The ‘raids’ served two purposes:

ØThe Germans would read about the evils of Nazi Germany

Ø It was show the leaders of Germany just how vulnerable their country was to bombing raids.

Millions of leaflets were dropped over Germany. On September 3rd alone, 6 million copies of “Note to the German People” were dropped in just one night – the equivalent of 13 tons of paper. The main result of these initial raids was that the Germans stepped up their anti-aircraft batteries.

While some politicians believed that the raids served a purpose, others in the military did not.




Battle of France

In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the successful German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phony War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and surround the Allied units that had advanced into Belgium. During the fighting, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and many French soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo.

In the second operation, Fall Rot (Case Red), executed from 5 June, German forces outflanked the Maginot Line and pushed deep into France. Italy declared war on France on 10 June and soon afterwards the French government fled to Bordeaux. France's capital of Paris was occupied on 14 June. On 17 June, Philippe Pétain publicly announced France would ask for an armistice. On 22 June, an armistice was signed between France and Germany, going into effect on 25 June. For the Axis Powers, the campaign was a spectacular victory.

Following the Battle of France, France was divided into a German occupation zone in the north and west, a small Italian occupation zone in the southeast, and an unoccupied zone, the zone libre, in the south. A rump state, Vichy France, administered all three zones according to the terms laid out in the armistice. In November 1942, the Axis forces also occupied the zone libre, and metropolitan France remained under Axis occupation until after the Allied landings in 1944. The Low Countries remained under German occupation until 1944 and 1945.



Battle of BritainThe Battle of Britain took place between August and September 1940. After the success of Blitzkrieg, the evacuation of Dunkirk and the surrender of France, Britain was by herself. The Battle of Britain remains one of the most famous battles of World War Two.


An original "Never was so much" poster

The Germans needed to control the English Channel to launch her invasion of Britain (which the Germans code-named Operation Sealion).

They needed this control of the Channel so that the British Navy would not be able to attack her invasion barges which were scheduled to land on the Kent and Sussex beaches.

To control the Channel the Germans needed control of the air. This meant that they had to take on Fighter Command, led by Sir Hugh Dowding, of the Royal Air Force.

The main fighter planes of the RAF were the Spitfire and the Hurricane.

The Germans relied primarily on their Messcherschmitt fighters and their Junkers dive bombers - the famed Stukas.

At the start of the war, Germany had 4,000 aircraft compared to Britain's front-line strength of 1,660. By the time of the fall of France, the Luftwaffe (the German air force) had 3,000 planes based in north-west Europe alone including 1,400 bombers, 300 dive bombers, 800 single engine fighter planes and 240 twin engine fighter


bombers. At the start of the battle, the Luftwaffe had 2,500 planes that were serviceable and in any normal day, the Luftwaffe could put up over 1,600 planes. The RAF had 1,200 planes on the eve of the battle which included 800 Spitfires and Hurricanes - but only 660 of these were serviceable. The rate of British plane production was good - the only weakness of the RAF was the fact that they lacked sufficient trained and experienced pilots. Trained pilots had been killed in the war in France and they had not been replaced.

Britain had a number of advantages over the Luftwaffe. Britain had RADAR which gave us early warning of the approach of the German planes. By the Spring of 1940, fifty-one radar bases had been built around the coast of southern Britain. We also had the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) which used such basics as binoculars to do the same job. By 1940, over 1000 ROC posts had been established. British fighter planes could spend more time in the air over Kent and Sussex as we could easily land for fuel whereas the German fighters could not. German bombers could fly for longer distances than their fighter planes could cover and therefore, the bombers could not always count on fighter cover for protection. The German fighters were also limited in that they could not reload their guns if they ran out of ammunition while over Kent etc. Our fighters could. Without sufficient fighter cover, the German bombers were very open to attack from British fighter planes.

The battle started on July 10th 1940 when the Luftwaffe attempted to gain control of the Straits of Dover. The aim of the Luftwaffe was to tempt the RAF out for a full-scale battle. By the end of July, the RAF had lost 150 aircraft while the Luftwaffe had lost 268. In August, the Luftwaffe started to attack Fighter Command's airfields, operation rooms and radar stations - the idea being that the RAF could be destroyed on the ground so that the Luftwaffe need not fight them in the air. Without radar the RAF would be seriously hampered in terms of early warning and the destruction of operation rooms would cut off communications between fighter bases and those at the heart of the battle controlling the movement of fighter planes. Destroyed runways would hamper the chances of a fighter plane taking off.Bad weather stopped the Luftwaffe from daily raids in August but August 15th is seen as a key date as nearly all the Stuka dive-bombers were destroyed by this date as they fell easy prey to the British fighter planes. Therefore, pin-point bombing of radar stations was all but impossible.

From August 23rd to September 6th, the Luftwaffe started night time bombing raids on cities. The RAF was also badly hit with 6 out of 7 main fighter bases in south-eastern England being put out of action. Biggen Hill was wrecked. However, for all this apparent success, the Luftwaffe was losing more planes than the RAF was - 1000 German losses to 550 RAF.

One event did greatly aid the British. The head of the Luftwaffe - Herman Goering - ordered an end to the raids on radar bases as he believed that they were too unimportant to matter. Albert Speer - a leading Nazi throughout the war - claimed in his book "Inside the Third Reich" that a number of important decisions were made based on Goering's ignorance. As Goering did not understand the importance of something, it was dismissed as unnecessary for success. As a result of this, the radar station at Ventnor on the Isle of Wight functioned throughout the battle and gave Fighter Command vital information regarding German targets.


The change to bombing the cities also gave Fighter Command time to recover from its losses and for pilots to recover from the many hours a day they operated which took many to the brink of exhaustion.

On September 15th came the last major engagement of the battle. On that day, the Luftwaffe lost 60 planes while the RAF lost 28. On September 17th, Hitler postponed indefinitely the invasion of Britain though the night time raids - the Blitz - continued. London, Plymouth and Coventry were all badly hit by these raids.

Recent research indicates that Hitler’s heart was not in an attack on Britain but that he wanted to concentrate his country’s strength on an attack on communist Russia. However, no-one in Britain in the autumn of 1940 would have known about this and all indications from April 1940 onwards, were that Hitler did intend to invade Britain, especially after his boast to the German people - "he's coming, he's coming!"

In a continuation of the propaganda war, the British government claimed that the RAF had shot down 2,698 German planes. The actual figure was 1,100. The RAF lost 650 planes - not the 3,058 planes that the Luftwaffe claimed to have shot down - more than the entire RAF!

Why were the Germans defeated ?

1. The Germans fought too far away from their bases so that refueling and rearming were impossible. The German fighters had a very limited time which they could spend over Britain before their fuel got too low.

2. British fighters could land, refuel and rearm and be in the air again very quickly.

3. The change of targets was crucial. It is now believed that Fighter Command was perhaps only 24 hours away from defeat when the attack on the cities occurred. The breathing space this gave Fighter Command was crucial.

4. The Hurricane and Spitfire (above) were exceptional planes - capable of taking on the might of the Luftwaffe.

At the end of the battle, Winston Churchill said: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."



The Rats of Tobruk

The Rats of Tobruk was the name given to the soldiers of the garrison who held the Libyan port of Tobruk against the Afrika Corps, during the Siege of Tobruk in World War II. The siege started on 10 April 1941 and was finally relieved at the end of November.

Australian troops of the Australian 9th Division and the 18th Brigade of the Australian 7th Division under Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead made up more than half of the Allied presence in Tobruk with a total strength of over 14,000 men. The rest of the garrison was made up of 12,000 British (the 3rd Armoured Brigade, 4 artillery regiments) and Indian (the 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry) troops. During the three moonless periods between August and October the Australian troops and Indian cavalry were withdrawn by sea and replaced by British 70th Infantry Division and the Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade with the Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion under command.

Role of the Rats of Tobruk

A patrol from the 2/13th Infantry Battalion at Tobruk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:9_Div_Tobruk(AWM_020779).jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:9_Div_Tobruk(AWM_020779).jpg


At this time, Rommel's Afrika Korps had never been defeated. During the first phase of the offensive the Rats were mostly concerned with constructing and reinforcing their defenses and observing the enemy. After a few months, however, purely defensive operations gave way to patrols. These forays outside friendly lines were broken into two categories: reconnaissance and fighting.

Apart from providing information on the enemy, sometimes these reconnaissance patrols entailed the capture and/or field interrogation of an enemy. Later, almost exclusively at night, a fighting patrol would act on viable targets found, operating under the simplest of guidelines: do as much damage as you can, without getting caught.

Commonly an attack would involve crawling several miles, surrounding the enemy position, followed by a concerted rush with bayonets. In most cases the action was over in a minute or two, more often than not without a shot fired. Probably the most well-known single offensive action by the Rats was a fighting patrol led by Lieutenant William Horace Noyes, which stalked and destroyed three German light tanks, and killed or wounded the crews of 7 machine-gun and 11 anti-tank gun positions and their protective infantry. In addition, they damaged a German heavy tank, killed and wounded 130 in the process of taking a German garrison, most in the initial bayonet charge. No Rats were lost that night.

In April, the soldiers were told to expect reinforcement and resupply within 8 weeks. In the summer of 1941 Lieutenant-General Thomas Blamey, commander of the Second Australian Imperial Force, with the support of the Prime Minister of Australia requested the withdrawal of 9th Australian Division from Tobruk in order to meet the strong desire of the Australians that all their forces in the Middle East should fight under one command. General Claude Auchinleck, who had replaced Wavell as C-in-C Middle East Command in Cairo, agreed in principle but was not anxious to expedite the operation because a troop movement of this size would have to be made by fast warships during moonless periods of the month (because of the risk of air attacks to shipping) at a time when every resource needed to be concentrated on the planned Operation Crusader.[2]

Based on reports from Australian H.Q. Middle East that the health of the troops had been suffering, the new Australian Prime Minister Arthur Fadden and his successor John Curtin rejected requests from Winston Churchill to change their minds and the replacement of the division was effected by the Royal Navy between August and October. During 9th Australian Division's stay in the besieged Tobruk some 3000 Australians had become casualties and 941 taken prisoner.[5]

The Australians were gradually withdrawn during the three moonless periods between August and October. In August 18 Australian Infantry Brigade and the Indian Army's 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry were replaced by the Polish Carpathian Brigade with Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion (East) under command and in September and October the British 70th Infantry Division including the 32nd Army Tank Brigade replaced the rest of the Australians. Morshead was succeeded as commander of the Tobruk fortress by 70th Division's commander, Major-General Ronald Scobie


Origins of the nameIn what proved to be a propaganda mis-step, Lord Haw-Haw derisively referred to the Garrison as "poor desert rats of Tobruk" during radio broadcasts. This was probably due mostly to two factors:

1. The Australians tended to counterattack to gather equipment as soon as the enemy was routed.

2. The defenders dug extensive tunnel networks and shelters to supplement their trenches — and weren't afraid to use them when bombarded.

The Australians gave themselves the nickname 'the Rats of Tobruk' after Radio Berlin described the Australians as 'caught like rats in a trap'.

The old warships that helped the Rats of Tobruk with supplies and evacuation of the wounded were insulted by Radio Berlin, being called a 'pile of scrap iron'. The Australians therefore called them 'The Scrap Iron Flotilla'.

Adoption of the nameWith typically Australian dry wit, Australians reclaimed the name as a badge of pride, even going so far as to strike their own unofficial medal bearing the likeness of a rat. The metal used to make the medals came from a German bomber the Rats had shot down with captured German guns. Throughout the conflict the Axis attackers had at least twice the manpower and had the advantage of strong air support while the Tobruk garrison had little air support because of the remoteness of friendly air bases. This made supply of the garrison, necessarily by sea, very difficult with ships having to arrive, unload and depart under the cover of darkness.



Operation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa was the name given to Nazi Germany’s invasion of Russia on June 22nd 1941. Barbarossa the largest military attack of World War Twoand was to have appalling consequences for the Russian people.


Operation Barbarossa was based on a massive attack based on blitzkrieg. Hitler had said of such an attack that

“when the attack on Russia starts the world will hold its breath.”

Three army groups attacked Russia on June 22nd 1941. Army Group North, led by von Leeb, Army Group Centre, commanded by von Bock and Army Group South commanded by von Rundstedt.

Army Group Consisted of?

Army Group NorthXVIII Army led by von Küchler

IV Panzergruppe led by Hoepner

XVI Army led by Busch

Totalled 20 divisions and Luftflotte I

Army Group Centre III Panzergruppe led by Hoth

IX Army led by Strauss

IV Army led by von Kluge

II Panzergruppe led by Guderian

Totalled 51 divisions and Luftflotte II

Army Group South VI Army led by von Reichenau

I Panzergruppe led by von Kleist

XVII Army led by von Stülpnagel


Hungarian Army Corps (Carpathian Group)

III Rumanian Army led by Dmitrescu

XI Army led by von Schobert

IV Rumanian Army led by Ciuperca

40 divisions; 14 Rumanian divisions; Hungarian Army Corps and Luftflotte IV.

Russia was defended by four army units. Though Russia had a large army, the purges had wiped out a considerable part of the army’s senior commanders.

The Baltic Special Military District led by Kuznetsov faced Army Group North

8th Army led by Sobennikov

11th Army led by Morosov

27th Army led by Berzarin

Totalled 26 Divisions including 6 armoured ones.

The Western Special Military District led by Pavlov faced Army Group Centre

3rd Army led by Kuznetsov

10th Army led by Golubev

4th Army led by Korobkov

Totalled 36 divisions including 10 armoured ones.

The Kiev Special Military District led by Kirponos faced Army Group South

5th Army led by Potapov

6th Army led by Muzychenko

26th Army led by Kostenko

12th Army led by Ponedelin

Totalled 56 divisions including 16 armoured divisions

The Odessa Special Military District led by Tyulenev which faced Army Group South

9th Army led by Cherevichenko

Totalled 14 divisions including 2 armoured divisions.

In total, Germany amassed 117 army divisions for the attack excluding Rumanian and Hungarian units.

In total, Russia amassed 132 army divisions for the defence of the ‘motherland’, including 34 armoured divisions.

Plans for the attack on Russia had been around since 1940. It is now thought that Hitler lost interest in the Battle of Britain as he was far too focussed on his desired attack on Russia.


The first version of the plan was done by Marcks in August 1940. He envisaged a massive attack on Moscow – his primary target. He also wanted a secondary attack on Kiev and two masking attacks in the Baltic towards Leningrad and in Moldavia in the south. After Moscow had fallen, Marcks wanted a drive south to link up with the attack on Kiev. The attack on Leningrad was also a secondary issue.

The next version of the plan was completed in December 1940 by Halder. He changed Marcks plan by having three thrusts; a major one against Moscow, a smaller attack on Kiev and a major attack on Leningrad. After taking Moscow and Leningrad, Halder wanted a move north to Archangel. After Kiev had fallen, he envisaged a drive into the Don/Volga region.

The third and final variant was Hitler’s plan which he codenamed Barbarossa. This plan was constructed in December 1940. For Hitler, the primary military activity would take place in the north. Hence Leningrad became a vital target as did Moscow. His drive in the south was confined to the occupation of the Ukraine to the west of Kiev.

The attack started at 03.00, Sunday morning June 22nd 1941. In total the Germans and her allies used 3 million soldiers, 3580 tanks, 7184 artillery guns, 1830 planes and750,000 horses.

“It is probable that history will regard June 22, 1941, as the apocalyptic date of the military calendar. No military plan of the scope of Operation Barbarossa had ever before been launched, for never before had techniques of organisation, transport, and communication been available on such a scale.”Barry Pitt

The initial attacks involved numbers never seen before – and the success rate must have even taken Hitler by surprise even if Hitler had proclaimed:

“We have only to kick in the front door and the whole rotten Russian edifice will come tumbling down.” (Hitler)

By Day 17 of the attack, 300,000 Russians had been captured, 2,500 tanks, 1,400 artillery guns and 250 aircraft captured or destroyed. This was only in the territory attacked by Army Group Centre. To any military observer, the Russian Army was on the verge of a total collapse and Moscow seemed destined to fall.

In fact, the German advance had been so fast that it had compromised the whole army’s supply and communication lines. The Army Group Centre paused on the Desna but it was still thought that it was only catching its breath before moving inexorably on. However, it was now that the German army was compromised by its own leader – Hitler.

He ordered that the Army Group Centre’s Panzer Group led by Guderian should move south-east on to Kiev. 1 Panzer Group was also ordered north. This took away from the Centre group two of its most potent fighting forces. Guderian was very angered by this order but Hitler had always proved himself right in the war, so why argue with the Führer? Who, in fact, had the courage to oppose Hitler?

Hitler had recognised that his most difficult decision was what to do after his forces had broken through the Stalin Line – move north, south or continue east?


The mechanised sweeps north and south had the same massive success as the initial assault on June 22nd. Masses of Russian prisoners were captured and vast quantities of Russian equipment was destroyed. But the orders of Hitler had one dire effect – loss of time. The delay was such that the impact of the winter occurred before the Germans had reached the objectives set by Hitler. Very few in the German Army were equipped to cope with the cold and the army, so used to advancing, found itself very much affected by the freezing temperatures. A war of movement as seen so much in June/July 1941 became an attack blighted by freezing weather that would hinder any army let alone one so ill-prepared for such weather conditions.


Attack on Pearl Harbor

On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise air attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. After just two hours of bombing, more than 2,400 Americans were dead, 21 ships* had either been sunk or damaged, and more than 188 U.S. aircraft destroyed.

The attack at Pearl Harbor so outraged Americans that the U.S. abandoned its policy of isolationism and declared war on Japan the following day -- officially bringing the United States into World War II.

Why Attack?

The Japanese were tired of negotiations with the United States. They wanted to continue their expansion within Asia but the United States had placed an extremely restrictive embargo on Japan in the hopes of curbing Japan's aggression. Negotiations to solve their differences hadn't been going well.

Rather than giving in to U.S. demands, the Japanese decided to launch a surprise attack against the United States in an attempt to destroy the United States' naval power even before an official announcement of war was given.

The Japanese Prepare for Attack

The Japanese practiced and prepared carefully for their attack on Pearl Harbor. They knew their plan was extremely risky. The probability of success depended heavily on complete surprise.

On November 26, 1941, the Japanese attack force, led by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, left Etorofu Island in the Kurils (located northeast of Japan) and began its 3,000-mile journey across the Pacific Ocean. Sneaking six aircraft carriers, nine destroyers, two battleships, two heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and three submarines across the Pacific Ocean was not an easy task.


Worried that they might be spotted by another ship, the Japanese attack force continually zig-zagged and avoided major shipping lines. After a week and a half at sea, the attack force made it safely to its destination, about 230 miles north of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began. At 6:00 a.m., the Japanese aircraft carriers began launching their planes amid rough sea. In total, 183 Japanese aircraft took to the air as part of the first wave of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

At 7:15 a.m., the Japanese aircraft carriers, plagued by even rougher seas, launched 167 additional planes to participate in the second wave of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The first wave of Japanese planes reached the U.S. Naval Station at Pearl Harbor (located on the south side of the Hawaiian island of Oahu) at 7:55 a.m. on December 7, 1941. Just before the first bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor, Commander Mitsuo Fuchida, leader of the air attack, called out, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" ("Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!"), a coded message which told the entire Japanese navy that they had caught the Americans totally by surprise.

Surprise Attack on Pearl Harbor

Sunday mornings were a time of leisure for many U.S. military personnel at Pearl Harbor. Many were either still asleep, in mess halls eating breakfast, or getting ready for church on the morning of December 7, 1941. They were completely unaware that an attack was imminent.

Then the explosions started. The loud booms, pillars of smoke, and low-flying enemy aircraft shocked many into the realization that this was not a training exercise; Pearl Harbor was really under attack.

Despite the surprise, many acted quickly. Within five minutes of the beginning of the attack, several gunners had reached their anti-aircraft guns and were trying to shoot down the Japanese planes.

At 8:00 a.m., Admiral Husband Kimmel, in charge of Pearl Harbor, sent out a hurried dispatch to all in the U.S. naval fleet, "AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT DRILL."

The Attack on Battleship Row

The Japanese had been hoping to catch U.S. aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbor, but the aircraft carriers were out to sea that day. The next major important naval target was the battleships.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, there were eight U.S. battleships at Pearl Harbor, seven of which were lined up at what was called Battleship Row and one (the Pennsylvania) was in dry dock for repairs. (The Colorado, the only other battleship of the U.S.'s Pacific fleet, was not at Pearl Harbor that day.)

Since the Japanese attack was a total surprise, many of the first torpedoes and bombs dropped on the unsuspecting ships hit their targets. The damage done was severe. Although the crews on board each battleship worked feverishly to keep their ship afloat, some were destined to sink.

The seven U.S. battleships on Battleship Row:


Nevada - Just over a half hour after the Nevada was hit by one torpedo, the Nevada got underway and left its berth in Battleship Row to head toward the harbor entrance. The moving ship made an attractive target to the Japanese bombers, who caused enough damage to the Nevada that it was forced to beach itself.

Arizona - The Arizona was struck a number of times by bombs. One of these bombs, thought to have hit the forward magazine, caused a massive explosion, which quickly sank the ship. Approximately 1,100 of her crew were killed. A memorial has since been placed over the Arizona's wreckage.

Tennessee - The Tennessee was hit by two bombs and was damaged by oil fires after the nearby Arizona exploded. However, it stayed afloat.

West Virginia - The West Virginia was hit by up to nine torpedoes and quickly sank. Maryland - The Maryland was hit by two bombs but was not heavily damaged. Oklahoma - The Oklahoma was hit by up to nine torpedoes and then listed so severely that she

turned nearly upside down. Despite being upside down, a large number of her crew remained trapped on board. Rescue efforts were only able to save 32 of her crew.

California - The California was struck by two torpedoes and hit by a bomb. The flooding grew out of control and the California sank three days later.

In addition to the air assault on Battleship Row, the Japanese had launched five midget submarines. These midget subs, which were approximately 78 1/2 feet long and 6 feet wide and held only a two man crew, were to sneak into Pearl Harbor and aid in the attack against the battleships. However, all five of these midget subs were sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor.


The fall of SingaporeThe fall of Singapore to the Japanese Army on February 15th 1942 is considered one of the greatest defeats in the history of the British Army and probably Britain’s worst defeat in World War Two. The fall of Singapore in 1942 clearly illustrated the way Japan was to fight in the Far East – a combination of speed and savagery that only ended with the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshimain August 1945.


Singapore, an island at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula, was considered a vital part of the British Empire and supposedly impregnable as a fortress. The British saw it as the "Gibraltar in the Far East".

The surrender of Singapore demonstrated to the world that the Japanese Army was a force to be reckoned with though the defeat also ushered in three years of appalling treatment for the Commonwealth POW’s who were caught in Singapore.

Improvements to Singapore as a British military base had only been completed at great cost in 1938. Singapore epitomised what the British Empire was all about – a strategically vital military base that protected Britain’s other Commonwealth possessions in the Far East.

Once the Japanese expanded throughout the region after Pearl Harbour (December 1941), many in Britain felt that Singapore would become an obvious target for the Japanese. However, the British military command in Singapore was confident that the power they could call on there would make any Japanese attack useless. One story told about the attitude of the British Army in Singapore was of a young Army officer complaining that the newly completed defences in Singapore might put off the Japanese from landing there.

"I do hope we are not getting too strong in Malaya because if so the Japanese may never attempt a landing."

British troops stationed in Singapore were also told that the Japanese troops were poor fighters; alright against soldiers in China who were poor fighters themselves, but of little use against the might of the British Army.

The Japanese onslaught through the Malay Peninsula took everybody by surprise. Speed was of the essence for the Japanese, never allowing the British forces time to re-group. This was the first time British forces had come up against a full-scale attack by the Japanese. Any thoughts of the Japanese fighting a conventional form of war were soon shattered. The British had confidently predicted that the Japanese would attack from the sea. This explained why all the defences on Singapore pointed out to sea. It was inconceivable to British military planners that the island could be attacked any other way – least of all, through the jungle and mangrove swamps of the Malay Peninsula. But this was exactly the route the Japanese took.

As the Japanese attacked through the Peninsula, their troops were ordered to take no prisoners as they would slow up the Japanese advance. A pamphlet issued to all Japanese soldiers stated:

"When you encounter the enemy after landing, think of yourself as an avenger coming face to face at last with his father’s murderer. Here is a man whose death will lighten your heart."

For the British military command in Singapore, war was still fought by the ‘rule book’. Social life was important in Singapore and the Raffles Hotel and Singapore Club were important social centres frequented by officers. An air of complacency had built in regarding how strong Singapore was– especially if it was attacked by the Japanese. When the Japanese did land at Kota Bharu aerodrome, in Malaya, Singapore’s governor, Sir Shenton Thomas is alleged to have said "Well, I suppose you’ll (the army) shove the little men off."

The attack on Singapore occurred almost at the same time as Pearl Harbour. By December 9th 1941, the RAF had lost nearly all of its front line aeroplanes after the Japanese had attacked RAF fields in Singapore. Any hope of aerial support for the army was destroyed before the actual attack on Singapore had actually begun.


Britain’s naval presence at Singapore was strong. A squadron of warships was stationed there lead by the modern battleship "Prince of Wales" and the battle cruiser "Repulse".

On December 8th 1941, both put out to sea and headed north up the Malay coast to where the Japanese were landing. On December 10th, both ships were sunk by repeated attacks from Japanese torpedo bombers. The RAF could offer the ships no protection as their planes had already been destroyed by the Japanese. The loss of both ships had a devastating impact on morale in Britain. Sir Winston Churchill wrote in his memoirs:

"I put the telephone down. I was thankful to be alone. In all the war I never received a more direct shock."

Only the army could stop the Japanese advance on Singapore. The army in the area was led by Lieutenant General Arthur Percival. He had 90,000 men there – British, Indian and Australian troops. The Japanese advanced with 65,000 men lead by General Tomoyuki Yamashita. Many of the Japanese troops had fought in the Manchurian/Chinese campaign and were battle-hardened. Many of Percival’s 90,000 men had never seen combat.

At the Battle of Jitra in Malaya (December 11th and 12th 1941), Percival’s men were soundly beaten and from this battle were in full retreat. The Japanese attack was based on speed, ferocity and surprise. To speed their advance on Singapore, the Japanese used bicycles as one means of transport. Captured wounded Allied soldiers were killed where they lay. Those who were not injured but had surrendered were also murdered – some captured Australian troops were doused with petrol and burned to death. Locals who had helped the Allies were tortured before being murdered. The brutality of the Japanese soldiers shocked the British. But the effectiveness of the Japanese was shown when they captured the capital of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, on January 11th 1942.

All the indications were that the Japanese would attack Singapore across the Johor Strait. General Wavell, the British commander in the region, was ordered by Churchill to fight to save Singapore and he was ordered by Churchill not to surrender until there had been "protracted fighting" in an effort to save the city.

On January 31st 1942, the British and Australian forces withdrew across the causeway that separated Singapore from Malaya. It was clear that this would be their final stand. Percival spread his men across a 70 mile line – the entire coastline of the island. This proved a mistake. Percival had overestimated the strength of the Japanese. His tactic spread his men out for too thinly for an attack.

On February 8th, 1942, the Japanese attacked across the Johor Strait. Many Allied soldiers were simply too far away to influence the outcome of the battle. On February 8th, 23,000 Japanese soldiers attacked Singapore. They advanced with speed and ferocity. At the Alexandra Military Hospital, Japanese soldiers murdered the patients they found there. Percival kept many men away from the Japanese attack fearing that more Japanese would attack along the 70 mile coastline. He has been blamed for failing to back up those troops caught up directly with the fighting but it is now generally accepted that this would not have changed the final outcome but it may only have prolonged the fighting.

The Japanese took 100,000 men prisoner in Singapore. Many had just arrived and had not fired a bullet in anger. 9,000 of these men died building the Burma-Thailand railway. The people of Singapore fared worse. Many were of Chinese origin and were slaughtered by the Japanese. After the war, Japan admitted that 5000 had been murdered, but the Chinese population in


Singapore put the figure at nearer 50,000. With the evidence of what the Japanese could do to a captured civilian population (as seen at Nanking), 5000 is likely to be an underestimate.

The fall of Singapore was a humiliation for the British government. The Japanese had been portrayed as useless soldiers only capable of fighting the militarily inferior Chinese. This assessment clearly rested uncomfortably with how the British Army had done in the peninsula.

The commander of the Australian forces in Singapore later said:

"The whole operation seems incredible: 550 miles in 55 days – forced back by a small Japanese army of only two divisions, riding stolen bicycles and without artillery support."

Sir Winston Churchill had stated before the final Japanese attack:

"There must be no thought of sparing the troops or population; commanders and senior officers should die with their troops. The honour of the British Empire and the British Army is at stake."

Bombing of DarwinThe bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942 was both the first and the largest single attack mounted by a foreign power against Australia. On this day, 242 Japanese aircraft attacked ships in Darwin's harbour and the town's two airfields in an attempt to prevent the Allies from using them as bases to contest the invasions of Timor and Java. The town was only lightly defended, and the Japanese inflicted heavy losses upon the Allied forces at little cost to themselves. The urban areas of Darwin also suffered some damage from the raids, and there were a number of civilian casualties.

This event is often called the "Pearl Harbor of Australia".[2] Although it was a less significant military target, a greater number of bombs were dropped on Darwin than were used in the attack on Pearl Harbor.[3][4] The Australian government downplayed the damage from the bombing raids on Darwin believing its publication would represent a psychological blow to


the Australian population.[5] The raids were the first and largest of almost 100 air raids against Australia during 1942–43.

Air raids

First raid

The MV Neptuna explodes at Stokes Hill Wharf. In front of the explosion is HMAS Vigilant which is undertaking rescue work. In the centre background is the floating dry dock holding the corvette HMAS Katoomba . In the foreground is the damaged SS Zealandia .

The four Japanese aircraft carriers launched 188 aircraft during the morning of 19 February. These comprised 36 A6M Zero fighters, 71 D3A "Val" dive bombers and 81 B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers which were equipped with bombs for this operation. All the aircraft were launched by 8.45 am.[17] This raiding force was led by Commander Mitsuo Fuchida who had also commanded the first wave of attackers during the raid on Pearl Harbor.[10] The carrier aircraft had the objective of attacking the ships in Darwin Harbour as well as the town's port facilities.[10]

On their way to Darwin, Zeros shot down a US Navy PBY Catalina and a USAAC C-47 Skytrain near Melville Island.[23]

At about 9.15 am the Japanese force was spotted by an Australian coastwatcher on Melville Island. While the coastwatcher radioed a warning to the authorities at Darwin, RAAF officers there wrongly judged that the aircraft which had been sighted were actually the ten USAAC P-40s, which were returning to Darwin at the time after bad weather forced them to abort a flight to Timor. As a result, the air raid sirens at Darwin were not sounded.[24]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Neptuna_explosion_19_February_1942.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Neptuna_explosion_19_February_1942.jpg

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An aerial photograph of vessels burning in Darwin Harbour taken by a Japanese airman during the first raid.

The Japanese raiders began to arrive over Darwin at 9:58 am. HMAS Gunbar was the first ship to be attacked, and was strafed by nine Zero fighters. At about this time the town's air raid sirens were belatedly sounded. The Japanese bombers then conducted dive bombing and level bombing attacks on the ships in Darwin Harbour.[25] This attack lasted for 40 minutes, and resulted in the sinking of three warships and five merchant vessels and damage to another ten ships.[11][25] The ships sunk were the USS Peary, HMAS Mavie, USAT Meigs , MV Neptuna (which exploded while docked at Darwin's main wharf), Zealandia, SS Mauna Loa , MV British Motorist (1924) and the coal storage hulk Kelat.[26] At least 21 labourers working on the wharf were killed when it was bombed.[11]

In addition to the raid on the harbour, other Japanese naval aircraft also bombed the RAAF base and civil airfield in Darwin as well as the town's Army barracks and oil store. All of these facilities were badly damaged.[27]

The Allied air defences at Darwin shot down seven Japanese aircraft. Five of the American P-40s had been on patrol over Darwin at the time the Japanese aircraft arrived over the town while the other five had landed to refuel.[28] Four of the patrolling aircraft were rapidly downed by Japanese fighters, and all five P-40s on the ground were destroyed as they attempted to take off.[25] The remaining P-40 shot down two D3A dive bombers. Australian Army anti-aircraft gunners also shot down two Zero fighters and a D3A.[29] Another Zero was shot down after being struck by a single .303 bullet; it crashed on Melville Island and its pilot was taken prisoner. While another Japanese naval aircraft failed to return to the carriers, the reason for its loss is not known.[30]

The first wave of Japanese planes left the Darwin area at about 10:40 am.[31] On their way back to the carriers they passed over the Florence D and Don Isidro.[32]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Darwin_raid_(AWM_044603).jpg


USS Peary sinking.

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Sydney Harbour

In May and June 1942 the war was brought home to Australians on the east coast when the Japanese attacked Sydney Harbour from the sea.

In the late afternoon of 31 May 1942 three Japanese submarines, I-22, I-24 and I-27, sitting about seven nautical miles (13 kilometres) out from Sydney Harbour, each launched a Type A midget submarine for an attack on shipping in Sydney Harbour. The night before, I-24 had launched a small floatplane that flew over the harbour, its crew spotting a prize target – an American heavy cruiser, the USS Chicago. The Japanese hoped to sink this warship and perhaps others anchored in the harbour.

After launching the three two-man midget submarines, the three mother submarines moved to a new position off Port Hacking to await the return of the six submariners sent into the harbour. They would wait there until 3 June.

All three midget submarines made it into the harbour. Electronic detection equipment picked up the signature of the first (from I-24) late that evening but it was thought to be either a ferry or another vessel on the surface passing by. Later, a Maritime Services Board watchman spotted an object caught in an anti-submarine net. After investigation, naval patrol boats reported it was a submarine and the general alarm was raised just before 10.30 pm. Soon afterwards, the midget submarine’s crew, Lieutenant Kenshi Chuma and Petty Officer Takeshi Ohmori, realising they were trapped, blew up their craft and themselves.

Before midnight, alert sailors on the deck of USS Chicago spotted another midget submarine. They turned a searchlight on it and opened fire but it escaped. Later, gunners on the corvette HMAS Geelong also fired on a suspicious object believed to be the submarine.

The response to the attack was marred by confusion. Vision was limited and ferries continued to run as the midget submarines were hunted. At about 12.30 am there was an explosion on the naval depot ship HMAS Kuttabul, a converted harbour ferry, which was moored at Garden Island as an accommodation vessel. The crew of the midget submarine from I-24 had fired at the USS Chicago but missed, the torpedo striking the Kuttabul instead. Nineteen


Australian and two British sailors on the Kuttabul died, the only Allied deaths resulting from the attack, and survivors were pulled from the sinking vessel.

A second torpedo fired by the same midget submarine ran aground on rocks on the eastern side of Garden Island, failing to explode. Having fired both their torpedoes, the crew made for the harbour entrance but they disappeared, their midget submarine perhaps running out of fuel before reaching the submarines’ rendezvous point.

The third midget submarine from I-22 failed to make it far into the harbour. Spotted in Taylors Bay and attacked with depth charges by naval harbour patrol vessels, Lieutenant Keiu Matsuo and Petty Officer Masao Tsuzuku, shot themselves.

The mother submarines departed the area after it became obvious that their midget submarines would not be returning. The submarine I-24 is believed to have been responsible for a number of attacks on merchant ships as well as shelling Sydney Harbour a week later.

The bodies of the four Japanese crewmen from the midget submarines launched by I-22 and I-27 were recovered when these two midget submarines were raised. They were cremated at Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs Crematorium with full naval honours. Rear Admiral Muirhead-Gould, in charge of Sydney Harbour defences, along with the Swiss Consul-General and members of the press, attended the service. The admiral’s decision to accord the enemy a military funeral was criticised by many Australians but he defended his decision to honour the submariners’ bravery. He also hoped that showing respect for the dead men might help to improve the conditions of the many Australians in Japanese prisoner of war camps.

After the recovery of the two midget submarines a composite was constructed using the bow section of one and the stern of the other. It was decided to use this composite midget submarine to raise money for the Royal Australian Navy Relief Fund and the King George Fund for Merchant Sailors. The composite submarine was first put on display at Bennelong Point, now the site of the Sydney Opera House, and people paid a small fee to see it. It was then transported by truck on a 4000-kilometre journey through south-eastern Australia raising further funds. Eleven months after the submarine raid, the composite submarine was installed at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

In 1968, Lieutenant Matsuo’s mother travelled to Australia to visit the spot where her son had died. During her visit she scattered cherry blossoms in the water where her son’s midget submarine had been located and later she presented a number of gifts to the Australian War Memorial.

In November 2006, part of the mystery of the midget submarine from I-24 was solved when divers discovered the wreck of the submarine off Sydney's northern beaches. We will probably never know if Lieutenant Ban and his navigator, Petty Officer Ashibe Mamoru intended to rejoin their 'mother' submarine or whether they had no intention of returning and simply scuttled their vessel.


Documents

cacbindoon.weebly.comcacbindoon.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/2/9/12296721/expert… · Web view. By the time of the fall of France, the Luftwaffe (the German air force) had 3,000 planes