THE WAR BEGINS
America was forced into the war after Japanese troops attacked Pearl Harbour on December 7th, 1941. Though they entered the war later than most, America made their place in history by fighting valiantly and created the atomic bomb, which is still used today in modern day warfare. The Americans were a force to be reckoned with.
THE BATTLES
PEARL HARBOUR:
Pearl Harbor is a naval base located near Honolulu, Hawaii, and the attack on it made the US spring into action. Just before 8 am on Sunday,hundreds of Japanese fighter planes came down upon the base and destroyed and damaged nearly 20 American naval vessels, along with eight battleships, and over 300 planes. 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including innocent civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded. The day after the assault, president Franklin D Roosevelt declared war on Japan.
BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA
The Lexington being destroyed by Japanese forces.
The Japanese, after Pearl Harbor, wanted to invade New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The Americans, with some help from Australia, made attempts to intercept them. This was the first naval battle that happened at long range between aircraft carriers. Torpedos and dive bombers attacked ships, who were protected by filter pilots. It was a confusing form of warfare, as both sides struggled to find the enemy, and didn’t know which ships they had seen or engaged. The Americans lost the USS Lexington in this battle, and the fight forced Japan to call off invasion plans.
The Japanese, after Pearl Harbor, wanted to invade New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The Americans, with some help from Australia, made attempts to intercept them. This was the first naval battle that happened at long range between aircraft carriers. Torpedos and dive bombers attacked ships, who were protected by filter pilots. It was a confusing form of warfare, as both sides struggled to find the enemy, and didn’t know which ships they had seen or engaged. The Americans lost the USS Lexington in this battle, and the fight forced Japan to call off invasion plans.
BATTLE OF THE MIDWAY
The Battle of the Midway is said to be catastrophic, and the Japanese Navy never fully recovered. A series of codebreakers managed to reveal the Japanese plan to ambush the US, which gave the Allies time to plan a counter-ambush. The Japanese plan to divide American forces also failed. America then decided to launch an air assault on the Japanese carriers. The TBF Avenger torpedoes were taken down by Japanese Zeroes, but SBD Dauntless dive bombers who came afterwards managed to get through. They arrive just as the Japanese planes were rearming on the deck. Three out of the four Japanese carriers were destroyed, which tilted the course of war against Japan.
THE BATTLE OF IWO JIMA
In February of 1945, three U.S. marine divisions landed on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan. The island was defended by around 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, whose main battle ground was a network of caves, dugouts, underground installations and tunnels. The marines managed to wipe out the defenders after one month a fighting, and it earned a palace in history due to the iconic photo of Americans raising their flag in victory.
PROPAGANDA
The US was six months into the war when it created the Office of War Information. Their goal was to spread political propaganda about the war. It used all sorts of media to spread messages: print, radio, film, and its most famous being posters. The propaganda encouraged Americans to ration food, buy war bonds, join the army, and pretty much do everyday tasks to help support the war. Some popular posters involved phrases, such as “loose lips sink ships”, in which they warned Americans that enemies might overhear. Them talking about sensitive information. This confused some Americans, who didn’t have information in the first place and yet were still being told rather aggressively to shut up. Rosie the Riveter became popular in the eyes of women, to promote them being in the workforce, with the iconic quote of ‘we can do it!’. Another lesser known poster was dubbed ‘Defend American Freedom’, in which it showed an African American man in a positive light, with the slogan ‘it’s everybody’s job’, to prove that it wasn’t just white people in the war. The propaganda was intimidating at first, seeing as it left a sour taste in American’s mouths from World War One, but it was more successful this time around, and went down in American history.
LIFE OF A SOLDIER
Soldiers
By British standards, American soldiers were “crude, crass, and lacking in finesse”. They were only trained for around 8 weeks before being shipped out into battle.
Food
The food they were given was a diet of “D” and “K” rations, which were just calories and carbohydrates to keep them moving. According to some accounts, it tasted like cat food. The water was treated with iodine or halazone tablets to kill any bugs, but it still tasted fine to those who were deprived. Some soldiers who were in Europe got the bliss of French wine and Dutch beer if they were lucky.
Equipment
The uniforms given were hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and took a long time to try. Their one pound steel helmets worked as a wash basin, a cooking pig, an entrenching tool, and a blunt weapon if needed. The three main weapons used were the M1 Garand, Thompson SMG, and the Browning automatic rifle
By British standards, American soldiers were “crude, crass, and lacking in finesse”. They were only trained for around 8 weeks before being shipped out into battle.
Food
The food they were given was a diet of “D” and “K” rations, which were just calories and carbohydrates to keep them moving. According to some accounts, it tasted like cat food. The water was treated with iodine or halazone tablets to kill any bugs, but it still tasted fine to those who were deprived. Some soldiers who were in Europe got the bliss of French wine and Dutch beer if they were lucky.
Equipment
The uniforms given were hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and took a long time to try. Their one pound steel helmets worked as a wash basin, a cooking pig, an entrenching tool, and a blunt weapon if needed. The three main weapons used were the M1 Garand, Thompson SMG, and the Browning automatic rifle
Citations:
Pearl Harbor, po394.wordpress.com, 2012 https://po394.wordpress.com/pearl-harbor/
World War II, www2.gwu.edu, Elenor Roosevelt Papers Project, https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/world-war-2.cfm
United States World War Two Events Timeline, SecondWorldWarHistory.com,
2003, https://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/united-states-ww2-events-timeline.asp
Dave Hambling, The 20 Most Important Battles of World War Two, popularmechanics.com, 2016, https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/g2652/most-important-battles-world-war-ii/
Becky Little, Inside America’s Shocking WWII Propaganda Machine, nationalgeographic.com, 2016, https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/12/world-war-2-propaganda-history-books/
Trevor Allison, World War Two Propaganda, baylor.edu, http://blogs.baylor.edu/ww2propaganda/
Pearl Harbor, po394.wordpress.com, 2012 https://po394.wordpress.com/pearl-harbor/
World War II, www2.gwu.edu, Elenor Roosevelt Papers Project, https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/world-war-2.cfm
United States World War Two Events Timeline, SecondWorldWarHistory.com,
2003, https://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/united-states-ww2-events-timeline.asp
Dave Hambling, The 20 Most Important Battles of World War Two, popularmechanics.com, 2016, https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/g2652/most-important-battles-world-war-ii/
Becky Little, Inside America’s Shocking WWII Propaganda Machine, nationalgeographic.com, 2016, https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/12/world-war-2-propaganda-history-books/
Trevor Allison, World War Two Propaganda, baylor.edu, http://blogs.baylor.edu/ww2propaganda/