Major Battles in the Pacific

In May 1942, the United States wins a naval battle against the Japanese in the Coral Sea off the coast of Papua New Guinea. For the first time, they manage to stop the Japanese troops. The Battle of the Coral Sea is the first naval battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. In June, the Japanese attack the island of Midway, where the United States has an airfield and a submarine base. The attack is actually a trap to take out the US Navy.

Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto expects the United States to arrive with its aircraft carriers, the ones they failed to sink at Pearl Harbor. But Yamamoto does not know that US intelligence has cracked the Japanese secret code. The United States suspects that an attack on Midway is coming and they are prepared. The fighting lasts for three days. The US Navy wins big.

The Battle of Midway will be called the great turning point of the Pacific War, but the war is far from over. The Japanese have not given up the idea of dominating the island of New Guinea and capturing its capital, Port Moresby. They try to reach Port Moresby in two ways: with their fleet via New Guinea's east coast, And with troops in northern New Guinea, who will travel overland through jungle and over mountains. Australian troops led by US General MacArthur are ordered to stop them. For months, they battle the numerically superior Japanese at the only forest road available, the Kokoda Track.

The Japanese invasion is stopped. At the same time, in August 1942, the Allies launch their first offensive against Japan on Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands. The Japanese are surprised, and fierce fighting lasts for 6 months until Japan surrenders in February 1943. Next, the United States starts attacking Japanese bases on island after island in a new war strategy called "island hopping". The Allies take over all the Japanese fortified islands around New Guinea.

The same strategy is used in Micronesia. After several battles, from November 1943 to January 1944, the US takes control of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. They are small but strategically important islands on which the Americans immediately build airfields and naval bases. In June 1944, the United States invades Saipan in the Mariana Islands. From here, American bombers can reach Japan.

Fighting continues for a month. Eventually, the Japanese soldiers are trapped in the northern part of the island. Instead of giving up, they attack. Armed with whatever they can find - rifles, swords, even forks - 4,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians charge at the American forces, shouting : "Banzai". One by one, they are killed by the US Marines.

In July, the Americans control Saipan. On October 20, US and Allied troops under General MacArthur land on the island of Leyte in the Philippines. In a famous filmed speech, he says: "People of the Philippines, I have returned." In April 1945, after months of fighting, the Allies win. The Philippines is now controlled by the Americans. At the same time, a severe battle is taking place on the island of Iwo Jima.

The Americans have been bombing Iwo Jima for months, and do not think it will be difficult to invade. They are wrong. The Japanese have built a defense system of bunkers and tunnels that protected them from the bombs. When the Americans land on March 19, the Japanese are ready and fight back. 27,000 American soldiers and 18,000 Japanese die, before the Americans win and plant their flag on Mount Suribachi.