♪
At 7:56 on the morning of December 7th, 1941,
Japanese aircraft swooped down over Hawaii.
Their target: The US Pacific Fleet at anchor
in its base at Pearl Harbour
Five U.S. ships were hit immediately.
A few minutes later, more Japanese aircraft joined in.
By 8:35, two U.S. battleships were sinking,
two had capsized, and two were badly damaged.
A seventh battleship, the Nevada,
slipped her moorings and was heading out to sea
when she too was caught and forced to beach.
Simultaneously, Japanese Zero fighters strafed U.S. aircraft
lined up on the island's airstrips.
They also shot up nearby army barracks.
By the end of the attack
dozens of U.S. warships had been sunk or damaged.
One hundred and eighty eight aircraft were also destroyed.
The next day, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt
declared war on Japan.
Since the unprovoked
and dastardly attack by Japan
on Sunday, December 7, 1941,
a state of war
has existed between the United States
and the Japanese empire.
The stage was set.
Could Japan knock out the United States with a swift blow
before the huge might of America ground it down?
It would become one of the great conflicts of World War II.
Japan's first steps towards war had come in August 1940.
Capitalizing on France's defeat in Europe,
it seized control of air bases in the north
of the French colony of Indo-China.
It was looking for a quick and easy expansion of its Empire.
A year later it issued an ultimatum demanding the use
of all French air bases throughout Indo-China.
When the French hesitated, the Japanese invaded
and seized control of the entire colony.
Japan felt the consequences almost immediately.
The United States froze its overseas financial assets
effectively robbing the country of its ability to buy oil.
Japan faced a choice.
Climb down and lose face,
or seize more territory and up the stakes.
For a new Japanese government,
under the aggressive General Hideki Tojo,
there was no question about which course to take.
Japanese Army and Navy commanders were told to prepare
for a swift war to occupy all the Far Eastern territories
controlled by Britain, France, the Netherlands
and the United States.
The country was expecting a swift victory.
♪
Japan saw the Americans, in particular,
as a nation of pleasure lovers with no stomach
for a lengthy war and heavy casualties.
The Japanese military calculated that if they could destroy
the U.S. Pacific fleet,
the U.S. would quickly sue for peace.
It was now that they decided to attack Pearl Harbour
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto,
commander of the Japanese combined fleet,
was put in charge.
He had ten battleships, ten aircraft carriers,
and the world's most advanced naval aircraft.
Against him, the U.S. Pacific Fleet
had eight World War I vintage battleships and two carriers.
Yamamoto planned the attack with great care.
He would hit the U.S. fleet in Pearl Harbour on a Sunday,
since, according to intelligence reports,
it usually spent the weekends in port.
In total radio silence,
the Japanese strike force gathered in Tankan Bay
in the northerly Kurile Islands.
The fleet set sail on November 26, 1941.
Meanwhile, as a decoy,
Japanese negotiators arrived in Washington
to discuss a possible Japanese withdrawal from China.
The Japanese fleet refuelled after several days at sea.
Three days later it was off Hawaii.
The Americans were still blissfully unaware
that anything was wrong.
At 6 AM on December 7th, after a final briefing,
the first wave of Japanese aircraft took off.
As the Japanese aircraft dived into the attack,
U.S. personnel were still just stirring
on a fine Sunday morning.
It was all over in less than two and a quarter hours.
Yamamoto's plan had worked like a dream.
Or had it?
There was only one problem.
The U.S. fleets' two aircraft carriers had not been
in Pearl Harbour at the time and had escaped the attack.
Yamamoto's main aim of crippling the U.S. Pacific fleet
had only partially succeeded.
U.S. naval air power in the region was still intact.
But in the United States there was shock and disbelief.
It quickly turned into a mood of fury and determination.
Angry mobs attacked the Japanese embassy.
Japan had disturbed the sleeping giant.
The U.S. Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, spoke for many.
The Japs started this war. We are going to finish it.
Yet, before the U.S.
could mobilize its full strength,
the Japanese were to inflict more
humiliating defeats on the Western Allies.
In December of 1941,
as America was licking its wounds after Pearl Harbour,
Japan launched a series of attacks on
western colonies in South East Asia.
It thought it had knocked out America.
Now it moved against Britain and its colonies.
The first to be hit was Malaya,
where a Japanese force came ashore
in the north-east of the country.
The plan was that it should make its way south,
down the east coast.
The invasion force was met by a contingent
of British Indian troops.
But after a day of fighting they were brushed aside.
Meanwhile, further north in Thailand,
a second Japanese landing was unopposed.
Thirty thousand Japanese troops were soon making their way
down the western coast of Malaya.
The target of the two groups: Singapore.
The centre of British military
and political rule in the Far East.
Britain had turned the island into what it believed
was an impregnable fortress.
But all the guns pointed south, out to sea.
The Japanese were approaching by land from the north.
Yet, British military commanders remained remarkably untroubled.
They didn't rate the Japanese as fighting men,
and believed the Malay jungle was,
anyway, virtually impassable.
But the Japanese had other ideas.
To soften up Singapore they attacked the city from the air.
Britain sent the new battleship, Prince of Wales,
and a battle cruiser, Repulse,
to attack Japanese troop convoys.
They were met by Japanese bombers.
Both warships were sunk in less than two hours.
Almost 1,000 of their crew were lost.
It was the greatest British naval disaster of World War II.
In an era of aircraft and aircraft carriers
it was now clear the battleship,
for years the mainstay of the British navy,
had had its day.
Back on land the Japanese continued to head south
towards Singapore.
On January 11th, 1942, Kuala Lumpur was captured.
The British forces fell back and withdrew to Singapore.
There were now about 100,000 British soldiers to defend it.
They faced a force of only 30,000 Japanese.
Even without their big guns,
the British should have been able to hold out.
The Japanese launched an assault in early February.
It was supported by more air strikes.
The British defence was soon reduced to chaos.
Civilian casualties began to escalate.
Four days later the Japanese had pushed
through the last of the British defensive lines.
The commander, General Arthur Percival,
surrendered with over 90,000 men.
Never in the history of the British Army
had a commander in charge of such a large force
had to surrender, and to an enemy general
whose force was outnumbered more than three to one.
Britain's 200-year-old power and prestige in the Far East
had been wiped out in just 10 weeks.
But it wasn't the only disaster.
Elsewhere in Southeast Asia
the Japanese forces were equally triumphant.
The British garrison in Hong Kong fought for two weeks
before succumbing to a Japanese invasion.
In the Philippines, America fared no better.
Here, a preemptive bombing raid
caught large numbers of U.S. aircraft
neatly lined up at Clark Field.
Most were destroyed.
Two days later, with U.S. air power virtually non-existent,
Japanese troops began to land.
The local Philippine troops melted away.
The Japanese advanced rapidly.
Ten days later Manila was captured.
The U.S. soldiers were forced to withdraw
to the Bataan Peninsula.
Here they hoped to hold out
until a relief force could be sent.
It never came.
On April 3rd, 1942,
Japanese troops launched a major assault on U.S. positions.
After four days of heavy fighting they broke through.
The Americans surrendered two days later.
That left just one British colony in the region: Burma.
In early 1942, Japanese forces pushed
into the south of the country.
The British defences had been utterly neglected.
There were only some 15,000 men defending the country.
They were no match for the Japanese.
The Allied troops mounted a brief but doomed resistance.
Less than two months after invading Burma,
the Japanese had seized the capital, Rangoon.
Eight weeks later the British had been pushed
entirely out of the country.
In just under six months the Japanese had seized control
of the whole eastern rim of the Pacific.
Their Oriental Blitzkrieg had been swift and crushing.
Yet, already, there were warning signs
that they were not as powerful as they appeared.
On April 18th, 1942, four months after Pearl Harbour,
America struck back at the Japanese.
U.S. bombers, flying low over Tokyo,
dropped bombs on the city close to the Emperor's Palace.
Others struck Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya.
The raid, authorized by President Roosevelt himself,
was daring in the extreme.
The B-25 Mitchell bombers had not been designed
to be launched from aircraft carriers.
They barely managed to lumber off the deck
of the U.S.S. Hornet, which had brought them
to within 700 miles of the Japanese capital.
But that didn't diminish their effectiveness in the air.
In Japan the raids caused profound shock.
After their runaway successes of the past four months,
they had never expected an attack on their homeland.
Japan's military planners now decided to
extend the country's defences
If they could seize additional strategic outposts
in the Pacific, they could attack and destroy
Allied Forces before they even come close to the homeland.
Japan already controlled much of the Chinese coast,
Southeast Asia and the Philippines.
They had also seized the Dutch East Indies.
Now they decided to strike south
and attack Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
And east to take the Island of Midway
in the middle of the Pacific.
It would mean the homeland was surrounded by
a string of fortified positions.
Yet, even as Japan was planning its move,
its operations were severely compromised,
though it only realized this after the war.
The United States had broken its military
and diplomatic codes.
By spring 1942,
the U.S. Navy's code-breaking team in Hawaii
was reading enough messages
to give it a remarkably accurate insight
into Japan's intentions.
So it was
that the U.S. commander-in-chief in the region,
Admiral Chester Nimitz, learnt the details and timing
of Japan's planned invasions of the Solomon Islands
and Papua New Guinea.
If successful they would cut off Australia from her allies.
A Japanese bombing raid on Darwin
had already caused widespread fear of an invasion.
In early May, 1942, the Japanese plan
to widen its defensive perimeter was launched.
They seized the Solomon Islands.
Two days later, the Japanese carrier force
entered the Coral Sea in preparation
for the main assault on Papua New Guinea.
But this time the Americans had anticipated them.
Admiral Nimitz had ordered two U.S. aircraft carriers
and a number of smaller warships into the area.
For two days the rival fleets searched for each other.
Then on May the 7th U.S. aircraft
located and sank the Japanese carrier Shoho.
The battle of the Coral Sea was underway.
Early the following day, the Japanese responded,
unleashing a hail of torpedoes and bombs.
To begin with the U.S. aircraft carrier Yorktown
managed to avoid the Japanese torpedoes.
But then she took a bomb
which penetrated four decks before exploding.
Thirty seven men were killed.
The larger and less manoeuvrable carrier, Lexington,
was also hit by several bombs as well as two torpedoes.
She developed a heavy list to port.
The Americans returned fire,
attacking the Japanese carrier Shokaku.
The first U.S. raid was blunted by Japanese Zero fighters
which forced the U.S. Douglas Devastator bombers
to drop their torpedoes too far out.
All the torpedoes missed.
But a second wave of U.S. dive bombers struck home.
The Shokaku's deck was so badly damaged
she could no longer be used by aircraft.
After two days of fighting
the two forces finally disengaged.
That evening, the Lexington, still afloat,
suddenly erupted in a huge explosion.
There had been an undetected leak of aviation fuel
that had caught fire.
Amazingly all but 215 of the nearly 3,000 men
on board were rescued.
Later that evening an American torpedo
scuttled the burning hulk.
The Battle of the Coral Sea was, on paper, a draw.
Each side had lost one carrier
and had another severely damaged.
Strategically, however, it was a major U.S. success.
It had prevented the Japanese from seizing more territory,
and it had stopped them from isolating Australia.
The Battle of the Coral Sea
marked a new era in naval tactics.
It was the first major sea battle in which
the opposing ships
were completely out of visual contact.
It was fought, instead, by aircraft flying from carriers.
It would soon become clear which side had adapted
to the new form of naval conflict more successfully.
By the late spring of 1942
Japan and America were deadlocked.
Japan needed a quick victory if it was not to be ground down
by the huge resources of the United States.
In mid-May it began its next move.
U.S. code breakers reported Japanese plans for a new attack.
It would be on "Target AF", somewhere in the mid-Pacific.
The problem, for the Americans,
was that they had no idea where "Target AF" was.
Could it be a reference to Midway Island near Hawaii?
An ideal jumping off point for another attack
on the American fleet in Pearl Harbour
The code breaking team suggested a way to find out.
The U.S. air base on Midway
was instructed to send an un-coded message
reporting problems with the island's water system.
Almost immediately the code breakers intercepted
a Japanese signal that "Target AF"
was having water supply problems.
Admiral Chester Nimitz now knew
exactly where the enemy would strike.
The Japanese plan was typically complex.
A diversionary attack on the Aleutian islands
in the North Pacific would draw away part of the U.S. fleet,
while Midway was seized by an occupation force.
The Americans would be obliged to hurriedly
commit their carrier force to retaking the island.
There they would be annihilated
by a huge Japanese naval presence
including four large aircraft carriers.
It was the second Japanese attempt
to wipe out the U.S. Navy in the Pacific within a year.
Forewarned, the American carriers left port
and moved to a position
where they could ambush the Japanese.
On June 3, 1942,
Japanese forces launched the expected attack
on the Aleutian Islands.
Nimitz didn't respond.
Then, early the next morning,
the main Japanese carrier force
launched a first air strike on Midway Island
to soften up its defences
U.S. war planes from the island intercepted them.
Most were outdated Brewster Buffaloes
and were easily shot down by the more agile
Japanese Zero fighters.
But the Japanese attack had been blunted.
Midway's defences had not been broken.
The Japanese commander, Admiral Chuichi Nagumo,
faced a difficult decision.
He'd kept some of his aircraft in reserve,
loaded with munitions designed specifically
for attacking ships,
just in case the U.S. fleet was spotted.
Should he now order this reserve to be stripped
of its torpedoes and armour-piercing bombs,
and reloaded with high explosive and fragmentation bombs
for a second strike on Midway?
It would leave him ill-equipped to take on the U.S. Navy,
but he calculated it was a risk worth taking.
Then, just as the reloading was under way,
he received unwelcome news.
A U.S. Naval force had been spotted.
Was this the U.S. carrier force,
or a smaller, less significant, fleet of ships?
Nagumo was in a dilemma.
Should he continue with the second strike on Midway,
or should he, once again, re-equip his bombers
to take on the U.S. vessels?
Nagumo decided to gamble.
He would push ahead with the second strike on Midway.
His hope was that when the bombers returned
there would still be time to rearm them
to take on the U.S. ships.
Even as he weighed the odds,
the Japanese carriers were attacked by U.S. bombers.
Every available Japanese Zero fighter was scrambled
before the U.S. bombers were repelled.
Then came another report from reconnaissance planes.
The U.S. force did indeed contain aircraft carriers.
Nagumo was, once again, on the spot.
His aircraft were half way through reloading,
but the U.S. carriers were a much more important target.
He took a second gamble.
He decided to change their weapons yet again
to attack the U.S. force.
But while he did so, his ships would be sitting ducks.
Almost immediately they came under attack
from low-flying U.S. torpedo bombers.
But they were old and slow
and attacked without fighter support.
As they approached the Japanese fleet
they were rapidly shot down.
For a brief period it looked as though
Nagumo's gamble had paid off.
Then, just as his bombers had been reloaded
and were ready to take on the U.S. carriers,
disaster struck.
U.S. dive bombers, approaching unseen at high altitude,
hurtled down on his ships.
The Japanese were caught completely by surprise.
Nagumo had gambled once too often
and was now at the mercy of American air power.
Within five minutes
the U.S. dive bombers had reduced three
of Japan's largest aircraft carriers to flaming wrecks.
All would later sink.
A fourth carrier, the Hiryu,
had been masked by a rain storm,
and that afternoon mounted a desperate counterattack.
The U.S. carrier Yorktown was severely damaged.
It was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine several days later.
But the Japanese fight back was short-lived.
Late in the afternoon that day
the Hiryu was also hit and turned into a blazing pyre.
In a matter of hours
Japan's mastery of the sea had been destroyed.
The attack on Midway Island had achieved nothing.
But it had cost Japan its finest carriers and 332 aircraft.
Well over 2,000 sailors had also died.
America now ruled the waves in the Pacific.
Yet, Japan was still undefeated on land
and a powerful, threatening force in the air.
In the coming months it would try to
maximize these advantages.
By summer 1942,
Japanese plans to build a defensive ring
of occupied territories around their homeland
had still not been completed.
Heavy losses at sea had frustrated their attempts
to grab Papua New Guinea and islands in the central Pacific.
Japanese planners now came up with a new plan.
If they couldn't do it by sea, they'd do it by land.
On July 21st, a division-sized force
of experienced jungle troops
landed on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea.
They immediately struck west
to capture Port Moresby, the capital.
Progress was swift at first.
The small Australian defence force
was completely outnumbered.
Within weeks the Japanese had captured the main pass
over the Owen Stanley Mountains.
They then halted to await reinforcements
before the final push on Port Moresby.
The Australians also mustered new forces.
When the Japanese moved off again
they now met much stiffer resistance.
For the first time, Japanese troops were up against men
who matched them for training, experience and morale.
The Australians stood their ground,
and the Japanese were temporarily
brought to a standstill.
But conditions in the jungle were appalling.
There was constant tropical rain.
Malaria was rife.
The Australians were eventually, again, forced to retreat.
After two months of grim fighting,
the Japanese were within 30 miles of Port Moresby.
Then, finally, U.S. reinforcements arrived.
Through September and October, the Japanese were,
in their turn, forced back.
The Japanese made an heroic but suicidal stand.
Many chose to die fighting rather than surrender.
It took the Allies another two months
before the Japanese were finally overwhelmed.
It had been a bloodbath.
Fifteen thousand Japanese troops had embarked on the operation.
Only 3,000 got away.
The Japanese were in trouble.
They'd lost at sea.
They were now rapidly losing the initiative on land.
American military might was asserting itself.
There was only one alternative left: air power.
Through the summer of 1942,
Japanese engineers began building a string
of airstrips across the Pacific.
One was on the island of Guadalcanal
in the southern Solomon Islands.
It was particularly well situated
to threaten U.S. convoys heading for Australia.
It would become the focus of an epic battle.
In July, 1942,
an amphibious force of U.S. marines invaded the island.
They landed without resistance.
The plan was to capture the half-built airstrip,
complete it and then turn it into a U.S. base.
But the Japanese were not ready to give up.
That night they sent in a naval force to land reinforcements
and to attack the fleet of U.S. ships
supporting the marines.
In a dazzling display of night fighting
the Japanese cruisers sank four Allied warships
and drove the rest out to sea.
The marines were now marooned without supplies
and without much of their equipment.
They dug in around the airstrip.
Despite constant bombardment,
using construction machinery left behind by the Japanese,
they pushed ahead with the completion of the airfield.
Two weeks later a group of U.S. Wildcat fighters
and Dauntless dive bombers flew in.
They were not a moment too soon.
The next day, newly arrived Japanese troops
launched a series of suicidal attacks on the airstrip.
Over the following months, wave after wave
of fanatical troops were thrown into the battle.
By the winter of 1942,
the two sides had fought themselves to a standstill.
Both now dug in to defensive positions.
Then, in December, the exhausted U.S. marines
were replaced by fresh troops.
U.S. soldiers now began a new push
on the increasingly isolated pockets of Japanese resistance.
By early February, 1943,
the Americans had finally won control of Guadalcanal.
They had now beaten the Japanese at sea and on land.
They had even denied them access to the air.
The Oriental Blitzkrieg had failed.
The Japanese Empire now faced a foe
that was still growing in strength,
at a rate it could never hope to match.
It was the beginning of a fundamental shift
in the course of the war.