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at 7:56 in the morning of december the
7th 1941 Japanese aircraft swooped down
over Hawaii
the target the US Pacific Fleet Iraq
it's basic
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five US ships were hit immediately
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a few minutes later more Japanese
aircraft
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by 8:35 to us battleships were sinking
two had capsized and two were badly down
vii battleship the Nevada slipped her
moorings and was heading out to sea when
she too was caught and forced to Beach
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simultaneously Japanese zero fight a
straight US aircraft lined up on the
islands air strips
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they also shot up nearby army barracks
by the end of the attack dozens of US
warships had been sunk or damaged 188
aircraft were also destroyed
the next day US President Franklin
Roosevelt declared war and dastardly
attack by Japan on Sunday December 7th
1941 a state of war has existed between
the United States and the Japanese
Empire
[Applause]
the stage was sick
good Japan knock out the United States
be swift blow before the huge might of
America grounded dark it would become
one of the great conflicts of World War
two
Japan's first steps towards war had come
in August 1914 capitalizing on France's
defeat in Europe it seized control of
air bases in the north of the French
colony of Indochina
that 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 Indochina but French
hesitated the Japanese invaded and
seized control of the entire column
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Japan felt the consequence is almost
immediately the United States froze its
overseas financial assets effectively
robbing the country of its ability to my
boy Japan faced a choice climb down and
lose face or seize more territory and up
the stakes
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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
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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
they could destroy the US Pacific Fleet
the US would quickly sue for peace it
was now that they decided to attack
Pearl Harbor Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
commander of the Japanese combined fleet
was put in charge
we had 10 batches 10 aircraft carriers
and the world's most advanced naval air
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against the US Pacific Fleet and eight
World War one vintage battleships and
two kinds
Yamamoto planned it with great care he
would lick the US fleet in Pearl Harbor
on a Sunday since according to
intelligence reports it usually spent
the weekends in port
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interval radio silence the Japanese
strike force gathered in tank and a
northerly career
the treat set sail on November the 26th
1941
meanwhile is a decoy Japanese
negotiators arrived in Washington to
discuss a possible Japanese withdrawal
from China
the Japanese fleet refueled after
several days at sea
three days later it was off Hawaii the
Americans were still blissfully unaware
that anything was wrong
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at 6:00 a.m. on December the 7th a final
briefing the first wave of Japanese
as the Japanese aircraft dived into the
attack u.s. personnel was still just
stirring while a fine Sunday morning
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it was all over less than two and a
quarter hours
Yamamoto's man had worked like a dream
there was only one problem the u.s.
beats to aircraft carriers had not been
in Pearl Harbor at the time and had
escaped the attack
Yamamoto's main aim of crippling the US
Pacific Fleet had only partial succeed
the US naval air power in Legion 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 Emmerson Japan had
disturbed the sleeping job
the US Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox
spoke for many jobs started this war yet
before the US could mobilize its full
strength the Japanese were to inflict
more humiliating defeats on the Western
homes
in December 1941 as America was licking
its wounds after Pearl Harbor Japan
launched a series of attacks on Western
colonists in Southeast Asia
it thought it had knocked out America
now it moved against Britain and its
colonies
the first to be hit was Malaya but a
Japanese force came ashore in the
northeast 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
after a day of fighting they were
brushed aside
meanwhile further north in Thailand the
second Japanese landing was unopposed
30,000 Japanese troops were soon making
their way down the western coast of
Morocco the target of the two groups
Singapore the center of British military
and political rule in the Far East
and 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 great
the Japanese as fighting men and believe
the Malay jungle was anyway virtually
impossible
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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 repulsed
to attack japanese truth
they were met by Japanese bombs
both warships were sunk in less than
2hours almost a thousand of their crew
were lost it was the greatest British
naval disaster
that World War two in an era of aircraft
of aircraft carriers it was now clear
the battleship for years the mainstay of
the British Navy that had instead
slapping laughs the Japanese continued
to head south towards Singapore
January the 11th 1942 Kuala Lumpur was
captured the British forces fell back
and withdrew to Singapore
there were now about a hundred thousand
British soldiers to defend they faced a
force of only 30,000 Japanese
even without their big guns the British
should have been able to hold it
the Japanese launched an assault in
early February
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British defense was soon reduced case
civilian casualties began to ask
four days later the Japanese have pushed
through the last of the British
defensive lines
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the commander
Perceval surrendered with over 90,000
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never in the history of the British Army
at 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
witness two-hundred-year-old power and
prestige in the Far East but being wiped
out in just ten weeks
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but it wasn't the only business
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
pre-emptive bombing raid called large
numbers of US aircraft neatly lined up
at Clark Field
most were destroyed
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two days later with US air power
virtually non-existent Japanese troops
began to learn
Philippine troops melted away
the Japanese advanced rapidly ten days
later Manila was catching
the US soldiers were forced to withdraw
to the Bataan Peninsula
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here they hope to hold out until a
relief force because it never came
[Applause]
on April the 3rd 1942 Japanese troops
launched a major assault on US positions
after four days heavy fighting they
broke through
the Americans surrendered to
that left just one British colony in the
region
in early 1942 Japanese forces pushed
into the south of the country
the British defenses had been utterly
neglected
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there were only some 15,000 men
defending the country there were no
match for the Japanese
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the Allied troops mounted a brief but
dual resistance
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less than two months after invading
Burma the Japanese had seized the
capital
[Applause]
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 have been
[Music]
on April 18 1942 four months after Pearl
Harbor America struck back the Japanese
Mama's buying low over Tokyo drop bombs
on the city close to the evidence
others struck Yokohama Kobe and Nagoya
to raid authorized by President
Roosevelt himself was daring in the
extreme
the b-25 Mitchell bombers have not been
designed to be launched from aircraft
managed to the number off the deck of
the USS Hornet which are brought within
700 miles of the Japanese capital
diminish their effectiveness on
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 defenses if they
could seize additional strategic
outposts in the Pacific they could
attack and destroy Allied forces before
they even came close to Japan already
controlled much of the Chinese coast
Southeast Asia and the Philippines it
also sees 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 US 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 US commander in chief in the region
Admiral Chester Nimitz learned 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 Japanese plan to widen
its defensive perimeter established they
seized the Solomon Islands
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two days later the Japanese carrier
force entered the Coral Sea in
preparation for the main assault on
Papua New Guinea
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this time
Americans had anticipated
five minutes in order to
US aircraft carriers and a number of
smaller warships into the air
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for two days the rival fleet searched
for each other
then on May the 7th US aircraft located
and sank the Japanese carrier sure
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the Battle of the Coral Sea was unknown
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the following day the Japanese respond
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to begin with the US aircraft carrier
Yorktown managed to avoid the Japanese
torpedoes
but then she took a bomb which
penetrated four decks before exploding
there's a seven-man with
the larger and less maneuverable carrier
Lexington was also hit by several bombs
as well as two
she developed a heavy list
the Americans returned fire attacking
the Japanese carrier Shaka
the first US raid was planted by
Japanese zero fighters which forced the
u.s. Douglas Devastator bombers to drop
their two helos too far
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u.s. dive-bomb person struck home
the Shabak whose deck was so badly
damaged she could no longer be used by
anything
after three days
the two forces and finally disability
that evening the Lexington still afloat
suddenly erupted in a huge explosion
there have been an undetected leak of an
aviation fuel that it caught fire
[Music]
basically over 215 of the nearly 3,000
men on board were risk
[Music]
later that evening an American torpedo
scuttled the burning
the Battle of the Coral Sea he was on
paper a droid
each side have lost one carrier and had
another severely damaged
strategically however it was a major US
success
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it prevented the Japanese from seizing
war 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 this
horse instead by aircraft flying from
Cairns
it would soon become clear which side
had adapted to the new form of naval
conflict more successful
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by the late spring of 1942 Japan and
America were deadly
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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 a
F somewhere in the mid Pacific
the Americans was that they had no idea
where target a.f 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 Harbor the code-breaking team
suggested a way to find out the u.s.
airbase on Midway was instructed to send
an uncoded message reporting problems
with the islands water system
[Music]
almost immediately the codebreakers
intercepted a Japanese signal the 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. feet 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 US Navy in the Pacific
within a year
for Walt the American carriers left port
and moved to a position where they could
ambush the Japanese
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On June the 3rd 1942 Japanese forces
launched the expected attack on the
Aleutian Islands
nimitz didn't respond
early the next morning the main Japanese
carrier force launched a first air
strike on Midway Island to soften up its
defenses
[Music]
u.s. warplanes from the island
intercepted
most were outdated Brewster buffaloes
and were easily shot down by the more
agile Japanese zero fighters
but the Japanese attack had been built
Midwest defenses had not been broken the
Japanese commander Admiral Chewie King
Nagumo faced a difficult decision
[Music]
he'd kept some of his aircraft in
reserve loaded with munitions designed
specifically for attacking ships just in
case the US fleet was spotted should he
now order this Reserve to be stripped of
its torpedoes and armor-piercing bombs
and reloaded with high-explosive and
fragmentation bombs for a second strike
on Midland
it would leave him ill-equipped to take
on the US Navy but he calculated it was
a risk worth taking
then just as the reloading was underway
he received unwelcome news the US Naval
fools have been spotted
is this the US carrier force or a
smaller less significant fleet of ships
[Music]
Nagumo was in a duller should he
continue with the second strike on
Midway or should he once again read with
his bombers to take on the US forces
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humo decided together he would push
ahead with the second strike on
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his hope was that when the Bombers
returned there would still be time to be
armed and to take on the US ships even
as he weighed the odds the Japanese
carriers were attacked by US bombs
every available Japanese zero fighter
was scrambled before the u.s. bombers
were repelled
[Music]
then came another report from
reconnaissance planes the US force did
indeed contain aircraft carriers
nakooma was once again on the spot his
aircraft were halfway through reloading
but the US carriers were a much more
important
he took a second he decided to change
their weapons yet again to attack the US
force but while he did so his ships
would be sitting up
well most immediately became under
attack from low-flying us torpedo bombs
but they were old and slow and attacked
without fighter support
[Applause]
as they approach Japanese meat they were
rapidly shot
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period it looked as though Nagumo's
gamble had paid
justices bombers have been reloaded and
we're ready to take on the US carriers
disaster struck u.s. dive-bombs
approaching unseen at high altitude hurt
lowdown on issues the Japanese were
caught completely by surprise
buna had gambled once to off he was now
can this here the medic
within five minutes the u.s.
dive-bombers had reduced three of
Japan's largest aircraft carriers to
flaming rings all would later sing
[Music]
the fourth camera the hitter you have
been asked by a rain stop that afternoon
mounted a desperate handled
the US carrier Yorktown was severely
damaged
[Music]
it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine
several days
that the Japanese fight back was shortly
late in the afternoon that day edu was
also and turned into a blazing
in a matter of hours
Japan's mastery of the scene had been
destroyed
attack on Midway Island to change
but it had cost Japan its finest cars
and 332 aircrafts well over 2,000
sailors frozen
America now ruled the waves in person
yes Japan was still undefeated on lap
powerful threatening force
in the coming months try to maximize
these advantages
[Applause]
by summer 1942 Japanese plans to build a
defensive ring of occupied territories
around their homeland had still not been
heavy losses exceeding it had frustrated
their attempts to grab Papua New Guinea
and islands in the center you see
Japanese planners now came up with a new
plan if they couldn't do it by sea they
do it by land
on July the 21st the 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 cavity progress was
smooth first the small Australian
Defence Force was completely out
[Applause]
within weeks the Japanese have captured
the main pass over the owen stanley
mountains they then halted to await
reinforcements before the final push on
[Music]
the Australians also mustered new forces
[Music]
the Japanese moved off again they now at
much stiffer resistance
for the first time Japanese troops were
up against men who matched them for
training experience and morale
Australians stood their ground the
Japanese were temporarily brought to a
stance
but conditions in the jungle were
appalling there was constant tropical
rain
malaria is rife
[Music]
the Australians were eventually again
forced to retreat
after two months of rim fighting the
Japanese were within 39
finally US reinforcements arrive
[Music]
September and October the Japanese were
in their turn forced back
the Japanese made heroic but suicidal
staff
many chose to die fighting rather than
surrender
it took the Allies another two months
before the Japanese were finally over
[Music]
it's been
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fifteen thousand Japanese troops had
embarked on the operation only three
thousand got away the Japanese were in
trouble
they've lost at sea they were now
rapidly losing the initiative on land
American military might was asserting
itself
there was only one alternative left
through the summer of 1942 Japanese
engineers began building a string of air
strips across the Pacific one was on the
island of Guadalcanal in the southern
Solomon Islands it was particularly well
situated to threaten us convoys heading
for Australia
it would become the focus of an epic
[Music]
in July 1942 an amphibious force of US
Marines invaded by they landed without
resistance
[Music]
the plan was to capture the half-built
airstrip completed and then turn it into
a US 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 US ships supporting the Marines
in a dazzling display like fighting the
Japanese cruisers sank for allied
warships and drove the rest out to sea
the Marines were now marooned without
supplies and without much of them
equipment
they dug in around the Airstream
despite constant bombard
using construction machinery left behind
by the Japanese they pushed ahead with
the completion of the earth
two weeks later a group of us wildcat
fighters and dauntless dive bombers
fluid
they were not a moment too soon
[Music]
the next day newly arrived Japanese
troops launched a series of suicidal
attacks on the ester
[Music]
over the following months wave after
wave
by the winter of 1942 the two sides had
fought themselves to a standstill both
now dug in to defensive positions
[Music]
[Applause]
then in December the exhausted US
Marines were replaced by fresh troops
the US soldiers now began a new bush on
increasingly isolated pockets of
Japanese resistance
by early February 1943 the Americans had
finally won control of Guadalcanal
[Music]
they have now beaten the Japanese at sea
laughs they had even denied them access
to the air
the oriental blitzkrieg
japanese empire now faced a foe that was
still growing in strength at a rate it
could never hope to much it was the
beginning of a fundamental shift in the
course
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