The World War II Multimedia Database Recommends Firefox |
Best Viewed at 1024x768 |
The Rising Sun December 1941 - May 1942
Rising Sun Forum
Rising Sun Image Gallery
Rising Sun Video Gallery
Allied planners had seriously underestimated the strength and effectiveness of Japanese Forces. Allied opinion held that they could not shoot straight, since many Japanese were nearsighted. Despite reports in China, and then in late 1941 the arrival of the American Volunteer Group, it was still believed that the Western aircraft were superior to their Japanese counterparts.
So the shock of the Japanese assault on December 7/8, 1941 (depending on which side of the International Date Line you were on) was unbelievable. The Japanese seemed to be everywhere at once; on the first day of the war alone, they attacked by sea, land or air all over the Pacific: Pearl Harbor, Manila, Midway, Hong Kong, Thailand, Shanghai, Wake, Guam, Singapore, Dutch East Indies, Malaya, and Burma. The Japanese Forces often enjoyed superior numbers and equipment as well as tactics and training, allowing them to move quickly across the Pacific.
Islands fell in rapid succession:
1941
December 8
The Foreign Quarter of Shanghai
December 10
December 23
December 25
Hong Kong
1942
January 2
January 25
Balikpapan, Java
February 14
Paratroops landed on the oil works on Palembang, Sumatra
February 17
February 19
Bombers from the First Air Fleet attack Port Darwin
March 5
Batavia, Java
March 20
The occupation of Admiralty and Western Solomons complete
April 8
April 9
May 7
Corrigedor fell, ending all resistance in the Philippines
While the Japanese land forces were making progress, the Imperial Japanese Navy was also sinking everything in their path. The only Allied modest success was the destruction of five transports anchored off Balikpapan on January 24. Overall, the Imperial Japanese Navy enjoyed the ability to coordinate their attacks with ships and personnel that had trained together for night operations. Most of the Allied naval forces had never worked together before, let alone at night. Most ships were obsolete and did not have any nightfighting potential or air cover. On December 10, HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse was sunk on their way to relieve Singapore. They were sailing without air cover. On February 27, the Battle of the Java Sea resulted in the destruction of all remaining Allied naval power in Southeast Asia. On April 9, HMS Hermes and other ships were sunk in the Indian Ocean by the First Air fleet.
With the fall of the Philippines, the Japanese were at the zenith of their advance, although it did not seem possible at the time. The Allied units were at their lowest strength in ships, planes and personnel, and their was little between the Japanese and Port Moresby in New Guinea. An amphibious force, with orders to take Port Moresby, was intercepted and stopped in the Coral Sea, which was a costly tactical victory for the Americans, who lost the fleet carrier Lexington, while the Japanese lost the light carrier IJN Shoho. Unable to trade the Japanese carrier for carrier, it was not until the Battle of Midway that the Japanese advance was finally halted.
The Philippines Campaign, 1941-1942
HyperWar: Rising Sun: Contents
World War II: Pacific Theater of Operations: Japanese conquests following the attack on Pearl Harbor (Guam, Wake, the Philippines, Netherlands East Indies, etc.)War in the Pacific NHP: Liberation - Guam Remembers
BBC - WW2 People's War - Life in Occupied Shanghai - 1941
The Japanese army, now not only controlled their own little sector, but the whole of Shanghai except for ...Polish Jewish Refugees in the Shanghai Ghetto, 1941-1945
Fourth Marines Band: Last China Band of United States Marine Corps during World War II
Fourth Marines in China - page 1
USS Wake Captured in Shanghai 8 December 1941
The Yangtze Patrol and South China Patrol
Chronology, ship descriptions, maps, links, photos and general information regarding the U.S. Navy's Yangtze Patrol and South China Patrol from 1854 through 1942...USMC Monograph: The Defense of Wake
Wake Island: Dec. 7-23, 1941
Wake was one of the first objectives of Japan's military planners. The incredible courage of the island's defenders deserves to be remembered.Battle of Hong Kong - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battle of Balikpapan (1942) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battle of Borneo (1941–42) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battle of Java (1942) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Fall of Java Island, March 1942 (Photo Gallery)
Java 1942-5: extracts from the diary of a medical officer.
Battle of Palembang - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Netherlands East Indies campaign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shanghai ghetto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
USS Wake (PR-3) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Attack on HMS Peterel and taking of USS Wake
Bibliography From Amazon.com
The World War II Multimedia Database
Copyright ©2000-2007 MFA Productions LLC
Send your comments and questions to our