Australia

The cultural difference between the western notion of an honorable surrender and the Japanese notion of fight to the death was a big contribution to the ferocity of the Pacific War.

British General Claude Auchinleck, hampered by the siphoning of his men and equipment to support the abortive Greek campaign, had lost all the British gains of 1941 to the fast-driving German General Erwin Rommel.

On May 7, 1942, Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher stood on the bridge of his flagship, and looked at the radiogram the combat information center had just handed him. Wainwright had surrendered, the Philippines were held by the Japanese.

Australia joined with the United Kingdom in declaring war on September 3, 1939 on Germany. New Zealand did so also, preferring to send a separate letter to demonstrate independence.

Huge numbers of Allied POWs were captured by the Japanese between December 1941 and May 1942.

Deep racial hatred, led many Allied soldiers to prefer death to capture. But the large numbers of soldiers surrendered by their commanders in the Philippines and Singapore did not have much choice. They entered captivity at the start of the war, and only about half of them would leave the POW camps alive.

6/8/06 Fellow Aussie Hugh Jackman has agreed to take over the lead male role for the film. comingsoon.net reports that the plot of the film is a cattle drive across the Australian outback. This film is getting more doubtful that it is anything more than a romantic epic. Cattle and Zeroes never mix well.

The rapid advance of the Japanese stunned even them. Their advance - formed by superior equipment, training, tactics, and in some cases, numbers - left the Allies confused and in disarray.