My topics are Battles in the Pacific: Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima.
The World War II Battle of Guadalcanal (or the Guadalcanal Campaign) was the first major battle in the Pacific during which the Allies took an offensive against Japan. The Campaign lasted from August 7, 1942, to February 9, 1943. Allies (mostly Americans) landed on the island of Guadalcanal (located in the Solomon Islands) determined not to let the island go to the Japanese. The Japanese were threatening trade and communication routes between America, New Zealand, and Australia. Allies were able to take back part of Florida and Henderson (air)Field from the Japanese, but the Japanese wouldn’t give up easily. The Japanese tried many times to capture those places a second time but failed.
Some of the battles part of the Guadalcanal Campaign are:
The Battle of Savo Island,---3 American cruisers sunk, 1 American cruiser and 2 destroyers damaged. The Japanese were nearly untouched and had the opportunity to destroy us and didn’t take it. This would hurt them later.
Battle of the Tenaru,---Japan suffered a defeat.
Battle of the Eastern Solomons,---a two day battle between aircraft carriers.
Battle of Edson’s Ridge,---Japan forces retreated after attempting to recapture Henderson Field.
Battle of Cape Esperance,---a battle trying to stop Japanese supplies from arriving.
Battle for Henderson Field,---America succeeds in keeping the prized airfield.
And the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, among others.---America lost more ships, but Japan suffered from a high loss of aircrews.
The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal consisted of 3 major land battles, 7 large naval battles, and daily aerial battles until the Japanese withdrew from the islands. This was encouraging to the Allies because up until then, Japan was a high power on the seas.
The Battle of Iwo Jima is the famous battle where America captured the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, along with 3 coveted airfields. The Japanese were dug into the island, but Americans were protected by naval and air fighters. Iwo Jima was the first time America attacked Japan at home. Both sides had many casualties, but the Japanese were outnumbered and had no way to retreat. Surely, America would win. Only about 216 Japanese were taken as prisoners out of the original 22,000 and some. Many were killed, missing, committed suicide to avoid surrender or capture, and some hid in the underground tunnels but only for so long. However, the Battle of Iwo Jima was the only U.S. Marine battle where American casualties outnumbered Japanese. The battle lasted 35 days in early 1945.
The famous photo of this battle is called “Raising the Flag of Iwo Jima”. The flag was raised in Iwo Jima on Mount Suribachi by 5 U.S. Marines and 1 U.S. Navy Corpsman.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalcanal_Campaign
Comments
You also needed four pictures and four sources.
Good summaries but no personal thoughts!