Mar 14- Took notes
Bataan Death March
US forces were forced from one labor camp to the next
10,000 Filipino and 650 American POW’s died during march
Doolittle’s Raid
FDR wanted to strike back against Tokyo
Suicide for the planes and pilots_Most actually didn’t die because they were captured and released after landing in China
Bombers took off from aircraft carriers
Battle of Coral Sea
Stalemate- Japan and US
Seen as victory because Japan hadn’t lost
Battle of Midway
Small Island with only airstrips
US won easily against Japan
Sank ships and aircraft carriers
Couldn’t make enough strips to replace the ones the US destroyed
US won because we knew it was happening and attacked before they got there
We broke Japan’s code “Magic”
Guadalcanal
First battle that we were offensive
- Island hopped our way to Japan from here
Mar 15- Took notes
Kamakazes
Suicide planes
Attack destroyers and aircraft carriers
Desperation effort
Destroyed their own planes and pilots
Battle of Leyte Gulf- Philippines
US re-invaded the philippines to take it back from the Japanese
Destroyed Japanese navy
McCarther didn’t want to leave in 42
“I shall return”
Iwo Jima
Starting to get extremely close to Japan
Had been bombarding the island for weeks
US lost 7000 people
At first we had thought the Japanese had withdrawn
Battle of Okinawa
Part of Japan
Shell island before invasion
Summer of 1945
Operation Downfall
Invasion of japan
Estimated over 1 million US casualties
This didn’t take place because of the atomic bombs
Manhattan Project
German scientists were in the lead for developing the bombs
Many german scientists came to the US
Instead of hundreds of bombs this was one that could do the same damage
Hitler didn’t understand how one bomb can be that affective
Trinity test
Test of atomic bomb
Had to wait several days to check it out because of radiation
Sand turned to glass
Enola Gay
Had to develop this specific plane to drop atomic bombs because the bombs were so heavy
Uranium bomb was not as powerful as plutonium
Hiroshima
Didn’t destroy the whole city
Hotter than the sun
Weather plane
Photo plane got lost
Went exactly as expected
Radiation sickness- cancer
Ultimately saved lives because we would have lost more people by invading verses one atomic bomb
Nagasaki
Third target
Running out of fuel
Dropped the bomb but missed target
- Twice as powerful as Hiroshima bomb but didn’t create as much damage
Mar 16- Took notes
Twice as powerful as Hiroshima bomb but didn’t create as much damage
VJ Day
Japan signed the USS Missouri
September 2
Potsdam Conference
US, Great Britain, Soviet Union and China issued the Potsdam Declaration
Announced the terms for Japan’s surrender
“We will not deviate from them. There are no alternatives.”
What happens to Japan?
Dismantle the current government
Hirohito was allowed to stay
The Allies will occupy Japan
Japan will consist only of the major islands, it will lose all territory gained in WWII and years leading up to it
Japanese military forces will be disarmed and allowed to return home
War crimes trials for the atrocities committed by Japan throughout WWII
Democracy will be promoted as well as freedom of speech, religion, and of thought, as wal as respect for fundamental human rights
Japan will be allowed to have industry so they can make money to pay for reparations. Would trade will also be enabled at some point
Allied occupation of Japan (45-52) will end once Japan accomplishes all the above points
“We call upon the gov. Of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction.” Truman
WWII Major Battle/Operations Timeline Vs Germany
The German Westwall- Siegfried Line
German U-boats
After repeated attacks by German U-boats on US ships in the FAll of 1941 FDR announced that he had ordered the US Navy to attack German and Italian war ships
Convoy system
Fought against U-boats
Started traveling in large groups
Allowed US to get supplies to Great Britain
Allied Intelligence
Churchill and Roosevelt knew the importance of intelligence in safeguarding Allied commerce to defeat the Axis powers
Radar provided means of detecting vessels and aircrafts
HF/DF was used to locate the sources of enemy radio transmissions
Ultra was the codename for the intercepting and deciphering German military code
Magic was the intercepting and deciphering Japanese military code
Enigma
System in which Germany transferred their information through codes
Solving the Enigma system remains one of the great Allied triumphs of WWII
During periods when Allied cryptanalysts were unable to solve Enigma
Bombe
Supercomputer used in WWII
Helped decode everything
Hunter-Killers
Depth charges
Explosives that ships had
Dwight Eisenhower
Supreme Allied commander of forces
3rd in command
DDay Operation Overlord
Omaha Beach was the most heavily defended area
Threw false information out for Hitler to receive
- US had balloon tanks
Mar 17- Took notes
Ike (Eisenhower), Patton and Bradley
Battle of the Bulge
Almost to Germany
Hitler’s last major offense
Created a bulge in the line
Took place in the winter
Worst battle in terms of losses
The Malmedy Massare, where 86 AMerican soldiers were murdered, was the worst atrocity committed against american troops during the course of the war in Europe
Yalta Conference
Churchill Roosevelt Stalin all together
Before the end of the war they met to plan what should happen when the war ended
They agreed with the following:
The establishment of the United Nations
Germany to be divided into four zones
Free elections allowed in the states of eastern Europe (didn’t happen)
USSR promised to join the war against Japan
V-E day May 8, 1945
Women in WWII
Rosie the Riveter represented women workers in WWII
Working in factories
Staying home, grow own food
Nurses
Secretaries
Farmworkers
Salespeople
Busdrivers
Laudristes
Teachers
Women’s Army Corp
Photography
Cartography
Women’s Navy- WAVES
WASP Women’s army service pilots
Test and transport planes
Tokyo Rose
American Captured by Japanese forced to broadcast propaganda
In these radio programs she taunted the troops and played music from home
Native American Code Talkers
Couldn’t learn the language
Couldn’t break our code
African Americans in WWII
Tuskegee Airmen- became some of the best bombers
Blacks were cooks, janitors
Asian Americans in WWII
- Helped at home, fought in war
Mar 18- Took Notes
Hollywood in WWII
Entertainment
Propaganda
Bob Hope-USO tour
United service organization
Entertaining the troops in safe zones when they are overseas
Kilroy was here
Shipyard supervisor named James Kilroy drew figure on crates
Rationing OPA- (Office of price administration)
Had to make sure there was enough for our allies and troops
Controlling prices
Every week, you got a book of stickers with a certain amount
Black Market developed in stolen or counterfeit stickers
Lines
Rules with ration book
Can’t give stamps to someone else
Couldn’t buy anything when stamps are gone
Saturday-Saturday
War Production Board
Encouraging people to work
Don’t waste time
War Finance Committee and War Bonds
War bonds were the biggest way that we payed for the war
Investment for US citizens
Soldiers from Iwo Jima sent out to encourage buying war bonds
Japanese Internment Camps
US didn’t trust Japanese-Americans
Thought they were spies
Forced to sell almost everything they owned
Sandy desert area
Worked but got paid
Kids went to school and were involved in sports
- Civil liberties act- apologized for wrongs of the past
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