The end of World War II
Introduction
The European War ended several months before the Pacific War. Britain, Russia and the other Allied nations were boosted by an influx of American troops. This boost in troops and munitions proved the decisive factor in turning the tide of war against Hitler and Mussolini.
The final stages of the Pacific War were dominated by American troops. Attacks focused increasingly on the Japanese homeland, gaining bases at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, then bombing the Japanese islands. These attacks produced devastating effects, killing thousands of innocent Japanese.
The decision to drop the atomic bombs was made and the tragic loss of life and destruction of Japanese infrastructure in Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced the Japanese high command to surrender in the war.
The end of the war in Europe
Hitler had attempted to invade Russia in June 1944. He was stopped by Russian soldiers at Stalingrad. After a lengthy siege that saw the complete destruction of the city and the loss of thousands of lives, the Germans abandoned the invasion of Russia. Meanwhile, British and Commonwealth troops defeated the Germans and Italians in North Africa. See image 1
An Allied offensive to liberate Italy via Sicily was launched in August 1943. By September 1943, the Italians surrendered.
German troops continued to provide strong resistance against the Allies in Italy. The strength of the Allies eventually proved too strong for the Germans. Germany was surrounded, Russians pressed in from the east, Italians and Americans from the south, and British, Commonwealth and more American troops from the west.
1944 saw the Allies stride towards victory. On 4 June, 1944, Allied troops landed in Normandy and began a sweep across France, liberating the French. The Allied troops reached Berlin in 1945. Hitler was increasingly disturbed in the final months of the War. He was found dead in his headquarters when he realised he was defeated.
On 8 May 1945, with the Allied forces stationed in western Germany and Russian troops in eastern Germany, after six years of war, Germany surrendered and the European war came to an end.
The end of the war in the Pacific
The Americans gained naval superiority in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway in May 1942. The Japanese economy struggled to maintain the production of munitions and supplies for their troops scattered around the Pacific.
As Japan lost superiority of the sea and the air, they left the Japanese islands open to attack. The strain began to show as the Japanese attacks lost momentum over the following two years.
The American attack was unrelenting. Bases from which strikes on the Japanese home islands could be launched were steadily acquired. American submarines continued to sink Japanese military and supply vessels until the end of the war.
In 1943, while Australians continued to clear the Japanese from New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, the Americans launched an offensive to liberate the Philippines, which had been occupied by the Japanese since 1941. Australian activities were centred on the south-west Pacific while the Americans struck northwards to gain bases from which they could attack the Japanese homeland.
By the end of 1944, New Guinea had been secured and the Americans planned to attack the Japanese islands to force the Japanese military to surrender.
The Japanese stepped up the aggression of their attacks and resistance. Their goal was to inflict as many injuries as possible. Trained pilots became limited and kamikaze (the Japanese word for divine wind) planes were used increasingly. A kamikaze plane would dive bomb naval vessels, inflicting heavy casualties and damage.
The Americans encountered strong resistance from the Japanese in the Philippines. As defeat was becoming a reality, the Japanese turned to desperate measures. At the battle of Leyte Gulf on October 20 1944, the first Japanese kamikaze planes attacked Allied vessels. The Australian naval vessel HMAS Australia was among the first Allied vessels to be hit.
The Philippines was liberated with the Allied occupation of the capital Manila in March 1945.
The Americans then struck north to capture the island of Iwo Jima in February and the southernmost island of Japan, Okinawa, in April and June. These campaigns were difficult and costly. As Allied troops pushed closer to the Japanese mainland, resistance became more fanatical. Japanese soldiers often fought to the death, killing as many Allied soldiers as possible. In the attack on Okinawa, the Japanese lost 110 000 troops.
The decision to use bombs on the Japanese homeland was made by US President Harry Truman. In a pragmatic decision, it was thought that rather than risk losing thousands of Allied soldiers' lives in an invasion of the Japanese homeland, systematically dropping bombs on strategic cities in Japan would bring a swift end to the War. See image 2 and animation
American bombing planes were stationed on Iwo Jima, three hours from Tokyo. A campaign of low-altitude, night-time bombing of Japanese cities was undertaken in February 1945. Most Japanese houses were made of timber and were incinerated in the fires caused by the bombing.
As population densities in Japanese cities were high, casualties were significant. Over half the buildings in Tokyo, Kobe, and Yokohama were destroyed. Over 1 million people lost their homes. More people died in these night-time bombings than the atomic bombs.
On 6 August 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, killing 150 000 Japanese. The Japanese military refused to surrender.
Another bomb was dropped on 9 August on the city of Nagasaki, killing 75 000 Japanese. The devastation rocked the Japanese people. On 15 August, 1945, the Pacific War came to an end when Japanese commanders agreed to surrender to the Allies.
President Truman issued as statement on 9 August stating, ‘my object is to save as many American lives as possible, but I also have a human feeling for the women and children of Japan'.
‘Mopping up' the Pacific
The Australians continued the American strategy of ‘leapfrogging' islands and ‘mopping up'. This strategy neutralised Japanese bases, and in neutralising them they assisted the American advances in the north.
The 6th Division was stationed in New Guinea, Australian militia forces were sent to Bougainville and New Britain, and the 7th and 9th Divisions were sent to Borneo and Brunei.
In May and June 1945, Australian troops landed in Borneo. The objective was to gain the oilfields near Tarakan, Balikpapan, and Brunei. These oilfields were seized on 1 May, 10 June, and 1 July. Australians also played an important role in liberating Japanese prison camps and helping the local inhabitants of Borneo rebuild their homes and villages.
The last campaigns of World War II were led by the Americans. Australians played a support role in the American campaign. Some historians have described Australia's role in the final months of the war as useless and that victory was stolen by American General Douglas MacArthur. This is an unfair assessment. See image 3
Although Australians did not lead glorious offensives into the Philippines or devastating attacks on the Japanese home islands, Australian soldiers helped to neutralise pockets of Japanese resistance in the Pacific and liberate subjected peoples.
Although Australian activities had little bearing on forcing the Japanese to surrender, these activities were important support roles, ensuring that the Allied advance maintained momentum.
