Pacific War - The Final Year           

The Philippines is composed of many islands. The biggest are Luzon in the north and Mindanao in the south. The largest islands in between are Leyte, Cebu, Bohol, Negros, Panay and Minidoro.
Iwo Jima in the Bonins is half way between B-29 bases in the Marianas and targets in Japan. 2,251 damaged planes landed there: with possibly twenty thousand lives saved. Iwo is the bloodiest Marine battle of the war with 24,391 killed in the 36 day battle.
Okinawa in the Rykuyas island group 350 miles off the south coast of Japan and bounds the East China Sea. Its capture cuts off the Philippines and Formosa from Japan and is required as fighter air base for the invasion of Kyushu in the Fall.
Japan consists of four home islands with a population and land area similar to Italy. 
Japan is part of an island chain extending from the Kamchatka peninsula of Siberia on the Bearing Sea, southwest down the Kurils, Japan proper, the Ryukyus, Formosa, thru the Philippines and on to the East Indies.
The Japanese north island is Hokkaido, the main island is Honshu with an appendage that is almost another island called Chugoku, a smaller island of Shikoku which forms the Inland Sea with Chugoku, and the southern island of Kyushu.
Korea is 140 miles northwest of Chugoku and with Manchuria, they bound the Sea of Japan. On the western side of Korea is the Yellow Sea.
Ryukyus (Okinawa) are islands south of Japan towards Formosa.
Formosa is another 330 miles further on and, with the Philippines, bound the South China Sea.The Sakishima Islands are towards Japan.


Other islands of naval interest to the middle war period.

• The Gilbert Islands (Tarawa, Makin) and in the central Pacific had been taken in late 1943 to puncture the Japanese defensive paremeter.
• The Marshalls (Kwajalein) were taken soon after, January 1944, followed by Eniwetok in February. .
• The big step to the western Pacific island chain of the Marianas (Saipan, Tinian, Roto, Guam) were taken that summer and isolate major enemy bases Truk and Rabaul.
• The western Carolinas (Palau, Ulithi, Yap) had been taken in the fall 1944 completing the sweep through the central Pacific and laying open the Philippines.

  There were at least four areas of naval activity. 

• Philippines in support of MacArthur's ground troops, October 1944 and the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
• Indo-China, Formosa and South China Sea to protect the flanks and disrupt supplies to Japan
• The Bonins (Iwo Jima, Feb'45) as a rescue base for B-29's, an escort fighter base and later, bomber bases.
• Ryukyus ( Okinawa, April'45) preparatory for invading Kyushu, the Japanese home islands in the fall;   From Iwo Jima and Okinawa central Japan and Korea coiuld be reached to disrupt airfield, industry, shipping and the link with the Imperial Army in Manchuria.
• The Kurils, islands north of Japan, were given harassment from Alaska late in the war.

  - - 1945 - -	. . . overniew . . .
  15Dec44	Landing on Mindoro, Philippines
  09Jan45	Landing on Luzon
  19Feb-16Mar	Iwo Jima
  03Mar45	Manila liberated
  09Mar45	Fire bomb Tokyo
  21Mar45	Mandalay, Burma regained.
  01Apr-21Jun	Okinawa
  12Apr45	FDR dies, Truman President.
  03May45	Rangoon freed.
  07May45.	Germany surrenders.
  10Jun45	Australians invade Borneo.
  30Jun45	Luzon declared secure [fighting continued]
  16July45	Atomic bomb test Alamagordo, NM
  06Aug45	Hiroshima
  08Aug45	USSR invades Manchuria.
  09Aug45	Nagasaki
  14Aug45	Japan surrenders.
  02Sep45	Signing on USS Missouri

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  1944 : Jan-Mar , Apr-Jun , Jul-Sep                    Oct - Nov , Dec'44
• 1945. Iwo Jima supports bombing of Japanese industry. Okinawa taken as a base for the invasion of Japan in the Fall. Kamikazes show increasing resistance as the home islands are approached. The remaining Japanese fleet is destroyed in the shipyards.
  1945 : Jan , Feb , March , April , May , June , July , Aug , Sept , Oct - Dec , 1946
• The Final Months
  • Suicide Attacks.
  • Iwo Jima
  • Okinawa
  • Surrender, 1945, the final days.         Hiroshima         War End
  • Speeches
  • Operation Downfall: Olympic, Coronet - planned invasion of Japan.     short , long
  • Magic Carpet, GI Bill

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  Last updated on Sept 15, 2005 - draft 2 - add 1945 monthly pages
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