Did you know about the other Japanese attacks around the time of the Pearl Harbor attack?

2014-12-08T10:11:47-05:00

The other moves made by Japan December 7 and 8, 1941:

Japanese troops occupy the city of Shanghai, China where they had been at war since 1937, and capture a small US garrison in the foreign section.

A US tanker was shelled by a Japanese submarine off Cape Mendocino.

USS Wake (PR-3), a river gunboat moored at Shanghai, is only U.S. vessel to surrender during World War II.

The Japanese attack on the Philippines begins with the capture of Bataan Island and the creation of an airstrip for plane refueling. Japanese invasion troops leave Paulau for the Philippines. The main attack begins with massive air bombardment which reduces the American defenses to 17 B-17’s and less than 40 fighters. Most of the planes are destroyed on the ground. American General Douglas MacArthur has under his command 130,000 troops (20,000 Americans). His plan to defend the island becomes nonviable after the destruction of the main portion of the his air force and the losses at Pearl Harbor.

Fears of offending American public opinion by violating Thailand’s neutrality have prevented the British from preparing defenses in Thailand and difficulties with Thai border guards prevent a quick response to the Japanese landings further north.

Japanese aircraft attacked Wake Island within hours of the fateful attack on Pearl Harbor. Marines of the 1st Defense Battalion and Marine Fighting Squadron 211 resisted Japanese invasion attempts for over two weeks before finally succumbing to an overwhelming force. A small Japanese landing force leaves Kwajalein escorted by a cruiser and two destroyers.

Japanese General Yamashita began his attack against the British army at Singapore. General Tomoyuki Yamashita earned the name “Tiger of Malaya” for his masterful capture of Singapore and the whole Malay Peninsula from the British, who had a superior number of troops. Yamashita’s forces landed on the northern Malay Peninsula and southern Thailand on December 8, 1941, and moved rapidly southward toward Singapore, which surrendered on February 15, 1942. The peninsula and Singapore remained under Japanese control throughout the war. Later in the war, while defending the Philippines from Gen. MacArthur‘s return, Yamashita’s troops wantonly slaughtered more than 100,000 Filipinos in Manila. He was later tried and executed for war crimes.

The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II. On the same morning as the attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, forces of the Empire of Japan attacked British Hong Kong. The attack was in violation of international law as Japan had not declared war against the British Empire. Japan's unprovoked act of aggression was met with stiff resistance from Hong Kong's garrison, composed of local troops as well as British, Canadian and Indian units. Within a week the defenders abandoned the mainland, and less than two weeks later, with their position on the island untenable, the colony surrendered.

The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–42 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) by forces from the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Forces from the Allies attempted unsuccessfully to defend the islands. Indonesia was targeted by the Japanese for its rich oil resources which would become a vital asset during the war. The campaign and subsequent three and a half year Japanese occupation was also a major factor in the end of Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia.

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Jan 28 at 2015 2:25 AM

2015-01-28T02:25:31-05:00

I just watched an old black and white documentary on Netflix about this very thing. The planning of this joint coordinated campaign was on an epic scale. It was a chess game with the Japanese making the first dozen moves. Many Americans feared being knocked out of the war prior to the Doolittle Raid.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 10 at 2015 1:30 PM

2015-05-10T13:30:40-04:00

Didn't Yamamoto want to avoid bringing the US into the war? The quote "We have awakened a sleeping giant" comes to mind.

Also, didn't the Japanese rule out invading the American mainland because there was going to be "a rifle behind every blade of grass"?

I tend to think I know my history, but I get foggy sometimes. What kept the Japanese from launching a full scale invasion of the American mainland while they had us on the ropes and winded?

Response by SPC David S. made May 10 at 2015 7:42 PM

2015-05-10T19:42:58-04:00

The Japanese also had a program to bomb the US mainland via balloons. These where known as the fire balloons. They were found in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Michigan and Iowa, as well as Mexico and Canada. The only fatalities where when one exploded in Oregon killing a pregnant lady and her 5 kids.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon

Fire balloon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A fire balloon (風船爆弾, fūsen bakudan?, lit. "balloon bomb"), or Fu-Go (ふ号[兵器], fugō [heiki]?, lit. "Code Fu [Weapon]"), was a weapon launched by Japan during World War II. A hydrogen balloon with a load varying from a 15kg (33lb) antipersonnel bomb to one 12-kilogram (26lb) incendiary bomb and four 5kg (11lb) incendiary devices attached, it was designed as a cheap weapon intended to make use of the jet stream over the Pacific Ocean and drop...