World War II: Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Campaign

The Atlantic ^ | Aug 28, 2011 | Alan Taylor

[MtnClimber]

Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan prepared to deal one more decisive blow to the U.S. Naval forces in the Pacific. The aim was to destroy U.S. aircraft carriers and occupy the strategically important Midway Atoll, a tiny island nearly halfway between Asia and North America that was home to a U.S. Naval air station. American codebreakers deciphered the Japanese plans, allowing the U.S. Navy to plan an ambush. On June 3, 1942, the Battle of Midway commenced.

[MtnClimber]

Many WWII photos. Part 11 of 20 WWII retrospective. There are 45 photos in this part.Many photos that I have not seen before.

[MtnClimber]

WWII ping.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

Midway Atoll:

[MtnClimber]

No where to hide there!

[Huskrrrr]

Breathtaking photos! Thanks! WWII Ping

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

Yup. Tis a really small island. Nothing but an airstrip it seems...

[MtnClimber]

You can link to previous photo essays at the article. Here is the list so far:

1.Before the War
2.The Invasion of Poland and the Winter War
3.Axis Invasions and the Fall of France
4.The Battle of Britain
5.Conflict Spreads Around the Globe
6.Operation Barbarossa
7.Pearl Harbor
8.The American Home Front in Color
9.Daring Raids and Brutal Reprisals
10.Internment of Japanese Americans
11.Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Campaign
12.The North African Campaign
13.Women at War
14.The Eastern Front
15.The Pacific Islands
16.The Allied Invasion of Europe
17.Coming October 9th
18.Coming October 16th
19.Coming October 23rd
20.Coming October 30th

[Jacquerie]

Super post. Thanks.

Midway was our Trafalgar. It should be celebrated as such.

[beebuster2000]

what an awesome post. many thanks.

[Oatka]

American codebreakers deciphered the Japanese plans,

And messed with their minds as well. The Japs kept referring to "AF" (their code for Midway). We thought it was but weren't sure, so we had Midway send an uncoded message saying they were out of water. Sure enough, the Japs telegraphed that "AF" reported they were out of water.

What blew my mind in reading about the Pacific War was that by FEBRUARY of 1942 we were already launching carrier-based air attacks on some of the Jap-held islands. I thought we didn't start to bounce back until the Coral Sea in May '42.

[pfflier]

Yes, the photos are new to me also. The SBD with damage to the empennage is a good example as well as the stern quarter shots of Enterprise and Yorktown.

My dad was assigned to the Aleutians and said it was an ugly mess. The US troops were ill equipped to deal with the cold and suffered terribly. They were issued tropical gear.

[MtnClimber]

One of my uncles was on a ship in Pearl Harbor that was hit by a bomb in the Japanese attack. He earned a medal from repeatedly going back onboard to bring out injured sailors. It was hard to get him to talk much about it.

[pfflier]

My dad opened up when I joined the USAF. By coincidence, we had been assigned to some of the same bases years apart, Chanute AFB for tech school, Malmstrom AFB (for him Great Falls AAFB) and the Aleutians (I was assigned to Shemya).

He told me things he didn't even tell my mother.

[MtnClimber]

My uncle was married to my father’s sister who was just older by a year. My uncle passed away a few years ago and no one else knew much more about Pearl Harbor or anything after that. He just did not want to remember or talk about it.

[MtnClimber]

I also worked with someone, when I was just out of college, who was in the first wave to invade Iwo Jima. He was one of few to make it out from that first wave. He had a partner in a fox hole that went out at night to go to the bathroom. He was hit in the head by a stray bullet. That must have been real hell.

[goldfinch]

Thanks for posting this. Some of the pictures were new to me. Very interesting.

[mathurine]

I enjoyed "The Lonely Ships"; by Edward P. Hoyt which chronicled the Asiatic Fleet in China and the Philippines at the outbreak of WWII. These were not the top-of-line American ships, and many were there to serve out their time mostly peacefully in coastal or close waters. They could maneuver, but could not make the speeds that modern warships of the 40's could in open waters. Some had formidable naval guns. None had the communications they could have used to operate in mass formations.Logistically they were virtually unsupportable. Most probably could not have withdrawn any further than Singapore and Manila Bay (at night) because the Japanese controlled the air and therefore the day. Though they were expendable since there was not much in early 1942 that the U.S. could do to bring them back, they did a remarkable job of tying up a vast number of Japanese military assets, sunk a few ships, slipped a few of their more valuable ships to India for repair and refitting, made good decisions about scuttling ships and large boats which would have been valuable salvage for the Japanese forces, and brought a lot of sailors and naval guns to Corregidor. As in many another war, the treacherous surprise action that trapped this fleet in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea left this fleet, such as it was, right on the nautical threshold of waters strategically critical to Japan, and shackled them with the task of clearing the area. That took the Japanese time on the defensive that would perhaps have served them well on the offensive. In a classic strategic manner, we traded this old fleet with its antiquated fleet and its thousands of sailors first to try to help the Americans at Corregidor, and also to help the Brits at Singapore. We traded heroes for time, because that's about all we could do. These heroes helped by us by buying time for the likes of the Battle of Midway. There was a lot of war left after that, but there were still heroes left in America, at least enough enough for the remaining battles of WWII. Iam an elderly Marine, but I salute the swabbies of the Asiatic Fleet, most of whom lost their lives at the outset of WWII buying the time our Country needed to shift to the offensive and earn the unconditional surrender of the foe in the end

[mathurine]

I enjoyed "The Lonely Ships"; by Edward P. Hoyt which chronicled the Asiatic Fleet in China and the Philippines at the outbreak of WWII. These were not the top-of-line American ships, and many were there to serve out their time mostly peacefully in coastal or close waters. They could maneuver, but could not make the speeds that modern warships of the 40's could in open waters. Some had formidable naval guns. None had the communications they could have used to operate in mass formations.Logistically they were virtually unsupportable. Most probably could not have withdrawn any further than Singapore and Manila Bay (at night) because the Japanese controlled the air and therefore the day. Though they were expendable since there was not much in early 1942 that the U.S. could do to bring them back, they did a remarkable job of tying up a vast number of Japanese military assets, sunk a few ships, slipped a few of their more valuable ships to India for repair and refitting, made good decisions about scuttling ships and large boats which would have been valuable salvage for the Japanese forces, and brought a lot of sailors and naval guns to Corregidor. As in many another war, the treacherous surprise action that trapped this fleet in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea left this fleet, such as it was, right on the nautical threshold of waters strategically critical to Japan, and shackled them with the task of clearing the area. That took the Japanese time on the defensive that would perhaps have served them well on the offensive. In a classic strategic manner, we traded this old fleet with its antiquated fleet and its thousands of sailors first to try to help the Americans at Corregidor, and also to help the Brits at Singapore. We traded heroes for time, because that's about all we could do. These heroes helped by us by buying time for the likes of the Battle of Midway. There was a lot of war left after that, but there were still heroes left in America, at least enough enough for the remaining battles of WWII. Iam an elderly Marine, but I salute the swabbies of the Asiatic Fleet, most of whom lost their lives at the outset of WWII buying the time our Country needed to shift to the offensive and earn the unconditional surrender of the foe in the end

[stylin19a]

The WW2 vets were something else.

My dad spent 18 months in Italy. He talked about everything Italy except the war. When I'd ask, he tell me “Go talk to Gene (his older brother), he had more time in the Aleutians & Philippines than I had in the service”.

My uncle Gene would absolutely not talk about the Aleutians. He would talk a tad about the Philippines, but only how great the people were.

I found out just recently from my youngest uncle (the youngest brother), my uncle was one of the first to arrive on a graves detail after his friends were killed in friendly fire bombing\straffing in Kisak (Kiska?). I can't image the horror these guys went through.

They were something else.

[Nailbiter]

ping