Fall Of Singapore Major turning point for the Axis in WW2.
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The fall of Singapore is widely viewed as a major turning point in WW2. Because of vulnerability to invasion Australia had felt after the British naval base had fallen. The strong belief that the base would put a halt to Japan's conquering throughout the Southern pacific region. the weakened relationship between Australia and Britain, and the use of Australian soldiers as prisoners of war (POW).
The fall of Singapore (8th February 1942). Was a battle fought at a British naval base located in Kuala Lumpur (Singapore). Fought between Britain supported by Australia representing the ally's
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At the time the base in Singapore was viewed as an impenetrable base in the pacific region. It was believed that Japan would not be able to continue moving forward with their invasion if they tried attacking the naval base. So once Japan had invaded the naval base and won, the idea morale throughout the allied forces was crushed. Brittanica (https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II/The-fall-of-Singapore) suggests that the morale had been so badly crushed due to the fact that not only was the fall of Singapore was a major loss for the allies, Japan had also invaded and captured Java as well right after. Views throughout Australia consisted of the thought that Japan was an unstoppable force especially now that the Singapore navy base had fallen Australia had no connections to the allies and everyone believed they were vulnerable to invasion because of this fact. This is how the fall of Singapore consequently led to the loss of morale throughout the Allied forces because their strongest naval base was taken down so soundly by the Japanese’s
Australia and allies lost 900 people, 77 aircraft and a load of ships. Facilities were destroyed and the Japanese lost around 131 planes during the attacks. Australians were terrified that the Japanese would invade or attack more areas. You could feel the uneasiness of
All though both campaigns were vital to the victory of World War 2, I believe that the Kokoda campaign was the most significant to the history of Australia. Not only was the defense of the Kokoda trail vital to the success of the war, it was vital to the safety of Australia. If the Japanese succeeded in their advances, friendly military bases located in the Northern territory were at extreme risk of being targeted by air assaults. The victory in defending the Kokoda trail ultimately led to Australia being more secure, it also led to a successful counter-offensive against the Japanese that would not have been possible with the military bases in the Northern Territory at risk of being bombed. This campaign also highlights the fact that Australia
The Militia weren’t allowed to fight outside of Australia – but at the time, Papa New Guinea was technically Australian land. They were told they were going over to build and defend a runway, they did not expect to face any combat. It was no surprise that their first battle was disastrous; They were outnumbered by the Japanese – only 77 Australians to 400 Japanese troops. They were undersupplied
The Battle of Kokoda was a Japanese attempt to isolate Australia from their allies of the US so that they could not use their resources and weaponry. Kokoda was a direct result of other failed attempts by the Japanese for example, the Battle of Coral Sea. Kokoda gave the Australian military the opportunity to fight a forward defensive battle on foreign soil rather than an attempt to repel an enemy from its sovereign soil, within its victory it assisted in improving the moral of both the soldiers and its citizenry by providing a much needed victory that showed the Japanese could be defeated. Additionally, it was the first occasion where the new alliance between the Australian and American forces was tested and with this the alliance was cemented not only for world war to but continuing to present
Impacts in, and on Australia were felt almost instantly, and can still be noted in today's modern society where the relationships between Australia and the United Kingdom, and Australia and America are fortified internationally. Prior to World War Two, Australia was apart of the British commonwealth, and still is today, but during the war, Australia was at great risk because of it's geographical location. Many felt that support from the British was scarce, and as the Japanese continued fighting in the Pacific, the risk of attack on Australia was imminent. This was shown by the infamous bombing of Darwin on the 19th of February 1942. Source 1 shows a map of Japanese occupied areas in the Pacific at it's peak.
This was so important for the Pacific war as it marked the first time that the Japanese had been stopped in their advance across the pacific and stopped the Japanese from capturing Port Moresby. If the Japanese were able to successfully capture Port Moresby, then it would have put Australia at risk as the Japanese could have then invaded or attacked Australia. The Kokoda campaign is also significant for its use of military tactics that As significant as the Kokoda campaign was for the Pacific War, there was also many other campaigns and battles that were also extremely significant such as the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Siege of Tobruk, the Battle of Milne Bay, the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, and the Battle of Guadalcanal all of which were only a few of the many important battles that helped the success and safety of Australia and were vital to the allies attempt to overtake the axis powers. While, these battles the Australians were involved with were extremely helpful and vital to the Australians success in the war but the Kokoda campaign was significant in its own way for its use of military tactics such as jungle warfare and fire and movement where one of the group makes their way toward the enemy while another fires, to keep the enemy distracted and it saved Australia from being
Since Papua New Guinea did not fall and this was the first time Japan was stopped since the beginning of the war, it boosted the soldiers’ morale. This led to them being more confident in their abilities, ultimately turning the war from defence to offence. Additionally, there are many long-term consequences to Kokoda. When the Papuans helped to carry the sick and wounded troops to safety and the USA had indirectly helped Australia by fighting in the Pacific War it helped to strengthen Australia’s relationships with foreign countries such as Papua New Guinea and the USA. Furthermore, when Australia called for help from Great Britain, they refused to.
During the fighting, Australian soldiers killed swathes of Japanese, including their commander, causing over 85% casualties in a force of at least 16,000 while only suffering 2500 dead themselves. The campaign ended as a crucial victory due to the multiple defeats it caused the Japanese which stopped their momentum and helped turn the tide of the war in the South Pacific in the allies’ favour. While the campaign was an overall success, it was far from perfect and it had its fair share of problems, mainly with the supplies at Myola, but also with the troops that were deployed. If it hadn’t been for the timely arrival of the AIF at Isurava, the Militia would have been annihilated and the Japanese would have marched straight into Port Moresby with dangerous consequences for Australia and the rest of the war
In an unambiguous way if the Australian army did not showcase this perseverance and extreme moral they would have been forced back, letting the Japanese take control then giving the Axis powers more
The battle of the Coral Sea was Japan’s first defeat and was Americas first win (Hamilton, 2012). The battle took place in the Coral Sea, between the Solomon islands, the eastern point of papa new guinea and the north-eastern tip of Australia. This covers ocean thousands of kilometres wide and therefore for a large portion of the battle the opposing sides could often not find each other. Each carrier group often sent out planes to find each other but due to limited range in the planes, limited skill amongst the aircrews and ship identification, the often bad weather conditions and the vast area all equated into it being very difficult for them to find their targets (Lewis, 2015). As the list of defeats for the allied military and naval forces began to mount the feeling amongst all Australians began to drift into depression and acceptation that the Japanese could invade at any minute.
For the Canadian forces, World War II began on September 10, 1939, only nine days after the war had officially begun in Europe. Although the Canadians did not encounter their first battle until December, they were stationed in the United Kingdom to assist the British Expeditionary Forces (BEF) if needed (“Canada’s Role in WWII”). Canada’s first role in the war was to defend on the British Isles until needed in a separate battle (“Canada’s Role in WWII”). This event emerged in December of 1941, when the Canadians took part in a battle while attempting to protect the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong throughout a major Japanese attack (Chen, C. Peter). This battle became known as the Battle of Hong Kong.
Imperial Japanese forces were intent on landing a large force in Port Moresby, New Guinea and seize control of air fields on the island. The secondary plan was to also isolate Australia from allied support. “Early in 1942, Japan decided to block the Allies from setting up bases in Australia. Operation MO would send a large invasion force to Port Moresby, the capital of New Guinea. From Port Moresby, the Japanese would be able to project air power beyond the northern tip of Australia and establish bases even further south” (Hearn, Chester G., Carriers in Combat:
Cmdr. Joseph Rochefort and the U.S.’s overall superior strategies of Nimitz and Fletcher was the true reason for why the U.S.’s seemingly impossible victory became possible. The two key themes that I will focus analysis on is the failures in the Japanese strategic planning and execution at Midway and U.S. determination and resilience to keep pushing on even after things, especially with USS carriers leading up to and during the actual war was falling apart. Symonds begins to argue his case by dissecting Japan’s plans for conquest and domination in the Pacific. He starts with looking at the Japanese failure by several of their military philosophies.
Fuchida brought up the question of “what should we have done that we did not and why did we fail?” Ironically as it may have been, it was said that the Midway Islands would post the greatest threat to American naval power in the Pacific.” Yet, somehow the American naval power won the battle in the pacific. Fuchida blamed that the plans for the operation were studied and drawn up by the Combined Fleet Headquarters and the Naval General Staff in Tokyo. Fuchida said that Admiral Yamamoto did not want his fleet commanders, whose energies were fully occupied with the conduct of the first-phase operations in so many far-flung theaters, to be bothered by other
Some German trenches were captured Australian brigades, however, due to having so few men compared to the Germans, they were forced to