The Pacific War ~ WWII (2 Viewers)

[DeathHand]

Like Korean and Vietnam war photos, many Pacific War photos are scattered here and there in various "war" threads. Often they are labelled as being part of the wrong conflict (ie: Pacific images confused as Vietnam images).

I know that folks will have seen a number of these already, while many will be new. There are reposts here, I have another thread where I had already posted some of these. But it's nice to gather images from any particular conflict into one thread so that there's no confusion about the origin of the photos.

This is a large compilation that took some time to put together.

**The Pacific War**
7 Dec 1941 – 2 Sept 1945 (3 years, 269 days)

"The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East. The term Pacific War is used to encompass the Pacific Ocean theatre, the South West Pacific theatre, the South-East Asian theatre and the Second Sino-Japanese War, also including the 1945 Soviet-Japanese conflict."


The images are not in chronological order and I would love to title them all but that will take hours. Each image's filename contains the description (who, what, where, when) where it was available. Some I will title, others might not contain a title. DH.

Set 1.

1. Australian soldiers approaching Milne Bay. Oct. 31, 1942.

2. The USS Enterprise takes a hit from a Japanese bomber. Aug. 24, 1952.

3. Japanese civilians committing suicide instead of capture by Americans. Saipan.

4. Dead Japanese on a beach in Guadalcanal, Sept. 1942.

 

[DeathHand]

"It is generally considered that the Pacific War began on 7/8 December 1941 with the Japanese invasion of Thailand for the invasion of British Malaya, and the attack on Pearl Harbor in the United States' Territory of Hawaii by the Empire of Japan. Some authors consider the conflict in Asia can be dated as far as 7 July 1937, beginning with the Second Sino-Japanese War between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China, or possibly 19 September 1931, beginning with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. However, it is more widely accepted that the Pacific War itself started in early December 1941, with the Sino-Japanese War then becoming part of it as a theater of the greater World War II."

Set 2.

5. US troops advance past the dead body of a Japanese soldier. Luzon, Apr. 12, 1945.

6. Dead Japanese litter the beach at Tanapag, Saipan. July 14, 1944.

7. Japanese bomber moments before hitting the USS Essex. Nov. 25, 1944.

8. Another Japanese bomber before hitting the USS Essex. Nov. 25, 1944.

 

[DeathHand]

"The Pacific War saw the Allied powers against the Empire of Japan, the latter briefly aided by Thailand and to lesser extent by its Axis allies Germany and Italy. The war culminated in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and other large aerial bombing attacks by the United States Army Air Forces, accompanied by the Soviet invasion of Manchuria on 8 August 1945, resulting in the surrender of Japan and the end of fighting during World War II on 15 August 1945. The formal and official surrender of Japan occurred aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945."

Set 3.

9. Japanese bombers flying low. Sept. 25, 1942.

10. Japanese bomber before crashing at Truk, July 2/44. Note the gunner appears ready to bail - but didn't.

11. Japanese POW's at Guadalcanal, Nov. 5, 1942.

12. USS Yorktown hits and downs a Japanese torpedo bomber. Oct. 25, 1944.

 

[DeathHand]

"In an effort to discourage Japanese militarism, Western powers including Australia, the United States, Britain, and the Dutch government in exile, which controlled the petroleum-rich Dutch East Indies, stopped selling iron ore, steel and oil to Japan, denying it the raw materials needed to continue its activities in China and French Indochina. In Japan, the government and nationalists viewed these embargos as acts of aggression; imported oil made up about 80% of domestic consumption, without which Japan's economy, let alone its military, would grind to a halt. The Japanese media, influenced by military propagandists,began to refer to the embargoes as the "ABCD ("American-British-Chinese-Dutch") encirclement or ABCD line."

Set 4.

13. Members of the US 165th Infantry advance on Butaritari beach. Nov. 20, 1943.

14. Hit, a US A20 Havoc (not sure which version) crashes after bomb run. Kokas, July 1, 1943.

15. US LVTS' approach the beach head at Peleui, Sept. 14, 1944.

16. In the Mariana, a US Marine comforts a wounded buddy.

 

[DeathHand]

"Faced with a choice between economic collapse and withdrawal from its recent conquests (with its attendant loss of face), the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters began planning for a war with the western powers in April or May 1941.

The key objective was for the Southern Expeditionary Army Group to seize economic resources under the control of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, most notably those in Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, known as the "Southern Plan". It was also decided—because of the close relationship between the UK and United States, and the (mistaken) belief the US would inevitably become involved — Japan would also require an "eastern plan."

Set 5.

17. Fury of the flame thrower. US Marines target a Japanese position. Iwo Jima, March 4, 1945.

18. Medic works on a US Marine who received a neck wound. Saipan, June 1944.

19. Terrified of the Americans, a Japanese woman (w/child) is coaxed out of of cave by a US Marine.

20. US Marine taken out by Japanese sniper fire. Iwo Jima, Feb. 19, 1945.

 

[DeathHand]

Time for a break...then we'll get into more of this costly conflict.

Cheers

 

[DeathHand]

Ok, back on track with some more.

The following two sets are each of Japanese soldiers.

Set 6.

21.

22.

23.

24.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 7.

25.

26.

27.

28.

 

[wino]

great thread bloke

 

[revolva]

Fucking excellent pics dude! Keep em coming! I know a lot of old timers here who have told me stories of the war from their first hand experience...When I first moved to Tokyo, my neighborhood was evacuated and cordoned off because they unearthed an unexploded American bomb while demolishing an old building...apparently there are thousands and thousands of them still lying under the ground due to the rapid reconstruction after the war. There was just too much unexploded ordinance, so they just built over it

 

[DeathHand]

Thanks, glad you like and yes I'll bet there's alot of buried ordnance around Tokyo and elsewhere. Germany is a bad spot for it as well - always digging up huge allied bombs that didn't go off when they were dropped. Near Berlin a few months back they found a large unexploded bomb that could have taken out the whole block.

And if you still see those old timers, write down or record what the stories they tell. Not alot left alive that were in these various wars (soldiers or civilians).

 

[DeathHand]

Set 8.

29. US photographer prepping his camera to photograph dead Japanese soldiers.

\

30. Photos taken from the same US photographer (above).

31. Group of Japanese soldiers killed in combat (US troops seen on road in background).

32. Japanese soldiers killed on Perry Island, Feb 1944.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 9.

33. Dead Japanese tank crewman and his knocked out tank.

34. US Marines lay dead where they fell after being hit by Japanese gunfire. Iwo Jima, Feb. 19, 1945.

35. Iconic photo of war in the Pacific: a Japanese soldiers head mounted on a knocked out tank.

36. Two Marines pass the burial site of a fellow Marine, killed on Iwo Jima, 1945.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 10.

37. Dead Japanese soldiers. Marshall Islands.

38. Knocked out Japanese artillery. Mille, Aug. 1945.

39. US Curtiss Helldivers over Saipan, Aug. 24, 1944.

40. US General MacArthur inspects dead Japanese soldiers.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 11.

41. American LVTs approach the beaches at Peleliu.

42. Marines stand guard in their dugout. Saipan, July 1, 1944.

43. US Marines take a break, one keeping his .30 cal in his lap. Peleliu, Sept. 14, 1944.

44. A US Marine cautiously approaches a Japanese pillbox. Tinian, Aug. 1, 1944.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 12.

45. A US Marine cautiously checks that a Japanese soldier is dead. Perry Island, 1944.

46. A wounded US Marine is given water by a buddy. Peleliu, 1944.

47. US Marine position with Mt. Suribachi in background. Iwo Jima, Feb. 22., 1945.

48. US "Marine Raiders Squad". Skilled jungle fighters. Cape Totkina, Jan. 1944.

 

[Emmett]

nice, but you can find the Japan vs British in WWII in Malaysia?

 

[DeathHand]

nice, but you can find the Japan vs British in WWII in Malaysia?

Dang, I missed this post.

There are quite a few photos of British forces in Malaya during WW2 but they usually consist of a number of different forces that fought for/with the British (ie: the Gurkhas in Burma and elsewhere), depending on where they were fighting.

The number of "gore" pics related to the British forces (I mean actual British soldiers) fighting the Japanese forces in Malaysia are very rare and when found are often confused with other battles of the Pacific theater. I have a number of "non-gore" related photos but they will be posted (once I get to uploading them) in the Misc. Images section.

Cheers and who knows, maybe I'll find a hidden stash of photos somewhere to post in the Gore Images section .

 

[rundown]

all your hard work here with this and other threads is much appreciated DeathHand ... thank you !!

 

[Msprissypants]

Alot of these are new to me, thank you.