Pacific Campaign continued
A 90th Squadron B25 that made it back from a raid on Rabaul.
After the battle of the Coral Sea, Admiral Yamamoto was convinced that one major sea battle would finish the American fleet for good. He picked the island of Midway which, if taken, would put the Japanese within 1000 miles of Honolulu. He assembled a fleet of over 100 warships plus auxiliaries and set out with the anticipation of the great naval battle he had dreamt of all his life. The fleet, which included eight carriers and eleven battleships, were unaware that the Americans had broken their codes and sailed on thinking they had the element of surprise, while in reality Admiral Nimitz in Honolulu, knew of Yamamotos intentions and was organizing countermeasures. Just after the battle of Midway on June 7th, about 1,800 Japanese troops occupied two islands at the western end of the Aleutian islands chain, bad weather kept the Japanese invasion a secret from the Americans for about a week. After the discovery of the Japanese the Americans decided that unless the Japs tried to take more Aleutian islands they would just leave them to sit out the war on the two islands until the time came to take back the islands.
The Japanese never really recovered from the Midway defeat and now that the tables had started to turn the main attention of the allies turned towards New Guinea and the threat to the Australia northern coastline. The jungles of New Guinea were to be as much an enemy as the Japanese to the allied troops that fought there. The worlds second largest island had a coastline that stretched over 1,500 miles and it seemed as if the rain never stopped. Insects carried all kinds of tropical diseases, swamps and thickets of razor sharp Kunai grass were everywhere, the humidity combined with 90 degree tropical heat to make every movement an energy draining chore. The Japanese first landed in January 1942 at Rabaul, New Britain, killing about 300 poorly equipped Australian troops and taking more than 800 into cruel captivity. The Japanese then looked towards Port Moresby from which they could menace the northern Australian coast and to the Solomon islands in the hope of cutting the America/Australia lifeline. The Japanese began building an airfield on Guadalcanal with which they could attack Australia, at the same time launching an attack through the jungle towards Moresby (the allies had thought that an overland attack on Moresby was impossible).
A brief description of the conditions in the New Guinea campaign.
New Guinea, a tropical "paradise" sometimes was referred to as "hell in the jungle" for the men who fought there during World War II. New Guinea, the second largest island in the world, lying just below the equator, imposed problems unheard of in other battles of the Pacific Campaign. Rainfall ran as high as 300 inches a year creating a virtual swamp for the men who fought there during 1942-1945. The deadly terrain remained untouched when the war came to New Guinea. The north shore was a tangled web of mangrove swamps with patches of razor-sharp kunai grass (also known as elephant grass) which grew to heights of seven feet. Men had to carry machetes to cut away a swath or risk getting cut with its deadly razor blade-like edges. Moving inland, the rain forest was so thick that it blocked out the light of the sun. Several rivers and streams carved the area into swampy and muddy bogs. Roads didn't exist. The closest thing to roads were dirt trails which were quickly dissolved by the frequent downpours, turning the paths into knee-deep mud that left the soldiers exhausted after just a few hundred feet of movement in the glue-like soil. Monsoon rains of eight to ten inches a day turned streams quickly into raging rivers. Steaming humidity coupled with temperatures in the mid 90s, left no doubt that man was at the mercy of the elements in New Guinea. Disease thrived in these conditions with malaria being the most deadly to the opposing armies, but also dengue fever, dysentery and a host of other sicknesses and conditions awaited the men in the jungle. Men ate their rations with one hand while using the other hand to swat away clouds of flies that swarmed around their food. Malaria bearing mosquitoes, along with chiggers, leeches, ticks and other parasites drained the soldier's physical health just as mere survival in the jungle wore away at their spirits. This was life in the New Guinea jungles during World War II. This was hell in the jungle.