Here are some main events of the Pacific War on the Japanese side:
1941
December 7 - Japanese bomb Pearl Harbour, Hawaii; also attack the Philippines, Wake Island, Guam, Malaya, Thailand, Shanghai and Midway. December 8 - U.S. and Britain declare war on Japan. Japanese land near Singapore and enter Thailand. December 9 - China declares war on Japan. December 10 - Japanese invade the Philippines and also seize Guam. December 11 - Japanese invade Burma. December 16 - Japanese invade British Borneo. December 18 - Japanese invade Hong Kong. December 22 - Japanese invade Luzon in the Philippines. December 25 - British surrender at Hong Kong. December 26 - Manila declared an open city. December 27 - Japanese bomb Manila. |
1942
January 2 - Manila and U.S. Naval base at Cavite captured by the Japanese. January 7 - Japanese attack Bataan in the Philippines. January 11 - Japanese invade Dutch East Indies and Dutch Borneo. January 18 - German-Japanese-Italian military agreement signed in Berlin. January 19 - Japanese take North Borneo. January 23 - Japanese take Rabaul on New Britain in the Solomon Islands and also invade Bougainville, the largest island. January 30/31 - The British withdraw into Singapore. The siege of Singapore then begins. February 2 - Japanese invade Java in the Dutch East Indies. February 8/9 - Japanese invade Singapore. February 14 - Japanese invade Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies. February 15 - British surrender at Singapore. February 19 - Largest Japanese air raid since Pearl Harbour occurs against Darwin, Australia. Japanese invade Bali. February 27- March 1 - Japanese naval victory in the Battle of the Java Sea as the largest U.S. warship in the Far East, the Houston, is sunk. March 7 - British evacuate Rangoon in Burma; Japanese invade Salamaua and Lae on New Guinea. March 8 - The Dutch on Java surrender to Japanese. March 23 - Japanese invade the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. April 3 - Japanese attack U.S. and Filipino troops at Bataan. April 9 - U.S. forces on Bataan surrender unconditionally to the Japanese. April 29 - Japanese take central Burma. May 1 - Japanese occupy Mandalay in Burma. May 3 - Japanese take Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. May 5 - Japanese prepare to invade Midway and the Aleutian Islands. May 6 - Japanese take Corregidor. May 7/8 - Japan suffers its first defeat of the war during the Battle of the Coral Sea off New Guinea - the first time in history that two opposing carrier forces fought only using aircraft without the opposing ships ever sighting each other. June 4/5 - Turning point in the war occurs with a decisive victory for the U.S. against Japan in the Battle of Midway as squadrons of U.S. torpedo planes and dive bombers from Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown attack and destroy four Japanese carriers, a cruiser, and damage another cruiser and two destroyers. June 7 - Japanese invade the Aleutian Islands. June 9 - Japanese postpone further plans to take Midway. July 21 - Japanese land troops near Gona on New Guinea. August 8/9 - Eight Japanese warships wage a night attack and sink three U.S. heavy cruisers, an Australian cruiser, and one U.S. destroyer, all in less than an hour. Another U.S. cruiser and two destroyers are damaged. Over 1,500 Allied crewmen are lost. August 21 - U.S. Marines repulse first major Japanese ground attack on Guadalcanal. August 24 - U.S. And Japanese carriers meet in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons resulting in a Japanese defeat. August 29 - The Red Cross announces Japan refuses to allow safe passage of ships containing supplies for U.S. POWs'. September 9/10 - A Japanese float-plane flies two missions dropping incendiary bombs on U.S. forests in the state of Oregon - the only bombing of the continental U.S. during the war. Newspapers in the U.S. voluntarily withhold this information. September 12~14 - Battle of Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal. September 15 - A Japanese submarine torpedo attack near the Solomon Islands results in the sinking of the Carrier "Wasp", Destroyer "o'Brian" and damage to the Battleship "North Carolina". October 14/15 - Japanese bombard Henderson Field at night from warships then send troops ashore onto Guadalcanal in the morning as U.S. planes attack. October 15/17 - Japanese bombard Henderson Field at night again from warships. November 23/24 - Japanese air raid on Darwin, Australia. November 30 - Battle of Tasafaronga off Guadalcanal. December 20~24 - Japanese air raids on Calcutta, India. December 31 - Emperor Hirohito of Japan gives permission to his troops to withdraw from Guadalcanal after five months of bloody fighting against U.S. Forces |
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1943
January 22 - Allies defeat Japanese at Sanananda on New Guinea. February 1 - Japanese begin evacuation of Guadalcanal. February 8 - British-Indian forces begin guerilla operations against Japanese in Burma. February 9 - Japanese resistance on Guadalcanal ends. March 2~4 - U.S. victory over Japanese in the Battle of Bismarck Sea. April 22 - Japan announces captured Allied pilots will be given "one way tickets to hell." May 14 - A Japanese submarine sinks the Australian hospital ship "Centaur" resulting in 299 dead. May 31- Japanese end their occupation of the Aleutian Islands as the U.S. completes the capture of Attu. August 6/7 - Battle of Vella Gulf in the Solomon Islands. October 7 - Japanese execute approximately 100 American POWs on Wake Island. October 26 - Emperor Hirohito states his country's situation is now "truly grave." November 1 - U.S. Marines invade Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. November 2 - Battle of Empress Augusta Bay. November 20 - U.S. Troops invade Makin and Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. November 23 - Japanese end resistance on Makin and Tarawa. |
1944
February 1~7 - U.S. Troops capture Kwajalein and Majura Atolls in the Marshall Islands. February 17/18 - U.S. Carrier-based planes destroy the Japanese naval base at Truk in the Caroline Islands. February 20 - U.S. Carrier-based and land-based planes destroy the Japanese base at Rabaul. March 15 - Japanese begin offensive toward Imphal and Kohima. April 17 - Japanese begin their last offensive in China, attacking U.S. air bases in eastern China. April 22 - Allies invade Aitape and Hollandia in New Guinea. May 27 - Allies invade Biak Island, New Guinea. June 15/16 - The first bombing raid on Japan since the Doolittle raid of April 1942, as 47 B-29s based in Bengel, India, target the steel works at Yawata. July 8 - Japanese withdraw from Imphal. July 19 - U.S. Marines invade Guam in the Marianas. July 24 - U.S. Marines invade Tinian. July 27 - American troops complete the liberation of Guam. August 3 - U.S. And Chinese troops take Myitkyina after a two month siege. August 8 - American troops complete the capture of the Mariana Islands. September 15 - U.S. Troops invade Morotai and the Paulaus. October 11 - U.S. Air raids against Okinawa. October 23~26 - Battle of Leyte Gulf results in a decisive U.S. Naval victory. October 25 - The first suicide air (Kamikaze) attacks occur against U.S. warships in Leyte Gulf. By the end of the war, Japan will have sent an estimated 2,257 aircraft. "The only weapon I feared in the war," Adm. Halsey will say later. December 17 - The U.S. Army Air Force begins preparations for dropping the Atomic Bomb by establishing the 509th Composite Group to operate the B-29s that will deliver the bomb. |
1945
January 4 - British occupy Akyab in Burma. January 9 - U.S. Sixth Army invades Lingayen Gulf on Luzon in the Philippines. January 11 - Air raid against Japanese bases in Indochina by U.S. Carrier-based planes. February 16 - U.S. Troops recapture Bataan in the Philippines. February 19 - U.S. Marines invade Iwo Jima. March 1 - A U.S. submarine sinks a Japanese merchant ship loaded with supplies for Allied POWs', resulting in a court martial for the captain of the submarine, since the ship had been granted safe passage by the U.S. Government. March 9/10 - Fifteen square miles of Tokyo erupts in flames after it is fire bombed by 279 B-29s. March 10 - U.S. Eighth Army invades Zamboanga Peninsula on Mindanao in the Philippines. March 20 - British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma. May 20 - Japanese begin withdrawal from China. May 25 - U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff approve Operation Olympic, the invasion of Japan, scheduled for November 1. June 9 - Japanese Premier Suzuki announces Japan will fight to the very end rather than accept unconditional surrender. June 18 - Japanese resistance ends on Mindanao in the Philippines. June 22 - Japanese resistance ends on Okinawa as the U.S. Tenth Army completes its capture. June 28 - MacArthur's headquarters announces the end of all Japanese resistance in the Philippines. July 5 - Liberation of Philippines declared. July 10 - 1,000 bomber raids against Japan begin. July 14 - The first U.S. Naval bombardment of Japanese home islands. July 16 - First Atomic Bomb is successfully tested in the U.S. July 26 - Components of the Atomic Bomb "Little Boy" are unloaded at Tinian Island in the South Pacific. August 6 - First Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima from a B-29 flown by Col. Paul Tibbets. August 8 - U.S.S.R. declares war on Japan then invades Manchuria. August 9 - Second Atomic Bomb is dropped on Nagasaki from a B-29 flown by Maj. Charles Sweeney -- Emperor Hirohito and Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki then decide to seek an immediate peace with the Allies. August 14 - Japanese accept unconditional surrender; Gen. MacArthur is appointed to head the occupation forces in Japan. August 29 - The Soviets shoot down a B-29 dropping supplies to POWs' in Korea; U.S. Troops land near Tokyo to begin the occupation of Japan. August 30 - The British reoccupy Hong Kong. September 2 - Formal Japanese surrender ceremony on board the "Missouri" in Tokyo Bay as 1,000 carrier-based planes fly overhead; President Truman declares VJ Day. September 3 - The Japanese commander in the Philippines, Gen. Yamashita, surrenders to Gen. Wainwright at Baguio. September 4 - Japanese troops on Wake Island surrender. September 5 - British land in Singapore. September 8 - MacArthur enters Tokyo. September 9 - Japanese in Korea surrender. September 13 - Japanese in Burma surrender. October 24 - United Nations is born. |
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My reflection
After finding this information I am rather impressed with how well Japan was doing for the first one and a half years, they invaded and claimed a lot of countries in such a short occupation of time. I have learnt a fair bit from this but in the future I would love to do an assignment on a specific part of the Pacific war, such as the POW camps or the Nanking massacre.
For now I would like to share some websites that I believe to be good information about the Pacific war.
The first website is the one I used to find most of the information for this timeline, it is rather detailed in it's information but looks a little awkward in the formatting (like I can talk), and has information on a variety of subjects involving the war.
http://www.historyplace.com/index.html
The next website has a great deal of information on the Pacific war's war crimes, I would recommend it to you if you don't mind reading through walls of texts.http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/W/a/War_Crimes.htm
Last but not least, this website has great information of war crimes that happened during the Pacific war. Including statements and quotes of some witnesses and soldiers.
http://www.japanfocus.org/-Yuki-TANAKA/3441
For now I would like to share some websites that I believe to be good information about the Pacific war.
The first website is the one I used to find most of the information for this timeline, it is rather detailed in it's information but looks a little awkward in the formatting (like I can talk), and has information on a variety of subjects involving the war.
http://www.historyplace.com/index.html
The next website has a great deal of information on the Pacific war's war crimes, I would recommend it to you if you don't mind reading through walls of texts.http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/W/a/War_Crimes.htm
Last but not least, this website has great information of war crimes that happened during the Pacific war. Including statements and quotes of some witnesses and soldiers.
http://www.japanfocus.org/-Yuki-TANAKA/3441