Відео

great vid, u even went there !

Well done John. I really appreciate your detailed explanation of these events and how they intertwined with the overall strategy of the Pacific. Looking forward to part two!

thanks john a very detailed view

My Great Grandfather was on board the USS Purdy as a gunner and firefighter. I don’t know much else about his experience, he was in service for the majority of the war as far as I know. Amazing to get this in depth story.

Very detailed, informative, educational. recommended. thank you

So all of these actions took place before 7 December 1941?

Very well done.

My granfather served with the 184th infantry 7th infantry div. He was shot assaulting the pinnacle was left over night. He told my father that he was terrified that the japanese would find him and finish him off but that didnt happen the next day they came back up and among that they found him got him out. He said not many men from his company left the war unscathed. His squad alone. He was awarded the purple heart for a wound in phillipines grenade shrapnel to throat face area. Then getting hit in okinawa. Have his medals his pacific theater has a spearhead. 30+ years later he would recieve the bronze star. Due to family quarrels all my grandfathers souvineers were lost. From what i was told it ranged from weapons to flags. All i have are a few photographs of his squad and few places like marshall islands hawaii after pearl harbor. Few other places. He never mentioned much of the war in his writings home but the only letters i have aquired was between him and his sister. So id assume he didnt really talk much of it to her.

Any chance of a pelelui lecture like the okinawa series?

Really excellent

Excellent overview of this battle at Milne Bay. I learned a lot and appreciate the perspective of how this battle affected and was connected to the other battles at that time. History does not exist in isolation. Well done. -Greg

This is a good presentation on the perspective and rationale of the Japanese prior to the attack on Pearl harbor on December 7th of 1941. Hard to say that this would be a different plan of attack of another adversary. A very complex and difficult series of of events. Well done John.

This was a good video and a great simple breakdown of a very complex and difficuly subject matter. Looking forward to part 2.

thanks for posting john , looking forward to part 2

Thank you John! glad to see you post another lecture, i absolutely enjoy your guadalcanal campaign one. hello from Switzerland

Your lectures are excellent. Thank you so much!

Thank you. I appreciate this clear and concise overview.

Father in Law was there with the 18th Bgde, 2/9th Batt. After the 8 months of Tobruk he ended up in Milne Bay, caught malaria and the Dr found out that he had fibbed his age and they sent him back to a BOD in Melbourne. Not as big or as long as Guadalcanal, but the fact remains that Milne Bay was the FIRST Jap defeat since Pearl Harbour.

Excellent presentation. Gives great context to what was to come -Greg Hobbs

Excellent. Very well prepared combination of text, maps and photos 👍🏼

First of all, there is no way the position of the USN could be "even worse" in 1942 than in 1941. Overwhelming production was already in train before Pearl Harbor and the position of the IJN was only going to get worse. Second, it is well established that the German drive on Moscow was already defeated before the arrival of substantial forces transferred from the east. Thirdly, the Japanese Army's inferiority to the Russian was revealed by Nomonhan, but wasn't a mere impression. You mention the inferiority of Japanese armor at Nomonhan, and how were the Japanese ever going to defeat Russia on the steppe without effective tanks or anti-tank guns?

I do have an issue with what you said about the Japanese forty seven millimeter at gun was effective of Against Sherman's. well, it was only effective against the Sherman's. If they were fired upon at close ranges. But yes, it was still an effective AT gun when used properly. Against against M3 and M5 stuart tanks. It was very, very effective against Sherman's only at close ranges. The only us tank that could have not been penitrated was the m26 Pershing which was only being used in European a test base, but the war in Europe was all but over.

Great video! Thanks for making it.

Lately I've been listening to alot of the stories about the navy/air units around the pacific theater. This is exactly the other piece of the story I was looking for. Thank you for putting this together. The pictures add alot to the story.

Excellent content and articulation; fascinating analysis of this little known aspect of WWII. You, Sir, should lecture at West Point!

5 Star presentation!

Deserves 100 million views.

Eviscerating Battleships is what the Long Lance was designed to do, for a light cruiser (or Heavy in the right spot), or Destroyer it would turn them into metal confetti.

The Saratoga was totally incapable of avoiding Torpedoes, seriously, every time she was needed the worst she was in dry dock with torpedo repairs. If I didn't know better I'd say they were Sand-Bagg'n

Very good presentation. I especially appreciate the details provided.

Thanks for posting, That part of the War is almost forgotten, sad enough. Here in Alaska it was as real as it gets. The book "The 1000 mile war" is likely the best single-source about it out there. There is not even a decent museum about this war out there, the artifacts that remain are left to rot. BTW; at 29: 08 you show a slide with a ridiculous caption: those planes are "Rufe" fighter seaplanes, single float versions of the Zero. A Betty (Hamaki) is a large, twin engine Bomber that needs a real airport. The Japanese Never finished any airfield in the Aleutians and never fielded any Bettys there. They had only Seaplanes, and those suffered immensely under the elements... - Anyhow, Best Regards from Alaska!

I get tired of reading someone opinion of battles. I want to read and see the documents of battles.

The view from the plane gives a great insight into the area. Throw thousands of soldiers in there, and you get a good idea of the intense fights.

Out standing detail of the campaign. Very informative

This is a proper lesson of the Aleutian Islands Campaign and the Pacific Theater during the war.

Thank you for this brilliantly presented pair of videos, John. My older brother has just returned to the UK from a holiday in Mongolia, mentioning about how the Mongolians view the Russians as such close friends, partly for their assistance against the Japanese. I said that I'd seen something about an incident around that part of the world that would cover that but had forgotten what the incident was called. I hadn't realised how significant it was to the outcome of WWII. I'm getting increasingly interested in these mini-conflicts fringing on both WWI and WWII as time goes by, especially those involving aerial action, plus the largely overlooked Ecuadorian-Peruvian War of 1941, as war was raging in Europe, my brother also having been to Peru! One slight criticism, as my brother is married to a Scotswoman by birth, is your references to 'England' when you really mean Great Britain, as if Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland don't exist. It did rather spoil the generally first-class experience.

I’m a bit late to the party but just wanted to say I absolutely love this series. It’s very evident you put a ton of work into these and the final product is smooth and distilled like it should be.

wars are stupid

It's a beautiful and Solomon tribute to all sufferings, sacrifices and sagacious

Thanks for this enduring record. Never forget. My Dad was in the SeaBees and saw duty in the Pacific. He died young after leaving the Navy, I was only 8, but I remember hearing him say... "If you want to get a tough job done tell a Marine he can't do it." Now all I can say is Bless Them All.

You should teach. Your grasp of the the details that went into the "'big" decisions goes much further than most who teach that subject. I had an instructor in college that thought the way you do; he was the curator at the Mariners' Museum and Park at the time. His instructions were more like telling a story that kept everyone involved and hanging on every word.

As usual thank you!! I’m 46 stoner outta Cleveland. Really enjoy your stuff. Just finished Shattered Sword and am tryin to get Lundstroms books on Team A. I also keep suggesting your channel everywhere I can. @ww2tv @historyunderground for example

Best analysis of this I've ever seen and heard. Your graphics are top-notch. Thanks.

Excellent. Thank you.

A great summary of the background and reasons. It also gives context to the events of August, 1945

Great series, looking forward to part 6 and more. The running Marine in the series thumbnail is Paul Ison. In 1994 I had the pleasure of hearing his firsthand story behind the photo when he was a guest speaker at DI school in San Diego.

It's is amazing that Ichiki and the senior brass of IJA held the belief that blades can beat bullets. They had been taught how wrong that bushido (way of the sword, or warrior I think) code was back around 1600's when Oda Nobunaga (a back water leader) used "the barbaric" weapons called muskets, to kick the rest of Japans leaders asses and took over as feudal lord. It's an interesting read how he did his campaign. Side Note: corsamth was their emperor (who was divine) symbol and all gun of Japanese had it on them, making those guns "divine" and Macarther ordered all those symbol to be defaced and dumped into tokyo bay, and not taken as soils.

My grandfather, Ltjg Robert Cahill was a hell diver pilot from USS Bennington. His shadow box in on my wall. He received the distinguished flying cross for scoring a hit in the first attack.

My Father was on the Franklin.

The first time that the Japanese were defeated on land was the 23-24 January 1942 Battle of the Points in the Philippines. The second time was the 21 August Battle of the Tenaru/Ilu River/Alligator Creek. The first time that they were defeated at all was their first attempt on December 11, 1941 to take Wake Island. The Japanese had a successful offensive in China from 19 April to 31 December 1944 called Operation Ichi-Go.