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To reach the Phillipines, reinforcements,transports and escorts would have to travel within range of air forces on Japanese controlled islands. At this time only the U.S. Navy Fleet carriers were capable of offensive power and with recent experience in the Med/Pearl Harbor/Pow-Repulse one saw what happened to shipping under attack by aircraft. The reinforcements then would run through a gauntlet which would also bring Japanese aircraft carriers and then the only feasible demarcation point was Manila Bay which was already occupied which means a slow process of offloading over a beach. There was no safe anchorage for the escorts, no supplies of fuel or munitions or even food to resupply. They would need to travel back to the Pearl region once they have delivered their cargoes. Any ships damaged in the process would have to be scuttled as there were no port facilites for repair and could not be brought back as the ships.
The Japanese surprised everyone with Pearl, Pow-Repulse, surface battles in the Java Sea region etc to be very capable and there was insufficient margin of forces to resupply the Phillipines. There would be a need for constant resupply and that was not feasible as all of the dangers above would be repeated with every sortie from Pearl to the Phillipines. (Think of the Malta convoys except the Japanese were earnst fighters unlike the Japanese)
The USN was busy in 1942 shipping troops to Iceland and expanding the navy.
The USA was busy creating an army from the peacetime and reserves core.
The USAAF was as above.
No one was ready to take on the offensive against the Japanese. Axiom of warfare is to counterattack where the enemy is weakest not strongest. Japanese strong in the Phillipines region. So you see why, tip of New Guineau, Midway and later Guadalcanal were selected as confrontation points. Tip of their spear vs ours. Better odds.
After the surrender of the American and Filipino forces in April of 1942 and the Bataan death march and so many American POWs being held in brutal captivity , the US made the decision to direct the majority of it's war machine toward Europe instead of liberating thousand of American POWs in the Phillipines first.
I am not criticizing the overall strategy, it may have been the right one, but do you think Roosevelt could have made that decision if he was dealing with today's media?
Was it the right thing to do not to try and liberate the Americans first with everything the US had?
If Bush could use 9/11 to justify Iraq then it should not be difficult to imagine another president today browbeat Congress into following a strategy that does not necessarily have the most support from the public.
STRATEGIC. it all boils down to that. the Philippines has always been an indefensible due to distance or resupply issue
in Europe, the British and the Soviets were still holding their ground whereas in the Asia Pacific, only Australia remain standing.
the germans can not match the combined navies of the US and the UK so it was easier to resupply the Brits and Soviets whereas the Japanese navy ruled the pacific
in terms of strategic objectives, there was more to lose if the British and the Soviets were to capitulate or even if just the Soviets fell to the the Nazis. can you imagine the implication if the Soviets fell? unlimited resources will then be available to the Nazis. imagine again the area to be lost? from Europe to the far east. and who were lording it over in the Far East? the Japanese. see the implications if just one of those countries lost
don't know if that was Roosevelt and Churchill were thinking but I guess im not far off
At the end of WWII the two most powerful Navies were the US Pacific Fleet and the US Atlantic fleet. Even though the focus was on Europe that does not mean that the Pacific was being neglected.
The attack on Pearl Harbor:
December 7, 1941
The Japanese Surrender:
September 2, 1945
Not bad considering our military entering the war was not really in the best of shape.
At the end of WWII the two most powerful Navies were the US Pacific Fleet and the US Atlantic fleet. Even though the focus was on Europe that does not mean that the Pacific was being neglected.
The attack on Pearl Harbor:
December 7, 1941
The Japanese Surrender:
September 2, 1945
Not bad considering our military entering the war was not really in the best of shape.
That's an understatement. The U.S. Military was ranked 39th in the world in 1939.
Using your logic, the United States most definitely should have prioritized Germany because, by the end of 1942, there were more American POWs in German camps than Japanese.
I know that there's a terrible calculus in war and, ultimately, you sometimes have to think in terms of which course of action causes the fewest number of deaths.
Yeah, well, the government did a much better job of controlling the news back then.
I think even without control, Germany would have become the primary target first. The war against Japan was going to be a series of attacks on a string of islands, before they could get to the 12 thousand prisoners. Japan had reached its maximun capacity to conquer territory. But Germany held territory in one large area. The campaign to take it was going to be continuous, and as he hadn't defeated England there was something to lose which mattered. They were a foothold into occupied territory. The military balance would have won out despite any public sentiment.
If we were to become engaged in a war with as high a stakes as WW2, I have a feeling that news would be far far more controlled anyway. Being embarresed by a news report is NOT the same as an integrated plan being leaked when the stakes are as high as they were back when Germany and Japan were holding the world hostage.
Using your logic, the United States most definitely should have prioritized Germany because, by the end of 1942, there were more American POWs in German camps than Japanese.
I know that there's a terrible calculus in war and, ultimately, you sometimes have to think in terms of which course of action causes the fewest number of deaths.
Are you sure about that statement? The US did not begin bombing of European targets until June of 1942 with the Ploesti missions, and American ground forces first saw action in North Africa in November 1942. American forces did not take heavy casualties in North Africa until the Battle at Kasserine Pass in February 1943.
Since most of the bombing of Germany in 1942 was done by the British, so where would the American POWs have been captured?
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