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JAPANESE ADVANCES 113

JAPAN ATTACKS

After Pearl Harbor, the Japanese

launched a series of well-planned

attacks east across the Pacific,

south into the Philippines and the

British and Dutch East Indies,

and west into Burma. With the

element of surprise, they swept

all opposition before them.

DEC 1941 JAN 1942 FEB

2

3

4

5

1

TIMELINE

ATTACKING THE US

DECEMBER 8, 1941–JANUARY 2, 1942

After their attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese

began an assault on the Philippines in the northern

islands on December 8, capturing the capital,

Manila, by January 2, 1942 (see pp.116–117).

In the Pacific, they took American Guam on

December 11, Wake Island on December 23,

and the British Gilbert Islands on December 10,

giving them protection on their south-east flank.

1

THE ASSAULT ON MALAYA AND BURMA

DECEMBER 8, 1941–JANUARY 31, 1942

Japanese troops landed on the Thai east coast on

December 8 to join those who had already moved

into Thailand from Indochina. Later that day, the

Japanese landed in northern Malaya; by the end of

January, they had reached the southern end of the

peninsula. Other Japanese troops entered Burma

on December 15 (see pp.120–121) and launched

air raids against Rangoon on December 23.

2

Japanese assaults

on Burma and Malaya

Japanese

air raid

Route of Prince of

Wales and Repulse

Prince of Wales

and Repulse sunk

THE SINKING OF HMS PRINCE OF WALES

AND REPULSE DECEMBER 8–10, 1941

British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and

the battle cruiser HMS Repulse left Singapore

on December 8, 1941, and sailed into the South

China Sea to attack Japanese troop convoys.

They were spotted by a Japanese submarine

and attacked off the eastern Malay coast by a

flight of eight Japanese bombers on December 10.

Both were sunk, becoming the first capital ships

(the largest armed ships in a navy) in history to

be sunk solely by air power on the open sea.

3

A few days before the events of Pearl Harbor (see pp.110–111),

Japanese troops had moved through Thailand, positioning

themselves for planned actions. On December 7, troop transports

gathered in the Gulf of Siam ready for an assault on Malaya, which

took place the next morning. The first attack on the Philippines

occurred on the same day, with the British East Indies coming

under attack a week later. By then, two British capital ships had been

sunk in the South China Sea and Hong Kong was under assault.

US-controlled Guam and Wake Island were quickly lost, the Dutch

East Indies came under sustained attack in early January 1942, and

by the end of January mainland Malaya was in Japanese hands.

American, British, and Dutch forces suffered heavy defeats, with

many men taken prisoner or massacred by the Japanese. The Japanese

attack was geographically wide, with air raids on Rangoon in Burma

to the west and the capture of the Gilbert Islands in the Pacific to the

east. It was also impeccably planned, with surprise and military

experience giving the Japanese some easy victories.

JAPANESE

ADVANCES

The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,

marked the start of a campaign by the Japanese to

extend their control throughout Southeast Asia and the

western Pacific. Within days, they had launched a series

of daring amphibious and airborne assaults.

“Japan was supreme, and we everywhere were

weak and naked.”

WINSTON CHURCHILL, THE SECOND WORLD WAR, 1950

Dec 23, 1941 The

Japanese take Wake

Island on the second

attempt after an

initial assault on

December 11 fails.

THAILAND IN THE WAR

Thailand became increasingly

authoritarian with the accession

in 1938 of the pro-Fascist Luang

Phibunsongkhram (right) as

prime minister. A former field

marshal who was pro-Japanese,

Phibunsongkhram was pressured

into allowing Japanese troops to

pass through Thailand in late

November 1941; however, on

December 8 Japan issued an

ultimatum and invaded anyway.

Phibunsongkhram ordered an

armistice and signed an alliance

with Japan, undertaking to assist

its war; he gained two states in

Burma as a reward.

I N D I A N

O

C

E

A

N

P A C I F I C

O

C

E

A

N

Coral

Sea

Sea of

Okhotsk

South

China

Sea

East

China

Sea

Sea of

Japan

(East Sea)

Gulf of

Siam

Ku

rile

Is

lan

ds

Ryu

ky

u^

Isl

an

ds

PHILIPPINES

Guam

Iwo Jima

Bonin

Islands

Luzon

Hainan

Saipan

Marshall Islands

Kwajalein Atoll

Borneo

Ceram

Celebes

Mindanao

Java

Bali Timor

Sumatra

So

lom

on

(^) Is
lan
ds
G
ilb
er
t (^) I
sla
nd
s
Midway Atoll
Wake
Island
Hawaiian
Islands
D
UT
CH
EA
ST
(^) IN
DI
ES
Mariana
Islands
(MANCHURIA)
MANCHUKUO
Bismarck
Archipelago
Fiji
New
Caledonia
New
Hebrides
Caro
line (^) Islands
Calcutta
Lhasa
BHUTAN
IRAN
Palau Islands Truk Lagoon
Yap
FR
EN
C
H
(^) IN
D
O
C
H
IN
A
T
H
A
IL
A
N
D
BRUNEI
SARAWAK
Taiwan
Okinawa
BRITISH
NORTH
BORNEO
KOREA
BURMA
MALAYA
MONGOLIA
NEW
GUINEA
U
S
S
R C H I N A
I N
D
I
A
AUSTRALIA
J
A
P
A
N
AF
GH
AN
IS
T
A
N
NEPAL
T I
B
E
T
Vladivostok
Osaka
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
Hanoi
Taipei
Mandalay
Balikpapan
Amboina
Kendari
Tarakan
Miri
Davao
Kota Belud
Kuching
Manado
Hong Kong
Macau
Singapore
Tokyo
Bataan
Shenyang
Qingdao
Seoul
Shanghai
Rangoon
Bangkok Manila
Saigon
Cam
Ranh
Pearl Harbor
Port
Moresby
Darwin
Koepang
Katherine
Batavia
Kuala Lumpur
Kota
Bharu
Penang
Medan
Slim River
Beijing
Japanese assault routes
KEY
US
Netherlands
Britain and
Commonwealth
COLONIAL POSSESSIONS IN 1941
France
Portugal
Under British and
French administration
Under Japanese
control, Dec 7, 1941
Main Japanese
military bases
US_112-113_japanese_advances.indd 113 19/03/19 5:47 PM