DK - World War II Map by Map

204 TURNING THE TIDE 1943 –194 4

WAR AGAINST JAPAN

In 1943–1944, the Japanese ground forces suffered a succession of defeats against the US, which

had the advantages of a larger population and greater industrial capacity. The once-proud Imperial

Japanese Navy was almost totally destroyed.

The feat of organization involved in the US’s

massive expansion in the production of arms, ships,

and aircraft from 1942 onward was extraordinary.

Business, the armed forces, and federal bureaucracy

cooperated effectively to develop and manufacture the

hardware needed to win the war. With US government

spending quadrupling between 1941 and 1944, the

unemployment of the

Depression years was

replaced by labor

shortages. This had

notable effects on

American society.

Women took jobs in

heavy industry, and

African Americans from

the rural Deep South

migrated to work in

California and in

northern cities—a

population shift that

provoked race riots

in Detroit in summer

1943. The Roosevelt

administration made tentative progress with

desegregation of employment, but the US armed

forces remained racially segregated.

Japan could not match the US’s industrial output, nor the

quality of its weapons. Despite the forced labor of Javanese,

Korean, Chinese, and Allied prisoners of war, Japan was

unable to fulfill its military and civilian manpower needs.

▷ Amphibious landing

US Marines go ashore on New

Britain island, New Guinea, in

December 1943. The use of landing

craft and amphibious vehicles was

a Marine speciality.

FEB 1943 APR JUN AUG OCT

ALLIED OFFENSIVES

JAPANESE ACTIONS

US RACE ISSUES

Feb 1–7, 1943 Japanese

forces evacuate from

Guadalcanal

Apr 18, 1943 Admiral

Yamamoto is killed

when his aircraft is shot

down in the Pacific

Mar 2–4, 1943 Allied

bombers sink 12 Japanese

troop ships in the Bismarck Sea

Oct 17, 1943 Japanese

complete the Burma

railroad, at cost of 100,000

civilian and POW lives

May 27, 1943 Roosevelt

bans racial discrimination

by government contractors

Sep 15, 1943

Australian

and American

troops take Lae

in New Guinea

Jun 1943 Racial

conflict erupts in US

cities, including riots in

Detroit and Los Angeles

THE FIGHT FOR

SUPREMACY

American “island-hopping” across

the Pacific began in November

1943 at the Gilbert Islands and

reached the Marianas in July 1944.

The US offensive in the south-west

Pacific led up to landings in the

Philippines in October 1944, while

the defeat of Japan’s naval force left

the Japanese exposed to potential

invasion of their mainland.

Meanwhile, fighting between Japan

and China reached a new intensity,

and the British advanced into

Japanese-occupied Burma after

repelling an attack on India.

△ Rosie the Riveter

The name “Rosie the Riveter” was

coined for American women working

in heavy industry during World War II.

This US propaganda poster exploits the

stereotype to encourage the national

effort for victory.

US_204-205_N_War_Against_Japan.indd 204 04/03/19 11:55 AM