Original subtitles

it was a bitter fight for supremacy in

asia

japan had provoked the us in the pacific

war

the second world war now spanned the

entire globe

the two naval nations competed against

each other on the world's largest ocean

and fought battles on an unprecedented

scale

[Music]

the u.s had to transport their troops

and their supplies across thousands of

kilometers to regain control of japanese

occupied asia

it was a battle for every island and

even though airplanes played the most

important role at that time it was the

soldiers on the ground whose blood was

shed in the struggle for victory

on beaches as well as in the jungle

[Music]

on december 7 1941 american broadcasters

interrupted their program with a special

report

japan had attacked the american military

base pearl harbor in hawaii fully

unprovoked

the second world war had entered a new

phase

japan had signed hitler's tripartite

pact and was subject to severe economic

sanctions

it was only a matter of time before the

japanese empire would be at war with the

us

the military leadership in tokyo saw the

american presence in the pacific ocean

as a dagger to the throat

in 1940 the u.s relocated its pacific

fleet to pearl harbor hawaii

and it is here that admiral isuruku

yamamoto planned to destroy it

on sunday december 7 1941 the japanese

combat unit arrived at the starting

point for its attack

at 6 a.m the six japanese carriers

turned toward the wind and started their

planes dive bombers torpedo planes and

fighter planes

just after sunrise the aggressors bore

down on the marine base just as it awoke

it was 7 48 am

shortly afterwards the first report was

sent to the japanese leaders torah torah

torah the codeword used for the

successful surprise attack

all eight of the u.s pacific fleet's

battleships were moored in a double row

along ford island

an ideal target

two waves of attacks

approximately 350 planes took part in

the japanese airstrike

[Music]

that left five u.s battleships at the

bottom of the harbor

the other three battleships a cruiser

and several destroyers all sustained

heavy damage

the japanese destroyed 188 american

planes

at both the hickam and wheeler air force

bases

the japanese themselves lost a mere 29

planes in the attack

[Music]

as the smoke began to clear over the

naval base in hawaii

the majority of the american pacific

fleet had been destroyed

more than 2 400 u.s soldiers were dead

america was now at war

the attack was intended as a liberating

move for japan

the empire's dependency on oil and other

raw materials forced it to conquer more

and more land as it expanded

under roosevelt the u.s tried to hinder

this by means of economic sanctions

and lastly an oil embargo

at first glance the attack was a great

success or so it seemed

however none of the american aircraft

carriers were at the naval base at the

time

[Music]

the u.s aircraft carriers enterprise and

lexington were tasked with taking planes

to the american bases on midway and wake

and were thus spared in the attack

in 1941 aircraft carriers were a

relatively new weapon

before that battleships were considered

rulers of the ocean

however this symbol of power at sea

proved to be virtually defenseless

against relatively cheap airplanes

the attack on pearl harbor turned the

u.s battleship fleet into a fleet of

aircraft carriers

a tactical and strategic revolution with

far-reaching consequences for the future

u.s president roosevelt called the

attack a day of infamy

on december 8 1941 the u.s declared war

on japan

shortly after and unprovoked hitler

announced that germany now found itself

at war with america too

the second world war had erupted into a

global wildfire

japan had already been on a military

campaign for the best part of the

previous 10 years in manchuria in china

and in the pacific region japan wanted

to expand its imperial reach and to do

so the country needed to gain unlimited

access to natural resources

the attack against the u.s fleet was

meant to buy japan additional time to

conquer more land and thus secure its

supremacy

the japanese were expanding their sphere

of control at the same time as the

attack on pearl harbor

the tennos soldiers were driving the

americans away from wake island in the

central pacific

as well as seizing dutch-controlled

india from the dutch

the land of the rising sun was waging a

merciless war of conquest and it seemed

as though nobody could stand in their

way

by the spring of 1942 the japanese

dominion had expanded to its largest

size ever the japanese empire was at the

point of having uncontested control over

the entire far east while displacing its

european colonial rulers

thailand hong kong and singapore fell to

the japanese in just a few weeks

north borneo indonesia and the

philippines were the next to surrender

emperor hirohito's troops rampaged

through the pacific region like a

hurricane in the months following pearl

harbor

i shall return u.s general douglas

macarthur promised on march 12 1942 as

he was forced to flee the philippines

in may the remaining u.s soldiers

capitulate

thousands of them died on their way to

prison

[Music]

the u.s had no choice but to go on the

defensive president roosevelt needed to

show strength and the americans

demonstrated their resolve by conceiving

an unconventional plan

they were going to hit the enemy where

it would hurt most tokyo the emperor

city the son of heaven would soon feel

their wrath firsthand

[Music]

on april 2nd 1942 the u.s aircraft

carrier hornet set course for japan

there were 16 b-25 bombers tied down on

board in fact the u.s army's airplanes

were not designed for taking off from

aircraft carriers

returning to the ship and landing on

deck was out of the question

therefore they had to fly to china after

the bombing raid

the attack was drawn up and then

executed by lieutenant colonel james h

doolittle and his name went down in

history for what came to be known as the

doolittle raid

on route the hornet met the aircraft

carrier enterprise

it led task force 16 the escort for

doolittle and his planes

the crew on board the hornet waited for

its deployment

they strapped old japanese friendship

medals to their bombs as a greeting to

the enemy

after pearl harbor there was no longer

any hope of friendship

[Music]

on the morning of april 18th the day of

the attack the fleet encountered

japanese forward post ships

the americans managed to sink a few of

these small ships however they were

unable to stop them from sending radio

transmissions

the u.s unit had been discovered

doolittle and mark mitcher the hornet's

captain decided to launch the bombers

immediately

the first b-25 piloted by james

doolittle took off 10 hours earlier than

planned

the bomber set course for tokyo

all the crew members were volunteers and

they knew what this premature launch

meant

there wouldn't be enough fuel to make it

to the part of china not occupied by the

japanese

[Applause]

the coup was a success

us bombs fell on tokyo

america so the story goes was able to

strike back

most of the bomber crews made it to

non-japanese-controlled territory

following the attack and then headed

home to the u.s

two men drowned during an emergency

landing on water eight u.s soldiers were

taken to prison in japan

three of whom were executed

japan's leaders were shocked

the u.s pacific fleet appeared to be

more threatening than ever

spring 1942

chester nimitz u.s commander-in-chief of

the pacific sent a carrier strike group

to the coral sea after receiving a

warning from american radio intelligence

admiral yamamoto intended to attack the

americans in the central pacific

the japanese plan to establish

strongholds on new guinea and the

solomon islands in order to secure their

territory but it's here where the

americans are waiting to ambush them

this was the first sea battle in history

that was fought at such long distance

and using planes exclusively

the two fleets never came into view of

each other

the war of the aircraft carriers had

begun

the enemies launched their squadrons

almost simultaneously

they met over the coral sea

the battle lasted for two days

[Music]

the americans sank the japanese carrier

shoho and dealt heavy damage to japan's

brand new carrier shokaku

a third japanese carrier the zuikaku

lost virtually all of its aircraft

the americans also took a real beating

the carrier lexington sank and the

yorktown was heavily damaged but the

japanese advance was halted

[Music]

with their attack on pearl harbor the

japanese had awoken a giant now thirsty

for blood

within a few months the u.s industry

switched to the production of military

equipment

it was a new generation of aircraft

carriers that was meant to reclaim power

for the us in particular in the pacific

the ships were fast had a long range and

could carry up to 100 planes

the americans moved unit after unit to

the pacific via the panama canal

[Music]

and they had a decisive advantage after

having decoded the japanese encryption

system

[Music]

u.s code breakers were now able to

decode a large part of japanese

communications and in doing so prevented

further surprise attacks

the scene of another encounter was a

tiny spot in the middle of the pacific

ocean the u.s naval base midway

japan intended to provoke a fight with

the american fleet with a diversion

attack on the aleutian islands and by

occupying midway island

here admiral yamamoto planned to bring

about what pearl harbor failed to do

the complete destruction of the u.s

pacific fleet

on june 4 1942 the japanese launched

their attack on midway

the enemy's radio defense rendered

yamamoto's plan void

the americans were prepared

the three aircraft carriers hornet

enterprise as well as the yorktown which

had been quickly repaired following the

coral sea battle waited in ambush 300

miles northeast of the midway atolls

[Music]

then a u.s plane discovered the japanese

advance

commander yamamoto and admiral nagumo

the commanding officer of the japanese

aircraft carriers were completely

oblivious to how dangerously close the

enemy had drawn

[Music]

a japanese reconnaissance aircraft also

cited enemy ships

however its transmission warning the

japanese of the presence of aircraft

carriers came too late

chaos ensued onboard the japanese

aircraft carriers as the threat revealed

itself

first nagumo's airplanes had to be

re-equipped for sea targets

and yamamoto's battleships were too far

away to intervene

[Music]

but even the american attack was

uncoordinated at first

virtually all the u.s torpedo bombers

were destroyed but dive bombers later

destroyed three out of the four japanese

carriers within just a few hours

the soryu kaga and japanese flagship

akagi

in the afternoon of june 4th 1942 the

americans even managed to sink the hiryu

the final carrier in japan's attack

fleet

admiral yamamoto had to abandon his plan

and withdrew

the americans had now gone on the

offensive

their advance should have then taken

them in the direction of new guinea

but as u.s reconnaissance planes

discovered that the japanese had built

an airfield on the solomon island of

guadalcanal the island became their

first target

from here japanese planes threatened u.s

supply lines

air dominance played a decisive role in

the pacific and the airfield on

guadalcanal had become a powerful chess

piece in it

that's why the u.s commanding officers

ordered its troops to attack the island

and conquer the japanese airfield

[Music]

the americans sent 19 000 marines to the

solomon islands under the code name

operation watchtower their objective

to drive the japanese away from

guadalcanal and to laggy to the north

however it was a rather small

expeditionary force that was tasked with

these objectives

the u.s found itself in the middle of a

war spanning two oceans

germany first was the instruction the

allies global strategy had provided

it was not until nazi germany had been

conquered that all resources could be

directed toward the pacific theater of

war the troops knew very little about

the islands

accurate maps of the region were yet to

be drawn up

this was the first deployment for the

majority of the nineteen thousand u.s

marines

most of whom were very young

further out to sea admiral frank

fletcher shielded the landing with a

fleet of three aircraft carriers and the

battleship north carolina

[Music]

the operation launched in the early

hours of august 7 1942 with shelling of

the coast of guadalcanal

the americans did not know what awaited

them on the beach

nor did they know whether or not the

landing sectors were defended and if so

how

they didn't know how many of the enemy

would be awaiting for them at the edge

of the jungle or whether they would live

or die in the next few hours they had no

reason to suspect that the battle for

the island of guadalcanal would go down

in history as one of the bloodiest in

the pacific war

at 9 00 a.m the first marines set foot

on red beach the name given to the

landing sector by u.s strategists

they encountered only a little

resistance on the beach

the japanese defending soldiers had

withdrawn into the jungle where they

suffered heavy losses at the hands of

advancing american troops

by the following day the u.s marines had

already taken control of the airfield

they christened it henderson field in

honor of major lofton henderson who fell

at midway then they set out in pursuit

of the japanese troops

that night and the following days saw

repeated hard-fought sea battles

the japanese sank several american

cruisers

the battle of savo island is considered

the greatest defeat suffered by the us

navy during the second world war

soldiers engaged in hand-to-hand combat

in the hinterland and jungle of

guadalcanal

november 1942 the marines finally gained

the upper hand on guadalcanal

on the other side of the globe the

destruction of germany's sixth army

began in stalingrad russia

the british expelled general rommel from

egypt

and while the u.s drove the remaining

japanese troops out of guadalcanal

the allies landed on the north african

coast

the americans british and french work

together to establish control over

morocco tunisia and algeria

[Music]

was losing the initiative in europe

in the pacific the americans finally got

the chance to go on an all-out offensive

against the japanese empire

november 1942 marks the turning point in

the second world war

[Music]

the u.s had seized an important base

with guadalcanal

their air force now controlled the

solomon islands

but the price for such a victory was

much bloodshed

the americans lost almost 7 000 men in

the battle for the island the japanese

on the other hand suffered more than

double the number of fatalities

because of the island's airfield and

unbeknownst to the japanese high command

it had lost its most important general

in the fight for supremacy in the

pacific american code breakers had

decoded a radio message which revealed

that admiral yamamoto was due to do a

tour of inspection u.s commanding

officers decided to intercept his plane

isoruko yamamoto the mastermind behind

pearl harbor was to be made accountable

for the attack

the mission was given to one of the

lockheed p-38 lightning squadrons

stationed on guadalcanal

the planes with their distinctive twin

tail booms were deployed as

reconnaissance planes and as high

altitude fighters

vengeance was the code name given to the

operation which launched with a group of

interceptors taking flight on april 18th

1943.

the pilots knew of yamamoto's

destination his flight route and exact

flight time they even knew who was

escorting him

the conditions for interception could

not have been better

after flying 650 kilometers the american

fighters engaged the admiral's aircraft

[Music]

isuruku yamamoto died in a hail of

bullets his plane crashed into the

jungle on bougainville island one of the

solomon islands killing yamamoto meant

that the u.s had eliminated one of

japan's most important figures from the

game

the americans turned their attention to

the aleutian islands following the death

of the enemy's chief strategist

the uninhabited and strategically

unimportant archipelago was occupied by

the japanese as a diversion before the

attack on midway

since then two and a half thousand

japanese soldiers had been holding out

on the american territory

an unacceptable situation for the us

they sent 150 000 soldiers to the

islands of atu and kiska located between

alaska and kamchatka

to liberate them from occupying forces

more americans died in these battles due

to adverse weather conditions than at

the hands of the enemy

the soldiers deployed to the aleutian

islands were poorly prepared and

inadequately equipped

the japanese defended the islands with

fierce determination

in one last desperate attack against

american supremacy approximately 500

japanese soldiers committed mass suicide

following the bushido samurai codex

this involved holding grenades against

their stomachs and detonating them

[Music]

they would rather die than surrender

the us troops would continue to

encounter this conduct repeatedly during

the war with japan

and this behavior contributed to a

significantly high number of losses on

both sides

the battles for the islands of atu and

kiska carried on well into august 1943.

american commanders had already turned

their attention to new objectives

this is why the battle of the aleutian

islands is also known as the forgotten

battle

[Music]

after the solomon islands had been

secured the united states began its

advance on the japanese motherland

one aircraft carrier after another left

the shipyards

in 1943 alone the u.s navy put half a

dozen carriers of the new essex class

into service

approximately 270 meters long with a

displacement of 27 000 metric tons and a

crew of over 2 600 men

a floating airport with space for 80 to

100 aircraft

the units entered the pacific ocean

through the panama canal where they were

formed into aircraft carrier groups

[Music]

in november 1943 operation galvanic was

launched the objective was to conquer

the gilbert islands a strategically

important chain of atolls on the

dividing line between the north and

south pacific

the u.s had set a veritable armada in

motion

17 aircraft carriers and 10 battleships

were pulled together in front of the

gilbert islands as well as numerous

cruisers destroyers and troop

transporters

tankers and freighters supplied the huge

battle unit

galvanic marked the beginning of an

island jumping operation by the american

armed forces which had already been

described in war plan orange a strategy

paper from 1919 drawn up in case of a

war with japan

the first objective of the operation

landing on tarawa a small atoll with an

airfield on the western island of

baichio

the japanese leaders were aware of the

strategic significance this tiny at all

had

beechio island along with its airfield

was developed into a stronghold

the defenders pledged to fight to the

bitter end for their tenno

at dawn on november 20th 1943 the u.s

invasion fleet got into position in

front of the island

[Music]

the shelling of tarawa began at 5 am

a gun battle between the american ship

artillery and the japanese coastal guns

ensued

[Music]

five thousand marines set course for the

beach for the first wave of attacks

the u.s navy stopped firing so as not to

endanger the lives of its own troops

bombers and fighter planes were now

meant to service flying artillery and

eliminate point targets on the island

but smoke and fumes obstructed their

view

many of the well-camouflaged japanese

machine gun nests and gun emplacements

remained undetected

the landing craft were moving towards a

still heavily defended beach

the u.s troops were also hopelessly

behind schedule

the low tide was already setting in and

many boats got stuck on the coral reef

as the tide went out

the soldiers of the first attack wave

had to reach the beach without any

artillery support

they were easy targets for the japanese

defenders

a chaotic and ultimately

life-threatening situation was

developing at some of the landing

sections

coming under heavy fire the marines

stormed the beach and tried to reach the

edge of the jungle which offered some

degree of cover

the americans counted 500 fatalities on

the first day alone

[Music]

after four days of heavy fighting the at

hole had been captured

[Music]

only a few of the 4 500 japanese

defenders surrendered

the rest died on the island

more than 1 000 marines had also lost

their lives on the beaches of tarawa

[Music]

the americans expanded the airfield to

suit their requirements and put it into

operation the very first day after their

victory they called it hawkins field

after first lieutenant william dean

hawkins who fell alongside many other

comrades in the assault on tarawa

news of the conquest of the gilbert

islands had reached home

the actor lewis hayward captured the

landing on tarawa on film

he was a soldier in the u.s marines

whose mission it was to document the

landing

his film shows the full extent of horror

and brutality experienced during the

battle for the island

initially the commanding officers wanted

to hold the film back

but once president roosevelt had seen it

he decided that it should be broadcast

the american population was both shocked

and frightened

but the film triggered a wave of support

and backing for u.s soldiers fighting

all over the globe

[Music]

hundreds of thousands volunteered to

join the war in europe and the pacific

among them many women who joined the war

effort as nurses and hospital staff

[Music]

the u.s army and navy maintained

separate units for the nurses

these provided care and nursing for the

incessant stream of wounded and sick

soldiers

and even when they were deployed outside

actual combat zones they worked in

constant danger

hospitals and hospital ships were also

potential targets for the enemy

[Music]

october 1944

the u.s was now advancing throughout the

pacific region

in the west general macarthur had the

philippine island of laity in his sights

the united states identified a key

strategic position in the philippines

by recapturing the region it could

isolate japanese troops in china burma

and indonesia and cut them off from

their other battle zones in the pacific

the battle of leyte began on october 18

1944 with the bombing of island regions

and the jungle behind them

reconnaissance planes identified the

targets for the naval artillery before

the fleet fired several hundred tons of

shells at the island

on october 20th 1944 the troops of the

24th u.s infantry division landed on

laity without encountering any major

resistance on the island's beaches

the bridgeheads on the coast were

quickly secured and a few serious

skirmishes with the japanese defenders

emerged only in the island's

interior the u.s army maintained the

upper hand at all times

on the american side the losses were

negligible

the landing troops were also supported

by several thousand filipino gorillas

fighting at their side

[Music]

the battle for the island marked the

beginning of the americans taking back

control of the philippines

their commanding officer was getting

ready to make his grand entrance

for general douglas macarthur the

filipino reconquest was a personal

matter

he wanted to fulfill his promise of

returning to the philippines and finally

the time had come

however the japanese fleet retaliated

against the americans in the gulf of

laity and in the philippine sea

losing the philippines would be fatal

for japan

it faced losing its supply routes to

occupied indonesia and with it its

access to oil which was vital to the war

the japanese navy sent almost its entire

remaining fleet into the waters

surrounding laity

but the americans were three times as

powerful by number of ships alone

eight heavy u.s aircraft carriers

cruised the philippine sea accompanied

by a heavy escort of five modern

battleships

there were also as many light carriers

each carrying 50 aircraft on board

the u.s navy could deploy more than 1

200 aircraft against the tennos fleet

the japanese were carrying out a

desperate plan

their last aircraft carriers were to

serve as bait

they were to engage the navy in battle

while their battleships destroyed the

american landing fleet

they accepted the loss of their carriers

what followed was one of the greatest

naval battles in history

the americans might was overwhelming

they sank four japanese aircraft

carriers off the coast of leyte

including the zuikaku the empire's final

operational carrier

three battleships ten cruisers and many

smaller units were sunk by u.s airmen

and radar-guided naval artillery

the japanese also lost most of their

carrier-based air fleet in the battle

the empire unsurprisingly lacked

well-trained and experienced pilots

the philippine sea swallowed what was

left of them

the japanese navy lost the capacity for

coordinating future attacks with this

battle

what was left of their fleet was but a

pitiful remnant of the imperial navy

that had once dominated the pacific

and so the first kamikaze attacks by

japanese planes took place off laity

on command they attacked american ships

as manned bombs

a sacrifice in the name of the

fatherland in the tradition of the

samurai

a futile sacrifice

[Music]

november 24 1944

from the mariana island of guam the u.s

air force launched its first strategic

attack on tokyo

capturing the mariana islands marked

another milestone for america's pacific

strategy

with guam tinian and saipan

the u.s now had three airports from

which its newest bomber could take

flight

the b-29 super fortress

with its immense range the b-29 could

reach any target in japan

[Music]

by this time tokyo and other japanese

cities had become regular targets of

american bombs

the newly deployed 20th u.s air force

was stationed on saipan the battle for

the island was extremely bloody and

brutal

while 26 000 japanese soldiers died

fanatically defending it

3 500 soldiers lost their lives on the

u.s side

yet the horrors of the war were made

unbearable on saipan

among the dead left behind by the battle

were 12 000 japanese civilians

they killed themselves on mass

even killing their children

the american soldiers were only able to

stop and save but a few japanese

this disturbed the gis and made them

despair

for years japanese propaganda had

demonized them as the spawn of evil

out of both fear and a sense of honor

the people of saipan would rather take

their own lives than surrender to

american occupying forces

[Music]

u.s soldiers searched for survivors but

few were found the majority were

children that had been hidden

[Music]

interpreters using megaphones tried to

dissuade the desperate from committing

suicide

they begged them not to jump and to

choose life instead

but to little avail

the american was the devil

at least that's what propaganda had

taught them they wanted to preserve

their purity as well as their honor so

they preferred to die

the americans also experienced how

fanatically a virtually defeated japan

defended itself in the fight for a spot

of sand in the pacific iwo jima

the island with the prominent mountain

suribachi at its western tip was only 20

square kilometers in size

a japanese airbase that the americans

wanted for themselves

for three days they weakened iwo jima in

preparation for an attack

what they did not know

the enemy had retreated into the depths

of the island

the whole island and the cinder mountain

suribachi in particular were riddled

with caves and tunnels

in their bunkers the defenders waited

until the storm of steel raging above

them was over

the landing began on february 19th

more than 30 000 marines headed for the

only favorable landing section

a beach of black sand on the southern

edge of the island

the operation was to be completed in one

week and both iwo jima and the airfield

would be in the hands of the marines

the defense was led by general tadamichi

kuribayashi

he was aware that he could not prevent

the americans from taking it his plan

was to inflict the most terrible losses

possible on the u.s soldiers

[Music]

kuribayashi spent two years in the u.s

he knew the country well and knew how

quickly the mood of the american public

could change if enough u.s soldiers were

to return dead

[Music]

as the marines ventured into the

interior of the island he attacked

[Music]

fanatically the japanese struggled for

every meter the americans fought from

bunker to bunker each position had to be

taken individually

there were hundreds of them

on february 23rd a group of marines

stormed the summit of suribayachi and

raised the star-spangled banner

a second squadron later put up a larger

u.s flag

this was probably the most powerful

symbol of the american fight in the

pacific

but the battle was not yet won

of the soldiers in the picture three

more would lose their lives before

fighting would cease

from iwo jima fighter planes now

accompanied the flying fortresses all

the way over the main japanese islands

in march 1945 80 000 people died in a

single attack on tokyo

japan and the son of heaven were now

exposed to an american firestorm

april 1945 the american fleet lay off

okinawa

the battle for the island was to become

the biggest of its kind in the pacific

it would last for a quarter of a year

the u.s soldiers set foot on the

japanese motherland meeting only little

resistance on the beach

the enemy had entrenched itself within

the island like iwo jima

the first japanese attack came from the

air and targeted the landing fleet

it was the last contingent of the

japanese air force

and the planes were manned only by

pilots with basic training who were

tasked with sacrificing their lives for

the nation

in the first wave more than 300 suicide

planes crashed into the american ships

the japanese called them the shimpu

tokotai

or special attack force

[Music]

in allied parlance they soon became

known as the kamikaze

one ship one plane that was their

mission

[Music]

for many of them it was the first and

also the last mission of their lives

more than 2 000 japanese pilots flew to

their deaths in this way

some hit their targets

they damaged the u.s flagship bunker

hill and the enterprise

however

they could not sink the two carriers

for days japanese airplanes rained down

on the u.s fleet 34 ships sank

the largest of them was a destroyer

the pilots sacrificed themselves in vain

[Music]

the biggest battle between american and

japanese troops began with the landing

on okinawa

it would last three months

the defenders followed their orders to

fight to the last cartridge

about 12 000 americans died on okinawa

however this number seems small when

compared to the approximate 75 000

japanese soldiers who died in the same

battle

neither commanding officer survived

us general buckner died in an artillery

attack

and japanese general mitsuru ushima

committed suicide by slashing his own

stomach in true samurai tradition

it was also the first time on okinawa

that japanese soldiers surrendered to

the americans in such large numbers

typhoon of steel is the name the locals

later gave the battle

more than a third of the inhabitants

died in this typhoon

over 120 000 elderly women and children

many of whom took their own lives as on

saipan

children and young people died in the

service of the japanese defenders

they went to their deaths as messengers

ammunition carriers or paramedics

those who wanted to survive hid

underground

seeking shelter in caves and on the

cliffs they sought protection from the

attackers

but above all

from the japanese defenders

franklin delano roosevelt would not live

to see the victory on okinawa on april

14 1945 america bid farewell to its

president with an active state roosevelt

had died two days prior

in doomed berlin hitler excitedly spoke

of a miracle not knowing that he himself

had only a few days to live

vice president harry truman took over

the presidency

july 1945 it had been three months since

the end of the war in europe the german

army surrendered on may 8th the fuhrer

had shot himself the week before the

victors met in potsdam to discuss how

europe would navigate the post-war world

from berlin u.s president truman called

on japan to surrender unconditionally

japan refused

at the time of the potsdam conference

truman already knew that the weapon that

would finally bring japan to its knees

had been tested successfully

the us had become a nuclear power with

the atomic bomb

the ultimatum meant the immediate and

complete destruction of japan should

japan refuse to surrender

the u.s president had now acted upon

this threat

he ordered that the new bomb be deployed

against the empire which was already on

its knees and whose military was not

willing to end the war

on august 6 1945 an american b-29

aircraft dropped the atomic bomb little

boy on hiroshima

the city was obliterated almost entirely

two days later stalin marched on japan

occupied manchuria

three months after germany's surrender

as discussed at the yalta conference in

early february 1945

three days after hiroshima the americans

loaded another plane with a second

atomic bomb from their base on tinian

fatman was the name of the nuclear

explosive that was to be dropped on

nagasaki

[Music]

it is impossible to determine the exact

number of victims of the hiroshima and

nagasaki bombings however estimates put

the death toll from both the atomic

blast and aftermath at numbers widely

exceeding 100 000

japan surrendered in response to the

attack on nagasaki

the country is devastated

and its fleet destroyed the land army

was defeated the air force no longer in

existence

stalin's red army drove the japanese

occupying forces out of manchuria

on september 2nd

1945 aboard the u.s battleship missouri

anchored in tokyo bay general douglas

macarthur accepts japan's unconditional

surrender

three years and eight months after the

attack on pearl harbor the indomitable

holy realm has been defeated

tokyo lay in ruins

the cities of hiroshima and nagasaki

were both in a sea of debris and had

become contaminated graveyards for

countless victims

the site

marked the end

of the second world war