All language subtitles for World.War.II.In.HD.Colour.S01E11.1080p.BluRay.x264-iFH.en

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By early 1943,

the Japanese empire
was at its height.

The country had occupied
Malaya and Burma,

the Philippines and the
Dutch East Indies,

Indonesia today.

These territories had
become vital sources

of strategic supplies
such as oil and rubber.

Now the United States
laid plans to roll back

the Japanese gains.

The aim was to cut the
country's supply lines

by seizing the
occupied territories.

Japan could then be gradually
strangled to death.

But to win in the vast
expanse of the Pacific,

the U.S. would need
to develop new forms

of mobile warfare.

They would be based on
amphibious landings

supported by aircraft
flying from carriers.

The Japanese, unable to
match American fire power,

resorted to increasingly
desperate measures.

The country fell back
on ancient notions

of 'military honour'

to create suicide units.

The result would be a
terrible loss of life.

This would be a decisive
phase in the war

in the Pacific

and would mark the end of
Japan's dreams of empire.

But this was to come.

Back in the spring of 1943

the U.S. military
chiefs faced a dilemma.

They had been presented
with two options

for the defeat of Japan.

The flamboyant U.S.
Army General,

Douglas MacArthur,
commander of the U.S.

and Australian forces in
the South-West Pacific,

favoured a primarily
land based route.

His idea was to seize
the Solomon Islands,

Papua New Guinea and
the Philippines.

They could then be turned
into a strategic barrier

that would cut off
Japan from its

newly conquered lands
in Burma, Malaya

and the Dutch East Indies.

Japan would be starved
into surrender.

Equally importantly,

this plan would mean MacArthur
could repay a debt.

Earlier in the war he
had been kicked out

of the Philippines
by the Japanese

and he had promised to return
to liberate the country.

But the U.S. Navy had
a different idea.

It would bypass the
heavily defended

Solomon Islands,
Papua New Guinea

and the Philippines.

Instead it would seize a string

of much smaller islands
scattered across

the central Pacific and close

to the Japanese homeland.

Rather than a barrier

the U.S. would have a
series of strategic bases

from which to attack
Japan's supply lines.

They argued it would be swifter

and much more economic.

The American military command
put off the decision.

Both the Army and Navy
were told to go ahead.

In June 1943, MacArthur's
plan was launched.

It was called
Operation Cartwheel.

The first target was the
major Japanese military base

at Rabaul on New Britain
in the Solomon Islands.

It would be a two
pronged attack.

The eastern prong
fought its way up

through New Georgia
and Bougainville.

The western prong
battled its way

through Papua New Guinea.

But the virtually
impenetrable jungle,

and unhealthy climate,
made progress slow.

It was nearly nine months
before the pincers met

and the Japanese base
at Rabaul was isolated.

Meanwhile as the U.S.
army took control

of the Solomon Islands

the U.S. Navy mustered
a mighty fleet.

It included the first
four of the brand new

Essex class aircraft carriers.

They were bigger and faster
than anything before.

The new carriers
were equipped with

outstanding new planes
like the Hellcat

and Corsair fighters,

Helldiver dive-bombers,

and Avenger torpedo bombers.

Together they both
outperformed and outnumbered

their Japanese opponents.

The Navy's first targets
were the Japanese garrisons

on the coral atolls
of Tarawa and Makin

in the Gilbert Islands.

These were close to some
of the most important

supply routes
across the Pacific.

For a week the
atolls were bombed

by carrier based aircraft.

Then on November 20th 1943

there was an amphibious landing.

Makin was captured with
little difficulty.

But Tarawa was a
different story.

Reconnaissance had failed
to reveal that the water

was too shallow for
the landing craft.

As the marines waded ashore,

they came under intense fire.

The island was honeycombed

with fortified
machine-gun nests.

U.S. troops who
made it to dry land

were pinned down on the beach.

By the end of the day,

over 1,500 of the 5,000 U.S.
marines landed

had been killed or
severely injured.

Over the next two
days frontal assaults

pushed the Japanese
back inch-by-inch.

Very often, only flamethrowers
could eliminate

the Japanese strong points.

It took three days
before the last pocket

of Japanese resistance
was wiped out.

Of the 4,200 Japanese
troops on the island

only 17 were captured alive.

Tarawa was a terrible forerunner

of what was to come.

The Japanese had shown

that there would be no
question of surrender.

They would fight to the death.

It was a grim prospect.

In January 1944, America's
naval offensive

in the Pacific moved on
to the Marshall Islands.

Admiral Chester Nimitz,

the U.S. naval commander
in the Central Pacific,

was anxious to avoid
another bloodbath.

So aircraft from
his carrier force

bombed Japanese airfields
on the islands

for nearly two months.

Finally, on February
the 1st 1944,

he sent in the assault forces.

The flat and open island of
Roi was quickly overrun.

But the islands of
Kwajalein, and Namur

were wooded and the Japanese
resisted fanatically.

U.S. forces used flamethrowers
and explosives.

The Japanese responded
by launching suicidal

'Banzai' charges.

But the U.S. forces now
knew what to expect.

The Japanese were beaten back.

Over 8000 Japanese soldiers died

for the loss of less than 400 U.S.
lives.

Atoll after atoll in
the Marshall Islands

now fell to the U.S. advance.

Kwajalein was
followed by Eniwetok.

The island of Truk was
bypassed and cut off,

though a small Japanese
garrison would remain

undefeated until the
end of the war.

The way was now clear
for the next push,

1000 miles west towards
the Mariana Islands.

If captured the
islands would put

the Japanese mainland
within range

of U.S. heavy bombers.

They would also enable
America to block

Japan's supply lines
from Southeast Asia.

On June 11, 1944,

the U.S. started to soften
up the three main islands

in the Marianas.

Four days later marines
stormed the beaches

of the northerly
island of Saipan.

This time the terrain
was mountainous.

With many caves,

and the preliminary
bombardment had not disrupted

the Japanese defences as
much as had been hoped.

Nevertheless, by the
end of the day,

the American
bridgehead was secure.

In Tokyo the news
caused mounting alarm.

The Japanese High Command
now sent a carrier fleet

to rescue the situation
and save the Marianas.

But the task force was spotted by U.S.
submarines.

The Americans sent their
main carrier force

to intercept the Japanese.

On the morning of
June 19th, 1944,

the Japanese
launched air strikes

against the U.S. ships.

But U.S. radar saw them coming.

450 fighters were
scrambled to intercept

the Japanese planes.

It turned into the largest
aircraft carrier battle

ever fought.

The U.S. Task Force had
15 aircraft carriers

and more than 900 aircraft.

Ranged against it the
Japanese had nine carriers

and nearly five
hundred aircraft.

But Japan had lost many of
its experienced aircrews

during the Solomon and
Marshall Islands campaigns.

Its novice pilots faced
battle-hardened U.S. fliers.

The Japanese were
outgunned and outfought.

It would go down in history

as 'The Great Marianas
Turkey Shoot'.

Half an hour into the battle

a torpedo from a U.S.
submarine hit the newest

and largest Japanese
carrier, the Taiho,

while she was still
launching aircraft.

The battle of the Philippine Sea

had claimed its
first major victim.

At around the same time another U.S.
submarine

torpedoed the carrier Shokaku.

She was completely destroyed.

Nevertheless the Japanese
commander decided

to continue with the operation,

hoping to stop further U.S.
landings in the Marianas.

For much of the following day,

the U.S. forces tried to pin
down the exact location

of the remaining
Japanese carriers.

Seven, zero, nine, six.

It took them until the afternoon

to find them.

It was late in the day
to launch an attack

and the aircraft would
have to fly at the limit

of their range.

But the U.S. Task
Force commander,

Admiral Marc Mitscher, decided
to gamble and attack.

A third Japanese carrier,
the Hiyo, was hit and sunk.

The Japanese had lost
over 300 aircraft.

But as the U.S.
planes now returned,

dangerously short of fuel,

they ran into a problem.

In the gathering darkness

they couldn't find
their own carriers.

Many ran out of fuel and
had to ditch in the sea.

Mitscher, in an act of
extraordinary courage,

ordered his carriers to
switch on their lights

to guide in the
returning aircraft.

Fortunately for the Americans

there were no Japanese
submarines to see them.

Nevertheless over 80 U.S.
planes were lost,

either through having
to ditch in the sea

or through crashing
while they landed.

But Japanese losses had
been even greater.

Three carriers,

and most of the aircraft
needed to equip

its remaining carrier fleet,

were gone.

From now on,

the United States Navy would
dominate the Pacific,

striking when and
where it wanted.

The Japanese naval defeat
in the Philippine Sea

meant the United States
could now press on

with its assault
on the Marianas.

The Japanese forces on Saipan

held out for three weeks

before they were overcome
on July 9th, 1944.

The final horror came

when thousands of
Japanese civilians

were persuaded to
jump to their deaths

from the cliffs rather
than be captured

by the Americans.

The last Japanese troops
then launched their now

inevitable suicide charge.

Virtually the entire
32,000-strong garrison

was killed.

Over 3,000 Americans also died.

Two weeks later U.S. marines
landed on the islands of Guam

and Tinian, also
in the Marianas.

Once again they faced suicidal

Japanese counterattacks.

But they failed to stop
the American advance.

The U.S. Navy had
seized the Marianas.

Both the U.S. Army
and Navy offensives

had now completed
the first phase

of their separate strategies
to isolate Japan.

The U.S. military planners
now had to make a choice.

Should they continue to
back MacArthur's strategy

and move on to the capture
of the Philippines?

Or should they go
with the naval plan

and send a fleet across the
Pacific to seize Taiwan

or the Ryukyu Islands?

The Naval option
would isolate Japan

without the need for an
almost certainly lengthy

and bloody operation to
take the Philippines.

But at a meeting in Hawaii
on July 26th, 1944,

MacArthur charmed
President Roosevelt

into backing his plan to
liberate the Philippines.

The Navy was instructed
to support it

before returning to its
island hopping strategy.

It was a decision that would
cost a horrendous number

of both military and
civilian lives.

The following month U.S.
forces landed

on the Philippine
island of Leyte.

They took the
Japanese by surprise.

They had expected the first U.S.
landing

to be on the main
island of Luzon.

Within hours MacArthur
was striding ashore

with press photographers
in attendance.

He later made a broadcast
to the Philippine people.

I see that the old
flagpole still stands.

Have your troops hoist
the colours to its peak,

and let no enemy
ever haul them down.

But the Japanese soon recovered

and launched an ambitious
plan to use the remains

of their naval power
to counter-attack.

Operation Sho, meaning Victory,

was typically complex.

The main strength of
the Japanese fleet

was divided into two
groups to form a pincer.

One pincer would
approach through the

San Bernardino Straits and
attack the U.S. landing

from the north.

The second would come in through

the Surigao Straits and
attack from the south.

Meanwhile, a decoy
group of Japan's

last four carriers would
approach the Philippines

from the north-east,

hoping to lure away the main U.S.
carrier force

covering the landing.

The northern arm of
the Japanese pincer

came under air attack
almost immediately.

After nearly two
days of bombardment,

the super-battleship
Musashi was sunk.

The northern pincer then
appeared to retreat.

It was now that the U.S.
commanders

got into a muddle.

The man in charge of
the main carrier force

covering the landings

was Admiral William
'Bull' Halsey.

He now got word of the
Japanese carriers

approaching from the north east.

Halsey, believing
the northern pincer

was no longer a threat, set
off to intercept them.

He had fallen for
the Japanese decoy.

The force protecting the U.S.
landing

was now severely weakened.

But the commander of this force

now inadvertently
compounded the problem.

Unaware that Halsey
had taken off,

he sent his battleships to
ambush the southern arm

of the Japanese pincer.

It looked like a
spectacular success.

But then disaster struck.

The northern arm of
the Japanese pincer

had only pretended to retreat.

Under cover of darkness
it turned round

and headed back.

It then attacked the
hugely depleted force

protecting the U.S. landing.

Only a handful of small escort
carriers and destroyers

faced the Japanese
super-battleship Yamato

and three other battleships.

It was now the turn
of the Americans

to put up a desperate fight.

The Japanese tactic had caught

the U.S. aircraft unprepared.

They were armed with
high explosives

for land operations rather
than armour piercing bombs

for ships.

Then, just as it
seemed the Japanese

must break through,

they suddenly turned tail.

Their commander had worried

he was sailing into a trap.

Meanwhile to the north,

Halsey's headlong
rush to intercept

the Japanese decoy
force, finally paid off.

On October the 25th, 1944,

all four Japanese
carriers were sunk.

The battle of Leyte Gulf

had completely
finished off Japan's

once proud navy.

There was now little
hope of holding back

the American advance.

For Japan it was time
for desperate measures.

The stage was set for
a terrible climax

to Macarthur's plan.

By the autumn of 1944

the Allies had isolated
the Japanese forces

in the Philippines.

Their naval support
had been destroyed.

Japan needed a new tactic
if it was to hold back

the American advance.

The Japanese commander
in the islands

called for volunteers
to join special units.

They were called the
Kamikazes or Divine Wind.

And drew on the Japanese
military code of honour

that it was better to die
than live as a coward.

They were suicide units.

On October 25th, 1944,

the first Kamikaze unit took
a final ceremonial drink

before taking off.

Its target was the U.S. fleet.

The escort carrier
St Lo was sunk

and two others badly damaged.

Further Kamikaze
attacks followed.

Not all were
restricted to the air.

The Japanese troops now
began strapping mines

to their bodies and
deliberately diving

under U.S. tanks.

The American advance through
the Philippine island

of Leyte slowed.

It would take two months
before the island

was finally secured.

Over 70,000 Japanese troops
had lost their lives.

The Americans had lost
nearly 16,000 men.

But MacArthur was undaunted.

He now moved on to the
main Philippine island

of Luzon.

The defences were, as usual,

softened up by air attacks.

The U.S. troops went ashore
virtually unopposed.

But as they advanced, Japanese
resistance stiffened.

Tanks, artillery, mortars
and flame throwers

were used to destroy
a succession

of Japanese strongholds.

Painfully the U.S.
forces battled forward.

By January the 23rd, 1945,

they had reached the major
airbase of Clark Field,

60 miles from the
capital Manila.

A week later they were
approaching the capital itself.

Manila was famous for its
architectural beauty.

The Japanese regional commander

had taken a decision to
preserve its buildings

by not defending it.

But the junior Japanese
garrison commander

disobeyed orders and
refused to withdraw.

His 20,000 troops pledged
to defend Manila

to the death.

There now began a ferocious,
month long battle

to seize the Philippine capital.

The U.S. troops fought
their way into the city.

At first they too tried to
preserve the major buildings.

But as they ran into
snipers, machine-gun nests

and hidden artillery,

they were forced to reduce
much of the city to rubble.

By the end of February

the Japanese defenders
had been driven back

into the 16th-century
citadel of Intramuros.

It would take another
week of fierce fighting

to flush them out.

Finally, on April 13th, 1945,

U.S. forces mounted
an amphibious attack

on Manila Bay's
last fortification,

Fort Drum, the 'Concrete
Battleship' in the harbour.

Its ventilation shafts
were packed with kerosene,

white phosphorous
and explosives.

None of the defenders survived.

The battle for Manila had
been an horrific affair.

Thousands of Japanese and U.S.
soldiers had died.

But the real horror was
that some 100,000 civilians

also lost their lives.

Many massacred indiscriminately
by the Japanese

during the final
days of fighting.

Elsewhere in the Philippines

there were more than 50 U.S.
landings

on other smaller islands.

But it would take until
the end of the war

before the last pockets
of Japanese resistance

were finally flushed out.

MacArthur's conquest
of the Philippines

had proved as difficult
and costly in lives

as his critics had feared.

It may also have
been unnecessary.

By now U.S. submarines had
virtually cut off Japan

from its supply lines and
the Navy was closing in

on the homeland itself.

The Japanese merchant fleet

was particularly vulnerable.

It was rarely organised
into convoys

and anyway there weren't
enough escort vessels

to protect them.

By the end of 1944 so many
Japanese merchant ships

had been sunk,

the U.S. Navy was
having problems

finding new targets.

U.S. submarines now
moved in ever-closer

to the shores of the
Japanese home islands.

Japan was being starved of fuel,

food and raw materials.

The U.S. Navy's
submarines in the Pacific

had succeeded where German
U-boats in the Atlantic

had failed in bringing an
island nation close to defeat.

But now the U.S. forces
faced the daunting prospect

of invading its fanatical
enemy's homeland.

By spring 1945 U.S. forces
were closing in on Japan

from the south and east.

But to the west in
China, Burma and India

a separate campaign
had been unfolding.

Japan had invaded China in 1937.

The United States had
regarded the Chinese leader,

Chiang Kai-Shek, as a
western ally, and sent aid.

Much of it went in through
British controlled Burma

along the so-called Burma
Road over the mountains

to southern China.

Then in 1942 Japan invaded Burma

and kicked out the British.

The Burma road was shut down.

Six months later Britain
launched the first of a series

of attacks to retake Burma
and re-open the road.

The first, in late 1942

advanced down the Burmese
coast from India.

But the Japanese crushed it.

The second, nine months later,

tried a different approach.

Instead of sending in
a conventional force,

small groups of soldiers
were infiltrated

deep behind Japanese lines.

They were known as Chindits

and were the brainchild of
an unconventional officer,

called Orde Wingate.

Their task was to
destroy railway lines

and disrupt Japanese
communications.

'Chindits.

That's the name of
the guardian statues

which stand up the steps
of Burmese pagodas.

A name from legend that's
becomes flesh and blood.

Living guardians of
Burma's liberty.

But the Japanese soon
began to hunt them down.

By mid-April in 1943

over one-third of the Chindit
forces had been killed.

The remainder were
forced back into India.

The struggle to re-take Burma

was becoming a serious problem.

So in late 1943 the Allies
turned to U.S. General,

Joseph Stilwell.

We got run out of Burma,

and it's humiliating as hell.

I think we ought to find
out what caused it,

go back and re-take the place.

Stillwell had spent
years helping to

overhaul the forces of
neighbouring China.

The Allies now decided
to put them to the test.

Stilwell's Chinese
soldiers reinforced by

an elite U.S. group
of jungle fighters

known as Merrill's Marauders

would be sent into Burma.

On October 1943, they
crossed the border

and made their way down the
east side of the country.

Meanwhile, the
British India Army

launched a diversionary strike
along the Burmese coast.

Finally, Chindits moved
into northern Burma,

deep behind enemy lines

to cut Japanese supply routes.

The Japanese fell for
the diversionary tactic

and sent forces to
counterattack along the coast.

Two divisions of troops
from British India

came under fierce fire.

But the Allied forces
stood their ground.

They were re-supplied
from the air.

They could now fight
back and two weeks later

the Japanese withdrew.

But it was only a
temporary reprieve.

The Japanese launched
a counter-offensive

of their own.

In March 1944,
they invaded India

in an attempt to disrupt
Allied preparations

for further attacks.

For two weeks there
was intense fighting.

The towns of Kohima and
Imphal were besieged.

But there was stiff resistance

and the Japanese were
finally forced to withdraw.

Over 65,000 of them were killed.

It was a major blow to
their military strength

in the region.

Meanwhile in Burma,
Stillwell's Chinese forces

had fought their way
down the east side

of the country and by May 1944

had reached the important
cross-roads town

of Myitkyina on the
old Burma road.

For three months the
Japanese held them off.

But in early August 1944,
Myitkyina was over-run.

The way was now clear
for Stillwell's men

to push further on down the
east side of the country.

They were soon joined
by a fresh force of

Anglo-Indian troops
under British General

William Slim.

This began advancing into
the centre of the country.

In early March 1945,
Slim's forces took

the important communications
centre of Meiktila.

Soon afterwards they
seized Mandalay.

With the monsoon
season now approaching

Stillwell's forces
dug in on the East.

But Slim's forces
pushed on towards

the Burmese capital of Rangoon.

They were slowed
down by the rain.

But by early May 1945

the Allied troops were 20
miles north of Rangoon.

Allied reinforcements were
now sent in from the south

to support them.

Gurkhas parachuted into
the Irrawaddy delta.

An Indian division
came in by sea.

On May the 3rd 1945,

the Allied forces finally
entered Rangoon.

But the city was empty.

The Japanese had pulled out

rather than risk being cut off.

The monsoon was
now in full flow.

But the campaign to clear
the Japanese out of Burma

was effectively over.

The next stop in the
war in South-East Asia

would be Malaya.

But for all the success,

allied losses in the war
against the Japanese

had been terrible.

The Americans were
desperate to find a way

to bring the war to an end

without having to invade
the Japanese homeland.