All language subtitles for The.Pacific.War.in.Color.S01E03.720p.Web.x264.AAC.2ch.ESub.S420

NARRATOR: In 1943 America
launches a bold new strategy...

... that promises victory...

... but delivers the unexpected.

CPL. ROUSH: There was no
battle before, no battle since,

like Tarawa.

NARRATOR: Ferocious conflicts
will shape the course of the war

sparking new innovations

and breaking new barriers.

With color combat footage...

... and rare film
from behind-the-lines...

hear the voices...
and feel the fight.

COL. DONOVAN: It looked
like you're headed for hell.

Because you were.

♫ Theme Music Playing ♫

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♫ ♫

NARRATOR: November 1943.

A full-scale invasion force
cuts through the open sea.

One hundred ships. 35,000 men.

They're the tip of
the spear in America's

first large-scale amphibious
assault of the Pacific War.

Confidence rides high.

The size of the
fleet dwarfs the target --

Tarawa, a whisper-thin atoll

with an airfield
tucked in the corner.

This island is half the size
of New York's Central Park.

The commanding
officers lay out their prize.

The airbase is one of
Japan's most important,

and the Americans must secure
it to advance in the Pacific.

All have been trained...
but few have been tested.

Marine combat cameraman
Norm Hatch is among them.

He's carrying three
cameras and 5,000 feet of film.

He's confident about the battle.

SGT. HATCH: We packed shovels
along with us, but we figured

we didn't have to dig any
foxholes, only Jap graves.

NARRATOR: Hatch films the long
days leading up to the invasion.

Marines assemble ammunition...

... test-fire
weapons into the sea.

(gunfire)

Exercise relieves the tension.

On the eve of the invasion,

Father Frank Kelly
helps calm the nerves.

He's a familiar face to those
who fought on Guadalcanal.

But for the rest, it's
their first taste of war.

It will be an
unforgettable baptism.

♫ ♫

Before dawn, the Marines
pour into the landing craft.

As daylight breaks, the ships
open fire above their heads

to soften defenses.

They pound the tiny
island for four solid hours.

Johnnie Singleton
recalls the destruction:

JOHNNIE: We thought that after
all our bombarding and attacking

there would be
nothing left on the island.

NARRATOR: Then,
Navy planes take over.

In all,
Americans rip into Tarawa

with over four
million tons of steel.

PTE. PASE: The Navy
promised that they would have

all the Japs killed by
the time we got there.

So we really
weren't all that worried.

NARRATOR: The plan
is to land the Marines

on the island's northern beaches

and move towards the key target
-- the airstrip at the center.

Sheltered in the landing
craft, the men are confident.

They're using amphibious
tractors called Amtraks

for the first time.

Americans hope they can plow
through the Japanese defenses.

As troops approach, the
Navy ships silence their guns.

The island looks lifeless.

(radio static)

Suddenly, incoming
fire grazes the invaders.

Marines feel relatively
safe huddled in their boats.

But the pounding intensifies.

(cannon fire)

Then, unexpectedly,
the boats grind to a halt.

SGT. BROWN: They anticipated
the tide was going to be in.

It didn't turn out that way.

The boats ran into a
reef about 500 yards out.

SGT. HATCH: The Japs
began to get in our range

and the range of the Amtraks.

SGT. ARTHUR: The
water was a real low.

We were just sitting out
there being slaughtered.

NARRATOR: Naval
planners misjudged the tide.

They expect five feet
of water over the reef --

but there's only three.

The Amtraks are stranded.

(artillery fire)

Machine-gun fire intensifies
and mortars rain down.

The men are sitting ducks.

They have one
choice: abandon ship --

or be blown out of the water.

Norm Hatch is
watching the invasion

unravel right in front of him.

SGT. HATCH:
Everybody had to go over

with 80 pounds of gear
and drop in the water.

The Marines are
forced to wade 700 yards

under Japanese mortar
and machine-gun fire.

They are being
mowed down in rows.

PTE. PASE: We could see
the machine gun bullets

hitting the
water like raindrops.

We'd see a man disappear.

Then, another
man would disappear.

NARRATOR: Hatch carries
his hand-cranked 35mm camera

and wades in right
beside machine gunners.

They fight their way
onto the crowded beach.

Men are pinned down in waves.

SGT. PERRY: We ran
into a hornet's nest.

CPL. ROUSH: It was brutal...
up front and personal.

Eyeball to eyeball.

NARRATOR: Some units have
already lost half of their men.

What began as a smooth operation
is quickly going awry.

Japanese footage
reveals the unnerving truth.

Tarawa is a heavily
defended killing field,

with 5,000
soldiers ready to fight.

Hundreds of pillboxes, gun
nests, minefields, and bunkers

dot the island -- all
surrounded by a huge seawall

made of coral and coconut logs.

The Marines that have
finally made it onto the beach

are now trapped
against the massive wall.

The Amtraks were
supposed to help the Marines

breach these defenses.

But many remain stuck on the
reef hundreds of yards offshore.

Those that make the beach
are often too shot up to work.

The few that do work are
unable to clear the wall.

PTE. HARRISON: We were
using old alligator tractors,

the first ones built.

They were like a big tin can...

My tractor reared up on the sea
wall, and most men fell out.

(cannon fire)

NARRATOR: The
Navy opens fire again,

hoping to cover
the incoming troops.

But things are
going from bad to worse.

Marines can no
longer coordinate attacks.

PHM. OBERMILLER: A
lot of things went wrong.

The radios got
salt water in them,

so we didn't
have communications.

♫ ♫

NARRATOR: Just a few
hours into the invasion,

hundreds of
bodies cover the beach.

Tanks can't even
get around them.

Americans thought they
were prepared for Tarawa.

How did it come to this?

Before Tarawa,
the Allies had begun

to roll back the
Japanese in the Pacific.

In June and July 1943

Americans invade the remote
Aleutian Islands near Alaska.

In a few short weeks they
reclaim these barren cold lands

from Japan and regain
control of the North Pacific.

In the far flung islands
of the Southwest Pacific,

General MacArthur
is inching forward,

targeting
strongholds through New Guinea,

New Britain,

and the Solomons.

From here,
MacArthur envisions a path

to liberate the Philippines

and eventually
invade Japan itself.

But Admiral Nimitz proposes
another route to Japan --

far bolder and demanding an
entirely new form of warfare:

island-hopping.

Northeast of
MacArthur's theater --

starting with
Tarawa in the Gilberts --

tiny islands become
stepping stones to leap-frog

through the open waters of the
Central Pacific -- to Japan.

Led by Nimitz, the
troops set off for Tarawa,

confident they have
enough men and machines

to easily
overrun the tiny atoll.

But what should
have been a cakewalk

is turning into the
bloodiest American landing

of the Pacific War.

(artillery fire)

NARRATOR: While troops on Tarawa
experience hell on earth,

a smaller unit is sent to invade

the neighboring island of Makin.

Lucky for them
it's a different world.

The Americans outnumber
the defenders two to one,

and the Japanese
have few heavy weapons.

They quickly secure a
large chunk of the island,

meeting occasional
pockets of resistance.

But back on Tarawa
it's a different story.

For those who have survived this
far, luck may be running out.

They can't move.

They are pinned
down by enemy fire,

and the reinforcements
are having trouble

making it to the landing zones.

During the night the
Japanese have swum out

to wrecked amphibians
and set up machine guns.

Now Americans turn
their guns back out to sea

to pick off their own
hijacked landing craft.

On the beach, the
Japanese continue to hurl

massive firepower
from dug-in defenses.

CPL. ROUSH: The Japanese were
mostly underground all the time.

Then you'd go by, and
they'd come out and fire at you

as you were passing by.

You can't imagine it...

It was unrealistic.

NARRATOR: So far 1,500 Americans
are dead, missing or wounded.

CPL. ROUSH: The
medics were overwhelmed.

There were so many guys
that were in such bad shape

that many of them were marked
dead and they were still alive.

NARRATOR: Fresh
Marine reinforcements

finally begin to arrive.

They have a tiny
toe-hold on the island

and command pockets
of the northern beaches.

As the day winds on they
link up scattered Marine units,

take the airfield in
the center of the island,

and try to push across Tarawa.

♫ ♫

The Marines call in
Sherman tanks to help,

the first to see
action in the Pacific.

But visibility
from inside is poor.

The relatively light 37mm guns

are powerless against the
strong Japanese fortifications.

And tank radios have
different frequencies

than infantry radios.

The Shermans are worthless.

Of the 14 used in the
battle, only two survive.

By the end of D+1,

Marines have split the
island's defenses in half.

They've crossed the airstrip

and occupy abandoned defensive
works on the south side.

CPL. ROUSH: We just charged
right across the island,

shooting anything,

trying to blow up every
bunker that we went by.

NARRATOR: But capturing
Tarawa will take a lot more

than just running over it.

SGT. HATCH: This wasn't going
to be any 24-hour operation.

There were plenty
of Japs on the island,

and they had
decided to die there.

♫ ♫

NARRATOR: The Marines
still face an awesome task:

They must advance
east across the island,

removing each pillbox
and foxhole along the way.

It's a dirty and dangerous job.

Marines use hand grenades and
fire to blast out the enemy.

CAPT. KERR: They would use
flamethrowers and shoot them

in through the
openings into the bunker.

The flames really
didn't burn people up.

Guys would either
suffocate or run out

because you had
sucked up all the oxygen.

(artillery fire)

NARRATOR: The battles
are ferocious and intense.

♫ ♫

Rarely do
Americans see their enemy.

But Norm Hatch
captures one epic moment.

SGT. HATCH: I heard
one of the Marines yell,

"Here come the Japs," so
I just swiveled my body...

That's the only time to the
best of my knowledge in the

Pacific War that the enemy
is in the same frame as us.

NARRATOR: As D+2 grinds on,

the Marines mop up remaining
Japanese positions, one by one.

The island looks blown to bits.

It's like advancing
through a wasteland.

Snipers are everywhere.

They tie themselves in the trees

and take potshots
at the Americans.

(sounds of combat)

The battle for Tarawa is
now a war of extermination.

The men on land are
not the only victims.

A Japanese
submarine scores a direct hit

on the USS Liscome Bay .

She sinks in 23 minutes,
and loses 687 of her men.

Truman Gill sees the tragedy

from the USS Mississippi .

CPL. GILL: I jumped up
and saw an aircraft carrier

that had been hit
by a big torpedo...

all the ammunition exploded.

The men were instantly killed...

NARRATOR: This strike
will count as more than 30%

of the total loss of American
life during the Battle.

(artillery fire)

A few hours later
Allied ships and planes

unload another massive
barrage onto the island.

It appears to pay off.

Only a few pockets
of resistance remain.

But those pockets are fierce.

Here, Marines use a flamethrower

against a
stubborn enemy stronghold.

Norm Hatch keeps
his camera rolling.

(artillery fire)

SGT. HATCH: There wasn't
any end. You just walked away.

There wasn't
anybody left to fight.

NARRATOR: After
three days of fighting,

Americans finally
declare the island secure.

♫ ♫

The Japanese have
fought to the last man.

Of their 5,000
soldiers, only 17 survive.

Americans take few prisoners;
most are Korean laborers.

To guard against
concealed weapons,

they cut away their clothes.

Japan once boasted it would take
a million men a hundred years

to take Tarawa.

America proved otherwise.
But at a shocking cost.

♫ ♫

NARRATOR: President
Roosevelt grants permission

to release images of
the battle to the public.

FILM NARRATOR: Each
hour is getting close.

For three days
before we moved in,

over 4 million
pounds of explosives

have been dropped
down on the island.

It didn't seem possible

that anyone could live
through that bombardment.

NARRATOR: The
film shows Americans

the true ravages of
the war -- uncensored.

FILM NARRATOR:
These are Marine dead.

♫ ♫

NARRATOR: The nation is shocked.

A tropical island has
become a putrid graveyard.

Thousands of bodies lie
decaying in the scorching heat.

It takes three
days of hard fighting,

over 1,000 dead
and 2,000 wounded,

to capture an island of
less than three square miles.

FILM NARRATOR: This is
the price we have to pay

for a war we didn't want.

And before it's over
there'll be more dead

on other battlefields.

NARRATOR: The
film wins an Oscar.

Tarawa leaves the public shaken,
and the military under fire.

The newly secured airfields
prove highly valuable,

but the cost was too great.

Island hopping has
failed its first big test.

For war planners, it's
back to the drawing board.

They redesign the
plan, from top to bottom.

(artillery fire)

Troops train under live fire,

learn how to use
upgraded weapons,

and experiment
with new landing craft.

The failures of Tarawa
also spark a new concept --

Underwater Demolition Teams,

a precursor to
the U.S. Navy SEALS.

180 men join the
first training program.

They practice underwater
reconnaissance and demolition

to clear the path
for future assaults.

Other ideas push
America to think big.

The new Essex-class
carrier joins the force.

It is faster, larger,

and carries almost
100 fighter planes --

enough to support a
distant island invasion.

Equipped with better radar,

it can detect enemy
planes farther away --

giving it more confidence
in the wide open seas.

SN. JONES: Finally it could
go deeper in enemy territory

than any other carrier had been

since the Japanese
had struck Pearl Harbor.

NARRATOR: Another
type of carrier --

the Independence class --

also enters the scene.

(artillery fire)

It's actually a
converted cruiser --

smaller, but
faster than the Essex.

They operate in groups
to concentrate firepower.

Nimitz and the Allies are
hoping these new flat-tops

will be the key to
island-hopping's success.

Both the Essex and
Independence carriers

will launch a new
airplane -- The F6F Hellcat.

They are specially modified to
deal with their prime adversary

-- the Japanese Zero.

It's 30 miles per hour faster,

with better armor
and more firepower.

But improvements
don't stop here.

After their
testy start at Tarawa,

Americans completely
overhaul the Amtraks.

Sporting a new
design, they're faster.

More protected.

And deadlier.

Some have howitzer rockets to
blast Japanese fortifications.

They'll be stronger,
but harder to drive.

SGT. GRAY: They started putting
armor plating on our tractors.

They would just cut a little
slot for you to look out.

You couldn't see much,
only straight ahead of you.

NARRATOR: Sherman tanks
-- another Tarawa flop --

also get an overhaul.

They have better radios,
and a telephone on the outside

so infantry can
talk to the crew inside.

They have more
armor, and bigger guns.

And some have a
totally new weapon.

Fire.

Americans wonder
if flamethrowers

can destroy what traditional
firepower could not.

(artillery fire)

With this new machinery,

the US hopes to finally flex
its muscle over the Pacific.

But it's all in
the hands of boys.

Guys barely out of high school

train for a life
they never expected.

Doug Aitken recalls the
rough waters off California.

ENS. AITKEN: We went for a few
weeks up and down the coast --

for training.

I think it was better known as,

"Get rid of your
seasickness, guys."

I was sick as a dog wondering

why in the world did
I ever join the Navy.

NARRATOR: Each landing
team learns the ropes,

net climbing and disembarking.

They receive a week
of amphibious training

and rehearse with simulated
naval gunfire and air support.

PTE. BAYE: We did some
training with Amtraks...

That was a scary thing.

Here you are going off
the end of an LST ramp

and the nose diving
down into the water,

you're wondering how
much water can we take on

before we'd start sinking...

♫ ♫

NARRATOR: The troops
practice hand to hand combat,

jungle attacks, and
fire their weapons --

all with live ammunition.

SGT. MUMME: You'd be
surprised the people in there

that got hurt in basic training.

They didn't give a damn.

"Hell, we're at war. Shape up."

That's how they put us in shape.

NARRATOR: After a
final briefing, they load up

for a 2,000-mile
trip across the Pacific.

For most, it's the farthest
they've ever been from home --

on the way to their first war.

ST. BRUNTON: The
commander inherited a bunch of

green, untested, untried,
untrained people like me

into operating his ship.

I was just a kid when I went in.

I had never been
anyplace, hadn't done anything.

SGT. PERRY: It was
easy for us country boys

because we were
used to hard work.

But some of the city boys,

you would hear them
crying in their bunks.

NARRATOR: It's a 10-day voyage.

Soldiers pass the time getting
briefed on their targets...

getting to know each other...

and preparing for a time-tested
ritual of naval bonding --

hazing.

When a ship crosses the equator,

new troops endure
the Neptune Ceremony.

This transforms a new
recruit into a trusty sailor.

In Navy slang, a
Polliwog becomes a Shellback.

♫ ♫

Naval officer John Herchak
-- dressed as a chaplain --

is on board the USS Knox

and films the folly
with his own camera.

There is often a beauty contest,

and each department must present

at least one
contestant in swimsuit drag.

Presiding over the
ceremony is King Neptune,

ruler of the high seas.

MM. EARP: They shave you, they
make you go up to King Neptune,

and he's got this great big dong
and you have to go kiss it.

... They cut your
hair and paint it yellow.

SN. RIPPER: Damn, the
things those guys did to us.

It was unbelievable.

We were black and blue,

and I was sure glad
when that day was over with.

NARRATOR: For now
it's all fun and games,

despite the painful hazing.

But as they steam
directly into war,

real pain is just
beyond the horizon.

NEWSREEL: In the shadow of
the pyramids near Cairo, Egypt,

in the heart of
the Muslim world,

the leaders of China, Great
Britain and the United States

meet face to face
for the first time.

NARRATOR: At the Cairo
Conference in November of 1943,

the three heads of state

agree to the overall
plan for the defeat of Japan.

America will maintain

a two-pronged
approach across the Pacific.

MacArthur will
advance from New Guinea,

isolating Japanese
strongholds in the South.

Nimitz will keep island-hopping
up the Central Pacific.

After the capture of
Tarawa in the Gilberts,

the next step is the
low-lying Marshall Islands.

The first stop -- Kwajalein.

America steams west with
new tools, and a new strategy.

The key commanders
who fought on Tarawa

have absorbed
their lessons well.

They now know amphibious warfare
requires more of everything:

more shelling, more landing
craft, and more air support.

In late November,
airplanes launched from Tarawa

begin to zero in
on the Marshalls.

(aircraft and artillery sounds)

American bombers drop more
than 111 tons of explosives.

Here, a fighter locks
onto a prime target --

a Japanese airfield.

The onslaught continues
for two months, knocking

virtually every Japanese
plane out of commission.

But Japanese film
reveals the hidden truth --

28,000 ground troops
await the Americans --

23,000 more than Tarawa.

♫ ♫

Long and crescent-shaped,

Kwajalein is the largest
coral atoll in the world.

The targets are the
main island of Kwajalein

at the southern tip

and the island of
Roi-Namur the next day.

Since they're 40 miles apart,

the assault requires
two separate campaigns.

The plan -- hit
Kwajalein on Day 1.

Then attack
Roi-Namur the next day.

As they approach
Kwajalein on February 1st,

the enemy is nowhere in sight,
and the bomb damage is surreal.

CMD. KIMMINS: I have never seen
such a shambles in my life.

The beach was a mass
of highly colored fish

that had been thrown up
there by nearby explosions.

NARRATOR: One soldier confesses,

"The entire island looked
as if it had been picked up

20,000 feet and then dropped."

As Americans
sneak up to Kwajalein,

there is barely a
whimper of crossfire.

The Japanese are
defending the ocean side,

believing the reef side is
too shallow for landing craft.

But the new
Amtraks make it possible.

The Japanese are caught
defending the wrong beach.

The landings go off with
the precision of a drill.

They clear the
island in four days.

On Roi-Namur,
Japanese are also overwhelmed.

Of 3,500
defenders, only 51 survive.

The islands are
secured in a day.

America sweeps aside
the embarrassment of Tarawa

with a glowing victory.

Heavy machinery will pave
America's new stepping stone

in the Pacific.

The men celebrate their triumph.

A dip in the surf helps
clean off the Kwajalein dirt.

Admiral Nimitz himself comes
to inspect the island in person

and congratulate the
troops on their success.

But they might be even more
impressed by who comes next.

Now that the island is secure,

America deems it
safe for nurses.

Women in the Pacific

aren't allowed
anywhere near combat areas.

Little more than a year ago,

77 nurses were taken
prisoner in the Philippines.

So on Kwajalein, nurses
are under a tight watch --

fenced-in quarters, strict
curfews, and armed escorts.

MARGARET: Conditions
were very primitive.

There were 24 nurses
and millions of mosquitoes

all living in one tent.

KATHRYN: We
worked seven to seven,

and we rotated for night duty.

We didn't get a day off.

NARRATOR: They work hard...

and make the most of
whatever downtime they have

in their
temporary tropical home.

♫ ♫

So far 60,000
nurses serve far and wide

on America's war fronts.

But women are
doing more than nursing.

Every service branch is
making room for new roles.

Some jobs are familiar,
but others are brand new.

♫ ♫

By now, close to half a million
women are working in factories.

They're building
bombs, weapons, and aircraft.

The Willow Run Ford
factory outside Detroit

saw few women before the war.

Now thousands of them are
building the B-24 bomber.

They pick up
where the men left off

and stay on pace to
build one bomber an hour.

They operate cranes, assemble
parts and install wiring.

Women prove they can
build airplanes from scratch.

But who will
deliver them to the army?

When a shortage of pilots hits
the Army air force in 1943...

the WASPS are born. Women
Air Force Service Pilots.

Led by top
aviator Jackie Cochran,

WASPS are trained at Avenger
Field in Sweetwater, Texas,

making it the first
coed military flying field

in US history.

LORRAINE: We went through the
same training as the men did,

ground school in the morning.

And flying in the afternoon,
primary, basic, advanced...

night flying and
instrument flying.

NARRATOR: But
wartime films reveal

they can't quite
escape the old stereotypes.

FILM NARRATOR: Though each
girl is a pilot when she comes,

she must adjust
herself to a new technique,

and hairdos are sacrificed.

Time out for the daily
sunbaths, storing up energy

against the grueling
training of minds and bodies,

while the tremendous
responsibilities that lie ahead.

Six American beauties.

Twelve, for there's a
pilot and copilot in each.

NARRATOR: The news spreads fast
and the rumors start flying.

During the first
week at Sweetwater,

more than 100 male pilots

make unnecessary forced landings

just to have a look
at the young women.

Soon the place is
barred from all outsiders

and becomes known as
"Cochran's convent."

Nearly 1,100 women
earn their wings --

the first women to fly
American military aircraft.

They take test flights,

ferry planes from
factories to air bases,

and fly simulated
strafing missions.

Women log more
than 60 million miles

flying every type of airplane.

Many will end up in the
skies over the Pacific.

BETTY: I flew 43
different types of aircraft.

There were a lot of
men who didn't think

women could fly military
planes, but we showed them.

♫ ♫

NARRATOR: World War
II is everybody's war.

But only a few have
the power to decide

where the war will go next.

For Admiral Nimitz,

it's been a
steep learning curve.

Tarawa was a debacle, but the
lessons applied at Kwajalein

were a stunning success.

Now Nimitz wants to press on

with his
island-hopping campaign.

But General MacArthur
still isn't convinced.

GEN. MACARTHUR: Island
hopping with extravagant losses

and slow progress is not my idea

of how to end the war as soon
and as cheaply as possible.

NARRATOR: Instead
MacArthur wants to keep

the pressure on in
the South Pacific.

Dubbed "Operation
Cartwheel," his plan

is to gain footing on
the New Guinea coast...

move up the ladder of the
Solomons to Bougainville...

and isolate Rabaul,

the strongest
Japanese base in the area.

Japanese footage reveals
Rabaul's awesome defenses.

♫ ♫

Known as the "Pearl
Harbor of the South Pacific,"

it houses five airfields,
hundreds of anti-aircraft guns,

and more than 100,000 troops.

Here the Japanese have
built a mighty fortress,

and they won't back down easily.

But American planes
buzz overhead, undeterred.

The Japanese brace themselves.

By the winter of 1943,
MacArthur has his sights set on

the large island of Bougainville
in the northern Solomons.

From there he can
easily strike Rabaul

and silence Japan's
air power in the region.

A force of 14,000

sets out to attack
Bougainville on November 1st.

The Japanese call in their
heavy cruisers and destroyers

from Rabaul.

The US Navy is shorthanded.

Many ships are tied up

with island-hopping
in the Central Pacific.

In a desperate move,
they put the new generation

of Essex and Independence
carriers to the test.

Bombers join the mission.

They eliminate
their targets one by one,

damaging ships and two-thirds
of the Japanese planes.

America's first big
attack from a carrier

succeeds in
crippling Japan's air power.

Bougainville finally
falls into Allied hands.

But Americans won't stop
until they neutralize Rabaul.

The raids and the
strafing missions continue.

Many of these are staged from
a handful of small airbases

carved out of the
mountainous New Guinea jungle.

This one belongs to the
345th Bombardment group,

otherwise known
as the Air Apaches.

These are Captain
John Hanna's home movies

which have never
been broadcast before.

He captures camp life --

time-killing rituals
like chess and horseshoes.

It's how many of them
relax before a mission.

And a big one is coming.

The 345th aims for Kavieng,

a key link in the
Japanese supply chain

that runs all the
way out to Rabaul.

Americans will aim
squarely for the supply dumps

in a risky low-level attack.

There were once
plans to invade Kavieng,

but MacArthur is
saving his ground forces

for an eventual
invasion of the Philippines.

The Allies will
try to neutralize it

with air power alone.

Captain Hanna films
the action himself.

Bullets fly from nose
guns with telltale sparks.

Bursts of anti-aircraft fire
litter the sky above the harbor.

They aim for Japanese
planes, fuel, and cargo ships.

Flying in formation
through the smoke is chaotic.

One plane almost drops its
bombs on another one below it.

On the way out, they spot
a listing Japanese freighter

and try to finish it off.

In this daring
raid, Americans cripple

a linchpin of the
Japanese supply chain.

These low-lying raids

succeed in putting a
stranglehold on Rabaul.

The Japanese supply
chain is eventually severed,

and 100,000 Japanese
troops on Rabaul are stuck,

left to wither on the vine.

General MacArthur is finally
moving closer to his target --

the Philippines.

He continues his advance
along the coast of New Guinea.

Meanwhile, the
island-hopping campaign

continues in the
Central Pacific.

After his victory
at Kwajalein, Nimitz

eyes the harbor and airstrip
on the atoll of Eniwetok.

But it's protected -- by Truk,

one of Japan's strongest
remaining bases in the pacific.

With four
airstrips and 400 planes,

Truk could make the
Eniwetok invasion a nightmare.

Two days before
landing on Eniwetok,

300 fighter planes
launch off the Essex carriers.

♫ ♫

Tracers flying, they take
dead aim on Truk's airfields.

Thirty separate strikes
deliver unrelenting pressure.

Each one is more powerful

than the Japanese
strike at Pearl Harbor.

Americans take out 250
planes and forty naval ships.

♫ ♫

Truk is silenced.

Never again will Japan use
it as a major operating base.

The skies are cleared
for an assault on Eniwetok.

♫ ♫

More than 10,000 men
approach the target.

For two days American
ships blast the island

while the
invasion force waits --

and hopes the enemy is buckling.

On the beach,
resistance is light.

There are only a few thousand
defenders on the island.

But it won't be a picnic.

(gunfire)

Japan also took
lessons from Tarawa.

Here they built
pillboxes just as strong,

but now they're
connected underground.

(gunfire)

Troops caught in
these spiderweb networks

are shot at from all sides

as the Japanese rapidly shift
from one foxhole to another.

Progress is slow.

It takes four days for the
Americans to clean up Eniwetok.

♫ ♫

262 soldiers lie dead -- while
Japan loses more than 2,000.

It's another victory for Nimitz.

The Marshall Islands are
finally in Allied hands.

The Japanese are stung, but not
stagnant. They will respond.

With the capture
of the Marshalls

10 weeks ahead of schedule,

Americans ratchet up their
entire effort in the Pacific.

They build more naval
bases, more fortifications,

and more airfields.

They make bold plans
to move more quickly.

Americans proved
that a frontal invasion

from the water onto a fortified
beachhead is possible.

Amphibious assaults
are now coming of age.

Island hopping will
soon become synonymous

with the Pacific War.

But the next step is
far bigger, a lot farther,

and will be a
test unlike any other.