FRENCH POLYNESIAAND WORLD WAR II IN THE PACIFIC
Charles F. Urbanowicz, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
California State University, Chico
Chico, CA 95929-0400
csurbanowicz@gmail.comu or curbanowicz@csuchico.edu
1 May 2015
This page printed from: http://www.csuchico.edu/~curbanowicz/FRENCHPOLYNESIAWWII.html
NOTE: I am scheduled to be the Smithsonian Journeys Expert on the February 2016 cruise of the Paul Gauguin
Toward the endof World War II, Operation Downfall wasthe overall name for the planned invasions of Japan. The first invasion was scheduled to begin on November 1,1945, and was code-named Operation Olympic. The second invasion, code-named Operation Coronet, wasscheduled for March 1, 1946. Hundreds-of-thousands individuals, in addition to planes, ships, andsupplies, would have been involved and casualties on all sides would have beenhorrific. After American PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, Vice-President Harry S Trumanbecame President and it was his decision to use two atomic bombs againstJapan. On August 6 Hiroshima wasbombed and on August 9 Nagasaki wasbombed. The invasion of Japan never tookplace. Japansurrendered on August 15, 1945 with the formal ceremony ending World War IIoccurring on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay onSeptember 2, 1945.
Events leadingup to September 2 had a lengthy history and logistics played a vital part inall campaigns of World War II. Operation Bobcat in French Polynesia in 1942 was a wake-up call forUnited States planners. The coastaldefense guns from that operation can still be seen to this day on Bora Bora.
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AlthoughAmericans usually date the beginning of World War II with the Japanese attackon Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, individuals in Asia date the beginning ofthe war from September 1931 when the Japanese Kwantung Army invaded threeprovinces in northeast China, named Manchuria. For Europeans, the beginning of the war occurred inSeptember 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. The beginning and ending ofthe war for the United States can be viewed at Pearl Harbor on the Hawai'ianisland of O'ahu where one can visit the memorials for the USS Arizona,
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Whenthe United States entered World War II on December 8, 1941, it was determinedthat Australia, New Zealand, and the "Far East" had to be suppliedwith personnel and materiel. Onemistake that the Japanese made was their inability to grasp the immense size ofthe Pacific Ocean, one-third of the planet or 64,186,300 square miles, andAmericans would not make that mistake. Another mistake the Japanese made was tobelieve that the size of the Pacific made them immune to attacks from theUnited States of America. Both mistakesproved to be flawed and fatal for the Japanese. It was difficult, if not impossible, for various Japaneseforces in the Pacific, and on the Asian mainland, to lend mutual support to oneanother across large areas of land and sea. The initial successes of the Japanese required their supplylines to become that much longer. American military personnel were aware of the problems faced by theJapanese and planned accordingly.
UnitedStates planners realized that the size of the Pacific Ocean could be a problemin transporting personnel and materiel and they looked at two routes from theUnited States into the Pacific: one route would be from the West Coast of the United States, via
Theships for Operation Bobcat departed the East Coast of the United States in twostages: some from New York harboron January 20, 1942 and some from the Charleston, South Carolina, NavyYard. The assembled convoydeparted Charleston on January 27, 1942 and the five transports andaccompanying escort vessels arrived in Bora Bora on February 17.
TheJapanese never attacked Bora Bora and the fuel facilities established thereproved vital for the ships crossing the Pacific. Some of the eight coastal defense 155mm guns installedaround the island are still visible and somewhat accessible to residents andvisitors to Bora Bora.
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Any protectionthat Japan felt because of Pacific distances was shattered by the B-25B bombingraid on the home islands of Japan led by Lieutenant James ("Jimmy")Doolittle on April 18, 1942. Doolittle's sixteen bombers did wonders for the morale of Americans,coming within five months of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
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The next majorbattle after Midway, and viewed by many as the decisive one that contributed tothe ultimate downfall of Japan, occurred on the island of Guadalcanal.
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After the1942-1943 success in Guadalcanal, there were other battles in the SolomonIslands and elsewhere: Tarawa in1943, Kwajelein, Eniwtok, Saipan, Tinian, Guam, and Peleliu in 1944, and IwoJima in 1945. The 35-day strugglefor Iwo Jima, named Operation Detachment, was one of the bloodiest up to thattime, but the worst was yet to come in Operation Iceberg.
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OperationIceberg was the invasion of the Ryuku Islands, including Okinawa.
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Numerous eventshad to occur for World War II to formally and finally end with the ceremoniesin Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Operation Bobcat in French Polynesia contributed to the successes in thePacific. The Pacific is vast. Thewar was brutal. Many aspects of the Pacific war are visible to this date aswell as the effects on the cultures of the islanders.
~1,773 words}
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