Target Java
By the beginning of February 1942 the position of Java, the most important island in the Netherlands East Indies, was looking extremely precarious. Borneo and Celebes were already in Japanese hands, and Singapore and Sumatra […]
History
The Bombing of Darwin
The port town of Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory, had become the main staging base for ships and aircraft heading towards Java. Darwin’s airfields had played host to many units and replacement aircraft bound for Java and the Philippines, along what was an increasingly tenuous […]
The Marshalls-Gilberts Raid
Since the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Pacific Fleet’s carrier force had been kept busy. Whilst waiting for the newly appointed Admiral Chester Nimitz to arrive and take control of the situation, three carriers had […]
In Defence of Sumatra
Even before the fall of Singapore in mid-February 1942, British air forces had been concentrating on the Dutch island of Sumatra in the knowledge that the airfields there were safer than those on the fortress […]
Into the Makassar Strait
By January 1942, the Allied air forces had suffered a series of setbacks that forced them to retreat south in the face of the Japanese offensive. The American Far East Air Force withdrew its remaining […]
Java and The First Heavy Bomber Campaign
The 19th Bomb Group had withdrawn to Australia following the disastrous early days of the war in the Philippines, and there it began to regroup. American commanders were keen to get the vaunted B-17s – […]
The Battling Bastards of Bataan
Following the initial Japanese attacks that had badly damaged the Far Eastern Air Force in December 1941, most of the surviving heavy bombers had been withdrawn well to the south. Meanwhile the remnants of the […]
The Fall of Rabaul
As the invasions of the Philippines and Malaya were proceeding according to schedule, the Japanese began the second phase of their offensive – this time, taking Allied positions to the east. Amongst the most important […]
The Fall of Singapore: The Net Closes
As British and Commonwealth troops headed for Singapore, the Japanese air forces moved to complete the besiegement of the city. Several convoys of transports were engaged in either bringing fresh troops and supplies to the […]
Malaya, Singapore, and the Battle of Endau
Whilst the battle for Muar raged, the Japanese continued to pound Singapore into submission and make preparations for further advancing south through Malaya. Large air raids were an almost daily occurrence, with the British and […]