ROAD TO IWO JIMA - World War II in the Pacific Vol 2 1943-1945 concludes the story of the war in the pacific.
Episodes:
7. KWAJALEIN. Employing the hard learned lessons of Tarawa, The United States launched a more
successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalien in the south and Roi Namur in the north. The
Japanese defenders put up a stiff resistance though being outnumbered and under-prepared. The deter
mined defence of Roi Namur left only 51 survivors of an original garrison of 3,500.
8. BURMA
While American forces in the Pacific had been making dramatic progress since early 1942, the Allied effort
in the China Burma India Theatre had bogged down in a morass of conflicting national objectives. The
hope Americans held in the early stages of the war, that Chinese manpower and bases would play a vital
role in the defeat of Japan, was unrealised.
9. SAIPAN & TINIAN
During February and March, 1944, at the Washington Planning Conference, the planners of the Pacific
Campaign of World War II decided that the primary objective for the near future was to establish a base
in the region of Luzon, Formosa, and the Chinese Coast. That objective quickly established the island of
Saipan (northern isle of the Marianas) as the next prime candidate.
10. PELELIU
Victory in the Marianas in the summer of 1944 brought American forces within striking distance of the
Philippine Islands and the Japanese home islands. In order to eliminate a possible threat on the right
flank of General Douglas MacArthur's intended attack on the Philippines, the Japanese held Palau Islands
were targeted next
11. LUZON
Nearly two years after the fall of Bataan, General MacArthur came back to the Philippines leading a huge
naval force of 700 ships and more than 160,000 marines.
12. OKINAWA
The Battle of Okinawa is distinguished as the last major battle of World War Two, yet often unrecognised
when referring to the great battles of the War. Over 250,000 people lost their lives. Approximately 150,000
Okinawans, about a third of the population, perished. At the battles end, somewhere between a third and
half of all surviving civilians were wounded. No battle during the Second World War, except Stalingrad, had
as massive a loss of civilian life