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Battles of World War II involving Japan

  • Battle of Northern Burma and Western YunnanIn the spring of 1942, Japanese forces captured Burma and immediately prepared to attack west Yunnan. They aimed to fight along the Burma Road, conquer…
  • Western New Guinea campaignThe Allied command set a clear goal for early 1944. They needed to bypass heavily fortified Japanese positions in the Pacific theater.
  • Battle of Changsha (1944)In May 1944, Japanese troops began a massive transfer of forces from the Japanese homeland and Manchuria to launch Operation Ichi-Go.
  • Siege of MyitkyinaJoseph Stilwell intended to make a rapid march against Myitkyina, prophesying it to be a feat which will live in military history.
  • Battle of Guilin–LiuzhouIn August 1944, the Imperial Japanese Army launched a massive offensive known as Operation Ichigo. This campaign aimed to connect scattered territories under…
  • Arakan campaign (1942–1943)In May 1942, the Allies retreated from Burma, accompanied by many refugees, mainly Indian and Anglo-Burmese. The Japanese halted their advance on the…
  • Battle of OkinawaThe island of Okinawa became the stage for Operation Iceberg, a massive military campaign that began on the 1st of April 1945.
  • Fall of SingaporeIn the interwar years, Britain established a naval base in Singapore after the Anglo-Japanese alliance lapsed in 1923. This base formed a key part of British…
  • Battle of Guam (1941)Guam is the southernmost part of the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It covers an area of 225 square miles with rugged interior terrain.
  • Battle of LuzonThe Philippines held a strategic value that threatened the United States when Japan captured it in 1942. General Douglas MacArthur oversaw the defense of the…
  • Battle of LeyteOn the 20th of October 1944, General Douglas MacArthur waded through the surf onto Red Beach in Palo. He held a microphone aloft and spoke to the gathered…
  • Battle of Mount SongIn 1944, the Burma Road became a lifeline for China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Chinese Nationalist forces sought to retake this highway to receive…
  • Battle of Iwo JimaIn March 1944, the Japanese military reevaluated their position after American forces captured the Marshall Islands and attacked Truk Atoll.
  • Battle of Manila (1945)On the 9th of January 1945, the Sixth U.S. Army under Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger made an amphibious landing at Lingayen Gulf.
  • Battle of West HunanBy April 1945, China had already been at war with Japan for more than seven years. Both nations were exhausted by years of battles, bombings and blockades.
  • Battle of Buna–GonaJapan's entry into World War II began with the attack on Pearl Harbor on the 7th of December 1941. This coordinated assault included simultaneous strikes on…
  • Battle of ImphalIn March 1943, Lieutenant-General Renya Mutaguchi took command of the Fifteenth Army in Burma. He immediately began pushing for an invasion of India with a…
  • Battle of the Philippine SeaThe Battle of the Philippine Sea, fought on the 19th and the 20th of June 1944, was the largest carrier-to-carrier naval engagement in history.
  • Battle of KohimaThe Japanese plan to invade India, codenamed U-Go, began as a spoiling attack against the British IV Corps at Imphal in Manipur.
  • Invasion of Lingayen GulfOn the 22nd of December 1941, the Japanese 14th Army under Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma landed on the northeastern shores of Lingayen Gulf at Agoo…
  • Operation U-GoIn 1942, the Japanese Army had driven British and Indian troops out of Burma. When monsoon rains stopped campaigning, British forces occupied Imphal, the…
  • Guadalcanal campaignOn the 7th of December 1941, Japanese forces attacked the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack killed almost 2,500 people and…
  • Battle of MadagascarDiego-Suarez is a large bay with a fine harbour near the northern tip of Madagascar. It has an opening to the east through a narrow channel called Oronjia…
  • Battle of Wake IslandIn January 1941, the United States Navy began construction of a military base on the atoll. On the 19th of August, the first permanent military garrison…
  • Battle of Hong KongBritain first thought of Japan as a threat with the ending of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1921. That threat increased throughout the 1930s with the…
  • Kokoda Track campaignIn early 1942, the Australian government and many citizens feared a Japanese invasion of their mainland. The entire 8th Division had been lost or rendered…
  • Battles of Khalkhin GolThe river Khalkhin Gol cuts through a disputed strip of land where the borders of Manchukuo and Mongolia meet. In 1939, this remote area became the stage for…
  • Operation KeOn the 31st of December 1942, Emperor Hirohito formally endorsed the decision to abandon Guadalcanal. This moment marked a turning point in the Pacific War…
  • Battle of HengyangHengyang in Hunan Province lies in an oval basin surrounded by mountains and hills, with Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, Guizhou and Yunnan to the west…
  • Battle of Rabaul (1942)Rabaul lies on the eastern end of New Britain, an Australian Territory in 1942. The town served as capital for the region since Germany lost control there in…