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Message
WWII - Japanese garrisons stranded in by-passed territory
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:02 pm
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:02 pm
I was wondering about the effectiveness of island hopping in the South Pacific during WWII. So I did some internet browsing tonight. I was amazed by this quote.
I had no idea that this many Japanese were literally locked out of the fight.
Japanese bypassed
quote:
At the end of the war, Japan had 3 million troops overseas. 2 million in China, 100,000 in the Marianas, 72,000 in the Solomons, 14,000 in New Guinea. Many Japanese soldiers, sailors and air men were bypassed by advancing forces and left stranded in many different island groups in the Pacific. They went into hiding, waiting for attacks that never came and messages from commands that had long since been disbanded. Short of supplies and lacking communication with Japan, and often without their commanding officers in the immediate area, many hid from Allied mopping up patrols in the thick jungles and mountains of the islands they occupied. It was months and in some cases years before these men realized the war was over.
I had no idea that this many Japanese were literally locked out of the fight.
Japanese bypassed
This post was edited on 2/20/17 at 10:12 pm
10
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:06 pm to Oyster
They had one guy who stayed in hiding til the mid 1970s. They had to find his commanding officer, fly him out there to tell the guy to surrender. Hiroo onoda
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:07 pm to Oyster
There's a story somewhere that a Japanese man lived on an island until the 70s (I think) and had no idea the war was over. He surrendered to the people that found him
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:09 pm to TulaneUVA
quote:
I RAd
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:10 pm to Prominentwon
quote:
There's a story somewhere that a Japanese man lived on an island until the 70s (I think) and had no idea the war was over. He surrendered to the people that found him
I remember him! He was on Gilligan's Island a couple times, right?
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:12 pm to TigerFanInSouthland
Play your violin all you want but that's extremely offensive and unnecessary.
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:13 pm to beerJeep
That guy was a murdering piece of shite. Those war criminals are/were treated like royalty in Japan.
Still pisses me off.
Still pisses me off.
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:13 pm to Oyster
quote:
I had no idea that this many Japanese were literally locked out of the fight.
I can't speak for the other groups but the 2 million in China had been fighting the Chinese and the Russians for years.
eta: It's another interesting part of history. Like the Nazi's main target was Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, the main target of the Japanese was China.
This post was edited on 2/20/17 at 10:15 pm
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:17 pm to Oyster
Yea I think the last guy they pulled off of some atoll in the 70s.
This post was edited on 2/20/17 at 10:18 pm
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:19 pm to theGarnetWay
quote:
eta: It's another interesting part of history. Like the Nazi's main target was Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, the main target of the Japanese was China.
But they needed the natural resources of Indochina.
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:21 pm to theGarnetWay
Actually, the Soviets didn't start fighting the Japanese until very late in the war. One of the many reasons for dropping the bomb and forcing Japan to surrender was that the Soviets were gobbling up huge chunks of Manchuria.
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:22 pm to beerJeep
quote:
They had one guy who stayed in hiding til the mid 1970s. They had to find his commanding officer, fly him out there to tell the guy to surrender. Hiroo onoda
That is next level commitment.
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:23 pm to alajones
quote:
Actually, the Soviets didn't start fighting the Japanese until very late in the war. One of the many reasons for dropping the bomb and forcing Japan to surrender was that the Soviets were gobbling up huge chunks of Manchuria.
Yeah, the Russkies came in late to see if they could salvage a piece of the pie in the Far East for themselves. MacArthur pretty much wasn't having it.
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:24 pm to slackster
quote:
That is next level commitment.
Well they compared the emperor to a god. So it's not really that surprising.
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:24 pm to alajones
quote:
One of the many reasons for dropping the bomb and forcing Japan to surrender was that the Soviets were gobbling up huge chunks of Manchuria.
They had some pretty fierce battles in 1939 (as a part of a longer border battle dating back a few years prior).
And part of why they decided to go South to Indochina (and thus put themselves in more direct opposition to the US) was because they knew they couldn't go any further north.
1) Because of the battles they had with the USSR
2) The temporary non-aggression pact signed between Hitler and Stalin.
This post was edited on 2/20/17 at 10:26 pm
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:29 pm to alajones
quote:
That guy was a murdering piece of shite. Those war criminals are/were treated like royalty in Japan. Still pisses me off.
That is true.
AND if you ask anyone in the current Japanese government, they will tell you that Japan committed no atrocity and no crime during World War 2. They will tell you that the USA provoked the war and then lied about Japan's role in the war. In short, they have the same view of the war as the Democrats.
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:31 pm to Oyster
quote:
This brings up another interesting subject, Allied Hatred of the Japanese. The hatred of the Japanese fighting forces was absolutely incredible. I've read articles on allied souvenir taking that are almost unbelievable.
That wasn't limited to the Pacific Theater though. But, the Japanese were known to have a lot of gold teeth, so Marines and soldiers would go fish them out with their k-bars whenever they came upon a Japanese body.
Eta: It's highly frowned upon now to do stuff like that.
This post was edited on 2/20/17 at 10:32 pm
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:36 pm to TigerFanInSouthland
quote:
the Japanese were known to have a lot of gold teeth, so Marines and soldiers would go fish them out with their k-bars whenever they came upon a Japanese body.
Snafu Shelton from "The Pacific".
Who, BTW, built and lived in a house in St. Francisville that was eventually occupied by none other than Derek Todd Lee. Strange coincidence.
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:44 pm to Oyster
Hiroo onoda
Posted on 2/20/17 at 10:47 pm to Godfather1
quote:
Snafu Shelton from "The Pacific"
Snafu Shelton from With the Old Breed
One of the best first hand accounts of WWII and one of my most favorite books.
quote:
Who, BTW, built and lived in a house in St. Francisville that was eventually occupied by none other than Derek Todd Lee. Strange coincidence.
I knew Snafu was from LA, but that is definitely one hell of a coincidence.
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