Introduction
The Battle of Singapore took place during World War II from January 31 to February 15, 1942. The two opposing forces were the British and Japanese. Lieutenant General Author Percival led 85, 000 men to defend the war while Lieutenant General Tomoyuki Yamashita commanded the invasion with 36, 000 men. The onslaught to invade British Malaya commenced in December 8, 1941. During this period, General Yamashita started invading this British colony from Indochina and subsequently from Thailand. The Japanese forces that invaded Malaya were obviously outnumbered by the British forces, but they intelligently concentrated their forces and applied combined army skills learned and acquired in earlier campaigns to drive back and flank their enemies frequently. The Japanese forces rapidly acquired air superiority over the Britons, and they exacted a demoralizing blow on the British forces, when a Japanese aircraft sank two integral British battleships. The Japanese also used bicycles and light tanks to swiftly maneuver through the peninsula’s jungles, in order to attack the British armies. Although General Percival was reinforced, his forces were unable to halt the Japanese invasion and in the end, they withdrew from the peninsula and took refuge in the island of Singapore to prepare for the final fight with the anticipated Japanese forces. In the end, the British army lost the war because the Japanese forces expertly combined speed, savagery, and surprise without permitting the British forces to re-group and strategize. The Japanese were able to invade Singapore because of their dominance on the unprepared British forces. They efficiently applied the principles of mass, surprise, objective and unity of command by focusing on ...
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... them. Furthermore, although the allied British troops were superior in number, they were highly untrained with minimal and inferior training as compared to the seasoned Japanese soldiers. The allied forces lacked tanks and enough aircraft to match the Japanese, and the few they had, were destroyed prior to the battle, leaving the soldiers massively vulnerable and badly equipped for the battle.
Works Cited
Farrell, Brian P. The Defence and Fall of Singapore 1940-1942. Trafalgar Square, 2006.
Leasor, James. Singapore: The Battle That Changed the World. London: House of Stratus, 2001.
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During the 1960’s, the United States was strongly involved in the Vietnam War. In a war there are many battles. Each battle could decide the fate of the war as a whole. The Battle of Khe Sanh was one such battle (or so thought by General Westmoreland) in the Vietnam War. The Battle of Khe Sanh included the preparations, the battle, and the aftermath.
Miles, Rufus E. Jr. “Hiroshima: The Strange Myth of Half a Million American Lives Saved.” International Security (1985): 121-140.
The book “Hiroshima,” written by John Hersey is an alluring piece coupled with an underlining, mind grabbing message. The book is a biographical text about the lives of six people: Miss Sasaki, Dr. Fujii, Mrs. Nakamura, Father Kleinsorge, Dr. Sasaki, and Rev. Tanimoto, in Hiroshima, Japan. It speaks of these aforementioned individuals’ lives, following the dropping of the world’s first atomic bomb on 06 Aug 1945, and how it radically changed them, forever. John Hersey, the author of “Hiroshima,” attempts to expose the monstrosity of the atomic bomb, through his use of outstanding rhetoric, descriptive language, and accounts of survivors. He also attempts to correlate the Japanese civilians of Hiroshima to the American public, in hope that Americans
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Although WW II ended over 50 years ago there is still much discussion as to the events which ended the War in the Pacific. The primary event which historians attribute to this end are the use of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although the bombing of these cities did force the Japanese to surrender, many people today ask “Was the use of the atomic bomb necessary to end the war?” and more importantly “Why was the decision to use the bomb made?” Ronald Takaki examines these questions in his book Hiroshima.
Gailey, Harry. The War in the Pacific: From Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay. Novato: Presidio, 1995.
The non-fiction book Hiroshima by John Hersey is an engaging text with a powerful message in it. The book is a biographical text about lives of six people Miss Sasaki, Dr. Fujii, Mrs. Nakamura, Father Kleinsorge, Dr. Sasaki and Rev. Tanimoto in Hiroshima, Japan and how their lives completely changed at 8:15 on the 6th of August 1945 by the dropping of the first atomic bomb. The author, John Hersey, through his use of descriptive language the in book Hiroshima exposes the many horrors of a nuclear attack.
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Lanning, M. L. (2005). The History Place - Top Ten Battles of All Time. Retrieved from http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/topten/
Leahy, Stephen M. "The Historical Battle over Dispatching American Troops." USA Today (Farmingdale). July 1999: 10-12. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 07 May. 2014.
Because of the desperation felt by the Japanese forces leading up to the battle and American forces making steady advances toward Japan, the Japanese forces felt the battle could not be won. They were ordered to by time for Japan to build its defenses around the homeland. Japanese were not only dying for their county but taking their own lives as ... ... middle of paper ... ... 6 wounded.
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Kuznick, Peter J. "The Decision to Risk the Future: Harry Truman, the Atomic Bomb and the Apocalyptic Narrative.” JapanFocus. The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, 9 Dec. 2013. Web. 09 Jan. 2014.
"Was the Atomic Bombing of Japan Justifiable?" The Pacific War 1941-43. Web. 10 June 2010.
Slowly, though, the Allies gained ground and continued to push back the defensive lines of General Ushijima and his troops. The Japanese tried to use kamikaze air and land attacks as successful offensive measures, but these continued to produce little effect and failed each time. Finally, the Allies started to gain ground quite quickly. The Japanese had to move their defensive lines several times because the Americans were boxing them in. At last, General Ushijima ordered every man to fight to the death, and the fighting became very disorganized.