How was the Pacific War unique among all theaters of WW2? Obviously the largest Naval battles in history but in terms of ground combat.
well facing a fanatical enemy often fighting to the last man on relatively small islands springs to mind as rather unique
the eastern front certainly saw its share of fanaticism and brutality but by and large without the terrible constraints of geography and suicial tendencies
>>589639
Imagine being dumped in a place where the local environment itself wants to kill you, assuming you survive the trip unto it from the landing craft. Now add people with guns who want to kill you, and won't stop until they're dead.
>>589639
It's unique in that the final battles were the bloodiest and fought against seasoned, sometimes elite, troops. Opposed to "mopping up" battles deep inside Germany against child soldiers and the elderly.
Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Okinawa were all at the end of the war, but also the toughest of the campaign.
>>589678
also napalm.
>>589639
jungle warfare
island hopping
tropical heat
fucking mosqiutos
>>589639
Well for one thing, Amerigans did not fight the Japanese Army *proper* up until 44.
What they fought were shitty garrison troops. The real army was in China and Burma.
By 44, elements of the Kwantung pulled out of China to fight in Okinawa, and the Philippines.
It wasn't all Jungle Combat either. There was a huge ground campaign which involved urban combat in the Philippines.
>>589678
On the other hand, by that point the Americans had quite comfortable air (and by extension naval) superiority thanks to superior doctrine and the nips losing most of their decent pilots.
>>589914
And simply having more development potential and more resources. IJN was quite a serious opponent during the start of the conflict.
I remember reading that because of the extremely high troop concentrations on the islands, combat was more or less stuck in a constant assault phase, and never really slowed down to become more static like it did sometimes in other fronts.
Both sides, for the most part, had an abundance of bodies to throw at each other, so they kept throwing bodies at each other until one of them cracked.
>>589961
Well not exactly. Since Japs did dig in on almost every single fucking island, US strategy was an island-hopping one: that is, seize one island, establish a base of operations there to cut off other islands, and seize another island deeper inside enemy "lines" to do the same.
By far the best battle fought was Leyte gulf. Look it up, the airforce, navy, and armies of Britain and Japanese forces were heavily engaged. An extremely strategic fight.
>>589639
Not only were the battles incredibly bloody but the local environments were often completely alien to the average US soldier, as opposed to the average IJA soldier who had significant experience in these climates and were often seasoned veterans of the Chinese front.
On top of this, the pure logistical nightmare of the theater was entirely unique and had never been encountered on this scale before in history. US soldiers were operating literally halfway across the world on islands that had very little to no infrastructure at all. Literally all of the supplies needed for a modern army to be capable of functioning had to be shipped all the way to australia and then shipped to the various staging areas and bases dotted around the south pacific. All of this was compounded by the threat of the IJN that really remained an effective fighting force all the way up to the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
However comparing this front to the European theater is literally the same as comparing apples to pears. Both theaters had unique challenges that the allies had to overcome, while the pacific was more infantry and naval-centric. The European theater was obviously more focused on armour, air power and strategic disposition. This was exactly why the Marine Corps were exclusively deployed to the Pacific theater as the island hopping nature of the theater suited their doctrine of battle and purpose perfectly.
Personal anecdote but my great grandfather was a 'fuzzy wuzzy angel' in the 2nd world war,
he was a renowned sorceror in his village and he claimed he summoned rain and snakes to hinder japanese advancements.
The situation there was pretty unique I'd say.
The terrain in PNG's interior is like a tropical switzerland, extremely slippery in the wet season and full of malaria, and dangerous creatures, back then especially there were hostile tribes who had extremely limited contact with the outside world too.
>>589649
>the eastern front certainly saw its share of fanaticism and brutality
It's a bit hard to tell apart actual events from propaganda on the Eastern front. I don't doubt that it was just as brutal, but the mutilation of American wounded and captured, beheading, genitals mutilated and stuck in the mouth, dismemberment is all actually documented in the Pacific. Most of what you read about the Eastern front is anecdotal.
>>589961
>Both sides, for the most part, had an abundance of bodies to throw at each other, so they kept throwing bodies at each other until one of them cracked.
It was mostly Japs throwing Japs at machineguns until they ran out of Japs.
why were jap tanks such shit?
they had excellent machine guns and for a while aircraft, ships, subs.
>>592249
Their machine guns were functional and for the most part better than nothing-tier, not excellent.
Their aircraft were outclassed starting in 1942.
Their subs were terrible, being loud and terrible at diving.
>>592655
>The banzai charges stopped before Peleliu.
That didn't stop them from enjoying 1:5 or worse k/d ratio everywhere they fought.
>>589678
don't forget the second battle of the Philippines
the japs REALLY tried to hold onto that island chain
>>592741
>most casualties in warfare are caused by artillery and MGs
>one side has a fuckton of artillery and MGs and naval fire support and nigh endless munitions
Unfortunately for the Japanese, firepower superiority trumps proud Yamato spirit everytime.
>>589914
By having more natural resources
Lets be honest here.
>>589894...
>>>Kwantung units
<<<<<best?
impressing bait. best in the Japanese military got used up in the Solomons Islands.
>>592965
Superior doctrine as well.
The Americans would pull aces back from the front lines to teach new recruits, whereas the Japanese would keep them flying until they got shot down.
>>592741
>That didn't stop them from enjoying 1:5 or worse k/d ratio everywhere they fought.
Yeah, I just mean there was a significant change in strategy. Americans had predicted Peleliu would only take 3 days assuming they'd be mowing down banzai charges instead of the protracted extermination over the month or however long it took.
Sadly a lot of the history is lost because of it too. I've only ever seen two or three books written by enlisted soldiers.
>>592249
>why were jap tanks such shit?
Jap tanks were stuck in Interwar Tier tactical development. Almost WWIish
It doesn't help that for much of the war, their Chinese opponents had little armor to speak of.
Though even then their tanks were easily knocked out by bombs and anti-tank rifles.
>>593499
Helmet for my pillow
with the old breed
uh fuck, can't think of any others desu
>>596410
I mean the Japanese side. Pic related is all I've read from their perspective.
Anyone familiar with 'Gekido no showashi: Okinawa kessen'?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e-ysnMlj2k
Cant find it online
ETO
>enemy that has decent weapons and actually knows how to fight a war
>weather is ok
PTO
>weather sucks
>enemy that would've been BTFO by a decent WW1 army
Pick your poison, I guess.
>>592249
>they had excellent machine guns
Only the Type 99 stood out as exceptional, even then probably surpassed by the Bren. The rest, with a few capable of great accuracy, were either archaic WWI inspired designs or strange experiments like the Type 11. Almost all of them had to resort to an oiling mechanism to reliably feed cartridges, which attracted all sorts of dirt and gunk.
>Japanese munitions were much better than the Americans
As far as firearms go, they never hoped to match them in ballistics. There was also an early issue in properly storing cartridges to prevent the humidity of the jungle rotting them.
