South West Pacific theatre of World War II

File:Australian troops at Milne Bay.jpg. The Australian army was the first to inflict defeat on the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II at the Battle of Milne Bay in August–September 1942.]]

The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (except for Sumatra), Borneo, Australia, its mandate Territory of New Guinea (including the Bismarck Archipelago) and the Solomon Islands' western part. This area was defined by the Allied powers' South West Pacific Area (SWPA) command.

Japanese forces fought primarily against the United States and Australian forces in the South West Pacific theatre. The Philippines, New Zealand, the Netherlands (in the Dutch East Indies), the United Kingdom, and other Allied nations also contributed forces.

The South Pacific became a major theatre of the war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Initially, US war plans called for a counteroffensive across the Central Pacific, but this was disrupted by the loss of battleships at Pearl Harbor. During the First South Pacific Campaign, US forces sought to establish a defensive perimeter against additional Japanese attacks. This was followed by the Second South Pacific Campaign, which began with the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Allied command

File:HMAS Canberra (D33) underway off Tulagi, circa 7 August 1942.jpg (center left) protects three Allied transport ships (background and center right) unloading troops and supplies at Tulagi.]]

{{Main|South West Pacific Area (command)|l1=South West Pacific Area}}

The U.S. General Douglas MacArthur had been in command of the American forces in the Philippines in what was to become the South West Pacific theatre, but was then part of a larger theatre that encompassed the South West Pacific, the Southeast Asian mainland (including Indochina and Malaya) and the North of Australia, under the short lived American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM). Shortly after the collapse of ABDACOM, the supreme command of the South West Pacific theatre passed to MacArthur, appointed Supreme Commander, South West Pacific Area on 30 March 1942.{{sfn|Cressman|2000|p=84}}{{sfn|Milner|1957|p=22}} However, MacArthur preferred to use the title "Commander-in-Chief." The forces remaining in South-East Asia under Japanese attack reverted to their local commanders, and were soon mostly destroyed or evacuated.

The other major theatre in the Pacific, Pacific Ocean Areas, was commanded by U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz, who was also Commander-in-Chief Pacific Fleet. The US Joint Chiefs and the British-U.S. Combined Chiefs of Staff oversaw MacArthur and Nimitz. Captain Allan Rockwell McCann was appointed to represent the Navy as General MacArthur's Senior Representative of Commander, Submarines, Southwest Pacific.

Japanese command

Most Japanese forces in the theatre were part of the {{nihongo| Southern Expeditionary Army|南方軍 |Nanpo gun}}, which was formed on November 6, 1941, under General Hisaichi Terauchi (also known as Count Terauchi). The Nanpo gun was responsible for Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) ground and air units in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. The {{nihongo|Combined Fleet|聯合艦隊|Rengō Kantai}} of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was responsible for all Japanese warships, naval aviation units and marine infantry units. As the Japanese military did not formally utilize joint/combined staff at the operational level, the command structures/geographical areas of operations of the Nanpo gun and Rengō Kantai overlapped each other and those of the Allies.

Major campaigns

File:TokyoExpress.jpg run sometime in 1942.]]

File:A20BismarckSea.jpg of the 3rd Attack Group bombs a Japanese merchant ship off New Guinea during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, March 1943.]]

File:Douglas MacArthur lands Leyte1.jpg, Philippine Islands, 20 October 1944.]]

File:Balikpapan landing (AWM 018812).jpg transport Australian troops during the Battle of Balikpapan, Borneo, 1 July 1945.]]

Battle of the Philippines (1941–1942)
Battle of Bataan
Battle of Corregidor
Battle of Panay
Battle of Cebu
Battle of Davao
Battle of Lanao
Dutch East Indies campaign, 1941–1942
Battle of Badung Strait, 19–20 February 1942{{sfn|Dull|1978|p=61}}
Battle of the Java Sea, 27 February 1942{{sfn|Silverstone|1968|pp=9–11}}
Battle of Sunda Strait, 28 February – 1 March 1942{{sfn|Dull|1978|p=75}}
Second Battle of the Java Sea, 1 March 1942{{sfn|Dull|1978|p=91}}
Battle of Timor, 1942–1943
Solomon Islands campaign, 1943–1945
New Georgia Campaign, June–August 1943
Battle of Kula Gulf, 6 July 1943{{harvnb|Potter|Nimitz|1960|p= 732}}.
Battle of Kolombangara, 13 July 1943
Battle of Vella Gulf, 6–7 August 1943
Naval Battle of Vella Lavella, 6–7 October 1943
Battle of the Treasury Islands, 27 October-12 November 1943
Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, 2 November 1943
Battle of Cape St. George, 25 November 1943
Bougainville Campaign, November 1943 – August 1945
New Guinea campaign, 1942–1945
Battle of Rabaul, January–February 1942
Invasion of Salamaua–Lae, March 1942
Battle of the Coral Sea, 4–8 May 1942{{sfn|Silverstone|1968|pp=9–11}}
Invasion of Buna-Gona, July 1942
Kokoda Track campaign, July–November 1942
Battle of Milne Bay, August–September 1942
Battle of Goodenough Island, October 1942
Battle of Buna-Gona, November 1942 – January 1943
Battle of Wau, January 1943
Battle of the Bismarck Sea, 2 March 1943{{sfn|Silverstone|1968|pp=9–11}}
Operation Chronicle, 1943
Landing at Nassau Bay, 1943
Salamaua-Lae campaign, April–September 1943
Finisterre Range campaign, September 1943 – April 1944
Huon Peninsula campaign, September 1943 – March 1944
New Britain campaign, 26 December 1943{{harvnb|Potter|Nimitz|1960| p=759}}.
Admiralty Islands campaign, 29 February 1944
Invasion of Hollandia and landing at Aitape, 22 April 1944{{sfn|Sulzberger|1966|pp=332–333}}
Battle of Biak, 27 May 1944{{sfn|Sulzberger|1966|pp=332–333}}
Battle of Noemfoor, 2 July 1944
Battle of Morotai, 15 September 1944{{sfn|Sulzberger|1966|pp=332–333}}
Aitape-Wewak campaign, November 1944
Philippines campaign (1944–1945)
Battle of Leyte, October–December 1944
Battle of Leyte Gulf, 23–26 October 1944{{sfn|Sulzberger|1966|pp=332–333}}
Battle of Mindoro, December 1944
Battle of Lingayen Gulf, January 1945
Battle of Luzon, January–August 1945
Battle of Manila, February–March 1945
Battle of Corregidor, February 1945
Invasion of Palawan, February–April 1945
Battle of the Visayas, March–July 1945
Battle of Mindanao, March–August 1945
Battle of Maguindanao, January–September 1945
Borneo campaign, 1945
Battle of Tarakan, May–June 1945
Battle of North Borneo, June–August 1945
Battle of Balikpapan, July 1945

Notes

References

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