New Zealanders at war in the Pacific
Thousands of New Zealanders fought in the Pacific War in the 1940s. It was a conflict fought on a vast scale over huge distances: from Darwin to Midway, the Solomons to Iwo Jima.
For the New Zealanders, this was a war fought close to home.
New Zealand fought in three main areas: in Singapore, in the
seas around Japan, and in the Solomon Islands. There was desperate
fighting on small island outposts where the rules of war could be
ignored.
In the islands, rain, heat and humidity seemed never-ending. The
climate and conditions took their toll on many.
The Pacific War had profound consequences for New Zealand. It
changed the international politics of the region in a way that has
endured.
New Zealand's connections with the United States grew stronger
after the joint efforts in the area during the war. Global
consequences of the conflict were enormous.
The use of atomic weapons in Japan a week before the Japanese
surrender brought an end to the Pacific War ushered in a new and
horrific era in modern warfare.
The war against Japan
United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt described
it as 'a date which will live in infamy' - 7 December 1941,
the day the Japanese bombed the American naval base at Pearl
Harbour in Hawaii. This was the opening salvo in the Pacific
War.
A day later, New Zealand, the United States and Britain declared
war on Japan. The conflict ended nearly four years later, on 15
August 1945 when the Japanese signed the Armistice - a week
after the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japanese cities.
Thousands of New Zealanders from all three of the armed forces
served in the Pacific: the Navy, the Air Force, and 3 Division of
the Army.
It was a war that took young New Zealand men and women to exotic
places, many of which they'd probably never heard of: Mono, Nissan,
Guadalcanal, Bouganville, Okinawa.
After the attack on Pearl Harbour, Japanese aircraft arrived over
Singapore where the British had a base. At the same time, Japanese
troops moved south down the Malayan peninsula.
The Japanese forces had Singapore under siege by the end of
January 1942, and it fell on 15 February 1942.
This was the greatest military defeat for the British in 150 years.
Over 130,000 troops surrendered; New Zealand airmen stationed there
were evacuated just in time. Four days later, the first of the
bombing raids on Darwin occurred, bringing the war very close to
New Zealand.
The Japanese moved on into the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) where they captured some of the New Zealanders who had escaped from Singapore. Some spent the next three years in prisoner of war camps in Japan; others stayed in Java.
The events had repercussions throughout the Pacific. New Zealand
sent more troops to Fiji to help bolster defences. At home,
anti-invasion defences were thrown up and forces mobilised to man
them. The war was suddenly very close to home, and for a time,
there were fears that New Zealand itself would become a
battlefield.
Some people wondered whether New Zealand forces in action in North
Africa should come home to safeguard the country. An alternative
existed, which did not involve ferrying New Zealanders back across
the world: American troops arrived here in June 1942, and used the
country as a jump-off point for the Pacific War.
Changing Fortunes
In 1942 the Battle of the Coral Sea (7-8 May) and Battle
of Midway (3-6 June) between the Japanese and United States navies
left the United States with superior numbers of essential aircraft
carriers. Japan had lost the initiative. This set the stage for New
Zealand's involvement in the American campaign in the Solomon
Islands - the closest point to home where the New Zealanders
fought.
New Zealand seamen were the first involved. The ships Leander
and Achilles joined American naval forces near Guadalcanal; Leander
was later torpedoed and had to return to New Zealand. Then airmen
from 3 Squadron arrived at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal in
October 1942, and more New Zealand squadrons arrived over the next
months.
New Zealand's 2 Division remained in the European theatre, but 3
Division was training to go to 'the islands'. In November 1942 New
Zealand troops began arriving in New Caledonia and then were sent
to Guadalcanal, arriving there in August 1943. The men were shocked
at the appearance of the island. Intense shelling had stripped
trees of their leaves and snapped their trunks. Bodies of Japanese
and United States troops were buried in makeshift graves.
In September 1943 14 Brigade took over from the Americans on the
island of Vella Lavella, and experienced the rigours of jungle
warfare for the first time. They were in danger of being shot by
Japanese snipers or being cut down in an ambush.
The following month, New Zealanders landed on Mono Island. This was
the first opposed amphibious landing by New Zealand forces since
Gallipoli. They successfully took the island from the Japanese
defenders.
Early in the following year the New Zealanders attacked Nissan in
the Green Islands to the north of Bougainville. An airbase was
quickly built on the island, which fighter-bomber squadrons used to
attack Rabaul.
The men of 3 Division returned to New Zealand in August 1944.
The New Zealand government was finding it difficult to sustain the
forces in Europe, and extra labour was needed on farms. Some of the
men from 3 Division were sent to Italy and the Middle East; others
were directed to work in factories or on farms.
The Final Stages
Once the tide had turned in favour of the United States
and its allies, American troops began 'island hopping' through the
central Pacific, taking one island after another. Japanese naval
power was destroyed in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines
in October 1944, and invasions of Okinawa and Iwo Jima
followed.
Many New Zealand seamen served on Royal Navy ships which were bombarding the Japanese coast at this time. Some New Zealand ships were also present, including Achilles and Gambia.
Allied naval and air forces battered the Japanese homeland
virtually at will, but ending the war still seemed to require an
invasion.
On 6 August 1945 the first of two atomic bombs was dropped on
Hiroshima, followed by one on Nagasaki three days later. The effect
on the civilian population was devastating; over 100,000 people
lost their lives in the catastrophic explosions and aftermath.
A week later, New Zealanders celebrated VJ Day - victory
over Japan - although Japan did not formally surrender until 2
September.
The long war in the Pacific was over, and the region would never
be the same again.
Many thanks to
nzhistory.net.nz for allowing us to use
information from their website. Visit their website for more
in-depth analysis of the war in the Pacific.
