Hey Kings and Generals. Can you please create a channel dedicated to Sci-Fi battles. Because Wizards and Warriors is no longer interested in making Sci-Fi video's.
A new video on the bronze age please! I believe we were promised one on the Hittites shortly after the "Oldest Businessmen of History" video was released and I don't think we ever got one.
When the Japanese captured Ioribaiwa, they could see the sea, and the lights of Port Moresby. It must have been an amazing sight to behold after all they've been through. BUT, this was as far as they would go. The Australians had 5 battalions dug on Imita ridge. All at full strength and well rested. And their patrols also started to notice a change in the Japanese attitude. The diary of an unknown Japanese officer reads: 17 September: Selected camping ground. We are to wait here until the middle of next month before further operations. Not a grain of rice left. Each unit gathered about two days supply of food which had been scattered about....Dreamed all night of lost subordinates. 18 September: Transportation of rations reported to be difficult. How will we live in our present condition without any food? In another few days we will have to eat roots or tree bark. Heard distant rifle shots, slept and dreamed of home. 19 September: Inspected tents and noticed the scarcity of food. Entire company turned out to forage for food. Thirteen malaria, six diarrhoea and five other patients are getting worse. No medicine have arrived. Went to battalion headquarters to report the food situation and requisition supplies. Returned empty handed. Wonder what General Headquarters is doing. Patients will die, and we will soon starve. How can we fight against this? Just like general Morris had predicted, and just like Brigadier Potts had intended, the further the Japanese advanced, the worse their supply situation would become. They were now literally starving to death. The tide of war has turned.
@@robertrobert7924 Indeed. One japanese officer, Colonel Yokoyama, estimated that if every soldier carried 12 days worth of food, they would have enough to make it to Port Moresby. However, this was based on the amount of time it would take a native Papuan to cross the Owen Stanley range, and now its been almost a month since the campaign began. The Australian strategy of slowing them down, has now put the South Seas detachment in an impossible situation. And with general Hyakutakes decision to focus on Guadalcanal, it is now quite clear that the conquest of Port Moresby is now gone. This time, FOREVER.
I saw an interview with a Japanese veteran of this campaign. He said their officers never gave them the order to retreat, instead they were ordered to assemble in marching column, naturally the column was facing towards Port Moresby, then the officer ordered everyone in the column to turn 180° degrees, when everyone had complied, he then shouted _"ADVANCE!"._ I always thought that was funny little anecdote, a literal case of "we're not retreating, we're just advancing in the other direction!".
When I was in the Australian army I heard a story that when Australian soldiers marched past General Blamey and were given the command "eyes right" all the soldiers refused out of contempt.
This has been a great series. I never knew much about the Port Moresby campaign. I read that Saburo Sakai said in his book "Samurai " that the Japanese Army that invaded was simply swallowed up by the jungle. Perhaps that is forgivable from the view of an airwar focused IJN fighter ace. Thanks for providing the truth of this intense campaign. The Australians don't get enough credit for defending their homelands.
As an aussie I love this Kokoda series. After battling through greece, crete, africa, lebanon, getting bombed by british, lost in the desert and nearly sold by beduin my grandfsther went to New Guinea for 2 weeks, got maleria and sent home. Crazy few years for him
The Australians deserved way more recognition for their defense in New Guinea. For one thing the commanders knew that their only hope for fending off the Japanese was to let them wade in their own dead while they advanced. Realizing the necessity of retreat is what separates a competent strategist from an incompetent one.
Well said, sir! However, in Australian military parlance it is referred to as a 'fighting withdrawal'. Australian troops don't retreat, they withdraw whilst fighting and then ... look out! ... they're advancing again! The lessons learned by Australian commanders in years of fighting in WW1, in particular the unnecessary slaughter of our soldiers in hopeless frontal assaults against well-sited, massed machine guns, led to using men wisely and not squandering their lives. Aggressive patrolling into enemy areas, silent movement in the jungle, never keeping to tracks, etc, etc, were lessons carried onto the Vietnam war. Australia (because of our small population) could never afford the high casualties which are accepted by US commanders, so we developed many doctrines which enable maximum enemy casualties while minimising ours. Have a look at the battle for Milne Bay for WW2 and the battle of Long Tan for Vietnam if you wish to learn more. 🇭🇲🦘
You keeping me on the edge of my seat. This painful war in the Pacific should be done as a Tv mini series. Thx for all the hard work. Appreciate the KG updates.
As an American I'm actually kind of ashamed at the little to absolute zero amount of "teaching" given to us about how badass the Australians were. I'm so used to their military being the butt of most military jokes that it's actually nice to hear about their extreme bravery, toughness, and overall contributions throughout this battle of the pacific.. cheers to the good ol down under from America🍻
Man, I'd barely heard anything about Australia in WWII until I was already well into being an adult. This was basically an entire Australian majority front here in the Pacific. What the hell were they even teaching me in school?
Even at the time general MacArthur demanded that any Australian victories be reported in the US as "allied victories" but American victories be described as such. If it wasn't for MacArthur I think this campaign would be far more well known not just in the US, but around the world.
We Aussies were focussed on a few particularly significant battles when I was growing up in the 60s. Kokoda, Milne Bay,Singapore against the Japanese. Tobruk,El Alamein ,Crete & Greece.The Battle of Britain & the RAF generally because literally thousands of Aussies went to Britain to enlist in 1939.Over the years interest has broadened to include The Battle of Black Cat track ,Buna & Gona ,Timor & The Battle of the Bismarck Sea. There were several joint operations with the USA in the campaign that included Buna,Gona & Lae. There were plenty of joint air operations. The Black Cat / Wau defeat of the Japanese was made possible by the bravery of Americans flying Dakotas into a jungle air strip with men,ammo & supplies.This is an excellent series & I hope it covers the rest of the New Guinea campaign. Cheers Mick
@@nicheva417 Agreed that this is American History as well, but what I was taught in school was minimal at best and biased toward America; I.E. We came in, kicked butt, end of war. Yeah, the other nations helped here and there.
Churchill wrote the New Guinea campaign out of his history of WWII because it did not suit his narrative that the AIF soldiers he had attempted to divert to Burma went into action in New Guinea a few months later. It also did not suit his narrative that Australia and the SWPA were of no strategic value which had resulted in Britain having next to no presence there despite the large amount of British territory and large numbers of British subjects. Most British history is based on Churchill's narrative even to this day.
Australia's part in the war is very often unsung. Much appreciated. There is always something about history to discover. Why it is and always will be my favorite subject. Technically tied with Creative Writing, but still 1st! 😁
It continues to amaze me that the Japanese soldiers had the morale to keep pushing even when attacking entrenched forces in unfavorable terrain that outnumbered them, while also undergoing starvation.
Fighting wasn't how low moral manifested itself: the problem was that the Japanese in the rear kept stealing food meant for the frontline soldiers, and even condensed milk for the wounded. So, while the Japanese had enough food for at least short-term offensive operations, the frontline soldiers still ended up starving, and the arrogant assumption that they would be able to keep taking food from their defeated enemies meant the soldiers didn't ration properly either, to disastrous effect.
@@bubbasbigblast8563 ..to be fair, the British had left enormous amounts of stores behind during their hasty withdrawls in Malaya. The Japanese called it " The British Treasure". This probably primed the Japanese to expect the same of the Australians.
@@louisavondart9178 Only too true. In fact, the Japanese commander of the Malayan campaign commented that he was lucky that the British surrendered when they did because he was just about out of food supplies.
It amuses me that AFTER most of the fighting was over, the Americans made MacArthur a 5 star general and the Australians made Blamey a Field Marshal. But today the reputations of both of them are very poor and the generals under them who had to take their orders are highly respected.
@@Dave_Sisson Blamey was made a Field Marshall on his deathbed in 1950. As for MacArthur, my grandfather served in BCOF after the war and said that all allied ranks were required to salute his car as it passed. Australians would hear the sirens approaching and suddenly become incredibly interested in the nearest shop window, turning their backs to the road until the car was on its way down the road. US servicemen were, apparently, not as able to commit such insubordination.
Worth noting that the most experienced Australian units were fresh off the ship from fighting Rommel in North Africa. Imagine going from fighting in the open Africa desert plains to the dense muddy jungles of Papua.
Fully support Rowell. He knew what a fool Macarthur was and how full of crap he was at that. I would've done the same thing (even to lose my position) to have a cheeky laugh during a time of dread.
You know I HOPE the scholarship is accurate. I’m such a dufus: much of this is still new to me. And I’m in my 50s! However… if the details they describe here ARE true, this is truly one of the miracles of the internet age! So much detail. So much context. It’s exactly as a history lover would want it. AND FREE! This channel is a miracle. We don’t deserve it. Really.
This series is tremendous. Great work! Will you soon be giving attention to the efforts of the Flying Tigers, and perhaps more importantly, the successor to the Flying Tigers - the China Air Task Force under Chennault? Major impact from their bombing campaigns against the Japanese in the CBI theater
MacArthur was good at planning but when it came to experience in leading troops in battle as well as understanding the logistical requirements of battle were next to none. Our Australian generals had all commanded company sized elements and upwards in WW1 they understood the battle they were fighting and how to win it. MacArthur sacked so many generals because we did not fight in the fashion he wanted with bloody confrontational battles. Our generals did not believe in a wastage of men plus we were only a population of 7 million at the time, corn pipe Mac wanted his name splashed around big battles to close over he's little sea adventure out of the Philippines! I'd like to see your follow on video showing how we absolutely demolished them all the way back to Buna and Gona see how well the Americans did there, sadly corn pipe didn't let them have more than a few days jungle training before they were sent in. Honestly both the Australians and the Japanese fought tooth and nail many died on both sides.🤠👍🇦🇺
Some of that is simply not true. MacArthur saw combat in Mexico in 1914 and led the 42nd Division in WW1, being cited (mentioned in dispatches) numerous times for his leadership during combat. What is true is that he was naturally a "big-picture" thinker who kept meddling and micro-managing the "little picture". Yes, he wanted every soldier to be like him (both he and Patton claimed never to have ducked enemy fire in WW1), yet he himself couldn't even live up to his own legend in WW2. His defence of the Philippines was criminally negligent, his ignorance of New Guinea was staggering, his orders based on such ignorance were laughable and his insistence on micro-managing a situation he had no actual idea about was just his ego in free-reign mode. His one stunning, unqualified success, the landing at Inchon, came when he decided when and where the landing was to take place and then simply managed his staff as they created the plan.
@@aaronleverton4221 he was molded and groomed his time actually leading men was short. In WW2 he was not as good he was jealous of Eisenhower and Nimitz. His meddling caused the removal of numerous quite successful generals in our Army.
Waiting on the next Italian Wars video (been wanting to see y'all cover the Sacco di Roma) but the WW2 series is good bc you guys cover alot of the parts of the war that pop culture overlooks
Something worth noting: the Japanese _did_ have enough supplies for at least reduced rations away from the frontline, so the food troubles were mostly a localized problem that was then exaggerated by the Allies. If I remember right, it was only about 1,000 soldiers who had to deal with starvation, though that still meant they had no hope of a successful attack. When the Australians finally captured a supply depot, they noted that the Japanese had 300 tons of food, and probably 600 tons of ammunition and parts as well. The real problem was the inconsistency: a man with no food could be given none by a supply depot with adequate (but not overwhelming,) reserves, while others in the same area may have more than they need. This meant that the people not fighting were eating well, which is a rather obvious issue.
Only about 1,000 soldiers had to deal with starvation because the rest had already died which was a constant theme in New Guinea where about 150,000 Japanese soldiers died throughout the war mostly from disease and starvation.
@@guyh9992 The soldiers in question were the Stanley detachment, and those roughly around them: others, like the 41 Regiment encountered at Oivi (part of a total of around 2800 men mustered by the Japanese,) were noted as having plenty of food, with the Australians even capturing sizable amounts of rice later. The problem was that the Japanese had to keep most of their men back for logistical reasons, and as their trucks began breaking down after several months, it became increasingly impossible to maintain a long supply line: the Japanese had initially planned for airdrops and captured food to make up the difference, but the mountains had little food to pillage, and effective airdrops were questionable even before most of the planes were sent towards Guadalcanal. Even then though, the supply situation for the Japanese was inconsistent: while there's no exact reason known, we DO know that 40 tons of beer shipped in were all stolen in a single night, with no listed culprit, so I suspect corruption...
Had the Japanese treated the local population with kindness and respect and paid the natives to carry their supplies, they would have fared much better. But they acted with their usual barbarity and found that their new slaves would run off into the jungle to help the Aussies instead. The Aussies loved them and called them " The Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels ".
K&G, could you please mention the incredible stupid speech general Blamey gave to the Maroubra Force after he took over from Potts? The one about the rabbit? It has its effect on the force during the later battles.
I love the way you guys set individual battles in the context of what is going on elsewhere, in this case, the ever escalating and strategically critical fighting on Guadalcanal. There have been books written by Australians on the Kokoda Track that either don't mention or barely mention Guadalcanal as if it was irrelevant. Yet clearly by mid-Sept 1942 the Japanese were prioritising the Solomons over Kokoda. As an Aussie I am proud of our soldiers in New Guinea but it was Guadalcanal not Kokoda that turned the war in the Pacific.
Nothing is ever one sided in warfare. The Japanese had sufficient troops and supplies for their invasion of New Guinea, including their most experienced units. But they expected the Australians to behave like the British in Malaya and leave all their stores behind as they withdrew. First mistake. The second mistake was to brutally subjugate the local population and find far fewer porters willing to help them. The third mistake was to torture and murder Aussie prisoners. That was never going to end well. An enraged Aussie militiaman is equal to any Japanese soldier when it comes down to bayonet work.
5:25 more and more I believe that "dugout Doug" is just a meme, made to bring a lighter side to Military History. IMHO the absolute worst commander in recorded history!
Thank you K&G for always brilliant movies! To be honest I was prepared to see the fatal defeat of IJA at Gorari in this video. But you guys are trying to faithfully reproduce timeline. Apologize for underestimating you and wish you more great work to come.
Where to start with MacArthur ? To be fair a talented planner.. but horribly inflexible and prone to panic and micromanagement on the defensive. His real genius was PR, but highly over-rated as a general.. Blamey... Great organizer, great staff officer, but a political general. God awful at connecting with the common digger and only too ready to throw a subordinate under the bus in the case of a defeat and take credit for a victory (if dugout Doug left any credit that is) His "run rabbit" speech to the weary veterans of the Kokoda track has gone down in infamy.
As a former Marine & WW2 history nerd I pretty much go to sleep watching these. 😂 It always amazed me the rigidness of the Japanese Army/Navy units keep smashing into the same wall time after time. Had the center force of the Japanese fell back & shifted right they would have been behind the lines and caught the Marines on the right flank in a heap o mess. After edit: Somehow my comment ended up on this video and not the video on Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal. 🤷♂️
K&G I am a BIG fan of your episodes....but I must correct you on the date of the Battle of the Ioribaiwa. According to sources, the battle is fought between September 14 and September 16. That is the correct date because the Japanese forces fought a fighting withdrawal on September 26 and the Australians began a counter-attack on October 2, with an advance to the Japanese-held beach heads around Milne Bay, which led to the Second Battle of Eora Creek-Templeton's Crossing between October 11 and October 28, 1942. Thanks for the updates and keep up the GOOD work!!
You are incorrect, the 'Battle of Milne Bay' had already been fought and Won by the Australians !!!! The 'Beachheads' to which you refer are Gona, Buna and Sananda, on the northern shores of New Guinea ?
While the japanese comitted many atrocities, I am still amazed what they managed in these campaigns. The classic rule in a frontal attack is that you should outnumber the enemy 3-to-1, in this attack they were outnumber 2-to-1 and still pushed back the defenders. I can't imagine how both sides managed to survive in these conditions - I doubt I would manage to just walk the campaign even without any hostile opposition or somebody hunting me....
Just saying but regarding Guadalcanal I just found out that my paternal grandmothers uncle Willard Clifford Weikert who was in the marines at Guadalcanal knew someone who was severely wounded and Willard Clifford gave his fellow jarhead his uniform and this fellow marine was buried with Willard Clifford’s uniform on him.
I always wonder what's the title of your background theme every opening sequence here in the Pacific War series. The one between title card and the sponsor ad where you explain the brief background of the episode. (0:10 - 1:03) Just curious on the music since it really sets the mood. Great work as always, K&G! ❤
Only some captured Indian troops did that. They were fooled into collaborating by the idea of an indepedant India after Japan had won the war. They learned to regret that decision very soon after...
@@louisavondart9178 not just Indians but also plenty of Burmans sided with the Japanese. And the Indians who deserted were enough to form two divisions.
It is hard to say who was the most incompetent general during WW2 and opinions will vary but there is little doubt that MacArthur would make most people's shortlist.
Growing up with American accounts of Japanese banzai attacks that seemed so stupid as they wasted their lives in fights they couldn't win, it's enlightening to see the Japanese as they saw themselves: the best warriors on the field, the ones who always find a way to break or flank the enemy lines, the ones who never retreat.
Tactically, a banzai charge may be foolish, but it's something you have to be quite determined to do. It's like a determination to resist the enemy to the end rather than die or be taken prisoner.
Such an Australian way to win. Japanese: we don't even have a retreat plan. Australia: we'll just retreat until they run out of food - I don't think they realise how big this country is. This battle reminds me of Borodino - hold the enemy, but retreat anyway, and the enemy realises what trouble they're really in.
Not good that 1 platoon of Japanese kept a company at bay. with so many Aussie units in place, where was their pak-artillery or better yet heavy mortars?? Heavy rains, but lack of water? The competing battles in the Solomon's and New Guinea was too much for the Japanese logistical capability. Starvation was common in both battles, and the Japanese resorted to cannibalism. Once the retreat began Horii's forces were destroyed, and none of the few survivors were fit for any further duty. Horii would die in the jungle. With that threat broken, the Allies began to go on the offensive. Another good show and graphics. They are great in enabling the viewer to understand the battle, and how the terrain affects ground combat.
Your opening statement "Not good that 1 platoon of Japanese kept a company at bay, with so many Aussie units in place, where was their pak-artillery or better yet heavy mortars ?", really only shows Your ignorance of how the battle was fought and under what conditions it was fought ? Please do at least Some research before you regale us with comments that Only prove Your ignorance and shows that You were Not able, as 'the viewer' able to understand the battles and how the terrain affects ground combat ? Horii did Not die in the jungle, he drowned in a river at the Northern end of the campaign after coming out of the Kokoda Track ?
My sources say Hori died in the jungle. I am well aware of the fight there, researched many sources for my book, FATAL FLAWS BOOK 1 1914-1945. @@garyrogers6761
MacArthur was a jerk, but have to agree with him here… Rowell just kept playing defense and running away even when he had numbers and exhausted foe’s to his front, then he just let them get away without firing a shot…. He had to go.
Rowell kept playing defensive because there was no reason not to. The Japanese were exhausting themselves. There was no way the Japanese could ever take Port Morsbey, and the interviening terrain held no intrinsic value, so bleed them as much as practical and with draw them further in, their logistics can only get worse as time goes on. All this is doing is making an Australian counterattack easier later on.
Rowell later after the war pointed out he was doing a fighting retreat for the main reason that the Japanese notoriously operated on razor thin margins for logistics and the further along the track they went the less munitions the less food the weaker they became, all the while Australian forces were shortening their supply lines, meaning that at the penultimate moment the Japanese would be their most tired, most hungry and most sick, Australians would be well fed and watered and supplied. So the counter attack would be a strong one against a weak force. That because of its razor thin margins could never get back to full strength again. The man fought intelligently.
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It would be great if you do a video on the somali Ajuran empire and how they crushed and defeated the Powerful Portuguese marines 2 times in a row☺.
Just keep doing to make new video about second world war. ❤️
Funny - the same for me - i press like before I see it, knowing how good every content is.
Hey Kings and Generals. Can you please create a channel dedicated to Sci-Fi battles. Because Wizards and Warriors is no longer interested in making Sci-Fi video's.
A new video on the bronze age please! I believe we were promised one on the Hittites shortly after the "Oldest Businessmen of History" video was released and I don't think we ever got one.
When the Japanese captured Ioribaiwa, they could see the sea, and the lights of Port Moresby. It must have been an amazing sight to behold after all they've been through. BUT, this was as far as they would go.
The Australians had 5 battalions dug on Imita ridge. All at full strength and well rested. And their patrols also started to notice a change in the Japanese attitude.
The diary of an unknown Japanese officer reads:
17 September: Selected camping ground. We are to wait here until the middle of next month before further operations. Not a grain of rice left. Each unit gathered about two days supply of food which had been scattered about....Dreamed all night of lost subordinates.
18 September: Transportation of rations reported to be difficult. How will we live in our present condition without any food? In another few days we will have to eat roots or tree bark. Heard distant rifle shots, slept and dreamed of home.
19 September: Inspected tents and noticed the scarcity of food. Entire company turned out to forage for food. Thirteen malaria, six diarrhoea and five other patients are getting worse. No medicine have arrived. Went to battalion headquarters to report the food situation and requisition supplies. Returned empty handed. Wonder what General Headquarters is doing. Patients will die, and we will soon starve. How can we fight against this?
Just like general Morris had predicted, and just like Brigadier Potts had intended, the further the Japanese advanced, the worse their supply situation would become. They were now literally starving to death.
The tide of war has turned.
Fighting rear guard actions over time are brilliant stategies for waring down a determined enemy.
@@robertrobert7924 Indeed. One japanese officer, Colonel Yokoyama, estimated that if every soldier carried 12 days worth of food, they would have enough to make it to Port Moresby. However, this was based on the amount of time it would take a native Papuan to cross the Owen Stanley range, and now its been almost a month since the campaign began.
The Australian strategy of slowing them down, has now put the South Seas detachment in an impossible situation. And with general Hyakutakes decision to focus on Guadalcanal, it is now quite clear that the conquest of Port Moresby is now gone. This time, FOREVER.
Piss poor performance by the Aussies against a numerically inferior and logistically impaired enemy.
@@rogelioaranda7124 ..err..who won? Piss poor perfomance of elite Japanese troops against Australian Militia units.
The Australians retreated until they reached a sealed road. Very sensible.
I saw an interview with a Japanese veteran of this campaign.
He said their officers never gave them the order to retreat, instead they were ordered to assemble in marching column, naturally the column was facing towards Port Moresby, then the officer ordered everyone in the column to turn 180° degrees, when everyone had complied, he then shouted _"ADVANCE!"._
I always thought that was funny little anecdote, a literal case of "we're not retreating, we're just advancing in the other direction!".
“I didn’t lose, I just failed to win”
When I was in the Australian army I heard a story that when Australian soldiers marched past General Blamey and were given the command "eyes right" all the soldiers refused out of contempt.
This has been a great series. I never knew much about the Port Moresby campaign. I read that Saburo Sakai said in his book "Samurai " that the Japanese Army that invaded was simply swallowed up by the jungle. Perhaps that is forgivable from the view of an airwar focused IJN fighter ace.
Thanks for providing the truth of this intense campaign. The Australians don't get enough credit for defending their homelands.
the jungle came to life
and took him
The jungle is neutral. It doesn't kill anyone who adapts to it. Aussies will kill you if you invade it.
@@louisavondart9178 also helps that the native Papuan people's supported us
This is better than most TV-shows! I highly anticipate each new segment of these pacific war documentaries!
As an aussie I love this Kokoda series. After battling through greece, crete, africa, lebanon, getting bombed by british, lost in the desert and nearly sold by beduin my grandfsther went to New Guinea for 2 weeks, got maleria and sent home. Crazy few years for him
Both sides cracked when the pressure was at its peak, but ultimately it was the Japanese holding the bag. Another great video from Kings and Generals
The Australians deserved way more recognition for their defense in New Guinea. For one thing the commanders knew that their only hope for fending off the Japanese was to let them wade in their own dead while they advanced. Realizing the necessity of retreat is what separates a competent strategist from an incompetent one.
Well said, sir! However, in Australian military parlance it is referred to as a 'fighting withdrawal'. Australian troops don't retreat, they withdraw whilst fighting and then ... look out! ... they're advancing again!
The lessons learned by Australian commanders in years of fighting in WW1, in particular the unnecessary slaughter of our soldiers in hopeless frontal assaults against well-sited, massed machine guns, led to using men wisely and not squandering their lives. Aggressive patrolling into enemy areas, silent movement in the jungle, never keeping to tracks, etc, etc, were lessons carried onto the Vietnam war. Australia (because of our small population) could never afford the high casualties which are accepted by US commanders, so we developed many doctrines which enable maximum enemy casualties while minimising ours. Have a look at the battle for Milne Bay for WW2 and the battle of Long Tan for Vietnam if you wish to learn more. 🇭🇲🦘
This is my favourite channel..I'm loving the pacific series as it's so underrated in such a global context. Great job GG from Aussie veiwer
You keeping me on the edge of my seat. This painful war in the Pacific should be done as a Tv mini series. Thx for all the hard work. Appreciate the KG updates.
Not enough Americans in it. It won't please couch potatos living in trailer parks.
you serious???
@@louisavondart9178 at least we comprehend words. He hasn't mentioned any Nationality. Said "war in the Pacific".
They did..... It's called "The Pacific". Not pulling your chain. It's great.
As an American I'm actually kind of ashamed at the little to absolute zero amount of "teaching" given to us about how badass the Australians were. I'm so used to their military being the butt of most military jokes that it's actually nice to hear about their extreme bravery, toughness, and overall contributions throughout this battle of the pacific.. cheers to the good ol down under from America🍻
Man, I'd barely heard anything about Australia in WWII until I was already well into being an adult. This was basically an entire Australian majority front here in the Pacific.
What the hell were they even teaching me in school?
If you are American than that is understandable. American education is very very, American centric.
Even at the time general MacArthur demanded that any Australian victories be reported in the US as "allied victories" but American victories be described as such. If it wasn't for MacArthur I think this campaign would be far more well known not just in the US, but around the world.
We Aussies were focussed on a few particularly significant battles when I was growing up in the 60s. Kokoda, Milne Bay,Singapore against the Japanese. Tobruk,El Alamein ,Crete & Greece.The Battle of Britain & the RAF generally because literally thousands of Aussies went to Britain to enlist in 1939.Over the years interest has broadened to include The Battle of Black Cat track ,Buna & Gona ,Timor & The Battle of the Bismarck Sea. There were several joint operations with the USA in the campaign that included Buna,Gona & Lae. There were plenty of joint air operations. The Black Cat / Wau defeat of the Japanese was made possible by the bravery of Americans flying Dakotas into a jungle air strip with men,ammo & supplies.This is an excellent series & I hope it covers the rest of the New Guinea campaign. Cheers Mick
@@nicheva417 Agreed that this is American History as well, but what I was taught in school was minimal at best and biased toward America; I.E. We came in, kicked butt, end of war. Yeah, the other nations helped here and there.
Churchill wrote the New Guinea campaign out of his history of WWII because it did not suit his narrative that the AIF soldiers he had attempted to divert to Burma went into action in New Guinea a few months later. It also did not suit his narrative that Australia and the SWPA were of no strategic value which had resulted in Britain having next to no presence there despite the large amount of British territory and large numbers of British subjects. Most British history is based on Churchill's narrative even to this day.
This is so good. I am very much a student of this theater (Pacific) and really learn from the details, for example, the Port Moresby campaign.
Australia's part in the war is very often unsung. Much appreciated. There is always something about history to discover. Why it is and always will be my favorite subject.
Technically tied with Creative Writing, but still 1st! 😁
It continues to amaze me that the Japanese soldiers had the morale to keep pushing even when attacking entrenched forces in unfavorable terrain that outnumbered them, while also undergoing starvation.
BRAINWASHING
Fighting wasn't how low moral manifested itself: the problem was that the Japanese in the rear kept stealing food meant for the frontline soldiers, and even condensed milk for the wounded.
So, while the Japanese had enough food for at least short-term offensive operations, the frontline soldiers still ended up starving, and the arrogant assumption that they would be able to keep taking food from their defeated enemies meant the soldiers didn't ration properly either, to disastrous effect.
Indoctrination from a young age brainwashing you name it that's what kept them going
@@bubbasbigblast8563 ..to be fair, the British had left enormous amounts of stores behind during their hasty withdrawls in Malaya. The Japanese called it " The British Treasure". This probably primed the Japanese to expect the same of the Australians.
@@louisavondart9178 Only too true. In fact, the Japanese commander of the Malayan campaign commented that he was lucky that the British surrendered when they did because he was just about out of food supplies.
My dad was a US Navy corpsman in WW2. He always told me that MacArthur was an a**hole. I never met a single old vet who didn't feel the same.
It amuses me that AFTER most of the fighting was over, the Americans made MacArthur a 5 star general and the Australians made Blamey a Field Marshal. But today the reputations of both of them are very poor and the generals under them who had to take their orders are highly respected.
I had an uncle who started the war stationed in Pearl Harbor and ended the war on a UDT. He hated MacArthur. He called him "Dugout Doug".
@@Dave_Sisson Blamey was made a Field Marshall on his deathbed in 1950.
As for MacArthur, my grandfather served in BCOF after the war and said that all allied ranks were required to salute his car as it passed. Australians would hear the sirens approaching and suddenly become incredibly interested in the nearest shop window, turning their backs to the road until the car was on its way down the road. US servicemen were, apparently, not as able to commit such insubordination.
Raise your hand if you also can't wait for an episode a week✋. make it at least two episodes per week.
I still can’t wrap my mind around how this series is going to last for another 3 years!
New Guinea truly was hell on earth physically for both sides in this theater of operations!!!
Worth noting that the most experienced Australian units were fresh off the ship from fighting Rommel in North Africa. Imagine going from fighting in the open Africa desert plains to the dense muddy jungles of Papua.
Really love your channel, cannot wait for tuesday for each installment to come out.
Thanks!
Poor Rowell. Lost his command because a guy in a comfy office in Brisbane didn't get his daily news report
I doubt MacArthur would have let him keep it regardless it is likely not a coincidence that an American replaced him.
Yeah everyones busy slugging out while the other was crying like a baby seeking attention in his comfy office in brisbane.
MacArthur deperately needed daily updates in order to plan his escape to New Zealand. Saying, no doubt, " I shall return ".....
@@louisavondart9178 So he could show the Maori how not to show fear in the face of the enemy. Always the leader.
Fully support Rowell. He knew what a fool Macarthur was and how full of crap he was at that. I would've done the same thing (even to lose my position) to have a cheeky laugh during a time of dread.
You know I HOPE the scholarship is accurate. I’m such a dufus: much of this is still new to me. And I’m in my 50s! However… if the details they describe here ARE true, this is truly one of the miracles of the internet age! So much detail. So much context. It’s exactly as a history lover would want it. AND FREE! This channel is a miracle. We don’t deserve it. Really.
Stephen the great!!!!!!!!!!! Multiple battles in one video!!!!!!!!pleasseee
5:21 Piss off Macarthur!
14:58 And again.
I haven't missed an episode, I have said it in like 5 other videos during this series but this is your best work yet K&G. Great work from everyone.
This series is tremendous. Great work! Will you soon be giving attention to the efforts of the Flying Tigers, and perhaps more importantly, the successor to the Flying Tigers - the China Air Task Force under Chennault? Major impact from their bombing campaigns against the Japanese in the CBI theater
MacArthur was good at planning but when it came to experience in leading troops in battle as well as understanding the logistical requirements of battle were next to none. Our Australian generals had all commanded company sized elements and upwards in WW1 they understood the battle they were fighting and how to win it. MacArthur sacked so many generals because we did not fight in the fashion he wanted with bloody confrontational battles. Our generals did not believe in a wastage of men plus we were only a population of 7 million at the time, corn pipe Mac wanted his name splashed around big battles to close over he's little sea adventure out of the Philippines! I'd like to see your follow on video showing how we absolutely demolished them all the way back to Buna and Gona see how well the Americans did there, sadly corn pipe didn't let them have more than a few days jungle training before they were sent in. Honestly both the Australians and the Japanese fought tooth and nail many died on both sides.🤠👍🇦🇺
Some of that is simply not true. MacArthur saw combat in Mexico in 1914 and led the 42nd Division in WW1, being cited (mentioned in dispatches) numerous times for his leadership during combat. What is true is that he was naturally a "big-picture" thinker who kept meddling and micro-managing the "little picture". Yes, he wanted every soldier to be like him (both he and Patton claimed never to have ducked enemy fire in WW1), yet he himself couldn't even live up to his own legend in WW2. His defence of the Philippines was criminally negligent, his ignorance of New Guinea was staggering, his orders based on such ignorance were laughable and his insistence on micro-managing a situation he had no actual idea about was just his ego in free-reign mode.
His one stunning, unqualified success, the landing at Inchon, came when he decided when and where the landing was to take place and then simply managed his staff as they created the plan.
@@aaronleverton4221 he was molded and groomed his time actually leading men was short. In WW2 he was not as good he was jealous of Eisenhower and Nimitz. His meddling caused the removal of numerous quite successful generals in our Army.
This is what the History Channel should be doing, not showing truckers driving on ice.
Waiting on the next Italian Wars video (been wanting to see y'all cover the Sacco di Roma) but the WW2 series is good bc you guys cover alot of the parts of the war that pop culture overlooks
Beautiful video. Please keep them coming.
Excellent documentary!
Tough as old boots, those Australians.
Outstanding!! Program & information!! Thank You 😊 Thank You !! 🎉🎉
Great video! Really interesting!
Not only supplies left as a trap, but at Myola Lakes, supplies purposefully and cleverly spoiled to cause food borne illnesses.
Something worth noting: the Japanese _did_ have enough supplies for at least reduced rations away from the frontline, so the food troubles were mostly a localized problem that was then exaggerated by the Allies. If I remember right, it was only about 1,000 soldiers who had to deal with starvation, though that still meant they had no hope of a successful attack. When the Australians finally captured a supply depot, they noted that the Japanese had 300 tons of food, and probably 600 tons of ammunition and parts as well.
The real problem was the inconsistency: a man with no food could be given none by a supply depot with adequate (but not overwhelming,) reserves, while others in the same area may have more than they need. This meant that the people not fighting were eating well, which is a rather obvious issue.
Only about 1,000 soldiers had to deal with starvation because the rest had already died which was a constant theme in New Guinea where about 150,000 Japanese soldiers died throughout the war mostly from disease and starvation.
@@guyh9992 The soldiers in question were the Stanley detachment, and those roughly around them: others, like the 41 Regiment encountered at Oivi (part of a total of around 2800 men mustered by the Japanese,) were noted as having plenty of food, with the Australians even capturing sizable amounts of rice later.
The problem was that the Japanese had to keep most of their men back for logistical reasons, and as their trucks began breaking down after several months, it became increasingly impossible to maintain a long supply line: the Japanese had initially planned for airdrops and captured food to make up the difference, but the mountains had little food to pillage, and effective airdrops were questionable even before most of the planes were sent towards Guadalcanal.
Even then though, the supply situation for the Japanese was inconsistent: while there's no exact reason known, we DO know that 40 tons of beer shipped in were all stolen in a single night, with no listed culprit, so I suspect corruption...
K&G You honor the brave and skilled soldiers by telling their story and struggle.
golf clap!
incredible job as always
Great series on the Kokoda Track battles.
But please - Cocka-da? It's Ko-ko-da.
Thanks for the video
Had the Japanese treated the local population with kindness and respect and paid the natives to carry their supplies, they would have fared much better. But they acted with their usual barbarity and found that their new slaves would run off into the jungle to help the Aussies instead. The Aussies loved them and called them " The Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels ".
Love it.. Thanks you very much
I like this series very much. Can't wait to see what the Australians do when they go onto the attack.
K&G, could you please mention the incredible stupid speech general Blamey gave to the Maroubra Force after he took over from Potts? The one about the rabbit? It has its effect on the force during the later battles.
Blamey lived up (down?) to his name. 😁
Another great video.
Good graphics for an interesting documentary. Thanks👍
And now the Australians have to reenter the gates of hell.
Fantastic video & a great overall series!
Awesome, keep it up y’all
I love the way you guys set individual battles in the context of what is going on elsewhere, in this case, the ever escalating and strategically critical fighting on Guadalcanal. There have been books written by Australians on the Kokoda Track that either don't mention or barely mention Guadalcanal as if it was irrelevant. Yet clearly by mid-Sept 1942 the Japanese were prioritising the Solomons over Kokoda. As an Aussie I am proud of our soldiers in New Guinea but it was Guadalcanal not Kokoda that turned the war in the Pacific.
Nothing is ever one sided in warfare. The Japanese had sufficient troops and supplies for their invasion of New Guinea, including their most experienced units. But they expected the Australians to behave like the British in Malaya and leave all their stores behind as they withdrew. First mistake. The second mistake was to brutally subjugate the local population and find far fewer porters willing to help them. The third mistake was to torture and murder Aussie prisoners. That was never going to end well. An enraged Aussie militiaman is equal to any Japanese soldier when it comes down to bayonet work.
How do you figure that. Kokoda started in July 1942 and Guadalcanal in September . Both allied victories. So which turned the war. ?
It's been 8 days where is the next episode man
I'm not so patient when it's over a week an it's supposed too be posted in a week
Great series! Thorough!
Superb work!! Thanks !
These are just so engaging.
5:25 more and more I believe that "dugout Doug" is just a meme, made to bring a lighter side to Military History.
IMHO the absolute worst commander in recorded history!
the more i see the actual history of him, the more i despise him.
Thank you K&G for always brilliant movies!
To be honest I was prepared to see the fatal defeat of IJA at Gorari in this video. But you guys are trying to faithfully reproduce timeline. Apologize for underestimating you and wish you more great work to come.
@@mcs699 Some comments blamed Japanese racist atrocities and I blamed Allies for those acts, so you call me the only racist.
Where to start with MacArthur ? To be fair a talented planner.. but horribly inflexible and prone to panic and micromanagement on the defensive. His real genius was PR, but highly over-rated as a general.. Blamey... Great organizer, great staff officer, but a political general. God awful at connecting with the common digger and only too ready to throw a subordinate under the bus in the case of a defeat and take credit for a victory (if dugout Doug left any credit that is) His "run rabbit" speech to the weary veterans of the Kokoda track has gone down in infamy.
That's a fair take on both men, especially MacArthur.
Uauuuu...another masterpiece
As a former Marine & WW2 history nerd I pretty much go to sleep watching these. 😂 It always amazed me the rigidness of the Japanese Army/Navy units keep smashing into the same wall time after time. Had the center force of the Japanese fell back & shifted right they would have been behind the lines and caught the Marines on the right flank in a heap o mess.
After edit: Somehow my comment ended up on this video and not the video on Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal. 🤷♂️
Good series
Boys here we go were done waiting
Ps : Second here 🤚
K&G I am a BIG fan of your episodes....but I must correct you on the date of the Battle of the Ioribaiwa. According to sources, the battle is fought between September 14 and September 16. That is the correct date because the Japanese forces fought a fighting withdrawal on September 26 and the Australians began a counter-attack on October 2, with an advance to the Japanese-held beach heads around Milne Bay, which led to the Second Battle of Eora Creek-Templeton's Crossing between October 11 and October 28, 1942. Thanks for the updates and keep up the GOOD work!!
You are incorrect, the 'Battle of Milne Bay' had already been fought and Won by the Australians !!!! The 'Beachheads' to which you refer are Gona, Buna and Sananda, on the northern shores of New Guinea ?
could you do a documentary on the Jacobite rebellions :DDD
Finally !!
Fantastic video keep it up your doing amazing job
Im waiting for the battle of luzon I hope the aztec eagles 201 squadron gets a bit of appearence
good series. hope you talk about the Hump airlift and Ledo road which was lifeline for China from India
It is pronounced Koh-Koh-da, and rhymes with Yoda. At least, that is how we say it down under
While the japanese comitted many atrocities, I am still amazed what they managed in these campaigns. The classic rule in a frontal attack is that you should outnumber the enemy 3-to-1, in this attack they were outnumber 2-to-1 and still pushed back the defenders. I can't imagine how both sides managed to survive in these conditions - I doubt I would manage to just walk the campaign even without any hostile opposition or somebody hunting me....
Thanks for these. History - or _real_ science fiction. There's nowt else.
Just saying but regarding Guadalcanal I just found out that my paternal grandmothers uncle Willard Clifford Weikert who was in the marines at Guadalcanal knew someone who was severely wounded and Willard Clifford gave his fellow jarhead his uniform and this fellow marine was buried with Willard Clifford’s uniform on him.
Cool video
Next episode please...
I always wonder what's the title of your background theme every opening sequence here in the Pacific War series. The one between title card and the sponsor ad where you explain the brief background of the episode. (0:10 - 1:03)
Just curious on the music since it really sets the mood. Great work as always, K&G! ❤
MacArthurs arrogance was his downfall
Bring it
Please,make the video about Ottoman-Safavid war 1603-1613)
LETS GO
Ok,wish I can get membership 😊
No video this week?
I respect the Aussies because unlike some CommonWealth forces they didn't betray the Allied cause by siding withthe Japanese.
Only some captured Indian troops did that. They were fooled into collaborating by the idea of an indepedant India after Japan had won the war. They learned to regret that decision very soon after...
@@louisavondart9178 not just Indians but also plenty of Burmans sided with the Japanese. And the Indians who deserted were enough to form two divisions.
Kokoda from 2006 is a good movie on all of this
mahalo!
Where is the latest video ???
Saturday
Glad to hear, because I was suffering from withdrawals. LMAO
I wonder one thing, given Rowell later rose to the Australia Army chief of staff, why his relieved here not have bigger consequences?
What is the outro music.
It is hard to say who was the most incompetent general during WW2 and opinions will vary but there is little doubt that MacArthur would make most people's shortlist.
Growing up with American accounts of Japanese banzai attacks that seemed so stupid as they wasted their lives in fights they couldn't win, it's enlightening to see the Japanese as they saw themselves: the best warriors on the field, the ones who always find a way to break or flank the enemy lines, the ones who never retreat.
Tactically, a banzai charge may be foolish, but it's something you have to be quite determined to do. It's like a determination to resist the enemy to the end rather than die or be taken prisoner.
@@user-qm7jw ..it's basically spitting out the dummy when the pram has been tipped over.
Such an Australian way to win.
Japanese: we don't even have a retreat plan.
Australia: we'll just retreat until they run out of food - I don't think they realise how big this country is.
This battle reminds me of Borodino - hold the enemy, but retreat anyway, and the enemy realises what trouble they're really in.
Dudes, if you made a channel named "Cookies and Milk" i still would suscribe ASAP.
Why do you keep the written text stating the "36th" Bn was a part of Honner's Bde; Should it not read the 39th Bn.
Seems like the Australians didn’t win battle to protect Moresby, supply lines did.
Not good that 1 platoon of Japanese kept a company at bay. with so many Aussie units in place, where was their pak-artillery or better yet heavy mortars?? Heavy rains, but lack of water? The competing battles in the Solomon's and New Guinea was too much for the Japanese logistical capability. Starvation was common in both battles, and the Japanese resorted to cannibalism. Once the retreat began Horii's forces were destroyed, and none of the few survivors were fit for any further duty. Horii would die in the jungle. With that threat broken, the Allies began to go on the offensive. Another good show and graphics. They are great in enabling the viewer to understand the battle, and how the terrain affects ground combat.
Your opening statement "Not good that 1 platoon of Japanese kept a company at bay, with so many Aussie units in place, where was their pak-artillery or better yet heavy mortars ?", really only shows Your ignorance of how the battle was fought and under what conditions it was fought ? Please do at least Some research before you regale us with comments that Only prove Your ignorance and shows that You were Not able, as 'the viewer' able to understand the battles and how the terrain affects ground combat ? Horii did Not die in the jungle, he drowned in a river at the Northern end of the campaign after coming out of the Kokoda Track ?
My sources say Hori died in the jungle. I am well aware of the fight there, researched many sources for my book, FATAL FLAWS BOOK 1 1914-1945. @@garyrogers6761
MacArthur was a jerk, but have to agree with him here… Rowell just kept playing defense and running away even when he had numbers and exhausted foe’s to his front, then he just let them get away without firing a shot…. He had to go.
Rowell kept playing defensive because there was no reason not to. The Japanese were exhausting themselves. There was no way the Japanese could ever take Port Morsbey, and the interviening terrain held no intrinsic value, so bleed them as much as practical and with draw them further in, their logistics can only get worse as time goes on. All this is doing is making an Australian counterattack easier later on.
Rowell later after the war pointed out he was doing a fighting retreat for the main reason that the Japanese notoriously operated on razor thin margins for logistics and the further along the track they went the less munitions the less food the weaker they became, all the while Australian forces were shortening their supply lines, meaning that at the penultimate moment the Japanese would be their most tired, most hungry and most sick, Australians would be well fed and watered and supplied. So the counter attack would be a strong one against a weak force. That because of its razor thin margins could never get back to full strength again. The man fought intelligently.
wow so they fought to stalemate the Australians and Japanese's and the conditions were miserable for both sides. But Japan crack first .
Anyone blame Blamey?
Everyone........... but he got away with it.
What do Australians think of General Macarthur's leadership when fighting under his commend? I do not think he was one of Americas top generals.