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This book presents the Japanese navy offensive in the Indian Ocean area in March-April 1942. Its main goal was to destroy the Royal Navy in the Far East and achieve domination on the Eastern flank of the Pacific War on the eve of the battle of Midway.
In early April 1942, a little-known episode of World War II took place, said by Sir Winston Churchill to be Òthe most dangerous moment of the war,Ó when the Japanese made their only major offensive westwards into the Indian Ocean. Historian Sir Arthur Bryant said, ÒA Japanese naval victory in April 1942 would have given Japan total control of the Indian Ocean, isolated the Middle East and brought down the Churchill government.Ó War in the Far East had erupted with the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, followed in succession by Japanese drives on the Philippines, Indochina, the Java Sea and Singapore. Seemingly unstoppable, the Japanese now had a vast new empire, and having crippled the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, turned their sights on the British Eastern Fleet based at Ceylon. Occupation of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) would not only provide the Japanese a springboard into India but control of the essential convoy routes to Europe and the Western Desert. And aside from the British Eastern Fleet, the Indian Ocean lay undefended. So far the Japanese had suffered no significant losses and the question on everyoneÕs lips was how soon the enemy would appear off India. In April 1942 a Japanese fleet led by six aircraft carriers, four battleships and 30 other ships sailed into the Bay of Bengal. After the war Churchill said that potential disaster was averted by the actions of one pilot, Squadron Leader L.J. Birchall, who in his Catalina flying boat spotted the Japanese warships massing some 350 miles from Ceylon. He was shot down by a Japanese Zero but not before sending a brief radio message back to his base. This gave the islandÕs defense forces time to prepare. In the ferocious battles that followed, the British lost a carrier, two heavy cruisers and many other ships; however, the Japanese eventually turned back, never to sail against India again. John Clancy, whose father survived the sinking of HMS Cornwall during the battle, tells the story of this dramatic but little known campaign in which a major Allied catastrophe was only narrowly averted.
The Darkest Hour presents the Imperial Japanese Navy offensive in the Indian Ocean area in March-April 1942, the main goal of which was to destroy the Royal Navy in the Far East and achieve domination on the eastern flank of the Pacific War on the eve of the Battle of Midway.The bold operation of two Japanese task forces (Kidō Butai and Malay Force) in the Indian Ocean could not be possible without the fall of Singapore in February and the Dutch East Indies in early March 1942. From the strategic point of view, the Japanese offensive in the Indian Ocean was the only moment in the Second World War when the Axis forces could coordinate their efforts to severely threaten the position of the British Empire in the crucial Middle East and India areas.The Darkest Hour describes the strategic planning of both sides in February-March 1942, including the Japanese navy projections on the last steps of the first stage of the Pacific War, and the Royal Navy's hopes to halt the enemy advance without taking any significant risks.The Japanese offensive in the Indian Ocean began in March 1942 with the invasion of the Andaman Islands and Christmas Island. By securing both vital positions, the Japanese navy planned to establish its advanced bases in the eastern part of the Bay of Bengal. In the next step, the invincible Kidō Butai consisting of five aircraft carriers and their escorts, was expected to crush the British bases on Ceylon and once and forever destroy the main core of the Eastern Fleet. The chaos provoked by the Kidō Butai would then become a great opportunity for the Malay Force to cut off the British shipping routes in the western part of the Bay of Bengal.The Darkest Hour is the first systematic attempt to describe the less-well known part of the Pacific War by researching both British and Japanese archive documents and other secondary sources published in many countries, including the United Kingdom, Japan, and India.
An illustrated exploration of the Japanese raid into the Indian Ocean in April 1942 – one of the largest operations conducted by the Imperial Navy during the war.
Volume 21 corrects and greatly expands existing entries from Volume 6 of the World War II Sea War series. This volume provides extensive additions to Japanese military and merchant ship movements, as Japan tried to consolidate her newly acquired Pacific empire. There is also new data on the Royal Indian Navy, German U-boats, and the Royal New Zealand Navy. In addition, the monthly General sections have been expanded to help form the context of the war, especially how world leaders made decisions from day to day. In particular, Volume 21 provides additional detail on the following events: ? Japanese attack on Ceylon and the Bay of Bengal -- more information on the Japanese tactics that created the confusion aboard the Japanese aircraft carriers off Midway Island. ? The Battle of the Coral Sea -- more detail on US and Japanese actions in the South Pacific as Japan began to secure its position in the Solomon Islands and on New Guinea Island. ? The Battle of Midway Island -- more detail on the US and Japanese actions and an improved timeline of the USN air attacks on the Japanese Carrier Striking Force. ? The Japanese Invasion of Attu and Kiska Islands plus the air attack on Dutch Harbor, Alaska -- an improved timeline and more detailed description of the Japanese air attacks. ? Operation HARPOON -- more detail on Royal Navy and Italian Navy actions during the British attempts to feed Malta.
During the first half of the 20th Century, the former Czarist Russia and then the former Soviet Union, and the Empire of Japan fought a series of undeclared wars in the Far East. The first of these, fought 1904-1905 over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea, ended in a clear-cut Japanese victory. Following the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, in 1931, Japan turned its interest to nearby Soviet territories. The result was a series of border incidents - starting with the Battle of Lake Khasan in 1938. Maintaining that the border between their proxy-state, Manchukuo, and the Soviet-dominated Mongolian People's Republic was the Khalkhyn Gol (or Khalkha River), the Japanese deployed some of best units of their army to occupy and secure this area. Following a military build-up, a series of bitter clashes took place mid-May and June 1939, after which the Japanese launched an all-out assault in July. Due to heavy casualties, the battle resulted in a stalemate. Concerned about the possibility of facing a two-front war, the Soviets reacted with a major counter-offensive, in August 1939, and defeated the Japanese. While little known in the West, this short but bitter war - known as Nomohan Incident in Japan, or the Battle of Khalkhyn Gol in the Soviet Union - was a crucial overture for the subsequent World War II. Having secured its border in the Far East, the Soviet Union was free to concentrate on war in Europe. Although continuing to underestimate their opponents, the Japanese introduced a major reform of their army. Furthermore, after realizing the massive material disparity vis- -vis the former USSR, Tokyo joined the Axis with Nazi Germany and Italy.
A sweeping narrative history--the first in over twenty years--of America's first major offensive of World War II, the brutal, no-quarter-given campaign to take Japanese-occupied Guadalcanal From early August until mid-November of 1942, US Marines, sailors, and pilots struggled for dominance against an implacable enemy: Japanese soldiers, inculcated with the bushido tradition of death before dishonor, avatars of bayonet combat--close-up, personal, and gruesome. The glittering prize was Henderson Airfield. Japanese planners knew that if they neutralized the airfield, the battle was won. So did the Marines who stubbornly defended it. The outcome of the long slugfest remained in doubt under the pressure of repeated Japanese air, land, and sea operations. And losses were heavy. At sea, in a half-dozen fiery combats, the US Navy fought the Imperial Japanese Navy to a draw, but at a cost of more than 4,500 sailors. More American sailors died in these battles off Guadalcanal than in all previous US wars, and each side lost 24 warships. On land, more than 1,500 soldiers and Marines died, and the air war claimed more than 500 US planes. Japan's losses on the island were equally devastating--starving Japanese soldiers called it "the island of death." But when the attritional struggle ended, American Marines, sailors, and airmen had halted the Japanese juggernaut that for five years had whirled through Asia and the Pacific. Guadalcanal was America's first major ground victory against Japan and, most importantly, the Pacific War's turning point. Published on the 75th anniversary of the battle and utilizing vivid accounts written by the combatants at Guadalcanal, along with Marine Corps and Army archives and oral histories, Midnight in the Pacific is both a sweeping narrative and a compelling drama of individual Marines, soldiers, and sailors caught in the crosshairs of history.
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a major military confrontation between India and Pakistan. Fought on two fronts of the Indian sub-continent between 3 and 17 December 1971, it pitted two major conventional armed forces in an all-out war over the fate of the former East Pakistan, and resulted in the emergence of a new, independent nation of Bangladesh.In the West, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) initiated its involvement with an attack on the forward air bases of the Indian Air Force (IAF), on 3 December 1971. A series of major air battles followed over the primary conflict zones. In the East, the small PAF contingent was quickly neutralised by the IAF.When the war ended in West Pakistan on 17 December, PAF was still in the ring and on its feet. It had parried the enemy's blows and had been ever so careful in its offensive responses. It continued to be fixated with remaining viable for providing complete air support to the Army's all-important battle, which flowed out of the overarching dictum, 'defence of the East lies in the West'. PAF's overall performance can be gleaned from the fact that it managed to keep its aircraft attrition rate at par with the IAF. The PAF unmistakably denied a much stronger IAF the distinct possibility of delivering a knock-out punch to it. In the circumstances obtaining, this was a commendable achievement.Against All Odds is richly illustrated with a selection of exclusive photography, more than a dozen authentic colour artworks, and a similar number of maps. It provides a unique source of reference for enthusiasts and professionals alike.
Sea of Fire: Volume II in the alternate history of the Pacific War presents the story of JS Takami and the battles of mid to late late 1942. When the shock of what has happened to them is finally realized, they must answer the question of who's side they will support in the war. Meanwhile, the action in the Pacific continues with the Battle of the Coral Sea, Halsey's raid on the Marshalls where he battles a pair of Japanese ships that never were, then Yamamoto launches Operation FS and the landings on Fiji begin, leading to the US landings at Suva Bay and the climactic Battle of the Koro Sea. Karpov's summer offensive on Sakhalin Island is also covered, with the battle between Kirov and an unexpected challenger in the Sea of Okhotsk. Finally, Admiral Hara's Indian Ocean Raid and the battle with Somerville's Far East Fleet concludes this volume, bringing the action in the Pacific to the eve of 1943. Sea of Fire - A Kirov Series Battle Book by John Schettler54 Chapters, 474 Pages, About 156,000 Words