Amazing pictures.
I got a kick out of #53.
Wow, these are amazing. Looking at the pictures, I realize I don’t know that much about the Pacific Theater. I didn’t even know there was a land battle on US soil at all!
Does anyone have a book on the topic they could recommend?
I have questions about the accuracy of the captions for these pictures.
At the very least, the photograph I’m most familiar with (#2) is misreported. The caption claims to be showing Battleship Row before the attack, but that photograph shows the ships of Battleship Row after the attack has started. Looking closely at the water outboard of the ships you can see the effects of oil on the waters, as it leaks from strikes on both West Virginia and Oklahoma. A closer look will reveal that both West Virginia and Oklahoma are beginning to list. West Virginia managed to counterflood in time to keep from capsizing. Oklahoma didn’t, and would capsize within minutes of this image being taken.
Here’s a link to the National Archive’s version of that image - it also includes California at the far right, showing the effects there from more strikes from torpedoes going in. Similarly you can see traces, in the water, of more torpedoes heading towards West Virginia and Oklahoma.
If you look at the ship on the far left, Nevada, you can see that alone of all the ships on Battleship Row, she has her ensign raised at the stern. According to the deck logs, by the ship’s clock, the attack came just at 8 AM, while most other vessels in Pearl Harbor had the attack occurring between 0745-0755.
Here’s a link to an image taken a few minutes later - you can see more oil in the water, and the port side of Oklahoma is visibly underwater. IIRC it was later determined that Oklahoma was struck by as many as nine torpedoes in a matter of minutes.
Man with rifle in the Grassy Knoll… My God, they were right! :eek:
I couldn’t help it, looking at photos like #60, to be disturbed by the soldiers stepping all over the corals. Makes any self respecting diver cringe.
Point aside, the captions are atrocious, example #46 “The Allied forces made a second big invasion operation of the Japanese occupied island in an attempt to capture the big air base…” I bet they used big guns too.
Astonishing. Thanks for sharing.
Question: in pisc #71 and #72 we see a large number of landing ships disgorging armaments and men. How did those boats travel over the ocean? Were they seaworthy for trans-Pacific travel, or did they made in a nearby allied country, or moved in some other way?
I’m guessing they were oceangoing and picked up their cargo some way offshore, but would love to have this confirmed (I’ve read The Naked and the Dead but don’t remember this detail). If they were oceangoing , however, how did they get by on the open seas with a very shallow displacement and (presumably) no keel - or did they have retractable keels, etc.?
Ok, I just found an article answered my own question:
#20 - The Marines are still wearing the old WW1 ‘borrowed from the Brits’ tin hat.
They’re Australians. The rifle over that guy’s shoulder is an Enfield.
Thanks for sharing. #91 really tells a story.
Get a copy of “The Thousand Mile War” by Brian Garfield. Fantastic read - I never knew just how nasty that Alutians campaign was until I read that. Or how utterly awful the weather is up there.
Googling on the title will bring up a ton of stuff.
Yeah, that’s really bizarre, isn’t it?
Number 16. The three guys in the water. What is the one on the right carrying?
Hard to tell. He doesn’t appear to be armed, so he may be a corpsman.
Is it the components of a Bangalore torpedo?
Some of those guys in #16 look like they’re smiling. It’s not meant to be fun guys!
These photos really hammer home what these guys did in such adverse conditions. Remember to thank a WW2 vet, next time you meet one.
Doesn’t look like it. He’s wearing a plain helmet with no netting, and no visible weaponry.
Does anybody have one of those magical CSI computers that can enhance to infinity? 
The guy on the left has no netting on his helmet, nor does the BAR guy.
Heh, I was looking for my Dad in the pics too. He was unlucky enough to serve in both WWII and Korea.
I just sent the page to my FIL who spent most of the war in the pacific. He’ll be thrilled, and we’ll hear about them for weeks.