# Japanese not as good at island conquests in WWII as US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 18, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-not-as-good-at-island-conquests-in-wwii-as-us/489851 "2009-03-18T04:35:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-not-as-good-at-island-conquests-in-wwii-as-us/489851/21 "2009-03-19T16:21:10Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The Army had a substantial presense in the Pacific. Of the 91 Army divisons active during the war, 22 were deployed in the Pacific theatre. In comparison, the Marine Corps consisted of six divisions, all of which were deployed in the Pacific (although there were some small Marine units deployed in Europe). True. The reason that the Army’s contribution in the Pacific is often overlooked is that the campaigns and invasions in the Central Pacific (the ones that most people know about) were mostly Marine affairs. The Army was mostly involved in the SouthWest Pacific Area and stuck slogging up the coast of New Guinea, a campaign whose importance is vastly under-appreciated. The Army divisions and Marines were both involved in the invasions after the island-hopping through the Central Pacific and the leapfrogging up New Guinea met at Leyte. The subsequent campaign through Iwo Jima and Okinawa was a fully joint Army-Navy show. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-not-as-good-at-island-conquests-in-wwii-as-us/489851/22 "2009-03-19T16:51:14Z")
> [@slaphead](#): > > This is pretty much what I was going to say. Not so much casualties, perhaps, as disarticulation. I would note that while the American Army boys were uncertain in North Africa (i.e., their _first entry into fighting_) that rapidly changed as they developed better training and more professionalism. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-not-as-good-at-island-conquests-in-wwii-as-us/489851/23 "2009-03-19T18:14:42Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > I would note that while the American Army boys were uncertain in North Africa (i.e., their _first entry into fighting_) that rapidly changed as they developed better training and more professionalism. Also worth noting that the ‘stop and wait for an officer’ phenomenon was apparently also common in the British army. No idea how the Russians got on. ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-not-as-good-at-island-conquests-in-wwii-as-us/489851/24 "2009-03-19T18:50:11Z")
> [@slaphead](#): > > Also worth noting that the ‘stop and wait for an officer’ phenomenon was apparently also common in the British army. No idea how the Russians got on. The Russians \*had a lot more officers \*;). ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-not-as-good-at-island-conquests-in-wwii-as-us/489851/25 "2009-03-19T18:55:10Z")
Fun fact: [according to Jim Dunnigan](http://www.amazon.com/Victory-Sea-World-War-Pacific/dp/0688149472), the largest navy in World War II was owned and operated by. . . the United States Army! That is, if you count all the amphibious transports, Higgins boats, resupply ships, etc. that the Army operated in theater, the U.S. Army had the most ships. Here’s a good link on the subject: [Army Ships](http://patriot.net/~eastlnd2/Army.htm). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-not-as-good-at-island-conquests-in-wwii-as-us/489851.md?page=1)