World War II in Photographs
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1941
LEFT
The wreckage-strewn naval air station at
Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack.
BELOW
Anti-aircraft fire bursts among
Japanese aircraft attacking the US
Pacific Fleet. The Japanese lost 29 aircraft.
161
1941
ABOVE
Small craft rescue survivors from the
battleship USS California, sunk
by Japanese aircraft. The Americans
suffered over 3,000 casualties in the attack.
RIGHT
Roosevelt denounced December 7 as
"a date which will live in infamy", and,
here, grim-faced, signs a declaration of
war against Japan. Some historians have
suggested that the Japanese attack gave
him a pretext for action he wished to take in
any event, but the extant evidence does not
prove his complicity in what may best be
seen as "the ultimate intelligence blunder."
162
1941
JAPANESE ADVANCES
IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
The raid on Pearl Harbor was part of a co-ordinated plan
for attack on US, British and Dutch bases across a wide
area. Japan's opponents were over-extended and ill-prepared,
and the Japanese initially met with stunning success,
snatching Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong from
the British, taking the American commonwealth of
the Philippines and swamping the Dutch East Indies.
BELOW
Indian troops manning a coast defence
gun at Hong Kong. Both Hong Kong and
Singapore were well-provided with guns to
face a naval threat, but lacked the resources
to deal with an invasion from inland.
FOLLOWING PAGES
Canadian troops marching off after
landing in Hong Kong in November
1941 to form part of its garrison.
163
1941
BELOW
A classic shot of Japan triumphant
shows infantry charging into Hong Kong.
ABOVE
Hong Kong surrendered on December 25,
after an impossible battle against
confident and determined attackers.
166
1941
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, supported
by an armoured car, training for the defence
of Malaya. One officer in the battalion
observed that the tradition of certain country
being "impassable to infantry" died hard,
and in December 1941 the Japanese
proved adept at hooking through the
jungle behind road-blocks like this.
BELOW
General Douglas MacArthur, Vice Commander-
in-Chief of US and Philippine troops in the
Far East, congratulates Captain Jesus
Villamor of the Philippine Air Force for his
bravery in the defence of the Bataan peninsula.
MacArthur was eventually ordered to leave
in March 1942, but vowed: "I shall return."
167
LEFT
1941
168
LEFT
A Japanese propaganda photograph shows
Allied prisoners queuing in order to record
verbal messages to be sent home. Second
from the right is Major James Devereux,
commander of the US Marines on Wake
Island and one of the heroes of the initial
repulse of the Japanese on December 11:
Wake fell to a heavier assault on December 23.
BELOW
The modern battleship HMS Prince of Wales
and the old battlecruiser HMS Repulse were
sent to assist in the defence of Singapore and
Malaya, but both were sunk by air attack on
December 10. Here Prince of Wales goes to
sea for the last time on December 8.
1941
ABOVE
The crew of the stricken Repulse abandon
ship. Her commanding officer, Captain
Tennant, was saved, with 41 of his 69
officers and 734 of 1,240 ratings.
169
