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The Battle of Wake Island was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on Wake Island.The assault began simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor naval and air bases in Hawaii on the morning of 8 December 1941 (7 December in Hawaii), and ended on 23 December, with the surrender of American forces to the Empire of Japan.
Fearing an imminent invasion, the Japanese reinforced Wake Island with more formidable defenses. The American captives were ordered to build a series of bunkers and fortifications on Wake. The Japanese brought in an 8-inch (200 mm) naval gun which is often incorrectly [80] reported as having been captured in Singapore. The U.S. Navy established ...
Operation Gelb (invasion of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Carried out 10 May 1940) Operation Rot (invasion of France and principal western attack. Carried out 5 June 1940) Case Brown (projected German-Italian invasion of Southern France through the Rhône and possibly Switzerland to avoid Maginot Line. Modiffied in lesser extensions ...
In November 1941, VMF-211 embarked 12 of its 24 F4F-3 Wildcats and 13 of its 29 pilots aboard USS Enterprise for movement to Wake Island, the scene of the squadron's heroic battle, launching from the carrier and arriving at Wake on 3 December. [4] On 8 December 1941, the Japanese attacked Wake, destroying seven of the aircraft on the ground.
It was the location of some of the fighting during the Battle of Wake Island in December 1941. Wilkes was the site of a shore battery and defenses, as part of the overall defenses of Wake island, when WW2 broke out. Japanese troops landed on the Wilkes island as part of the invasion of island, which fell 23 December 1941. [9]
Winfield Scott Cunningham (February 16, 1900 – March 3, 1986) was the Officer in Charge, Naval Activities, Wake Island when the tiny island was attacked by the Japanese on December 8, 1941. Cunningham commanded the defense of the island against the massive Japanese attack. After 15 days, he surrendered the island to the Japanese.
The formal surrender of the Japanese garrison on Wake Island - 4 September 1945. Sakaibara is the Japanese officer in the right foreground. Shigematsu Sakaibara (酒井原 繁松, Sakaibara Shigematsu, December 28, 1898 – June 19, 1947) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Japanese garrison commander on Wake Island during World War II, and a convicted war criminal.
The second assault on Wake Island, reinforced with heavy cruisers and the aircraft carriers Sōryū and Hiryū, was more successful. Kajioka was then assigned to command the invasion of Lae , New Guinea , in March 1942.