Capt. Cheatham
24-07-07, 06:58
The Battle For Wake Island (from the Wikipedia)
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o248/gg32068/WakeIsland.jpg
In January 1941, the United States Navy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy) constructed a military base on the atoll. On August 19 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_19), the first permanent military garrison (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrison), elements of the 1st Marine Defense Battalion (http://www.nps.gov/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003133-00/sec15.htm), totaling 449 officers and men, were stationed on the island, under Navy Commander (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commander) Winfield S. Cunningham (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winfield_S._Cunningham). Also present on the island were 68 U.S. Navy personnel and about 1,221 civilian workers.
The Marines were armed with six old 5-inch (127 mm) cannon, removed from a scrapped (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_breaking) cruiser (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruiser); 12 3-inch (76.2 mm) M3 antiaircraft guns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiaircraft_gun) (with only a single working anti-aircraft sight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sight_%28device%29) between them); 18 Browning M2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M2_Browning_machine_gun) heavy machine guns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_machine_gun); and 30 heavy, medium and light water- and air-cooled machine guns of various manufacture and operating condition.
On December 7 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_7), 1941 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1941), the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Harbor) (Wake being on the opposite side of the International Date Line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Date_Line)), 36 [1] (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9075899/Battle-of-Wake-Island) Japanese medium bombers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomber) flown from bases on the Marshall Islands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands) attacked Wake Island, destroying eight of the twelve F4F Wildcat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F4F_Wildcat) fighter aircraft belonging to Marine Corps fighter squadron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squadron#Aviation) VMF-211 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMF-211) on the ground. All of the Marine garrison’s defensive emplacements were left intact by the raid, which primarily targeted the naval aircraft.
Early on the morning of December 11 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_11), the garrison, with the support of the four remaining Wildcats, repulsed the first Japanese landing attempt by the South Seas Force (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Seas_Force), which included the light cruisers Yubari (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Yubari), Tenryū (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Tenry%C5%AB), and Tatsuta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Tatsuta); the destroyers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroyer) Yayoi (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_destroyer_Yayoi&action=edit), Mutsuki (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mutsuki&action=edit), Kisaragi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Kisaragi), Hayate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Hayate), Oite (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_destroyer_Oite&action=edit), and Asanagi (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_destroyer_Asanagi&action=edit); two old destroyers converted to patrol boats (Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33), and two troop transport ships containing 450 Special Naval Landing Force (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Naval_Landing_Force) troops.
The U.S. Marines fired at the invasion fleet with their six 5-inch (127 mm) coastal artillery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_artillery) guns. Cunningham ordered the gunners to hold their fire until the enemy moved within range of the coastal defenses. They then succeeding in sinking the Hayate with a direct hit to her magazines and striking the Yubari (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Yubari)'s superstructure eleven times. The four Wildcats also succeeded in sinking another destroyer, the Kisaragi, by dropping a bomb on her stern where the depth charges were stored. Both Japanese destroyers were lost with all hands, and Hayate was the first Japanese (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan) naval ship sunk during World War II. The Japanese force withdrew before landing. This was the first Japanese defeat of the war. The first battle of Wake Island also marked the only occasion in all of World War II when an amphibious assault was repulsed by shore-based guns.
After the initial raid was fought off, American news media reported that Cunningham had quipped “Send more Japs!” when queried about reinforcement and resupply. In fact, Commander Cunningham sent a long list of critical equipment—including gunsights, spare parts, and fire-control (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_control_system) radar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar)—to his immediate superior: Commandant, 14th Naval District.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wake_Island#_note-3)
But the continuing siege and frequent Japanese air attacks on the Wake garrison continued, without resupply for the Americans. The initial resistance offered by the garrison prompted the Japanese Navy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Japanese_Navy) to detach two aircraft carriers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_carrier) (Sōryū (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_S%C5%8Dry%C5%AB) and Hiryū (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Hiry%C5%AB)) from the force that attacked Pearl Harbor to support the second landing attempt.
The projected U.S. relief attempt by Admiral Wilson Brown’s Task Force 14 (TF-14) consisted of fleet carriers Saratoga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Saratoga_%28CV-3%29) and Lexington (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lexington_%28CV-2%29), the fleet oiler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oiler_%28ship%29) USNS Neches (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Neches_%28AO-5%29), the seaplane tender Tangier (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tangier_%28AV-8%29), the cruisers Astoria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Astoria_%28CA-34%29), Minneapolis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Minneapolis_%28CA-36%29), and San Francisco (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_San_Francisco_%28CA-38%29), and ten destroyers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroyer). The convoy carried the 4th Marine Coastal Defense Battalion, the VMF-221 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMF-221) fighter squadron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squadron#Aviation) equipped with F2A “Brewster Buffalo” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_Buffalo) fighters, along with 9,000 five-inch (127 mm) rounds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammunition), 12,000 three-inch (76.2 mm) rounds, and 3,000,000 .50 cal. (12.7 mm) rounds as well as a large amount of ammunition for mortars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortar_%28weapon%29) and other battalion small arms.
On December 22 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_22) at 21:00, the task force received controversial orders signed by Vice Admiral William S. Pye (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Satterlee_Pye), the Acting Commander in Chief (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CINCPAC) of the U.S. Pacific Fleet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Pacific_Fleet), to return to Pearl Harbor for fear of losses, so no naval battle took place.
The second Japanese invasion force came on December 23 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_23), composed mostly of the same ships from the first attempt with some new additions, plus 1,500 Japanese marines. The landings began at 02:35 where, after a preliminary bombardment, the ex-destroyers Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33 were beached and burned in their attempts to land the invasion force. After a full night and morning of fighting, the Wake garrison surrendered to the Japanese by mid-afternoon.
The U.S. Marines lost 49 killed during the entire 15-day siege, while three U.S. Navy personnel and at least 70 civilians were killed. Japanese losses were recorded at between 700 to 900 killed, with at least 1,000 more wounded, in addition to the two destroyers lost in the first invasion attempt and at least 20 land-based and carrier aircraft. The Japanese captured all men remaining on the island, the majority of whom were civilian contractors employed with Morrison-Knudsen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrison-Knudsen) Company.
Captain Henry T. Elrod (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_T._Elrod), one of the pilots from VMF-211, was awarded the Medal of Honor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor) posthumously for his action on the island during the second landing attempt, having shot down two Japanese A6M Zero fighters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Zero). A special military decoration, the Wake Island Device (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_Island_Device) was also created to honor those who had fought in the defense of the island.
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 even brought in a heavy artillery piece. The United States Navy established a submarine blockade instead of an amphibious invasion on Wake Island, as a result the Japanese garrison starved. On February 24 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_24), 1942 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1942), aircraft from the USS Enterprise (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_%28CV-6%29) attacked the Japanese garrison on Wake Island. United States forces bombed the island periodically from 1942 until Japan’s surrender in 1945. On July 8 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_8), 1943 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943), B-24 Liberators (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-24_Liberator) in transit from Midway Island (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway_Atoll) struck the Japanese garrison on Wake Island. George H. W. Bush (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush) also conducted his first mission as an aviator over Wake Island. After this, Wake was occasionally raided but never attacked en masse.
On October 5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_5), 1943 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943), American naval aircraft from USS Yorktown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Yorktown_%28CV-10%29) conducted a successful raid. Two days later, fearing an imminent invasion, Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigematsu_Sakaibara) ordered the execution of the 98 captured American civilian workers remaining on the island, kept to perform forced labor for the Japanese. They were taken to the northern end of the island, blindfolded and machine-gunned. One of the prisoners (whose name has never been discovered) escaped the massacre, apparently returning to the site to carve the message 98 US PW 5-10-43 on a large coral rock near where the victims had been hastily buried in a mass grave. The unknown American was recaptured, after which Sakaibara personally beheaded him with a katana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katana). The inscription on the rock can still be seen and is a Wake Island landmark. After the war, Sakaibara and his subordinate, Lieutenant-Commander Tachibana, were sentenced to death for this and other war crimes. Several Japanese officers in American custody had committed suicide over the incident, leaving written statements that incriminated Sakaibara. Tachibana’s sentence was later commuted to life in prison.[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wake_Island#_note-4) The murdered civilian POWs were reburied after the war in Honolulu Memorial, Hawaii.
On September 4 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_4), 1945 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945), the remaining Japanese garrison surrendered to a detachment of United States Marines. The handover of Wake was officially conducted in a brief handover.
The first real battle of the Pacific War and one that has always fascinated me because of all the 'what ifs' and 'could haves, should haves' that may have changed not only the outcome of the battle, but maybe even changed the future war in the Pacific Theater during WWII.
It was always my understanding of the fight, that in the final stages, telephone communications had been severed between the Navy & Marine commanders, with the Navy commander mistakenly believing that the Marines had been overrun because of the loss of contact, then wrongly concluding that the fight was over, surrendered to the Japanese. In reality, just the opposite was true. The Marines had not been defeated and did not surrender until ordered to do so. In fact, there was a very real possibility that the Marines were in fact defeating the Japanese.
Now comes the HUGE what if....what if the Wake garrison had not surrendered?
Would the Marines & Navy have surrendered had they known what their horrible fate was to be?
And the BIGGEST what if.........what if Admiral Pye had not called off the relief force thay was headed for Wake? Pye was never again given a combat command because of his decision to not reinforce Wake.
If the Marines had held on and reinforcements reached them in time, could they have defeated the Japanese?
Aggressive offensive strategy in this first time battle could have been 'The Battle of Midway' 6 monthes earlier. There might not have ever been a Battle of Midway.
What if we have been able to sink the Japanese carriers at Wake, would that have changed the strategy in the Pacific?
Would a US victory at Wake have affected the Japanese strategy in their Philippine Campaign, and how might that have affected Japanese expasion thru the rest of the Pacific and SE Asia?
Eventually, all the 'non-hackers' in key leadership positions that failed to grasp the significance of an aggressive offensive mentality in a wartime situation, were replaced with people like Nimitz, Spruance & Halsey.
The Wake Island defenders definitely bloodied the nose of the Imperial Majesty's Navy, but I really believe that there was a very great chance at victory at Wake, and every effort should have been put forth to win.
Could we have won? Should we have won? What if we had won?
TESTIMONY OF CLAUDE DAVIS HOWES (http://home.comcast.net/~winjerd/Howes.htm)- A civilian contractor's account of the battle and aftermath. Worth reading.
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o248/gg32068/WakeIsland.jpg
In January 1941, the United States Navy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy) constructed a military base on the atoll. On August 19 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_19), the first permanent military garrison (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrison), elements of the 1st Marine Defense Battalion (http://www.nps.gov/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003133-00/sec15.htm), totaling 449 officers and men, were stationed on the island, under Navy Commander (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commander) Winfield S. Cunningham (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winfield_S._Cunningham). Also present on the island were 68 U.S. Navy personnel and about 1,221 civilian workers.
The Marines were armed with six old 5-inch (127 mm) cannon, removed from a scrapped (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_breaking) cruiser (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruiser); 12 3-inch (76.2 mm) M3 antiaircraft guns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiaircraft_gun) (with only a single working anti-aircraft sight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sight_%28device%29) between them); 18 Browning M2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M2_Browning_machine_gun) heavy machine guns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_machine_gun); and 30 heavy, medium and light water- and air-cooled machine guns of various manufacture and operating condition.
On December 7 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_7), 1941 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1941), the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Harbor) (Wake being on the opposite side of the International Date Line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Date_Line)), 36 [1] (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9075899/Battle-of-Wake-Island) Japanese medium bombers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomber) flown from bases on the Marshall Islands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands) attacked Wake Island, destroying eight of the twelve F4F Wildcat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F4F_Wildcat) fighter aircraft belonging to Marine Corps fighter squadron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squadron#Aviation) VMF-211 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMF-211) on the ground. All of the Marine garrison’s defensive emplacements were left intact by the raid, which primarily targeted the naval aircraft.
Early on the morning of December 11 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_11), the garrison, with the support of the four remaining Wildcats, repulsed the first Japanese landing attempt by the South Seas Force (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Seas_Force), which included the light cruisers Yubari (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Yubari), Tenryū (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Tenry%C5%AB), and Tatsuta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Tatsuta); the destroyers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroyer) Yayoi (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_destroyer_Yayoi&action=edit), Mutsuki (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mutsuki&action=edit), Kisaragi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Kisaragi), Hayate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_destroyer_Hayate), Oite (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_destroyer_Oite&action=edit), and Asanagi (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_destroyer_Asanagi&action=edit); two old destroyers converted to patrol boats (Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33), and two troop transport ships containing 450 Special Naval Landing Force (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Naval_Landing_Force) troops.
The U.S. Marines fired at the invasion fleet with their six 5-inch (127 mm) coastal artillery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_artillery) guns. Cunningham ordered the gunners to hold their fire until the enemy moved within range of the coastal defenses. They then succeeding in sinking the Hayate with a direct hit to her magazines and striking the Yubari (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Yubari)'s superstructure eleven times. The four Wildcats also succeeded in sinking another destroyer, the Kisaragi, by dropping a bomb on her stern where the depth charges were stored. Both Japanese destroyers were lost with all hands, and Hayate was the first Japanese (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan) naval ship sunk during World War II. The Japanese force withdrew before landing. This was the first Japanese defeat of the war. The first battle of Wake Island also marked the only occasion in all of World War II when an amphibious assault was repulsed by shore-based guns.
After the initial raid was fought off, American news media reported that Cunningham had quipped “Send more Japs!” when queried about reinforcement and resupply. In fact, Commander Cunningham sent a long list of critical equipment—including gunsights, spare parts, and fire-control (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_control_system) radar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar)—to his immediate superior: Commandant, 14th Naval District.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wake_Island#_note-3)
But the continuing siege and frequent Japanese air attacks on the Wake garrison continued, without resupply for the Americans. The initial resistance offered by the garrison prompted the Japanese Navy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Japanese_Navy) to detach two aircraft carriers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_carrier) (Sōryū (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_S%C5%8Dry%C5%AB) and Hiryū (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Hiry%C5%AB)) from the force that attacked Pearl Harbor to support the second landing attempt.
The projected U.S. relief attempt by Admiral Wilson Brown’s Task Force 14 (TF-14) consisted of fleet carriers Saratoga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Saratoga_%28CV-3%29) and Lexington (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lexington_%28CV-2%29), the fleet oiler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oiler_%28ship%29) USNS Neches (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Neches_%28AO-5%29), the seaplane tender Tangier (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tangier_%28AV-8%29), the cruisers Astoria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Astoria_%28CA-34%29), Minneapolis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Minneapolis_%28CA-36%29), and San Francisco (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_San_Francisco_%28CA-38%29), and ten destroyers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroyer). The convoy carried the 4th Marine Coastal Defense Battalion, the VMF-221 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMF-221) fighter squadron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squadron#Aviation) equipped with F2A “Brewster Buffalo” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_Buffalo) fighters, along with 9,000 five-inch (127 mm) rounds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammunition), 12,000 three-inch (76.2 mm) rounds, and 3,000,000 .50 cal. (12.7 mm) rounds as well as a large amount of ammunition for mortars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortar_%28weapon%29) and other battalion small arms.
On December 22 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_22) at 21:00, the task force received controversial orders signed by Vice Admiral William S. Pye (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Satterlee_Pye), the Acting Commander in Chief (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CINCPAC) of the U.S. Pacific Fleet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Pacific_Fleet), to return to Pearl Harbor for fear of losses, so no naval battle took place.
The second Japanese invasion force came on December 23 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_23), composed mostly of the same ships from the first attempt with some new additions, plus 1,500 Japanese marines. The landings began at 02:35 where, after a preliminary bombardment, the ex-destroyers Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33 were beached and burned in their attempts to land the invasion force. After a full night and morning of fighting, the Wake garrison surrendered to the Japanese by mid-afternoon.
The U.S. Marines lost 49 killed during the entire 15-day siege, while three U.S. Navy personnel and at least 70 civilians were killed. Japanese losses were recorded at between 700 to 900 killed, with at least 1,000 more wounded, in addition to the two destroyers lost in the first invasion attempt and at least 20 land-based and carrier aircraft. The Japanese captured all men remaining on the island, the majority of whom were civilian contractors employed with Morrison-Knudsen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrison-Knudsen) Company.
Captain Henry T. Elrod (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_T._Elrod), one of the pilots from VMF-211, was awarded the Medal of Honor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor) posthumously for his action on the island during the second landing attempt, having shot down two Japanese A6M Zero fighters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Zero). A special military decoration, the Wake Island Device (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_Island_Device) was also created to honor those who had fought in the defense of the island.
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 even brought in a heavy artillery piece. The United States Navy established a submarine blockade instead of an amphibious invasion on Wake Island, as a result the Japanese garrison starved. On February 24 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_24), 1942 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1942), aircraft from the USS Enterprise (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_%28CV-6%29) attacked the Japanese garrison on Wake Island. United States forces bombed the island periodically from 1942 until Japan’s surrender in 1945. On July 8 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_8), 1943 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943), B-24 Liberators (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-24_Liberator) in transit from Midway Island (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway_Atoll) struck the Japanese garrison on Wake Island. George H. W. Bush (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush) also conducted his first mission as an aviator over Wake Island. After this, Wake was occasionally raided but never attacked en masse.
On October 5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_5), 1943 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943), American naval aircraft from USS Yorktown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Yorktown_%28CV-10%29) conducted a successful raid. Two days later, fearing an imminent invasion, Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigematsu_Sakaibara) ordered the execution of the 98 captured American civilian workers remaining on the island, kept to perform forced labor for the Japanese. They were taken to the northern end of the island, blindfolded and machine-gunned. One of the prisoners (whose name has never been discovered) escaped the massacre, apparently returning to the site to carve the message 98 US PW 5-10-43 on a large coral rock near where the victims had been hastily buried in a mass grave. The unknown American was recaptured, after which Sakaibara personally beheaded him with a katana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katana). The inscription on the rock can still be seen and is a Wake Island landmark. After the war, Sakaibara and his subordinate, Lieutenant-Commander Tachibana, were sentenced to death for this and other war crimes. Several Japanese officers in American custody had committed suicide over the incident, leaving written statements that incriminated Sakaibara. Tachibana’s sentence was later commuted to life in prison.[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wake_Island#_note-4) The murdered civilian POWs were reburied after the war in Honolulu Memorial, Hawaii.
On September 4 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_4), 1945 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945), the remaining Japanese garrison surrendered to a detachment of United States Marines. The handover of Wake was officially conducted in a brief handover.
The first real battle of the Pacific War and one that has always fascinated me because of all the 'what ifs' and 'could haves, should haves' that may have changed not only the outcome of the battle, but maybe even changed the future war in the Pacific Theater during WWII.
It was always my understanding of the fight, that in the final stages, telephone communications had been severed between the Navy & Marine commanders, with the Navy commander mistakenly believing that the Marines had been overrun because of the loss of contact, then wrongly concluding that the fight was over, surrendered to the Japanese. In reality, just the opposite was true. The Marines had not been defeated and did not surrender until ordered to do so. In fact, there was a very real possibility that the Marines were in fact defeating the Japanese.
Now comes the HUGE what if....what if the Wake garrison had not surrendered?
Would the Marines & Navy have surrendered had they known what their horrible fate was to be?
And the BIGGEST what if.........what if Admiral Pye had not called off the relief force thay was headed for Wake? Pye was never again given a combat command because of his decision to not reinforce Wake.
If the Marines had held on and reinforcements reached them in time, could they have defeated the Japanese?
Aggressive offensive strategy in this first time battle could have been 'The Battle of Midway' 6 monthes earlier. There might not have ever been a Battle of Midway.
What if we have been able to sink the Japanese carriers at Wake, would that have changed the strategy in the Pacific?
Would a US victory at Wake have affected the Japanese strategy in their Philippine Campaign, and how might that have affected Japanese expasion thru the rest of the Pacific and SE Asia?
Eventually, all the 'non-hackers' in key leadership positions that failed to grasp the significance of an aggressive offensive mentality in a wartime situation, were replaced with people like Nimitz, Spruance & Halsey.
The Wake Island defenders definitely bloodied the nose of the Imperial Majesty's Navy, but I really believe that there was a very great chance at victory at Wake, and every effort should have been put forth to win.
Could we have won? Should we have won? What if we had won?
TESTIMONY OF CLAUDE DAVIS HOWES (http://home.comcast.net/~winjerd/Howes.htm)- A civilian contractor's account of the battle and aftermath. Worth reading.