I would like to start with the British and Commonwealth Troops fighting the Japanese in Burma. As we all know, the US get all the credit for beating back the Japanese and many believe they did it single-handedly. While its true it could not have been done without the US, it is disgraceful that the lives of British and Commonwealth veterens who died fighting in the Pacific are forgotton. The War in Burma was known by the troops as the 'forgotton war'. The Battle for Burma cost 80,000 casualties, mostly British and Indian, pluss 200,000 Japanese casualties. It involved some very brutal and bloody battles (Eg The Battles of Imphal and Kohima) and was very important in keeping open a supply line to China as well as keeping 300,000 Japanese soldiers tied down. It can also be linked to keeping a further 500,000 Japanese soldiers tied down in China who had to fight the Chinese resistance supplied through Burma. On top of that, I would like to mention Australian involvement in the USA's island hopping campaigns, as well as the heavy involvement of the Royal Navy in the Pacific. Anyone got any other forgotton conflicts to add?
Although the Australian I Corps was returned from Palestine/Syria to Australia in 1942, it was primarily the American forces fighting in the Solomons that prevented a disastrous Japanese invasion of the Australian homeland. Japanese troop barges that were beached on Guadalcanal had names such as Canberra, Brisbane and Adelaide. (The Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_for_Australia has a different take on this.) The Australians did fight effectively in New Guinea and the Solomons. I'm unaware of the British Royal Navy having had any heavy involvement in the Pacific in 1942-1945 following the loss of the battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse in December 1941. I would expect they were more worried about the North Atlantic, the North Sea and the Mediterranean.
Also, how about small tribal wars just about anywhere? Example, Easter Island. The Polynesians who settled it had lots of time on their hands and not much real estate to fight over, so they set about ritual warfare, including cannibalism. Personal status was determined in part by body fat, with the big chief being almost too heavy to walk.
I watched a very interesting documentary on that. They basically wiped themselves out (It was also a very early example of the consequences of living unsustainably. They basically deforested the whole island which before they arrived was bustling with vegetation and basically got themselves to a point where they were starving to death and fighting over scraps when they went through a Golden Age less then 100 years previous) It fought quite a lot in the Pacific and provided support to many of the american operatiopns. For example in Okinawa, the Royal Navy made up about a quarter of the Naval strenght. Also, after VE day, Britain had diverted many of its naval resources towards the Pacific (In fact, many of its resources in general). Before the dropping of the A-Bombs, Britain had a planned several large operations to retake Malaysia and Singapore, and it was also going to play a major role in any invasion of Japan. Naval strenght was obviously vital to this. Obviously the majoirty of strenght was used closer to home as Britain was under direct threat, but it doesn't mean they didn't contribute to the Pacific. Afterall, Britain did have colonies to protect, and French colonies to take as well (I would like to add the Battle of Madagascar as a forgotton conflict)
The Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_war A prime example of the effectiveness knowing your terrain can have despite overwhelming odds. Also a show of the crippling nature Stalin's purges had on the red army and what would come in the following operation Barbarossa when Germany invaded. Also how different WW2 could've been. The French and British were on the verge of sending troops to help Finland. Their plan though was to send them through neutral Norway(which hadn't been invaded yet) and Sweden, and also to secure Swedish iron deposits to stop their shipment to Germany.
The Germans could have easily won the Ukraine and perhaps Russia if they had not acted like savage beasts everywhere they went. By 1941 Ukrainians were sick of Khruschev and Stalin and were ready for round two of the Russian Civil War (1918-1923). Even in spite of the Germans' heavy handed methods, some Russians and Ukrainians (led by Andrei Vlasov) fought on the German side. However, Hitler didn't think a Russian Liberation Army would fit into his plans, and kept Vlasovite volunteers dispersed in the German ranks. Vlasov was captured by the Soviets in 1945 and hung in 1946.
The Rhodesian War of 1972-1979 was one in which the wrong side won. The communist-supported ZANU-ZAPU Patriotic Front was given Soviet and Chinese arms including surface to air missiles with which they shot down civilian airliners and massacred survivors. Most white farms were seized and turned over militants who had no clue how to farm, resulting in food and foreign exchange shortages. Since then the people of Zimbabwe have been blessed with the loving paternal rule of Robert Mugabe.
Battle of Kadesh. Humourously inconclusive and both sides seemed to think they had won. A case of ancient egyptian propaganda, hehe. By the way, I am new here-hello hip forums!
How about the various invasions of Afganistan? ie Alexander the Great,British,Soviets. Its too bad that our current leadership didn't learn a lesson from history when it comes to Afganistan
There's a good scene in the movie "Thirteen Days" (about the 1962 Cuban missile crisis) where American JCS Chief Curtis LeMay quotes John Paul Jones, an 18th century American naval captain, to Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. McNamara isn't too pleased to hear tactics brought up dating from the age of sail, when nuclear war is at hand.
Damn good movie. The guy that portrayed RFK was a dead ringer. What was the saying about those that fail to learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to reapeat them.
well my dad was right in the heart of the battle for leyte gulf and then it was on to tokyo. now my wife's father fought on the side of the americans,the world gets smaller one person at a time
well according to what i have found out,the battle for Leyte gulf was one of the major battles for Austalia and the Phillipines. Otherwise known as the marianas turkey shoot,that came from my dad who was actually in the battle of leyte gulf, history kicks ass
Marianas turkey shoot was the battle of the phillipine sea, several months before leyte gulf. Neither was a battle for australia, those battles to place in 1944. Your father likely was in both, most of the US pacific fleet was.
Lost WWII battlefield found -– war dead included More (with pics): http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/07/lost-wwii-battlefield-found-war-dead-included/?hpt=C2
