Empire of the Rising Sun

[Patine]

Thanks a lot, typhoon! That should do nicely.

[Case]

Originally posted by typhoon
But I'm quite sure there were Aussie troops in Malaya under Archibald Wavell at some time. Led by that Gordon Bennet fellow, no less

Yeah, the Australian 8th Division had two of its three brigades in southern Malaya at the start of the war, and the division surrendered with the fall of Singapore (with Bennet abandoning his men and fleeing to Australia. He spent the rest of the war as the commander of the West Australian Garrison, III Corps.) The division's third brigade was no more fortunate - it was split into three battalion groups, which were destroyed at Ambon, Kupang and Rabaul.

The only bit of the division which survived was one of its artillery regiments which was retained at Darwin for local defence. In August 1945 this regiment took the surrender of the massive Japanese force at Rabaul.

[Patine]

Well, work has begun in earnest on the scen now. What I need some advice on now is events: namely, major amphibious and carrier battles to create US units at (other than the obvious, like Midway, Guadacanal, Rabaul, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa). If someone could fill in some notable gaps, I'd greatly appreciate it!

[Case]

Originally posted by Patine
Well, work has begun in earnest on the scen now. What I need some advice on now is events: namely, major amphibious and carrier battles to create US units at (other than the obvious, like Midway, Guadacanal, Rabaul, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa). If someone could fill in some notable gaps, I'd greatly appreciate it!

The basic dyanmic of the Allied counter offensive was that a joint Australian-US force advanced along northern New Guinea from the second half of 1942 until early 1944. Simultaneously, a US force advanced up the Solomon Islands. The bases in New Guniea were used to launch the liberation of the Philipines in late 1944.

In late 1943 a second front was opened, with US forces advancing through the central pacific. This advance culminated in mid-1944 with the conquest of the Marianas. Bases in the Marianas were used to launch the invasion of Okinawa in early 1945.

As for the actual timing and key locations, I strongly recomend that you read a book on this topic. There's no way that you can make a decent scenario without doing so.

[Patine]

Thanks for the info (and advice), Case! I appreciate it! Any suggestions on a good book or two you enjoyed on the topic?

[Patine]

Another question of opinion, to anyone who'd like to answer it. Who should ultimately control the Western part of Canada that appears on the map: the US or the British?

[Broken_Erika]

the british, it's more realistic that way,

[Patine]

I would actually, after a bit of thought, agree.

[Patine]

Another question is who should start with control of French Indo-China. One could say the Brits, then again, it might be better to have the Dutch control it. Any suggestions?

[Case]

Originally posted by Patine
Thanks for the info (and advice), Case! I appreciate it! Any suggestions on a good book or two you enjoyed on the topic?

John Keegan's book 'The Second World War' would be an excelent starting point. You should have no trouble finding a copy of this, and it's well worth buying - IMO, it's the best single-volume history of the war.

If you can find a copy, Samuel E. Morison's book 'The Two Ocean War' would be invaluable - it's the condensed version of his brilliant Offical History of the USN in WW2 series and has heaps of information on naval operations in the Pacific.

Originally posted by Patine
Another question of opinion, to anyone who'd like to answer it. Who should ultimately control the Western part of Canada that appears on the map: the US or the British?

Definetly the US. The US and Canada co-operated very closely in the Alaskan Theatre, which made up virtually all of Canada's participation in the Pacific Theatre. The only time Canadian units served under British control in the Pacific was during the ill-fated defence of Hong Kong in 1941.

However, you may only want to give the Canadians one or two cities - historically, the Canadians concentrated on Europe, and had very little involvement in the Pacific War.

Another question is who should start with control of French Indo-China. One could say the Brits, then again, it might be better to have the Dutch control it. Any suggestions?

You may as well give it to Japan. By December 1941 they were basically running the place, with the Vichy sponsored colonial administration generally taking it's marching orders from Tokyo. While Japan formally occupied the place in 1944, they had heaps of bases in Indochina before this, with the invasion forces that hit Malaya and the Dutch East Indies staging out of southern Indochina.

[Patine]

Thanks a lot for the advice. I wasn't aware of Japan's stranglehold on Indochina that early, actually (East Wind, Rain poratrays the 'Free French,' who begin with French Indochina, as well as Tahiti and a few other islands, as a strong Allied power under Charles DeGaulle, though even then that didn't seem right to me).

[Broken_Erika]

Mabe you could find this useful, i'm on a shipbuilding spree
and i rebuilt a Kongo class bb to get a Fuso class bb
the fuso class had 16 14inch guns 8X2 and a top speed of
24 knots

[Sarsstock]

Yes Case you are right about Canadians in Hong Kong, even though ironically Hong Kong was the first time Canadians saw ground action in the Second World War. Two battalions totalling 1895 men were sent to the city ahead of 212 vehicles to participate in what was considered a "low risk assignment" due what was perceived as weakness in Japan's foreign policy towards America and Britain.

Unfortunatly, that assesment proved wrong obviously and the Canadians went into combat without their vehicles which had only arrived in Manilla at the outbreak of violence. The Canadian military then gave the Americans permision to use the Canadian hardware for their own ill fated defence against Japan in the Philippines.

Just a little historical fact I felt like throwing out there.

[Case]

Yeah, the defence of Hong Kong was one of the biggest Commonwealth cock-ups of the war. I've got no idea why the British even tried to defend the place, much less reinforced it with ill-trained and ill-equiped units in late 1941.

It's no wonder that Churchill was thrown out of office as soon as the voters could get their hands on him.

[typhoon]

Originally posted by Case
Yeah, the defence of Hong Kong was one of the biggest Commonwealth cock-ups of the war. I've got no idea why the British even tried to defend the place, much less reinforced it with ill-trained and ill-equiped units in late 1941.

It's no wonder that Churchill was thrown out of office as soon as the voters could get their hands on him.

What about Singapore? Second greatest defeat after Yorktown.

ANd Winston was kicked out because he wasn't sold on the Beveridge plan.