Peace & Conflict – Research Booklet Turning Points

Resource Description

Q1: To what extent was the Battle of Midway the Turning point in the Pacific War? 

Introduction: The view that the battle of Midway (4th June 1942 – 7th June 1942) as the Turning point in the Pacific war is highly accurate. Military Historian John Keegan called Midway “the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare.” The plethora of campaigns in the future could not have been decisive without the impact defeat inflicted on the Japanese Navy that occurred at the Battle of Midway. Midway’s significance was in that the U.S. was on the Offensive against the Japanese.  

1st Paragraph: Midway 4 June 1942 – 7 June 1942

1. Strategy: Strategic Goal: Sand Island -> Home to Midway’s U.S. Defensive Garrison + Power Plant + radio facilities. If the Islands could be seized by Japan, then the American Military presence in Hawaii, (1,700km) away (SE) could be seriously threatened. 

Quote “Ironically at Midway the Japanese came into battle with a degree of confidence that they had not actually felt earlier in the war (victory disease). 

Problems Quote – Parshall, Jonathan B: “Yamamoto’s plan was overly complex, too scripted, rigid and based on a faulty reading of the enemy’s temperament and intentions.” 

• • Supply lines between the U.S and Australia could be severed, crippling the Allied War Effort, opening the SW Pacific to conquest. 

• U.S Navy -> “Victory of Intelligence.” Breaking JN25 naval code. 

Scheme to confirm Midway was the target by using the code worked successfully.  

American naval reconnaissance planes confirmed the movement of the Japanese fleet and so the Americans ignored the initial Japanese feint towards the Aleutians on 3 June. This reconnaissance played an important role in locating the enemy, before the enemy located the American fleet