WAKE ISLAND - On the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 8, 1941 (December 7 in Hawaii, which is on the other side of the International Date Line), Japanese Mitsubishi G3M medium Nell bombers attacked Wake Island. The island, which had been used mainly as a stopover point for Pan American air clippers, was defended 1st Marine Defense Battalion, totaling 449 officers and men, commanded by Navy Commander Winfield Scott Cunningham. Also on the island were 68 U.S. Naval personnel and about 1,221 civilian workers from the U.S. firm Morrison-Knudsen Corporation. Wake Island remained under unrelenting siege until December 23, when per Wikipedia): The isolated U.S. garrison was overwhelmed by a reinforced and greatly superior Japanese invasion force... American casualties numbered 52 military personnel (Navy and Marine) and approximately 70 civilians killed. Japanese losses exceeded 700 dead, with some estimates ranging as high as 1,000. Wakes defenders sank two Japanese destroyers and one submarine, and shot down 24 Japanese aircraft. Most military and civilian prisoners were taken to POW labor camps in Asia, where they endured brutal conditions during their transport and internment.. Some of the civilian laborers were kept on the island by the Japanese and tasked with improving the islands defenses. Per Wikipedia: After a successful American air raid on October 5, 1943, island commander, (Captain Shigematsu) Sakaibara, ordered the execution of all of the 98 captured Americans who remained on the island. They were taken to the northern end of the island, blindfolded, and machine-gunned. One prisoner escaped, carving 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. This unknown American was soon recaptured and beheaded. On September 4, 1945, two days after Japans formal surrender ending hostilities, the Japanese garrison on Wake Island surrendered to a detachment of United States Marines. When we recall the day of infamy at Pearl Harbor on December 7, remember the sacrifice of those on Wake Island as well. Heres the trailer from the 1943 film offering Hollywoods version of the events. It received four Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor. youtu.be/9wcg0mLwq1o
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 13:36:26 +0000
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