Pages tagged with: pacific war

Thousands of New Zealanders fought in the Pacific War in the 1940s.

Hear Peter Renshaw talk about his experiences in the war in the Pacific during the Second World War

Hear Noel Rosoman talk about his experiences in the Pacific war

Hear John McKay talk about his experiences during the Second World War

Hear Harry Bioletti talk about his experiences in the Pacific war

Hear Ian Newlands talk about his experiences in the Pacific during  the Second World War

Hear Eric Osboldstone discussing his experiences in Japanses POW camps

United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt described it as 'a date which will live in infamy'  -  7 December 1941, the day the Japanese bombed the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

In 1942 the Battle of the Coral Sea (7-8 May) and Battle of Midway (3-6 June) between the Japanese and United States navies left the United States with superior numbers of essential aircraft carriers.

Once the tide had turned in favour of the United States and its allies, American troops began 'island hopping' through the central Pacific, taking one island after another. Japanese naval power was destroyed in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in October 1944, and invasions of Okinawa and Iwo Jima followed.

Dense jungle on Nissan Island

New Zealanders who served in the Pacific War had diverse experiences. They were involved in fighting in the jungle, some spent time in Japanese prisoner of war camps, others took part in air raids or manned ships, while others played a vital support role.

Key dates for New Zealand military involvement in the Pacific during the Second World War

Placing a drum of ammunition in one of HMS Leander's anti-aircraft guns

A New Zealand camp in Fiji

Questions and background information for interviewing war veterans of the Pacific Theatre in the Second World War

New Zealand troops soon after arriving at Guadalcanal, 1943.

Men of 14 Brigade with a boat abandoned by Japanese troops, Vella Lavella

New Zealanders on a beach at Nissan Island

Cemetery for New Zealand soldiers, Bangaranga, Vella Lavella

A soldier looks at dead bodies on a Pacific beach

Men from the malarial control unit spray a pool in the Pacific

A wooden carved 32 piece chess set encased in a coconut shell handmade by Lieutenant Lancelot Hugh Herd while a prisoner of war in Changi Prison, Singapore.

A Japanese Army Officers Shin Gunto sword belonging to Captain D.B Smith.

The Solomons Island parakeet Private Hunt, mascot for 37 New Zealand Infantry Batalltion, 3 New Zealand Division in the Pacific, poses with his trainer.

Charging off an LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) onto a Mono Island beach under fire

Lockheed Hudson aircraft on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, 1943

John Allingham describes the signing of the Japanese surrender, 1945.

A huge volume of material awaiting storage and shipment on the Wellington wharves in August 1942

Map showing the Japanese expansion into the Pacific in the Second World War

This shop window display encourages the purchase of Liberty Bonds to support the war effort in the Pacific. A poster proclaims 'The Jap shoots to kill! Your Armour is Liberty Bonds'

Pinex board being loaded for the Pacific

Personal effects of an American killed in the Pacific war, including a well-thumbed copy of Meet New Zealand