US Military

The first units of the US military faced the enemy in the Pacific Theater. The Japanese forces coupled their attacks on the Pearl Harbor. This was mainly by assaulting the American airbases in the Philippines. They used air strikes that were destructive in the attack which commenced on December 22, 1941. The Japanese attack forced the American on Luzon (James, 1992). General Douglas MacArthur commanded the American forces to retreat from Manila via the bay to the BataanPeninsula.

The Japanese entrance took place on the 2-nd of January, 1942. By this time, General Douglas MacArthur had moved his headquarters to Corregidor from its former Manila premises. Japan blockaded the islands making reinforcements by the defenders impossible. They also stepped in with the superiority in the air, and this situation made the defending forces unable to defend.

It is during this period of the deteriorated situation that President Roosevelt commanded General Douglas A. MacArthur to take command in Australia. He was to lead the allied forces that were in the South West Pacific assisted by Brig. Gen. Spencer B. Akin. The doomed garrison was immediately transferred to the ruler ship of Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright (James, 1992).

MacArthur formed a group called the Bataan gang, which fell in April, 1942. The American forces that remained in Corregidor were under the intense aerial artillery bombardment. In the next few weeks, this became a no man’s area due to the heavy bombardment. There were constant bomb and shell attacks, and the wire lines could not be maintained owing to the situation. The military army moved its headquarters to the Malinta Tunnel, which was an extensive tunnel that was situated underground. The tunnel had a hospital and some machine shops as well as storehouses. This made it easy for them to survive (Russell, 2009). Furthermore, they were able to use theory army’s radio station while in the tunnel. It is, however, notable that most of the army officers had been suffering from many diseases and malnutrition by the end of April. The Japanese forces destroyed all the defense of the Americans. They landed on Corregidor on the 5^th of May, 1942. Wainriaght was made to surrender due to the state of his defense. The supplies of water and ammunition were no extinct. The officers than became prisoners of the Japanese attackers.

The American forces invaded Southern Solomon’s in summer 1942. This measure was meant to stop the Japanese forces from isolating communication between America and Australia. The Japanese accepted the landing, but they later retaliated violently. The combatants led to massive battles, which were on air, in land, and even in the sea. The army later committed two divisions in Guadalcanal. In December, 1942, they arrived and did offensive operations that were launched in January 1943.

Atlantic/European/North African Theaters

The Signal Corps was involved in a great combat in North Africa. The United States army took its first operations to invade Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. This was an extended offensive operation. These were then the colonies of the French government. General Dwight D. Eisenhower acted as an overall commander of the army. He was American in nature, but his staff consisted of American and British officers. The chief officer was an American called Brig. Gen. Jerry V Matejka. The American units, however, formed the bulk of the force that was attacking (Roscoe, 1949).

At the initiation of the attack, the communication center was located at the Rock of Gibraltar. On November 8, 1942, the American and British a forces formed operation TORCH. The Signal Corps was charged with the substantial tests so far (Folly, 2002). It formed a distinct company whose role was to handle the shore party communications. The naval gunfire knocked many shipboard radios. The allies at this stage showed that they lacked experience in every aspect of warfare. The British seemed to be better versed even with communication, and in most instances, they were quick to take the lead.

They had scarcity of vehicles, and this caused the transportation to be slow in this region. The signal apparatus were also dysfunctional. The signal personnel were also not well-trained to handle the apparatus. In North African experience, many of the soldiers were moved up from the amateurs into the veterans. There was a new innovation in the theatre (Eliot, 1988).

The Signal Corps was able to overcome its problems in North Africa; it contributed to the campaigns that were successful until they ended in 1943. It got a mighty victory in Tunisia in 1943. The corps had a central role of coordinating the air ground and the sea operations of all the allied forces. It thus received recognition from the units (Folly, 2002).

In December 1941, Germany and Italy declared that they would wage the war with the Americans. The Jews who lived in Europe were the main targets in the war. Hitler’s other targets included Slavs, Poles, and Gypsies. Sicily was also invaded in an attempt to make the Mediterranean a safe ground for allied shipping. This forced the Italians out of the war and diverted the Egyptians from the Russian front. The corps used all the lessons that were learned in Africa (Buchanan, 1964).