Some recommended reading

[Drongo]

G'day all,

For those that don't have a specialised library,

I was doing some research for an article and I blundered across an amazing little website for the South Pacific Theatre of Operations in '42.

Its actually an incredibly detailed day to day account of Dec '41 to Nov '42. The particular site is dedicated to the USS Washington but has a web page covering every military clash in every theatre during the period (including behind the top level infighting).

You will find highly detailed accounts of the S/Pac theatre mixed in with the Russian Front, North Africa and even the battles in Madagascar. The accounts cover combat detail, losses and personalities and plenty of anecdotes.

I found the accounts of the Guadalcanal Campaign as good as I've read elsewhere.

Enjoy (and if everyone else already knew about it, pffff to you).

http://www.usswashington.com/dl_index.htm

[Zakhal]

Thx man! Its a great read.

[Grotius]

Wow, that *is* a good read. I spent two hours reading the account of Midway.

And that reminds me, military-history buffs: I've been wondering about the names and designations of Japanese aircraft and squadrons. Were the names "Zero," "Emily, "Kate", "Val," "Oscar," and so forth, American slang terms for the Japanese planes? Or were they adapations of actual Japanese names? How did the Japanese pilots refer to the Zero or the Emily or what have you?

Also, what is a Daitai, Chutai, and so forth? The UV manual said something about this, but I can't find the reference now.

[SoulBlazer]

Well, I can help with part of that.....yes, the Zero, Jake, Judy, and so on, are all the American names that were given to them. Initaly they were assigned by Intel, and then passed on to the commanders and the pilots. Several types of planes that never actually existed also had names and had to be learned by the pilots.

The Japanese did have their own names for them.....one of the bombers was called Raiden (thunder) but most of these names have not been published in the west.

Heck, I did my Masters in American History on the Pacific War and I never saw them.

[Drongo]

Posted by Grotius

I've been wondering about the names and designations of Japanese aircraft and squadrons. Were the names "Zero," "Emily, "Kate", "Val," "Oscar," and so forth, American slang terms for the Japanese planes? Or were they adapations of actual Japanese names? How did the Japanese pilots refer to the Zero or the Emily or what have you?

As SoulBlazer said, allied intel gave the names when they identified (what they thought was) a new Japanese a/c type.
It came partially from the fact that they found the Jap a/c designation confusing.

Allied code names were based broadly on the following :

Male names (ie Oscar) - Fighters.
Female names (ie Betty) - Bombers and recon a/c.
Names starting with 'T' (ie Topsy) - Trainers

The names themselves meant nothing as they were normally just made up by intel officers on the spot (first name they thought of).

The code name 'Zero' for the A6m was an exception as the US new its official Jap designation of Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter (0 became 'Zero') and since it had been identified with by several different names, they decided to just go with 'Zero'.

The Japanese designation method was complex (the Army's worse than the navy's).

An example (the 'Oscar' fighter).
A) Designation : Ki-43 Ia
Kitai number (project airframe number) = Ki-43
Model number (1st model = I, 2nd = II, etc) = I
Production version of model (1st version = a, 2nd = b) = a

B) Type : Army Type 1 Fighter Model 1A
The type was based on the Japanese fiscal year (Type 1 = Jap year 2601 (or 1941 AD)). Model 1A means the same as the Kitai Ia.

C) Aircraft Name : Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon).
Naming aircraft was initially dicouraged but the army introduced names just after the start of the war. The pilots would tend to use these names or popular 'nicknames' for the aircraft. For example, the nickname Hamaki (cigar) for the Navy's G4M1 bomber (allied code name Betty) because of its shape (not for its tendency to burn).

Also, what is a Daitai, Chutai, and so forth? The UV manual said something about this, but I can't find the reference now.

This should turn you into an expert in no time.

www.marksindex.com/japaneseaviation/jaafstructure.html

[Grotius]

Thanks, Drongo and SoulBlazer. I'm learning a lot in this thread. Drongo, your link to information about Japanese organization was very helpful.

I also have broader questions about Japanese aims in the war. (I've read countless books about Hitler's aims, and I've played enough European-theater games to understand what Germany sought, but I confess to knowing little about the campaign in the Pacific theater.) Er, what were those aims? How important was the capture of resources (e.g., oil, rubber) to the Empire's strategic goals? I ask because I'm puzzled why Japan sought to invade Midway or the Aleutian Islands, holdings that wouldn't seem to lead to big resource gains. Heck, why Pearl Harbor?

For that matter, why the South Pacific? Were there important resources in Papua New Guinea or New Caledonia? Did the Empire seriously think it could occupy Australia, and even if it could, what was to be gained? Why not consolidate gains in the waters closest to Japan? Why fight a two- or three-front war?

I understand that WiTP will model resources, at least to some extent. Someone pointed out that a screenshot of Hong Kong included data on its industrial value and resource value or some such. That might help me better understand Japan's goals. But can you guys help me out (or point me to some good reading on the subject)?

[Drongo]

Posted by Grotius

Er, what were those aims?

Bugger of a question.

There's the pre-war plan, the actual starting plan and then the modifications they made up on the run (all of it open to interpretation).

Any quick summary would probably leave you with even more questions.

I dont know enough detail to even try to summarise it. If you dont get an answer here, you might be better off asking the same question on the WitP forum. Since no one there really knows much about the game yet, they just spend most of their time talking about anything and everything on the Pacific War.

Good Luck.
P.S. You could also do topic searches on the net (hint).

[XPav]

Originally posted by Grotius
Er, what were those aims? How important was the capture of resources (e.g., oil, rubber) to the Empire's strategic goals? I ask because I'm puzzled why Japan sought to invade Midway or the Aleutian Islands, holdings that wouldn't seem to lead to big resource gains. Heck, why Pearl Harbor?

After grabbing South East Asia, the Japanese plan was to
make a defense perimeter that was "impregnable" to attack. They also wanted to seriously damag the Allied navies in the process.

It was hoped then that a negotiated piece would have been agreed upon, where Japan could keep SE Asia, because of all the resources there.

[SoulBlazer]

And a good site to go to is the Imperial Japanese Navy site at www.combinedfleet.com Good job talking about Japan's war aims there (and just how seriously mismatched they were).

Midway came about because of a desire for the Japanese to go beyond their original planned defensive line, and to try to defeat the American navy once and for all. It may have worked, save for the fact we were reading their codes like todays newspaper.

(MAGIC is not really used in this game due to the fact the Japanese did make some code changes just after Midway. Buggers never realized we broke their code, though! )

[Grotius]

Thanks for the replies, and SoulBlazer, thanks for the terrific link. I know I asked a rather broad question. <grin> I will be at the bookstore tonight, so we'll see what I can find...