Operation Hailstone: Attack on Truk (Chuuk)
Greetings PHG fans, this week we're marking the anniversary of Operation Hailstone, the Allied attack on Truk Lagoon in the Second World War. From 17-18 February 1944, the US Navy's Task Force 58 engaged Imperial Japanese Army and Navy units and destroyed most of the infrastructure, ships, and weapons located there. A Japanese freighter in Truk Atoll is hit by a Mark XIII torpedo dropped from a Grumman TBF Avenger of Torpedo Squadron 17 (VT-17) from the aircraft carrier USS B
Tony Boccia
Ford Motor Company factory, Singapore
Hello readers of Pacific History Guide! Today we're going to take a brief look at a historic site in the center of Singapore - the grounds of the Ford Motor Company factory. It was here, on 15 February 1942, that the British General Sir Arthur Percival surrendered Singapore to the Japanese under General Yamashita Tomoyuki. The capture of Malaya, the fall of Singapore and Hong Kong, and the subsequent defeat of ABDA all came to define Japanese superiority in Southeast Asia du
Tony Boccia
Japanese Friendship Bell: Shelter Island, San Diego, California
Greetings PHG readers, today we're visiting the Japanese Friendship Bell here on Shelter Island in San Diego . This 6 foot tall, 4,600 pound bell was gifted to the city from the citizens of Yokohama in 1958, marking the centennial of that port's opening. The bell was tolled for the first time on 10 December 1960, with civic leaders from both San Diego and Yokohama on hand to witness it. The Japanese Friendship Bell, with "The Girl in Red Shoes" statue to the left, and floweri
Tony Boccia