- Military documentary about the four years of Pacific war detailing the history of the defeat of Japan.
- Produced by the Army Pictorial Service, Signal Corps, with the cooperation of the Army Air Forces and the United States Navy, and released by Warner Bros. for the War Activities Committee, Motion Picture Industry, "Appointment in Tokyo" is the film story of four years of Pacific war detailing the history of the defeat of Japan. The path traces across the Pacific from Corregidor in 1942, General Wainwright's surrender, the Death March, Australia in peril, the turning points of Naval victory in the Coral Sea, land victory at Guadalcanal, and air victory over a giant Japanese convoy in the Bismarck Sea. Vast armies are marshaled in the Philippines as the Marines take Iwo Jima, and combined Army, Navy and Marine forces take Okinawa.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
- Appointment in Tokyo is a 1945 documentary produced by the Army Pictorial Service, Signal Corps, with the cooperation of the Army Air Forces and the United States Navy and released by Warner Bros. for the War Activities Committee shortly after the surrender of Japan. It mainly follows General Douglas MacArthur and his men from their exile from the Philippines in early 1942, through the signing of the instrument of surrender on USS Missouri on September 1, 1945.
The film is notable for its discussion of the problems MacArthur face in Australia after the conquest of the Philippines, the American military's "hit them where they are not" strategy through the Solomons and Papua New Guinea, and especially the footage from the reconquest of the Philippines, including of Battle of Leyte, the Battle of Manila, and the rescue of American and Filipino POWs from Japanese prison camps.
In Feb 1942, Imperial Japanese forces attack Philippines, which is under occupation of the Americans. MacArthur is ordered by the President to leave Philippines and he promises to return and liberate Philippines one day. By May 1942, Japanese annexation of Philippines is complete. Captured US POWs are marched on the Bataan peninsula, on what comes to be known as the death march. Malaysia, Borneo, New Guinea are annexed and now Australia is open to Japanese invasion. Australia had 500 planes against 3000 Japanese. 11 divisions against Japanese millions.
US diverted industrial capacity to war production, but Europe took priority. US established the world's longest supply line of 10000 miles to send materials to Australia. MacArthur worked with Chester Nimitz to combine land, sea and air forces to push back the Japanese in the Indo pacific. MacArthur went via Australia, through Solomon and New Guinea. Nimitz via the Pacific chain of Islands in a 2-pronged attack in the Pacific. A Decisive victory was won by sinking a large Japanese convoy in Bismark Sea in May 1943. Air force cleared the beachheads with bombardments, amphibious assault teams landed next, followed by land forces invasion. Japanese were cut off in New Guinea. US forces worked one island to the next, across New Guinea, to reach the Philippines. US killed 152K Japanese and bypassed 160K (Hit them where they are not strategy). US lost 13K soldiers. Nimitz had no option to bypass islands in the Pacific and each had to be taken one by one. Pacific was bridged.
In Oct 1944, an assault was launched against Japanese forces in the Philippines. Luzon is the biggest Island (& has Manila city), Mindanao is the southernmost. Japanese were dug into both, so US attacked the Islands in the middle (The Leyte) to establish a front. General Yamashita was commanding the Japanese and was determined to hold Leyte at any cost. He took troops from all neighboring islands to fight for Leyte. The US dug in for a meat grinder operation on Leyte. The Japanese fleet also arrived to protect the Leyte. The US sent in aircraft carriers to fight the Japanese fleet, protected by their land-based fighters. The US took heavy losses with planes having to land on unfinished captured airstrips in Leyte, after their flat tops were lost in the fight. But the US navy prevails at Luzon.
The Army continues fighting through the monsoon months and its slow progress. Meanwhile life under Japanese occupation in Philippines was atrocious. And the torture increased as US invaded Leyte. In Jan 1945, the attacks start on Luzon. In the hilly terrain ground forces guide the air force on the exact location of the targets, hidden in the mountains. The American forces free the POWs at Cabanatuan and then focus on Manila, where the Japanese were dug in. US forces fight street by street and push the Japanese back. Retreating Japanese forces set Manila on fire and massacre the civilians. The remaining Japanese took refuge in a old fort in Manila, with 14 inch thick walls. The Americans broke through with heavy artillery. The Luzon are liberated. MacArthur goes after Corregidor, from where he was evicted by the Japanese all those years ago. It takes 12 days to liberate the island.
Philippines secure, the US turn towards Japan itself and start attacking the smaller islands including Okinawa & Iwo Jima. Saipan based air forces attack Japanese mainland and cities. Atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki bring Japan to their knees. Aug 1945, MacArthur lands in Japan to accept the surrender of the Japanese. Surrender was signed on Sep 1st, 1945 on battleship Missouri.
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