If you have ever done any reading about World War 2, at times you might come across references to the Pacific Theater and the European Theater. These relate to the areas in the world where the war was fought and there are actually more than just those two, but those two were easily the largest war theaters during that war.
HiTech Creations would like to give you a little more explanation about the Pacific Theater, and later on we’ll tell you all about playing our exciting World War 2 flight simulator.
The Pacific Theater was defined by the Allied Powers’ Pacific Ocean command area, which included the Pacific Ocean and its islands. Mainland Asia was not considered part of the Pacific Theater, and depending on which reference material you read, there is some question about Australia, the Philippines and New Guinea.
The first mention of the Pacific Theater was made on March 30, 1942, when US Admiral Nimitz was appointed Supreme Allied Commander Pacific Ocean. The other area that is often confused with the Pacific Theater was the South West Pacific Theater, and that was under the command of US General Douglas MacArthur.
The Japanese forces in this theater were part of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which was responsible for all warships, naval aircraft and marine infantry units. The General Staff was responsible for Japanese Army ground and air units in Southeast Asia.
During World War 2, most battles fought in the Pacific Ocean Theater were fought between the United States Navy, the US Marine Corps, and the Japanese forces. In the South West Pacific Theaters there were also forces from the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
Some of the major battles fought in the Pacific Ocean Theater were:
- Pearl Harbor
- Wake Island
- Coral Sea
- Midway
- Guadalcanal
- Marshall Island Campaign
- Truk Island
- Mariana Island Campaign
- Iwo Jima
- Okinawa
- Guam
- Angaur
- Leyte Gulf
- Tarawa
Next week we’ll be back with information about the European Theater during World War 2. In the meantime, we invite you to try our free two-week download of Aces High. We are quite confident that once you try our combat flight simulator, you’ll never play a different World War 2 flight simulator again. That is confidence and that confidence comes from serving so many satisfied customers over the ten plus years that Aces High has been in existence.
