Japan’s Perspective on the Major Allied Armies of WW2 - Where Did they Rank Them?

In this video, we're going to look at just a few examples that offer valuable insights into the Japanese perspective during World War II and then offer our opinion on which Allied soldiers the Japanese hated fighting the most.
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Chapters
0:00 Subjective as hell
1:08 Japanese values
2:47 Japanese vs Chinese
5:08 Japanese vs Soviets
7:44 Japanese vs British
9:42 Japanese vs Americas
12:06 The verdict

[@dfcd1432]

My favorite is the story of the American ice cream barge. It was created to improve morale of deployed American and Allied forces. But it unintentionally shattered any hope Japan had left. As Japanese soldiers were scrounging for any spare parts, equipment, and oil they could get, they heard rumors that America had a warship dedicated to just making ice cream.

[@schizoidboy]

To me it seems almost as if the Japanese military didn't bother to care for their troops. They weren't well paid or fed or even well equipped. Granted their training and indoctrination were substantial in comparison, but in the case of being looked after if an American soldier was wounded he went back to an aid station to get treated. The Japanese might have seen this as weakness, but the American soldier once healed returned to combat and in some cases they returned without completely healing to back up their friends in combat. Whereas the Japanese soldier was essentially told to keep on fighting even if badly wounded or sick.

[@rinck17]

There was a similar event in the European theater. A German officer remarked that he knew the war was lost when his men found a freshly baked cake from a bakery back in the States. He knew that if the Americans had the logistical room to ship such luxuries across an ocean and into a warzone while his men could scarcely get the weapons and supplies they needed for the next day while right on their own border,then the Americans would be able to bury the Germans in actual war materials.

[@brachio1000]

@@rinck17 : You beat me to it. I was about to tell that tale. I recall the Germans were happy to eat the cake, but the memoirist thought, "We can't get vital supplies from the Ruhr, 150 kilometers away, but they're getting birthday cakes from Kansas. This bodes ill."

[@schizoidboy]

@@rinck17 Reminds me of a scene in the movie about the Battle of the Bulge where Robert Shaw's character, a Nazi officer shows another officer a captured Boston Cream pie that was taken from a soldier. I wouldn't be surprised if what you described made it into this scene. As it has been quoted "Amateurs study tactics but experts study logistics."

[@mocrg]

@@schizoidboy the bushido training meant soldiers were expected to have harsh conditions. It’s not unfair to say Japanese soldiers may have been used to deprivation but as result were in fact a lot smaller and underfed compared to Allied soldiers. The post war generation were six inches taller thanks to better nutrition. Each Japanese soldier had twenty pounds of equipment as support. A GI had two tons.

[@Jake11700]

I’m like how it’s Japan’s policy to bayonet babies and massacre POWs but you get a few instances of US troops dishonorably killing Japanese POWs and all the sudden the Japanese say how awful it is to do that.

[@brucewelty7684]

LOL, It is fine for ankle biters to bite, but when the big dog snaps back, ankle biters whine.

[@collinthegamer510]

@@brucewelty7684yep

[@pyrioncelendil]

And that's why they feared Americans the most. Because America didn't practice Bushido, yet in a certain sense, they did. Imagine the cognitive dissonance that would ensue among those who'd put two and two together. And sure, Japanese propaganda portrayed American soldiers as effeminate, everyone's propaganda does that, it's standard practice. We did the same of them. It's more telling that just as the Americans feared how bloody an invasion of the Japanese home islands would be (such that use of the atomic bombs was actually viewed as a mercy because it was less bloody than an invasion would've been), the Japanese held the same fear for any idea of invading the American mainland as tantamount to suicide. The notion that there'd be "a rifle behind every blade of grass."

[@hastur-thekinginyellow8115]

@@pyrioncelendil "A rifle behind every blade of grass" As much as I love this quote and think it's badass, as well as the "I fear we've awoken a sleeping giant" quote supposedly said by Yamamoto - both quotes are actually apocryphal. They were never said, anywhere - or at any time - by any Japanese officer or politician, much less Yamamoto himself. As it turns out, BOTH quotes originate from the 60's war film "Tora! Tora! Tora!" as a part of the script, in which the actor who plays Yamamoto as a character gives these lines. Much like many other military myths however, time passed and as months gave way to years, and then years turned to decades, a game of Chinese whispers ensued with the ironic twist that the actual movie these two quotes originated from has largely fallen into obscurity with many completely unaware of it's existence, while two lines from the movie have not only outlived the film they originated from itself but superseded it in popularity to such a point as where they were/are being parroted as truth and not having originated from a work of fiction based off a historical event. Military myths are the hardest type of myth to quell and it seems once they begin they never truly go away. For every one person that get's enlightened on the truth of the myth, five more seemingly arrive to pick it up and prolong it's use. Another popular example that you may have heard is the "German soldiers in World War I feared soldiers from [X] more than any other country", with multiple variants of this myth in circulation such to the point that you can find people replacing the value of "X" with British, Canadians, and US Marines. The Canadians for example claim captured German soldiers supposedly said that they feared Canadians the most due to their "relentless nature, precision, and brutal style of close combat fighting", while you will likewise hear Americans using their own version of the myth in stating that captured German soldiers supposedly said they feared and respected US Marines above all of their other enemies and even supposedly gave them the nickname "devil dogs". And then you come to find out that all variants of the myths were actually propagated by journalists and war correspondents who were nowhere near the frontline or fighting, and never actually spoke with a German soldier - captured or not. EDIT: I'm worried that if I post sources in the form of links KZbin will flag the comment as spam, so the best I can say is simply Google the quotes and you'll find a litany of websites debunking them.

[@lamoe4175]

An understanding of Asian "face" helps to comprehend their brutality and absolute denial of the atrocities they committed - Rape of Nanjing, Comfort women, medical experiments on POWs etc. Doesn't excuse it, just helps to understand their belief that you aren't truly human if you're not Japanese.

[@coleparker]

One of the best lines I heard was from a Japanese Army officer who was asked, were the best Allied Jungle fighters. In response, he said the British as well as the Australians were probably the best followed by the Indian and Gurkha Troops. The Chinese were good as well. When ask about the Americans, he just chuckled, and said he could not rate them, because, the Americans simply blew away the jungle before fighting them. 🙂

[@VVeremoose]

That's what happens when you have the Konami code

[@azzking9305]

Sounds accurate

[@rossdawgsbrokenspirit9038]

So sad considering all the wildlife incinerated , #satanic

[@corvidcorax]

"Wrong! Gurkhas are the StRoNgEsT, most fEaRlEsS warriors in history!!" - What I expected somebody to say.

[@Huben57]

Chinese army stationed in India inflicted a 1:6 kdr on the japanese elite units despite being outnumbered by the japanese. and having much less artillery than other allied units. in one battle of the hukuang valley, the japanese had 4x the artillery pieces of chinese soldiers, and some chinese forward units were encircled by overwhelming japanese soldiers. but the japanese lost big time in hukuang valley. Thats what happens when chinese soldiers could fight the japanese on more or less equal footing.

[@savitharanmikasenanayaka6250]

Japanese soldiers feared American soldiers the most. But Japanese government feared Soviet government the most.

[@billalumni7760]

Indeed, this comment is perfect. The only thing that could be added is that both Japanese soldiers and government were most disappointed in the British.

[@AMD7027]

One thing left out in this analysis was the wretched Allied leadership early on. Specifically Percival in Malaya. Sure he did not have the forces he wanted, no commander ever had all they wanted, but those he had he led wretchedly to the point that what happened was a foregone conclusion. MacArthur had his problems, but his failure in the Philippines was due to a flawed defensive strategy. The original plan was to hold Luzon and Manila, and slowly withdraw as needed to the Bataan and Corregidor positions. The plan being to await US reinforcements from the mainland and Pearl Harbor. Once Pearl Harbor was hit, that plan was all he had…withdraw, hold, withdraw, hold, etc. as it was they tied up significant Japanese forces thru May, 1942 and then you had the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. While MacArthurs defense plan failed due to outside factors (Pearl Harbor) as a holding action he was a stunning success compared to Percival.

[@Seahorn_]

not strange considering the fact that the japanese fought against american soldiers during the whole war and only fought against the sovjets soldiers in the last 3 months of the war.....

[@rukuriri]

That opinion only holds up early war. Their opinion shifted during the Burma campaign as British forces became the only ones to beat the Japanese at their own game with deep penetration tactics. In addition the British grand strategy for the region became more feared as Slims strategy focused on making the Japanese overstretch and leave Mother Nature to weaken them before going in for the killing blows. In the end the truth will always be skewed as US officials attempted to delete all successful attacks efforts by British imperial forces such as the snubbing of the kamikaze proof BPF.

[@GasPipeJimmy]

The Japanese government feared the one who was dropping nukes on their cities and burning their war making capability to the ground.

[@jasonaquarius2004]

I love how at least one general from each of the Axis powers agreed that the US should be left alone, and then the axis leaders ignored them.

[@Draconic_thoughts]

I love puddle slimes :)

[@themadman6310]

This has absolutely nothing to do with this at all but same @@Draconic_thoughts

[@ultranecrozma7449]

Its almost like the generals knew what they were doing.

[@Andy_Babb]

“We have awoken a sleeping giant” Granted the man who said that also was certain he could win

[@waltt69]

Hitler was the allies best weapon against Germany, and overconfidence was Japan's downfall. Both countries overextended themselves and were fighting on too many different fronts to have an actual chance of winning.

[@squirepraggerstope3591]

Strangely, the Japanese air crews who attacked and eventually sank HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse were struck by the skill and courage with which the two ships were handled and fought. So much so that the following day, Lt Haruki Iki flew to the site of the battle, dropping two wreaths of flowers into the sea to honour combatants from both sides who had died. One wreath was for the fellow members of his Kanoya Air Group. The other was for the British sailors whose display of bravery in defence of the ships had gained them the utmost admiration from all pilots in his squadron. So it seems the British were not invariably seen as incompetents or cravens by the Japanese forces that actually encountered them.

[@789know]

The video perspective were mainly American and in American history perspective they seldomly mentioned the campaign in Burma India etc. They only mention early embarrassing British defeat and neglected to mention later British success as American military didn't really focus their fighting there

[@forrestsory1893]

Well maybe the British army were bumblers, not the British Navy.

[@squirepraggerstope3591]

@@forrestsory1893 True wrt Singapore particularly, but the Americans were hardly much better in the Philippines. While ironically, the Soviet forces in the far east were wholly ATYPICAL of the abysmal 1939 post-purge Red Amy.

[@stephenchappell7512]

The Japanese were aware that the 'British' defending forces were very much secondary in nature being primarily composed of troops from India together with Australian and Canadian reinforcements in Malaya and Hong Kong respectively

[@forrestsory1893]

@@squirepraggerstope3591 The Army in the Philippines held out for quite some time even after losing almost all their planes the first day and being disorganized the first few days. The Marines at Wake sank a light cruiser and repelled the first attempted landing.

[@Sepulcore42]

My grandfather was at Guadalcanal. He told me the stories of what the Japanese were doing to captured Americans. The Marines returned the favors in spades. A lot of guys that served in the Pacific despised the Japanese the rest of their lives because of how brutal they were. Everything the USMC did was purely in retaliation. And they *definitely* retaliated; just like the US Airborne divisions did in Normandy after the SS started murdering captured Americans/Canadians/British.

[@mashek331]

I remember watching documentaries on Australian troops who respected the Germans they fought in Libya as part of Rommel's 'Afrika Korps', but hated the Japanese for the rest of their lives because of the atrocities they witnessed when they returned to fight in South-East Asia.

[@nedkelly9688]

Japanese ate Australians, tortured and mutilated them. would pretend to be dead and get up and shoot them as walked past. Australians started taking no prisoners and shot everything. Some of most fearsome fighting was Australia and Japanese in PNG.. runing out of ammo and throwing guns at each other before hand to hand and even strangling one another. My Grandfather never spoke of WW2 a Australian who fought in Asia Pacific. but godamn hated Japanese and didn't really like Americans much either.

[@davidk7324]

One of my family's friends during the 60s was in the Army Airborne during the invasions of the Philippines. He saw horrible atrocities committed by the Japanese on Filipino civilians and his fellow GIs. He was also involved with liberating an American/European civilian detention camp where the Japanese treatment/conduct was inhuman. He was awarded a Silver Star for his actions. He passed ~10-15 years ago and his hatred never waned.

[@dapperdino6044]

My great grandfather was also in that battle, he was on the USS. Laffey-DD 459

[@Bitchslapper316]

Yeah, this channel presented it like it was just cruelness. There are dozens of documentaries with interviews with the soldiers from both sides that cover what happened.

[@Nickallsopp92]

I remember hearing that the Japanese told Saipan natives that the US marine were vicious psychopathic killers. That in order to become a marine in the United States, the soldier would have to kill his own mother to join their ranks. This lead a lot if Saipan civilians to hurl themselves off of cliffs to avoid the American advancement. I think the Japanese feared the US military the most for sure.

[@BJL1970]

This is true. I visited there and a resident showed me the cliff and said this same story his grandma pasted onto him. He said Japanese did more cultural damage in ten years than western powers did in 200.

[@damackabet.4611]

For a time till they realized it was mostly fabriations made up to stop surrenders. The actual government feared the chinese and than the soviets as they would have brought hell to the japanese had the japanese surrendered to them over usa.

[@mnemonicpie]

Lol and all their bushido nonsense crumbled because Americans scary😂😭

[@Giantsfanghg]

That was Okinawa not Saipan

[@StopBanningMaStuff]

@@mnemonicpieWe literally tuned the Japanese into ACTUAL effeminate anime catboys lol.

[@deliezer]

The Japanese only fought the British at the beginning of the war, when the Allies were unprepared. Similarly, their evaluation of the Soviets after Kalkin Ghol was skewed by the timing. By contrast, the Americans and Chinese fought them all through the war, so the Japanese impressions of these different armies can’t be directly compared, unless synchronized in time. Moreover, the viciousness of American tactics was informed by Japanese atrocities, including the Bataan Death March, and feigned surrender tactics. It is not fair to mention American atrocities without mentioning what sparked them.

[@julianfell666]

The Japanese attempted to invade NE India from Burma. The battle was ferocious and the Japanese were driven back with massive losses

[@onearmedbandit86]

Agree with your point overall but the British (and their Commonwealth allies) fought the Japanese throughout the war - check out the Burma campaign 1941-45. It backs up your point, actually, as the British (+ allies) initially struggled big time but, over the years, adapted and drove the Japanese back.

[@jackr2287]

Correct. The Japs were fearsome. But their brutality destroyed them.

[@sugarnads]

Errr... ANZACs. malaya. singapore. New guinea. Rabaul. Etc etc etc. From the start to the finish

[@DFMSelfprotection]

Dear lord - one of the three turning points of the war (land) was Kohima... were British/Indian armies fought the Japanese. They then went on to totally defeat the Japanese and retake Burma etc.

[@jesupcolt]

Something about the Japanese whining about the treatment of prisoners rubs me the wrong way. You fight like an animal, you get put down like one.

[@zacharydurocher4085]

Calling them animals is generous.

[@jesupcolt]

@@zacharydurocher4085, true.

[@lukalovric2463]

Beast is a more fitting word

[@Phantom-bh5ru]

@@zacharydurocher4085 savages more like

[@Blankskeen]

"When you have to deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast" - Truman

[@tylerduval358]

I remember reading a quote from the book “with the old breed” from a Japanese soldier saying they believed that the US marines were all from insane asylums and ate babies for energy. They definitely feared the Marines the most.

[@ScottyShaw]

They were right about everything except for what the marines actually ate: crayons

[@LordInquisitor701]

The only time the Marines use their teeth Is hand-to-hand combat when they tear their throat out

[@d.olivergutierrez8690]

When you are trying to do a public campaign to show how despicable your enemy is just to later becoming an unintentional psychological terror boost for your enemy

[@huntclanhunt9697]

@@ScottyShaw peaches.

[@alastairatcheson1407]

Nutrient rich babies liver. And stem cells. Soldier to super soldier.

[@catmonarchist8920]

The Americans were focused on the Pacific in a way the other European Allies weren't so it makes sense (and China was recovering from warlordism)

[@samthemodelbuilder7797]

True

[@tomfrazier1103]

Yet America defeated Japan with less than 50% of it's effort. American memoirs of the Pacific theatre continually complain of being denied resources sent to Europe.

[@DOSFS]

More or less Europe 60% and Pacific 40%, as American agree with Soviet and British on 'German First' policy. That actually shows the US in WW2 is at the top of their game as they're the only one that can do a two-front war and win in both of them. While the largest naval war in history is their 2nd important.

[@Rusty_Gold85]

An Australian Militia held the Japanese back on the Kokoda Track , then 2 Divisions withdrawn from Western Sand and Hot desert of Tobruk ( ie fighting Rommel and stopped him supplying his Army using the Harbour) were trained up and sent into Tropics , malaria and monsoonal Rain of New Guinea then obliterated the IJA so well they were useless and never were able to fight ever again. The Aussies were s o tough the Commanders couldnt get the US contingent to fight unless they had armour in a swamp environment -go figure. Also the RAAF were the First Allies to Bomb Japanese Aircraft bases after Pearl Harbour. Hours after the attack mind you

[@drejade7119]

@@DOSFS The British Empire fought on the two fronts first before US even entered

[@vegetableman3911]

Japan had reason to fear everyone by the end of the war. China was incredibly resilient and had embarrassed the Japanese forces in how they were able to effectively halt Japanese ground advances; The Americans had near endless amounts of supplies and war materiel, being able to fight their allies’ wars for them and construct an unfathomable amount of ships and planes. The Soviets were ruthless and had surprisingly good leadership under Zhukov and their government was ruthless and oppressive. The British had seemed like the underdog of the Great Powers (not including China) but had soundly halted and defeated the Japanese in different areas across the pacific, especially in Burma - causing concern that the underdog had surprisingly sharp teeth.

[@vegetableman3911]

@Holy Crusader True, but Japan wasn’t even aware that America was going to drop an atomic bomb on their cities right until they did it. Japan would’ve been more afraid of America’s Industry than the atomic bomb because they didn’t even know that the atomic bomb existed until it was already levelling Hiroshima.

[@nedkelly9688]

Yea how did you forget Australians who actually fought the most on the ground in the Aisa Pacific.. see false Propaganda of USA and British made it out like they did it all.. Tell me how many Americans and Brits were fighting in Papua new Guinea.. Tell me why only Australians are famous for Kakoda track. Tell me why MacArthur commandered 14 Divisions in Pacific campaign and 12 were Australians and only 2 were USA.. HMM weird

[@hakunamatata3970]

@@nedkelly9688 Simple answer, Australians didn't write the mainstream history books. History is told in the perspective of the loudest winners

[@nedkelly9688]

@@hakunamatata3970 Also because MacArthur reported back to USA that when Australian only battles won he said was USA and allies, when USA only won was only them. and when was joint Allies was Allies. Gave the world the impression was mostly USA. Even Britain's first defeat of Rommel in 1939 was allied win but Australian troops outnumbered all others by 4000. 16000 Australians 12000 Brits and 800 Indians and New Zealanders.

[@Walker_Bulldog]

@@nedkelly9688 Rommel had no contact with the British armed forces in 1939.

[@alaingloster4405]

After the Russian war, the Japanese military saw the 20th Century as when they’d humble the old colonial powers. That lead to almost dysfunctional levels of hyper nationalism. They wanted to keep expanding until they had the bad luck of running into Zhukov. I always had the impression that ww2 was just a sideshow in the ongoing battle between Army and Navy to the Imperial Military. Also they could have managed most of there war goals without involving the US, it was just arrogance

[@fot6771]

Either way Japan was doomed. Once the US and Britain stopped oil exports to Japan, the Japanese were increasingly desperate. The British beat the Japanese army on land at Imphal and Kohima, and the US destroyed the Japanese war effort with submarines and carriers. Even if Japan had not declared war on Britain or the US (of which the Japanese defeated neither), the Japanese would've been kicked out of China by the Soviets in 1945 due to the afformentioned oil sanctions by the US and Britain

[@sean6653]

Japan couldn't conquer China without resources from western colonial powers. It was more than just arrogance, it was the desire for an empire so great that they risked everything, and lost. Japan shouldn't have sought empire, but still, many of their criticisms of European colonialism in Asia were spot on. In fact Japan's propaganda that went along with it's co-prosperity sphere is absolutely wild to read in current year.

[@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-]

@@sean6653 But wasn't their already resources in China? Manchuria was meant to be rich in raw materials.

[@ninofromkitchennightmares1497]

@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- And the Soviets would of seized it regardless Also the Japanese were timed the Soviets would of invaded and turned Japan And their empire into communist states

[@jeremiahblake3949]

@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- Manchuria had tons of resources, but alot of them, such as it's oil weren't discovered or exploitable until decades after the war.

[@simplelogic9090]

The reason why the Japanese feared the USA was in large part due to the marines. It was because the Marines would match Japanese brutality tick for tack. And literally not for some kind of code but because they wanted to.

[@huntclanhunt9697]

Didn't help that early on the Japanese faked several surrenders, so a lot of marines just assumed every surrender was a fake.

[@collinthegamer510]

Real

[@henrydavies2782]

Its a shame that it was only matched, we could have done do much better

[@TheLAGopher]

The US Marines shattered the image of American fighting men the Japanese had told themselves. They saw the Americans as having no martial values or tradition, and as a people who valued money and the comforts of life. The Marines had a martial culture that saw war as a normal condition of service the same way the Japanese did. Most importantly while the average Marine rifleman was a youngman with no experience. He was led by battle hardened officers and NCOs who not only had vast combat experience in the Great War in France,but also in the so called "Banana Wars" in the Caribbean and Central America, that were brutal jungle wars in their own right. These interventions were conducted primarly by the US Marine Corps. The US Army (and the Marines) had a lot of jungle fighting expertise in the Phillippines against the Moros, but that conflict ended around 1913 meaning that only high level officers had experience in that conflict by the Second World War. The Banana Wars went to 1934, which meant many company and field grade officers as well as Staff NCOs, had relevant combat experience in jungle patrolling, setting ambushes, and reacting to close enemy contact. It blew the minds of the Japanese that there were Americans who releashed coming to grips with the enemy as much as the Bushido minded Japanese did. Since this wasn't believed to be the mindset of a typical "weak" American in the eyes of the Japanese, they had to come up with an explaination. Thats where the whole "Marines were recruited from prisons and insane asylums" or "Marines had to kill their own parents before being allowed to enlist" came from.

[@kristianschuff1723]

They feared the U.S. before we ever met on the battle field It was more of the U.S industrial might that terrified them

[@HouTexHemi]

This is an odd approach to the question. Pointing to supposed atrocities carried out by American marines as the only reason the Japanese may not want to fight them. Alternatively, it may be because on the field of battle, the Americans proved to be incredibly tough, incredibly well equipped, and just as tenacious as the Japanese. They were a nightmare enemy to face for the Japanese and the results are clear. The Americans essentially exterminated every Japanese military unit they faced and also systematically were burning the entire country of Japan to the ground. What the Japanese thought of as Bushido total commitment to war - the Americans put into practice against them and had the capability to make it a horrific reality.

[@voin5371]

Agreed, never mind the fact that the Americans at the time were a very proud country regardless and when War Time efforts were in full effect combined with the discovery of the atrocities of what not only the Japanese performed on allied POW's like the British or the Americans, but also how they treated civilians, from China to the Philippines to once allied Colonies, the fact that the Japanese had the audacity to say the USMC were lunatics recruited from Insane Asylums is just the biggest hypocrisy they could of enacted. As the saying goes, "Live by the sword, die by the sword"

[@hardcaselj111]

Don't forget how unpredictable American units are since the NCOs and junior officers are given so much freedom

[@Bgrosz1]

Agreed. The answer regarding America didn't make much sense to me. The total destruction of the Japanese Navy and Air Force, along with the flattening of their cities seem like they would come into play with regards to what the Japanese military thought about fighting Americans. Guess not.

[@ambushbob5383]

Ya the warrior code is all fun and games untell you come across a guy bigger than you.

[@brucewelty7684]

I approve of the city burnings. One thing I wish could have been done was bomblet raids on agriculture just prior to harvest.

[@toughspitfire]

I don't know about fear but the Japanese certainly came to respect the Ghurkas, which was probably because of them having a strong warrior culture.

[@brianjones7660]

And the G’s were known to carry a knife called a ‘kukri’ which they could use to slice your head off as fast as we can spit on the sidewalk…

[@koitorob]

The Argentine prisoners taken during the Falklands conflict feared them too. There were hundreds of prisoners, mostly conscripts in their teens/early twenties and not many Ghurkas to keep them in order. Someone in the British army came up with the idea to put the rumour out amongst them that the Ghurka were canibals. At the first sign of unrest they were told to rub their bellies and smile evilly at the prisoners. It worked. Apparantly it isn't difficult for a Ghurka to smile in terribly evil way! This was just one of th many funny true facts as told in the book Don't Cry For Me Sergeant Major, a book containng many of the funny things that happened during the conflict as told by two journalists accompanying the troops.

[@glanguish9390]

Came here to see this recommendation

[@ianmedford4855]

The US Marine Corps kicked their asses all over the Pacific from beginning to end. The casualty ratios were consistently horrifying. Like a dozens to one level disparity.

[@Strawberryknight]

Ghurkas were not in Hong Kong during the Japanese invasion in WWII. It was Canadian and Indian regiments which defended Hong Kong. Ghurkas were not in Malaysia either during Japanese invasion.

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

Of note, Japanese warrior culture for thousands of years took the heads of slain enemies as trophies. Often presenting them to their lords. So, US soldiers taking skulls might have been shocking to the people back home in the USA , but would not have been a particularly surprising or shocking practice to the Japanese military culture or the public at large.

[@goosnavslakovic4908]

The overall point is that the Japanese soldiers behaved like animals to their POWs due to their lack of respect to surrender. As much as all sides committed unspeakable atrocities, I can't help but to feel the Americans just retaliated to the egregious Japanese brutality after having to life with it from then on.

[@xxdomoxxkunxx]

I actually looked it up and honestly, people in the US were not surprised and kinda liked it. People weren't opposed to getting letter openers made from someone's arm bone. At the offical level it was banned but it was like "It's banned but if a skull somehow ends up back at home..eh" The US president got a letter opener made from a Japanese commander's femur if I recall and he actually liked. The Japanese bitched and cried when the US soldiers killed surrendering Japanese prisoners and took their body parts so I think their "Bushido" is more "Bullshido" since when it's done TO them they seem to have different opinions.

[@jmsgridiron5628]

@@xxdomoxxkunxx let's not forget that they preached honor but fought like cowards, used underhanded tactics, and raped/pillaged their way through China. Japan was a very intriguing power during the war. Very hypocritical as well.

[@nedkelly9688]

@@goosnavslakovic4908 Lol yea only Americans had it bad in Pacific.. imagine Australians who actually fought more then they did had done to them etc. Australians were eaten by Japanese. bodies mutilated, sick experiments done of cutting body parts out while alive and see how long would survive. Would play dead and wait for Australian soldiers to walk past and then get up and shoot them in the back. Yes Australians wouldn't take any prisoner after this and would shoot any Japanese lying around. Hard to see your mates brutally mutilated. Some of the most intense fighting of that war was in Papua new Guinea where mainly only Australians fought

[@brianchiang7144]

@@robertocallejas905 from what I read, American forces found the corpses of their dead mutilated by the Japanese early on in the war. This provoked these acts.

[@KapiteinKrentebol]

Japanese soldiers feared their own officers the most. Often they got beaten to near death by their own officers for minor mistakes.

[@npc2153]

Sounds like gang life in American prison. Our cultures have so much in common.

[@cosmicdisaster02]

​@npc2153 you're just commenting to comment lol. The fact that the people you mention are in prison means our society deems that behavior unacceptable. The Japanese army was of course endorced by Japanese society.

[@BobHooker]

They feared starvation the most, a beating only lasts so long, suicide is quick, even a flame thrower only last a few seconds. But starvation, which killed the most of them, was a slow process of the body tearing itself apart, often leading to insanity and cannibalism.

[@kilpatrickkirksimmons5016]

The Pacific was the Eastern Front in miniature, with more sand and water. It was race war, basically. Two sides fighting to the death who didn't quite consider their opponents human. All that to say the Japanese definitely feared the Americans the most, plus honorable mention for the Aussies. If it weren't for the Emperor's intervention they would've gladly let the Soviets take Manchuria and fight us to the death on the home islands

[@darkhope97]

Well up to that point the soviets already had a massive foothold on manchuria and were already racing to porth Arthur and also taking south sajalin and the kuril islands and were preparing to launch an offensive in hokkaido

[@aaroncabatingan5238]

The atomic bombings gave Japan an honorable reason to surrender.

[@burnypython8230]

@@darkhope97 Wasn’t there problems with the Hokkaido invasion as the Soviets aren’t necessarily well equipped to pull off a massive naval invasion, along with the fact that many of the Japanese generals felt comfortable enough defending naval invasions on their mainland?

[@Nostripe361]

@@burnypython8230 The problem for them defending Hokkaido was the Americans. By this time the Americans had so badly depleted their resources and man power that the Soviets could have just rushed the islands with a massive fleet of whatever boats they had and just soak up the casualties they would get; I don't really think Stalin was that worried about how many men died as long as they made a beachhead. There was also the fact that most of their forces were in the South in preparation for the coming US invasion that would have moved up into their capital. The Soviets could wait till they were stuck ducking it out with the Americans before they attempted their invasion of Hokkaido. It would be like the invasion of Germany just with the Americans smashing the capital city to dust instead of the Soviets.

[@SDZ675]

Soviets already took the Kuril Islands (and kept them to this day) by the end of the war. The plan would've been for the Americans to invade Kyushu and Tokyo while the Soviets invade Hokkaido and the northern prefectures. Also the US had the navy and airforce to perform regular bombings and bombardments on the home islands while the Soviets did not have that kind of firepower in the Far East.

[@Au60schild]

My uncle was a U.S. Marine who fought his way all across the Pacific. He saw battles that included hand-to-hand combat. When he came home he had to go off on his own to "get right" as PTSD was far from being a recognized psychiatric condition. We never talked directly about what he had seen and done but every now and then my aunt would let something slip. No, he was a great man who I would've loved talking to about what he had experienced, if only I could have.

[@kevinstewart7636]

I had an uncle, a Marine, who died at the end of the war. I so wish I could have picked his brain. The things I could have learned.

[@mahatmarandy5977]

My uncle was a bomber pilot in the war. He never saw hand to hand combat, but he saw crazy amounts of air combat, including friends in other planes dying every time they went up. It messed him up. He never felt guilty about it, though. The Japanese were slaughtering civilians and had to be stopped.

[@deforged]

11:16 it feels a little bit misleading by omission to mention these undeniable atrocities by not preceding the citation with the fact that it was retaliatory to the atrocities being committed and widely and accurately reported on before hand. the Japanese aggressors behaved like bloodlust sadists, rapists, murders of civilians etc., so treating them as such wasn't exactly reflective of the core of the Americans. they were fighting fire with fire.

[@SilverforceX]

This is so stupid. The fact that Americans could behave equally depraved & savage just shows you CLEARLY, this is a human trait, not a race trait or culture. We all have potential evil.

[@oryan4395]

Exactly. The Pacific theater was cruelty was met with cruelty. If the Americans were so blood crazed they wouldn't have wept and begged the civil population of Saipan to not jump off those cliffs.

[@davidk7324]

Spot on.

[@hardcaselj111]

In a war as brutal as that, what one does to the enemy is between him and whatever god he prays to

[@nein236]

I mean americans mass raped the town of my grandmother. While overall the Japanese surely were the most...well gruesome army, its not like the other armies didnt have people like that in their own divisions. The real consequences come after anyways.

[@trevor3013]

Its honestly incredible how close the US is with Japan. Seriously japan is seen as one of americas greatest allies and friends along with the UK etc. I believe it comes down to how japan was treated after the war. They expected to be treated the same way they treated the chinese and when this was disproven, they probably had an epiphany. Just what in picturing im no expert.

[@richardkenan2891]

I read one essay - no idea where, it was a long time ago - suggesting that the Gojira/Godzilla monster movies started as a metaphor for America. At first, Godzilla was a terrifying force of destruction that targeted Japan and simply could not be stopped. Over time, Godzilla remained terrifyingly powerful, but served more as a protector. And also over time, Godzilla became less terrifying and more silly. No idea if that was motivating the change in the Godzilla movies over time or not, but it is an interesting idea anyway.

[@trevor3013]

@@richardkenan2891 I thought Godzilla was a metaphor for nuclear war not the US specifically. But I may be wrong

[@josephstevens9888]

No doubt the Japanese civilian population feared America the most, especially when massive raids by B-29's started to lay Japanese cities to waste.

[@robw9435]

I've always thought that the movie "Godzilla" was a metaphor. A beast from the ocean to the east ravages Japan, laying waste wherever it chooses. Who do you suppose Godzilla represented?

[@Tadoka_Inamo]

@@robw9435 In Japan, Godzilla, particularly the original one, is believed to be a metaphor for the atomic/nuclear threat. Some Western writers/analysts suggest that it is a metaphor for the United States.

[@Haloguy3959]

@@Tadoka_Inamo MERICA FUCK YEAH. BEING A GIANT LIZARD THING THAT SHOOTS OUT NUKES. MERICA FUCK YEAH.

[@Raycheetah]

@@Tadoka_Inamo That latter theory might go far to explain the change in Godzilla's own character over the years, as well. =0[.]o=

[@rickdeckard8716]

What did Rodan and Mothra represent ?

[@sandhopper99]

I think your focus on the start of the war is probably correct. But by the end of 1944 I suspect the Japanese feared the four allied nations equally. The Chinese would just not give up, the American war machine was unbeatable, the Russians were always a threat and the British Empire forces inflicted the largest land defeat on Japan at Imphal and Kohima.

[@theawesomeman9821]

during the early stages of the war, the Japanese actually beat the Americans in several pitched battles. During this phase, it seemed that America was hopeless. Only after Midway did the Japanese actually have to fear America.

[@jerrymiller9039]

Imphal and Kohima was a four month campaign not a single battle and they lost about 55,000. They lost about 480,000 in China which is almost ten times as much and they lost more fighting the Americans than fighting the Chinese. Also more in either nuke bombing than in the Imphal and Kohima campaign. I would say it depends on what you call a land defeat and of course the largest defeat was the surrender of the home islands.

[@sandhopper99]

@@jerrymiller9039 The estimate is that closer to 100,000 died either in battle, by disease or starvation. There are tens of thousands of bodies in the jungle that may never be found. The problem with the Sino-Japanese war was hundreds of thousands could be lost for almost no gain.

[@jerrymiller9039]

@@sandhopper99 I would say that on the Eastern Front many lives were lost for little or no gain. As for the Japanese they lost almost their entire force in many battles with the Americans. Before attacking an island we would seal off the area so their navy could not reinforce them or evac them or supply them. Except for a very small number of POWs they would lose their entire force while recovering almost zero bodies. One example of an attempt to reinforce was at Okinawa they sent the Yamamoto, the most powerful battleship in history, with only enough fuel for a one way trip. It was supposed to beach itself and in effect fight as a huge unsinkable bunker. It was sunk before it could get close.

[@sandhopper99]

@@jerrymiller9039 One of the advantages of Bushido. They kept coming just to get mowed down.

[@roberthynes8976]

Before the battle of Tarawa, a Japanese solder looked out at the Marine landing craft coming to the beach and stated "The God of Death has come.". I think that sums up who the Japanese soldiers (the ones who actually had to do the fighting) feared the most.

[@pauleast3787]

i think you'll find, with a bit of research, that the British war against the Empire of Japan didn't end in 1942 as you seem to suggest by only outlining the early defeats. From early 1944 onwards, despite their best efforts the Japanese army in Burma was savaged and defeated primarily by the 14th army of the British Empire. Lest we forget.

[@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-]

Bill Slims campaign was brilliant

[@crumpetcommandos779]

@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- one of the best commanders of ww2

[@joshuaraminha8339]

I would say It was more of an Indian effort with a smattering of actual British people involved. It was really India and Australia hard carrying for Britain in the Asian theater. Britain was really important in Europe tho

[@spidos1000]

@@joshuaraminha8339 you would say? Where’s the evidence of this? Or you just making shit up?

[@B-26354]

@@joshuaraminha8339 Who do you think trained, armed and provided logistics to India and Australia? Oh yeah... The British.

[@Choppytehbear1337]

I think an interesting video would be on what different countries through of others equipment. EX: What did the Germans think of Soviet, American, and British weapons, tanks, and aircraft.

[@benjaminrush4443]

This would be a good one.

[@toughspitfire]

A weird one you don't hear about often is the Germans apparently hated the Churchill tanks cause they considered them the hardest allied tanks to take out, given its thick Armour.

[@camoningerland8212]

Bro got a heart, it might happen.

[@genghiskhan7041]

@@toughspitfire Churchills were hard to knock out, but they couldn't do much damage to the Panzers either. One Churchill got off a lucky shot that locked up a Tiger turret though. That was the ONLY Tiger tank to survive WW2 (because the Brits captured it intact!).

[@crumpetcommandos779]

@@genghiskhan7041 they could fight panzer 3s 4s and stugs just fine but obviously had difficulty against panthers and tigers

[@elkingoh4543]

My Great Grandpa was Singaporean that sent to Sabah, Malaysia. He save fews Australians troops during Sandakan Death March and died during attempt to save another soldiers. As a Malaysian, I very proud my Great Grandpa was dead among the war heroes

[@danielponiatowski7368]

i read a good book about aussie pow's who escaped to fight with the "stay behind" units in the jungle and of the local civilians who helped them escape. dont recall the book title but there were a couple of people in it that fit your grandfathers description, coulda been him.

[@elkingoh4543]

@@danielponiatowski7368 Thanks,dude

[@Zxc-yi1qg]

God bless your great grandad 🇬🇧🇸🇬

[@choomenglee2404]

What about Chin Peng's communist jungle fighters against Japanese occupation forces heroically

[@elkingoh4543]

@@choomenglee2404 I mean, he done that without any help from the others. They never be Communist

[@wolfecanada6726]

The only major land battle between Japanese and Canadian troops was Hong Kong, a battle the Japanese won.

[@beepboop204]

those survivors had a lo of suffering to endure as a result

[@toughspitfire]

The highest ranking Canadian officer at Hong Kong was actually buried with honors by the Japanese since he decided to fight to the death. Apparently his final radio message was along the lines of "going to go fight it out" and then he exited his command post firing a pistol in each hand before being killed shortly after.

[@theawesomeman9821]

I respect the Canadians for contributing, though they lost unlike the French who surrendered Indochina without a fight.

[@profesercreeper]

@@theawesomeman9821 welll France had already surrendered in Europe at that time and Vichy France was formed. So when the Japanese asked for Indochina the Vichy French who was under Germany let them have it.

[@ajaysidhu471]

@@toughspitfire rare notable Japanese moment aye

[@andrewcross2504]

Yamamoto said it best "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve" this is what he said about Pearl Harbor

[@DD-mp1kl]

there doesn't seem to be any credible source that this was a true quote. but it is true in itself.

[@anthonyfuqua6988]

That quote is apocryphal. It was never said. He did tell his superiors that although he didnt agree with war with the U.S., a successful attack on Pearl Harbor would give Japan 6 months of free reign before American production capacity would begin to overwhelm them. Yamamoto attended Harvard and had traveled all over the U.S.. He understood the U.S. and knew it could never be invaded.

[@Delgen1951]

@@DD-mp1kl Outside of the movie, there is one such quote in a book written by a Japanese historin that does attribute to someone on the Navel General staff.

[@Navybrat64]

​@@paulmcdonnell5489how do you know he didn't say it. Were you alive and there...the answer is no soooo stfu

[@hillbillychic8417]

​@@paulmcdonnell5489Just like yo mama.

[@m60pattoncovidiot29]

I think the Japanese soldiers didn't like the taste of their own medicine, semper Fi!

[@m60pattoncovidiot29]

@Dacholo the Japanese did horrible things to pacific Islanders that they just did back, specifically the iban head hunters, you should feel proud of the courage of your ancestors

[@Boxman5618]

@Dacholo many of my friends in high school were Filipino and their grand parents hated the Japanese for what they did during the war

[@aaroncabatingan5238]

I don't think the incident described on the letter actually happened. I think it was just gossip among the troops. Still, it shows us how terrified the Japanese are. I love how they described marines as 'special forces' recruited from prisons and insane asylums.

[@m60pattoncovidiot29]

@@aaroncabatingan5238 propaganda also has a big role in that I imagine

[@shadowgod1009]

I think when America split the atom and annihilated Hiroshima and Nagasaki they surely feared us most. They are the only country to be nuked as of yet, not counting nuclear tests. I couldn't imagine what that would be like, and I hope they are never used again. The raw destructive power is terrifying.

[@attempt5074]

They experienced much worse than the atomic bombs.. Take the firebombings for example, while the atomic bombs killed around 300,000, The firebombing campaign killed 900,000 and displaced millions. Plus they were faithful that the Allies would be sympathetic unlike the Soviets. They'd seen what they did to Germany and they were eager for revenge on the Russo-Japanese War.

[@alexlaws5086]

"Those Americans will never be able to successfully invade Japan." "They just dropped the sun on us." "... what?" "Twice."

[@miliba]

@@alexlaws5086 it wouldve been funny if the new japanese flag after 1945 had an atomic mushroom instead of the red sun

[@AshirenAloiseVoidsung]

@@alexlaws5086 don't forget the Doolittle raid! They may not have invaded persay but they did bomb the Japanese mainland. And this was pretty early in the Pacific war.

[@julenmarcossantamaria2762]

You are missunderstanding "Fear" with "disgust".

[@andrewstrongman305]

I'm a little surprised that Australia was not mentioned. By the time the Japanese New Guinea offensive was over they were well aware of the fighting spirit of Australian soldiers.

[@anthonymirante4946]

If I remember correctly, some Japanese units were using Australian prisoners for food. When the Australuans found out they went on a no prisoner policy and struck fear in the Japanese army.

[@markshaw5159]

@@anthonymirante4946 Partly correct. In the battles along the Kokoda Track the Japanese had been told that it would take in week to get to Port Moresby. Therefore the Japanese army provided enough food for two weeks to cover contingencies. In 1942 the Japanese had fought for a month, had not reached Port Moresby and were starving. In that event, they started to resort to cannibalism. When the Australians found the evidence of cannibalism, and also found the evidence of atrocities that the Japanese committed, (both soldiers and civilians tortured to death slowly), the Australians hardened their attitudes. Some prisoners were taken, and were treated decently once away from the front lines. However, VERY few and, yes, there was often a "no prisoners" unofficial policy. It should be noted that the Australian killing of prisoners was only AFTER they had leant how the Japanese treated their prisoners. An excellent book about the Owen Stanley Campaign is "Kokoda" by Paul Ham. Yes, I'm Australian and 2 of my uncles fought in New Guinea.

[@markshaw5159]

Yes, I would have liked to see opinions of the Australians. I have read that, when the Japanese soldiers in Japan heard where they were being sent, their attitude was, China or Korea was OK, Burma was difficult but New Guinea - "no-one comes back from New Guinea".

[@andrewstrongman305]

@@markshaw5159 I've seen no confirmed reports of cannibalism, but the Japs routinely booby-trapped their wounded with grenades. Australian soldiers soon learned to just shoot them where they lay.

[@markshaw5159]

@@andrewstrongman305 Andrew, an excellent book about the "Owen Stanley Campaign" (which it was called in 1942) is "Kokoda" by Paul Ham. He refers to reports made by soldiers at the time. It didn't happen a lot, but it did happen. The Japanese intelligence was that it would take a week to walk to Port Moresby. For contingencies, Japanese supplies were for two weeks. After a month, they hadn't reached Port Moresby and were forced back along the track. They were starving. Oh and, yes, the Australians learned to shoot or bayonet bodies of Japanese who appeared dead.

[@thehouseofstark]

As a Marine, the Japanese description of Marines made me laugh pretty hard.

[@jvaski]

Prisons and insane asylums 🤣 Though to be fair I did new a few guys from the former.

[@scripe1957]

if you replace babies with crayons i would say its not too far from being correct

[@thehouseofstark]

@@scripe1957 what?

[@booey6190]

​@@thehouseofstark the Japanese soldiers also rumored that Marines ate babies to restore their energy

[@Attack_Pillow]

@@thehouseofstark you’re a marine and don’t know the crayon joke?

[@brettcoster4781]

I was expecting the Japanese idea about the Australians as an enemy, as distinct from that of the British. Papua-New Guinea and Borneo were distinct battles.

[@seanlander9321]

The chap who put these videos together doesn’t know much.

[@wolfgangwilliams7608]

I read an autobiography of a Japanese kamikaze pilot who survived the war. He was a kamikaze for almost a year. Late in the war, he described how overwhelming the American fighter planes were vs the Japanese planes. The reason he survived was because each kamikaze mission had to be aborted because they couldn't find any ships to target. They didn't have the technology.

[@shadowwulf2154]

My father fought in the CBI ( China Burma India ) and said they had Gurkka soldiers with them as scouts and recon.At night they would go out and get to Japanese lines and come back in the morning with ears,fingers various other body parts.They definitely feared them.

[@Twirlyhead]

Probably depends on when and where you asked them the question. For example, the Japanese answer for the British would likely be different if asked during their total destruction by General Slim's British and Commonwealth forces in Burma. Incidentally, far more Japanese were killed in that theatre than by the US in the Pacific.

[@kenneth9874]

Stop twirling, you're dizzy, just the bombing of Japan proper did in more Japanese

[@Anakin_Sandy_High_Ground]

hollywood effect

[@abel_underwater]

@@Anakin_Sandy_High_Ground ah yea Hollywood….because they didn’t surrender to the Yanks on the USS Missouri and have their entire country occupied by them at the end, and a new constitution as well.

[@rossrhodes1963]

My great uncle fought in Burma. My Dad said he only ever talked about it once. He told my Dad. " By the end we were no better than the Japanese in the things we did. You never want to know what a man sounds like when a tank runs over him after he had laid down his weapon." That was the only time my great uncle said anything about his time in the war. According to my Dad. May those who fought and died rest in peace.

[@huntclanhunt9697]

Including naval casualties?

[@cosmosapiens216]

Being a Korean myself, i think we also had some balls to fight them despite being fully occupied and governed by a brutal regime. Most people don't know about what the Koreans did during all of this except for things like "Comfort Women" and slave labour. But we do learn during history class about the people who fought them as small self-organised armies in Manchuria which did win some battles during the 20s and also groups of mainly anarchists the Japanese would call "Terrorist Organisations" conduct suicidal bombing attacks against police stations, banks, railways and high-ranking japanese officials and also influential traitors who sided with the japanese. Some of them succeeded, but the bombs turned out to be a dud for many cases and they were arrested and tortured to death. I don't know if that means they also feared the Korean terrorists but most people in Korea thinks so. In the later stages of the war, some of us continued fighting going around Manchuria and mainlad china, some of us went further to Burma and helped interrigating captured japanese POWs for the British and also planned to send an army into the Korean penninsula with the Americans but was cancelled after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

[@Christobanistan]

Hey there, battle buddy!

[@jonathanbrown7250]

I once read an account of an American soldier in Vietnam. South Korea sent some soldiers to help the US out, and the American soldier said the VC were more scared of the Korean soldiers than anyone else. So not hard to believe the Korean resistance gave the Japanese a hard time.

[@dsong2006]

While I respect your all of your insurgents/partizans which fought against the Japanese in WWII, I really dislike what Korean soldiers in the Japanese army did in China. My grandparents who lived in N. China during WWII always told me from their experiences that Koreans who served or were forced into the Japanese Army were often times even more brutal then the Japanese themselves in order to prove their loyalty. A lot of war crimes were done by Koreans in China which we don't talk about today but it certainly happened a lot. The same thing can be for Taiwanese or Chinese traitors who fought for the other side. I wonder if this is taught at all in Korean textbooks.

[@davidk7324]

@@jonathanbrown7250 I heard this when I served in the Army during the Cold War. Not sure if it is a "legend" or based in reality. I do know that I trained with 2-3 Koreans during BCT in 1977. They were solid and left no doubt they could handle themselves. Much respect.

[@cheruvskiyanawanti1120]

Koreans are good when fighting as guerrillas... But are better off as sissies. Imagine being vassals to either China or Japan from 1450-1950... A whopping five centuries

[@Huben57]

"Before Major General Nakamura's death, he admitted in his diary that the Chinese soldiers' fighting ability had surpassed the Russians whom the Brigade encountered in Manchuria" Battle of Kunlun Pass. Japanese's elite 5th division: 21st brigade (12k) and the elite Taiwan Independent Mixed Brigade (10k) vs China's elite 5th corps: the 200th division(8k), 1st honor division (1.8k) and 22nd division (10k)

[@BaldBunny]

I think both the Japanese and Germans underestimated the fighting tenacity American soldiers.

[@xXxInFaMYxXx]

This is true but what they all REALLY vastly underestimated was our production we out produced EVERYONE by a HUGE number

[@chrisd2051]

True they thought we were weak because America was a young country still.

[@Christobanistan]

It's clear that Japan's cultural inability to restrain its soldiers was the eventual cause of the U.S. oil embargo, and Japan's final occupation. Had they behaved decently toward Chinese civilians, I suspect the Americans of that era might have focused on Europe instead of atrocities in Asia, especially with the Great Depression going on (we desperately needed that cash).

[@charles1964]

The U.S. Oil and Steel Embargo came on the heels of Japan joining the Axis and invading Hainan and Tonkin. The U.S. wasn't going to help fuel Japans relentless aggression any longer, therefore after Japan signed it's Non-Aggression Pact with Stalin the IJN Sneak Attacked the USN Pacific Fleet hoping for a replay of their 1905 Port Arthur victory

[@maxbennett5412]

I remember reading from an American pilot's journal that the Japanese would repaint their own aircraft that had been shot down with American colors and claim that they had shot down more American planes despite the fact that the American pilots were doing far better than the Japanese.

[@Huben57]

what can you expect from japanese.

[@commandplay]

I appreciate it when people make videos about the Pacfic Front. I feel it's not as explored as in depth compared to the European front.

[@thatguyfrommars3732]

The Japanese signed a neutrality pact with the Soviets because Hitler did so first, leaving them hanging all alone. It wasn't because they were afraid. The Japanese army always dreamed about invading Siberia during WW2, but was never able to.

[@jonathanwilliams1065]

The Japanese army had lost out to the navy though

[@davidmacy411]

Had they not gotten into their equivalent of the Spanish Ulcer in China, they could have definitely gone after the Soviets in 1942 after a big majority of Eastern/Siberian divisions were transferred to Europe. It may have been a figurative cakewalk compared to China.

[@softdrink-0]

You think Imperial Japan cared about treaties?

[@ethanedwards422]

It's a lot more likely they did it to free up desperately needed troops. They couldn't afford to keep up their garrison protecting Manchuria against the soviet union, they needed more troops for China, the pacific and for the invasion of European colonies. It was a win win for both parties. The soviets could send its considerable garrison to the west against Germany, the Japanese could focus on their many different fronts

[@extrastout1111]

they never invaded siberia in WW2 because they got swept by the soviet army at Khalkhin Gol in 39

[@victoriacyunczyk]

I've heard that the Japanese thought of the Australians the same way as the British at first, but grew to respect and fear them, starting around the time of the Australian counteroffensive at the Kokoda Track.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

And then in Burma in 1944/45 the Japanese ran away from British troops. I know. My grandfather was there. Chased them all over Burma.

[@mystikmind2005]

@@lyndoncmp5751 I would not have thought the Japanese would be capable of doing much running in 44/45 given the years of being under supplied because of moronically dysfunctional logistics?

[@honestkaos]

As the Aussies were fond of saying, "We're not here to f$ck spiders!"

[@Landotp]

they were even more scared of the emus

[@seanlander9321]

Australia handed out the first defeats to the Japanese from which the Allies learnt how to fight jungle warfare.

[@peace-now]

I spoke to some Japanese about this. They came up with a surprising answer. They mentioned the Ghurkhas as being brave fighters. My old boss told of a duel between a Japanese captain and a Ghurkha. The opponents disappeared. Soon after, the Ghurkha emerged holding the head of the Japanese.

[@aaronlaughter6471]

Thats badass.

[@rodairs1575]

The AIF (Australian Infantry) fought the Japanese to a halt using "Jungle warfare" on the Kokoda Track (New Guinea). Then pushed the Japanese back with fierce fighting going on for months. Many old Diggers (Australian Soldiers) witnessed butchered comrades in the Jungle, indicating cannibalism committed by Japanese troops. I think it was the first defeat suffered by the Japanese Forces following their advancement throughout SE Asia. There is a number of moving memorials built on the track now. Many people (including superfit footballers) do the trip & struggle to complete it. Let alone fighting every inch of the way. As a grateful Australian, I am in awe of what the Diggers did. Kokoda Track look it up

[@symbiote3220]

Also it’s quite interesting on how pop culture in Japan reflects its military practice. School uniforms have girls in sailor and men In army uniforms…and they are a commissioned officer led military (as seen in their pride of officer ranks in one piece) as USA is noncommissioned officer powered

[@beezelsub]

You think the US military is Nco powered?

[@53kenner]

@@beezelsub Pretty much. I worked in one of the two engine rooms of a Nimitz class aircraft carrier and could go days without seeing an officer. For that matter, I didn't see the chiefs that often. It was the enlisted who not only did the day-to-day work, they also managed and supervised.

[@alaric_3015]

@LTNetjak most NCO are also more loyal too, since they got promoted by experience after serving in the military unlike enlisted and commissioned officer that can pretty much joined the military right away after they completed their respective school

[@Dick_Sanormus]

the U.S. Army did the heavy lifting in the Pacific. During World War II, the Army deployed five times as many troops to the Pacific theater as the Marines. Most Americans believe that the Marine Corps won the war in the Pacific, while the US Army fought in Europe. In fact, the Pacific operations were hampered by a conflict between the Army and the Navy, that split the theatre in two. The US Army fought the main force of the Japanese Imperial Army in New Guinea and the Philippines. The Navy and Marines carried out an “island-hopping” strategy that involved amphibious assaults on islands such as Guadalcanal and Saipan. General Macarthur complained bitterly to the President that “these frontal attacks by the Navy, as at Tarawa, "are tragic and unnecessary massacres of American lives“. By way of comparison, General Macarthur’s Army killed, captured, or stranded over a quarter of a million Japanese troops during the New Guinea campaign alone, at the cost of only 33,000 US casualties. In contrast, The Navy and Marines suffered over 28,000 casualties killing roughly 20,000 Japanese on Iwo Jima. The Army played a more significant role than the Marines like to admit; the Army had more divisions assaulting Okinawa than the Marines. The Army also was the lone arm of US forces on the Philippines which saw the highest number of casualties during the pacific.. The Army had 26 divisions in the Pacific the Marine Corp had 6 divisions.

[@andrewlayton9760]

MacArthur was an arrogant ass, no doubt. But his handling of troops and the low casualty rates were unmatched. He did not expend blood wantonly.

[@adrianfeliz4779]

Yes but the difference were that they involved in the bloodiest battles of the pacific except of course Philippines but u can’t deny the marines had the toughest job in the pacific clearing the islands

[@redaug4212]

@@adrianfeliz4779 I think the argument could be made that the Marines and Navy often made a lot of their operations bloodier than they needed to be. For example, landing Marines at low tide on Betio, Chesty Puller getting his men killed due to frontal assault tactics on Peleliu, the Navy sacrificing 26,000 Marines for an island that had no strategic value (Iwo Jima). I think that just because the Army played it a little smarter than the Marines doesn't mean the Army should be remembered as second fiddle.

[@spittle8]

The Marines received the toughest and most complex assignments throughout the pacific war because they were considered the best soldiers in the theater by the army and navy officers running the war. The Corps has always been much smaller than the army.

[@nerdyali4154]

The New Guinea campaign was heavily dependent on Australian troops as I recall. The different philosophies of the Australians and Americans were really brought to light there with the Australians using tactical withdrawals when necessary with the big picture in mind. Macarthur was terrible in his handling of the Australians, getting very impatient and almost panicing when things didn't go as quickly as he wanted. He undermined the Australian generals in his talks with the Aussie PM, but it turned out that the Aussies really knew what they were doing.

[@russbarker2727]

From what I was told by my Grandfather, I would have thought that the Japanese would be somewhat in fear or respect of the Gurkha.

[@timothyferrar-cashion4005]

I would love to see what the Japanese thought of smaller nations armies such as Australia.

[@_byzzer3228]

There’s a lot of propaganda much like what’s displayed in this video but letters recovered from serviceman did reveal that there was a surprising amount of resistance from Australia that gave the Japanese pause. I don’t know much else, I’m trying to find the sources now.

[@xray86delta]

I'm not sure it's a source of pride, but I believe you are quite correct in the Japanese fear of the brutality of the American soldiers and Marines by the end of World War II. In fact, civilians on Saipan were so terrified they committed suicide rather than surrender to the Americans. True story.

[@chrisd2051]

The best way to win a fight is to make the other guy so scared they run

[@brianjones7660]

I saw old Army signal corps film showing mothers holding on to their children and pacing furiously at a distant cliff before, in terror of the approaching Americans, they dove off to their death….😔

[@brachio1000]

Murdered by their own government's propaganda.

[@LanMandragon1720]

@@chrisd2051 Plus even if they don't run away the fear can make them screw up. That's why you have trash talking in combat sports. Psychicing the other guy out is an excellent tactic.

[@chaosXP3RT]

I swear some Americans will do anything to feel ashamed of themselves

[@specialnewb9821]

Regarding the war crimes at the start: Japanese military was extremely brutal and abusive to their own soldiers to indoctrinate them. I say this not to excuse anything, but to illustrate how at every level the military was morally criminal. Would also add that the Brits performed relatively poorly during the Burma campaigns of 42/43 as well. Really while their main efforts were obviously elsewhere Brits did not have a good showing against the Japanese

[@TheNightninja23]

I would love to see a follow up on this question with resistance fighters as fighting the unknown enemy is scarier than fighting the enemy that marks himself.

[@Hhutuber]

I read stories about Japanese soldiers fighting Australians in the jungles of New Guinea and they starting thinking that they were fighting demons. The Australians were the only ones more tough and resilient at fighting in the horrible conditions of these jungles than the Japanese.

[@Youtubechannel-po8cz]

What you have to remember at the start of the war the British had a very small army that was stretched across the globe, particularly weak in Asia, totally inadequate to fight the Japanese. But once it scaled up and the troops got the right training and equipment they stopped the Japanese and pushed them back through Burma, along with the commonwealth troops. Britain historically has never maintained a large standing army her power was built on sea power.

[@DarkHorseSki]

Wake Island taught the Japanese how tough the US forces are, and that was right at the very start of the war between those two nations.

[@wizzy4038]

So underrated, this channel deserves for attention

[@dy031101]

The thing about China during WWII is that the only faction actually determined to fight Japan to the bitter end was Chiang Kai-Shek and his Nationalist government's Central Army. Many quasi-warlords nominally allied with Chiang were actually more or less on the fence during Japan's early years against Western powers whereas Japan recognized the ambition of Chiang's Kuomintang to tangibly unify China one day and deemed KMT under Chiang as something that needed be eliminated in order to render China a more-compliant client state under the framework of Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere.

[@mickmaxtube]

Australian Independent ( Commando ) Companies in Timor and other islands made the Japanese very wary by their ferocious and unexpected attacks. Some IJA units refused to leave their compounds and patrol the surrounding area for fear of the Aussie Commandos ambushing them.

[@hardroaddavey5399]

Paul Cleary's book, The Men Who Came Out of the Ground relates to this. You are correct, they feared moving around due to the Australian Independent Company's.

[@BitoyV3]

1:35 I knew I wasn't tripping when I thought Killmonger's ideology sounded familiar.

[@edbrooke75]

One of the things that always surprises me about Japan in World War II is how many pictures they have of them committing atrocities. Cameras were not cheap piece of equipment, which means that the people getting their picture taken likely requested it or even commissioned it.

[@thelizardking3036]

The australians defeated the Japanese in battle late 1942. They were among the first to do so in WW2.

[@harrync0831]

True! The Battle of Milne bay, though the Japanese had smaller set backs in previous battles. This was the first that they were forced to withdraw and abandon their objectives. Primarily Australian troops but the USA was present as well.

[@dillonma4957]

China did so numerous times, even if you view the war starting in 39 and not 37

[@huntgmx2561]

True that. The Owen gun and Matilda tanks were both a nasty surprise on the Kokoda trail. The fact the Australians were allowed to retreat from untenable positions, whereupon they were reinforced with more firepower and counter attacked ruthlessly, too.

[@littlefluffybushbaby7256]

The basic premise of this is just silly. Firstly the Japanese that fought the different nations mentioned were not the same. For instance, it's unlikely that a soldier who fought the Russians would have also fought in Burma and the Pacific Islands. Secondly, taking what was propaganda material and interpreting that to be what front line troops experienced is nonsense. All forces, Chinese, American, Australian, British, had victories and defeats. I would think what you thought of your enemy would very much depend on whether you were winning at the time. The opinion of a Japanese soldier invading the Philippines would have been quite different from one huddled in an island cave enduring naval and air attack. In thirteen minutes I wasn't expecting a deep dive into the history but this was so shallow it was a stone skipping over the surface. Ultimately it was a pointless question answered with trivial evidence.

[@commando4481]

This channel is quite basic really. Says a lot without saying much.

[@patrickmiano7901]

I totally agree.

[@gosforthlad]

And poorly researched . No mention of HMS Repulse and the US oil embargo was in response to expansion in Indochina not Mongolia .

[@patrickmiano7901]

@@gosforthlad Plus, in those days many Americans were sympathetic to the Chinese, especially after 1937.

[@gosforthlad]

@@patrickmiano7901 Yes , Madame Chiang Kai Shek , the Nangking atrocity stories and a general romanticism of Chinese culture in American movies and songs made the Americans favorable to the Chinese and distrustful of Japan.

[@Duke129409]

Now I’m curious on how the Japanese thought of the Filipinos, being a Filipino myself and having a relative who fought them. I know by the time the Filipinos engaged in guerrilla warfare, the Japanese were quite resistant in patrolling certain areas.

[@phil4483]

They certainly feared the Filipino Guerillas.

[@user-dj2yb6ne7k]

The filipinos melted away in a week .Had some Guerilla s but in the end you were saved by America

[@phased-arraych.9150]

Seems like the Japanese feared fighting the USMC in particular.

[@redaug4212]

To be fair the US Army didn't really have skin in the game until 1943, so Japanese soldiers on Guadalcanal would really only have experience fighting Marines.

[@ln7929]

@@redaug4212 also the fact that the Japanese couldn't defeat the marines in Guadalcanal even when they had the advantage

[@huntclanhunt9697]

@@redaug4212 Philippines happened...

[@redaug4212]

@@huntclanhunt9697 Right, but that was a stranded garrison that was defeated by Japan. The US Army didn't begin its own counteroffensives until late 1942 / early 1943.

[@huntclanhunt9697]

@@redaug4212 They put up a heck of a fight. Didn't the army also fight in New Guinea?

[@billadams8899]

The Japanese civilian government when war came feared Japanese troops more than any other... no contest.

[@kirbyculp3449]

Before the war even Admiral Yamamoto was fearful of assassination. The fanatics were off the charts in zealotry.

[@katana1960]

I remember when I was about ten, we were watching Victory at Sea. There was a scene with an American soldier caring for a wounded Japanese soldier. My dad said with a disgusted look on his face, "god damned Army, we (Marines) didn't take Jap prisoners. One tried to surrender to me once, I shot him." I guess it was a different time.

[@redaug4212]

The Army really didn't take many prisoners either tbh.

[@distinctga5811]

It was mostly a naval confrontation and just because your dad killed people surrendering doesn't mean everyone else did. Killing people that surrendered was not in the US military doctrine.

[@robertbenitez3647]

@@distinctga5811 It's because the japanese would frequently feign surrender, which is a war crime, because they would rather have died than be taken prisoner

[@Rowiidow]

There’s an excerpt from Stalingrad of the East I believe. That goes some thing to the extent of: “the Chinese clung to their weapons defying us even in death.”

[@rawkarp]

The Second Sino-Japanese War became part of WWII after Pearl Harbor, so the Japanese weren't fighting two wars at the same time, just one immense one.

[@codyshealy6509]

If you read the letters of Japanese soldiers it’s unquestionably the Americans they feared most. Even at the the start of the war they wrote letters home explaining their fear

[@jamessnee7171]

I think I have one that is hard to beat. When the Aussies hooked up with the Headhunters of Borneo in 1945. Had the Japanese krapping in their kimonos. And I think I read where the South Pacific Crocodiles gave the Japanese a hard time.

[@chopperaxon6171]

I am an ex-pat living in Sarawak for past 15 years. The Aussies did indeed put a bounty on heads of Japanese troops. The Iban ( mostly) went and obtained that bounty. The heads were then stored in a metal and concrete cage at the confluence of 2 rivers in Brunei. I was shown this grisly skull cage about 10 years by an ex Aussie Army friend of mine. I am not sure if it still exists. But it is a fact. I am not sure how many trophies made it to this cage as the Iban also used to put the heads of slain enemy in the roofs of their longhouses.

[@sumika2954]

Just remember Japanese soldiers in Philippines during the war were terrified despite having the numbers

[@meumnomen]

My pops was a POW held in the Philippines for over a year by the Japanese until MacArthur came back. He lived in a hole in the ground he dug himself with a grate over the top. Understandably, he wasn't too keen about talking about his imprisonment but suffered from malaria, lost a quarter of a lung, got a metal plate in his head, had scars from shrapnel and torture. The PTSD that man endured was horrific, he would wake up screaming in the middle of the night thinking he was still there.

[@decentdave4223]

I notice you left out HMS Repulse which was with HMS prince of wales. HMS Repulse dodged I think 19 torpedoes and only succumbed with a 10 torpedo pincher movement, she damaged or shot down quite a few Japanese planes. Also the Japanese were from what I have read were very impressed by the fight they put up so much so that they went back the following day a laid a reef of flowers as a mark of respect to the fallen.

[@nerdacus724]

I am an American but I also think the Australians put a lot of fear in the Japanese they are like us frontiersmen and some live in the backwoods, farms and hard cities plus already pushed to the wall. We felt betrayed when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

[@user-dj2yb6ne7k]

Most were from the bush ..Crack shooters they were .Handling rifles at a very young age .Your right mate.

[@davemccage7918]

I’m not saying I agree with that Japanese soldier’s view of the USMC, but I definitely understand how he got that impression! Marines were and still are an undeniably fearsome enemy to tangle with.

[@kousand9917]

I would say the US takes the definite top spot, the Japanese navy was obliterated basically single handedly by the US and that was their strongest asset.

[@dillonc7955]

It blows me away how relentless the Japanese were spirit wise despite having a quite undeveloped military, debatably as bad as Italy.

[@thebatmanwholaughs7877]

The only negatives Japan had military wise were with her army and and somewhat with there command structure with well telling solders to kill them selfs (and throwing waves of men, that they couldn't supply with men or with wepons)

[@Litterbugtaylor]

Japan lacked armoured forces but their aircraft, small arms and navy were advanced

[@jakemckeown9459]

What are you talking about? Japan made the biggest battleship of the war, and the conquered and controlled most of east Asia. Italy could not defeat any adversary without German help. Japan’s military wasn’t “undeveloped,” it was one of the most dominant militaries of the war. They weren’t as technologically advanced as Germany or the US, but no one else was either.

[@zacharydurocher4085]

Does it blow you away as hardly as the atomic bomb blast on Hiroshima?

[@bellicapelli8155]

The terrains where japan was supposed to fight were unsuitable for tanks, to say the least (isles and jungles), so it makes sense their military wasn't focused on that. The most developed and succesful branch was obviously the navy and they had the best naval aviation of the war as well. Japan, compared to Italy, was preparing for war, and had clear plans, while Italy was totally unprepared, expecially on the material comparment (excpet for the fleet, which was considerable, but the fleet in being doctrine made italy lag behind even there), and opportunistically joined war purely because Mussolini thought Britain would surrender shortly after France had capitulated.

[@jimdawes4551]

I heard from veteran Brits who fought in Burma that the units they feared the most were the Ghurkas. Whenever they heard that Ghurka units were facing them they ran away.

[@tjschoenlein5189]

My father & uncle both fought as Marines in the Pacific islands. As a boy (about 8I saw my uncle’s scrapbook and with my own eyes I saw Marine’s holding Japanese soldiers severed heads - the marines had smiles on their faces. No quarter was given.

[@Dick_Sanormus]

Germans- the German army by far carried the most admiration from the Allies, followed by Japanese. There are countless allied accounts telling of how well trained and disciplined the German soldiers were, as well as their ability to use combined arms, ie. artillery supporting infantry. The backbone of the German army was also its NCO corps, whereas Japanese, and Americans had a small cadre of commissioned officers leading enlisted men. ( it wasn't til after ww2 and from its respect of German NCO corp that American NCOs became backbone of its army). Japanese- As for the Japanese, they were often portrayed as inferior, ill trained soldiers compared to US troops, but once in battle with them, the marines and soldiers had great respect for them. They cited them as being well trained, well led, took great care of their weapons and were excellent marksmen as well as having unparelled bravery which often crossed over to suicidal tenacity. The Japanese didn't nearly have the artillery and mechanized punch the germans or Americans had. (the Japanese were also always in awe of how "giant" and large American fighting men were, and that they were "easy targets" because of how big their stature was. A great many American casualties was head wounds because of extremely accurate Japanese rifle fire. Italians- The Italians were the most inferior of axis troops. They were terribly led, terribly trained troops both poorly equipped and poorly supplied. They were more of a colonial police force styled army vs a industrial fighting force. There is an account of when Hitler was in Rome for a military parade and because the Italians had cardboard soles for boots they would dodge any wet puddles as to not ruin their boots while in a marching formation. When led and supplied by a German command their fighting stock was greatly improved.

[@64MDW]

Who won the war again? I forgot...

[@julenmarcossantamaria2762]

@@64MDW And who cares about your opinion again? I forgot...

[@CyBerCat6410]

@@64MDW it triggers em 😆

[@huntclanhunt9697]

@@julenmarcossantamaria2762 I care.

[@markotisovic8233]

Interestingly when one reads soldier memories, Soviets did have a some respect for japanese soldiers. In memories of soviet soldiers who fought them in 1945 only few talk about japanese fanatics (standard for western memories) most say that "Samurais fought well" or even "Samurais fought like us" with a bit of respect. Mind you most of these soviets were veterans of Koenigsberg, Berlin etc. going trough the war and were familiar with orders of defending or attacking against all odds i.e. suicidal orders. They knew a thing or two about fighting to the bitter end if ordered so. Also a note it is quite rare for them to refer to Japanese soldiers in any other term than Samurais.

[@PyromaN93]

This is stereotypical name for nation, like German = Fritz, Romanian = мамалыжник and so on.

[@danz1182]

I think it would be fair to say the Japanese feared the American war machine the most. I read a comment somewhere once where a former Japanese officer was asked his opinion on the jungle fighting skills of the various allied forces. Australia came first, but he didnt even mention the Americans. The interviewer asked why. His reply, Americans didnt fight in the jungle. They blew the jungle to hell with artillery and naval gun fire and then fought in what was left, so he didnt have any experience fighting Americans in the jungle. THAT is what scared the Japanese.

[@marvindorr6251]

I know that voice…..Geetsly’s it’s refreshing to hear your voice outside of Star Wars videos! Great job my friend!!

[@Quondom]

My father, who was a U.S. Marine, told me that the Japanese had a theory that one Japanese soldier was worth ten of any enemy. This was not just propaganda, it became the basis of their strategy. They had defeated much larger Chinese armies, overrun the Malaysian Peninsula and taken the Philippines, and they didn’t see why they couldn’t just keep going. But then came some reality checks. In New Guinea, as my father put it, “A Japanese division marched into the jungle and didn’t come out again.” This was partly due to poor logistics, but also the resistance of Australian jungle fighters and their native allies. On Guadalcanal, an American Marine division overran the Japanese positions with ease. Japanese counterattacks were fierce but hopeless. According to my father, they would send a battalion to attack a regiment or a regiment against a division. Initially, the Japanese had both air and naval superiority, but their aircraft were flying at the limits of their range and were shot down in great numbers. The Battle of Midway put an end to Japanese naval dominance. They could no longer supply their troops on the island and were reduced to expedients like loading submarine torpedoes with rice and shooting them toward the beach. In the end, less than a third of the Japanese force was left to withdraw. But these disasters were hidden from the public. Not even the Japanese army knew about the battle of Midway.

[@tomfrazier1103]

Japan's conduct of the War was based on magical thinking in a large part, yet of all the Axis powers came closest to achieving a nuclear device. Their conduct of the War is a sea of contradictions, more than are seen in other conflicts.

[@trentbyington5957]

Obviously not closest as we got it first

[@tomfrazier1103]

@@trentbyington5957 The U.S. was a United Nations power at the time, not Axis. We, with the aid of British and other European scientists actually got a functional device first. They tested their device in Manchuris 3 days before we lit up Hiroshima. Their leadership knew what hit them.

[@jaimeosbourn3616]

@@tomfrazier1103 Need a citation on the japanese actually building a nuclear device.

[@jwnomad]

@@jaimeosbourn3616 It's discredited en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_nuclear_weapons_program#Reports_of_a_Japanese_weapon_test

[@jaimeosbourn3616]

@@jwnomad I was fairly sure that was the case. If the Nazi's never got that far I don't see how the Japanese could.

[@johnwalsh4857]

in the British empire troops the Japanese feared the Gurkhas and Aussies, as well as African commonwealth troops.

[@benjaminrush4443]

15 minutes seems too little to evaluate such a complicated war. Good one. Thanks.

[@imyourdaddy5822]

Can't wait to see the Italian video on this topic~

[@glanguish9390]

🤣

[@kaushikattuluri2758]

Would like to see the allies perspective on each of the armies of the axis powers

[@Dick_Sanormus]

Germans- the German army by far carried the most admiration from the Allies, followed by Japanese. There are countless allied accounts telling of how well trained and disciplined the German soldiers were, as well as their ability to use combined arms, ie. artillery supporting infantry. The backbone of the German army was also its NCO corps, whereas Japanese, and Americans had a small cadre of commissioned officers leading enlisted men. ( it wasn't til after ww2 and from its respect of German NCO corp that American NCOs became backbone of its army). Japanese- As for the Japanese, they were often portrayed as inferior, ill trained soldiers compared to US troops, but once in battle with them, the marines and soldiers had great respect for them. They cited them as being well trained, well led, took great care of their weapons and were excellent marksmen as well as having unparelled bravery which often crossed over to suicidal tenacity. The Japanese didn't nearly have the artillery and mechanized punch the germans or Americans had. (the Japanese were also always in awe of how "giant" and large American fighting men were, and that they were "easy targets" because of how big their stature was. A great many American casualties was head wounds because of extremely accurate Japanese rifle fire. Italians- The Italians were the most inferior of axis troops. They were terribly led, terribly trained troops both poorly equipped and poorly supplied. They were more of a colonial police force styled army vs a industrial fighting force. There is an account of when Hitler was in Rome for a military parade and because the Italians had cardboard soles for boots they would dodge any wet puddles as to not ruin their boots while in a marching formation. When led and supplied by a German command their fighting stock was greatly improved.

[@pasteurmagnumwhitpotatos180]

@@Dick_Sanormus germans disciplined ? say another joke

[@ninofromkitchennightmares1497]

@@Dick_Sanormus What? Italian troops were respected on the battlefield and could hold their own if it weren’t for Incompetent officers and shitty supply lines Italian troops alongside German troops were one of the most fierce fighters

[@Dick_Sanormus]

@@ninofromkitchennightmares1497 Thats basically what I said.."when supplied and led by Germans the Italians fighting stock was greatly improved"

[@siyacer]

Impressive stuff

[@No_Man_Is_An_Island]

ROC: Did we win the Finals? KMT: Yes. ROC: What did it cost? KMT: *Everything.*

[@peterclark6290]

Those familiar with Laurens van der Post's war stories (e.g. the original story for _Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence)_ will know that the Japanese mind craved acceptance by the West. A giant of a mind (friends with Jung, Mountbatten, etc.) I highly recommend _A Walk with a White Bushman._

[@jimuren2388]

As others note, would be nice to have some info on Japanese attitudes towards Aussies, Kiwis and Indians. I guess there is not exactly a lot of information available in the English language though, so getting a Japanese historian to help would likely be needed.

[@hardroaddavey5399]

Pretty sure that New Zealand didn't really come up against too many Japanese land forces

[@ii8215]

Bit ironic that surrendered Japanese soldiers complained about their treatment by US soldiers given the fact that their own code called for such treatment.

[@williamjohnson4417]

In the Late 30s the Japanese drew up two different plans for securing the natural resources they needed to continue their war machine. The Northern Plan was to invade Mongolia and the USSR this plan was favored by the Army, the second plan was to attack the allied holdings in the South Pacific this plan was favored by the Navy. After the battle Khalkhin Gol the northern offensive was completely out of the question, and even after the Nazi’s invaded the USSR in June of 41’ the Japanese still decided it was in their better interest attacking the British/French/Americans in the South Pacific… Sure you could make the argument by the end of the war options changed, but to me it is very clear Japan feared the USSR more than they feared the US in 1941.

[@Daniel_Lancelin]

10:53 Okay, why is nobody talking about the first appearance of Chad's Japanese ancestor?