From Midway to Guadalcanal: Two Months That Changed World War II | Jon Parshall

[@KMN-bg3yu]

Its real simple folks, when a John Parshall lecture pops up you watch it ASAP

[@BrokenFarmer]

Go to the museum website. They have a webinar every month. Got to chat with him during this one (first question he answers was from me).

[@KJ6EAD]

​@@BrokenFarmerI had an email conversation with Jon and he was generous, thoughtful and witty, just as he is in his presentations.

[@coachhannah2403]

Absolutely. Even if the host is boring as death.

[@therectorkid9708]

Only here for the shirts...😅

[@KMN-bg3yu]

@@therectorkid9708 lol, do you watch "Unauthorized History of the Pacific War"? I always appreciate the shirts

[@jgjgjg739]

I’m a simple man. I see John’s wallpaper, I hit the play button.

[@michaelhollman9470]

Ahhhhh.... The wallpaper.... The shirts.... It all means that we're in for a great time!

[@colinellis5243]

Totally Agree! He is an exceptional historian and such a gifted speaker.....but sometimes it's hard to see where his Hawaiian shirt ends and his wallpaper starts!!!

[@Mathwayb]

I've found more Jon Parshall videos by noticing his wallpaper or shirt in thumbnails than I can recall.

[@unclemike8467]

Parshall is such a great speaker, not only with prepared remarks, but also when unscripted. He makes great use of maps, zooming in and out as needed so we can follow along. He's the most polished and interesting speaker on the Pacific war.

[@JimRibby]

He also wears great shirts.

[@Squirrelmugger]

@@JimRibby My man could rumble for 6 hours about nonsense but if he had the shirt on then ya know its gonna be a masterpiece 🤌

[@danielgiusti6649]

100% agree. I’ll listen to anything he has

[@yvonnelee3033]

He would be even more polished if he didn't constantly say "you know." It's poor English diction. H.L. Mencken traced it to ex-slaves who had difficulty expressing themselves.

[@johnresto1603]

Agree.

[@PeterOConnell-pq6io]

One of King's six daughters took newpapers to task for their reports about her father's mercurial temperment saying “He is the most even tempered person in the United States Navy. He is always in a rage.”

[@GrahamCStrouse]

Hah! 😁

[@user-gl5dq2dg1j]

Must have further boiled his blood as prior to Secretary Knox coaching and cajoling King into befriending the papers, King only wanted to tell them 1 thing and that the war was over and that we won.

[@alanburke1893]

😅😅😅.... his fake Latin family motto 'Semper Iratus'.... Drachinfel has a great RUclips episode on him

[@PeterOConnell-pq6io]

@@alanburke1893 Drac's faux family motto is as amusing as on target

[@waynesmith8431]

John is absolutely the best. He and the guys from Unauthorised history of the Pacific War podcast are magnificent!

[@jimfesta8981]

I had a supervisor who later became a good friend who had his 16th birthday on Guadalcanal. He lied his way into the Marine Corps at age 15.

[@Briandnlo4]

When Jon’s book on 1942 is out, I’m going to read the HELL out of it.
#1 on my wishlist.

[@behindthespotlight7983]

Ever since reading Richard Tregaskes’s “Guadalcanal Diary” 40 years ago it’s always kinda bugged me when WW2 aficionados say “well the US land war really started in North Africa in November of ‘42”
Corregidor? Bataan? Guadalcanal? Port Moresby? Dutch Harbor, Alaska? When taken in aggregate these battles, fought in soup bowl helmets and often with WW1 era weapons, touched the lives of millions of Americans

[@richardbennett1856]

Well said. Timelines for the Pacific War are months earlier than Torch.
The British relations at stake, King is plotting to siphon resources from Atlantic to stop Japanese expansion. Malaya, Singapore, Java, IndoChina all have fallen.

[@gagamba9198]

Agreed. Same deal about the 'sitzkrieg' of late '39 to April '40. There was a lot of fighting on the high seas by the Royal Navy.

[@dredgenlore3334]

Everybody loves John Parshall and his wallpaper

[@CSSVirginia]

And Hawaiian shirts

[@Jayne22]

And his shirts

[@robertross4108]

That’s funny I wasn’t paying attention to wallpaper until someone commented, heck that’s the same wallpaper we used in Truckee Ca. in our home back 35 years ago. That’s cool I worked with high end decorators back in the day. Great job loved John’s explanation of how things went down in those early years of the war after Midway.

[@dennisweidner288]

As always a tour-de-force by Jon. I'm glad the Australians came up in the questions. Jon mentions the Kokoda Trail. Also worth mentioning as it is often forgotten is the Battle at Milne Bay, fought at the same time as Guadalcanal. Also important is that the British not only had to contend with Adm. King, but also PM John Curtin who wanted to fight the Japanese--understandably as they were moving toward Australia. This was a major issue because a substantial part of the Desert Army in the Middle East was the Australians.

[@godfreysanter1565]

Yes, and its sad that, given their proud record in holding off the Germans at Tobruk and the respect which Rommel had held for them, that MacArthur treated them so badly over their performance in the battles in New Guinea.

[@dennisweidner288]

@godfreysanter1565 You are absolutely correct. His behavior was astonishing, but he also treated the Asmertican troops poorly in the initial battles around Buna.

[@jimsilvey5432]

If you haven't read Jon's "Shattered Sword", you should. It's great.

[@barrygeekler6458]

Thumbs UP for Mr. Jon Parshall, always!

[@llanitedave]

Shoutout to the National Museum of the Pacific War. Located in the small but picturesque town of Fredericksburg, Texas, a bit off the beaten path in the Texas Hill Country, it would seem at first glance to be an odd place to put a major war museum. But Fredericksburg was the birthplace and childhood home of Chester Nimitz, and if one is interested in traveling for a museum visit, there's no prettier place to visit one than Fredericksburg, particularly in the spring. Lots of other things to see in the area as well.

[@v0n1b0]

This is a fantastic museum. When I went in Jan. 2019 I bought a two day ticket. Spent almost a day and a half doing the chronological walk through followed up by the outdoor and outbuilding exhibits along with the Nimitz House. Be prepared for a full immersion experience.

[@barry1722]

Well worth a visit. Plan on a full day to take it all in

[@davidgladstone6588]

Chester Von Nimitz!! The Germans were so proud of him, they talk about his military background going back to the crusades!!

[@Fulcrum205]

All shirt and wallpaper jokes aside. Jon Parshall is an outstanding historian and lecturer. He has done the dirty work slogging through the primary sources and is an excellent lecturer.

[@cliffcannon]

Always new insights in every presentation by Jon Parshall - thank you, sir, for your many years of scholarship and public education. And thank you, Ms. Lauren, for a fine job as moderator!

[@kevinmoore7975]

In the community of military historians, Parshall is a national treasure: outstanding historian and writer, compelling speaker and teacher. He has a talent for distilling complex issues down to their essence. I jump at the chance to listen to any of his lectures or read what he writes.

[@russfranck3491]

Nothings better than a Jon parshall lecture😊

[@kemarisite]

It's Jon Parschall. And, for fans from the Unauthorized History of the Pacific War Podcast, Jon's wallpaper.

[@petestorz172]

Speaking at the numbers level (rather than of human suffering), the two key loss imbalance numbers in the chart at ~19:15, IMO, are probably soldiers lost and aviators lost. Japan's population was much less than the US, making replacing >25K men more difficult. Many of those 1200-1900 aviators were the cream of Japanese aviators, well trained and experienced. Japan's training programs could never replace those losses, while US training programs were massive and brought experienced airmen home for rest, training new aviators, and becoming the core of new squadrons.

[@brettcurtis5710]

The 1st Marine Div left from New Zealand - minus the 7th Regiment, which was garrisoning Tonga! Still lots of stuff to be found around their camps near NZ's capital, Wellington! They also built a navy hospital at Silverstream in the Hutt Valley - most famous patient, Don Adams (Get Smart) who spent 18 mths there recovering from Black Water Fever (a virulent strain of malaria) contracted on Guadalcanal!

[@azflyer3297]

Parshall is THE BEST. Great author and speaker. Keep more of this stuff coming. Thanks!

[@charlespersch5224]

P

[@keithplymale2374]

It also should be pointed out that in this same time frame Stalingrad and El Alamein and the North African invasion were also happening. At the start of 1942 it could be said the Axis was winning. At the start of 1943 the only question was how long it was going to take to defeat the Axis and the cost in treasure and lives lost.

[@jiyushugi1085]

Those interested in reading a Japanese torpedo-bomber pilot's account of the battles for Midway and Guadalcanal (and much more...) should read 'The Miraculous Torpedo Squadron', the autobiography of Juzo Mori. Only recently translated into English, Mori vividly describes his life in pre-war Japan, training to become an IJN pilot, flying in China, training for and carrying out the attack on Pearl Harbor and more. This is a must read for students of the Pacific War.

[@jonparshall]

Didn't know about this, and appreciate the head's up!

[@davidgladstone6588]

Everyone shouldv read Herman Wouk's wonderful Midway Narrative in War and Remembrance.

[@nomar5spaulding]

I swear, every video I see with Jon Parshall in it, he's wearing that exact same shirt! I love it. When his 1942 book comes out, I will be buying it ASAP. Probably at least 2 or 3 times.

[@v0n1b0]

Well, it's always some sort of Hawaiian shirt

[@jonparshall]

I'll have you know I have at least *four* different shirts I wear! 🙂

[@Isolder74]

@@jonparshall Then one spread onto everyone while joking about it.

[@robertjones811]

I simply cannot imagine Marshall believing we would be prepared for "Early Europe" nor reacting impetuously to placate Roosevelt. In 22 July meeting it seems to me that Marshall's proposal for Europe invasion in 1943 was negational feint to cede the initiative for the British to suggest North Africa. Thus JOINTLY AGREED that the US needs a moderated time table for more modest ambitions, the unilateral South Pacific move has the appearance and plausibility as being both subsidiary to and not conflicting with "Europe First".

[@olaflange5254]

Can you back up this theory somehow?

[@Fulcrum205]

The South Pacific had to be first. The Japanese were on the verge of cutting off Australia. Before that happens all those Aussie troops in North Africa are heading back to defense the homeland. Then the Afrika Corp kick the remaining Brits out, close the Med and the Suez to British shipping.

[@rthompsonmdog]

Always great hearing Jon Parshall speak.

[@ganndeber1621]

What say you about the shirt?

[@frankbodenschatz173]

Seen that shirt before on the Unauthorized History of The Pacific War!

[@ganndeber1621]

@@frankbodenschatz173 I hope its been washed!

[@rthompsonmdog]

@@ganndeber1621 I was working, so more listening than watching. Did not notice the shirt.

[@Vito_Tuxedo]

I was introduced to Jon Parshall's work thanks to Drachinifel, who himself is no slouch when it comes to naval history, and has done yeoman work in sparking and then pouring gasoline on my own interest in that subject. Meanwhile, Jon is just utterly brilliant. His command of the facts is without equal, and has depth of knowledge and insight into the nuances of the Pacific war is breathtaking...and when he gets rolling, his storytelling is spellbinding. Thanks for this video!

[@ChuckLiebenauer]

Paschall’s review is the best analysis of this part of the Pacific war. Thank you.

[@gagamba9198]

Really interesting presentation. Great point about the limits of intelligence.
What I think is overlooked also is 1) the addition of the T3 tankers fulfilling the oiler role for the USN and 2) the rapid construction of those bases at Bora Bora, Fiji, New Caledonia, Espiritu Santo and Efate, etc. Vital surveillance and supply points.
Without the T3 oilers the USN has WWI-era oilers. Slow. Low capacity.
The construction of the twelve T3 tankers gives the USN three large and fast ones in '39 and the other nine are acquired from the civilian fleet in '40 and '41 prior to Pearl Harbor. For Midway, AO Cimarron (T3) and AO Platte (T3) were assigned to the task forces 16 and 17. AO Guadalupe (T3, owned by Esso first and acquired by USN in June '41) was assigned to Midway Relief Refuelling Unit, tasked with delivering fuel to the island to supply the ground aircraft. Let's not ignore that Midway Island itself was a quasi aircraft carrier. Immobile, yes. But unsinkable too. The carrier raids from 1 Feb to 18 April '42 including Doolittle's raid on Japan happen because the T3 oilers are there. Can they pull these raids off with WWI-era oilers?
For Guadalcanal, Operation Watchtower was accompanied by five oilers. They were AO Kanawha (old, commissioned June '15), AO Platte, AO Cimarron, AO Kaskaskia (T3, owned by Esso first and acquired by USN in Oct '40), and AO Sabine (T3, owned by Esso first and acquired by USN in Sep '40). Further, Naval Base Noumea on New Caledonia was established as a fuel depot for the USN and was operating prior to Watchtower. Many of these fleet sustainment facilities had to be developed from square one (docks, roads, level ground by blasting, housing, hygiene, life sustainment of water, food, medicine, labour, construction equipment and materials) _before_ the storage tanks were constructed. For Bora Bora this came from the continental US (East Coast, iirc). Prep work took about two months and the construction of storage tanks by 725 men to hold 80k barrels of fuel took just under two months (11 April to 09 June 1942); another 145k bbl storage was added in short order.

[@cragnamorra]

Great comment, fully agree. As the old quote goes, "amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics". Kind of an oft-repeated cliche, but because it's true.
One of the key episodes of the Coral Sea was the first-day IJN strike which couldn't find the US carriers and had to (rather disgustedly) "settle" for attacking the oiler Neosho, as that's all they could locate before running out of gas. I'd argue that Neosho was actually a pretty high-value target herself, almost as critical as a fleet carrier in her own right. The carrier and her escorts can't do anything without gas (something which Fletcher understood and had to deal with under wartime conditions earlier than most other at-sea US admirals...and I think was overlooked, misunderstood - or just flat-out misrepresented - in a lot of postwar history about his conduct of 1942 operations).

[@user-gl5dq2dg1j]

@@cragnamorra By later in the war, there was so many support ships to service the fleet that Fletcher would have been able to be more aggressive if he'd of had those resources available to him in '42.
One thing that boggles my mind logistically, are the Japanese, they were slower than King to understand the need for escorts. Joking aside, at the break of war they lost roughly 1/3 of their shipping as those ships were flagged with countries they just declared war on. And they didn't have the yard capacity to replace them. Granted the US went and created several ship yards to build escorts of various types as well as they merchant ships to supply the armies and navies of the Allies.

[@gagamba9198]

@@cragnamorra Indeed. Neosho was one of the fast Cimarron-class T3 oilers. The WWI-era fleet oilers were capable of 10.5-11 knots whereas the T3s were at 17-18 knots. Having all those T3s in service and manned by trained personnel _prior to_ Dec '41allowed the USN to do things it couldn't do otherwise without taking on much greater risk using much older and slower ships. Then in late Jan '42 the first batch of T2 oilers, just slightly slower than T3, began to arrive.

[@frankbodenschatz173]

John is a national wealth of knowledge!

[@jeremiahwasabullfrog957]

A recent article in World at War (Kelly Bell) about what John spoke of. "Tulagi, The First Step". It also covers the landings at Tanambogo and Gavatu.

[@v0n1b0]

15:10 I always thought that Marshall knew damned well that the Brits had no desire and were in no position to invade continental Europe in 1942. It was a bluff.
He also knew that after the Pearl Harbor attack there is no way the American people would accept having the Pacific theater and payback against the Japanese put off until Germany was defeated. The North Africa compromise opened the door for King to pursue his and Nimitz' strategy for a quicker counteroffensive against Japan.

[@zacharyfisher8152]

Knowing what we know now, it’s kind of funny that we gave two craps what the opinion of the British or French was in the Pacific. This was an awesome lecture and greatly fills in some of the details I never knew! Appreciate your time and thank you to the museum for making this video!

[@lanimulrepus]

Excellent review...
Being 90 years old, any historical & factual discussion of the Pacific War means a lot to me...

[@USSBB62]

Thanks so much John. Boy I wish I knew all this before I went to Viet Nam on BB-62 we visited a lot to these places or passed nearby. Especially spending a few minutes over Mushashi to pay respects to fellow Battleship Sailors. Thanks once again and love your work on Unauthorized History. Gonna buy your books and read them in detail.

[@saxon6]

Shattered Sword was the best ww2 book I have ever read.

[@rufusmcgee4383]

Shattered Sword is an incredibly well-written book.

[@johnfleet235]

Parshall has some great points and agree with him. The Pacific War and North Africa in WW2 is a lot like the US Civil War in the West. A military campaign generates its own momentum. Those two campaigns jump started the US effort in WW2. Just like Grant's attack on Fort Henry and Fort Donelson set the campaigns in motion that would end the war. The invasions of Guadalcanal and North Africa get the US Army, Navy and Air Force moving. In addition, those campaigns taught hard lessons needed for future campaigns. As the fictional Captain Henry said in the Winds of War, you have to get on the field to win.

[@harleyb.birdwhisperer]

No mention of the Marines? Kinda got them moving also…

[@OverpaidSlacker]

Always a treat to get a Jon Parshall video notification. I learn something new from every single video, no matter how many of them I've watched. I caught myself a few weeks ago talking about bringing "carriers to the party" and followed that up with an "in the drink" comment. So, yeah, I'm a fan.
Can't wait for the new book!

[@billmactiernan6304]

How come, when historians describe Midway, everybody focuses on the air groups from Enterprise, which had a miserable launch, flew all over the place, had an uncoordinated attack and only managed to sink Kaga and Akagi by a combination of dumb luck and incredible pilot awareness and skill. As an after thought: "Oh yea, Yorktowns air groups sank Soryu." It is my understanding that Yorktown only launched a deckload, keeping planes back for defense and second strike, and that Yorktowns planes flew right to target and launched a perfectly coordinated attack. Yet no one describes the battle from the standpoint of the absolutely best performing carrier air groups and the pilots from Yorktown..

[@cragnamorra]

The simple (perhaps over-simple) answer is just that the ENT SBD's hit two of the three carriers during the morning strike, and that's gonna grab attention. McClusky's and then Best's on-the-fly decisions are also compelling, both to write and read (or see/hear) about. But I think at least a little bit has to do with who was embarked in Yorktown. To amplify Yorktown's role and performance is, at least implicitly, to amplify Frank Jack Fletcher's as well. And that just wouldn't have fit the S.E. Morison narrative very conveniently, would it?
Just to be clear, I'm 100% with you. I marvel at McClusky's and Best's performances, but recognize that in both cases they were retrieving a deteriorating situation. So, one could argue, yeah, great decisions...but decisions which shouldn't have to been made in the first place. Yorktown's SBD's, in contrast, didn't have those kind of "high drama" critical moments because their flight and strike went pretty much as planned (at least for the dive bombers...all three air groups obviously had a regrettable TBD experience). I'd fully agree that as a combined flag staff, carrier, and air group team, Yorktown at the center of TF 17 was the class act among the early/mid 1942 carrier forces. (lol, I get the feeling that we've both read more than our fair share of John Lundstrom).

[@jonschlottig9584]

This is so good. Appreciate you working your passion John! My grandpa, Clive Blaney, was a dive bomber and flew over 100 missions in the Pacific. God bless

[@ethanmckinney203]

Being forced into North Africa (and then Sicily) inadvertently allowed the campaign in Northwest Europe to succeed. Once the Allies broke out in Normandy, they were hamstrung by the lack of a major port to bring in supplies. By dominating the Med, the Allies were able to invade southern France (Anvil/Dragoon). The French Mediterranean ports allowed the Allies to ship in a disproportionate amount of supplies and move them to the north by rail.

[@maximillianvermontsuperbik2624]

I always enjoy John's excellent dissertations, along with his friends at "Unauthorised History" Thank you !

[@keithranker3908]

Another excellent John Parshall presentation.

[@richardpalm3202]

I LOVED Shattered Sword, and this presentation was a really great supplement to it!

[@bagoquarks]

If faced with two irascible, unpleasant leaders like King and MacArthur, pick the King every time.

[@user-wi5qw3rs8o]

Coral Sea set up the possibility for a victory at Midway as two Kido Butai were not included due to damage inflicted and air wings depleted. Guadalcanal, the New Guinea campaign thru Operation Olympic did break the back of the IJN JIA. I and others refer to iy as the battle for Australia.

[@alganhar1]

I see John's shirts are as magnificent as usual....
Oh.. wait.... wasn't this about history?
But that shirt!

[@v.mwilliams1101]

Thank you. Always learn something new when Jon presents.

[@wilsonj4705]

1989: "It's gotta be the the shoes"
2024: It's gotta be the wallpaper

[@KMN-bg3yu]

@@wilsonj4705 dont leave out the shirts

[@terrylawrence7498]

Jon is the man. The shirt, the wallpaper. Right on.

[@rollierl]

I was impressed with John Parshall the first time I have seen or heard from him was in the series Battle 360 the ten part series on the USS Enterprise. He was so knowledgeable on the subject. Thank you

[@Kim-the-Dane-1952]

I just love the way he tells his story. I read his book on Midway and it is absolutely outstanding

[@ppumpkin3282]

Why not start with Coral Sea. Three months, three major battles. The Coral Sea was a big setup for Midway.

[@cragnamorra]

Fully agree. Coral Sea - and the larger strategy and campaign which led to it - deserve more attention. John Lundstrom's "The First South Pacific Campaign" (1976) is a fantastic read on the subject. Despite having been published almost 50 years ago, Lundstrom brought out a lot of detail and nuances to that period which would indeed be very fresh and "new" even the context of much more recent/current Pacific historiography. It really changed my perceptions and how I think of the early/mid 1942 Pacific war.

[@hardyakka6200]

I know Americans like to think that they were the first to defeat the Japanese on land, but the truth is that the Australians had defeated a Japanese force landing at Mylan Bay New Guinea. They defeated their large marine force.

[@jonparshall]

Battle of Alligator Creek on Guadalcanal is 21 August. The fight for Strip No.3 at Milne Bay happens on 31 August. Both these actions are incredibly important, despite their relatively small scale, in that they demonstrate that both the Americans and Australians, when properly led and supported with adequate firepower, were capable of bringing to ruin the early-war Japanese tactics that had worked so well for the IJA to that point. The fact that they happen within about a week of each other is a real eye-opener for the Japanese in Rabaul. So I like to think of them as two of a pair.

[@jannarkiewicz633]

I cant thank Admiral King for my birth. My grandparents met on a troop transport traveling from NY to North Africa in 1943 (a colonel in the artillery and a surgical nurse).

[@Fulcrum205]

Johns shirts and that wallpaper was inspired by dazzle camouflage

[@mikeklaene4359]

Mr. Parshall is fantastically knowledgeable. I have caught a couple of things that he has done with Drach.

[@amerigo88]

Battle of Midway key misunderstanding - the battle began at 9am on June 3, basically 21 hours earlier than is normally understood.
At 0900 on June 3, a PBY Catalina recon aircraft spotted the Japanese invasion task force of transports and escorts 600 miles west of Midway. This resulted in them being attacked by Midway-based B-17s at 2pm on June 3.
Why do people still think the carrier attacks against Midway at 0800 on June 4 would be a "surprise?" If Hawaii based US carriers steamed out at 12 noon on June 3, they would have been about halfway to Midway by 6am on June 4. A few hours later, the US carrier-based bombers would have been in striking range of Midway on June 4.
Battle of Midway June 3 - 7, 1942.

[@coolhand3328]

I've watched so many of Jon Parshall's interviews and podcast guest spots that his office is starting to feel like home.

[@gneisenau89]

King's accomplishments in those decisive months in the Pacific War were substantial, no doubt. It's also a testament to his resilience, as he was coming off the worst naval defeat this country has ever suffered, that being the absolute field day the U-Boots enjoyed off the US coast from January to July, 1942. More sailors were killed there (albeit almost all merchant mariners) than in the whole of the Guadalcanal campaign, and they died mostly to give King time to get over his Anglophobia and come to his senses about instituting convoy operations.

[@dukeford8893]

King's Anglophobia is a myth, and it took some time to get enough escort vessels together to operate coastal convoys. In the meantime the commodities had to be shipped.

[@petestorz172]

King and Mac ... it's probably good that they were at opposite ends of the Earth most of the time.

[@steveanderson6170]

I'd love to see another Parshall book on Guadalcanal and the Solomons campaign.

[@keepyourbilsteins]

Jon Parshall and his wallpaper? I'm in!!!

[@Isolder74]

And his shirts, don't forget the shirts!

[@morganhale3434]

The matching wallpaper and shirt lives!!!!

[@scipioafricanus4328]

A comment on the Australian/ New Zealand participation. The Australian aspect was well answered. New Zealand was not prepared for an offensive pacific attack this point, but did operate P40 and Hudson bombers from Guadalcanal fairly early on and the NZ 3rd division later did capture3 islands in the Solomon chain. Nissan, green island and Vella levella.

[@Jaysqualityparts]

Nice shirt as always Jon.. This fine fellow MacArthur😂😂😂😂😂

[@RalphTempleton-vr6xs]

Parshshall can put it together and articulate it so well, make it understandable for the average guy

[@miketamada6675]

Great talk by Jon Parshall, as always. Admiral King had to get both MaArthur and the Brits to agree to invading Guadalcanal and Tulagi.
In Richard Frank's outstanding book about Guadalcanal, he talks about how King had to convince Nimitz too (or order him). Does Frank's book overstate Nimitz's hestiation? It was a bold move to switch to the offensive so rapidly. But Jon's talk emphasizes how the Japanese occupation of Tulagi and Guadalcanal would inevitably lead to a US reaction, so maybe it was not as bold as it seems, and Nimitz would've agreed that invading Guadalcanal was the correct move?

[@dukeford8893]

King didn't have to get the Brits or MacArthur to agree to anything. He had the green light from FDR. Didn't need to convince Nimitz, either. He sent Kelly Turner to brief Nimitz and then run the operation, with the instruction to Nimitz that the plan wasn't a concept or open to debate.

[@halking3497]

I loved those photos with quotes. It made his points very easy to follow.

[@Whitpusmc]

Not surprised that King was interested in reorienting the war towards the Pacific which would be a Navy heavy theater vs European theater where the Navy was always going to be a support force.

[@cragnamorra]

I think there was more to it than that. In my view, most historians (Gerhard Weinberg a notable exception) don't bring out how the Guadalcanal campaign - and the South Pacific situation more generally - tied into and complemented "Germany First", at least in the sense of how it interacted with the 1942 European/Mediterranean war. As Jon did point out, the US-to-Australia line of communication was central to the Allies' concerns during 1942. Not just from a Pacific, but from a global, viewpoint. New Guinea and Guadalcanal seem faraway backwaters from a US perspective, but are not remote at all as seen from Australia. (More like Cuba and the Caribbean would appear to the US...as would occur in 1962).
It wasn't just about "Australia is the eventual jump-off for future offensives", it was also about keeping Australia - and Australia's troops - in the larger war, rather than focusing solely on self-defense of their own continent. This relates to Europe because Australian/NZ divisions, few though they may have been, were a critical piece of the Allied campaign in North Africa vs Rommel. Roosevelt committed the US early to keeping that Australia link open, not despite Germany First, but because of it. The Battle of the Coral Sea and later the Guadalcanal campaign flowed from that strategic decision. That's my take, anyway.

[@dukeford8893]

It wasn't a matter of "reorienting" anything. The Navy always knew that the main effort was going to be against the Japanese. That's what the Fleet was constructed for.

[@Whitpusmc]

@@dukeford8893But how much $$ went to the Navy vs the Army or the USAAF was an open question. The “Germany first” strategy would see the Army getting the lion’s share and the Navy being a transportation force and anti submarine force. Reorienting towards Japan means the Navy gets priority as carriers, cruisers and battleships are needed with a much smaller land component.

[@dukeford8893]

@@Whitpusmc Regardless of how the money was apportioned, eventually everyone got what they wanted.

[@tokencivilian8507]

Fantastic interview and Q&A session. Thank you.

[@DrGazza]

Very interesting and detailed, but as usual, the US fails to mentioned that it was the Australian Army who were the first troops in the war to stop the advancement of Japanese land forces (and show they were not invincible); in the battles of New Guinea and thus begin the retreat of the Japanese army. Also, the Australian air force (RAAF) were heavily involved, with some naval assets.

[@cheesenoodles8316]

There are many authors I have read, starting in my early teens....all wrote about the Pacific War. John may be my favorite....but I love them all. Turns out his live presentations are the best. I grew up gazing at the Pacific on the west coast.

[@MrKen-wy5dk]

Wow! No obnoxious RUclips ads. Thanks!

[@sk43999]

Another excellent presentation by Parshall. Great job pulling out those nuggests from the Graybook. Would have liked to have seen them presented side-by-side with equivalents from the Japanese side - granted, not as much has survived. Operation FS (Fiji, Samoa, New Caledonia) had been planned to be executed in July 1942. It was canceled due to Midway, but the IJN still wanted to take New Caledonia (now operation NK) with land airbases filling the void left by the loss of the carriers, and hence Guadalcanal assumed greater importance.
At the same time the IJN and IJA were both obsessing over whether to go west instead of SE and invade Ceylon. Meet up with the Germans and Italians (our allies!) reaching the Indian Ocean vai N Africa and/or the Cacausus and/or through Turkey. It was an amazing two months on the Japanese side.

[@kentpool7414]

Brilliant synopsis.

[@fredsanford5954]

@31:10 But really, did ANYBODY like MacArthur? I mean, other than MacArthur.

[@EK-gr9gd]

The Aussie PM

[@dukeford8893]

Mrs. MacArthur.

[@lukeleppla]

Best wallpaper on the internet!

[@luskvideoproductions869]

I LOVE this video, and the talk-bubbles used to convey attitudesof the Combined Chiefs of Staff, C-n-C Navy/Pac...and I like the MacArthur digs in the intel reports...this is a very very non-historian-friendly presentation, well done sir!!

[@slickp51redtail]

ANOTHER Jon Parshall masterpiece! Cheers

[@steveperry3486]

First saw Jon present at the 2011 WW2 Conference in NOLA on Midway. It was so good! Looking forward to his coming book on 1942. His talks are always top notch. He is also a great moderator at conferences.

[@paulzach1]

Wow, I almost ended this video after the first 20 seconds. But the presentation was outstanding. I learned so much about the period between midway and Guadalcanal that you can never learn anywhere else. Thank you.

[@robertmoffitt1336]

First saw Jon on The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War podcast, and he's awesome! 🍻 Super super interesting vid ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@user-gl5dq2dg1j]

My first introduction was when he appeared on Drachinifel's channel.

[@BP-1988]

Question for John - During the Battle of Midway you put the Hornet air group's poor performance and coverup on Admiral Mitscher. However you didn't mention Hornet's air group commander Stanhope Ring. It's my understanding that he was responsible for how Hornet's air group launched and tried to find the IJN's carriers by flying in "parade formation" on the "Flight to Nowhere". Wasn't Ring responsible for leading the air group in the wrong direction? Also, it's my understanding that Ring and Waldron got into a heated argument in the pilot's ready room about which heading they should fly before they launched.

[@denvan3143]

It had to occur on some level to the Japanese high command that, as the US had a “Germany first” policy, the US was fighting Japan with one hand tied behind its back _and it was winning._
That had to lead to some sleepless nights.

[@adamstrange7884]

Difference between the Axis and allies, the Allies can compromise!

[@a5-30-31cts]

@KMN-bg3yu - YES! I've seen so many documentaries of the Pacific war. John Parshall's narrative and perspectives are a godsend to help us all much better understand and give us all much better perspective of what happened.

[@WoodlandsArchive]

Jon, fantastic!

[@edroosa2958]

Thanks for this appearance and video John. We all appreciate your ability to pass on so much knowledge.

[@73Trident]

If you see Jon Parshall name pop up watch it! Does not pull punches, tells you the facts. Also never been a fan of Mitscher. He is/was a liar about Midway. Facts.

[@qstrian]

My Marine Corps veteran father helped turn the tides in World War II on Guadalcanal.

[@bradleykoenig4048]

Outstanding! So much information on here!

[@davidgladstone6588]

Wonderful presentation!!! Thank you for this! I agree with his conclusion about Midway as a hinge of fate far more than El Alamein! My dad was getting ready with the 362nd Inf. to invade Honshu on August 4 1945! He wrote my Mom a goodbye letter! 2 days later the A bomb changed everything.

[@stephenjohns5694]

Great this is one of the best description I’ve seen

[@philb7789]

Glad to see John’s office wallpaper on a different RUclips channel. Great talk.

[@user-wo4kn6ge6j]

Jon, your presentation are excellent, as usual. when do you think that your 1942 book be available.

[@barneyfife291]

Jon's the best

[@Paul-zf8ob]

Happy to see John anytime!

[@rinkevichjm]

Jon has been a regular guest host on the “unauthorized history of the Pacific war” podcasts/video casts