WWII History Students-Pacific

tug_boat said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C4XozKtEXA

I did not realize Japan controlled Vietnam during WWII

Push Hard, Press Forward
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Thanks for the follow-up. The map really doesn't do justice to the vast area of the Pacific War.

The Japanese take-over of French Indochina was one of the triggers of the Pacific war, though there were numerous other factors. After Germany overran France in June 1940, the Japanese pressed the French Vichy government to allow it to establish bases in Northern Indochina. Within months, the Japanese forced the French to declare Japan co-ruler of Indochina, effectively ceding control. In response the United States embargoed vital military and industrial materials to Japan, including scrap metal and petroleum. The US demand that Japan vacate China and Indochina to restore shipments was unacceptable, and the Japanese were unable to cut a deal with the Dutch.

Saigon became the headquarters of Japan's Southern Army, which was involved in the conquest of Thailand, British Malaya, Singapore, portions of Burma and the Dutch East Indies. Japanese bombers based in Indochina destroyed the British capital ships Prince of Wales and Repulse, which had been sent half-way around the world to protect Malaya and Singapore.
 
And from Wikipedia... the rest of the story...
Prince of Wales and Repulse were the first capital ships to be sunk solely by air power on the open sea (albeit by land-based rather than carrier-based aircraft), a harbinger of the diminishing role this class of ships was subsequently to play in naval warfare.
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