World War II in the Pacific is often seen as a conflict between American and Japanese forces, with the importance of the British Pacific and East Indies Fleets often overlooked by all. Yet, by VJ-day they had more than 600 ships and nearly a quarter of a million men — British, Australian, New Zealanders, Indians, Canadians and South Africans.
Recovering from the tremendous blow that they had been dealt during the initial Japanese attacks they had earned the respect of their American allies, learning, supporting and working in conjunction with them to turn back the Japanese tide.
John Winton uncovers some of the epic moments of the Royal Navy’s service in the Far East, from the air strikes on the Palembang oil refineries to the capture of Rangoon and the sinking of Haguro, the daring penetrations of Singapore, Saigon and Hong Kong harbours by midget submarines to the attack on the Japanese home islands with Halsey’s Third Fleet.