How A Single Aircraft Shifted The Course Of WWII In One Crucial Day

In the months after Pearl Harbor, it might have seemed like Japan was unbeatable. It more than doubled the span of its empire in a little over ten months, taking it to new territories like the Philippines, Singapore, and the Dutch East Indies, which we know today as Indonesia. The United States, meanwhile, seemed to be on the back foot.

According to some scholars, Japan’s victories throughout this period can be attributed to its advanced air technology. The empire had developed high quality planes by this point, plus they’d actually been flying them. Japanese pilots were experienced by this stage of World War II, whereas their American counterparts were only just setting out.

In the spring of 1942, however, things took a dramatic turn. A fierce battle played out in the skies and waters of a particular spot in the Pacific Ocean, which proved remarkably consequential. Having been relentlessly battered by Japan for so many months, the States was now about to register a major victory.

This period marked the point where the United States got a decisive grip on the Pacific War. But if it hadn’t been for a spot of engineering ingenuity, then things might have played out quite differently. If the Douglas SBD Dauntless aircraft hadn’t been flying, who’s to say America wouldn’t have lost the war?

The fear of losing must have been rife for Americans back on December 7, 1941. The assault on Pearl Harbor wasn’t expected, but now the States was pulled into the mire of World War II. The Japanese then moved to take over territories across the Pacific, while both Italy and Germany proclaimed war against America.

The damage at Pearl Harbor was a setback for America, but the Navy still had other battleships and submarines at its disposal. So in defense of the U.S. mainland, the Navy engaged in intense sea conflict with the Japanese. These encounters started out as basic raids, but eventually they intensified into outright battles.

Those initial months of America’s entry into World War II were tough. Japan was very much on the rise, with its empire growing at a rapid pace. It even took a part of Alaska, and was looking to disrupt America’s ally Australia. This was really problematic, as the States wanted to use Australia as a jumping-off point for its operations.

The Americans were really under pressure during those initial months. Eventually, though, they and their allies from Australia and New Zealand managed to gain a foothold and slow the Japanese down a little. The Allied side started to launch counter attacks from the sea, landing on the beaches of various territories in the Pacific. Operations like this soon became the norm.

The Allies soon started to pile pressure on Japan, trying to take over islands held by the empire. This saw American soldiers and their allies battling in places like the Philippines and New Guinea. They were hoping to take over more and more territories in the Pacific, in preparation for a move toward Japan itself.

Then the Americans and Japanese dramatically faced off during the Battle of the Coral Sea in May, 1942. This was a horrendous engagement, with both sides losing huge numbers of men. Over the course of just four days, the two sides were left battered.

The Battle of the Coral Sea represented a new phase in the history of warcraft. You see, scholars consider it to be history’s inaugural air-naval battle, which basically refers to the fact that none of the battleships actually shot at each other. Instead, the vessels just served as launching sites for aircraft to take off and fight each other in the air.

The Japanese probably emerged from the Battle of the Coral Sea in better shape than the Americans. Nonetheless, the States had challenged them like never before. Japan lost a significant number of their battle-hardened pilots, too, which set them back. In fact, they had to cancel some of their planned operations.

Even though Japan had suffered a blow, its military leadership was still confident of success. The commander of the empire’s Navy, Admiral Isaroku Yamamoto, was set on wiping out the Americans. So he planned a secret assault on the Midway Atoll, where the Allies had set up a base.

The Midway Atoll was an incredibly important place, strategically speaking. Made up of three primary isles and a number of lesser ones, the atoll is situated in the Pacific Ocean, nearly smack-bang in the middle of Japan and the U.S. mainland. Whichever side controlled the place, then, would clearly benefit.

Admiral Yamamoto’s plan to take Midway involved a number of phases. First, his forces would attack some islands off the Alaskan coast, which would serve as a diversion. Then, an assault on Midway would be launched from the air, followed by landings conducted by foot soldiers. Then, when American ships showed up to help out, the Japanese Navy would open fire.

This plan might have been effective, except the Americans had figured it all out before it was initiated. Weeks beforehand, U.S. codebreakers had intercepted Japanese communications which mentioned a planned attack on a location referred to as “A.F.” Suspecting that A.F. was, in fact, Midway, the Americans had a scheme to find out for sure.

The Americans transmitted a message about water supplies in the Midway Atoll, knowing the Japanese would hear it. Then, when the Japanese communicated a message about A.F.’s water situation through their own channels, the Americans knew they really were talking about Midway. That gave them the opportunity to secretly prepare for the Japanese assault.

On June 3, 1942, Japan initiated its plan. It started with the diversion near Alaska, before going ahead with the invasion of Midway. The Americans initiated their counterattack, though, and the two sides engaged. The historic Battle of Midway was now underway, the consequences of which would ultimately change the course of the whole war.

At the start of the following day, Japan sent planes to the sky to strike the base on Midway itself. These aircraft inflicted quite a bit of damage, but they then had to fly back to their launching ships to top up on fuel. This is when they became aware of an American fleet ready for battle.

The dramatic engagement that was about to unfold would arguably determine the course of the whole Pacific War. Many scholars highlight this battle as the point where things really started to change in the wider conflict. But if it hadn’t been for America’s Douglas SBD Dauntless aircraft, events might have unfolded quite differently.

The Douglas SBD Dauntless was the brainchild of Ed Heinemann, who designed it for bombing campaigns and intelligence-gathering purposes. It wasn’t the fastest airplane used by the States during World War II, nor was it the most technologically sophisticated. But by the end of the conflict, it was arguably the most important.

The Dauntless was used by different branches of the American military, with the Navy, Marines, and Army all flying it at one point or another. Plus, other countries made use of it, too. Members of New Zealand’s Air Force flew the plane over the Pacific, while various French forces also hopped into the Dauntless cockpit.

The Dauntless entered into production in the United States in 1940, not long before the country was pulled into the war. The plane flew for the first time in May of that year, which would be followed by many more flights over the next few years. Some 5,936 planes were created right up until 1944, when production ceased.

At 14,000 feet up in the air, the Dauntless could hit a top speed of 255 miles per hour. It could reach a higher altitude at lower speeds, though, with 25,530 feet said to be the maximum. It was capable of carrying around 2,250 pounds of explosives, while it was also equipped with machine guns.

In spite of its relative slowness, the Dauntless proved to be an exceptionally important plane for the Americans. It was adept at diving maneuvers, for one thing, while it was also really good for scouting missions. The aircraft had plenty of positives, then, but it really showed off during the Battle of Midway.

As we’ve seen, the Japanese had big plans to really hurt the Americans in a battle for the Midway Atoll. But they hadn’t counted on just how prepared the U.S. forces would be. So while they’d planned to catch the Americans off guard, the reverse is what actually came to pass.

The Americans dramatically beat back the Japanese during the Battle of Midway, with four Japanese aircraft carriers being wiped out. That was a massive loss for Japan, which left their plan in tatters. But how were so many carriers taken out? Well, it was all down to the Douglas SBD Dauntless.

Three of the Japanese carriers were sunk in a single wave of Dauntless attacks, but the fourth one survived for a while longer. This vessel was the Hiryū, from which the Japanese could launch more of their own aircraft to the sky. By the middle of the day, though, American fighter planes had managed to sink it. Boo-yeah!

In the days that followed the sinking of these carriers, the American attacks relentlessly continued. And eventually the enemy had to give in and leave Midway. By that time the Japanese had lost a lot of men and crafts, while the Americans had fared a lot better. A corner had been turned.

The Americans had stemmed Japanese expansion through the Pacific, forcing the enemy to take a more defensive stance. Rather than ceaselessly looking to take more and more control of the Pacific Ocean, Japan was now being pinned back. The consequences of this change in fortunes would prove to be dramatic.

Having emerged from the Battle of Midway as the victors, the American forces were now running high on confidence. The complete opposite was the case for the Japanese, who were left despondent and exhausted. A lot can be said for morale during a conflict as brutal as World War II.

The Dauntless had directly contributed to an incredibly important American victory, but that wasn’t all. The plane would continue to fly in more operations, helping the Allies on their path to ultimate victory. By the time of the war’s end, the Dauntless had taken out many more important ships in the Japanese fleet.

The Battle of Guadalcanal was another engagement in which the Dauntless played a central role. During the hostilities, the aircraft was responsible for sinking yet another of Japan’s aircraft carriers. And on top of that, it also managed to take out a number of smaller vessels in the enemy’s fleet.

The Dauntless didn’t just see action over the Pacific, as the aircraft was utilized in Europe, too. For one thing, the planes were used to assault German ships that were in the waters off Norway. Plus, they were also a part of the Allied foray into North Africa. Really, the Dauntless was used in every corner of the world.

As the war raged on, though, newer types of aircraft gradually came to take over. A plane known as the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was produced more and more, eventually coming to replace the Dauntless. The Dauntless was still flown, of course, just not to the same degree as earlier in the conflict.

Despite its shiny newness, the Helldiver wasn’t actually liked very much by the pilots who flew it. They claimed the Dauntless had been able to handle more gradual speeds with much more finesse. That’s how the Helldiver came to pick up the nickname of the “Big-Tailed Beast,” not exactly complimentary.

Nonetheless, the Dauntless continued to be phased out towards the end of World War II. And that was also true for the other forces who used it. New Zealand, for example, had managed to acquire some 28 planes, yet it soon swapped them over for a model known as the F4U Corsair.

After World War II had ended, the French continued to make use of the Dauntless. That didn’t last for very long, though, and by 1947 the aircraft had been officially retired. After years of vitally important missions all over the globe, the Douglas SBD Dauntless was no longer in active service.

The Dauntless is remembered today as an aircraft that arguably turned the tide on America’s war in the Pacific. Had it not taken out so many Japanese aircraft carriers during the Battle of Midway, then perhaps the Japanese Empire may not have faltered. History, as we know it today, might have played out very differently. But as we know, with victory on both the Eastern and Western fronts, American troops finally made it home, and the images of their ecstatic reunion with normalcy might be the most momentous of the entire war.

The sheer joy of these reunions shine brightly. Once World War II had reached its end, a massive American operation swung into action: the aptly named Operation Magic Carpet. Getting the troops home as quickly and safely as possible was the name of the game. According to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, the stunning 360-day feat of logistics “was the largest combined air and sealift ever organized.” 

Judging by the welcome banner, that’s Hector coming up the garden path. This British soldier’s wife and young son are obviously overjoyed to have him home in their “prefab.” Factories produced prefabricated houses in large numbers to solve the housing crisis caused by German bombing. And the authorities gave returning servicemen priority allocation. 

The combat injuries these soldiers have endured are all too obvious in this shot. But their spirits seem undampened as they wave at the welcome sight of the Manhattan skyline. The ship they’re aboard was the Gripsholm – a Swedish American Line vessel. The U.S. State Department chartered the liner and she ferried troops home under the auspices of the Red Cross. On this occasion, Getty Images notes that Gripsholm was carrying 1,209 Americans released from German prisoner-of-war camps. 

It’s clearly been an emotional and affectionate reunion for this couple out for a stroll. Obviously, the man’s uniform shows that he’s a sailor, and the U.S. Navy had more than played its part in the victory that allowed him to come home in one piece. After years of war and danger, what a blessed relief it must have been to walk down a city street in the sunshine with his sweetheart in tow. 

It almost certainly wasn’t actually the end of the war for these cheering soldiers, but it was at least an extremely welcome temporary escape from mortal danger. These are some of the nearly 340,000 men who were rescued by the Royal Navy and a motley flotilla of civilian craft from the beach at the French port of Dunkirk. In 1940 German forces had encircled Allied troops in northern France and were closing in. Amazingly, they escaped by the skin of their teeth. 

Could you cram any more returning servicemen onto this ship? We think not. The vessel is the General Harry Taylor and she’s engaged in Operation Magic Carpet – the massive mission to repatriate American troops after the war’s end. Seen here arriving in New York City in August 1945, the liner has brought men back from Europe after victory there. And it’s fair to say that they look pleased to be home! 

This ragged but happy Italian soldier has just returned to his homeland after time in a Russian prisoner-of-war camp. We can assume that it wasn’t a barrel of laughs, either. He’s hardly in a fine-dining setting, but his first taste of local food in who knows how long looks to be a dream fulfilled. In fact, the soldier has plenty to be grateful about. Of the 230,000 Italians captured on the Eastern Front by the Soviets, the Central European University notes that only about 100,000 ever made it home. 

These G.I.s from the 1st U.S. Infantry Division are rolling into Fort Sheridan in Illinois after what can only be described as an extremely eventful war. The men had fought in North Africa and participated in the invasion of Sicily. They were some of the first troops ashore in the 1944 D-Day amphibious invasion of France and then battled all the way to Germany and on to Czechoslovakia. It’s no wonder, then, that the troops were known as “The Fighting First.” 

It’s 1945, and these French soldiers have just been demobilized. We don’t know where they’ve been fighting, but we can be sure they’re glad to be back in Paris. They’ve arrived at the Gare d’Austerlitz: the railroad terminus on the banks of the River Seine as it flows through the center of the French capital. For millions of men in Europe, getting out of uniform was their first priority at the close of WWII. 

It’s a British ship – the Queen Mary – but it’s packed to the gunwales with 14,000 American soldiers sailing home across the Atlantic to New York in 1945. The vessel was launched as a luxury liner in 1936 but was pressed into service as a troop ship during WWII. Before ferrying G.I.s back to the U.S. from Europe, she’d taken some 16,000 of them in the opposite direction to fight in the D-Day invasion of France, according to The Charlotte Observer.

For some, homecoming at the end of the war was a far from joyful occasion. This German – returning home after his nation’s utter defeat on the battlefields of Europe – is clearly distraught. On arriving in the city of Frankfurt in 1946, he’s discovered that bombing has obliterated his home and the family he left behind is nowhere to be seen. 

These British soldiers have just flown home after their release from German prisoner-of-war camps. According to Getty Images, over 170,000 Britons were captured by the Axis forces with many of their number taken as France fell in 1940. This meant that some had been in captivity for as long as five years, so homecoming must have been a sweet delight. 

These three are celebrating a momentous day – the surrender of Imperial Japan in the summer of 1945. Combined with Allied victory in Europe earlier that year, that meant the war was well and truly over at last. We can only hope that the sailor in the middle of this jolly threesome didn’t suffer a permanent hearing impairment!

These American troops are homeward bound in 1945 aboard a ship that set off from the city of Calcutta in India. Why here, though? Well, during the war thousands of G.I.s served in what were called the Chinese-Burma-India (CBI) operations and these presumably are some of them. Apparently, shipboard conditions were unbearably hot and cramped. But the knowledge that the men would be heading home meant that complaints were few and far between. 

Interestingly, American canines also traveled overseas to do their bit for the war effort. And, we can surmise, they were probably just as happy to get home as their masters. This particular hound certainly looks to be full of the joys of homecoming. More than 90 dogs – including this pooch – served with the U.S. 5th Army in Italy, according to Getty Images. In fact, the army had 15 canine platoons in total and seven of them served in Europe. 

For most Westerners, it’s fair to say that the Second Sino-Japanese War which lasted from 1937 until the end of WWII is a forgotten episode. But there was bitter fighting as Japan invaded and occupied parts of China during the years of that conflict. It And it was only the former’s defeat that ended the incursion. Hence, we have a celebrating Chinese national held aloft in London’s Piccadilly Circus after the war’s end. 

There’s jubilation in this crowd as a well as a refreshing show of racial harmony. The celebrations have erupted in Newark, New Jersey, with the announcement of Japan’s surrender. That, of course, was precipitated by the dropping of atomic weapons on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So, it’s no wonder that these Americans are in buoyant mood. They know that no more blood will be spilled in fighting WWII. 

On this occasion, the Queen Mary liner is carrying home men from the 82nd Airborne Division to an enthusiastic welcome. The unit had seen action in North Africa, Italy and took part in the D-Day assault – parachuting into German-occupied France. The soldiers had left Southampton on England’s south coast five days earlier and are seen here arriving in New York in January 1946. Just over a week later, the 82nd would take part in a huge victory parade down Manhattan’s 5th Avenue. 

These men returning home to France are not actually soldiers. But their lives were turned upside down by the German invasion of their country. They’d been dragooned into forced labor in Germany – a fate that befell up to 650,000 French citizens, according to the book Tuberculosis and War. Badly fed and ill-housed, the end of the conflict could not have come too soon for these forced workers. 

Able Seaman Leonard Pittman was a British sailor who served aboard HMS Ajax during WWII. As is obvious, his neighbors are totally delighted to see him and have prepared the warmest of welcomes. He’s arrived home to Durban Road – a street in the city of Portsmouth on England’s south coast. Interestingly, it was and still is home to a large naval base. 

Where better to celebrate victory in World War II than Manhattan’s famous Times Square? That certainly seems to be the view of these jubilant servicemen. Specifically, they’re marking the surrender of Japan. Combined with the overwhelming defeat of Germany, that meant the war was over once and for all. And if that wasn’t a good reason to throw a rowdy street party, then what is? 

These smartly uniformed women were welcoming the return of soldiers from the 86th Infantry Division in June 1945. It’s a little more than a month after Germany’s final surrender, so the G.I.s have wasted no time in getting back to the U.S. Since they’d seen hard fighting in Germany during the last months of the war, who could grudge them a rapid homecoming? 

Is there a better way to welcome victory than to seal it with a kiss? This couple in London, England, obviously didn’t think so. After an extremely tough six years of war for civilians as well as soldiers, the British were more than ready to let their hair down once it was all over in 1945. As the original Getty Images caption had it, “... An American soldier kisses a London girl in Piccadilly Circus.” 

These women are greeting returning U.K. soldiers with gifts of cigarettes and fruit. The men are members of the British Expeditionary Force which was sent to France early in WWII to help French and Belgian soldiers fight invading German stormtroopers. Unfortunately, by 1940 the mission had failed and ended in a perilous mass evacuation from the beaches of Dunkirk. 

Of course, the journey home was not one of joy in victory for everyone. These defeated Japanese soldiers are about to board a train that will take them back to their homeland. Imperial Japan had finally conceded defeat in August 1945 and this shot is from soon after. There were to be no celebratory victory parades for these troops. 

Captain Richard I. Bong – a war veteran at the tender age of 23 – regales his neighbors in Poplar, Wisconsin, with tales of his wartime exploits. He actually saw more service after this shot was taken in 1944 – Bong was on leave at the time. In the end, he shot down a total of 40 Japanese planes, HistoryNet notes. The all-American war hero sadly died just days before the conflict ended while test-flying a Lockheed P-80 jet fighter in Ohio. 

Love conquers all, it’s said – apparently even this dangerous looking gap between platform and train. And the young woman has every reason to be pleased to see her man. He’d just returned from France, where the entire British Expeditionary Force almost fell into the hands of the Germans in 1940. Military disaster was narrowly averted by the legendary Dunkirk evacuation. 

The Queen Mary sails into dock at New York Harbor with some 8,800 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division aboard, according to Getty Images. Read the list of place names on their banner and you’ll get an idea of just how much combat these troops had lived through. After all that battle action, every single one of them must have been overjoyed – and more than a little relieved – to see their homeland again. 

Sitting on the car hood is Captain Philip John Gardner back in England after a spell in a German prisoner-of-war camp. The men hauling the automobile are workers from the engineering factory owned by the Captain’s father. Gardner was a bona fide war hero who was awarded Britain’s highest military honor: the Victoria Cross. He won it for his action in rescuing a fellow solder while himself badly wounded and under fire. 

It’s easy to see the mood of jubilation here – and the couple at the center of the image add a note of unbridled romance. The occasion is VJ Day in 1945 when victory over Japan signaled the end of the bitter fighting of World War II. Naturally, celebrations in the Allied nations were spontaneous and ecstatic. 

We’ve all seen pictures of troops returning to cities like London and New York City to ecstatic crowds. But the atmosphere seen here in Naples in 1946 is rather different. These are Italian prisoners of war returning home to be greeted by a somewhat forlorn looking band of musicians. Still, we have no doubt they’re more than glad to be back in their own country. 

Hostilities with Japan effectively ended in August 1945, but formal surrender did not come until September 2. President Truman’s announcement of that huge event was the moment Americans had been waiting for. Yep, the time had come for mass celebration. The scene here is Broadway in Manhattan – thronged by a huge crowd of happy Americans and complete with a model of the Statue of Liberty. 

The mass evacuation of British, French and Belgian troops from the French port of Dunkirk came at the end of May 1940. It was a low point in the war for those fighting against a ruthlessly expansionist Germany. Though most of the British Expeditionary Force escaped back to England to fight another day – including these weary looking soldiers. 

It looks as if just one woman is there to greet these men of the U.S. Army’s 86th as their troopship arrives in New York from Europe. But you can be sure that there were many more people along the dockside to welcome these soldiers home in June 1945. They were the first combat troops to make it back to the U.S. as a full unit after the end of fighting in Europe, Getty Images notes.

Just as in America, in Britain there were wild scenes of celebration when the surrender of Imperial Japan was announced in September 1945 – bringing an end to World War II. Piccadilly Circus in the heart of London was one of the places where euphoric crowds gathered to celebrate the end of the six-year ordeal of WWII. Judging by the uniforms, the British were joined by elated G.I.s stationed in the country. 

These soldiers have made it back to the U.S after serving in the Pacific. For those who had survived the fierce fighting of World War II, homecoming was a time of relief as well as celebration. Yet for many of them, thoughts about their comrades-in-arms who had not made it home must have weighed heavily. 

Private First Class James Velocci of 49 Gold Street, Buffalo, New York, had made it home. His broad smile tells all we need to know about his thoughts about being back on American soil. He’d served with the 82nd Airborne Division – an outfit which had seen action right across North Africa, Italy, France and Germany. So, homecoming must have been sweet indeed. 

These three British soldiers – identified as Privates R. Chase of London, Geoffrey Smith of Yorkshire and Trooper George Hart of Kent – are just back from Europe. They’ve been involved in the 1944 D-Day invasion of France and have paid the price with their wounds. They were now safe in England – receiving treatment at an emergency hospital. 

The American sailors and soldiers seen here have just made it home from Europe in June 1945. According to Getty Images, they’re some of the 4,381 men and women to have arrived back on that particular day, aboard the first convoy to cross the Atlantic and dock on home soil after victory in Europe. Their feelings about being back in the U.S. are plain to see. 

This photograph taken on VJ Day gives us an idea of just how unrestrained the victory festivities in America were. The telltale lipstick marks on the G.I.’s face offer their own story. Someone has certainly been extremely glad to see him. Or perhaps there was more than one handing out the kisses! In any case, the newspaper headline – “Peace” – gives the reason enough for the unbridled celebrations.