Japanese Invasion of Australia
- Thread starter mspence
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Well... There is the issue that Canada was able to use forces that were not (at that time) eligible for overseas service to help drive the Japanese out of Alaska. (I suspect the Australians would also likely have employed forces to drive the Japanese out of Australia that were not likely to have served overseas.) I suspect if the US had a serious man power issue they also might have found forces that for what ever reason were not likely to be sent overseas and used them in Alaska and Canada might also have deployed more forces that were not eligible to serve overseas. While I agree that the Japanese incursions in Alaska certainly tied down US and Canadian forces, it is unclear to me how many of those forces would have actually have been deployed overseas if the Japanese had not ventured into Alaska (presumably the US and Canada would have kept some forces in Western North America just in case..)
It's hard for me to believe that the invasion of Alaskan islands, while also just a territory not a state, did not cause more energy and industry by the USA to be devoted in the region than otherwise would have been.
The Japanese could have had an airborne landing instead of an amphibious assault. Paratroopers could have taken off from new guinea and landed in northern Australia, once they secure the area they could start the amphibious assault the one problem for the paratroopers though would be Australian fighters and flak but I don't think they would be very severe. The real underlying problem would be the American fleet while they are trying to land ground troops on the beaches.
Winning in the Coral Sea and Midway could help with that but US subs would have a field day if the Japanese don't properly provide a real escort
I am sure it devoted a certain amount of extra energy. My point is that at least some of the resources that were devoted to responding to this invasion would not have been immediately (if ever ?) sent overseas to fight the Japanese if the invasion had not occurred.
Sure, perhaps not a 1-1, I'm sure the invasion of Alaska meant more wasted energy on consumer or leisure time was devoted to military matters but at least some of the resources otherwise used in the Pacific war were moved there. More than Japan's expense, definitely? More than the proportion? Maybe not
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Given that most of Australia is basically only defended by salties, an opposed landing isn't going to happen unless the IJN decide to sail into Sydney harbour. So a parachute landing to prepare is basically pointless.
They could secure advance positions so the Beacheads can be secured without worrying about a counterattack. The Japanese would have trouble against the Sentinel tanks and stopping a immediate armored counterattack would be important.
Everyone here is positing Darwin as the likely landing for a possible Japanese attack. I think the more likely target would be the eastern side of the Cape York peninsula, more specifically the cities of Cairns and Townsville (not the northern tips of the peninsula, as it's isolated and is tough terrain to traverse). Unlike Darwin, these cities were connected to mainland Australia by road and would allow the Japanese to poise a threat to Allied orces down under. The main problem is that the IJN would need to secure the supply lines between New Guinea and the landing areas, and there is a good chance they'd be thrown back by the combined numbers of the USN, RAN, and RN, leaving any landing force abandoned in an extremely harsh part of the world.
What resources (other than a source of hides for crocodile skin lady's handbags) does conquering Australia get for Imperial Japan in the real world?
What security does conquering Australia get Imperial Japan which conquering New Guinea and the Solomon Islands (something which Imperial Japan incidentally failed to complete in the original timeline) does not?
(And it's unlikely that the Australians will give new Imperial Japanese overlords the respectful welcome which Imperial Japanese soldiers, sailors, and airmen would enjoy - unlike some regions Imperial Japan overran and which actually welcomed new Imperial Japanese puppet governments, as a change of scenery from the European ones...)
How much further from Imperial Japan are Sydney and Perth than the Solomon Islands and New Guinea, and how many more days of travel time does it put on Imperial Japanese transport of troops and equipment, whilst shortening Australian travel times for troops and equipment?
Sure, if Imperial Japan invades Australia it might help Hitler and Mussolini by diverting some Allied resources from Europe, but what does Imperial Japan get out of it other than being spanked even more severely than in the original timeline?
Overall if planned carefully if the Japanese invaded in like early 1942 where the US was still recovering from pearl harbor and couldn't affectively help the Australians. Neither the British since they were hung up with the germans. With the right logistics they could capture Darwin in a few days. But in the end Japan really couldn't win the war and after the US recovered from pearl harbor they would have struck back at the Japanese in Australia and driven them back into the ocean. The Japanese probably wouldn't reach Sydney. Not only that if they decided to advance into the outback even though they would face barely any resistance they would burn to death in the heat. So yeah Japan would be winning in the first half but in they end they're kind of screwed.
The IJA wanted Australia neutralised. They recognised that an Allied buildup in Australia threatened a retaking of the NEI and the resources that Japan went to war for in the first place. Darwin is basically a remote island base reachable by sea from Perth or Sydney but this means that you have to control the sea which they didn't. Also note that Perth is also the worlds most remote city while from Sydney, shipping has to pass through the Torres Strait. Without a railway - 2000 vehicles per day were using the road built between Alice Springs and Darwin by Nov 1942.
The only useful thing I could see doing to Darwin is perhaps less an occupation, and more a case of a large scale raid.
Spend another day attacking with aircraft carriers, send in heavy cruisers and a couple battleships to fire randomly into the town, then land 2 or 3 battalions of troops and basically burn Darwin to the ground then leave.
Spend another day attacking with aircraft carriers, send in heavy cruisers and a couple battleships to fire randomly into the town, then land 2 or 3 battalions of troops and basically burn Darwin to the ground then leave.
In the first quarter of 1942 Australia started setting up the North Australia Observation Unit (NAOU) know as the Nackeroos which was an irregular force using men familiar with the region to patrol northern Australia much like the Coastwatchers in the south east pacific. Also Z special unit or Z-force which operated similar to the modern SAS specializing in surveillance and sabotage behind Japanese lines.
Darwin would be the logical area form the Japanese to seize to limit aerial bombing of oil facilities in the then Dutch East Indies, of then larger cities/towns in north Australia Broome was the most distance from their forces and Cairns or Townsville would require the invasion fleet traveling through the Great Barrier Reef or way to close to the coast to avoid detection.
Darwin would be the logical area form the Japanese to seize to limit aerial bombing of oil facilities in the then Dutch East Indies, of then larger cities/towns in north Australia Broome was the most distance from their forces and Cairns or Townsville would require the invasion fleet traveling through the Great Barrier Reef or way to close to the coast to avoid detection.
The Australian Army was made up of two forces - the Australian Imperial Force and the Australiam Militia Force. The former could serve overseas and consisted purely of volunteers. The latter could not serve outside Australia or it's Territories until 1945 when it was cleared to served up to 33 degrees North of the equator. The Militia were mainly composed of conscripts. In the Northern Territory, which was where the Japanese attacked at the capital Darwin, the Militia exclusively served, while the AIF served in New Guinea and the Islands. By 1945, there was little to choose between the two forces, both were equally well trained, led and fought well. There were good and bad units in both. Militia forces fought the Japanese in New Guinea and the Islands as did the AIF units. Australia's deployment of troops were coloured by this requirement. You were either Militia or you were AIF. You could volunteer for the AIF at any point but once you were in the AIF, you stayed there.