World War II, or the Second World War, was a global military conflict. It began as the joining of what had initially been two separate conflicts, with the first beginning in Asia in 1937 (the Second Sino-Japanese War) and the other beginning in Europe in 1939 (the German and Soviet invasion of Poland).
The war split the majority of the world's nations into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It involved the mobilization of over 100 million military personnel, making it the most widespread war in history, and placed the participants in a state of "total war", which erased the distinction between civil and military resources and resulted in the complete activation of a nation's economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities for the purposes of the war effort. Over 70 million people, the majority of them civilians, were killed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.
The Allies won the war, and as a result, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as the world's leading superpowers. This set the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 45 years. The United Nations was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. The self determination spawned by the war accelerated decolonization movements in Asia and Africa, while Europe itself began moving toward integration.
3rd Battalion 3rd Marines (3/3) is an
infantry battalion in the
United States Marine Corps, based out of
Kāne'ohe, Hawai'i, and consisting of approximately 800 Marines and
Sailors.Known as "America's Battalion", the unit falls under the
3rd Marine Regiment of the
3rd Marine Division.The battalion was originally at
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in 1942 and saw action on both
Bougainville and
Guam during
World War II. Following the war, it was disbanded until 1951, when it was reformed in
California. The battalion was alerted for possible deployment during the 1956
Suez War and the 1958 intervention in
Lebanon. In 1965, the Marines of 3rd Battalion were deployed to
Vietnam and participated in
Operation Starlite, the first major Marine engagement of that conflict. The battalion continued to see major action through the
Vietnam War and was rotated back to the United States in 1969. Around the end of the Vietnam War, 3rd Battalion was deactivated for a second time in 1974.
The Australian aircraft carrier
HMAS Melbourne (R21) was the
lead ship of the
Royal Navy's
Majestic class of light aircraft carriers. Operating from 1955 until 1982, she was the third and final conventional aircraft carrier to serve in the
Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
Melbourne also served as the RAN
flagship, and was the only
British Commonwealth naval vessel to sink two friendly warships in peacetime. Her keel was laid down in April 1943, and she was launched as
HMS Majestic (R77) in February 1945. At the end of
World War II, work on the ship was suspended until she was purchased by the Royal Australian Navy in 1947. At the time of purchase, it was decided to incorporate new aircraft carrier technologies into the design, making
Melbourne the third ship to be constructed with an
angled flight deck. Delays in construction and integrating the enhancements meant that the carrier was not commissioned until 1955.
Melbourne never fired a shot in anger during her career, having only peripheral, non-combat roles in the
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation and the
Vietnam War. However, she was involved in two major collisions with allied vessels. collising with and sinking
HMAS Voyager on 10 February 1964, and
USS Frank E. Evans on 3 June 1969.
The
Battle of Savo Island, also known as the
First Battle of Savo Island and, in Japanese sources, as the
First Battle of the Solomon Sea (第一次ソロモン海戦, Dai-ichi-ji Soromon Kaisen?), took place August 8 – August 9, 1942. It was a
naval battle of the
Pacific Campaign of
World War II, between the
Imperial Japanese Navy and
Allied naval forces. The battle was the first major naval engagement of the
Guadalcanal campaign.In the battle, a Japanese warship task force surprised and routed the Allied naval force, sinking one
Australian and three
American cruisers, while taking only moderate damage in return. The Japanese force consisted of seven cruisers and one
destroyer, commanded by
Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa. In response to Allied
amphibious landings in the eastern
Solomon Islands, Mikawa brought his task force down
New Georgia Sound (also known as "the Slot") to attack the Allied amphibious fleet and its screening force. The screening force consisted of eight cruisers and fifteen destroyers, commanded by
British Rear Admiral Victor Crutchley VC, but only five cruisers and seven destroyers were actually involved in the battle.
This Chinese child soldier, an army division returning to China following the capture of Myitkyina airfield, Burma, under the allied command of US Major General Frank Merrill in May 1944. Chinese and allied troops had earlier crossed through the treacherous jungle of the Kumon Bum Mountains before attacking Japanese troops to the south. A number of international conventions have since come into effect that try to limit the participation of children in armed conflicts. However, according to Human Rights Watch, as many as 300,000 children remain direct participants in war in over twenty countries around the world today.
