The Samoan Islands during World War II were one of several islands groups east of Australia targeted by the Japanese as part of their FS Operation. Ir consisted of the western islands (former German islands) administered by New Zealand and the eastern islands administered by the United States.
During World War II, Pago Pago, on Tutuila, was a lightly-manned base in the Samoa Islands vital to preserving communications between the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Though the U.S. Navy was tasked with holding it, the 7th Marines were ordered to fortify the garrison.
At the outbreak of war, Samoa was of moderate strategic importance to Germany. The radio transmitter located in the hills above Apia was capable of sending long-range Morse signals to Berlin. It could also communicate with the 90 warships in Germany's naval fleet.
Operation FS was the Imperial Japanese plan to invade and occupy Fiji, American Samoa, Samoa, and New Caledonia in the south Pacific during the Pacific conflict of World War II. The operation was set to be executed in July or August 1942 following Operation MO, Operation RY, and Operation MI.
Samoa came under German rule at the end of the second civil war in 1889, with the agreement that Samoa would retain its normal customs.
The arrival of fast food restaurants and other contemporary food items on the islands are one of the issues responsible for the obesity in Samoa. The earliest photographs of Samoans provide visual proof of the native population's natural physique before the introduction of processed foods by Western society.
The German colonial period lasted for 14 years and officially began with the raising of the imperial flag on 1 March 1900. Wilhelm Solf became the first governor.
Although the battles of the conflict never reached Fiji, a British colony in the South Pacific, the war greatly impacted the island group. Fiji was under threat of Japanese invasion for the majority of 1942 and part of 1943, which resulted in a build up of military forces and defensive installations.
The first Samoan Civil War, between 1886 and 1894, was centred around whether Malietoa Laupepa or Mata'afa Iosefo should be king. The German military intervened on numerous occasions, and tensions existed between the Germans and the US, as both wanted to further interests in Samoa.
The Second Samoan Civil War was a conflict that reached a head in 1898 when Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States were locked in dispute over who should have control over the Samoan island chain, located in the South Pacific Ocean.
Samoans are Polynesian and there are few other distinct ethnic groups, though some elite Samoans have part Chinese or European (especially German) ancestry.
None of these Samoan-Germans today speak German, but the word “German” still has a positive ring in Samoan ears. After the Second World War, even though their own country was hardly prosperous, many Samoans with German “relations” sent CARE packages to starving Germans in war-ravaged Europe.
Chinese began coming to Samoa in the late 19th century, arriving as workers on European merchant ships and drawn in by German companies to work on the country's extensive plantations. Soon a Chinese population existed in Samoa and began establishing its own businesses and enterprises.
According to legend, Samoa is known as the “Cradle of Polynesia” because Savai'i island is said to be Hawaiki, the Polynesian homeland. Samoan culture is undoubtedly central to Polynesian life, and its styles of music, dance, and visual art have gained renown throughout the Pacific islands and the world.
European explorers first reached the Samoan islands in the early 18th century. In 1768, Louis-Antoine de Bougainville named them the Navigator Islands.
Early history
Samoa was discovered and settled by the Lapita people (Austronesian people who spoke Oceanic languages), who travelled from Island Melanesia. The earliest human remains found in Samoa are dated to between roughly 2,900 and 3,500 years ago.
Samoa has no formal defence structure or regular armed forces. It has informal defence ties with New Zealand, which is required to consider any request for assistance from Samoa under the bilateral Treaty of Friendship of 1962.
For the Allies, also, it was a great strategic victory: the Japanese were prompted to cancel their plans to invade New Caledonia, Fiji, and Samoa and lost all but the last vestiges of their earlier strategic initiative.
The eastern islands became territories of the United States in 1904 and today are known as American Samoa. The western islands became known as Western Samoa (now just Samoa), passing from German control to New Zealand in 1914.
The Battle for Okinawa, April 1 to June 22, 1945, was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War.
In August 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As a result, approximately 120,000 civilians died. Japan formally surrendered in September 1945.
World War II began in Europe on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. Great Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany on September 3.
American Samoa was touched by enemy fire only once. On January 11, 1942, the Naval Station was shelled by a Japanese submarine. One shell, an odd stroke of irony, struck the home and store of one of the very few Japanese residents of the island.
1914-1962 : New Zealand takes control of Samoa. New Zealand's presence in Samoa dates back to the beginning of World War One in 1914, when, at the request of Britain, New Zealand's Expeditionary Force landed at Apia and took control of Samoa from Germany.
Throughout 1914, many Samoan-born men enlisted in their homelands and went on to fight at Gallipoli, the Western Front, and various places in France and Belgium. They were employed in the munitions depots with the Rarotongans, doing extremely dangerous work.