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Hornet in a spectacular surprise attack that caused little damage but boosted Allied morale. The raid prompted the Japanese to retain four army fighter groups in Japan during 1942 and 1943, when they were badly needed in the South Pacific. The attack also compelled the Japanese to push beyond their originally planned defensive perimeter, thereby increasing the vulnerability of their supply lines.
The state of the war in 1942
The first months of 1942 were a grim time for the Allies. The war machine of the United States had not yet fully mobilized after the shock of Pearl Harbor. Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps was running riot in North Africa, and the Luftwaffe was subjecting Britain’s cities to a sustained bombing campaign. On the Eastern Front, the Red Army and a harsh Russian winter had checked the German advance just outside Moscow, but German armies were poised to resume the offensive in the summer. The Allies were losing the Battle of the Atlantic, with German U-boat captains enjoying such success against Allied shipping that they dubbed the period “the second happy time.” Japan’s armed forces had amassed a virtually uninterrupted string of victories, expanding their sphere of control to include the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Throughout the Pacific theatre, the Allies were in retreat, with only Japan’s Pyrrhic victory at Wake Island and the spirited but ultimately unsuccessful Filipino-American defense of Bataan to provide a glimmer of optimism.