The battle of Midway
Witness History
BBC
4.4 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 5 August 2020
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On 4th June 1942, aircraft carriers of the Japanese and American fleets fought a huge naval battle near Midway Atoll in the Pacific. The outcome marked a turning point in the war. Using archive recordings we hear from American and Japanese airmen who flew in combat that day.
Photo: (Original Caption) This official United States Navy photo shows the American aircraft carrier Yorktown, already listing badly to port, as she received a direct hit from a Japanese bomber in the Battle of Midway Island, June 4th 1942. The black puffs in the photo are exploding U.S. antiaircraft shells. (Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:40.0 | Hello and 75 years ago and today using archive recordings we go back to June 1942 and a turning |
| 0:57.0 | point in the conflict the Battle of Midway. |
| 1:01.1 | 1942. way. |
| 1:03.0 | In five months the Japanese have become masters of the East, |
| 1:08.0 | and the Japanese have become masters of the East, and the Japanese Navy still dominates the Pacific. |
| 1:12.0 | The key to this power and the key to this story |
| 1:15.9 | was the new weapon of war, the aircraft carrier, which allowed fleets to project air |
| 1:21.5 | power across the region. |
| 1:23.2 | Proof was the devastating Japanese attack on the US base at Pearl Harbor |
| 1:27.8 | on December 7, 1941. |
| 1:30.3 | No troops would be needed, no landings, no bombardment. Just six aircraft carriers and about 300 planes. |
| 1:40.0 | But the Americans had aircraft carriers too. So in 1942 the Japanese were determined to lure out and destroy in one blow for few American carriers operating in the Pacific, |
| 1:53.2 | so they sent out a huge fleet with four of their aircraft carriers |
| 1:57.2 | to lay a trap. The bait would be an attack on the US Air Base |
| 2:00.9 | on the tiny Pacific Atoll of Midway. But crucially, the Americans had broken |
| 2:06.1 | the Japanese codes. They knew Midway was the target and already had their three aircraft |
... |
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