Notes on the Early Days
Copyright© 2019 by realoldbill
Part 4
It is hard to say how it began or ended, World War III. It is a very confused story and there are many theories. Most people seem to think it was HitlerÕs fault, that he turned on the Japanese just as he had done with the Russians five years before.
Docked in San Diego harbor and festooned with flags for a naval celebration, the Yamato exploded, burned and sank. That was the first incident most people agree. Two Type-X German U-boats were docked at the time and the Japanese authorities blamed the loss of their huge battleship on the German submarines. The Nazi authorities, of course, denied it and broadcast that the huge ship had exploded because of the mishandling of ammunition in its bunkers. (Some historians remembered the Maine.)
Insults and accusation flew back and forth and the U-boat pens on the North Sea coast were bombed by planes from a Japanese carrier then visiting Portugal. Insults and threats increased and there was sporadic fighting on several fronts and frontiers.
In Canada the Germans began withdrawing from the long-stable Western front and shipping their men and equipment home. The Germans withdrew from most of the major U.S. cities and ports. The Japanese abandoned California and British Columbia and pulled most of the Pacific forces back to the home islands. Then the Japanese carrier planes attacked both Rome and Vichy, and the Germans fired long-range rockets over the North Pole at targets on Honshu Island.
Japanese rockets fired from subs in the Baltic rained down botulism and plague germs on Berlin and Hamburg. A revolt against Japanese rule broke out in the Philippines and in south-east Asia. Hitler died, no one is sure how, Goring replaced him and was assassinated two days later. The German government and economy collapsed. In Japan the emperor asked the military leaders to resign and several killed themselves.