Nazi Megastructures

In a bid for Pacific dominance,

Japan begins building an island mega structure.

But it turns a corner and widens out. This is huge.

It has the potential to crush their enemy.

If they can get those bombers and fighters onto Guadalcanal,

that is a potentially catastrophic prospect for the Allies.

Using the most advanced technology.

A thousand pounds hitting you at 55 miles an hour and you can't see it.

And deadly fighting machines.

Well, looky here. There's a Betty out here in the jungle.

The Japanese will hold onto their island asset whatever the cost.

I will go down to Guadalcanal.

The battle becomes one of the bloodiest episodes of World War II.

Banzai!

A desperate fight for survival.

In the end, they start using their belts and their boots.

This is the story of Japan's Hell Island.

The biggest construction projects of World War II,

ordered by Hitler and his Japanese allies.

Now these ruins survive as dark reminders

of their fanatical military ambition and the Allies fight to overcome it.

These are the secrets of the Nazi megastructures.

August, 1942.

Hurry up with the supplies.

Second Lieutenant Inui oversees supplies

onto Japan's Pacific outpost, Guadalcanal.

But the Japanese aren't the only ones

who realize the island's strategic importance.

Hey, where are you going?

Get back, quick. We're safe!

Conflict archaeologist, Tony Pollard, is in Guadalcanal

looking for evidence of Japan's bitter struggle

to control the island and its vital airfield.

There is no doubting that we've got a structure here.

It's almost keyhole shaped.

We've got a wider aperture or pit at this end

but let's look at the reason that this is built here and built the way it is.

Look at that view.

This is an observation post and it's from here

that the Japanese could direct, not only their artillery fire

but also the movement of their troops because they can see

what the Americans are doing.

It's like looking down on a map, it's stunning.

And most importantly, we've got Henderson Field

about 6.5 miles away, It looks a lot closer from up here.

It's an almost God-like perspective.

But it's here that really one of the last important

stands of the Japanese on the island took place.

The story of Japan's Hell Island begins in 1937

when the Japanese embark upon a long and draining war with China.

China's ally, the USA, retaliates with a trade embargo

that cripples Japan's resources.

By 1941, almost on its knees, Japan decides to push further

into South East Asia to get their hands on its much needed

oil, mineral and rubber reserves.

They invade Malaya just after midnight on December 7th, 1941.

90 minutes later, their planes attack Pearl Harbor.

Seizing the moment, within weeks Japan's forces

cut through South East Asia.

As the Philippines and Burma come under attack.

Now with the Americans and the British in the war,

Japan needs to protect her gains.

And the tiny island of Guadalcanal provides

the perfect place to build a Pacific fortress,

an airfield that will protect the western edge

of their new empire from any Allied attack.

Guadalcanal has the flat space,

you know, it's got everything going for it in many ways except its remoteness,

you know, it's 3,500 miles from Japan.

It's right in the middle of the South Pacific.

This is one very difficult place in which to build

infrastructure and to build a huge airfield.

Having said that, if they can do it,

if they can get a foothold, if they can get those bombers

and fighters onto Guadalcanal,

that is a potentially catastrophic prospect for the Allies.

With an indigenous population of just 15,000,

in 1941, Guadalcanal appears to be an insignificant backwater.

Its only trade is coconut oil from the plantations dotted

along the shores of its 2,000 square miles.

Strategically, it's perfectly positioned to serve

Japan's plans but it's part of the British Solomon Islands protectorate.

Spring, 1942, the Japanese begin assembling a special

Naval landing force to launch an initial raid on the Solomon Islands,

while also preparing further army units to travel

on slower transport ships once the islands are secure.

Amongst that second wave of troops will be

Second Lieutenant Inui, a platoon leader of an anti-tank company.

Load.

Aim.

Fire.

While awaiting orders, Inui keeps his men battle ready.

Second the platoon, all ships.

Wherever we go next, we will be ready.

The first stage of the plan is to establish

a seaplane base for reconnaissance and intelligence

giving them eyes and ears over thousands of miles of the Pacific Ocean.

They choose the tiny islands of Tulagi and Gavutu,

20 miles north of Guadalcanal, already the site of a small

Royal Australian Airforce seaplane base.

The first Japanese landings begin on Tulagi on May 3rd, 1942.

The token Australian force there flees.

Immediately, the Japanese start building.

Tony Pollard has come to Tulagi to search for evidence

of this first stage in the building of Japan's Pacific stronghold.

And I've heard there's a cave up here

which has something to do with that Japanese presence.

Oh wow, this isn't just a cave, this has been carved out,

and even has a curved

concrete coated ceiling.

Now we have an almost geometrically perfect

right angle here where it turns a corner and widens out.

This is almost square. This is huge.

Well, here's something.

We've got a niche carved in to the rock there,

and yes, look there's another one.

This is again rectangular.

So that suggests a rectangular upright pillar,

against which panels could be nailed.

This place probably looked quite nice in its day.

And I've seen nothing yet other than kind of that

right angled structure to give an idea of what this place might have been.

Go around the corner.

Oh look, look at this groove carved and there's been

some sort of metallic mount here.

I mean that would be just wide enough to accommodate a cable

of some sort coming around.

Yes, there's another part of a clip.

Yeah, it's starting to tell a story now. There's a lot of cablings.

Now this might be lighting.

So, if we've got a panel room back there, it may have electric lighting.

Look here.

And yes, it's got nails, it's got double nails in it.

So, there's electrical or communication cable running

out all the way to the entrance.

So clearly, they're feeding perhaps power or radio wires,

telephones, into this system.

So, we've got something more than just an air raid shelter here.

There's something much more important going on

than just the preservation of human bodies.

I think there's command and control happening here.

With Tulagi secure, the Japanese quickly set up

their own seaplane base on the next-door island of Gavutu.

The first phase of their Pacific stronghold is operational.

Now they can turn their attention to Guadalcanal.

May, 1942, the Japanese have established

a seaplane base in the Pacific.

Now they have exceptional intelligence coverage

throughout the region thanks to the greatest seaplane

of World War II, the Kawanishi H8K.

Historian, Professor Tosh Minohara is at Kanoya Air Base,

to explore the only surviving H8K in the world.

Oh wow, look at this. Look at how large this airplane is.

And it just looks so beautiful, so sleek.

Look how narrow the fuselage is.

I mean when you look at it from the side it's really wide,

it's really massive, but you come in the front,

and you realize that it has a very, very sleek design.

The Allies codename for this plane was called the Emily,

and American fighters feared this plane

because of all the machine guns that it carried.

It could fly nearly 4,400 miles, that was the range.

That's just unheard of.

Now when you want distance, of course, there's a trade-off

and the Japanese made this trade off by making their airplanes

very, very light, which meant that they were not armored.

The Japanese fighters were very maneuverable, very quick.

Once they were hit, they would go up in a fireball.

This airplane is quite different.

It did not sacrifice armor for the sake of distance.

The fuel tanks are self-sealing.

So once hit, the rubber would sort of spread out and seal itself.

So the plane would not blow up like other planes.

It also served as the eyes in the sky.

So during the Guadalcanal campaign,

this plane could fly, remain in the air for a very long time,

would spot American ship movements, troop movements.

It really served as an intelligence gathering platform.

With the HK8 seaplanes now operating

from their new base in the Solomon Islands,

Japan turns its attention to Guadalcanal.

On July 6th, 1942,

3,000 Japanese soldiers and engineers invade the island.

They land completely unopposed

and immediately begin constructing an airfield.

But on August 7th, just as they were about to complete it,

an American fleet somehow evades detection by the seaplanes patrolling the area,

and the Japanese come under a surprise attack.

11,000 American troops land on Guadalcanal's beaches,

a further 3,000 storms nearby Tulagi.

What follows there is a rout.

Of the 500 Japanese stationed there, only three survive, to be taken prisoner.

But on Guadalcanal, the Japanese don't resist.

Hopelessly outnumbered,

the soldiers and engineers decide to simply abandon

the airfield and slip silently into the jungle,

leaving the Americans to sweat and stew in the tropical heat

wondering where the enemy is.

Japan's Pacific fortress is now in American hands

and they set to work completing the airfield.