US Marine Corps

On the morning of December 7th, 1941 a new threat emerged. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour gave rise to a whole other front in the Pacific - and the US Marine Corps stepped in. Under covering fire from the naval guns and Corsairs, the Marines took to amphibious LVTs and Higgins Boats to storm the fortified shores of the Pacific islands, most famously Iwo Jima, and the meatgrinder that was the fight for Guadalcanal.

Initially equipped with the older Springfield rifles rather than the new Garands of the US Army, as well as BARs and more specialist equipment including Shotguns and Flame Throwers due to the close-quarters nature of the Pacific theatre, the Marines used sheer brute strength and bloody determination to overcome not only the well dug-in fanatical Japanese defenders, but also the harsh environment - in what's argued to be the cruellest and harshest fighting of the war.