An appraisal of Japanese planning and preparations for naval operations in World War II

Abstract

This thesis was commenced in 1951 when I had been fortunate enough to obtain a full-time bursary for war service. During that year, I was able to do considerable preliminary work and at the time it appeared that my task would be difficult owing to the lack of adequate material. Thanks, however, to the warm co-operation of colleagues in the library world, I was able to make considerable progress by the end of 1954. In the following year, thanks to the improved relations between the United States and Japan, more material from Japanese sources was published in America, notably Captain Fuchida's work on Midway. His volume, plus various articles in the United States Naval Institute Proceedings, caused me to re-arrange my work. This extra material has resulted in a much bulkier thesis than I had originally intended and instead of having to make do with meagre secondary sources to collaborate the information in important documents, I have been almost overwhelmed with useful material.