In the early months of the Pacific war, the Japanese quickly seized control over a large expanse of the Western Pacific and East Asia. Their remarkable fighter plane, the “Zero,” played an important role in these successes.
But although the Zero was the best fighter plane in the world when it was first introduced in 1940, by 1943, Allied aircraft technology was catching up, and Allied pilots were gaining experience in fighting against it.
- Listen now:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
Symphony No. 9 in E minor.
Composed in 1893 by Antonín Dvořák. Public domain.
Performed by the DuPage Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Barbara Schubert, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Source.
Closing War Theme
Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.