After entering the war in 1941, Japan initially saw a lot of success. In the Philippines, Japanese troops occupied Manila in January 1942. Singapore fell in February and the Dutch East Indies and Rangoon in early March. However, as the US navy began retaliating, the Japanese started losing out on several battles. In July 1944, the US captured Saipan and on 6th and 9th August 1945, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroying the two cities.