Download or read book Munda Trail written by Eric Hammel and published by Daniel Hammel. This book was released on 2020-12-23 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: MUNDA TRAIL The New Georgia Campaign June–August 1943 ERIC HAMMEL The Solomon island archipelago stretches in a roughly east‑west direction from New Guinea to San Cristobal. For the Imperial Japanese forces in 1942, it was a natural highway into the South Pacific. When checked at Guadalcanal, these forces realized they had moved east too quickly, and that their defeat was caused in part by inadequate air bases between the front and their headquarters at Rabaul, more than six hundred miles away. As the last Japanese battalions were wrecking themselves against the Marine defensive perimeter on Guadalcanal, the decision was made to build the Munda airfield on New Georgia, right in the middle of the Solomons chain. The Americans also recognized the Solomons as a highway, but in the other direction, toward Rabaul, the Philippines, and ultimately Japan. The two great Pacific powers clashed in the middle of this strategic island corridor in June 1943, when an untried U.S. Army infantry division assaulted New Georgia and began to move up the Munda Trail to take the airfield. This “forgotten” battle was in truth one of America’s first sustained offensive actions in the Pacific, and as such it taught green American troops and equally green commanders the realities of jungle warfare. Munda Trail is the dramatic, harrowing story of green American soldiers encountering for the first time impenetrable swamps, solid rain forests, invisible coconut‑log pillboxes, tenacious snipers tied into trees, torrential tropical rains, counterattack by enemy aircraft and naval guns, and the logistical nightmare of living and moving in endless mud. A carefully planned offensive quickly degenerates into isolated small-unit actions as the terrain breaks unit cohesion and leads inexperienced soldiers into deadly ambushes. As physical and psychological strains mount, Army doctors begin to define a new disease nearing epidemic proportions—combat fatigue. Men without injuries simply become useless for further fighting, the advance bogs down. Yet, over time, the scared American soldiers find their inner resolve and climb out of the psychological abyss, emerge steady and true, combat veterans at last—and victors. The New Georgia Campaign was, in Hammel’s words, “a graphic study of the universal military truths attending the feeding of innocents to the ravenous dogs of war.” Yet when it was over, there was no question in anyone’s mind that the tide had turned, that the forces moving through the Solomons would be American, and that they would move toward Japan.
Download or read book Munda Trail written by Eric Hammel and published by Avon Books. This book was released on 1991 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Up the Slot written by Charles D. Melson and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Cartwheel written by John Miller and published by . This book was released on 1959 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume attempts to analyze the techniques by which the Allies employed their strength to bypass fortified positions and seize weakly defended but strategically important areas, or, in the apt baseball parlance used by General MacArthur, to "hit 'em where they ain't." It is, therefore, a study in strategy and high command as well as in tactics.
Download or read book Munda Trail written by Eric Hammel and published by . This book was released on 2020-12-28 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: MUNDA TRAILThe New Georgia CampaignJune-August 1943ERIC HAMMELThe Solomon island archipelago stretches in a roughly east-west direction from NewGuinea to San Cristobal. For the Imperial Japanese forces in 1942, it was a naturalhighway into the South Pacific. When checked at Guadalcanal, these forces realized theyhad moved east too quickly, and that their defeat was caused in part by inadequate airbases between the front and their head-quarters at Rabaul, more than six hundred milesaway. As the last Japanese battalions were wrecking themselves against the Marine defensive perimeter on Guadalcanal, the decision was made to build the Munda airfield on New Georgia, right in the middle of the Solomons chain. The Americans also recognized the Solomons as a highway, but in the other direction, toward Rabaul, the Philippines, and ultimately Japan. The two great Pacific powersclashed in the middle of this strategic island corridor in June 1943, when an untried U.S.Army infantry division assaulted New Georgia and began to move up the Munda Trail totake the airfield. This "forgotten" battle was in truth one of America's first sustainedoffensive actions in the Pacific, and as such it taught green American troops and equallygreen commanders the realities of jungle warfare. Munda Trail is the dramatic, harrowing story of green American soldiers encounteringfor the first time impenetrable swamps, solid rain forests, invisible coconut-log pillboxes, tenacious snipers tied into trees, torrential tropical rains, counterattack by enemyaircraft and naval guns, and the logistical nightmare of living and moving in endless mud.A carefully planned offensive quickly degenerates into isolated small-unit actions as the terrain breaks unit cohesion and leads inexperienced soldiers into deadly ambushes. Asphysical and psychological strains mount, Army doctors begin to define a new diseasenearing epidemic proportions-combat fatigue. Men without injuries simply becomeuseless for further fighting, the advance bogs down. Yet, over time, the scaredAmerican soldiers find their inner resolve and climb out of the psychological abyss, emerge steady and true, combat veterans at last-and victors. The New Georgia Campaign was, in Hammel's words, "a graphic study of the universalmilitary truths attending the feeding of innocents to the ravenous dogs of war." Yet whenit was over, there was no question in anyone's mind that the tide had turned, that theforces moving through the Solomons would be American, and that they would movetoward Japan.
Download or read book Northern Solomons written by Stephen J. Lofgren and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 1993 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Center of Military History Publication 72 10. Discusses Army operations in the Northern Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean from February 22, 1943 to November 21, 1944. The islands include New Georgia, Bougainville, and New Britain. They were also referred to as the Cartwheel Area of Operations. This booklet is illustrated with black and white photographs, color maps, and a color reproduction of a painting. Includes suggestions for further reading.
Download or read book Marine Tank Battles In The Pacific written by Oscar E. Gilbert and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2007-10-09 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No previous book has been devoted to Marine Corps armor in World War II. Gilbert's gripping narrative combines exhaustive detail on Marine armor and combat with moving eyewitness accounts, never before published, of what it was actually like to be a Marine tanker in action in the Pacific.
Download or read book United States Army in World War II The war in the Pacific written by United States. Dept. of the Army. Office of Military History and published by . This book was released on 1947 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book United States Army in World War II written by and published by . This book was released on 1960 with total page 680 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book United States Army in World War II Cartwheel the reduction of Rabaul by John Miller Jr written by and published by . This book was released on 1948 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book South Pacific Destroyer written by Estate of R S Crenshaw and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2009-09-01 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today only a select few know firsthand what it is like to feel their ship shudder from the blast of their own guns, watch enemy guns flash back, and see friendly ships erupt in flames. Russell Crenshaw is one of those few. His riveting account of the savage night battle for the Solomon Islands in early 1943 offers readers a unique insider’s perspective from the decks of one of the destroyers that bore the brunt of the struggle. Russell Crenshaw was a gunnery officer on the USS Maury. His vivid, balanced, and detailed narrative includes the Battle of Tassafarounga in November 1942 and Vella Gulf in August 1943, actions that earned his warship a Presidential Unit Citation and sixteen battle stars. Crenshaw also discusses the impact of radar and voice radio, the shortcomings of U.S. torpedoes and gunfire, and the devastating effectiveness of Japan’s super torpedo.
Download or read book The Army Air Forces in World War II The Pacific Guadalcanal to Saipan August 1942 to July 1944 written by and published by . This book was released on 1948 with total page 912 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book New Georgia written by Ronnie Day and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2016-02-15 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A detailed, up-to-date, integrated air-land-sea history” of a pivotal WWII campaign in the Pacific from both American and Japanese perspectives (Vincent P. O'Hara, author of In Passage Perilous). In 1942, the Solomon Islands formed the stepping stones toward Rabaul, the main base of Japanese operations in the South Pacific, and the Allies’ primary objective. The stunning defeat of Japanese forces at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November marked the turning point in the war against Japan and the start of an offensive in the Central Solomons aimed at New Georgia. New Georgia: The Second Battle for the Solomons tells the story of the land, sea, and air battles fought there from March through October 1943. Making careful and copious use of both Japanese and Allied sources, Ronnie Day masterfully weaves the intricate threads of these battles into a well-crafted narrative of this pivotal period in the war. As Day makes clear, combat in the Solomons exemplified the war in the Pacific, especially the importance of air power, something the Japanese failed to understand until it was too late, and the strategy of island hopping, bypassing Japanese strongholds (including Rabaul) in favor of weaker or more strategically advantageous targets. This multifaceted account gives the fighting for New Georgia its proper place in the history of the drive to break the Japanese defensive perimeter and bring the homeland within range of Allied bombers.
Download or read book United States Army in WWII the Pacific CARTWHEEL the Reduction of Rabaul written by John Miller Jr. and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 709 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: [Includes 2 tables, 11 charts, 22 maps and 71 illustrations] The campaign described in the present volume was important to the Army as an experience in amphibious warfare and combined operations against a formidable and still resourceful enemy. It was also of critical importance in the evolution of American strategy in the Pacific. CARTWHEEL began as an uphill fight with means that seemed inadequate to the ends proposed, even though these were limited. But it swiftly brought our forces to a crest from which we were able to launch the two powerful drives, through the Southwest and Central Pacific, that crushed Japan before we redeployed the forces directed against Germany. The campaign put to the test the principle of unity of command, and also the capacity for co-operation between two theaters, one under Army, the other under Navy command, and both under forceful and dominant commanders. By ingenious and aggressive use of the ground, sea, and air forces at their disposal they made these suffice to achieve more than had been foreseen as possible, and opened up a new vista of strategy. They took a heavy toll of the enemy’s resources, established the technique of bypassing his strongholds, including finally Rabaul itself, and threw him on the defensive. This book will be of interest not only to professional officers, but also to a wide variety of other readers and students.
Download or read book Munda Trail written by Eric M. Hammel and published by Crown. This book was released on 1989 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recalls the battle over New Georgia in the Solomon Islands, one of America's offensive actions in the Pacific during World War II
Download or read book Little Minnesota in World War II written by Jill A. Johnson and published by Adventure Publications. This book was released on 2017-09-05 with total page 921 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During World War II, a total of 165 men from Minnesota’s smallest towns gave their lives for our country. Several were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, and Bronze Star. All received the award no one wanted: the Purple Heart. Most of their stories have never been told publicly. Little Minnesota in World War II, by Jill A. Johnson and Deane L. Johnson, honors these brave men from the smallest rural towns. From John Emery (who died December 7, 1941, on board the USS Arizona) to Herman Thelander (who was lost in the Bermuda Triangle, a mystery unsolved to this day), this unique book allows you to experience the war through personal accounts of the men and their families. With photos from the war, scans of actual letters, journal excerpts, and family memories, this one-of-a-kind book brings history to life and will make you feel prouder than ever to be Minnesotan.
Download or read book Lightning Joe An Autobiography written by J. Lawton Collins and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2022-11-01 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A native of New Orleans who graduated from West Point in 1917, General J. Lawton Collins was a division commander and later a corps commander in World War II, US Army chief of staff during the Korean War, and US special representative in Vietnam following the Geneva accords. “General Collins was one of driving forces in our military leadership during World War II and the postwar period. His autobiography, Lightning Joe, is a fascinating and dramatic account of those critical years, as well as a warm, personal story.” — W. Averell Harriman “The route to leadership in combat is long, tedious, competitive and difficult. General Collins’ splendid record indicates that he understood and mastered the challenge. Attaining the highest commands and acquitting himself in magnificent style, Joe Collins added brilliant pages to the already bright history of the United States Army.” — General Mark W. Clark “Lightning Joe is a remarkably interesting book. It is packed with statistics, dates, and places, and certainly will be an essential reference book for anyone interested in World War II in Europe and the years immediately following that war.” — General James M. Gavin “Anyone who has wondered how the small Army officer corps of the 1920s and 1930s was able to produce so many effective and often brilliant commanders in World War II will find an answer in this autobiography of General J. Lawton Collins. General Collins recounts his varied experiences in war and peace with exacting accuracy of fact and in an interesting and lucid manner, which makes his book most valuable reading both for the historian and the lay reader wishing to learn more about what it takes to make a successful modern general.” — General Maxwell D. Taylor “In this autobiography, General J. Lawton Collins exhibits the qualities of mind which won him the reputation as one of the brainiest of American combat commanders: clarity, judiciousness, incisiveness, and realism... a book which should prove valuable to both historian and the general reader... [an] admirable book.” — Ronald Spector, Military Affairs “[H]ere is a soldier-memoirist grappling earnestly to convey the possible benefits of his own tactical experience to future tacticians, as well as to contribute to the historian’s more forthright quest for as true as possible a reconstruction of the past. Collins is a candidly self-critical memoirist... As a memoirist, Collins has met a standard comparable to that of his exercise of command — which is saying a great deal.” — Russell F. Weigley, The Review of Politics “The picture that emerges from [the book]... is that of a man of extraordinary good judgment who as a combat commander was neither rash nor overly cautious, an officer who was at once modest and serenely confident of his skills, one who had no time for military posturing... in sum, here is a sharply written and fast-moving account of the life of a man who was intimately involved in some of the most important happenings and with some of the most important people of the present century. It is a book that will appeal to scholars and to general readers alike.” — John Edward Wiltz, The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society “J. Lawton Collins was one of the most important and influential American military leaders of the twentieth century... His descriptions of the fighting in France, the Battle of the Bulge, and the ultimate conquest of Germany offer important insights for anyone interested in the Second World War... Lightning Joe is the candid, thoughtful appraisal of world-shaking events by a man considered to be one of the most innovative, aggressive, and effective generals the United States has ever produced.” — Midwest Book Review
