Download or read book Marines In World War II The Defense Of Wake Illustrated Edition written by Lieutenant Colonel R.D. Heinl Jr. USMC and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains 23 photos and 8 maps and charts. The story of the immortal heroic defence of the American outpost on Wake Island by a handful of marines and civilians against an overwhelming forces of the Japanese. “During December 1941, the stubborn defense of Wake by less than 450 Marines galvanized not only the American public but their comrades in arms. In days of disaster then, as of uncertainty later, the thought of Wake and its defenders encouraged Marines to hang on longer, and to fight more resolutely. Small in time and numbers though the action was by comparison with Guadalcanal or the other great battles to come, Wake will never be forgotten. “To my mind, in addition to the obvious military lessons which may be drawn from any battle, be it victory or defeat, the defense of Wake points up two soldierly characteristics which may well be remembered by Marines. These are military adaptability, and the realization that, first and always one must be prepared to face ultimate close ground combat with the enemy. “The officers and men of the 1st Defense Battalion on Wake were artillerymen of a highly specialized type; those of VMF-211 were aviation technicians. neither group let its specialized training or background prevent it from fighting courageously and well as basic infantry when the chips were down. Despite its specialization, each group did the best it could with what it had. “These capabilities and attributes, I submit, should characterize Marines now as they characterized those Marines on Wake, who, though they were outnumbers and eventually overwhelmed, were never outfought.-A.A. VANDEGRIFT, General, U.S. Marine Corps”
Download or read book Marines In World War II Marines At Midway Illustrated Edition written by Lieutenant Colonel R.D. Heinl Jr. USMC and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the Marines during the pivotal campaign of the Pacific that culminated at the Battle of Midway. Contains 25 photos and 3 maps and charts. “The name Midway means much to Marines. At the very outset of war, when Midway’s sole garrison consisted of a Fleet Marine Force defense battalion stationed there in advance of hostilities, the Japanese found that here, as at Wake, Marines were ready. Subsequently, in the battle of Midway, the heroism of Marine fighter and dive-bomber pilots, who attacked effectively and unhesitatingly against tremendous odds, demonstrated once again that courage and discipline are among the high traditions of our Corps. There is another lesson to be derived from the Marine story of Midway, however, and that is the unity of the Fleet Marine Force as a completely integrated air-ground team. This, too, is traditional, but it has never been better demonstrated than by the integration of Marine artillery and infantry (who secured the base) with Marine air which struck the first blow at the Japanese carriers from that base. While Marine fighters were slashing at enemy air, Marine artillerymen were shooting the Japanese planes down, and Marine dive bombers were harrying the enemy fleet. This coordinated interaction by land and sea and air embodied the time-tried and proven doctrines of the Marine Corps in one of its primary fields: that of the defense of advanced bases. To all students of this subject, I commend the story of Marines at Midway.” C.B. Cates, Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Download or read book The US Marines in World War II written by J. Michael Wenger and published by e-artnow. This book was released on 2020-01-09 with total page 1302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edition represents a thoroughly written history of Marines' military campaigns in Europe, Africa and the Pacific during the Second World War. Marines played a central role in the Pacific War, along with the U.S. Army. The battles of Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Tarawa, Guam, Tinian, Cape Gloucester, Saipan, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa saw fierce fighting between Marines and the Imperial Japanese Army. By the end of the war, the Corps expanded from two brigades to six divisions, five air wings and supporting troops, totaling about 485,000 Marines. In addition, 20 defense battalions and a parachute battalion were raised. Nearly 87,000 Marines were casualties during World War II, and 82 were awarded the Medal of Honor. Contents: Origin of the Marine Corps The Marine Corps on the Eve of War Marines Defending American Soil Pearl Harbor Battle of Wake Island Marines Campaign in Europe and Africa Europe and North Africa Defense of Iceland Marines Campaign in the Pacific Rim Defense of the Philippines Solomon Islands Campaign Guadalcanal Campaign Marshall Islands Campaign Battle of Tarawa Battle of Cape Gloucester Battle of Saipan Battle of Guam Battle of Peleliu Battle of Tinian Liberation of the Philippines Marines Campaign in Japan Battle of Iwo Jima Battle of Okinawa Occupation of Japan
Download or read book The Story of Wake Island Illustrated Edition written by James P. S. Devereux Colonel U.S.M.C. and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes 11 photos and 5 maps/diagrams of the Defence of Wake Island “It is Monday, 8 December 1941. On Wake Island, a tiny sprung paper-clip in the Pacific between Hawaii and Guam, Marines of the 1st Defense Battalion are starting another day of the backbreaking war preparations that have gone on for weeks. Out in the triangular lagoon formed by the islets of Peale, Wake, and Wilkes, the huge silver Pan American Airways Philippine Clipper flying boat roars off the water bound for Guam. The trans-Pacific flight will not be completed. “Word of war comes around 0700. Captain Henry S. Wilson, Army Signal Corps, on the island to support the flight ferry of B-17 Flying Fortresses from Hawaii to the Philippines, half runs, half walks toward the tent of Major James P.S. Devereux, commander of the battalion's Wake Detachment. Captain Wilson reports that Hickam Field in Hawaii has been raided. “Devereux immediately orders a "Call to Arms." He quickly assembles his officers, tells them that war has come, that the Japanese have attacked Oahu, and that Wake "could expect the same thing in a very short time” Robert Cressman. So began the epic 14 day siege of Wake Island in 1941, on one side the overwhelming numbers and firepower of the invading Japanese on the other Major Devereux and a handful of Marines aided by civilian contractors and miscellaneous personnel. In this memoir Devereux recounts how he and his men put up a resistance that stunned their Japanese foes, and provided their American countrymen with a potent positive rallying point after the attack at Pearl Habor.
Download or read book A Magnificent Fight Marines in the Battle for Wake Island written by Robert Cressman and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-04-30 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is Monday, 8 December 1941. On Wake Island, a tiny sprung paper-clip in the Pacific between Hawaii and Guam, Marines of the 1st Defense Battalion are starting another day of the backbreaking war preparations that have gone on for weeks. Out in the triangular lagoon formed by the islets of Peale, Wake, and Wilkes, the huge silver Pan American Airways Philippine Clipper flying boat roars off the water bound for Guam. The trans-Pacific flight will not be completed. Word of war comes around 0700. Captain Henry S. Wilson, Army Signal Corps, on the island to support the flight ferry of B-17 Flying Fortresses from Hawaii to the Philippines, half runs, half walks toward the tent of Major James P. S. Devereux, commander of the battalion's Wake Detachment. Captain Wilson reports that Hickam Field in Hawaii has been raided. Devereux immediately orders a "Call to Arms." He quickly assembles his officers, tells them that war has come, that the Japanese have attacked Oahu, and that Wake "could expect the same thing in a very short time."
Download or read book Marines In World War II Iwo Jima Amphibious Epic Illustrated Edition written by Lt. Col. Whitman S. Bartley USMC and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 725 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the 19th Feb. 1945, the first Marines landed on Iwo Jima, the first enemy troops to invade Japanese home territory; many of those brave soldiers would never leave the black volcanic sands again as they fought and died in the U.S. Marine Corps toughest ever battle. Contains 100 photos and 26 maps and charts. “The assault on Iwo Jima came as a smashing climax to the 16-month drive that carried the amphibious forces of the U.S. across the Central Pacific to within 660 miles of Tokyo. Striking first at Tarawa in November 1943, American forces had swept rapidly westward, seizing only those islands essential for support of future operations. Many powerful enemy strongholds were bypassed and neutralized. By the fall of 1944 the small but heavily fortified island of Iwo Jima, lying midway between the Marianas and the heart of the Japanese Empire, had assumed such strategic importance that its rapid seizure became imperative. Neutralization would not suffice; Iwo must become an operational U.S. base. “At Iwo Jima the amphibious doctrines, techniques, weapons, and equipment which had proven so effective during the three previous years of World War II received the supreme test. On that island more than 20,000 well-disposed and deeply entrenched Japanese troops conducted an intelligent and dogged defense. There, more than anywhere else in the Central Pacific, terrain and enemy defense preparations combined to limit the effectiveness of American supporting arms, placing a premium on the skill and aggressive fighting spirit of the individual Marine. There can be no more fitting tribute than the well-known words of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, "Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island uncommon valor was a common virtue."-Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., General, U.S.M.C.
Download or read book The Battle of Wake Island written by and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Magnificent Fight written by Robert Cressman and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Building for War written by Bonita Gilbert and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2012-12-07 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the Americans who came under attack five hours after Pearl Harbor was hit: “Intriguing, informative, gripping, and at times very moving” (Naval Historical Foundation). This intimately researched work tells the story of the thousand-plus Depression-era civilian contractors who came to Wake Island, a remote Pacific atoll, in 1941 to build an air station for the US Navy—charting the contractors’ hard-won progress as they scramble to build the naval base, as well as runways for US Army Air Corps B-17 Flying Fortresses, while war clouds gather over the Pacific. Five hours after their attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese struck Wake Island, which was now isolated from assistance. The undermanned Marine Corps garrison, augmented by civilian-contractor volunteers, fought back against repeated enemy attacks, at one point thwarting a massive landing assault. The atoll was under siege for two weeks as its defenders continued to hope for the US Navy to come to their rescue. Finally succumbing to an overwhelming amphibious attack, the surviving Americans, military and civilian, were taken prisoner. While most were shipped off to Japanese POW camps for slave labor, a number of the civilians were retained as workers on occupied Wake. Later in the war, the last ninety-eight Americans were brutally massacred by their captors. The civilian contractors who had risked distance and danger for well-paying jobs ended up paying a steep price: their freedom and, for many, their lives. Written by the daughter and granddaughter of civilians who served on Wake Island, Building for War sheds new light on why the United States was taken by surprise in December 1941, and shines a spotlight on the little-known, virtually forgotten story of a group of civilian workers and their families whose lives were forever changed by the events on this tiny atoll.
Download or read book Special Marine Corps Units Of World War II Illustrated Edition written by Charles L. Updegraph Jr. and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes more than 25 maps and illustrations. During World War II, a variety of new and experimental units were organized by Marine Corps to enhance the capabilities of the Corps. For the first time under one cover, this historical reference pamphlet tells of the development, deployment, and eventual demise of the five types of special units: raiders, parachutists, glider forces, barrage balloon squadrons, and base defense battalions. Official records of the Marine Corps and appropriate historical works were utilized in compiling this chronicle. Among the proudest traditions of the United States Marine Corps is the legend “First to Fight.” This recognized ability to deploy effective forces in a minimum of time to meet any contingency is not easily maintained. It requires a careful evaluation of international trends and a constant reappraisal of the tactics and forces necessary to meet any crisis. The types of forces which must be maintained, and the structure of these forces, must be reviewed and updated. During the middle and late 1930s, concurrently with the Japanese expansion into northern China, the Marine Corps studied and refined its amphibious doctrine. Subsequently, the Corps stepped up its experimentation with new theories and methods to meet world-wide contingencies. Especially in the aftermath of the outbreak of war in Europe, the United States military establishment undertook a reexamination of its resources and capabilities. The Marines were among the most aggressive when it came to adapting current forces to future requirements. A number of the units which emerged from this period, and from the early war years, were either overtaken by events during the course of the war, or never lived up to their original promise. In these cases, the Marine Corps reorganized or disbanded the units as dictated by the tactical requirements. This monograph traces the origin, formation, deployment, and eventual demise of five such units.
Download or read book A Magnificent Fight written by Robert Cressman and published by . This book was released on with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book World War II Commemorative Bibliography The battle of Wake Island written by United States. Department of the Navy. Library and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Marines in World War II Commemorative Series Illustrated 1937 Tarawa written by Jay F. Hooper and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-08-11 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book about my father Jared J. Hooper during some of his WWII years (enlistment through Tarawa). I used three of the pamphlets in the Marines in World War II Commemorative Series to highlight these years (all of the title page information is in appendix -b- in the back of the book).If something in the text affected him directly it is highlighted in bold. Timeline markers and other events that impacted him are set off with a different font.Even though I have his complete USMC personnel record the information about his enlisted years is practically nonexistent in it, while his time as a warrant officer is quite extensive at times.I have relied on the stories that he told me as a child and a teenager (he talked about WWII only if I asked him about something). I have also found some US Marine Corps muster rolls to fill in some of the storyline of who, what, where, and when. The one confusing battle timeline is the Guadalcanal and Tulagi operation as he was originally discharged from the service on July 31, 1942 on board ship just about a week before the operation started (his enlistment was up). He re-upped of course but he was temporarily attached and detached several times in the confusion of the landings, the Navy leaving Guadalcanal after an intense naval engagement, the ensuing battles, and his utilization by various outfits due to his scout sniper training.In this book I have started with his time as a ranch hand in Wyoming in 1937. He did heed Horace Greeley who said, "Go west, young man." My father then told me tongue in cheek that "I walked down the wrong side of a street in Denver one day in 1938 and I ended up joining the Marine Corps." His enlistment date is Aug. 1, 1938.Then there was time spent at both the recruitment center near San Diego and at Mare Island in the San Francisco area. He was assigned pretty good duty starting June 1939 in Pearl Harbor but he was sent back to the states to be with the 2nd Division in September of 1941 before the December 7th attack. His scout sniper training was used at Tulagi, Guadalcanal, and at Tarawa for which he received a silver star.
Download or read book Marines In World War II The Seizure Of Tinian Illustrated Edition written by Major Carl W. Hoffman USMC and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 463 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Second World War the American forces in the Pacific engaged in the greatest series of amphibious assaults ever known against tenacious Japanese foe. Many of the assaults turned into brutal bloody encounters, marred often by a lack of experience in these difficult operations against extensive prepared positions; Tinian proved to be the most successful of all of the seaborne operations of the Pacific War. Contains 66 photos and 13 maps and charts. “TINIAN is a small island. In 1944 it was held by only 9,000 Japanese. Yet it was so well defended by nature against an amphibious operation that it might have proved a formidable and costly barrier to the final conquest of the Marianas. It had only one beach area suitable-by previous standards-for a major amphibious landing and that beach was heavily mined and skillfully defended. “The enemy, although long alerted to our intentions to attack Tinian, was tactically surprised when we avoided his prepared defenses and landed on two small beaches totalling in width only about 220 yards. Before he could recover from the shock, he was out-numbered and out-equipped on his own island. His subsequent effort to throw us into the water resulted in complete failure. We then pushed the length of the island in nine days, while suffering casualties light in comparison with those of most other island conquests. “As a participant in the operation, I naturally take pride in this achievement, as well as in Admiral Raymond A. Spruance’s evaluation: "In my opinion, the Tinian operation was probably the most brilliantly conceived and executed amphibious operation in World War II."”-C. B. CATES, GENERAL, U. S. MARINE CORPS, COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS
Download or read book The Defense of Wake written by United States. Marine Corps and published by . This book was released on 1947 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Marines in World War II written by Michael E. Haskew and published by Amber Books. This book was released on 2021-08-03 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2016 will mark the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor that pushed the United States into World War II and sent thousands of US Marines to fight and die on tiny islands half a world away. Today, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Tarawa are household names that hold legendary status on the Marines' roll of honor. But in 1941, the Marine Corps was a small expeditionary force with outdated equipment and an unproven new mission--amphibious assault. Michael E. Haskew's The Marines in World War II charts the rapid development of this famous fighting force from two brigades, totaling fewer than 20,000 servicemen, to two full corps with six divisions, five air wings, 21 battalions and as many as 475,000 Marines. In addition to chronicling the hard fought battles at places like Midway, Guadalcanal and Guam, the book also addresses the important role played by Navajo code talkers during combat, as well as the changes that took place within the Marines during the war, such as the admission of its first black members and the gradual desegregation of the Corps.
Download or read book Wake Island 1941 written by Jim Moran and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-09-20 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrated examination of the daring last stand by a collection of marines, sailors, and other service personnel on Wake Island in World War II - one of the legendary stories of American military history. On the same day that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, they also launched air attacks on Wake Island, an American marine and naval base in the Pacific. Three days later a Japanese invasion force stormed the island, but were bloodily repulsed by the scratch force of marines, sailors and even service personnel who defended it. Despite US attempts to relieve the island, the Japanese launched a much greater invasion a few weeks later and, despite gallant resistance, eventually caused the US Forces to surrender. This book tells the complete story of the vicious fighting on Wake Island, featuring full-color maps and archive photography.