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Pacific Air: How Fearless Flyboys, Peerless Aircraft, and Fast Flattops Conquered the Skies in the War with Japan
by David SearsIn a grand sweeping narrative, Pacific Air tells the inspiring story of how, despite initial disastrous defeats, a generation of young naval aviators challenged and ultimately vanquished a superior Japanese air force and fleet in the Pacific. The instruments of the United States aviators' triumphs were the elegantly designed F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, as well as the lethal TBF Avenger torpedo bomber. With superbly trained U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators at their controls, these planes became the most successful aerial weapons in naval history.A majestic portrait of a proud era from dual perspectives--the inventive minds of young aeronautical engineers and the deadly artistry of even younger combat pilots--Pacific Air brings this important yet underappreciated chapter of World War II vividly to life.
Pacific Alamo: The Battle for Wake Island
by John WukovitsIt happened in the shadow of Pearl Harbor-mere hours after the first attack on the day that would "live in infamy. " But few know the full story of Wake Island. Now a prominent military historian, breaking new ground on the assault, relates the compelling events of that day and the heroic struggle that followed. Thanks to the brave Marines stationed there-and the civilian construction workers who selflessly put their lives on the line to defend the island-what was supposed to be an easy victory became a protracted and costly battle for Imperial Japan. This is the story of that battle, from survivors on both sides, and with a gallery of historic photos. .
Pacific Battle Line
by Foster Hailey“This book is an attempt to correlate the first two years of the Pacific war, to put events in their proper “Much of the material contained was gathered firsthand, as a correspondent for the New York Times, at sea and ashore with the navy, the marines, and the army, from Christmas Day, 1941, to the conclusion of the Aleutian campaign in August, 1943.“Where events portrayed were not actually participated in, the information has been gleaned from official records or from conversations with the men who took part in them.“No effort has been made to present this war as anything but what it is, the ultimate insanity of civilization. All of war is hard work, much of it is boring, a fact to which any man will attest who has taken part in one. But the exigencies of war also bring out in many men traits you would not know they had—patience under pressure, cheerfulness under great difficulty, stoicism under pain, raw courage in the face of terrible danger. An effort has been made to tell that too.“Here then is the record as one reporter saw it, a record written in blood and sweat, of the first two years of the wax in the Pacific.“There are many reasons, of course, for writing a book. The principal reason for writing this one is this: that the men with whom I shared some of the hardships and some of the dangers deserve to have their story told, and told as objectively and factually as I can tell it. If they believe that I have made an honest effort to do that and have achieved some success, that will be satisfaction enough for ‘the correspondent from the Times.’”
The Pacific Campaign in World War II: From Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal (Cass Series: Naval Policy and History)
by William Bruce JohnsonThis is a fascinating new account of how diplomacy and politics gave way to military strategy and warfare in the Pacific. Presenting previously unpublished photographs, interviews with veterans, newly commissioned maps and new translations of Japanese sources, this book freshly examines the key events in the fight for the Pacific. Detailing the background to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor it shows how the decision-makers in Washington, following consultation with the leaders of Britain, Australia and New Zealand, moved to stop Japan from its drive toward Australia by initiating a counterthrust in the Solomon Islands. It also shows how qualities and character of leadership are crucial to winning wars, detailing how Admiral Ernest J. King managed to commit the Marine Corps to ground action in the South Pacific six months earlier than originally planned, by ignoring the Roosevelt’s commitment to defeat Germany prior to fighting Japan, and by outmaneuvering Gen. Douglas MacArthur for leadership. It also explains how Marines under Maj. Gen. A.A. Vandegrift, despite inadequate logistical support, managed to prevail in the Americans’ first ground campaign of World War II, making Japan’s ultimate defeat inevitable. In addition to recounting these key events, it traces how censorship and patriotism influenced the reporting of the conflict in America, how Hollywood films further shaped public opinion by portraying the significant events in particular ways, and how certain crucial decisions such as the early bombing raid of Tokyo, and giving Douglas MacArthur command of the war effort in Australia, were "political" rather than "strategic," and were made to foster morale rather than to gain any military advantage. This book will be of great interest to all students and scholars of Military History, and to all readers with a general interest in World War II, particularly in the conflicts of the Pacific, Pearl Harbor and Guadalcanal.
Pacific Counterblow - The 11th Bombardment Group And The 67th Fighter Squadron In The Battle For Guadalcanal: [Illustrated Edition] (Wings at War #3)
by Anon[Illustrated with 6 photos and 3 maps]Originally published shortly after key air campaigns, the Wings at War series captures the spirit and tone of America's World War II experience. Eyewitness accounts of Army Air Forces' aviators and details from the official histories enliven the story behind each of six important AAF operations.Pacific Counterblow tells the story of the Battle for Guadalcanal (1942), focusing on the operations of the 11th Bombardment Group and the 67th Fighter Squadron.Months after the devastation of Pearl Harbor, U.S. forces had crushed the Japanese fleet at Midway and then moved to seize the initiative. AAF commanders in the Pacific sought to prevent the enemy from severing Australia's supply lines. So the B-17s of the 11th Bomb Group and the P-39s and P-400s of the 67th Fighter Squadron, flying from makeshift bases at Espiritu Santo and Henderson Field, began grueling attacks on Japanese shipping between Rabaul, New Britain and the Solomon Islands. After several months of bitter fighting, American forces gained control of Guadalcanal, positioning them to swing forward beyond Rabaul to New Guinea.
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 (The Pacific War Trilogy #1)
by Ian W. Toll"Both a serious work of history . . . and a marvelously readable dramatic narrative."--San Francisco Chronicle On the first Sunday in December 1941, an armada of Japanese warplanes appeared suddenly over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and devastated the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Six months later, in a sea fight north of the tiny atoll of Midway, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sent into the abyss, a blow that destroyed the offensive power of their fleet. Pacific Crucible tells the epic tale of these first searing months of the Pacific war, when the U.S. Navy shook off the worst defeat in American military history and seized the strategic initiative. This dramatic narrative, relying predominantly on eyewitness accounts and primary sources, is laced with riveting details of heroism and sacrifice on the stricken ships and planes of both navies. At the war's outset, Japan's pilots and planes enjoyed a clear-cut superiority to their American counterparts, but there was a price to be paid. Japanese pilots endured a lengthy and grueling training in which they were disciplined with baseball bats, often suffering broken bones; and the production line of the Zero-- Japan's superbly maneuverable fighter plane--ended not at a highway or railhead but at a rice paddy, through which the planes were then hauled on ox carts. Combat losses, of either pilots or planes, could not be replaced in time to match the fully mobilized American war machine. Pacific Crucible also spotlights recent scholarship that revises our understanding of the conflict, including the Japanese decision to provoke a war that few in their highest circles thought they could win. Those doubters included the flamboyantly brilliant Admiral Isokoru Yamamoto, architect of the raid on Pearl and the Midway offensive. Once again, Ian W. Toll proves himself to be a simply magnificent writer. The result here is a page-turning history that does justice to the breadth and depth of a tremendous subject.
Pacific Glory: A Novel
by P. T. DeutermannMarsh Vincent, Mick McCarty, and Tommy Lewis were inseparable friends during their naval academy years, each man in love with the beautiful, unattainable Glory Hawthorne. Only Tommy wins her heart and marries Glory after graduation. Different skills set the three men on separate paths in the Navy, but they are all forever changed by the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7,1941. Glory, now Tommy's widow, is a tough Navy nurse still grieving her loss while trying to save lives at the Pearl Harbor naval hospital. Marsh, a surface ship officer, finds himself in the thick of terrifying sea combat from Guadalcanal, through the turning point at Midway, to a climactic showdown with the Japanese fleet at Leyte Gulf. Mick, a hotshot fighter pilot with a drinking problem and a chip on his shoulder, seeks redemption after a series of failures leaves him grounded and ashamed. Filled with wide-screen action, romance, and heroism tinged with the brutal reality of war, Pacific Glory is an old-fashioned military adventure of the first order.
Pacific Interlude: A Novel
by Sloan WilsonDuring the last days of World War II, a young officer braves enemy fire and a maverick crew on the open waters and in the steamy ports of the South Pacific Twenty-five-year-old Coast Guard lieutenant Sylvester Grant, a veteran of the Greenland Patrol, has just been given command of a small gas tanker, running shuttle and convoy duties for the US Army. Sally, his wife of three years, is eager for him to get back to Massachusetts and live a conventional suburban life selling insurance--but Syl longs for adventure and is bound to find it as the captain of a beat-up, unseaworthy vessel carrying extremely flammable cargo across dangerous stretches of the Pacific Ocean. As the Allies prepare to retake the Philippines, the only thing the sailors aboard the Y-18 want is for the war to be over. First, however, they must survive their mission to bring two hundred thousand gallons of high-octane aviation fuel to shore. From below-deck personality clashes to the terrifying possibility of an enemy attack, from combating illness and boredom to the constant stress of preventing an explosion that could blow their ship sky high, the crew of the Y-18 must learn to work together and trust their captain--otherwise, they might never make it home. Based on Sloan Wilson's own experiences, Pacific Interlude is a thrilling and realistic story of World War II and a moving portrait of a man looking toward the future while trying to survive a precarious present.
Pacific is my Beat
by Keith WheelerThe Pacific is My Beat, first published in 1943, is war correspondent Keith Wheeler's front-line account of his experiences with the U.S. Army and Navy during the Second World War following the attack on Pearl Harbor. After a brief stint in the Marshall Islands, Wheeler travels to the Aleutian Islands where he vividly describes an oft-forgotten slice of the war, but one characterized by extreme, difficult weather, sodden living conditions, and an enemy that had no plans to surrender, but instead chose to fight to their death or commit mass-suicide with grenades. Wheeler was a gifted writer whose stories appeared on newspapers nationwide. He painted an accurate picture of war-time life for American soldiers, sailors, and aviators. This new kindle edition includes 33 pages of maps and photographs.
The Pacific Naval War 1941–1945
by David WraggThis vividly detailed WWII history chronicles the bitter conflict at sea between Allied and Japanese naval forces. The Pacific War was primarily fought at sea. Naval power allowed the Japanese to mount their attack on Pearl Harbor and then advance westwards and southwards. It also enabled the Allies to strike back and even take the war to Japan itself. The tide turned very quickly, with the US victory at Midway in June of 1942 ending any Japanese hope of domination. The book begins with the decisions that led Japan into war, and the difficult situation faced by the Royal Navy elsewhere. It then describes how, within a couple of years, the Royal Navy was able to send the strongest and most balanced fleet in its history to severely disrupt Japanese operations. Historian David Wragg also covers how the Royal Australian Navy developed into a viable naval force ready to become a major fleet in the immediate postwar years. The progress of the war is supported by eyewitness accounts from those involved in the fighting at sea.
Pacific Onslaught: 7th Dec. 1941/7th Feb. 1943 (The\pan/ballantine Illustrated History Of World War 2 Ser.)
by Paul KennedyA look at the early years of the Pacific conflict in World War II, by the New York Times–bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Japan had mighty ambitions: to control the Western Pacific. The attack on Pearl Harbor devastated their primary obstacle—the American Pacific fleet—and they swept across the region. What ensued was a bitter struggle in which many thousands of soldiers lost their lives on both sides. This is the first book in Paul Kennedy&’s chronicle of the Pacific conflict in World War II, concluded in Pacific Victory. Featuring a new introduction by the author, this book provides a close, step-by-step narrative of the Japanese expansion into the Western Pacific during some of the most brutal years of World War II. Offering contemporary analysis of war strategy, it includes a riveting look at Japan&’s tightening grip on Hong Kong, New Guinea, the Philippines, and other key strategic locations—and the Allies&’ inexorable struggle against it.
Pacific Payback
by Stephen L. MooreSunday, December 7, 1941, dawned clear and bright over the Pacific.... But for the Dauntless dive-bomber crews of the USS Enterprise returning to their home base on Oahu, it was a morning from hell. Flying directly into the Japanese ambush at Pearl Harbor, they lost a third of their squadron and witnessed the heart of America's Navy broken and smoldering on the oil-slicked waters below. The next six months, from Pearl Harbor to the Battle of Midway--a dark time during which the Japanese scored victory after victory--this small band of aviators saw almost constant deployment, intense carrier combat, and fearsome casualties. Many were killed by enemy Zero fighters, antiaircraft fire, or deadly crash landings in the Pacific, while others were captured and spent years in POW camps. Yet the Enterprise's Dauntless crews would be the first to strike an offensive blow against Japanese installations in the Marshall Islands, would be the first to sink a Japanese warship, and would shepherd the Doolittle Raiders' bombing of Tokyo. Not until Midway, though, would Dauntless crews get the chance to settle the score. In June 1942, Japan mobilized the best of its Navy to draw out the smaller American carrier fleet for a final showdown designed to destroy the U.S. Navy once and for all. What they didn't anticipate was the gutsy dive-bombing pilots and gunners whose courage and skill would change the course of World War II. Drawing on dozens of new interviews and oral histories, author Stephen L. Moore brings to life inspiring stories of individual sacrifice and bravery--and the sweeping saga of one of America's greatest triumphs. INCLUDES PHOTOS
Pacific Siege (Seal Team Seven #8)
by Keith DouglassAction! Intrigue! Firepower! When a Japanese general goes ballistic and takes over a Russian island, the SEALs are sent in to restore justice. But between freeing Russian hostages and making sure not to step on the wrong toes, the SEALs find themselves stuck waist-deep in hell--and high water. Book Quality: Excellent
Pacific Skies: American Flyers in World War II
by Jerome KlinkowitzFrom 1941 to 1945 the skies over the Pacific Ocean afforded the broadest arena for battle and the fiercest action of air combat during World War II. It was in the air above the Pacific that America's involvement in the war began. It was in these skies that air power launched from carriers became a new form of engagement and where the war ultimately ended with kamikaze attacks and with atomic bombs dropped over Japan. Throughout the conflict American flyers felt a compelling call to supplement the official news and military reports. In vivid accounts written soon after combat and in reflective memoirs recorded in the years after peace came, both pilots and crew members detailed their stories of the action that occurred in the embattled skies. Their first-person testimonies describe a style of warfare invented at the moment of need and at a time when the outcome was anything but certain. Gathering more than a hundred personal narratives from Americans and from Japanese, Pacific Skies recounts a history of air combat in the Pacific theater. Included are the words of such famous aces and bomber pilots as Joe Foss, Pappy Boyington, Dick Bong, and Curtis Lemay, as well as the words of many rank-and-file airmen. Together their stories express fierce individualism and resourcefulness and convey the vast panorama of war that included the skies over Pearl Harbor, Wake, and Guadalcanal and missions from Saipan and Tinian. As Pacific Skies recounts the perilous lives of pilots in their own words, Jerome Klinkowitz weaves the individual stories into a gripping historical narrative that exposes the shades of truth and fiction that can become blurred over time. A book about experiencing and remembering, Pacific Skies also is a story of unique perspectives on the war.
Pacific Victory
by Paul KennedyA look at the events leading up to Japan&’s surrender in World War II, from the New York Times–bestselling author of Engineers of Victory. By the spring of 1943, Japan had a tight grip on the countries and territories of East Asia and the Western Pacific. But the Allies had won decisive victories at Midway and Guadalcanal, and they were coming for the rest of Japan&’s conquests. Now the empire of Japan would be on the defensive. Featuring a new introduction by the author, this book picks up where Pacific Onslaught left off, providing a detailed, step-by-step account of the Allies&’ unstoppable rally across territories annexed by the Japanese in a brutal two-pronged attack across New Guinea and the Philippines, and the islands of the central Pacific. Here you&’ll find detailed contemporary accounts and strategy, from the epic battles of the Gilberts and Marshalls to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Japan&’s final surrender on the decks of the USS Missouri.
The Pacific War: From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa
by Dale Dye Robert O'NeillOn December 7, 1941, Japanese fighter planes appeared from the clouds above Pearl Harbor and fundamentally changed the course of history; with this one surprise attack, the previously isolationist America was irrevocably thrown into the fray and World War II had begun in earnest.This definitive history reveals each of the major battles that America would fight in the ensuing struggle against Imperial Japan, from the naval clashes at Midway and Coral Sea to the desperate, bloody fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Each chapter reveals both the horrors of the battle and the Allies' grim yet heroic determination to wrest victory from what often seemed to be certain defeat, offering a valuable guide to the long road to victory in the Pacific. It is the definitive guide to a unique conflict in history, documenting the rise of naval aviation, spectacular amphibious operations, co-ordinated suicide tactics, and the birth of the atomic age.
The Pacific War: The Strategy Politics and Players that Won the War
by William B. HopkinsThis book provides a fresh take on World War II in the Pacific that goes beyond the simple recounting of battles won and lost to synthesize the strategies, politics, and key players that shaped the conduct of the war. The author takes a regional approach to this multifaceted, often nonlinear war conducted on land, sea (and significantly by America undersea), and in the air across the immense reaches of the Pacific to effectively develop the major themes and causes of the battles.
The Pacific War: The Strategy, Politics, and Players That Won the War
by William B. HopkinsThis “important comprehensive study” of WWII in the Pacific examines the high-level decision-making and strategy that led to victory (Roanoke Times).Once the stories have been told of battles won and lost, most of what happens in a war remains a mystery. So it has been with accounts of World War II in the Pacific, a complex conflict whose nature is often obscured by simple chronological narratives. In The Pacific War, William B. Hopkins, a Marine Corps veteran of the Pacific war and respected military history author, opens the story of the Pacific campaign to a broader and deeper view.Hopkins investigates the strategies, politics, and personalities that shaped the fighting. His regional approach to this complex war conducted on land, sea, and air offers an insightful perspective on how this multifaceted conflict unfolded. As expansive as the immense reaches of the Pacific, and as focused as the most intensive pinpoint attack on a strategic island, Hopkins’ account offers a fresh way of understanding the hows—and more significantly, the whys—of the Pacific War.
The Pacific War
by Daniel MarstonA new paperback edition of one of the bestselling World War II Osprey titles, The Pacific War Companion brings together the perspectives and insights of world-renowned military historians. From the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor through the release of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the conflict in the Pacific was marked by amazing tactical innovations, such as those in amphibious warfare, and horrific battles that raged in the unforgiving climate of the island jungles. Each chapter in this book focuses on a different aspect of this conflict, from the planning of operations to the experiences of the men who were there.
The Pacific War: Aftermaths, Remembrance and Culture (Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia)
by Christina Twomey Ernest KohThe Pacific War is an umbrella term that refers collectively to a disparate set of wars, however, this book presents a strong case for considering this assemblage of conflicts as a collective, singular war. It highlights the genuine thematic commonalities in the legacies of war that cohere across the Asia-Pacific and shows how the wars, both individually and collectively, wrought dramatic change to the geo-political makeup of the region. This book discusses the cultural, political and social implications of the Pacific War and engages with debates over the war’s impact, legacies, and continuing cultural resonances. Crucially, it examines the meanings and significance of the Second World War from a truly international perspective and the contributors present fascinating case studies that highlight the myriad of localised idiosyncrasies in how the Pacific War has been remembered and deployed in political contexts. The chapters trace the shared legacy that the individual wars had on demographics, culture and mobility across the Asia Pacific, and demonstrate how in the aftermath of the war political borders were transformed and new nation states emerged. The book also considers racial and sexual tensions which accompanied the arrival of both Allied and Axis personnel and their long lasting consequences, as well as the impact returning veterans and the war crime trials that followed the conflict had on societies in the region. In doing so, it succeeds in illuminating the events and issues that unfolded in the weeks, months, and indeed decades after the war. This interdisciplinary volume examines the aftermaths and legacies of war for individuals, communities, and institutions across South, Southeast, and East Asia, Oceania, and the Pacific world. As such, it will be welcomed by students and scholars of Asian history, modern history and cultural history, as well as by those interested in issues of memory and commemoration.
Pacific War, 1931-1945
by Saburo IenagaA portrayal of how and why Japan waged war from 1931-1945 and what life was like for the Japanese people in a society engaged in total war.From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Pacific War, 1931-1945: A Critical Perspective on Japan's Role in World War II
by Saburo Ienaga Frank BaldwinA portrayal of how and why Japan waged war from 1931-1945 and what life was like for the Japanese people in a society engaged in total war.
The Pacific War 1941-1943: Book 6 of the Ladybird Expert History of the Second World War (The Ladybird Expert Series #12)
by James HollandPart of the ALL-NEW LADYBIRD EXPERT SERIES- Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbour?- How did the Americans underestimate the Japanese?- What were 'banzai charges,' and how did the discipline of the Japanese lead to their downfall?FOLLOW the lethal turns of World War II through the theatre of the Pacific War. From the devastating attack on Pearl Harbour to the decisive triumph of the Allies at Guadalcanal, the entry of Japan and America to the fighting changed the course of World War II completely.JAPAN'S DEADLY OFFENSIVE, AMERICA'S DECISIVE VICTORYWritten by historian, author and broadcaster James Holland, THE PACIFIC WAR 1941-1943 is an essential, accessible introduction to the battles that defined Pacific conflict in World War II.
The Pacific War, 1941-1945
by John CostelloJohn Costello's The Pacific War has now established itself as the standard one-volume account of World War II in the Pacific. Never before have the separate stories of fighting in China, Malaya, Burma, the East Indies, the Phillipines, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the Aleutians been so brilliantly woven together to provide a clear account of one of the most massive movements of men and arms in history. The complex social, political, and economic causes that underlay the war are here carefully analyzed, impelling the reader to see it as the inevitable conclusion to a series of historical events. And the bloody fighting that indelibly recorded names like Midway and Iwo Jima in the annals of human conflict is described in detail, through its ominous conclusion in the mushroom clouds of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Pacific War Remembered
by John T. Mason Jr.In this remarkable oral history collection, thirty-three participants in the turbulent epic that began with the day of infamy at Pearl Harbor and ended with the signing of the surrender documents in Tokyo Harbor tell their stories. Their remembrances of heartbreak, frustration, heroism, hope, and triumph were collected over a period of twenty-five years by John T. Mason. Their recollections reveal perspectives and facts not included in traditional works of history. Each selection, introduced with a preface that places it in the context of the Pacific War, takes the reader behind the scenes to present the personal, untold stories of naval history.Included are Admiral William S. Sullivan's account of the problems involved in clearing Manila Harbor of some five hundred wrecked vessels left by the departing Japanese and Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid's description of the communications breakdown at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. There are also the very personal recollections of humor and horror told by the unknown actors in the war: the hospital corpsman, the coxswain, and the machinist's mate. Originally published in 1986, this volume is an unusual and lasting tribute to the ingenuity and teamwork demonstrated by America's forces in the Pacific as well as a celebration of the human spirit