Recommended reading on WW2 in the Pacific&Asia

[nebelwerferXXX]

The JAPANESE WAR MACHINE
Introduction by S. L. Mayer

With 255 pages, 21 color photos, 406 B/W photos, 204 color artworks, 35 line drawings, 25 color maps and 11 tables (including one Table describing the Famous Air Units, The Leading Japanese Aces and a short biography of Warrant Officer H. Nishizawa). A very good Book Design and also my favorite.

The color artworks are:
Type 14 pistol, Arisaka Type 38 carbine, Type 99 LMG, Type 94 mountain gun, Type 92 howitzer, Type 97 (1937) Chi-Ha medium tank, Kagero-Class destroyer, Kongo-Class battle-cruiser, battleship Yamato, 'Val' dive-bomber, 'Zero' fighter, G4M2 medium bomber, 'George' fighter, 'Claude' carrier-fighter, 'Kate' carrier-bomber and Shoki ('Tojo') Army fighter.

Awesome and Excellent book...

[cuscus]

No Bended Knee; The Battle of Guadalcanal by Merrill B. Twinning
Merrill Twinning was Operations Officer for the First Marine Division. He was a member of the advance echelon to New Zealand, went on the aerial reconnaissance flights over Guadalcanal and Tulagi and was a key planner of the landings and defense. A good read.

A time of War: Remembering Guadalcanal, a Battle without maps by William H. Whyte
Memorable for his account of the battle of Tenaru and the assaults on the Mataniko, an evaluation of his commanding officer and the Japanese soldiers he faced.

The Coast Watchers by Eric Feldt
By the man who set up the Ferdinand network and written while the events were still fresh

I want to offer the opinion I am careful about Patrick Lindsays new book, coast watchers. There are a number of errors and one incredible claim that urge caution.

[cuscus]

Some good reading on Coastwatchers, I have read each one and dont hesitate to post them here

H. J. Murray - Hunted: A Coastwatchers Story
Murray was a WW1 veteran and planter near Kavieng in New Ireland. he led a party out after the Japanese landings and went back as a coastwatcher, twice, to New Ireland. The second time they had to be evacuated. He was awarded a Silver Star and a Military Cross

D. C. Horton - Fire over the islands, The Coastwatchers of the Solomons.
Before the war Horton was a District Officer on Guadalcanal. He landed with the marines on Tulagi and was a coastwatcher on Ontong java, New Georgia and Rendova. He got a Silver Star and a DSC

F A Rhoades - Diary of a Coastwatcher in the Solomons.
Snowy Rhoades was on Guadalcanal and landed with the Americans at Rendova and Munda. Eric Feldt says it was he who first reported the Japanese preparing an airstrip at Lunga. This booklet is published by the Admiral Nimitz Foundation. Rhoades was prompted to write to correct what he perceived as inaccurate records and claims being made in the piost war period. The Americans awarded him a DSC and a Silver Star

Gordon Saville - King of Kiriwina. Adventures of Sargent Saville in the South Seas
This is about an Australian Army Sargent who was sent to the Trobriand Islands. He was there until the American landings and managed local labour during the construction of the airstrip on Kiriwina. This guy is very urbane and the book gives a sense of what it is like to travel between islands and how coast watchers depended so much on the local "coconut wireless" for news.

[Pips]

New book just published on Japanese raids over Darwin in 1943. To date the only detailed book I've read on the subject is Jim Grant's "Spitfires Over Darwin".

The new book, titled "Darwin Spitfires" seems quite comprehensive, coming in at 516 pages. I've ordered it, will be intersting to see how good it is.

A bit about the author:
"ANTHONY COOPER began his writing career in the early 1990s as a mature age undergraduate, with an early article in the Australian Journal of Politics and History. Further articles in academic journals followed, before his first book project, HMAS Bataan, 1952: An Australian warship in the Korean War, documented the tour of duty of his father’s ship in the Korean War.
Anthony is a Brisbane teacher. "Darwin Spitfires: The Real Battle for Australia" is his second book. He has a PhD in history and an understanding wife."

And a blurb about the book:
In 1943, a small band of inexperienced Australian and British fighter pilots fought an ongoing air battle in defense of north-western Australia, flying against a formidably skilled and proficient opponent. The air raids on Darwin during 1942-43 constituted the only sustained and intensive direct assault on Australian mainland territory in the whole of World War Two and yet, surprisingly, most Australians have no idea that it ever happened. Following the RAAF’s No 1 Fighter Wing, Darwin Spitfires tells this little-known story, and in so doing, recovers this important aspect of Australian history.

It's available from here: http://www.unswpress.com.au/isbn/9781742232270.htm

[Pips]

Bit of a feast happening at present with several books coming out that deal with Japanese activities over Northern Australia.
Besides the one mentioned above, there are two by the author Bob Alford.

The first is "Darwin's Air War", a second edition printing of Bob's original book from several years ago. It has been so thoroughly revised and expanded in content and detail that it is really a new book. Mission reports, including several accounts of the Japanese units and crews who flew over Australia, give it a first hand character that has been previously missing from all books on the subject. The result of Bob's meticulous research now swells the original edition's eighty pages to a gigantic 261 pages in A4 format, with hundreds of photographs in both color and monochrome.

As far as I'm aware it's only avalable from the The Australian Aviation Heritage Centre in Darwin.
http://www.darwinsairwar.com.au/index.html

Here's the blurb from the publisher:
DARWIN’S AIR WAR
Officially launched in Darwin on 19 February 2011, the revised edition of Darwin’s Air War provides a much expanded commentary on the air war fought over the Northern Territory, the raids by Allied air forces against the Japanese held Netherlands East Indies and the islands to Australia’s north that made up the North Western Area of Operations (NWA) and eventual victory, whilst dispelling a number of myths that have become conventional wisdom over many years.

This 261 page revised edition of the bestselling1991 book of the same name features a range of previously unpublished photographs including a series of colour images taken by a young USAAF fighter pilot serving at one of the roadside airstrips south of Darwin during 1942. Five appendices provide information on Japanese missions over the Darwin area (many more than the 64 generally acknowledged), major operational units and their aircraft, technical data on major aircraft types, the composition of Japanese air forces and the system of Allied code names for Japanese aircraft.

A comprehensive Notes section provides additional information to that contained within the general text, whilst an insert provides further additional information and a number of corrections.

Darwin’s Air War is available via the Aviation Historical Society of the Northern Territory at PO Box 37621 Winnellie, NT Australia 0821; by phone on 61+8+89472145; or by email at ahsnt@bigpond.com

The cost is AUD55.00 plus postage.

[Pips]

The second of Bob's books to be just published is "JAPANESE AIR FORCES OVER THE NWA: 1942~1945".

The NWA is probably not a term that our American friends will be familiar with. It was an RAAF term - The North Western Area of Operations (NWA) covered northern Australia west from Cape York across to Western Australia and the Indian Ocean, the Netherlands East Indies including Dutch New Guinea, the Celebes, Borneo and the Arafura, Timor, Banda and Flores Seas. The NWA was an operational RAAF Command. Americans would normally just refer to the region as part of the SWPA.

The blurb from the book:
Japanese Air Forces Over the NWA 1942-1945

By Bob Alford. With illustrations by Darryl Ford

This newly published book details the Japanese Air Forces in the North Western Area of Operations including northern Australia during WWII.
Chapters include a historical background on wartime operations over the NWA, along with those on allied code names, aircraft designations, unit compositions, brief histories of the units that flew missions over northern Australia and were based in the NWA, and a section on colours and markings derived from combat and Intelligence reports and the author’s physical assessment of remaining crash sites in the Northern Territory..
The book is A4 size (210mm x 297mm) and contains 92 pages with black and white and colour photos, maps including two WWII Japanese maps showing the dispositions of a number of units, colour aircraft profiles by Brisbane graphic artist, Darryl Ford, and a host of information on the Japanese air units in the North Western Area of operations (NWA).

The costs for this new release are:
In Australia - AUD22.95 plus postage (Air Mail, Registered) and handling of AUD7.45 - total AUD30.40;

and In the USA - AUD22.95 plus postage (Air Mail, Registered) and handling of AUD8.55 - total AUD31.50.

Payment can be made via Pay Pal, bank cheque (payable to R.N. and S. Alford) or electronic funds transfer (bank details available on request).

Cheques can be posted:
c/- Mr and Mrs A.D. and S Clark
PO Box 2257
PALMERSTON NT 0831
AUSTRALIA

PLEASE E-MAIL ALL INQUIRIES TO BOB ALFORD AT: bo.balford@hotmail.com

EXTRA
As an added bonus an A4 size reproduction of the IJN page of aircraft profiles prepared by Darryl Ford will be included as an insert for purchasers of the book. Darryl will also be releasing his new work, Air Strike South-West PacificSWPA, in the near future.

[nebelwerferXXX]

Japanese high seas fleet...Richard Humble
Pacific Onslaught: 7th Dec. 1941-7th Feb. 1943...Paul Kennedy
Yamashita...A J Barker
suicide weapon...A J Barker

Good books, nice read also...

[phylo_roadking]

Pips, Grant's book on the Spitfires over Darwin is also the only book I've glanced through previously too; if the new titles shed any more light on the Spitfires' mechanical issues can you appraise us as and when?

[Pips]

Sure.

[Pips]

phylo, just an update on "Darwin Spirfires".

Only 150 pages or so into it but it is proving to be an excellent read.

Meticulous detail on each raid, and how No.1 Wing reacted to each of them eg which units took-off at what time and from what base, the 'form up' (or not as often is the case), who attacked and how etc.
Also delves into the skill level and composition of the units as they were when formed, political background, leadership of the Wing, effectiveness of the support units (radar etc), effects of the attack, claims and (as best can be ascertained) actual losses. Problems with the unsuitability of the Spitfire eg cannon stoppages and prop problems, are evident almost from the very start. Very detailed footnotes and references.

One thing that stands out to date is that Clive Caldwell, as good a combat pilot (ace) as he is, is a rather poor combat leader. Shows little care for his pilots in the air, flies too fast to allow proper form-up and consolidation of forces, tends to fight as an individual. No doubting his courage and skill, but definitely lacking in Wing leadership. Interestingly this was often said of him in the Desert too. Bobby Gibbs being particulary critical of him for this aspect.

Easily the most comprehensive book I've read on the subject to date. A must read for anyone interested in this aspect of the Pacific War.

[Peter H]

A new Osprey release.

Wake Island 1941
The copy I saw today seemed quiet detailed...a nice addition to anyone's library.

[Pips]

Came across a book that deals with the Japanese occupation of Malaya and Singapore. Fantastic read. Deals with a subject that is rarely touched upon, other than from the view of POW's.

It's titled "New Perspectives on the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and Singapore 1941-1945"; by Yoji Akashi and Mako Yoshimura.

From the Amazon page:
Information on the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and Singapore is sparse, and Japanese-language materials are particularly difficult to find because the Japanese military systematically destroyed war-related documents when the war ended. The contributors to this volume participated in a Forum that spent four years locating surviving materials relating to the Occupation of Malaya. The group had three objectives: to collect primary sources, to interview Japanese military and civilian officials who took part in the military administration and people in Malaysia and Singapore who experienced the period, and to publish the results of the studies.

Based on interviews with Japanese, Malaysians, and Singaporeans who lived through the war years and materials gathered from archives and libraries in Britain, Malaysia, Singapore, USA, Australia and India, the Forum has produced a number of Japanese-language publications. This book makes available some of their research findings in English. Topics covered include the Watanabe Military Administration, Japanese research activities in Malaya, Japan's Economic Policies, Malayan Communist Party Leaders and the Anti-Japanese Resistance, the Massacre of Chinese in Singapore, Railway Transportation during the Japanese Occupation Period, the Singapore Internment Camp for Allied Civilian Women, and the Japanese Surrender.

[Andy H]

Allies of a Kind: The United States, Britain, and the War Against Japan, 1941-1945 by Christopher Thorne.
Published by Oxford University Press, 1978. ISBN01928550857

"History is and can be cruel not only to those who participated in the actual events, but also for those that tried to record and re-tell it through publications such as this. Christopher Thorne's name will not readily fall from the lips of those interested in this specific era or genre, but from this work alone, his name should be the first among the many. This book has sat upon my shelf for nigh on 20yrs, never fully read, just dipped into from time to time, past over by more 'modern' tomes from other more popular authors. Well more fool me for letting it sit there marking the passage of time with its ever yellowing pages. For inside you will not come across a more lucid, analytically fair, balanced or enjoyable read on the subject matter than this!"

The rest of the review can be seen here:-
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=195939

Regards

Andy H

[Larso]

Hell's Battlefield: The Australians in New Guinea in WW2 by Phillip Bradley

Allen & Unwin, 2012.

Bradley is the author of several books on some of the later battles fought in New Guinea. Here he has taken on the task of examining the fighting in its entirety, including on the island territories, as well as key actions at seas. After recapping on the strategic situation, he looks at the first Japanese landings on New Britain and the infamous murder of about 150 Australian prisoners. This sets the scene for a conflict of exceptional savagery, compounded by some of the most difficult terrain in the world. The Australians believed they were fighting to protect their country from a barbaric invasion and the Japanese fought with suicidal intensity as a matter of course. The stakes were high and it is rare to find of any quarter ever being given and this makes for a very compelling read.

As with any tome on this theatre, the fighting on the Kokoda Track dominates. Initially the Japanese advance was opposed by Australian militia units, mostly conscripted men who scandalously had been poorly trained and equipped. It had been expected that the all volunteer AIF veterans of Africa would do all the fighting. Stirringly, the outnumbered amateurs conducted themselves admirably and when the AIF veterans arrived they were given a bloody nose. The campaign is well known in Australia but Bradley does a good job summarizing the key actions and linking them to the other significant battles of Milne Bay and the following sanguinary battles for the Beachheads. He has some telling things to say about command failures and the lamentable treatment of the militia. This includes a sharp critique of Arnold Potts who is normally accorded sympathetic treatment in the histories. Bradley spells out that Pott's disregard for the militia was a key factor in his failure. Bradley then covers the capturing of Gona, Buna and Sananda in considerable detail. Many Australians and Americans were sacrificed in poorly supported frontal attacks on powerful Japanese emplacements. While there is an element of hindsight here (something commonly found in writings on these battles) it is clear that MacArthur's distant command and poor understanding of the conditions contributed to many unnecessary casualties.

Bradley then covers the less well known campaigns of 1943 - 45. It is astonishing to read of the epic battles fought on cliff sides and razor topped ridges. There is a heap of fascinating detail. Many heroic deeds are recounted, disasters take place, commanders fail and injustices occur. Such is war. I also liked the examination of the alliance with the Americans and for all MacArthur's personal weaknesses, he was a brilliant commander who turned the Japanese inside out. While the focus is on the exploits of Australians the massive American contribution in this theatre is made clear. There are also some very interesting Japanese sources looked at, so there is some exploration of what was happening on the other side of the hill.

Bradley has given us a very readable one volume account of this exhausting campaign. There are extensive notes, maps and tables. It was particularly pleasing to see that the author personally interviewed many veterans which ensured there was much in the way of fresh material. Indeed, this points to the prime strength of the book, which is that the fighting is largely told through the voices of the men who did it. I am widely read on this subject and there was a lot for me to learn. I highly recommend this book to Australian readers but also to others who have an interest in the Pacific War.