Gilbert Islands in WWII

Gilbert Islands in WWII PDF Author: Peter McQuarrie
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780971412781
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
World War Two history remembers the Gilbert Islands for the Battle of Tarawa, the US Marines' first bold amphibious assault against a Japanese stronghold in the Pacific Islands. But there is much more to the WWII story of the Gilbert Islands than a single battle. In addition to the Battle of Tarawa, this book also tells of the periods of Japanese and American occupations, of coast-watching and German raiders. This history of a time and place is also a story of the people involved. In addition to the Americans and Japanese it is also the story of Gilbert and Ellice Islanders, New Zealanders, British, Chinese, German-Marshallese and "Kai Viti" people (British Fiji Citizens), who by one means or another became caught up in the war in the Gilbert Islands. The author has used oral and written accounts of people who were directly involved, as well as official records in archives in Kiribati, Fiji, Tuvalu, New Zealand, the United States and Australia. This is a thoroughly researched, comprehensive and unique account of WWII as experienced in these small and remote atolls of the Central Pacific.

Gilbert Islands in WWII

Gilbert Islands in WWII PDF Author: Peter McQuarrie
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780971412781
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
World War Two history remembers the Gilbert Islands for the Battle of Tarawa, the US Marines' first bold amphibious assault against a Japanese stronghold in the Pacific Islands. But there is much more to the WWII story of the Gilbert Islands than a single battle. In addition to the Battle of Tarawa, this book also tells of the periods of Japanese and American occupations, of coast-watching and German raiders. This history of a time and place is also a story of the people involved. In addition to the Americans and Japanese it is also the story of Gilbert and Ellice Islanders, New Zealanders, British, Chinese, German-Marshallese and "Kai Viti" people (British Fiji Citizens), who by one means or another became caught up in the war in the Gilbert Islands. The author has used oral and written accounts of people who were directly involved, as well as official records in archives in Kiribati, Fiji, Tuvalu, New Zealand, the United States and Australia. This is a thoroughly researched, comprehensive and unique account of WWII as experienced in these small and remote atolls of the Central Pacific.

One Square Mile of Hell

One Square Mile of Hell PDF Author: John Wukovits
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780451221384
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
The riveting true account of the Battle of Tarawa, an epic World War II clash in which the U.S. Marines fought the Japanese nearly to the last man. In November 1943, the men of the 2d Marine Division were instructed to clear out Japanese resistance on the Pacific island of Betio, a speck at the end of the Tarawa Atoll. When the Marines landed, the Japanese poured out of their underground bunkers—and launched one of the most brutal and bloody battles of World War II. For three straight days, attackers and defenders fought over every square inch of sand in a battle with no defined frontlines, and where there was no possibility of retreat—because there was nowhere to retreat to. It was a struggle that would leave both sides stunned and exhausted, and prove both the fighting mettle of the Americans and the fanatical devotion of the Japanese. Drawn from new sources, including participants’ letters and diaries and exclusive firsthand interviews with survivors, One Square Mile of Hell is the true story of a battle between two determined foes, neither of whom would ever look at the other in the same way again.

Mothers' Darlings of the South Pacific

Mothers' Darlings of the South Pacific PDF Author: Judith A. Bennett
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824858298
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 405

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Book Description
Over the course of World War II, two million American military personnel occupied bases throughout the South Pacific, leaving behind a human legacy of at least 4,000 children born to indigenous mothers. Based on interviews conducted with many of these American-indigenous children and several of the surviving mothers, Mothers’ Darlings of the South Pacific explores the intimate relationships that existed between untold numbers of U.S. servicemen and indigenous women during the war and considers the fate of their mixed-race children. These relationships developed in the major U.S. bases of the South Pacific Command, from Bora Bora in the east across to Solomon Islands in the west, and from the Gilbert Islands in the north to New Zealand, in the southernmost region of the Pacific. The American military command carefully managed interpersonal encounters between the sexes, applying race-based U.S. immigration law on Pacific peoples to prevent marriage “across the color line.” For indigenous women and their American servicemen sweethearts, legal marriage was impossible; giving rise to a generation of fatherless children, most of whom grew up wanting to know more about their American lineage. Mothers’ Darlings of the South Pacific traces these children’s stories of loss, emotion, longing, and identity—and of lives lived in the shadow of global war. Each chapter discusses the context of the particular island societies and shows how this often determined the ways intimate relationships developed and were accommodated during the war years and beyond. Oral histories reveal what the records of colonial governments and the military have largely ignored, providing a perspective on the effects of the U.S. occupation that until now has been disregarded by Pacific war historians. The richness of this book will appeal to those interested the Pacific, World War II, as well as intimacy, family, race relations, colonialism, identity, and the legal structures of U.S. immigration.

The Early Air War in the Pacific

The Early Air War in the Pacific PDF Author: Ralph F. Wetterhahn
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 147666997X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
 During the first 10 months of the war in the Pacific, Japan achieved air supremacy with its carrier and land-based forces. But after major setbacks at Midway and Guadalcanal, the empire's expansion stalled, in part due to flaws in aircraft design, strategy and command. This book offers a fresh analysis of the air war in the Pacific during the early phases of World War II. Details are included from two expeditions conducted by the author that reveal the location of an American pilot missing in the Philippines since 1942 and clear up a controversial account involving famed Japanese ace Saburo Sakai and U.S. Navy pilot James "Pug" Southerland.

Leyte Gulf 1944 (1)

Leyte Gulf 1944 (1) PDF Author: Mark Stille
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472842812
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
In October 1944, the US prepared to invade the Philippines to cut Japan off from its resource areas in Southeast Asia. This is the first in a two-part study of the October 23-26 Battle of Leyte Gulf, which resulted in a decisive defeat for the Japanese.

Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa

Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa PDF Author: Joseph H. Alexander
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
Immerse yourself in the harrowing tale of the relentless U.S. Marine assault on the fortified island of Tarawa in Joseph H. Alexander's gripping account, 'Across the Reef', With meticulous research and vivid storytelling, Alexander takes readers to the heart of one of World War II's most intense battles. From the strategic planning to the daring amphibious assault, Alexander brings to life the remarkable courage and sacrifice displayed by both the American attackers and the tenacious Japanese defenders. Through firsthand accounts and meticulous attention to detail, the author uncovers the true magnitude of the battle, capturing the immense scale of destruction and heroism.

The Occupation of the Gilbert Islands

The Occupation of the Gilbert Islands PDF Author: United States. Naval Operations Office (Navy Department)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 8

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Book Description


Coast Watching in World War II

Coast Watching in World War II PDF Author: A. B. Feuer
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 9780811733298
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Vivid firsthand accounts of a secret organization whose existence was denied during the war. Maps pinpoint coast-watching locations.

Air Force Combat Units of World War II

Air Force Combat Units of World War II PDF Author: Maurer Maurer
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428915850
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 520

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Book Description


Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 (Vol. 1) (The Pacific War Trilogy)

Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 (Vol. 1) (The Pacific War Trilogy) PDF Author: Ian W. Toll
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393083179
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 732

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Book Description
Winner of the Northern California Book Award for Nonfiction "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—through a dramatic narrative relying predominantly on primary sources and eyewitness accounts of heroism and sacrifice from both navies—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 to seize the strategic initiative.