Rolling Thunder Against the Rising Sun

Rolling Thunder Against the Rising Sun PDF Author: Gene Eric Salecker
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 0811703142
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 857

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Book Description
Although the history of armor in World War II has captured the attention of countless authors, no one has yet chronicled the extensive use of tanks in the Pacific--until now. In comprehensive detail Gene Eric Salecker describes the exploits of American tanks on the jungle islands where troops engaged in savage combat and encountered unforgiving weather and terrain. Stationed in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked the islands in 1941, the U.S. Army's independent tank battalions fought from the very start of the war. From New Guinea and the Solomons to the Ryukyus, American armor proved instrumental in winning World War II in the Pacific. First work dedicated solely to the use of Army tanks in the Pacific Theater Covers armor battles in the Philippines, Makin, the Solomons, Rabaul, New Guinea, Saipan, Guam, and Okinawa

Rolling Thunder Against the Rising Sun

Rolling Thunder Against the Rising Sun PDF Author: Gene Eric Salecker
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 0811703142
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 857

Get Book Here

Book Description
Although the history of armor in World War II has captured the attention of countless authors, no one has yet chronicled the extensive use of tanks in the Pacific--until now. In comprehensive detail Gene Eric Salecker describes the exploits of American tanks on the jungle islands where troops engaged in savage combat and encountered unforgiving weather and terrain. Stationed in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked the islands in 1941, the U.S. Army's independent tank battalions fought from the very start of the war. From New Guinea and the Solomons to the Ryukyus, American armor proved instrumental in winning World War II in the Pacific. First work dedicated solely to the use of Army tanks in the Pacific Theater Covers armor battles in the Philippines, Makin, the Solomons, Rabaul, New Guinea, Saipan, Guam, and Okinawa

Rolling Thunder Against the Rising Sun

Rolling Thunder Against the Rising Sun PDF Author: Gene Eric Salecker
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 0811743624
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 857

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Book Description
First work dedicated solely to the use of Army tanks in the Pacific Theater. Covers armor battles in the Philippines, Makin, the Solomons, Rabaul, New Guinea, Saipan, Guam, and Okinawa.

Blossoming Silk Against the Rising Sun

Blossoming Silk Against the Rising Sun PDF Author: Gene Eric Salecker
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 0811706575
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
Complete account of airborne operations in the Pacific theater. Firsthand descriptions from American and Japanese paratroopers. Detailed maps illustrate battles.

The Luzon Campaign 1945

The Luzon Campaign 1945 PDF Author: Nathan N. Prefer
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1636244254
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
A full account of the Luzon campaign, from the planning stages to the surrender of the Japanese general Yamashita. The Luzon campaign of 1945 was the longest island campaign of the Pacific War, lasting from January 1945 to September 1945, and only ended with the surrender of Imperial Japan. It is often overlooked or mentioned in passing by most histories of that war, yet hundreds of thousands of Americans and Japanese fought in some of the worst conditions imaginable for eight months to clear Luzon of the invaders. This full account of the Luzon campaign stretches from planning stages to the end of the war and the surrender of over 50,000 Japanese troops under the noted Japanese general Yamashita. The landings at Lingayen Gulf, the Battle for Manila and the recapture of Corregidor are all included, as well as lesser-known battles for the summer capital of Baguio, the battle for Manila's water supply, constant jungle fighting, the raids to rescue Allied POWs, the recapture of Bataan, destruction of the only Japanese armored division to fight in the Pacific, American parachute drops on Corregidor and Aparri, and much more. Individual acts of heroism are highlighted as are the interactions among the senior commanders involved, including General MacArthur, General Krueger (6th Army) and General Eichelberger (8th Army). The book ends with the surrender of Imperial Japan and the end of the Luzon Campaign in September 1945.

The Infantry's Armor

The Infantry's Armor PDF Author: Harry Yeide
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 0811743799
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
Tanks, amphibian tanks, and amphibian tractors in action in all theaters, from Africa and Europe to the Pacific. How the battalions fought the war, often in the tankers' own words. Crystal-clear maps.

Thunder on Bataan

Thunder on Bataan PDF Author: Donald L Caldwell
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0811767418
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
“An incisive, readable account of a group of National Guard tankers who fought in the Philippines in the opening phase of America’s war in the Pacific.” —Robert S. Cameron, Ph.D., military historian and author of Mobility, Shock, and Firepower: The Emergence of the U.S. Army’s Armor Branch, 1917-1945 The American Provisional Tank Group had been in the Philippines only three weeks when the Japanese attacked the islands hours after the raid on Pearl Harbor. Sent north to meet the Japanese landings in Lingayen Gulf, the men of the PTG found themselves thrust into a critical role when the Philippine Army could not hold back the Japanese. When General MacArthur ordered the retreat to Bataan, the PTG proved itself indispensable. During early months of 1942, the light tanks of the PTG patrolled Bataan’s beaches, encircling and destroying Japanese penetrations and small amphibious landings. By April 1942, the situation had become untenable, and 15,000 Americans, along with 60,000 Filipinos, surrendered in one of the worst defeats in U.S. military history. The Provisional Tank Group ceased to exist, and its men endured the Bataan Death March, the torture and starvation of POW camps, the hell ships that took them to Japan and Manchuria for slave labor, and the Palawan massacre. In an evocatively written book, Donald L. Caldwell reveals the largely ignored role of tanks in the Philippine campaign. Conducting impressive primary research to bring to life the combat history of the PTG, Caldwell has dug deeper to tell the stories of soldiers from each of the group’s six companies, recounting their service from enlistment, training, and combat to imprisonment, liberation, and return home. “Remarkable . . . [A] well-told history . . . highly recommended.” —Jay A. Stout, LtCol (Ret), USMC, author of Air Apaches

War at the End of the World

War at the End of the World PDF Author: James P. Duffy
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0593471725
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 449

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Book Description
A harrowing account of an epic, yet nearly forgotten, battle of World War II—General Douglas MacArthur's four-year assault on the Pacific War's most hostile battleground: the mountainous, jungle-cloaked island of New Guinea. “A meaty, engrossing narrative history… This will likely stand as the definitive account of the New Guinea campaign.”—The Christian Science Monitor One American soldier called it “a green hell on earth.” Monsoon-soaked wilderness, debilitating heat, impassable mountains, torrential rivers, and disease-infested swamps—New Guinea was a battleground far more deadly than the most fanatical of enemy troops. Japanese forces numbering some 600,000 men began landing in January 1942, determined to seize the island as a cornerstone of the Empire’s strategy to knock Australia out of the war. Allied Commander-in-Chief General Douglas MacArthur committed 340,000 Americans, as well as tens of thousands of Australian, Dutch, and New Guinea troops, to retake New Guinea at all costs. What followed was a four-year campaign that involved some of the most horrific warfare in history. At first emboldened by easy victories throughout the Pacific, the Japanese soon encountered in New Guinea a roadblock akin to the Germans’ disastrous attempt to take Moscow, a catastrophic setback to their war machine. For the Americans, victory in New Guinea was the first essential step in the long march towards the Japanese home islands and the ultimate destruction of Hirohito’s empire. Winning the war in New Guinea was of critical importance to MacArthur. His avowed “I shall return” to the Philippines could only be accomplished after taking the island. In this gripping narrative, historian James P. Duffy chronicles the most ruthless combat of the Pacific War, a fight complicated by rampant tropical disease, violent rainstorms, and unforgiving terrain that punished both Axis and Allied forces alike. Drawing on primary sources, War at the End of the World fills in a crucial gap in the history of World War II while offering readers a narrative of the first rank.

The Second Pearl Harbor

The Second Pearl Harbor PDF Author: Gene Eric Salecker
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806147458
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
In May 1944, with American forces closing in on the Japanese mainland, the Fifth Fleet Amphibious Force was preparing to invade Saipan. Control of this island would put enemy cities squarely within range of the B-29 bomber. The navy had assembled a fleet of landing ship tanks (LSTs) in the West Loch section of Pearl Harbor. On May 21, an explosion tore through the calm afternoon sky, spreading fire and chaos through the ordnance-packed vessels. When the fires had been brought under control, six LSTs had been lost, many others were badly damaged, and more than 500 military personnel had been killed or injured. To ensure the success of those still able to depart for the invasion—miraculously, only one day late—the navy at once issued a censorship order, which has kept this disaster from public scrutiny for seventy years. The Second Pearl Harbor is the first book to tell the full story of what happened on that fateful day. Military historian Gene Salecker recounts the events and conditions leading up to the explosion, then re-creates the drama directly afterward: men swimming through flaming oil, small craft desperately trying to rescue the injured, and subsequent explosions throwing flaming debris everywhere. With meticulous attention to detail the author explains why he and other historians believe that the official explanation for the cause of the explosion, that a mortar shell was accidentally detonated, is wrong. This in-depth account of a little-known incident adds to our understanding of the dangers during World War II, even far from the front, and restores a missing chapter to history.

The Fightin' Texas Aggie Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor

The Fightin' Texas Aggie Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor PDF Author: John A. Adams
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1623494230
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
By any measure, the battles of Bataan and Corregidor were among the most intensely fought and devastating episodes in the World War II Pacific theater. Beginning in early 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded the Philippines in an attempt to control the Pacific region and expand its sphere of influence. The defense and last stand of Filipino and American allied forces marked the largest surrender in their respective military histories. Their efforts slowed the Japanese advance but only at great cost. John A. Adams Jr. provides a new and compelling exploration of these pivotal events by recounting the history of Bataan and Corregidor through the eyes of 89 soldiers and officers who were former students and citizen soldiers from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. All were products of the Corps of Cadets, and indeed no other institution could boast of such a large deployment in the opening of the war. While many words have been written on Bataan and Corregidor, none have taken the approach of collective biography as The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor does here. As a result, this book is not only a new contribution to the history of World War II but also stands to be a landmark publication on the history of Texas A&M University.

Leyte, 1944

Leyte, 1944 PDF Author: Nathan N. Prefer
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612001564
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 615

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Book Description
The decisive battle in Gen. MacArthur’s reclaiming of the Philippines in WWII is told in vivid, on-the-ground detail in this “definitive account” (WWII History Magazine). When Gen. Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines in 1942 to organize a new American army, he vowed, “I shall return!” More than two years later, he did return, retaking the Philippines from the Japanese. The site of his reinvasion was the central Philippine island of Leyte. The Japanese high command decided to make Leyte the “decisive battle” for the western Pacific and rushed crack Imperial Army units from Manchuria, Korea, and Japan to overwhelm the Americans. The Americans in turn rushed in reinforcements. This unique battle also saw a counteroffensive designed to push the Americans off the island and capture the elusive Gen. MacArthur. Both American and Japanese battalions spent days surrounded by the enemy, often until relieved or overwhelmed. Leyte was a three-dimensional battle, fought with the best both sides had to offer, and did indeed decide the fate of the Philippines in World War II.