Another in the series of excellent books from Osprey. As always, it's filled with a great deal of information, photos, and illustrations.
Some of the points I found most interesting:
The planning for the invasion of Guadalcanal started off with a lot of rivalry between the Navy and the Army. It started with who was going to be in command of the operation.
Dock workers in New Zealand went on strike, and the Marines ended up having to load their own boats.
Information about Guadalcanal (maps, layout, topography, etc.) was sketchy at best.
The book talks about the rivalry between the Army and the Navy of Japan, also. (This was a worse rivalry than that between the U.S. branches of the military, and was never really resolved.)
The Japanese suffered 21,500 casualties, and of these 9,000 died due to tropical diseases.
The Japanese Army consistently under-estimated the strength of the opposing American forces. Soldiers were also allowed to carry diaries.
The majority of American troops involved in the invasion were “green.” The majority of equipment they carried was from the time of the first world war.
Americans made good use of their artillery and tanks. The Japanese didn't.
When the Americans took over the airfield, they found the hangers and machine shops to be intact. they also found stores of food, ammunition, weapons, trucks and other things that they were able to use. Apparently the Japanese higher command thought there was going to be a raid but not an invasion, so the Japanese troops withdrew, thinking they could return after the raid was over.
The Battle of Savo Island was one of the worst defeats the U.S. Navy ever suffered.
Some Marines were killed and their bodies mutilated by the Japanese.
The various attempts by the Japanese to take over Henderson Field are discussed.
The Army and the Marines suffered 1,600 killed and 4,700 wounded. Japanese losses were around 25,400. Both sides lost about 25 warships.
Main Index
Japan main page
Japanese-American Internment Camps index page
Japan and World War II index page
