Marines In World War II - Marines At Midway [Illustrated Edition]


Book Description

The story of the Marines during the pivotal campaign of the Pacific that culminated at the Battle of Midway. Contains 25 photos and 3 maps and charts. “The name Midway means much to Marines. At the very outset of war, when Midway’s sole garrison consisted of a Fleet Marine Force defense battalion stationed there in advance of hostilities, the Japanese found that here, as at Wake, Marines were ready. Subsequently, in the battle of Midway, the heroism of Marine fighter and dive-bomber pilots, who attacked effectively and unhesitatingly against tremendous odds, demonstrated once again that courage and discipline are among the high traditions of our Corps. There is another lesson to be derived from the Marine story of Midway, however, and that is the unity of the Fleet Marine Force as a completely integrated air-ground team. This, too, is traditional, but it has never been better demonstrated than by the integration of Marine artillery and infantry (who secured the base) with Marine air which struck the first blow at the Japanese carriers from that base. While Marine fighters were slashing at enemy air, Marine artillerymen were shooting the Japanese planes down, and Marine dive bombers were harrying the enemy fleet. This coordinated interaction by land and sea and air embodied the time-tried and proven doctrines of the Marine Corps in one of its primary fields: that of the defense of advanced bases. To all students of this subject, I commend the story of Marines at Midway.” C.B. Cates, Commandant of the Marine Corps.




Marines In World War II - The Defense Of Wake [Illustrated Edition]


Book Description

Contains 23 photos and 8 maps and charts. The story of the immortal heroic defence of the American outpost on Wake Island by a handful of marines and civilians against an overwhelming forces of the Japanese. “During December 1941, the stubborn defense of Wake by less than 450 Marines galvanized not only the American public but their comrades in arms. In days of disaster then, as of uncertainty later, the thought of Wake and its defenders encouraged Marines to hang on longer, and to fight more resolutely. Small in time and numbers though the action was by comparison with Guadalcanal or the other great battles to come, Wake will never be forgotten. “To my mind, in addition to the obvious military lessons which may be drawn from any battle, be it victory or defeat, the defense of Wake points up two soldierly characteristics which may well be remembered by Marines. These are military adaptability, and the realization that, first and always one must be prepared to face ultimate close ground combat with the enemy. “The officers and men of the 1st Defense Battalion on Wake were artillerymen of a highly specialized type; those of VMF-211 were aviation technicians. neither group let its specialized training or background prevent it from fighting courageously and well as basic infantry when the chips were down. Despite its specialization, each group did the best it could with what it had. “These capabilities and attributes, I submit, should characterize Marines now as they characterized those Marines on Wake, who, though they were outnumbers and eventually overwhelmed, were never outfought.-A.A. VANDEGRIFT, General, U.S. Marine Corps”




Marines In World War II - Marines In The Central Solomons [Illustrated Edition]


Book Description

Contains 90 photos and 18 maps and charts. “In the grand strategy of the Pacific War, the Central Solomons operation constituted only a short step in the overall advance on Japan. But in the neutralization of Rabaul, Japan’s key holding in her "Southeastern Area," this campaign played a vital role. By early 1943 the Central Solomons area might be described as an amphibious no man’s land lying between Rabaul and the new Allied citadel of Guadalcanal, across which the two antagonists exchanged air and naval blows. The Japanese, by increasing the strength of their garrisons in New Georgia, had already begun their effort to control this strategic area. The Allied campaign that followed was designed to drive them out and establish a forward base from which Rabaul could be brought under constant assault. It is a source of extreme pride to me that those Marines who participated in the Central Solomons operations acquitted themselves with such distinction. Despite the most adverse weather, terrain and climate, the enemy was driven out and the mission finally accomplished. Growing out of this campaign was an extremely significant sense of mutual admiration between the Army, Navy and Marine troops involved.-LEMUEL C. SHEPHERD, JR. GENERAL, U. S. MARINE CORPS COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS”




Marines In World War II - The Guadalcanal Campaign [Illustrated Edition]


Book Description

Contains 88 photos illustrations and maps. “We struck at Guadalcanal to halt the advance of the Japanese. We did not know how strong he was, nor did we know his plans. We knew only that he was moving down the island chain and that he had to be stopped. We were as well trained and as well armed as time and our peacetime experience allowed us to be. We needed combat to tell us how effective our training, our doctrines, and our weapons had been. We tested them against the enemy, and we found that they worked. From that moment in 1942, the tide turned, and the Japanese never again advanced.-A.A. Vandergrift, General U.S. Marine Corps” Major John L. Zimmerman, USMCR




Marines In World War II - Marine Aviation In The Philippines [Illustrated Edition]


Book Description

Contains 58 photos and 10 maps and charts. “The return of Allied forces to the Philippines in the fall of 1944 further throttled Japan’s already tenuous pipe line to the rich resources of Malaya and the Netherlands Indies, and with it the last vestige of her ability to meet the logistical requirements of a continuing war. The Battle for Leyte Gulf marked the end of Japan as a naval power, forcing her to adopt the desperation kamikaze tactic against the United States Fleets. The Philippine victories were primarily Army and Navy operations. Marines, comprising only a fraction of the total forces engaged, played a secondary but significant role in the overall victory. The campaign was important to the Corps in that the Marine aviators, who had battled two years for air control over the Solomons, moved into a new role, their first opportunity to test on a large scale the fundamental Marine doctrine of close air support for ground troops in conventional land operations. This test they passed with credit, and Marine flyers contributed materially to the Philippine victory. Lessons learned and techniques perfected in those campaigns form an important chapter in our present-day close air support doctrines.”-C. B. CATES, GENERAL, U.S. MARINE CORPS, COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS




Special Marine Corps Units Of World War II [Illustrated Edition]


Book Description

Includes more than 25 maps and illustrations. During World War II, a variety of new and experimental units were organized by Marine Corps to enhance the capabilities of the Corps. For the first time under one cover, this historical reference pamphlet tells of the development, deployment, and eventual demise of the five types of special units: raiders, parachutists, glider forces, barrage balloon squadrons, and base defense battalions. Official records of the Marine Corps and appropriate historical works were utilized in compiling this chronicle. Among the proudest traditions of the United States Marine Corps is the legend “First to Fight.” This recognized ability to deploy effective forces in a minimum of time to meet any contingency is not easily maintained. It requires a careful evaluation of international trends and a constant reappraisal of the tactics and forces necessary to meet any crisis. The types of forces which must be maintained, and the structure of these forces, must be reviewed and updated. During the middle and late 1930s, concurrently with the Japanese expansion into northern China, the Marine Corps studied and refined its amphibious doctrine. Subsequently, the Corps stepped up its experimentation with new theories and methods to meet world-wide contingencies. Especially in the aftermath of the outbreak of war in Europe, the United States military establishment undertook a reexamination of its resources and capabilities. The Marines were among the most aggressive when it came to adapting current forces to future requirements. A number of the units which emerged from this period, and from the early war years, were either overtaken by events during the course of the war, or never lived up to their original promise. In these cases, the Marine Corps reorganized or disbanded the units as dictated by the tactical requirements. This monograph traces the origin, formation, deployment, and eventual demise of five such units.




Marines In World War II - The Assault On Peleliu [Illustrated Edition]


Book Description

As the Marines ran into the shore of the coral reefed island of Peleliu in their landing craft the Japanese artillery that wreathed the landing beach of Peleliu gave them little confidence in the words of their commander General Rupertus that the operation would be hard but short with minimal casualties; what lay ahead would be what was known as “the bitterest battle of the war for the Marines”. Contains 70 photos and 23 maps and charts. “Many factors combined to make the assault on Peleliu one of the least understood operations of World War II. Yet it was one of the most vicious and stubbornly contested, and nowhere was the fighting efficiency of the U.S. Marine more convincingly demonstrated. At Peleliu the enemy proved that he had profited from his bitter experiences of earlier operations. He applied intelligently the lessons we had taught him in the Solomons, Gilberts, Marshalls, and Marianas. At Peleliu the enemy made no suicidal banzai charges to hasten the decision; he carefully concealed his plans and dispositions. He nursed from his inferior strength the last ounce of resistance and delay, to extract the maximum cost from his conquerers. In these respects Peleliu differed significantly from previous campaigns and set the pattern for things to come: Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Because the operation protracted itself over a period of nearly two and a half months, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the strategic objective was accomplished within the first week: neutralization of the entire Palaus group, and with this, securing of the Philippines approaches.”-C. B. CATES, GENERAL, U.S. MARINE CORPS, COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS.




Marines In World War II - Iwo Jima: Amphibious Epic [Illustrated Edition]


Book Description

On the 19th Feb. 1945, the first Marines landed on Iwo Jima, the first enemy troops to invade Japanese home territory; many of those brave soldiers would never leave the black volcanic sands again as they fought and died in the U.S. Marine Corps toughest ever battle. Contains 100 photos and 26 maps and charts. “The assault on Iwo Jima came as a smashing climax to the 16-month drive that carried the amphibious forces of the U.S. across the Central Pacific to within 660 miles of Tokyo. Striking first at Tarawa in November 1943, American forces had swept rapidly westward, seizing only those islands essential for support of future operations. Many powerful enemy strongholds were bypassed and neutralized. By the fall of 1944 the small but heavily fortified island of Iwo Jima, lying midway between the Marianas and the heart of the Japanese Empire, had assumed such strategic importance that its rapid seizure became imperative. Neutralization would not suffice; Iwo must become an operational U.S. base. “At Iwo Jima the amphibious doctrines, techniques, weapons, and equipment which had proven so effective during the three previous years of World War II received the supreme test. On that island more than 20,000 well-disposed and deeply entrenched Japanese troops conducted an intelligent and dogged defense. There, more than anywhere else in the Central Pacific, terrain and enemy defense preparations combined to limit the effectiveness of American supporting arms, placing a premium on the skill and aggressive fighting spirit of the individual Marine. There can be no more fitting tribute than the well-known words of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, "Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island uncommon valor was a common virtue."-Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., General, U.S.M.C.




The Assault on Peleliu


Book Description

The Assault on Peleliu, first published in 1950, is a detailed recounting of the U.S. Marines' fierce battle for Peleliu, part of the Palau Islands in the south Pacific. Facing approx. 11,000 hardened, entrenched Japanese troops, the 1st Marine Division began landing operations on September 15, 1944. What followed were more than two months of bloody fighting resulting in heavy casualties before the island was declared secure in late November. Included are more than 90 photographs and maps.




Opening Moves


Book Description