Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942–April 1943

Anyone who has ever watch an episode of Black Sheep Squadron knows that Rabaul was a major Japanese base in the South Pacific. But until I read this book I hadn't appreciated just how major a base it was, and its significance in the struggle for New Guinea, and indirectly, Australia.=== The Good Stuff===*Author Bruce Gamble did an admirable amount of research, and brought out many points about the Pacific theater that I had never read before. Some of the points were a little obscure-such as the efforts of a lone mechanic to re-engineer a B25 into a low-level fighter/bomber- but his facts seem well supported by references and historical sources.* Gamble is willing to give his honest opinions on events and military leaders. While he sometimes mixes facts and opinions, for the most part he keeps his opinions separate, and lists his arguments and supporting facts. While some US military leaders don't always come off at their best, for the most part his criticisms seem fair.* The writing is lively enough that it just sucks you in as a reader. I couldn't put the book down, and ended up reading it in a day or so. While there is a lot of "who, what, where" data buried in the book, Gamble does a nice job of not letting it overpower the narrative. Even though he probably names 200+ different characters in the book, it is still eminently readable.* There is also a nice mix of strategic and tactical analysis, although the author does skew his analysis a bit towards the tactical. It is tough to get a strategic picture of the war in the South Pacific. A few more, and better, maps might have helped, as would more discussion on Japanese and American strategy.* The Pacific theater was a nasty place. Prisoners were horribly mistreated by the Japanese, but even the Allies were guilty of a few atrocities. Gamble does provide some rather gory details, although the violence is not sensationalized. Still, might be inappropriate for younger readers, although nothing that hasn't been included in a video game-or the New York Times.===The Not-So-Good Stuff===* In the forward, Gamble indicates that this is the first of a projected 2-part book. I almost stopped reading it because of that, and was disappointed with the way the book ended. It just sort of stopped abruptly and a somewhat random point in the history of Rabaul.* Gamble can get carried away making the same points, and backing it up with data. Inflated pilot claims of damage inflicted were a problem throughout the war, especially for the Japanese. Gamble insists on telling us (and documenting) these exaggerations in agonizing detail. I got the point after the first few instances.* The author seems to get tied up in knots over how to specify models of Japanese aircraft. At some points he uses the common American designation (Zekes, Betties, Vals), while at other points he uses the formal manufacturing make and model number. More than anything, it gets confusing.* Once again, Amazon seems to think it is a good idea to highlight words which are index entries in blue underlined text. This is bad enough on my monochrome Kindle, but drives me nuts on my iPad color screen. It breaks my concentration when reading, and there is no legal way to disable the feature.* The book could do with more maps. For about the 10,000th time, I am so happy that I bought a large globe for my study. It makes it so much easier to understand the geographical context of this book.===Summary===In spite of a few shortcomings, I liked the book, and would recommend it to anyone seeking an understanding of the war in the South Pacific. While it concentrates on Rabaul, it covers the whole theater. The book is well written, and is a nice mixture of academic and popular history styles, resulting in a readable, but well referenced work.I am eagerly awaiting for the second volume.

Rabual constituted one of the most important Japanese bases in all of the Pacific theatre during the second world war. The almost constant raids by ships and aircraft based and resupplied there presented a serious threat to allied forces in a wide area.Frequent raids by seriously under equipped Australian and US air forces were very costly in men and aircraft, of which there were never enough to do the job required. Flights by the few available heavy US B-17 bombers took many hours, and required an over night stop at a secondary airfield for refueling just to be able to make the trip. The Aussies and Yanks faced the fabled zero and other aircraft using mostly obslolete Curtis P-40s, Beaufighters and Beaufort bombing aircraft, along with P-39's and eventually, B-25 bombers which used skip-bombing in the harbor to sink and damage many Japanese vessels.Huge warehouses filled with food, munitions and other supplies, along with gasoline tankls and repair facilities ringed most of the deep-water harbor... and the harbor was usually occupied by numerous vessels bringing or removing Japanese troops and their equipment for use on widly separated islands. The firepower in the area was huge and many allied aircraft fell to these guns.Captured airmen and seamen, along with hundreds of natives from Pacific islands were taken there to do forced labor. Over the years before the bastion fell, thousands of these, along with copra plantation owners and their families, including children, were imprisoned under brutal conditions and most, including women and children, were executed at a large killing field, and buried there in unmarked graves. Eexcution was sometimes by rifle or pistol fire, but frequently by beheadings and bayonetting. The history of Rabul is a major story in the pacific theatre, and this volumn gives a good accounting of activieis by all parties. Of special note are the claimed aircraft kills and ship sinkings by both sides, compared with more accurate statistics compiled from enemy and allied records following the end of the war. There was almost always a overly optomistic claim of results. In the final effort in the island hopping toward final victory in the Pacific, Rabal was basically left in the backwash of the war after lomg being a hugh thorn in the side of allied forces. This is a good, solid read for history buffs and includes many accounts of very heroic activities by men who had to make the best of what they had until bigger and better resources made it to their area. I obtained a lot of information from this book, as well as gaining more insight to the horrors of having to live and fight in some of the worse conditions faced in Pacific fighting, by men working under deplorable conditions...

A very well written and very readable book in the trilogy about the Southwest Pacific war. The author gets across well the hardships and deprivations felt by both sides and provides a detailed view of the air and naval combat on a daily basis. They are thoroughly researched and paint a clear picture of the over-claiming on both sides, together with an overview of the political background. A must read for anyone interested in the Pacific war. -- John Davies

Great narrative, packed with superb action stories. Well informed and well placed within the greater context of the Pacific war..Having lived in New Guinea in the fifties, where my father flew as a military pilot, I fully recognize the treacherous natural conditions (e;g. weather !) and the corrosive (to personnel and material alike) climate Gamble describes.

I liked the second book in the trilogy more than the first, and the first was, in my opinion, excellent.

Well researched and written- a great read!

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