Battle Studies, Country Studies, & Staff Rides

"An ideal starting point for junior commanders to build on their understanding of amphibious operations. It is also useful for a deeper appreciation of the role of the Royal Marines. For those attending bespoke Amphibious Warfare Courses, it will enhance the historical narratives in use. The book illustrates cases containing those lessons that must be learned. Evidence from most recent operations suggest that we have learned from the past, but we should not become complacent for the future. It is our responsibility as experts in amphibious operations, to ensure that we remain conversant with the unique challenges that this type of warfare presents"--Forward by Major General J.B. Dutton.

On what was a virtually unheard of Pacific island the United States shattered the myth of Japanese invincibility. In the first American amphibious assault of the Second World War the U.S. Marines and Army halted the apparently irresistible Japanese advance in its tracks. Over 30,000 American and Japanese casualties were suffered in five months of bitter fighting. The name of this island was Guadalcanal, and the fighting on it was some of the most vicious of the Second World War. This volume authoritatively details the course of the campaign for this strategically vital island, and looks in detail at the battles of the Tenaru, Bloody Ridge, Henderson Field, and the breakout battles by the Matanikau River.

Prelude to the offensive -- Landings on Tulagi and Gavuta-Tanambogo -- Guadalcanal -- The first three days -- Establishment of the perimeter and battle of the Tenaru -- The battle of the ridge -- Development of the perimeter and actions to the west -- Expansion to the west and the October attack on the airfield -- Critical November -- Final period -- 9 December 1942 to 9 February 1943 -- Conclusions -- Appendices : Casualties ; Bibliography ; Native help ; Medical experience ; Station list.

Provides an account of the first American victory over Japanese ground forces, told at the level of companies, platoons, and individuals. Demonstrates the relationships between air, ground and surface forces in World War II. Includes maps, tables, charts, illustrations, appendixes, bibliographical note, glossary and index.

Historical Atlas of World War II examines all the key events of the six-year conflict, with thoroughly researched text accompanied by 140 highly detailed maps. Incredible multimedia profiles of World War II's most significant battles make Historical Atlas of World War II the next best thing to a time machine. With realistic maps, detailed accounts and vibrant illustrations, the book manages to transport the reader to famous World War II battles. Using state-of-the-art technology, special microchips translate the contours of a two-dimensional maps of battlefields into realistic renderings of actual landscapes. Illustrators then overlay these maps with all of the information at their fingertips-troop movement, weapon deployment, terrain conditions and weather. The book then brings to bear all the other available details of each battle, including battle plans, troop formations, strikes and counter strikes and troop strength. From this birds' eye vantage point, the reader is able to piece together the big picture of the six-year war and analyze the tactics and strategies at play. Historical Atlas of World War II also includes profiles of the commanders outlining their abilities and backgrounds. Coupled with hundreds of colorful illustrations, the book's detailed maps and wealth of information put the reader in the shoes of a soldier at the D-Day assault on Omaha beach, the Battle of the Bulge and the US dive-bomber attack on Japanese aircraft carriers. Prepare to see what is perhaps one of the most significant wars of our time as you've never seen it before.

2016 will mark the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor that pushed the United States into World War II and sent thousands of US Marines to fight and die on tiny islands half a world away. Today, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Tarawa are household names that hold legendary status on the Marines' roll of honor. But in 1941, the Marine Corps was a small expeditionary force with outdated equipment and an unproven new mission--amphibious assault. Michael E. Haskew'sThe Marines in World War IIcharts the rapid development of this famous fighting force from two brigades, totaling fewer than 20,000 servicemen, to two full corps with six divisions, five air wings, 21 battalions and as many as 475,000 Marines. In addition to chronicling the hard fought battles at places like Midway, Guadalcanal and Guam, the book also addresses the important role played by Navajo code talkers during combat, as well as the changes that took place within the Marines during the war, such as the admissionof its first black members and the gradual desegregation of the Corps.

A sweeping narrative history--the first in over twenty years--of America's first major offensive of World War II, the brutal, no-quarter-given campaign to take Japanese-occupied Guadalcanal From early August until mid-November of 1942, US Marines, sailors, and pilots struggled for dominance against an implacable enemy: Japanese soldiers, inculcated with the bushido tradition of death before dishonor, avatars of bayonet combat--close-up, personal, and gruesome. The glittering prize was Henderson Airfield. Japanese planners knew that if they neutralized the airfield, the battle was won. So did the Marines who stubbornly defended it. The outcome of the long slugfest remained in doubt under the pressure of repeated Japanese air, land, and sea operations. And losses were heavy. At sea, in a half-dozen fiery combats, the US Navy fought the Imperial Japanese Navy to a draw, but at a cost of more than 4,500 sailors. More American sailors died in these battles off Guadalcanal than in all previous US wars, and each side lost 24 warships. On land, more than 1,500 soldiers and Marines died, and the air war claimed more than 500 US planes. Japan's losses on the island were equally devastating--starving Japanese soldiers called it "the island of death." But when the attritional struggle ended, American Marines, sailors, and airmen had halted the Japanese juggernaut that for five years had whirled through Asia and the Pacific. Guadalcanal was America's first major ground victory against Japan and, most importantly, the Pacific War's turning point. Published on the 75th anniversary of the battle and utilizing vivid accounts written by the combatants at Guadalcanal, along with Marine Corps and Army archives and oral histories, Midnight in the Pacific is both a sweeping narrative and a compelling drama of individual Marines, soldiers, and sailors caught in the crosshairs of history.

The bitter six-month struggle for control of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific during World War II matched the US Marine Corps against the Imperial Japanese Army in a campaign that would test both sides to the limit. In this book the realities of prolonged warfare in an unforgiving environment are documented in photographs, specially commissioned artwork, official reports, and first-hand accounts, offering a glimpse of infantry combat in World War II's Pacific Theater. The toughness of American Marines was sorely tested by Japanese troops willing to lay down their lives in Banzai charges and desperate last stands across the Pacific in World War II. This book offers key insights into the tactics, leadership, combat performance, and subsequent reputations of six representative USMC and IJA infantry battalions pitched into three pivotal actions that determined the course of the campaign for Guadalcanal at the height of World War II. Mountainous and covered in tropical jungle, Guadalcanal is the largest of the Solomon Islands. During World War II its location - dominating vital lines of communication and supply between the United States, Australia, and New Zealand - made it a key strategic objective for both sides in the escalating struggle for the South Pacific region. Between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 it was the setting for a series of bitter battles between the advancing Japanese forces and those of a resurgent United States and its allies, in the Allies' first major offensive against the Japanese. Spearheading the Allied effort to take and hold Guadalcanal, the US Marine Corps played a key role in the back-and-forth land battles for this vital island, while their adversaries, the garrison troops of the Imperial Japanese Army, strove to counter the Allies' offensive moves. From the initial US landings that took the Japanese by surprise to the savage battles of Tenaru, Edson's Ridge, Henderson Field, and Mount Austen, the campaign tested the infantrymen of both sides to the limit, with tropical diseases, supply problems, hostile terrain, and poor weather all adding to the horrors of close-quarter combat.

Winner, Colonel Joseph Alexander Award, Marine Corps Heritage Foundation In 1940, native West Texan Roy H. Elrod joined the Marine Corps. This placed him on course to experience some of World War II's most savage combat. Entering the Marine Corps as an enlisted man, Elrod rose rapidly. By the time his unit, the 8th Marine Regiment, went into the fight at Guadalcanal, he was commanding a platoon of 37 mm gunners. They endured Japanese attacks, malarial tropical weather, and starvation rations. His combat leadership earned him a Silver Star and a battlefield promotion. The next fight at Tarawa was much shorter, only four days, but it seemed an eternity. On D-Day his platoon waded their 37 mm cannons ashore, each weighing nearly 1,000 pounds, through half a mile of bullet-laced surf to get to an island where the killing never stopped. His was the only platoon to get its guns ashore and into action that first day. Saipan was not as intense, but just as deadly. Here Elrod commanded a platoon of 75 mm halftracks. Again, he kept his platoon in front-line combat, blasting enemy caves and pillboxes. It was a dangerous place to be--Elrod was riddled with shrapnel from an enemy artillery shell that ended the war for him.      These are Elrod's Pacific war experiences: vivid, engaging, humorous, insightful, and authentic. The book is based on more than fifty hours of interviews conducted by Marine Corps historian Fred H. Allison, who also drew upon Elrod's wartime letters home and provided annotations to the narrative. It is a view of the war from the perspective of a young Marine infantry officer, a job that had an extremely low survival potential. The Marines intended to win--if they did not, they would die there.