Customer Reviews

Bloody Shambles, Vol. 1: The Drift to War to the fall of Singapore

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bloody Shambles is an extraordinarily detailed study of the utter futility of the first months of the war in the Pacific and Southeast Asia. While providing little overview or narrative, the detail of the experiences speak for themselves. Inadequate equipment, both, quality and quantitative, flying procedures designed more for regimental show than for effect, and a complete lack of cooperation between services, were the hallmarks of the impending disaster.
The loss of the British battleships, Repulse and Prince of Wales, are examples of the short service life that was awaiting those who took a cavalier attitude towards the power and complexities of managing air assets. When combined with a lack of coherent intelligence, the impossible situation of the British High Command is felt as much as understood. Given Churchill¡¦s widely quoted disparaging remarks at the lack of ¡§fight¡¨ put into the defense of Singapore, the details point to more insidious reasons. Most notably, almost no air defense was anticipated for Singapore¡¦s defense. The collapse of the Malay Peninsula put Japanese artillery within easy range of Singapore¡¦s defenders and the inability to respond to the daily air attacks were the coup de grace to the morale of the island.

The book details the initial air operations over SE Asia at the beginning of the war. There is a good chapter on the initial encounters over the Philippines, but the emphasis is on the far vaster involvement of the Dutch and British Commonwealth against the initial Japanese onslaught.

There is a fair amount of Japanese translated documents used and encounters are cross-referenced to check claims and who actually was involved. This makes it virtually the first of its kind.

There are a few surprises. The RAF and Commonwealth forces were outnumbered, undertrained, ill-equipped and dubiously led, but they did inflict a little more punishment on the Japanese than we give them credit for. The Buffalo was not as widely despised as one would expect... pilots were more hoping for an upgrade or the machine, better machine guns, a more reliable engine. I had the impression that these planes fell in every combat with the Japanese. They did, but they also do have some credits for kills, even for some Navy A6Ms (Zeros), which one is surprised to learn.

Lots of heroism here, as British, Australian, New Zealanders, Indians and Canadians and Americans (in either RAF or RCAF uniforms) take on Japan's best aces.

A ripping read!

When you read this book a good historian or soldier comes away with the two lessons: there is nothing like unity of command in military operations and no substitute for good training. This book covers day-to-day military operations in the South Pacific area. There is a second to none index which gives the names of nearly every allied figheter pilot and all significan events in the South Pacific area. It's staggering to read and that alone should rate the book three stars. I can't add that this book did a fantastic job of telling me how "the Brits, Aussies, Dutch, and Americans make a 'muck' up of things." In less than 30 days in most instances the Allied airpower was reduced down to near nothing. The second rate aircraft and second rate training the allied pilots received made them no match for the excellent aviatiors that flew for Japan. Once again, this book gives a day to day account of the results of the wretched defensive air force operations conducted by the Allies at the start of WWII. All in all this book covers about the first 90 days of the Pacific war. I knocked off a star from the book. Why? I know aircraft but a person who does not know Zeros, Buffalos, Hurricanes, P-26 Peashooters, P-35s, P-36, and P-40 aircraft might not know what the author is talking about. An index of aircraft and a performance chart would have been nice. Also, once in a while the author will confuse the caption of a P-40A or B with a P-40E. It's not a huge mistake but can be somewhat distracting from this generally fantastic work on the first 30 days of the Pacific war.

4 Stars and it really should be 4.5 Stars. Yes, it's that good.