Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Second only to Truk in notoriety, the Japanese base at Rabaul, New Britain played a pivotal role in the fighting in the Southwest Pacific in World War II. It was a well-fortified stronghold in its own right bristling with hundreds of AAA guns, scores of fighters and bombers and possessing a fine harbor. Just as importantly, it served as a conduit funneling various Japanese air, land and sea units southward to Guadalcanal and other areas. Fresh from his marvelous LARK FORCE book, noted military historian Bruce Gamble recounts the creation and evolution of Rabaul as a major Japanese base and the ever-increasing Allied air efforts to derail that developmeht.

Captured by the Japanese in early 1942, Rabaul was swiftly developed, eventually boasting of a number of airfields that could hold hundreds of IJN/IJAAF warbirds. Its Simpson Harbor was developed and was soon crowded with dozens of merchantmen and warships. Gamble skilfully interweaves the growth of Rabaul with other military developments in the SWPA in the early war years to underscore Rabaul's steadily growing importance to the Japanese war effort. For instance, aircraft from Rabaul pounded various Allied targets including Port Moresby, Guadalcanal (following its capture in August 1942) and American carrier units in the Coral Sea. Shipping from Simpson Harbor transported troops and equipment to various islands to establish and develop bases including airfields and so on.

As shown in FORTRESS RABAUL, the American response to Rabaul's growth took the form of air attacks. Initially the attacks were feeble and ineffectual. Following George Kenney's arrival to the SWPA, the Americans began a very slow but steady build-up of air units that, in time, would mount devastating attacks on Rabaul. By the close of Gamble's book, Kenney's 5th Air Force was becoming a more effective force, in part because of growing aircraft numbers but also because of effective tactics like skip-bombing. The post-April 1943 air attacks that later left Rabaul withering on the vine would seem to be the subject of Gamble's next book; here's hoping!

In summary, Gamble does an excellent job of utilizing Japanese and American records, reports and reminiscences to create an all-encompassing view of Rabaul's crucial role in the Pacific war. He easily shifts between high-level American or Japanese conferences to in-the-cockpit descriptions of bombing hops and air combats. He also practices some myth-busting and record-correcting in recounting who-did-what-when. All in all, FORTRESS RABAUL is great history...and a great read. Highly recommended.

Review of:

Fortress Rabaul, The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942-April 1943
by Bruce Gamble

The Allied effort again the island of New Britain, specifically, Rabaul, was a long and bloody chapter in the war against Japan. Aside from some official, generalized histories, or books written with some specific focus, there has not been a detailed study of the American, Australian and New Zealand effort in this campaign. This book changes that.

The author is just known for his superb history of Greg Boyington and the "Black Sheep" Marine squadron in two previous books. In these, he told a masterfully researched and apocryphal narrative telling it like it was, both good and bad. This book is no different. The best part is his integration of Japanese stories and records, comparing both sides' claims and reality--most eye opening. He does not spare McArthur, Kenny, or the Japanese commanders with their errors and shortsightedness, especially Kenny. The effort of both sides was tremendous and much rode on who won what and dominated the skies over the area.

However, there is disappointment. Even though the title says so, it is a great disappointment that the story ends with the killing of Adm. Yamamoto in April 1943. While he does not say so, it is as if the author considers the story over. However, there were great air battles in the Fall of 1943 and well into 1944 as the Allies worked to reduce Rabaul to impotence as well as take the main Japanese naval base, Truk, out of the picture. Perhaps there is a second volume?

Aside from that disappointment, the book is very well done and worth a read.

Bruce Gamble's "Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942 - April 1943" is a magnificent and important work on this often neglected part of World War II. Mr. Gamble has paid the price in research. The accounts he collected from participants in the campaign, the US and Australian archives, and the official records of the US, Australian, and Japanese clarify and punctuate the events.

You experience Rabaul and New Britain through his graphic description of the topography and weather. You get a clear understand of the volcanic origins of the Rabaul and the impact the volcanoes and volcanic activity to include earthquakes have on the land and inhabitants.

Mr. Gamble does an excellent job telling the story. I read the book in one week while on vacation. I found it that compelling and entertaining. The author does an exceptional job telling the story. I was floored by the account of the bombing of the Komaki Maru. "The Komaki Maru shuddered under the impact of the two hits, which ignited the cargo of aviation fuel. 'A few seconds later,' recalled an Australian eyewitness, 'the ship was an inferno and the roar of the flames almost drowned out the screams of the Japanese trapped aboard.'

The narrative reads with all the vigor and imagery of a novel. The chapter Medal of Honor: Lieutenant Edward H. "Butch" O'Hare reads like a Hollywood action movie. We learn the story of the man whose name graces O'Hare Airport in Chicago. We see how his action saved the USS Lexington and won him his nations highest military honor, the Medal of Honor. We learn the story of how he interposed his fighter between his ship and an advancing enemy formation of 9 attacking twin-engine heavy bombers. We see how without hesitation, alone and unaided, he repeatedly attacked this enemy formation, at close range in the face of intense combined machine gun and cannon fire. We find out that by his gallant and courageous action, his extremely skillful marksmanship in making the most of every shot of his limited amount of ammunition that he shot down 5 enemy bombers and severely damaged a sixth before they reached the bomb release point. As a result of his gallant action--one of the most daring, if not the most daring, single action in the history of combat aviation--he undoubtedly saved his carrier from serious damage.

Other Medal of Honor stories like that of Harl Pease, Jr are include. The book is excellent. It is a must read for any military or aviation history buff. It would make a great addition to any community or university library.

A fascination of mine for some time has been the air war in the South West Pacific; the Japanese having overwhelming force, the Allies holding on by a thread, and then watching both sides stumble forward; got to love it. In this case, Mr. Gamble tackles the capture of Rabaul by the Japanese and the early Allied air missions against it (thru the Battle of the Bismarck Sea). Because of the impact of New Guinea and the Solomon's to Rabaul, Mr. Gamble also describes the air war over New Guinea and the Solomon's.

In reading this book two books were immediately brought to mind, Fire In The Sky: The Air War In The South Pacific(Eric M. Bergerud) and Into the Dragon's Jaws/the Fifth Air Force over Rabaul, 1943(by Lex McAulay). Fire in the Sky is my gold standard for the air war in the South Pacific and Into the Dragon's deals with the later raids on Rabaul. Fortress Rabaul is a good description of what happened in the early part of the war to Rabaul but doesn't rise to the level Fire in the Sky did. While Mr. Gamble does a good job presenting his story of the air war over Rabaul, I wasn't totally a part of it. Parts of his work were very nicely done (his section on the capture of Rabaul and the actions of the USS Lexington around Rabaul and in the Coral Sea) while others went from complete works to nicely done (I'm sorry, I was underwhelmed with the attention paid to the war in New Guinea. No attention was paid to Milne Bay or Buna, both of which contributed to the air war over Rabaul. His description of the Battle of the Bismarck Sea was only ok). This is complicated by not talking about the Japanese restructuring their forces so that their Army Air Force was responsible for New Guinea and the Navy had New Britain. This became very important during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea). Descriptions are usually very good, accuracy aligns with other sources in general (more on that later). The pictures are nice and there's a nice map of the Rabaul area. With all of this in mind, I'm calling this one a 4 star book that's good for the war at Rabaul but weaker as you go away from Rabaul. Having said that, I'll be looking forward to Mr. Gamble's next work to see how it compares to Into the Dragon's Jaws.

Fortress Rabaul by Bruce Gamble is an extensive history of one of the main Japanese Pacific strong points during World War II. For every plan they made, the Americans had to take Rabaul into account, like a little sliver that constantly calls attention to itself until it's removed (if the sliver were actually so fortified that it could destroy any tweezers you tried to use to remove it). If the Australians knew what Rabaul would become for the Japanese, would they have let it go so easily? As strapped as they were at the beginning of the war, they might have. Gamble considers all of this in an excellent overview of the war in the Southwest Pacific.

Gamble starts the book with a brief history of Rabaul and the island of New Britain, on which it resides. Rabaul makes a perfect harbour: it has many deepwater anchorages and a ring of mountains around it that makes it very hard to bomb by air. It also sits on top of a seismic time bomb, with constant little earthquakes and volcanoes that occasionally spill out ash and flame. The Australians occupied it after World War I, but it was one of the first islands assaulted by the Japanese after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

The practically token Australian force holding the island was overrun almost immediately, and the Japanese started building what would become one of the best-known (and most feared) fortresses in all of the Pacific. The Australians, and then the Americans, tried to bomb it into submission, attempting to keep it from inhibiting Allied operations in the Southwest Pacific, but were never truly successful. Gamble details all of this thoroughly, with raid after raid conducted both at Rabaul and from Rabaul as both sides tried to destroy the air capability of the other.

It does get a bit monotonous at times, all of the constant back and forth, with Gamble including the number of bombers involved in the attacks (and how many didn't take part because of mechanical failure) and the usually inflated results. He continually highlights these inflated claims, often stating the claimed losses and then, using records from the other side, telling us the actual damage done.

However, just when things start to get too boring, some twist happens, whether it's a new bombing technique or some other events that end up changing the dynamic of the entire situation. At times, Gamble breaks it up by talking about the Australian prisoners on New Britain and how horribly they were treated. Or he'll talk about the constant tension between American admirals and generals as they debate the best ways to neutralize Rabaul (the reader can tell that Gamble has no time for General MacArthur, for example). We get an angle on some of the most famous Pacific battles (Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal) from a different standpoint as we see how Rabaul affected them.

While reading about the constant air strikes back and forth might get tedious after a while in other books, Gamble never lets that happen in Fortress Rabaul. His interesting prose style will keep you reading despite the relative sameness of the action. He relates some choice detail for both the events as well as the personalities behind them. Having access to the Japanese military archives greatly helps; he is able to give both sides of the story as well as confirm the truth behind some of the more outlandish claims of damage.

Gamble ends the book with an extremely detailed account of the death of Admiral Yamamoto, the most acclaimed Japanese naval war leader of all time. Having broken the Japanese codes, the Americans knew to the minute where he was going to be as he made the trip to inspect some of the Japanese defenses in the Southwest Pacific. Gamble also discusses the controversy that has surrounded the attack even to this day. Just who shot down Yamamoto's plane? Who gets credit for basically beheading the Japanese military machine? That battle still rages.

One of the few faults with Fortress Rabaul is the "notes" system. Once again, my least favorite notes system is utilized - each note just quotes a sentence fragment from the chapter and then tells you the source for that information. This requires the reader to constantly be checking the notes section to see if there is anything there. At the very least, there should be a superscript number in the main body of text so that the reader knows there's a note attached. Whenever I see this note system, I basically ignore them all. I may glance at it occasionally, but it takes me out of my reading rhythm.

That's the only real fault I can think of with this book. Otherwise, it's an excellent history of a little-discussed aspect of World War II, at least in the "public" history book genre. While Rabaul is often mentioned in other books, it's always done so in relation to the subject matter of that particular book. This is the first time I've ever read a book that's actually about Rabaul. An interesting history indeed. I can't wait for Gamble's follow-up.

Originally published on Curled Up With a Good Book. © David Roy, 2010

Rabaul was a term best unmentioned when I was growing up. My father had a bullet wound scar entering his lower belly and a much larger scar showing its exit from his back. His only comment on his service in WWII was the terse statement that he received the wound flying a bombing raid on Rabaul. I was curious but never took the time to ask for details until too late. Trying to research my father's history after his death was difficult. Units were renamed, reports were conflicting or exaggerated, and records lost. Bruce Gamble's book, Fortress Rabaul, clarifies the confusion and lays out events in an orderly and highly readable format. Gamble weaves an enthralling story of the difficulties and stresses imposed on the men stationed at Port Moresby, New Guinea by Japanese attacks, horrid living conditions, overstressed planes and men, a shortage of replacement parts. and, in some cases, an appalling incomprehension of high ranking officers. I greatly appreciate Gamble's research and his skillful writing in helping me understand the problems that my father endured and the reasons for the scars, both those that were visible and those only observed second-hand. This book is a terrific introduction to a long-term, hard fought campaign that has received much less attention than it deserves.

This is another great book from Bruce Gamble on an under-covered topic. The pace is quick, and the heavy inclusion of the Australian perspective is a refreshing change. The only complaint I had was I wanted more. For the scope and period covered, the book could have easily been two or three times the size. Those expecting to see air battles described to the same level of detail as in his Blacksheep books will be disappointed. The author clearly made a conscious decision to condense the description of specific battles to keep the overall narrative moving. However, I think it was a conscious and fair tradeoff on his part.

If you're interested in the South Pacific in 1942, get the book - nuff said.

I thought I had already reviewed this book but evidently not. As someone with an interest in the subject, I found Fortress Rabaul to be a very informative work that goes into great detail. Although there were a few things not directly related to the subject at hand that I felt were a bit off-base, the overall treatment of the subject matter is excellent. Rabaul was THE target for Allied military forces in the South and Southwest Pacific until General MacArthur's forces victories over the Japanese in Papua, New Guinea and particularly the capture of Lae made capture of Rabaul itself unnecessary. Although this volume only covers the period up to the spring of 1943 when the Battle of the Bismarck Sea signaled the end of Japanese domination of the seas, it is an excellent source of information and a well-written tale.

After finishing Bruce Gamble's Darkest Hour just when Fortress Rabaul was released, I had to grab Fortress. Its clear that he did so much research for this book and must have had a grand time doing so (I humbly volunteer to be a researcher for his next book!)

First, its easy to enjoy Gamble's writing style. He provides the background to each vignette, a bit of tactical insight, just enough technical info to make you interrupt your reading to run to the internet for more detail, and plenty of personalities to provide depth of understanding to the interactions which drove behaviors of the decision makers.

Second, Gamble provides just enough revisit to Darkest Hour, his prelude to this volume, to reaffirm the setting at Rabaul. (if you haven't read it, do so...if not before, then right after you've read this one).

Bruce Gamble unveils the battle for the southwest Pacific in its gritty detail from an aviators perspective, while maintaining the critical historical links to the land and sea wars to tie it to the overall strategy in this theater.

The reader also gains an appreciation for the technical challenges with the aircraft that were available, most in their introductory stages when both flight and ground crews had to figure out how to get the most from them with little or no support from the US. If you're not a WWII aircraft techie, you'll get insightful introductions to PBY's, P-38, -39, -40, A-20, B-25,26,17, 24 and the issues with using them in the southwest Pacific under very difficult circumstances. And you'll learn about the birth of the attack bomber versions of the A-20 and B-25. Great stuff.

My 4 rating would be a 5 if:
1) the last few chapters didn't dwell so much on the details of the mistaken reports of enemy kills, listing the details of the opponents claims over and over. I got it. The Japs overstated their kills so badly that very poor judgments were made by the strategists (i.e., victory disease). Make the point and move on.
2) more maps and photos were included.
3) the ending didn't just end so abruptly. I wanted more, but its easy to figure out that there is a volume 3 to Gambles Rabaul story!

Lastly, I finally know how the actress Swoozie Kurtz got her name, and how Chicago's O'Hare Field is linked to Al Capone. Who would have thought that one would learn such things in a book about war in the south Pacific?

Just finished Gamble's book and although it only covered a 16 month period, it was the MOST important block of time in the South West Pacific theatre. Gamble keeps you on the edge with every chapter. If you've read anything about the European theatre and the bombing campaigns there (the 1000 bomber raids etc), you'll be shocked that many Rabaul bombing missions were 5 or less aircraft!

Gamble helps you realise that if Japan had not divided their attentions between two targets to invade, namely Tulagi, Solomons & Port Morseby, in PNG, the outcome of the Pacific war would have been different.

1942 - the most important year of the Pacific War. Victory was up for grabs...

I didn't come across any typos, and the pictures were good. Only one gripe, more maps please!