Customer Reviews

The Ghost Mountain Boys: Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea--The Forgotten War of the South Pacific

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James Campbell does an outstanding job of telling a heartbreaking story of loss and survival on the island of New Guinea during WW II. It is a very personal story of the men of the 32nd Infantry Divisions' Ghost Mountain Boys who were assigned the mission impossible -- to march 130 miles over the Owen Stanley Mountains -- and then, after being ravaged by malaria, dysentery, festoring sores and exhausted beyond belief, they were ordered to launch an assault on the Japanese position in Buna. It's a story that begins with the letters of the regimental surgeon, Major Simon Warmenhoven to his wife and ends with the defeat of the Japanese army at the expense of 9,688 US casualties from nearly eleven thousand troops.
I would highly recommend this well-documented account of a little known battle to WW II buffs, and to those who enjoy reading personal stories of survival against incredible odds.

I would not normally have read The Ghost Mountain Boys, but the book's subject intrigued me because a relative served in New Guinea in World War II. He returned safely, and then lived and died an alcoholic. Now I can understand the probable reason why. Author James Campbell is a superb historian and tells a fascinating, complex story with clarity and compassion. His research for the book was meticulous and personal. Even if, like me, you don't typically like books about war, give this one a try. I will be very surprised if this book does not win major awards for books published in 2007.

In "The Ghost Mountain Boys," James Campbell tells, at last, the WWII story about the heroes of the 32nd infantry Division, whose near impossible feats in New Guinea were overshadowed by the better known battle ground at Guadalcanal.

Through countless interviews with veterans and /or their families, research in military history of both American and Japanese troops, extensive resource reading, as well as having taken the arduous trek himself, James Campbell has written a compassionate, compelling, book that will surely be considered a must for WWII historians.

I read this book because of a personal interest in the 32nd Infantry Division, and it was my first time to ever read a detailed account about a military feat. The author has made this narrative read like a rich, exciting novel in which history comes alive. Not only was it an enjoyable read but also it was great to discuss it with my husband, a great history buff, who liked the book as much as I.

This is an outstanding book about a remarkable story. It is well researched, thoroughly documented and hard to put down. The author actually walked the Ghost Mountain track from the Port Moresby side of New Guinea to Buna and captures the "voice" of the soldiers of the 32nd Division. After reading the book, I sent a gift copy to a friend who fought with the 127th Infantry at Buna. In his words: "...the trails, villages etc. that I had walked came back just like it was yesterday. I have read about 150 books on the pacific war and this is by far the best on I have ever read! It describes so well the real problems of the Infantry man--not the combat--being wounded etc., but the trying to survive the bugs, leeches, even crocodiles, on a daily basis--getting shot was a blessing!!"

This book has the look and the feel of the adventure writer turned historian. As such it moves along at quite a clip, but does so often at the expense of other details in the narrative.

Let me first tell you what I like about this book:

1) The description of the initial overland recce of PNG is really something that escapes even very detailed accounts of this campaign. It is amazing that people would have thought you could march an army through this jungle without any tracks. The initial recce of 100 men did just this. Although the danger from the enemy was mininal for most of the walk, the sheer outdoor adventure is really at a premium. At times they are balanced on high-ridges shivering unable, for days on end to see the jungle floor below.

2) The description of the fighting at Buna from the American right flank is initially described pretty well, and gives a good representation of the ground that was faught over.

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Problems are unfortunately more and mar this potentially good narrative. Some of these things are my own personal bugbears, others not so.

1) The narrative style is old school where they follow the soldiers from their home towns as they grow from either naive teenagers or troubled young men to expert jungle fighters and men who have seen too much. This is fine and seems to be what the American public like to hear -- small town boy goes to war. In the end there is too much of this type of narrative and not enough on the actual overall training of the division.

2) Bad grasp of the overall strategy trying to be achieved in NGuinea. The author does a poor job at describing the mind of either the Australian or the American commanders and although a small attempt is made to make some description of the battle from the Japanese point of view, it fails rather horribly and we are left with a major narrative hole with no description on the motivations and actions of the Japanese. In modern narratives, this old tecniques does not work well. But this betrays a larger issue:
3) lack of adequate sources and readings. The bibliography is very light. With many, almost all, of the well known texts on the campaign not being cited or even referenced.
4) Lack of a description of the Australian effort. The Americans anchored the allied right flank at Buna, but they overlapped with the Austrialians in the centre and the Aussies had all the Western Flank. The actions of the Americans at time appear in the narrative to appear inside a vacuum. This leads to a feeling of lack of balance. I am always wondering what the Australians were doing on the other flank.
5) The battle narrative finishes when the withdrawal of our main characters... NOT when the actual battle finishes. We are left wondering what happenned. What was it all for? What was the next step? What was learned?

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As a vital WWII narrative it is worthwhile reading. It does not really cover more than a small fraction of the total fighting on New Guinea. It is best read as companion to other's on the campaign such as Nathan Prefer's "MacArthur's New Guinea Strategy."

There are many more great narratives from WWII. This, although worth the time to read, does not qualify.

This book means so much to me cause my dad (Robert Hartman)was part of the subject matter and helped Mr Campbell with his book. We had always heard stories from my dad about his experiences in WWII but never knew all the details until this book came out. This is such a tribute to all the men and women too that suffered in New Guinea and Buna but that were heros ALL. Thanks to everyone who helped make this book so good!!!!

This book is an easy read. I recommend it to anyone interested in how America's citizen soldiers fought in World War II. The book's style is similar to many of Stephen Ambroses works such as Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest or Citizen Soldiers: The U. S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany.
This book follows the story of the 32 Infantry, the Red Arrow Division in Early World War II. The Red Arrow Division was composed of National Guard units from Michigan and Wisconsin and fleshed out with draftees. The unit was nationalized in 1941, before the beginning of the war and trained in Louisiana. The first section of the book focuses on these early days of the division.
The Red Arrow was originally slated to fight in Europe but with rapid advance of the Japanese, the Red Arrow was sent to protect Australia. Soon after the division completed construction of its training base, units were sent to help Australian troops in New Guinea. Several units marched over the Owen Stanley Mountains racing the Japanese back to their bases near Buna on the northern coast. Coastal shipping transported other units to the area. The account of the air attack on these ships as they tried to land supplies was gripping. None of the troops were trained or prepared for the tropical jungles and harsh conditions they faced. Niether was the United States prepared to supply troop in this environment. The troops were malnourished and soon suffered from tropical diseases such as malaria and dysentery. Trapped at the end of a long supply line before the industrial strength of the United States was brought to bear, this small band fought a battle in the jungle similar to trench warfare in World War 1.
This book focuses on the personal experiences of the front line troops in their struggle against the environment and enemy. Excerpts from Japanese diaries show that both sides suffered terribly from the conditions, which neither side was prepared for. Distant commanders demanded immediate action and that the attacks be pressed forward regardless of losses. I am amazed that the sick emaciated troops were able to walk let alone fight. I wished for more maps. Three maps at the beginning of the book meant that I was constantly turning back to the front to see if the location was on the map and where it was. The campaign in the Southwestern Pacific is almost ignored by the public who remember the Marine landings in the Central Pacific and the great carrier battles that destroyed the Japanese Navy.
I drive home from work every day on the Red Arrow Highway. When I moved here, I asked about the name and was told that it was named for a famous unit in World War I made up of local boys. Someone else told me that the Red Arrow was in combat longer than any other unit in WW II. I don't think of them the same way as I did before I read this book.

As the daughter of "G" Company's medic (James Mull), I anxiously waited for my copy of the book. I was not disappointed. My father never talked much of his war years and now I have an understanding why. What those men were subjected to and accomplished is astonishing. It is time the men of the 32nd Red Arrow Division are given the honor they deserve. I am giving my father a copy of the book and hope that he will add his own memories to it, so his story can be shared with his grandchildren.
I would highly recommend this book to everyone. This is a story that needed to be told.

This would have been a difficult battle for green troops to fight even if they had been well led. Unfortunately they weren't. First we find the ultimate ego maniac, McArthur, would never soiled his trouser legs by visiting the front, but he threatened his commanders to fight and die if they didn't win. Then we find the behind the scenes scuffling of generals who, like school boys pushing to be first in line, wanted their units to get the glory but they themselves did no fighting and didn't expose themselves to the hardships the troops endured. Of course they all wrote their biographies after the war, most of which would make science fiction look respectable. But the heros were those who fought and died under the most unimaginable conditions in this first great battle of retaking the Pacific from the Japanese.

This battle need never to have been fought. With a more abler senior commander than McArthur, the Japanese could have been quarantined and starved into defeat. But that doesn't get headlines, and headlines were more important to McArthur than the lives of simple soldiers who just wanted to make it through the day.

I am a retired teacher specializing in military history. This is truly a compelling account of the forgotten land battle in the Pacific that until now has received virtually zero coverage in any history book of World War II. The subtitle tells it all; "Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea--The Forgotten War of the South Pacific." It just goes to show you that unless the media or Hollywood are interested, these equally significant battles just never seem to gain notice and are forgotten or in this case ignored until author James Campbell did some digging to find a gem of a story. As a student and true lover of history, I was greatly impressed by the unprecedented documentation of Mr. Campbell. There are numerous instances throughout the book where a skeptic may say that the author may have gotten a little carried away with the "war stories" related by the soldiers involved. In every instance, the author provides full documentation with multiple sources that would make even the most demanding college professor happy. I would recommend that the readers of this book read a chapter and then immediately go to the back of the book to read the author notes on that chapter. Then read another chapter and go back to read the notes on that chapter. The notes are as impressive as the text and this technique does not really interupt the flow of the book. To the contrary, it enhances the experience.

Campbell tells the story of the Ghost Mountain Boys in a somber and sensitive manner without the artificial guts and glory of a typical macho-man pulp fiction narative. This is award winning literature. I highly recommend this for the serious reader and for all classroom history classes grades 11 through grad school.

Mark
Twin Lake, Michigan