Iwo Jima 1945: The Marines Raise the Flag on Mount Suribachi (Praeger Illustrated Military History) [Hardcover]

Derrick Wright (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275982734 | ISBN-13: 978-0275982737 | Publication Date: February 2004

One of the decisive battles of the Second World War in the Pacific, Iwo Jima was described by Lieutenant-General Holland Smith, Commander Fleet Marine Forces Pacific, as "The most savage and most costly battle in the history of the Marine Corps"--a titanic struggle that eclipsed all that had gone before. Situated halfway along the B-29 Superfortress route to the Japanese mainland, the island was of major strategic importance to the U.S. Air Force, but also to the Japanese, 20,000 of whom were deeply entrenched in the island. This book provides a definitive account of the battle, from its origins to its hard-fought conclusion. Planned as a ten-day campaign, the battle for Iwo Jima developed into what Lt. General Holand Smith, the overall Marine Commander, described as "the toughest fight in the 169 years of our Corps"--a titanic struggle of savagery that eclipsed all that had gone before, and which dragged on for 36 days. The island was of major strategic importance to the U.S. Air Force, as a place where B-29 bombers damaged over Japan could land safely, and as a base for escort fighters to assist in the bombing campaign. However, it was also of supreme importance to the 20,000 Japanese who were deeply entrenched in the island when the Marines invaded, and to whom surrender was not an option. The loss of Iwo Jima was proof to the Japanese that the Americans could seize one of the world's most heavily defended islands and filled them with foreboding about the inevitable invasion of their homeland.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Highly visual guides to history's greatest conflicts, detailing the command strategies, tactics, and experiences of the opposing forces throughout each campaign, and concluding with a guide to the battlefields today. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Derrick Wright is the author of ‘Tarawa: A Hell of a Way to Die’ (Windrow & Greene, 1997) and ‘The Battle for Iwo Jima’ (Sutton, 1999). His interest in the Second World War started in childhood, as he grew up in the Teeside area which was subjected to so many bombing raids. After National Service with the Army, he became an engineer specialising in Ultrasonics. Retired, he lives with his wife on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. He has four daughters. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (February 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275982734
• ISBN-13: 978-0275982737
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,590,640 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Decent Summary, but too much missing information, April 4, 2001

By 

R. A Forczyk (MD, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Iwo Jima 1945: The Marines raise the flag on Mount Suribachi (Campaign) (Paperback)

Iwo Jima 1945 is an attractive, but ultimately flawed, addition to the Osprey Campaign Series. While British author Derrick Wright succeeds in capturing the pathos of this dramatic battle, he skips too lightly over the factual basis. The book certainly provides a useful and detailed summary of the five-week long battle on Iwo Jima, but there are far too many omissions for even a short campaign history such as this.

In the first chapter on the origins of the campaign, Wright fails to note that although Iwo Jima had been under Japanese control since the late 19th Century that the first airfield on the island was not constructed until 1943. As late as February 1944, the island was virtually undefended, with only 1,500 naval personnel stationed there. In this section, Wright makes critical omissions in failing to note the first major American air strikes on the island in June 1944, followed by intermittent naval bombardments and B-24 attacks in November-December 1944. The Japanese Army only started a major effort to reinforce and fortify the island in July 1944 and the underground cave network was only about 15% completed when the invasion began. US submarines were partly successful in interdicting the flow of Japanese reinforcements to the island, with 1,500 Japanese troops lost enroute. All these facts are very pertinent to the pre-invasion phase, but go unmentioned by Wright.

The second chapter, on opposing commanders, covers the US commanders effectively, but mentions only Lieutenant General Kuribayashi on the Japanese side. Wright takes time to tell the reader about Kuribayashi's height and "pot belly," but not the more relevant facts about his recent service in China in 1940-1943. Kuribayashi was a cavalry officer, not a samurai (which was a state of mind by 1945, not a branch of service). The third chapter, on opposing forces, is so short at only four paragraphs as to seem obnoxious. Wright offers only generic comments about the opposing forces, with no detail about tactical organization, doctrine, equipment or strengths and weaknesses. The US 3rd and 4th Marine Divisions were veteran units but the 5th was an untried division. While noting that the total Japanese garrison was 21,000, Wright fails to break this down properly; 15,500 were army and 5,500 were navy. Information is widely available about this garrison but unmentioned in this account. For example, the fact that the Japanese had 120 guns larger than 75mm with 100,000 rounds, 130 howitzers, 60 anti-tank guns and 27 tanks is rather important in assessing the defense. The Japanese garrison had plenty of food but were chronically short of water. Nor does the order of battle information provided in the appendices clear this up; the appendices fail to even list any American tank, artillery, engineer or aviation units that supported the invasion.

The heart of this volume is the day-by-day summary, which Wright pulls off fairly well. The artwork battlescenes that accompany the text are excellent. However, the lack of sufficient 2-D maps makes it particularly difficult to track the first week of the battle. A good sketch or diagram of a typical Japanese defensive position (readily available from sketches made by US Seabees) would have been worthwhile in the campaign summary. Also, Wright makes the three-day naval preliminary bombardment seem like the only effort to suppress the defenders, which it was not.

Finally, the aftermath section fails to address casualties. While Wright gives US casualties at interim points of the battle, he fails to mention the final total: over 6,800 dead and 18,000 wounded. The fact that 212 Japanese were captured out of 21,000 troops is also omitted. Finally, it was on April 7, 1945 that P-51 fighters flew from Iwo Jima to provide the first escort for B-29s to raid Japan. Wright missed that fact, too. In sum, the plethora of omitted data greatly reduces the value and reliability of this account.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Incomplete Glimpse into Operation Detachment, July 15, 2009

By 

Dave Schranck "Dave" (Anaheim Ca) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Iwo Jima 1945: The Marines raise the flag on Mount Suribachi (Campaign) (Paperback)

I recently read Mr Wright's "Tarawa 1943" and thought it pretty good and rated it 4 stars. I decided to try" Iwo Jima 1945", hoping it would be equally good but it isn't. Mr Wright loses his focus a little and doesn't allocate resources properly in this book. The author brings General MacArthur and this New Guinea and Philippines campaigns as well as General LeMay firebombing Japan into the book. He also mentions the hostilities between Adm NImitz and MacArthur and how the Allies were gaining on the Japanese in Burma. If you were writing a full length book, it wouldn't be a problem but when you're tied to 96 pages you should be more selective. There are areas where information was completely omitted or presented in a single sentence in an offhanded way.

The "Origins" chapter was too brief; there were engagements in 1944 that were never mention. USS Archerfish and USS Darter sunk ships offshore and made recon runs that were never mention. The US made more bombing runs on the island since mid 1944 than any other island before its landing.
In the Opposing Commanders Chapter, the Japanese section was poorly represented with only General Kuribayashi being mentioned in the text. There were several other key people that should have been mentioned. (They were listed in the Order of Battle in the Appendix.)
There were six maps; three of each type. The 2-D map of the landing was OK but the others, especially the 3-D maps were nondescript and are in need of enhancement. There were four 2-page illustrations which were good but their space could have been better used in the narrative. There are many good photos to browse.

There were five appendices that added information but at the expense of the narrative. (Sorry to harp.) The listing of the Medal of Honor recipients was worthwhile. The Aftermath did mention how many airmen were saved by being able to land on Iwo Jima after their bombing runs on Japan; that was good.

The Chronology was really bad and didn't help guide you through the battle action.
The summary of the invasion and capture of the island was pretty good in the beginning but had to be brief at the end of the assault.
The battle for Iwo Jima was such an important event that even after complaining about the book, I still recommend the book for history buffs. I would also suggest reading the books by Eric Hammel, Richard Wheeler and Fred Haynes to fill in the holes.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Captures Scope of Battle, July 11, 2002

By 

Fred M. Blum - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iwo Jima 1945: The Marines raise the flag on Mount Suribachi (Campaign) (Paperback)

Iwo Jima 1945: The Marines Raise the Flag on Mount Suribachi (Campaign, 81)by Derek Wright is written in typical Ospery fashion. What makes it different from most of the other books in the series is the ablity of the author in very few pages to capture the heroism, death and wanton destruction that accompanied the battle to take control of the tiny island. Wright does a magnificant job helping the reader understand the mind set of the Marines and the Japanese and each of their desires to destroy the other at almost any cost or price.

From the aftermath section, it is obvious that the author sought to use Iwo Jima as a test of what would have happened if an invasion of the Japanese homeland has occured. If Wright is even half correct in his assumptions, then the invasion would have been devestating. Wright then seems to conclude that the expected devestation justifies the use of the atomic bomb. A conclusion shared by the Iwo Jima veterans.

The sequence of the battle is laid out in a day by day account. As is typical of the Osprey series, there are certainly parts of the battle that are left out or shortchanged. However, given the page limitations that is to be expected.

This is an fine short history and a worthwhile read.