Tarawa and the Marshalls: A Pictorial Tribute (U.S. Marines in World War II) [Hardcover]

Eric Hammel (Author)

Book Description

Series: U.S. Marines in World War II | Publication Date: September 24, 2008

Some of the biggest battles fought by the Marines during World War II took place on tiny islands scattered throughout the western Pacific.  Among these, the battles for Tarawa and the Marshalls were some of the fiercest and most decisive of the Pacific campaign--critical engagements that this pictorial history brings vividly to life.  In hundreds of rare photographs, many never-before-published, the historic drama unfolds beginning with the 2d Marine Division’s landing on Betio Island in the Tarawa Atoll on November 20, 1943.  Assured that the island’s defenses had been “pounded into coral dust” by naval and air bombardment, the Marines in fact found themselves in the thick of the first modern amphibious assault on a well-defended beachhead. Three days of intense fighting secured the island for the Allies, at the cost of 1,000 Marines dead and more than 2,000 wounded.

 

The book then turns to the Marshall Islands where, early in World War II, the Japanese had built airfields on the Kwajalein and Eniwetok atolls.  Dramatic photographs document the taking of Kwajalein by U.S. Marines and Army troops after the most massive bombardment of the war.  We then witness the landing of the 22d Marines on the five islands of Eniwetok on February 18, followed by the intense fighting that brought the entire atoll under Allied control within four days--securing crucial landing fields and operational support for the Allies’ island-hopping campaign to ultimate victory in the Pacific.  A tribute to the rare courage and heroism that, for the Marines in WWII, were merely a matter of course, this illustrated history keeps their spectacular sacrifices and feats of valor forever before us.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

The Marines’ battles for Tarawa Atoll and the Marshall Islands were some of the fiercest and most decisive of the Pacific campaign in World War II--critical engagements that this pictorial history brings vividly to life.  In hundreds of rare photographs, many never-before-published, the historic drama unfolds in these pages, documenting the 2d Marine Division’s amphibious assault on Betio Island in the Tarawa Atoll on November 20, 1943; and the landing of the 22d Marines on the Marshalls on February 18, followed by the intense fighting that brought the entire atoll under Allied control within four days.

From the Inside Flap

The U.S. Marines had broken the back of the Japanese on Guadalcanal in 1942 and plowed through the jungle-choked islands of the central and northern Solomon Islands and New Britain from early 1943 to early 1944—two years of bloody warfare with every soldier, sailor, Marine, ship, and airplane the United States could dispatch to the South Pacific’s far-flung battlefields.

 

Following those victories, the war to which the Marine Corps had devoted decades of planning and doctrinal development was finally at hand: an island-hopping campaign across the Central Pacific, specifically targeting the Marshall Islands as a steppingstone to the Marianas, then onward toward Japan. The idea was to outflank the Caroline Islands from the north and cut the naval and air routes between Japan and its naval bastion at Truk.

 

Once a command and planning structure was in place for the Central Pacific campaign, the first order of business turned out to be the Gilbert Islands, a patchwork of British-mandated atolls the Imperial Japanese Navy had swiftly conquered at the outset of the Pacific War. The Gilberts were well to the east of the Marshalls, but they were within range of modern aircraft, which made them a necessary preliminary target.

 

Military historian Eric Hammel has scoured the archives for photos of Marines in Pacific War combat and unearthed thousands of rare, many never-before-published images. Tarawa and the Marshalls continues the U.S. Marines in World War II series, including previous volumes Guadalcanal and New Georgia, Bougainville, and Cape Gloucester, a comprehensive photographic history of the Marine battles in the Pacific. Hundreds of rare photographs along with Hammel’s insightful narrative and captions provide a fitting tribute to the Marines who fought their way across the South Pacific.

 

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Zenith Press; 1st edition (September 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760333297
• ISBN-13: 978-0760333297
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #595,781 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > History > Australia & Oceania > Marshall Islands

More About the Author

Eric Hammel's writing career began in the 1960s, when he was a teenager. He has had forty military history books, one novel, and more than sixty-five non-fiction articles published. Eric has worked as West Coast contributing editor for Leatherneck Magazine and as a publishing acquisitions and content editor, but he has spent most of the years since 1983 as a full-time author, editor, and publisher.

Free sample chapters from all of Eric Hammel's in-print books can be viewed at his author site, http://www.EricHammelBooks.com
All of his books are available on Amazon.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning historical record of the Marine's bloodiest battle, April 12, 2009

By 

J. Rudy "Major, USAF" (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tarawa and the Marshalls: A Pictorial Tribute (U.S. Marines in World War II) (Hardcover)

"Tarawa and the Marshalls: A Pictorial Tribute", by Eric Hammel, lives up to the sub-title - the book offers many never before published pictures from Marine Corps History. Every page features black & white photographs from the campaigns in Tarawa and the Marshall Islands. The narrative story is told at the battalion level, but it's the pictures that really tell the story. Anyone familiar with Betio Island knows of the 3-foot high coconut tree wall - seeing the grim images of Marines holding onto that tenuous beachhead really brings the story to life.

The book has two chapters, but it really discusses three separate amphibious landings. The first and most famous is the landing on Bloody Tarawa. Hammel describes the flow of battle at the battalion level and delves into the company level when significant events occurred. In a few instances, the author highlights the actions of individual Marines who went above and beyond the call of duty to earn the Medal of Honor.
Chapter 2 focuses on the landings on the Marshall Islands. This chapter was actually two separate operations - one on Kwajalein Atoll, and the other on Eniwetok Atoll. Again, the operations are described at the battalion level, and expertly supported with photographs.

Throughout the book, Hammel highlights the lessons learned from previous operations and how they were applied for the upcoming invasion. For example, in the book's introduction, the author identifies the founding of Combat Camera - military photographers who would accompany operational forces into the field. The landings on Betio Island were the first in the Pacific to use this nascent skill set. Hammel covers some of the innovations to landing craft, and how their use evolved throughout these campaigns.

One of the other book's features I greatly appreciated was putting all the maps on facing pages at the beginning of the book. It was a lot easier to go to a single place in the book to be able to refer back to all the maps instead of paging through each chapter.

Hammel, a renowned military historian, has published many books on the Marine Corps, with a focus on operations in the Pacific. This was the first of his books that I have read, and I will certainly be looking for more. The book would be a welcome addition to the library of any military history enthusiast.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some of the photographs have never been published, November 17, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tarawa and the Marshalls: A Pictorial Tribute (U.S. Marines in World War II) (Hardcover)

Eric Hammel, is an astute student of military history. He is the author of some thirty books about World War 2 in the Pacific theater. He also compiled a very useful chronology about the air war over Europe and North Africa titled "Air War Europa 1942-1945." Here he pens a terse and telling commentary for some 300 photos of the 2nd Marine Division's landing and three day battle for Betio Island in the Tarawa Atoll in the northwest Gilbert Islands at a loss of some 3,000 casualties in November 1943.

Following Tarawa, Hammel turns to The Marshall Islands, just north and west of the Gilberts where the Japanese had fortified Kwajalein and Eniwetok Atolls and built air bases. American 2nd Marines and army personnel quickly brought the Marshall Islands under allied control in February 1944.

Some of the photographs have never been published. All are in black and white and are amazing shots of men in combat. Somehow they make time stand still.

In the last sixty years or so, Americans have found some costly places to fight battles. Tarawa was among the worst.

Richard N. Larsen
Reviewer

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very pleased!, December 6, 2011

By 

David P. Neary - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tarawa and the Marshalls: A Pictorial Tribute (U.S. Marines in World War II) (Hardcover)

Very pleased! Book was received quickly as listed in perfect new condition. I plan to purchase all of Mr. Hammel's works that help tell the story of Marines in the Pacific as supported by outstanding archival photos. Thanks!