On the island of Guadalcanal, a 2,000-yard-long ridge rose from the jungle canopy. Behind it lay the air base of Henderson Field. And if Henderson Field fell, it would mean the almost certain death or capture of all 12,500 Marines on the island . . . Positioned on the ridge were the hard-fighting men of Edson’s Raiders of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion. They were the United States Marine Corps’ best of the best, and they knew defeat and retreat were simply not options. For two hellish nights in September 1942, about 840 Marines—commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Merritt Austin “Red Mike” Edson—fought one of the most pivotal battles of World War II in the Pacific, clinging desperately to their position on what would soon be known as Bloody Ridge. Bloody Ridge and Beyond is the story of how these men showed courage and valor in the face of overwhelming numbers, as told by Marlin Groft, a man who was a member of this incredible fighting force. Includes photographs
The Japanese called it the centipede. The northern part of Lunga Ridge, a narrow grass-covered rise that looked like an insect from the air, overlooked a coastal plain. In the center of that plain was Henderson Field, the vital home of the Cactus Air Force and the prize of the Guadalcanal campaign. Whoever commanded the ridge commanded the airstrip. In September 1942, the ridge was the scene of a bloody, three-day battle for control of Henderson Field. In Bloody Ridge, the first book written exclusively on this battle, historian Michael S. Smith has utilized a treasure trove of primary and secondary sources on both sides of the Pacific. NOTE: This edition does not include photographs.
The August Offensive or ‘Anzac Breakout’ at Gallipoli was an attempt to break the stalemate of the campaign. It saw some of the bloodiest fighting since the landing as Commonwealth and Turkish troops fought desperate battles at Lone Pine, German Officers’ Trench, Turkish Quinn’s, The Chessboard, The Nek, The Farm, Hill Q, Chunuk Bair, and Hill 971. The offensive was designed to allow the allied forces to ‘break out’ of the Anzac beachhead below the Sari Bair Range. The capture of Chunuk Bair by the New Zealanders resulted in some of the bloodiest fighting at Gallipoli and was key to the entire August offensive. While it was taken and held for a few days - it’s recapture by the Turks on 10 August 1915 decided the fate of the Gallipoli Campaign. Within four months the Allies were forced to evacuate the peninsula, leaving it to the Turks - a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire Death on Bloody Ridge: Chunuk Bair - the battle that decided the fate of the Gallipoli Campaign, focuses solely on this one decisive battle.
Based primarily on interviews with the marines who were there, this volume reconstructs the six weeks spent in the Pacific theater of World War II by the First Marine Parachute Division. One of the prime impetuses for the volume is to highlight the neglected, yet extremely costly, contributions made by the division to the assault on Guadalcanal in
A history of the intricate and frustrating truce negotiations between the UN forces and the Chinese Communists that continued from July 1951 until July 1953, of the bitter hill fighting that continued during those negotiations, and of the large-scale prisoner riots at Koje-do.
The Korean War (1950?53) began as a conflict between North Korea and South Korea and eventually involved the United States and nineteen other nations. An estimated three million people lost their lives during the war. For Americans who think that only GIs and their United Nations contingent comrades fought effectively, The Korean War will be a surprising introduction to the valor and sacrifice of the South Korean army. This comprehensive view of the war from the South Korean perspective has not been previously available in English translation.øThe Korean War comprises three volumes. Volume 3 follows the final course of the war from fighting to cease-fire negotiations and the opening of truce talks. The establishment of the demilitarized zone, the end product of the armistice agreement, and the start of the cease-fire structure are described in detail. The volume concludes with an examination of the Political Conference held in Geneva, which sought a peaceful unification of the Korean peninsula.
A historical analysis of the policies and military strategies applied during the Korean War stalemate period Korean Showdown: National Policy and Military Strategy in a Limited War, 1951–1952 takes a holistic and integrative approach to strategy, operations, and tactics during the Korean War’s stalemate period and demonstrates how these matters shaped each other and influenced, or were influenced by, political and strategic policy decision-making. Bryan R. Gibby offers an analysis of the major political and military decisions affecting how the war was conducted operationally and diplomatically by examining American, Chinese, North Korean, and South Korean operations in the context of fighting a limited war with limited means, but for objectives that were not always limited in scope or ambition. The foundational political decision was Harry Truman’s voluntary repatriation policy, which extended the war by up to eighteen months. Its military counterpart was the American-led Operation Showdown, the last deliberate military offensive to coerce concessions at the negotiation table. Showdown’s failure (and the Communists’ own equally disappointing military efforts) opened up new avenues for solving the war short of a militarily imposed solution. Gibby’s research draws on primary sources from American, Korean, and Chinese archives and publications. Many of these sources have not yet been mined in diplomatic and military histories of the Korean War. This innovative book also addresses a significant gap in the study of Korean military operations—the linkage between ground and air pressure campaigns, as well as the many Chinese and American operations conducted to establish negotiation positions. Gibby also explores many political and propagandist developments that assumed great importance in the summer of 1952, such as prisoner of war riots, the bombing of hydroelectric dams, and the South Korean constitutional crisis, which significantly influenced American and Chinese military decision-making. Ultimately, this volume serves as a cautionary analysis of the limits of force, the necessity to understand an adversary, and the importance of strategic consensus. It also offers an effective case study on an underappreciated period of civil-military tension during the Cold War and on how civilian politicians and military leaders must collaborate to determine a realistic and effective strategy.
A description of selected small unit actions, written primarily to acquaint junior officers, noncommissioned officers, and enlisted soldiers with combat experiences in Korea.
Eight months to the day after Pearl Harbor, U.S. Marines landed on the Pacific island of Guadalcanal. Their mission: to seize the airfield the enemy was building and stem the southward tide of the Imperial Japanese Army. Initially unopposed and ultimately triumphant, for four months these young soldiers engaged in ferocious combat and endured debilitating heat, hunger, and disease. Sometimes with humor, always with brutal honesty, U.S. Marine Ore Marion takes readers into the jungle hell that was the Canal. Book jacket.
