MacArthur's Victory - The War in New Guinea, 1943-1944

Informationen zum Autor Harry A. Gailey was a professor emeritus of military history at San Jose State University. He authored 20 books, including MacArthur Strikes Back , The War in the Pacific , and The Liberation of Guam . He died in 2004. Klappentext A GREAT WARRIOR AT THE PEAK OF HIS POWERS In March 1942! General Douglas MacArthur faced an enemy who! in the space of a few months! captured Malaya! Burma! the Philippines! the Dutch East Indies! and! from their base at Raubaul in New Britain! threaten Australia. Upon his retreat to Australia! MacArthur hoped to find enough men and matériel for a quick offensive against the Japanese. Instead! he had available to him only a small and shattered air force! inadequate naval support! and an army made up almost entirely of untried reservists. Here is one of history's most controversial commanders battling his own superiors for enough supplies! since President Roosevelt favored the European Theater; butting heads with the Navy! which opposed his initiatives; and on his way to making good his promise of liberating the Philippines. In the battles for Buna! Lae! and Port Moresby! the capture of Finschhafen! and other major actions! he would prove his critics wrong and burnish an image of greatness that would last through the Korean War. This was the "other” Pacific War: the one MacArthur fought in New Guinea and! against all odds and most predictions! decisively won. OFFENSIVE PREPARATIONS General Douglas MacArthur and his U.S. and Australian staffs could congratulate themselves in early January 1943 on having wrested the initiative from the Japanese. In conjunction with the naval and ground forces in the eastern Solomon Islands, the threat to Australia, once so feared, had been removed. Allied air forces, particularly the Fifth Air Force, dominated the skies over Papua New Guinea, and made systematic regular raids on the Japanese strongholds at Rabaul on New Britain. The Japanese attempt to take Port Moresby by crossing the Owen Stanley Mountains along the Kokoda Trail had been halted within sight of the objective. In a bloody six-month advance, the Australians had reversed the situation and driven the Japanese back along the trail toward the north coast of Papua. Another attempt to take Port Moresby was foiled in August by the Australians at Milne Bay. MacArthur committed the green troops of the 32nd Division in an attempt to quickly capture the Japanese stronghold of Buna. Without adequate artillery or naval support, the U.S. troops, augmented by Australians, fought a bloody and at times seemingly fruitless campaign against fanatical Japanese resistance in the swamps around Buna. Ultimately they would succeed. The last major defensive position in the Buna region fell on January 22.1 At the same time, the Australians drove the remnants of the Kokoda invasion force into enclaves at Sanananda and Gona. These were systematically reduced, with massive losses to the Japanese. In total the Japanese lost approximately 12,000 men from an original 18,000 committed to the invasion. The victory was also costly for the Allies. The Australians had suffered 2,037 killed and 3,533 wounded. The U.S. losses amounted to 847 killed and 1,918 wounded.2 These figures are misleading since tropical disease took such a toll that a large percentage of Allied troops engaged were rendered unfit for immediate duty. Nevertheless, despite tactical mistakes, MacArthur was in possession of valuable bases on the north coast. Oro Bay would become a major area for mounting later operations. The airfields, particularly that at Dobodura, would be invaluable to the Allies’ continued dominance of the air. However, MacArthur was still plagued by many of the problems he had wrestled with since assuming command of the Southwest Pacific Theater in April 1942. The first and most pressing problem co...

Product details

• Authors: Harry Gailey, Harry A. Gailey
• Publisher: Presidio Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 28.12.2004
• EAN: 9780345463869
• ISBN: 978-0-345-46386-9
• No. of pages: 304
• Dimensions: 139 mm x 208 mm x 19 mm
• Subject: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous