THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP discussion

The February 2023 theme read is any book or books of your choice that covers the end of the Guadalcanal campaign and/or Battle of the Bismarck Sea in 1943. If you so desire, you can also read a novel that covers this subject matter.

My theme book for February is going to be; "The Battle of the Bismarck Sea" by Michael Veitch. What is everyone else going to be reading?

The Battle of the Bismarck Sea by Michael Veitch

Hi Aussie Rick, I'll think I'll join you in reading The Battle of the Bismarck Sea. From the reviews here on GR it's going to be a good one. Looking forward to it.

I'm sure you'll both enjoy it, Veitch's books have been particular favourites of mine.

Boudewijn wrote: "Hi Aussie Rick, I'll think I'll join you in reading The Battle of the Bismarck Sea. From the reviews here on GR it's going to be a good one. Looking forward to it."

Good to hear Boudewijn! I maybe a few days late in starting, have to finish off a few other books first :)

Jonny wrote: "I'm sure you'll both enjoy it, Veitch's books have been particular favourites of mine."

That's good to hear Jonny!

I bought The Battle of the Bismarck Sea because I'm interested in that time when Australia still was threatened by Japan and the US Navy had not yet rebuilt from Pearl Harbor, so thanks for recommending that, AR!

I also got a few audio books (since I seldom have time to read while going to school). They are:
A Dawn Like Thunder (which I read a few years back but enjoyed a lot)
The Mosquito Bowl (which is about American football and players who died at Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima later)
and
Unknown Valor (which is also more about Iwo, but I've wanted to read this for a while)

Given my recent track record, I'll probably dabble in each of them and am not likely to finish anytime soon, but they're on my list!

A great list of books there Paul! I also quite enjoyed "A Dawn Like Thunder". I will be keen to hear what you think of the rest of the books in your list.

Thanks, AR!

I will be joining Aussie Rick & others who are reading "Battle of the Bismarck Sea" by Michael Veitch. I tried to read this book last year for this challenge, but only managed to finish about 25% of it (life happened). I'm looking forward to the discussion.

Good to hear BA, also looking forward to the discussion. I'll be starting in the net few days ... so many books, so little time *sigh*

BA wrote: "I will be joining Aussie Rick & others who are reading "Battle of the Bismarck Sea" by Michael Veitch. I tried to read this book last year for this challenge, but only managed to finish about 25% o..."

That's good news BA, I will be starting my copy in a week or so, a few other books that I have to finish first :)

Back from vacation and I've finished Eric Hammel's Guadalcanal trilogy--all were very good. Should get reviews of the second and third volumes up soon.

I'll be joining in you in reading Veitch's book on the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, but I'm going to hit this one first to finish off Guadalcanal:

Operation KE: The Cactus Air Force and the Japanese Withdrawal from Guadalcanal

Marc wrote: "Back from vacation and I've finished Eric Hammel's Guadalcanal trilogy--all were very good. Should get reviews of the second and third volumes up soon.

I'll be joining in you in reading Veitch's b..."

That should be an interesting account Marc, keep us all posted!

I'll be rereading Richard B. Frank's Guadalcanal. Some 5 years since I've read it and most of my WW2 literature has been read afterwards. Planned originally reading Rhodes(Atom bomb) and Dower(Japan after WW2), but might as well do a bit Pacific War before those.
Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle

I have only heard good things about that book. It may be time for me to grab a copy. A good place to start your reading on the Pacific War Perato!

Perato wrote: "I'll be rereading Richard B. Frank's Guadalcanal. Some 5 years since I've read it and most of my WW2 literature has been read afterwards. Planned originally reading Rhodes(Atom bomb) and Dower(Japa..."

I'm trying to decide between that one and this one:

Guadalcanal by Edwin P. Hoyt

Mike wrote: "Perato wrote: "I'll be rereading Richard B. Frank's Guadalcanal. Some 5 years since I've read it and most of my WW2 literature has been read afterwards. Planned originally reading Rhodes(Atom bomb)..."

Let us know which book you go with Mike.

Greetings. I’ve been a novice history buff since college western civilization. Now retired from a career in medicine I have even more time to enjoy this hobby. I’ll be reading The Battle of the Bismarck Sea also.
Gene in the Pacific Northwest.

Mike wrote: "Perato wrote: "I'll be rereading Richard B. Frank's Guadalcanal. Some 5 years since I've read it and most of my WW2 literature has been read afterwards. Planned originally reading Rhodes(Atom bomb)..."

Wow, that's a flashback! Read that one in paperback form in the early 80's. Edwin Hoyt was pretty proficient back then and I had several of his books in paperback (too poor to buy hardbound back then).

Geno wrote: "Greetings. I’ve been a novice history buff since college western civilization. Now retired from a career in medicine I have even more time to enjoy this hobby. I’ll be reading The Battle of the Bis..."

Hi Gene, good to see you join in with the theme read.

"Battle of the Bismarck Sea" - The author provided a chapter on the efforts of "Pappy" Gunn in converting A-20s, and later the B-25s, into flying gun platforms and ship killers.

"Pappy" Gunn:
https://www.flightjournal.com/legend-...

"Pappy" Gunn in Australia:
https://www.ozatwar.com/ozatwar/pappy...

I've finished my first pages today. I like the personal account ls and vivid descriptions.

Boudewijn wrote: "I've finished my first pages today. I like the personal account ls and vivid descriptions."

I think you will quite enjoy the book, it's a very easy to read account and I am finding it a buzz to read.

"Battle of the Bismarck Sea" - Some excellent online articles on the Battle of the Bismarck Sea:

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/bat...

https://www.mhhv.org.au/the-battle-of...

YouTube Footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgone...

"Battle of the Bismarck Sea" - An Australian observer/navigator in one of the attacking Beaufighters, Flight Sergeant Fred Anderson, later recalled his observations of the attack on the Japanese ships:

"It was like a pack of sharks in a frenzy, or wild dogs, perhaps. Smoke, ships on fire, some listing, bows underwater; people in the sea everywhere. People on rafts and barges and little boats they'd managed to find somehow. Flaming aircraft, falling out of the sky. I heard Bob just saw under his breath, 'bloody hell', and looked out and saw a wing - just a wing - flutter down, spinning like a leaf falling from a tree, still on fire from the fuel tank inside it. No idea what sort of plane it was from. And planes just coming in at all angles at those ships, even after they were already ablaze. I looked out and saw what looked like a whole destroyer over on its side with smoke above it. Never saw anything like it. Not before or since."

The Mighty Beau:
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/art...

RAAF Beaufighters:
https://31squadronassociation.com.au/...

I'm 25% in my ebook about the Battle of the Bismark Sea where general George Kenney has just melded and reformed the disparate units under his command and created the Fifth US Army Air Force.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...

Boudewijn wrote: "I'm 25% in my ebook about the Battle of the Bismark Sea where general George Kenney has just melded and reformed the disparate units under his command and created the Fifth US Army Air Force.

http..."

He did an excellent job in forming the Fifth and giving it a sense of mission, some esprit de corps.

"Battle of the Bismarck Sea" - The Australian combat cameramen, Damien Parer, was in one of the attacking Beaufighters, perched behind the pilot trying to film the low-level attacks:

Some of the most vivid images of the battle came from Damien Parer, hanging onto both the plane as well as his camera behind Torchy Uren in Beaufighter A19-5. Later complaining that this day he was 'all fingers and thumbs', Parer at one stage ran out of film just as Uren began a strafing attack. In the middle of clumsily reloading his camera, Parer made a request of the skipper.

'Torchy, can you go over those two burning ships again? I missed them.'

Torchy was happy to oblige. Banking around, he lined up for another strafing run, just for Parer.

Besides providing the world with the most vivid visual record of the battle, Parer would later commit his recollections to paper as well:

You've gone around behind the warships but they're still banging away with their big guns, pom-poms and ack-ack. You can see tracers whipping by. A cargo ship is in the sights. She is camouflaged and has goalpost masts. She looks blurred at first, but then comes into focus. The first thunder of fire [from the Beaufighter's four cannons and six machine-guns] ... jars at your feet, and you see the tracers lashing out ... Then the plane is banking round again and a fresh target is lining up in the sights ... You're going in —hard and furious. The great hull of the ship is looming up at you, grey and black and forbidding. Again the guns begin their violent stammer, again the flashing of tracers. The shuddering beat of the explosions gives the scene a grey flicker. The acrid smell [of cordite] is in your nostrils. You seem suspended in an unwholesome moment of fear and delight as you watch the stream of bullets whang over the decks. You see the black smoke rising and you are still diving to meet it until everything is a black smudge—and you say a quick prayer. And then you feel that wrench upwards again as the plane sweeps miraculously up. And the ship passes below the fuselage in a dark blur.

Damien Parer:
https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-a...

https://halloffame.melbournepressclub...

"Battle of the Bismarck Sea" - The day after the battle, Allied aircrew were sent back to finish off any survivors in the water to ensure they were not rescued by Japanese destroyers in the area:

Bull Garing, who had ordered the killing of any Japanese survivors, later described an incident at Ward's airstrip where a Beaufighter pilot returning from the slaughter got out of the aircraft, went to the side of the strip, and in Garing's words, ' ... retched his guts out. Blackjack and I walked over to him and said, "What's wrong with you, son?" and he said, "Sir, I've never seen so many sharks." And I said to him, "Well now, for every one that you sent to the bottom and the sharks got, you've saved one Australian infantryman. Don't forget it."

In his own recollections of the battle and its bloody aftermath, Blackjack Walker was even more forthright:

Well, it's war and I think war is not finished until your opponent is dead and I don't give a hoot whether they're in the water or whether they're out of the water or in the air or where they are. As far as I'm concerned, from what I've read of what the Japanese did to our fellows during the war, I'm only bloody sorry I didn't get a few hundred more of them.

Aftermath of the Battle of the Bismarck Sea:
https://navyhistory.org.au/battle-of-...

Okay, finally completed my reviews of volumes two and three of Eric Hammel's Guadalcanal trilogy.

Guadalcanal: The Carrier Battles

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Guadalcanal Decision at Sea: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Two great reviews Marc, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with the rest of the group.

I found a book I’m interested in reading on the topic.
The Cactus Air Force: Air War Over Guadalcanal
By Eric Hammel and Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

Marc wrote: "Okay, finally completed my reviews of volumes two and three of Eric Hammel's Guadalcanal trilogy.

[book:Guadalcanal: The Carrier Battles|14898..."

Thanks, Marc. Extremely informative.

Some funny anecdotes from The Battle of the Bismarck Sea by Michael Veitch:

Always make sure you are present when the new general wants to meet you, as this colonel discovered:

The colonel in charge of the airfield in this sleepy hollow was, however, evidently quite unprepared to receive such a dynamic group of officers. Not only did he fail to show up to greet general Kenney and his party, but unwisely sent a note via a lowly lieutenant explaining that his absence was due to the fact that he was currently preoccupied sunbathing. General Harmon, expressionless, read the note and passed it to Kenney. The colonel would find himself on the next plane back to the United States.

Or this one, where General Kenney and his bomber force commander Brigadier General Kenneth Walker are in a rowing boat witnessing a series of dummy attacks, trying to convince Walker of the usefulness of the skip-bombing tactic that Kenney is introducing to his 5th air fleet. After a successful attack, Brigadier General Walker relents:

Impressed, Walker finally relented. "Okay, you win. I'm convinced," he admitted to a gloating Kenney. Duly satisfied, Kenney turned to the young NCO holding the oars. "Corporal, come back here and sit in the stern with me. General Walker is rowing us back to the motorboat."

Parke wrote: "I found a book I’m interested in reading on the topic.
The Cactus Air Force: Air War Over Guadalcanal
By Eric Hammel and Thomas McKelvey Cleaver"

I read that one last year--good read. Sadly, it was the last book by Eric Hammel.

Boudewijn wrote: "Some funny anecdotes from The Battle of the Bismarck Sea by Michael Veitch:

Always make sure you are present when the new general wants to meet you, as this colonel discovered:
The..."

Some good stories there Boudewijn!

I finished Richard B. Franks' book. It wasn't very heavy on the 1943 part of the campaign, maybe 10% of the book was about the last two months. It still managed to cover the few naval engagements in -43 and the land battles that ended the battle.
Here's my review.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I've little to share with you but here's one that's worth mentioning:

In regards to Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Frank quotes Admiral Pye from Naval College:

"Orders ... such as "give them Hell [and] 'We want the big ones' make better newspaper headlines than they do battle plans.

Some 100 pages later Frank writes about New Zealand HMNZS Kiwi and it's commander G. Bridson who ordered his ship to ram Japanese submarine. Chief engineer objected but the the commander had this to say to the objections:

"Shut up! There's weekend's leave in Auckland dead ahead of us", later making another command "Hit her again! It'll be a week's leave".

Made me wonder if this was a better order or a better headline. The ramming worked and I-1 was sunk


Another thing that's worth mention here, something that surprised me as I've come to 'know' Nimitz as mildly tempered man. Frank writes:

"In a rare burst of anger, Nimitz vented part of this wrath af his staff, threatening to shoot anyone who announced the loss of Chicago".

USS Chicago (CA-29) was sunk in the battle of Rennel Islands 30.1.1943 by japanese airplanes.

I loved that story about the HMNZS Kiwi. Great review as well Perato!

I'm thinking of reading this book next to finish off the theme month, extending the subject past the end of the Guadalcanal campaign to the invasion of New Georgia in the Solomon Island archipelago.

Munda Trail: The New Georgia Campaign June-August 1943 by Eric Hammel

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I'm thinking of reading this book next to finish off the theme month, extending the subject past the end of the Guadalcanal campaign to the invasion of New Georgia in the Solomon Island archipelago..."

I found that one a bit dry. Hopefully you will enjoy it more than I.

Fingers crossed Marc!

Finished this one last week


Operation KE: The Cactus Air Force and the Japanese Withdrawal from Guadalcanal

and finished this one last night

The Battle of the Bismarck Sea

Really enjoyed both. The former provided a good overview of the Japanese efforts to evacuate Guadalcanal and the latter was a very enjoyable book on a key battle in the fight for New Guinea. Several men are mentioned prominently in the book, and this Aussie newsreel shows a couple of them, along with footage shot by Damien Parer (who is mentioned several times in the book as well).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C9QT...

Glad you also enjoyed "The Battle of the Bismark Sea". Not a bad book!

Marc wrote: " this Aussie newsreel shows a couple of them, along with footage shot by Damien Parer (who is mentioned several times in the book as well)..."

Enjoyed that clip. No mercy in that theater.

Parer's footage is pretty awesome. Always thought the Pacific was like the Artic, with sharks substituted for cold. Only there's a finite number of sharks, and they can be sated.

"Munda Trail: The New Georgia Campaign June-August 1943" - There was a photo of Frank Petrarca in the picture section of the book. He was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor for his actions as a medic during the fighting to take Horseshoe Hill. His citation reads:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty. Pfc. Petrarca advanced with the leading troop element to within 100 yards of the enemy fortifications where mortar and small-arms fire caused a number of casualties. Singling out the most seriously wounded, he worked his way to the aid of Pfc. Scott, lying within 75 yards of the enemy, whose wounds were so serious that he could not even be moved out of the direct line of fire. Pfc. Petrarca fearlessly administered first aid to Pfc. Scott and two other soldiers and shielded the former until his death. On 29 July 1943, Pfc. Petrarca, during an intense mortar barrage, went to the aid of his sergeant who had been partly buried in a foxhole under the debris of a shell explosion, dug him out, restored him to consciousness, and caused his evacuation. On 31 July 1943 and against the warning of a fellow soldier, he went to the aid of a mortar fragment casualty where his path over the crest of a hill exposed him to enemy observation from only 20 yards distance. A target for intense knee mortar and automatic fire, he resolutely worked his way to within two yards of his objective where he was mortally wounded by hostile mortar fire. Even on the threshold of death he continued to display valor and contempt for the foe; raising himself to his knees, this intrepid soldier shouted defiance at the enemy, made a last attempt to reach his wounded comrade and fell in glorious death."

PFC Frank Petrarca:
https://clevelandcatholiccemeteries.w...

"Munda Trail: The New Georgia Campaign June-August 1943" - Another brave American soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor during the New Georgia campaign - Lieutenant Robert Scott. His citation reads:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty near Munda Airstrip, New Georgia, Solomon Islands on 29 July 1943. After 27 days of bitter fighting, the enemy held a hilltop salient which commanded the approach to Munda Airstrip. Our troops were exhausted from prolonged battle and heavy casualties, but Lt. Scott advanced with the leading platoon of his company to attack the enemy position, urging his men forward in the face of enemy rifle and enemy machine-gun fire. He had pushed forward alone to a point midway across the barren hilltop within 75 yards of the enemy when the enemy launched a desperate counterattack, which if successful would have gained undisputed possession of the hill. Enemy riflemen charged out on the plateau, firing and throwing grenades as they moved to engage our troops. The company withdrew, but Lt. Scott, with only a blasted tree stump for cover, stood his ground against the wild enemy assault. By firing his carbine and throwing the grenades in his possession he momentarily stopped the enemy advance, using the brief respite to obtain more grenades. Disregarding small-arms fire and exploding grenades aimed at him, suffering a bullet wound in the left hand and a painful shrapnel wound in the head after his carbine had been shot from his hand, he threw grenade after grenade with devastating accuracy until the beaten enemy withdrew. Our troops, inspired to renewed effort by Lt. Scott's intrepid stand and incomparable courage, swept across the plateau to capture the hill, and from this strategic position four days later captured Munda Airstrip."

Lieutenant Robert Scott:
https://www.mishalov.com/ScottRobert....

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7...

"Munda Trail: The New Georgia Campaign June-August 1943" - Private Rodger Young was another brave American soldier recognized for his bravery during the New Georgia campaign with the posthumous award of the Medal of Honor. His citation reads:

"On 31 July 1943, the infantry company of which Pvt. Young was a member, was ordered to make a limited withdrawal from the battle line in order to adjust the battalion's position for the night. At this time, Pvt. Young's platoon was engaged with the enemy in a dense jungle where observation was very limited. The platoon suddenly was pinned down by intense fire from a Japanese machine gun concealed on higher ground only 75 yards away. The initial burst wounded Pvt. Young. As the platoon started to obey the order to withdraw, Pvt. Young called out that he could see the enemy emplacement, whereupon he started creeping toward it. Another burst from the machine gun wounded him the second time. Despite the wounds, he continued his heroic advance, attracting enemy fire and answering with rifle fire. When he was close enough to his objective, he began throwing hand grenades, and while doing so was hit again and killed. Pvt. Young's bold action in closing with this Japanese pillbox, and thus diverting its fire, permitted his platoon to disengage itself, without loss, and was responsible for several enemy casualties."

Private Rodger Young:
https://militaryhallofhonor.com/honor...

https://edenvalleyenterprises.org/pro...