Marines In World War II - The Campaign On New Britain [Illustrated Edition]

Book excerpt: As the might of the U.S. forces drove the Japanese back toward the Home Islands the Marines embarked on another tough campaign in the jungles of New Britain and the centre for Japanese forces at Rabaul. Contains 114 photos and 20 maps and charts. “Aside from my own participation, I have always felt a keen interest in the New Britain operation. Here, apparently, military teamwork came near to perfection. Here it would seem that all arms co-operated so smoothly as to make the result easy. The truth is that nothing was easy on New Britain. Jungle, swamp and mountain combined with atrocious weather to multiply problems of time and space. Then, too, the Japanese held an inestimable advantage in their familiarity with the terrain-an advantage which they exploited with no little skill. It took maneuver on our part to cope with this phalanx of difficulties, and before the fighting ended it had sprawled over more territory than any other Marine campaign of the war. There is no such thing as a "light" casualty list, and more than 300 Marines paid with their lives in New Britain’s fetid jungle. But viewed in the light of numbers engaged, ground gained, and enemy losses, it was not a costly victory. On the contrary, the fighting that ranged from Cape Gloucester to Talasea ranks as one of the most economical operations in the entire Pacific.”-LEMUEL C. SHEPHERD, JR., GENERAL, U. S. MARINE CORPS, COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS