Thunder on Bataan

Thunder on Bataan
Author: Donald L Caldwell
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2023-06-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 0811767418

“An incisive, readable account of a group of National Guard tankers who fought in the Philippines in the opening phase of America’s war in the Pacific.” —Robert S. Cameron, Ph.D., military historian and author of Mobility, Shock, and Firepower: The Emergence of the U.S. Army’s Armor Branch, 1917-1945 The American Provisional Tank Group had been in the Philippines only three weeks when the Japanese attacked the islands hours after the raid on Pearl Harbor. Sent north to meet the Japanese landings in Lingayen Gulf, the men of the PTG found themselves thrust into a critical role when the Philippine Army could not hold back the Japanese. When General MacArthur ordered the retreat to Bataan, the PTG proved itself indispensable. During early months of 1942, the light tanks of the PTG patrolled Bataan’s beaches, encircling and destroying Japanese penetrations and small amphibious landings. By April 1942, the situation had become untenable, and 15,000 Americans, along with 60,000 Filipinos, surrendered in one of the worst defeats in U.S. military history. The Provisional Tank Group ceased to exist, and its men endured the Bataan Death March, the torture and starvation of POW camps, the hell ships that took them to Japan and Manchuria for slave labor, and the Palawan massacre. In an evocatively written book, Donald L. Caldwell reveals the largely ignored role of tanks in the Philippine campaign. Conducting impressive primary research to bring to life the combat history of the PTG, Caldwell has dug deeper to tell the stories of soldiers from each of the group’s six companies, recounting their service from enlistment, training, and combat to imprisonment, liberation, and return home. “Remarkable . . . [A] well-told history . . . highly recommended.” —Jay A. Stout, LtCol (Ret), USMC, author of Air Apaches

Rolling Thunder Against the Rising Sun

Rolling Thunder Against the Rising Sun
Author: Gene Eric Salecker
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Total Pages: 857
Release: 2008
Genre: History
ISBN: 0811703142

Although the history of armor in World War II has captured the attention of countless authors, no one has yet chronicled the extensive use of tanks in the Pacific--until now. In comprehensive detail Gene Eric Salecker describes the exploits of American tanks on the jungle islands where troops engaged in savage combat and encountered unforgiving weather and terrain. Stationed in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked the islands in 1941, the U.S. Army's independent tank battalions fought from the very start of the war. From New Guinea and the Solomons to the Ryukyus, American armor proved instrumental in winning World War II in the Pacific. First work dedicated solely to the use of Army tanks in the Pacific Theater Covers armor battles in the Philippines, Makin, the Solomons, Rabaul, New Guinea, Saipan, Guam, and Okinawa

The Long March Home

The Long March Home
Author: Marcus Brotherton
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2023-05-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1493441264

 "[A] tour de force."--Publishers Weekly starred review "A great read."--Library Journal starred review "A must-read literary triumph."--Booklist starred review *** Jimmy Propfield joined the army for two reasons: to get out of Mobile, Alabama, with his best friends Hank and Billy and to forget his high school sweetheart, Claire. Life in the Philippines seems like paradise--until the morning of December 8, 1941, when news comes from Manila: Imperial Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor. Within hours, the teenage friends are plunged into war as enemy warplanes attack Luzon, beginning a battle for control of the Pacific Theater that will culminate with a last stand on the Bataan Peninsula and end with the largest surrender of American troops in history. What follows will become known as one of the worst atrocities in modern warfare: the Bataan Death March. With no hope of rescue, the three friends vow to make it back home together. But the ordeal is only the beginning of their nearly four-year fight to survive. Inspired by true stories, The Long March Home is a gripping coming-of-age tale of friendship, sacrifice, and the power of unrelenting hope. *** "Remarkable."--Mark Sullivan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky "Packed with tension."--Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours "Such real characters."--Rhys Bowen, New York Times bestselling author of The Venice Sketchbook "Riveting."--Mark Greaney, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gray Man series "Utterly compelling."--Susan Meissner, USA Today bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things "Simply magnificent."--Don Bentley, New York Times bestselling author of Hostile Intent "Dazzling."--Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of House on Fire "A tremendous story."--Andrew Kaplan, New York Times bestselling author of Blue Madagascar "Beautifully and faultlessly told."--Steve Martini, New York Times bestselling author of Blood Flag

Bataan Uncensored

Bataan Uncensored
Author: Ernest Brumaghim Miller
Publisher:
Total Pages: 456
Release: 1949
Genre: Military history
ISBN:

The Infantry's Armor

The Infantry's Armor
Author: Harry Yeide
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2010
Genre: History
ISBN: 0811705951

Tanks, amphibian tanks, and amphibian tractors in action in all theaters, from Africa and Europe to the Pacific How the battalions fought the war, often in the tankers' own words Crystal-clear maps The U.S. Army's separate armored battalions fought in obscurity by comparison with the flashy armored divisions, but they carried the heavier burden in the grim struggle against the Axis in World War II. The battalions participated in every armored amphibious assault that the army conducted. They did most of the bloody work in Italy, made vital contributions in France, and constituted the entire effort in the Pacific.

Last Stand on Bataan

Last Stand on Bataan
Author: Christopher L. Kolakowski
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2016-03-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 0786474890

In the opening days of World War II, a joint U.S.-Filipino army fought desperately to defend Manila Bay and the Philippines against a Japanese invasion. Much of the five-month campaign was waged on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island. Despite dwindling supplies and dim prospects for support, the garrison held out as long as possible and significantly delayed the Japanese timetable for conquest in the Pacific. In the end, the Japanese forced the largest capitulation in U.S. military history. The defenders were hailed as heroes and the legacy of their determined resistance marks the Philippines today. Drawing on accounts from American and Filipino participants and archival sources, this book chronicles these critical months of the Pacific War, from the first air strikes to the fall of Bataan and Corregidor.

A Bright and Blinding Sun

A Bright and Blinding Sun
Author: Marcus Brotherton
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2022-05-24
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0316319104

From a New York Times bestselling author comes the incredible true story of an underage soldier's first love and loss on the battlefields of Bataan and Corregidor—perfect for fans of The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz and Unbroken. Joe Johnson Jr. ran away from home at the age of 12, hopping a freight train at the height of the Great Depression. He managed to talk his way into the U.S. Army two years later. Seeking freedom and adventure, he was sent to the Philippines. Adrift in spirit, Joe visited a teenage prostitute, and they became unlikely, smitten allies. Yet when the Japanese attacked on December 8, 1941, their hopes of being together had to wait. Joe and his fellow soldiers fought for four brutal months in Bataan and Corregidor, until they were forced to surrender. The boy endured years of horror as a prisoner of war, only dreaming about seeing again the girl he’d come to love. This lyrically written and deeply encouraging saga will remind you that every life can be lifted, forgiveness is the patron of restoration, and redemption is available to all.

Ghost Soldiers

Ghost Soldiers
Author: Hampton Sides
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2002-05-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 038549565X

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “The greatest World War II story never told” (Esquire)—an enthralling account of the heroic mission to rescue the last survivors of the Bataan Death March—from the author of Blood and Thunder. On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected U.S. troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March. A recent prison massacre by Japanese soldiers elsewhere in the Philippines made the stakes impossibly high and left little time to plan the complex operation. In Ghost Soldiers Hampton Sides vividly re-creates this daring raid, offering a minute-by-minute narration that unfolds alongside intimate portraits of the prisoners and their lives in the camp. Sides shows how the POWs banded together to survive, defying the Japanese authorities even as they endured starvation, tropical diseases, and torture. Harrowing, poignant, and inspiring, Ghost Soldiers is the mesmerizing story of a remarkable mission. It is also a testament to the human spirit, an account of enormous bravery and self-sacrifice amid the most trying conditions.

The Battle of Bataan

The Battle of Bataan
Author: Donald J. Young
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2009-10-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 0786453729

Fought with obsolete and discarded equipment by an army mostly made up of untrained Filipinos, the Battle of Bataan has become one of the "forgotten" battles of World War II. This book provides a complete history of the conflict by looking at the events which led up to the battle, with an overview of the American, Philippine and Japanese forces that fought on Bataan. Abandoned by their commander, Douglas MacArthur, and written off by their president, without an air force or navy to support them, for 90 days the Americans and Filipinos held out against not only the Japanese but the ravages of starvation and disease. In the end came the largest surrender in American military history. The book contains dozens of period and modern photographs and several maps.

The JG 26 War Diary

The JG 26 War Diary
Author: Donald L. Caldwell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1998
Genre: World War, 1939-1945
ISBN: 9781898697862

This is volume two of a comprehensive history of the German World War II Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG26) unit. Volume two takes the JG26 from the beginning of 1943, when the American 8th Air Force first began to make its presence felt over occupied Europe, until the end of the war. During this period the Luftwaffe, with its JG26, began an inexorable decline, though the men of the JG26 unit continued to score successes over Normandy, Arnhem and the Ardennes. This book contains interviews with these men and provides a daily account of the wing's activities, using Allied records, radio intelligence, and post-war research, as only two of the 30 volumes of the unit's official diary survived the war. The book is based largely on primary documentation obtained from the unit's veterans and on material from the national archives of Germany and the UK and USAF Historical Research Agency. The volume provides information such as JG26 casualties, Allied victories, JG26 aerial victories and Allied victims.