If you believe the Pacific Air War, particularly the Solomons and Southern Pacific theaters haven’t been properly chronicled, you have never heard of author Michael Claringbould. As a fan of his Pacific Profiles series, I was eager to read more of his series, and I was not disappointed. I was introduced to Peter Ingman in this book and thrilled to learn that he partnered with Michael Claringbould for the aforementioned series with three volumes of the Solomons Air War and this, the sixth volume of the South Pacific Air War.

From the Casemate Publishers website,

Volume Six of this series chronicles aerial warfare in the New Guinea theatre in the critical period of January to March 1943. It can be read alone or as a continuation of the previous five volumes which span the first thirteen months of the Pacific War.

January 1943 saw a successful Japanese supply and reinforcement convoy arrive at Lae from Rabaul, in the face of fierce opposition from Allied air power. The fresh troops soon threatened to overrun the Australian mountain stronghold of Wau, before a massive airlift by Fifth Air Force C-47s delivered reinforcements just in time.

Meanwhile the air war over New Guinea was increasingly fought by newly arrived JAAF units who shared the air war burden alongside their veteran IJN counterparts. Against this background many of the Fifth Air Force bomber squadrons moved up from Australia to Port Moresby. This greatly increased the combat efficiency of these units, enabling, among other things, sustained daily pressure on the Japanese bastion of Rabaul.

Then in March 1943 the Japanese sent a second convoy from Rabaul to Lae which resulted in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, one of the landmark combats of the entire Pacific War. Using refined attack and bombing tactics, Fifth Air Force and RAAF squadrons conducted an all-out ship-destroying effort which made world headlines.

Never before has this campaign been chronicled in such detail, with Allied and Japanese accounts matched for a factual and thoroughly detailed account of the conflict.

The previous five volumes cover the first thirteen months of the Pacific War up to the end of 1942, with the fifth volume being released in 2022. The authors then diverted to produce the first three volumes of their companion series on the Solomons Air War. They did this in their belief that with the American invasion of Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942, the Solomons became a distinct, separate campaign into the South West Pacific Area (New Guinea) and the South Pacific Area (Solomons) commands. The Japanese viewed both campaigns as the same.

As the sixth volume in this meticulously researched and well-presented air campaign, this book covers the crucial period of the New Guinea campaign from January to March 1943. The book is complete with extensive photographs, maps and color computer renderings composing the following chapters and appendices:

Contents

• About the Authors
• Introduction
• Glossary and Abbreviations
• Maps
• Chapter 1 – Allied Air Power Overview
• Chapter 2 – Japanese Air Power Overview
• Chapter 3 – 1-5 January: Walker’s Last Mission
• Chapter 4 – 6-7 January: The First Lae Convoy I
• Chapter 5 – 8-10 January: The First Lae Convoy II
• Chapter 6 – 11-22 January: End of the Buna-Gona Campaign
• Chapter 7 – 23 January-8 February: The Battle of Wau
• Chapter 8 – 9-23 February: Reinforcement of Madang, Cape Gloucester and Gasmata
• Chapter 9 – 24-28 February: Assembling the Second Lae Convoy
• Chapter 10 – 1-2 March: Battle of the Bismark Sea I
• Chapter 11 – 3 March (morning): Battle of the Bismark Sea II
• Chapter 12 - 3 March (afternoon): Battle of the Bismark Sea III
• Chapter 13 – 4-8 March: Battle of the Bismark Sea IV & Aftermath
• Chapter 14 – 9-20 March: Wau and Dobodura Raided
• Chapter 15 – 21-31 March: One Last Convoy
• Conclusion
• Appendix 1 – Allied Aircraft Losses & Fatalities
• Appendix 2 – Japanese Aircraft Losses & Fatalities
• Appendix 3 – Cumulative Aircraft Losses & Fatalities
• Sources and Acknowledgements
• Index of Names, Military Units and Ships

Historians and modelers will gain a lot from this book. The photos, color profiles and 3D renderings are worth the price of the book alone. The authors present an almost day-by-day, aircraft by aircraft history in this crucial theater. Their research into American, Australian and Japanese (broken down into the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force and Navy, with their inherent infighting) forces is amazing with both sides’ perspective presented in dogfights, raids and encounters. This brutal, challenging theater with its weather, geography and vast open water areas is well described, and shines light on this typically unknown “backwater” theater. If there is any complaint for modelers, it is the daily actions can be tedious, but I believe this is a strength of their research and the daily back and forth in this theater that could go either way.

The highlights of this book, and campaign, are the two Japanese convoys to reinforce Lae, with particular focus on the Battle of Wau with Australian ground forces defending their outpost with Allied airpower, particularly American C-47 reinforcement of Australian infantry, and the Battle of Bismark Sea.

The authors have great anecdotal stories throughout. One case had two Imperial Japanese Army Ki-43 Oscar pilots pull out of formation to return to base for what was assumed to be combat exhaustion. Further investigation found

A species of caterpillar, ubiquitous around Lae, can induce welts and other allergic reactions that can last for days. It appears likely several such caterpillars entered the airframes whilst they were camouflaged under trees overnight, thus creating the first JAAF (Japanese Army Air Forces) attrition for the day from a most unexpected source.

The Japanese Navy became concerned with resupplying their New Guinea garrisons and even organized a flotilla of some 90 civilian fishing vessels and coastal craft from the smallest main island of Shikoku. The crews received no military training.

A follow up patrol of six No. 253 Ku Zeros arrived 90 minutes later. Tasked with

confirming that Tokitsukaze (a damaged IJN destroyer) had sunk, instead the pilots found it still afloat, albeit down at the stern and badly listing to starboard. From late morning Allied aircraft were also sent out to sink the same target that the Japanese had just attacked, a highly unusual situation probably unparalleled in Pacific War history.

The demise of the Tokitsukaze symbolically ended what became known as the Battle of the Bismark Sea fought over 2-4 March 1943. Allied air power had delivered a stunning victory, sinking all eight transports and four of the escorting destroyers. Of around 7,000 troops carried aboard these ships only a fraction reached Lae. Most of these were 831 men that had been taken off the Kyokusei Maru on 2 March and were delivered to Lae by two destroyers. At least another 2,000 or so were rescued by Kimura’s destroyers on 3 March and were subsequently returned to Rabaul. However, likely almost 3,000 had lost their lives alongside dozens of ship’s crewmen. Many hundreds of survivors remained in the water and would be subject to rescue attempts in the coming days.

Another interesting American Rabaul mission on 22 March 1943,

The three Japanese airfields were targeted at Lakunai, Vankanau and Rapopo, with the exception of one crew who was tasked with trying a novel tactic. Flying Monkey Bizz-ness Major Carl Hustad unloaded two 2,000-pound bombs in the crater of the Matupi Volcano, in the hope that it might trigger an eruption that would perhaps put the adjoining Lakunai airfield out of action. However, nothing eventuated, and Fifth Bomber Command shelved the idea of altering New Britain’s geography, at least for the present.

This book does a fantastic job of illustrating the crucial roles aviation played in the Pacific War, on both sides. The airframes and pilots are described well, along with their strengths and weaknesses. The Japanese aircraft include Zeros (A6M2 and A6M3), F1M2 Petes, G4M Bettys, Ki-43 Oscars, G3M Nells, D3A Vals, Ki-48 Lilys, Ki-45 Nicks and Ki-21 Sallys. The Allied aircraft are equally diverse, to include B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-24 Liberators, B-25 Mitchells, PBY Catalinas, A-20 Bostons, Hudsons, Beaufighters, P-39 and P-400 Airacobras, P-40 Warhawks, P-40 Kittyhawks, Wirraways, C-47 Dakotas, and for their combat debut, P-38 Lightnings.

The Allied victory in the Battle of the Bismark Sea reverberated around the world. It made headlines in the New York Times on 4 March 1943, and film footage taken by Damian Parer from the cockpit of a Beaufighter was used in a newsreel titled Bismark Convoy Smashed! The propaganda verged on hyperbole with claims of 22 ships sunk and 15,000 troops killed. Still the victory was stunning and one-sided.

Profuse thanks to Casemate and IPMS/USA for providing the review sample.