I am an unabashed fan of the Images of War book series and enjoy author Jon Diamond’s writing style. Having read many of his books before, particularly his books on Burma Victory 1944-1945 and the Allied Victory Over Japan 1945, this book fills a huge void in the South Pacific War and its larger part in the Allied operations to defeat the Imperial Japanese Forces in the vast operational areas of the South and Southwest Pacific.

Following the familiar Pen & Sword Images of War series is the story of The Allied Neutralization of Rabaul - Japan’s Major South Pacific Base. Each chapter starts with a brief history of the topic covered, followed by a lot of photographs to complement the text. This book is composed of the following sections:

• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Chapter One - Strategic Overview of the War in the SWPA and SPA (1942-44)
• Chapter Two - Battle of the Bismark Sea (2-5 March 1943) and the Air War over New Guinea
• Chapter Three - Commanders and Combatants
• Chapter Four - MacArthur’s Invasions of Arawe and Cape Gloucester (February to March 1944)
• Chapter Five - US 1^st Cavalry Division’s Invasions of Los Negros and Manus in the Admiralty Islands (February to March 1944)
• Chapter Six - The Aerial Neutralization Campaign against Rabaul
• Epilogue
• Bibliography

This theater of war was divided into two main areas: Admiral William “Bull” Halsey Jr’s South Pacific Area (SPA) and General Douglas MacArthur’s Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA). This evolved from the decision to interdict a Japanese airfield being constructed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. This was seen as a threat to American shipping to Australia, and the decision was made to use US Navy forces to stop the Japanese. General MacArthur, having just escaped Bataan, saw this as an affront and wanted to become the Commander in Chief in the Pacific. The solution was two areas under two commands.

The SWPA’s focus was New Guinea (the second-largest island in the world) with Australian and American ground forces, supported by the US Fifth Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and USN air assets as they became available. As the Allies fought in two areas over incredible expanses, lessons were learned on how to stop, then turn back the Japanese forces. The Japanese loss of Guadalcanal started the long, bloody campaign to regain lost territory. This book focuses on those gains, the incredible ingenuity of the Allied forces, particularly the Fifth Air Force’s innovative tactics of firepower, skip bombing, para-frag bombs, taking advantage of low level, devastating attacks on Japanese shipping, airfields and aircraft.

As Halsey’s SPA moved through the Solomons and MacArthur’s SWPA moved through the north coast of New Guinea, it became evident that the Japanese were tenacious in defense and would rather die than surrender. Early losses and lessons learned revealed that leapfrogging and bypassing some enemy positions would result in gains without the huge losses in manpower. The Japanese base at Rabaul, New Britain, was identified as one such target with its natural anchorage of Simpson Harbor and multiple, spread-out airfields. This book discusses the operations by both SPA and SWPA to reduce Rabaul’s grip on this crucial area, then isolate it in the most effective means available.

Jon Diamond does a great job highlighting the units involved, how tactics evolved, and dispels the myth that the Marines did all the fighting in the Pacific, in a way that honors all services and nationalities involved. One of my chief complaints in war history books is the lack of maps. The author did an outstanding job of providing relevant maps that really fill in gaps and aid understanding of this vast area. I've often wondered how the SPA made these giant leaps in the Pacific, while the SWPA took so long in New Guinea. This book really goes a long way to correcting that deficiency. Even more amazing is that these gains were made with only 15% of the Allied resources employed in the Pacific and CBI theaters.

The strategy of bypassing Japanese strongpoints greatly reduced Japanese warfighting capability and Allied losses. The American landings lead by SWPA at Aitape and Hollandia, for example, isolated 140,000 Japanese in 1944, of which only 13,000 starving and diseased men were alive at the end of the war. The Allied air and naval attacks greatly reduced the Japanese ability to wage war. While the Japanese were also resourceful and could repair airfields quickly, they could not replace trained aircrew, planes or shipping.

From the Epilogue,

They neutralized Rabaul to one of irrelevance as Simpson Harbor and the surrounding Japanese airfields were obliterated, with evacuation of any residue of enemy air strength. Hundreds of Japanese planes were destroyed along with a serious dwindling of skilled, trained aircrews. IJN warships were sunk and three Japanese divisions and several brigades were eliminated from the enemy’s order of battle. In addition, 100,000 Japanese troops were out of the war as their garrisons were bypassed.

And the last paragraph of the book,

Completely isolated, Japanese forces at Rabaul, Wewak and many other bypassed Japanese garrisons died from disease and starvation waiting for an Allied attack. Only half of the 350,000 Japanese troops bypassed in New Guinea, New Britain and New Ireland lived to return to Japan as the Bismark Barrier was nonetheless broken.

Modelers interested in the Pacific War would be well served to use this book as the photographs are amazing, interesting and inspirational. All the photos were taken in World War II during the campaign and show American, Australian, New Guinean, and Japanese forces. Modelers will be inspired by weathered aircraft, wrecked aircraft, armor, artillery, ships, and soldiers under miserable conditions. The terrain vastly differed from location to location and there is too much to list. One thing that really caught my eye is Jon Diamond’s attention on lesser-known combatants: in this case a series of photographs showing Native Americans, primarily in the 158^th Infantry Regiment (Arizona), Code Talkers and Nisei. One photograph even shows American ingenuity attaching a M2 heavy machine gun to a tree using a mount and creative use of chain. This book is well worth its price to modelers and historians alike.

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