Dark pages of World War II history -- may we never be witness to such atrocities again

In "Slaughter at Sea", Mark Felton documents some of the heinous atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. While the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) war crimes, such as the infamous Rape of Nanking, are more notorious, they were not limited to the IJA. The IJN committed more than their share during World War II. Each of the book's seventeen chapters is dedicated to a specific incident, such as the systematic execution of prisoners of war; the sanctioned hunting and assassination of survivors of sunken vessels; and the submarine attack on a clearly marked hospital ship, which is unlawful under terms of the Geneva Convention.

Felton drew from numerous international resources to write the book including official military records of Australia, New Zealand, and a few from the United States. Most of these records were made possible by debriefs of the survivors, the occasional witness, or the rare Japanese sailor who broke the wall of silence. In addition to these sources, Felton cites a large number of other publications and websites.

The book does not go into gruesome detail like "Flyboys: A True Story of Courage", which may make the book more palatable to the reader with the weak stomach. However, the book does not provide the social context under which Japanese soldiers and sailors served. Felton does mention that to disobey the emperor was punishable by death, but other works such as "Flyboys" provide a more insightful look into why the soldiers and sailors were willing to die for the emperor.

In any case, "Slaughter at Sea" is an important work in that it provides examples of war crimes that should have never occurred. George Santayana once said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." We should all learn from this and aspire to never let these crimes occur again.

An easy read on America's National Security Strategy for World War II, April 28, 2009

How is it that within months of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that the United States was capable of projecting powerful naval, amphibious, and aerial campaigns to counter German and Japanese aggression? In "How America Saved the World", by Eric Hammel, asserts that it was the culmination of years of planning that had begun in the late part of the 1930s. This book is an incredible look at how America prepared for war though acts of Congress; industrial preparation; and organizational changes throughout the military.

In very simplistic terms, a national security strategy lays out a nation's objectives to accomplish in its global role. One of those pieces of the national security strategy is the role of the military in achieving those objectives. The defense budget will then allow the military to recruit service-members, procure weapons, and operate bases to achieve those objectives. Hammel masterfully lays out the strategic environment of the time, documenting both the Japanese and German aspirations at the time. These aspirations led to aggressive acts against American allies. Hammel identifies these key events and analyzes how they in turn forced the American national strategy to evolve from one of "isolationism" to active defense to active offense.

Along with the political evolutions, Hammel masterfully integrates applicable military revolutions that were occurring in strategy, doctrine, doctrine, and equipment (e.g. DOTMPFL for the layman) for each of the services. In the era of declining defense budgets, it was interesting to read how each of the services responded to the challenges.

As a nation prepares for war, the industrial base must be ready to manufacture the machines, weapons, munitions, and support equipment to fight. Hammel identifies the key players and events that helped the American industrial base have the necessary materiel in place to fight the war in 1942.

The other key element to national strategy is diplomacy. Hammel analyzes events such as those that led to legislative actions such as the evocation, modification, and rescission of the "Neutrality Acts"; and passage of the "Lend/Lease Act". On the diplomatic front, he also reviews lesser known actions involving the defense of Iceland and Greenland. Hammel also discusses the destroyer for basing deal between Britain and the United States.

From an Air Force perspective, the book is an excellent complement to Richard Overy's "The Air War: 1939-1945 (Potomac Books' Cornerstones of Military History series)". This is an outstanding book that analyzes the national actions that today would be called a national security strategy. It is outstanding, in that it is written in a conversational style making it a relatively easy read for such heavy topics.

First person accounts of the airborne assault into Normandy, May 13, 2009

Robert M. Murphy retells his personal experiences during the 82d Airborne Division's airdrop into the Normandy Peninsula. Between June 6th and June 9th, paratroopers held this bridge against horrific mortar & artillery fire, and fierce German counterattacks. Armed with only what they could carry in the airborne drop & a few anti-tank guns recovered from broken gliders, the paratroopers held off two Panzer attacks supported by 200 infantrymen in each of the attacks. Major General Gavin is attributed as saying when the fighting ended "the [Meredet] causeway - some 500 yards - was so thick with bodies you could have walked from end to end without ever touching the ground." This is the story of the men and women who experienced this fierce battle.

The La Fiere bridge is located about 2 miles west of St Mere Eglise. The men of the 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) were assigned the mission of securing this bridge and defending it until relieved. This bridge was one of the few roads that offered a direct path to the exit roads off of Utah Beach. A successful German counter-attack along this road would have delayed the American exit off of this beachhead. The success of the men of the 505 PIR directly contributed to the rapid departure of Utah beach.

The book is laid out into four major sections. First and foremost is an explanation of the battle, written in a proper historical format. The story is laid out in chronological order, using multiple sources to corroborate the actual events of the battle. There are a few interjections of supporting material, such as the mission of the pathfinders. Murphy was a pathfinder, a special paratrooper dropped into a landing zone one day prior to the assault. He carried a homing radar and other signaling aids to mark the correct drop zone for the rest of the paratroopers. This supporting information greatly enhanced the understanding of the book for "legs" [non-paratroopers].

The three subsequent parts of the book are personal recollections of American soldiers; German soldiers; and the French civilians who live through the battle. I emphasize "personal" because in many cases, individuals could only explain what was going on in front of their gun sight, without any understanding of the overall tactical picture.

As a child growing up, my first experience with D Day was the classic movie "The Longest Day (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)". This book sets straight two of the more memorable characters in the movie. Red Buttons portrayed John Steele, a private whose parachute snagged on the steeple of St. Mere Eglise's church. The true story is far more fascinating than what was fictionalized in the movie. The second character was Lt Col Vandervoort, portrayed by John Wayne. Many of the soldiers have fond memories of this outstanding combat commander. These soldiers did not directly fight at La Fiere bridge, but they were all part of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment who fought and died in the area surrounding St. Mere Eglise.

The original version of this book was self-published. With the assistance of a great editor, this book is now clearly organized. The book is well supported with photographs on almost every page. The battle narrative also includes official battle maps prepared by the US Army's cartographic division. These maps perfectly explained the layout of the battle as it unfolded.

For a fictionalized account of these events, I highly recommend Jeff Shaara's "The Steel Wave: A Novel of World War II" which includes the exploits of the men of the 505th PIR.

Fighting Admirals of World War II", by David Wragg, can best be described as a survey book of famous World War II Admirals. It provides just enough information to whet the reader's appetite and it has beautiful cover art.

The editor failed the author on this one. The inside cover states "Fighting Admirals of World War 2 examines in detail the key naval commanders on both sides. For the Allies The [sic] author has picked five British Admirals (Pound, Cunningham, Ramsay, Horton, Sommerville) and five US (King, Nimitz, Spruance, Halsey, Fletcher). Representing the Axis are six naval commanders: three German (Raeder, Doenitz, Lutjens) and three Japanese (Yamamoto, Nagumo, Koga). In addition, he has chosen two French admirals (Darlan, de La Borde)."

In reality, the book provides a cursory glance at seven British Admirals (Cunningham, Fraser, Horton, Pound, Ramsay, Sommerville, Tovey), five US (Fletcher, Halsey, King, Nimitz, Spruance), two German (Raeder, Doenitz) six Japanese (Koga, Kondo, Nagumo, Ozawa, Toyoda, Yamamoto, Nagumo), one French (Darlan, de La Borde), one Dutch (Doorman), and one Italian (Riccardi) admirals. Missing from this mix is any discussion of the contributions of the Soviet navy which boasted more than 200 submarines.

As an Airman, I am not very familiar with the specific contributions of many of these admirals. The biopics on these men range from the 2-page spread on Spruance to the 11-page discussion of Halsey. These biopics include the requisite discussion on education and experience of the admirals between the wars. Each chapter does provide very cursory discussions of naval battles that assume the reader has some level of knowledge. Wragg did an excellent job of discussing why admirals were criticized (i.e. "Halsey's typhoon"), but with my lack of knowledge in the subject area, I would have appreciated a discussion as to why the admiral's contribution stood out - did he contribute something revolutionary to naval warfare?

Wragg succeeded in educating me on how these admirals contributed to the war effort, but from my layman's perspective some of these Admirals appear to be staff officers and not necessarily "fighting admirals" {For example, Admiral Toyoda did not have a sea command in World War II). The book could have benefited from a standard analytic framework so the reader could appreciate what constitutes a "fighting" admiral.

My final criticism of the book was the perception of repetitious material. In a few instances, it appeared that the same paragraph appeared in multiple chapters.

Wragg does an adequate job of summarizing the wars in the Atlantic and the Pacific in the book's first 35 pages. The brief showdown in the Indian Ocean is buried in the discussion on Sommerville.

Before discussing the admirals, Wragg provides a brief look at how each of the nations employed their navy. The sections may or may not include discussions on the strategic context (e.g. support of the nation's leader, industrial capacity), but again the lack of analytical construct for the book makes this a hit or miss.

For readers who are unfamiliar with the major personalities, this book is a decent starting point. For anyone with any knowledge of the great naval leaders of world war II, you will not find any thing new.