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Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa Hardcover – January 1, 1995
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- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherNaval Institute Press
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 1995
- Dimensions6 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
- ISBN-101557500312
- ISBN-13978-1557500311
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Product details
- Publisher : Naval Institute Press; First Edition (January 1, 1995)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1557500312
- ISBN-13 : 978-1557500311
- Item Weight : 1.55 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,268,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,690 in Japanese History (Books)
- #10,690 in American Military History
- #11,518 in World War II History (Books)
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The author does a good job of detailing events from both the American and the Japanese sides. This includes preliminary planning, the three+ days of the battle for Betio (Tarawa is the name of the entire atoll, but Betio Island is where the battle occurred) and the mop-up operations in the rest of the atoll and the Gilbert Islands.
Added note: After Tarawa, my father-in-law and his colleagues spent several month in Hawaii, training for what would turn out to be the invasion of Saipan. I have copies of a weekly newspaper published by the Marines while they were in Hawaii. It was titled 'Tarawa BOOM De-Ay'.
These background and concordant discussions place the battle in as clear a light as can be had by a non-participant. It is thorough, detailed and provides an excellent analysis. Interesting decisions regarding timing (and the discussion of do you wait until everything is perfect or until you can go if time in not on your side) and command structure illuminate the battle that unfolds. The author does an excellent job discussing the Japanese preparations and actions/reactions during the battle (limited by the near total lack of first-hand accounts due to the Japanese fighting forces being wiped out almost to a man - by their own choice.)
The battle itself is well described at both the soldier and command levels. The savagery and terror come through. Warfare is brutal, particularly in the Pacific and especially at Tarawa. It is a small island and the combatants were yards if not feet away from each other most of the three days of the contest.
The only nits in my review are first, the maps. The few that are there are simple and don't give nearly enough detail to locate lines and positions mentioned in the book. The writing is somewhat academic. It is straightforward, but lacks the narrative style that one finds in an Ian Toll or Richard Atkinson war story. It reads somewhat like a study that's been turned into a book. Not a major impediment to enjoying the work or gaining a lot of insight into the battle thought.
The book is excellent on analysis and completeness in terms of giving the reader a lot surrounding planning and execution of the battle as well lessons learned. If you are interested in military history beyond just the battle itself, this is an excellent choice.
On the morning of 11/20/43 men of the 2nd Marine Division stormed ashore to face the Imperial Japanese Marines who defended Betio Island in the Tarawa atoll. These rikusentai were considered the best light infantry the Japanese had. In addition to the almost impregnable defensive positions prepared by the Japanese, the island was surrounded by a reef, which, due to tide and fortune, prevented the Higgins boats from crossing to the beaches. The decision to utilize LVTs (tracked amphibious vehicles, or more correctly, landing vehicle tracked) for the first time as troop carriers forever changed the history of amphibious assaults against strongly held enemy positions. Lumbering over the forbidding reef, LVTs carried their cargo of men and supplies where the Higgins boats could not go. This gamble represented a landmark in ship-to-shore movements and to this day amphibious assault vehicles are an essential element of any surface assault.
Mistakes were made and men died because of them. The initial three-hour naval bombardment and bombing and strafing runs by carrier aircraft were far too little. Gaps between the naval and air force shelling allowed the enemy to move reinforcements to the beaches from the southern and eastern areas of the island. Following the bombardments many defensive positions and large guns remained fully functional and they blasted into the oncoming LVTs and the Higgins boats at the reef's edge. Men of later waves were forced to wade ashore as LVTs became destroyed or were unavailable. Hundreds of men died in that surf, wading ashore. One thousand Marines died on each of three days of battle before the island fell.
It's the attention to detail that separates Alexander's work from other, well written histories of Tarawa. From the planning stages, to his telling of the build up of Japanese troops, to the inclusion of brief personal histories of the key personnel, to the epilogue summarizing the lessons learned and the errors made, this is an exceptional book well worth reading. To the serious student, it is the book on Tarawa that must be read.
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L'auteur est un ancien colonel de Marines : il sait de quoi il parle et toutes les sources sont fiables.
Nombreuses anecdotes et témoignages viennent enrichir la narration des évènements.