Rabaul 1943-44, Air Campaign 2, Osprey

RABAUL 1943-44 - Reducing Japan's great island fortress

In 1942, the massive Japanese naval base and airfield at Rabaul was a fortress standing in the Allies' path to Tokyo. It was impossible to seize Rabaul, or starve the 100,000-strong garrison out. Instead the US began an innovative, hard-fought two-year air campaign to draw its teeth, and allow them to bypass the island completely.

The struggle decided more than the fate of Rabaul. If successful, the Allies would demonstrate a new form of warfare, where air power, with a judicious use of naval and land forces, would eliminate the need to occupy a ground objective in order to control it. As it turned out, the Siege of Rabaul proved to be more just than a successful demonstration of air power--it provided the roadmap for the rest of World War II in the Pacific.

Contents:

• Introduction
• Chronology
• Attackers' Capabilities
• Defenders' Capabilities
• Campaign Objectives
• The Campaign
• Aftermath and Analysis
• Bibliography
• Index

Author: Mark Lardas

Illustrator: Mark Postlethwaite

Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Description: 96 pages, Paperback, 247 X 184 mm.

Condition: FINE

Shipping weight: 470 gr.