A Magnificent Fight: The Battle for Wake Island

By Robert J. Cressman

Book Overview

Soon after Japanese carrier-based planes attacked the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Japanese land-based bombers pounded Wake Island, an American advance base vital to the U.S. Navy's strategy in the Pacific. Throughout the next two weeks Japanese planes bombed Wake almost daily, but its determined defenders held out, providing a badly needed lift to American morale. Grim necessity compelled the modification of the defense plans prepared before the war, and after the Wake garrison survived nearly daily bombings, they repulsed the first Japanese attempt to take the atoll. This small band of defenders consisted of Marines from an under-strength defense battalion and a composite aviation unit equipped with a dwindling number of fighter planes, augmented by sailors and civilian volunteers. An Army signal corps radio unit was the island's only contact with the outside world. This was the first book to study Wake's defense be using extensive Japanese materials-many never before tapped or previously available to Western historians-to identify the enemy order of battle and the roles each unit played in the conflict. The book also examines the atoll's development as a strategic American base. A valuable contribution to the Pacific War, it is a fast-moving narrative of quiet courage in the face of tremendous odds. Book jacket.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591141753
• ISBN13: 9781591141754
• Release Date: September 2013
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 1.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 8.9"