'Hell' chronicles 'other' D-Day from WWII

By NORMAN N. BROWN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Victor Brooks points out in the succinct preface to his book "Hell Is Upon Us" that the fighting in the Pacific during World War II can be divided into three main periods.
The first runs from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the successful conclusion of the Guadalcanal campaign in February 1943, when the Solomon Islands were secured.
The third begins with Gen. Douglas MacArthur's return to the Philippines and ends with Japan's surrender and the war's end.
Brooks says that the middle third -- from February 1943 to August 1944 -- was the one in which the most crucial and most savage battles were fought for far-flung, Japanese-held strongholds.
Targeted period
It was the period in which "the tide of war swung irrevocably in favor of the United States." It was toward the end of this period when a disheartened Japanese admiral, confronted with the staggering defeat in the Marianas Islands campaign, said, "Hell is upon us."
Brooks builds his narrative starting with the first confused and desperate months of the war. Caught unprepared, the U.S. found itself allied with England against the Axis.
The British had been fighting since September 1939 and had managed to survive several military reverses. They now wanted to go on the offensive, with the help of the U.S., but wanted America to merely hold Japan at bay until victory in Europe was achieved.
Brooks tells how U.S. Navy Adm. Ernest J. King opposed this strategy, arguing that it would be a recipe for disaster. Eventually, the Pacific war was given at least as high a priority as the one in Europe.
The book describes other difficulties that arose when different strategies were advanced for the Pacific war. But its main focus is on the battles themselves: Kwajalein, Saipan, the Philippine Sea aero-naval encounter, Tinian, Guam.
Abundant details
Brooks provides plenty of important and colorful details on the activities and exploits of the Marine Corps and the Army units in each campaign, including the unhappy episode when an Army general named Smith was relieved by a Marine general named Smith for supposed lack of aggressiveness.
The author also is meticulous in providing data of the casualties suffered by the U.S. and Japan as the campaigns progressed, although a bit too often he resorts to comparisons with battles and casualties of the Civil War. He also mentions strategic and tactical situations encountered by Confederate and Union generals and compares them with those of mid-1944 in the Pacific.
One drawback is the book's lack of adequate maps to accompany the battle narratives. The few maps offered are too simple and don't indicate scale, and so aren't helpful enhancements.
Overall, though, "Hell Is Upon Us" has many merits and is an excellent read.
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