Category: Victory over Japan

The story as told by one of the survivors.

HASTINGS, Max. Nemesis: the Battle for Japan 1944-45. xxv, 674p., bibliog., illus., index. London: HarperPress, 2007. ISBN: 9780007219827.

A sweeping authoritative history which gives due if limited weight to the Royal Naval contribution.

BROOKS, Waite. The British Pacific Fleet in World War II: An Eyewitness Account as Seen From the Bridge Deck of the Flagship, HMS King George V. 277p., illus. Bloomington, IN; Authorhouse,2013. ISBN: 9781481740357.

He joined the RCN in 1942 aged seventeen and after officer training was sent to the RN as a midshipman in 1944. He was part of the air defence team on KGV, abaft the bridge and recorded all he saw in a journal.

IREDALE, Will. The Kamikaze Hunters: Fighting for the Pacific, 1945. xiv, 386p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Macmillan, 2015. ISBN: 9780230768192.

An account of the training, deployment and missions of the young FAA pilots who fought with the British Pacific Fleet.

WELLINGTON, George. H.M.A.S. Shropshire in Battle (ACT Chapter, Naval Historical Society, No.14). 20p. [Canberra] : Naval Historical Society, ACT Chapter, [1983]. ISBN: 0909153175.

A short reproduced typescript. It consists largely of contemporary diary records from the lower deck covering her service in the RAN from late 1942 onwards.

ROBB-WEBB, Jon. The British Pacific Fleet: Experience and Legacy 1944-50. 320p., bibliog., illus., index Farnham: Ashgate, 2013. ISBN: 9780754668510.

The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was formed in October 1944 and dispatched to fight alongside the USN in the Central Pacific under Admiral Nimitz. This study explores  the role of the BPF and its legacy through each level of war , from the grand strategic, through the military strategic and operational levels down to the tactical level.

TRENOWDEN, Ian. Operations Most Secret. SOE: The Malayan Theatre. 231p., bib-liog., illus., index. London: Kimber, 1978. ISBN: 071830036X. 

Force 136 (Group B)'s exploits are recorded. They mounted special operations from Ceylon between January 1943 and the end of the war. They were landed by air and submarine. Reprinted in a revised edition by Crecy Books in 1994 (ISBN: 0947554432).

ROBB-WEBB, Jon. The British Pacific Fleet: Experience and Legacy 1944-50. 320p., bibliog., illus., index Farnham: Ashgate, 2013. ISBN: 9780754668510.

The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was formed in October 1944 and dispatched to fight alongside the USN in the Central Pacific under Admiral Nimitz. This study explores the role of the BPF and its legacy through each level of war, from the grand strategic, through the military strategic and operational levels down to the tactical level.

JACOBS, G. F. Prelude to the Monsoon. 247p., map. Cape Town: Purnell, 1965.

An autobiography describing the role of five Royal Marines dropped in Sumatra just before war’s end to take control of the island when the Japanese surrendered.

HORTON, D. C. Ring of Fire: Australian Guerrilla Operations against the Japanese in World War II. xii, 164p., illus., index. Sydney: Macmillan; London: Cooper, 1983. ISBN: 0333356152.

The story of special operations behind Japanese lines. The author took part in some of these.

LANCE, Kate. Redbill: From Pearls to Peace – the Life and Times of a Remarkable Lugger. 399p., bibliog., illus., index. Fremantle: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2004. ISBN: 1920731423.

An award-winning ship biography. Built in 1903, Redbill sailed first as a pearler. When war came to the Pacific, she was there as the first bombs fell on Darwin and she was commissioned and was used with other luggers until laid up as a hulk as the war moved on. After the war she had a busy career from carrying cargo for missionaries to working with Greenpeace against French nuclear testing.

Another account of the daring raids on Singapore Harbour in 1943 and 1944.

The author, a Canadian naval officer, set up and led this unit between 1943 and 1945. The unit served in Burma and was mainly involved in the crossing of the Irrawaddy.

The story of Operation Rimau, from its early beginnings to its tragic conclusion.

An excellent piece of investigative historical reconstruction, which finally tells the full story of the failure of this operation and the gallant deaths of the raiders.

A good account of some of the most daring, and politically motivated, missions undertaken by Australian special forces soldiers behind enemy lines in WWII.

Raiding parties in Burma and Malaya in 1945.

Operations Jaywick and Rimau were raids made on Singapore late in the war by small parties from Australia. The first was a success, but the second ended in tragedy with the execution of the raiders. A full if dramatised account.

This little known unit served with American forces in the Solomons Group in 1942-43 and was then disbanded after heavy casualties and meritorious service.

In August 1944 he went to the Small Operations Group in Ceylon. There are some 25 pages on this, but most of the book covers the post-war period.

SHORES, Christopher. Air War for Burma: The Third and Concluding Volume of the Bloody Shambles Series. The Allied Air Forces Fight Back in South-East Asia 1942-1945. 448p., illus. London: Grub Street, 2005. ISBN: 1904010954.

Some marginal naval interest in yet another excellent detailed volume arranged chronologically.

HERDER, Brian Lane. The Naval Siege of Japan 1945: War Plan Orange Triumphant. (Campaign, 348). 96p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Osprey, 2020. ISBN: 9781472840363.

 Another competent account from this series, full of technical detail and giving a good view of the often underestimated role played by the British Pacific Fleet.

MATTHEWS, Geoffrey. The Re-conquest of Burma 1943-1945. xi, 104p., bibliog., map, index. Aldershot: Gale & Polden, 1966.

Aimed at British Army officers preparing for their Staff College examinations, this small, densely packed study contains little naval material, but offers an excellent strategic overview of the theatre, the campaign and the various operations.

MADAN, N. N. The Arakan Operations 1942-1945 (Official History of the Indian Armed Forces in the Second World War, 1939-45. Campaigns in the Eastern Theatre). xxx, 371p., bibliog., illus., index. Calcutta: Combined Inter-Services Historical Section (India & Pakistan), 1954.

These operations in Burma involved a number of amphibious landings in which the RN and RIN took part. A good account. Reprinted by Pentagon Press in New Delhi in 2012, ISBN: 9788182746626.     

Formal End of War; H.M.A.S. Shropshire; Battle of Surigao Strait. 2,3,5p. [Canberra], Naval Historical Society of Australia, A.C.T. Chapter, [1983]. ISBN: 9780909153182.

Three essays describing the service of HMAS Shropshire, including her presence at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay and her part in the Battle of Surigao Strait.

JOURDAN, David W. Operation Rising Sun: The Sinking of Japan’s Secret Submarine I-52. xviii, 288p., bibliog., illus., index. Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781640121690.

An account of the journey of the submarine on a Yanagi mission carrying goods – including gold - and technicians from Japan to Germany in mid-1944. She was sunk in the Atlantic by a US Task Force. The second half of the book describes the discovery of the wreck by salvors in the mid-1990s. But the gold remains unrecovered.

TRENOWDEN, Ian. Malayan Operations Most Secret – Force 136. 231p., bibliog., illus., index. Singapore: Heineman Asia, 1983. ISBN: 9971640570.

 No copy seen. Appears to be a retitled reprint of the author’s 1978 work Operations Most Secret: SOE, q.v.

MITCHELL, W. J. & BUCKENHAM, Colin. Sainfoin’s War: The Story of HMS Sainfoin, 1944 to 1946. 141p., illus. Diss: DataTech D.T.P., 2007. ISBN: 9780955126758.

The vessel was an Infantry Landing Ship originally built in the USA as a merchant vessel before entering military service and renamed Empire Crossbow. Following her requisition by the Royal Navy in 1944 she was renamed again, this time as Sainfoin, and saw active service (mostly in the Far East). Based on the stories of those who served, an updated version was published in 2013, ISBN: 9781907997037.

A Bibliography of Japanese Books on the Burma Campaign: War in Burma 1942-1945. xv, 112p. Tokyo: All Burma Veterans Association of Japan, 2000.

A comprehensive guide covering everything from official histories to personal accounts. Although most of the text is in Japanese, titles and many details are also given in English. There is some peripheral material on naval matters.

LEASOR, James. The Marine from Mandalay. [ix],146p., bibliog., map. London: Cooper, 1988. ISBN: 0850524423.

The epic escape story of Marine William Doyle. He was landed from Enterprise just in time to join Force Viper and cover the retreat through Burma. Although badly wounded in the legs while fighting the Japanese he managed to escape north and eventually reached Calcutta and rejoined his ship. Reprinted as a paperback in 2008 by House of Stratus (ISBN: 0755100433) and then as a print on demand book from 2015 (ISBN: 190829132X). 

An account of the little known work of the special forces operating down the Arakan coast of Burma as the Allies advanced.

GREHAN, John & MACE, Martin. The Battle for Burma 1943-1945: From Kohima & Imphal to Victory. xii, 291p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2015. ISBN: 9781783461998.

Reprints four despatches published as supplements to the London Gazette, with a very brief introduction, namely General Giffard’s Despatch on operations in Burma and North-East India in 1943-44 ( No. 39171) and a second Despatch from him covering operations in Assam and Burma in June- November 1944 (No. 39187); a brief Despatch from Vice-Admiral Power covering naval operations in the Ramree Island area in January-February 1945 (No. 38269) and finally a long Despatch from General Leese on operations in Burma in November 1944-August 1945, which has some naval relevant material (No. 39195).

MURRAY, Allan A. HMAS Nepal: To Tokyo, 1943-45 (Short Military Stories, Book 9). vi, 62p., illus. [n.p.], Family Murray Trust, 2019. ISBN: 978167870.

Following on from his earlier work this covers her service in the Indian and Pacific Oceans in the latter part of the war.

ROUSSEL, Mike. Pacific Avengers: The Story of a Fleet Air Arm Pilot's Training and Service with 857 Squadron in the British Pacific Fleet. xiv, 229p., bibliog., illus. Southampton: Little Knoll Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780992722074.

The story of Sub Lt (A) Geoffrey Wright and his service during the final phase of the Pacific War.

HILLIER-GRAVES, Tim. Heaven High, Ocean Deep: Naval Fighter Wing at War. xii, 212p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Casemate, 2019. ISBN: 9781612007557.

From April 1944 to August 1945 the 5th Fighter Wing based on Indomitable fought many long, intensive battles in the Pacific. Based on personal memories, logbooks and a wide range of sources, this is a good account of and by those who fought.

SCHOFIELD, B.B. With the Royal Navy in War and Peace: O’er the Deep Blue Sea. xviii, 270p. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2018. ISBN: 9781526736475.

An excellent memoir, edited by his daughter. After serving as a midshipman in the First World War, Schofield qualified as a navigator and interpreter in French and Italian. At the outbreak of WW2 he was Naval Attache in The Hague and Brussels before becoming Director of Trade Division (Convoys) during 1941-1943. While commanding King George V he witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay in August 1945. After the war he wrote several notable works on WW2 RN actions.

CLARKE, Bob. War and Peacey.  [224p]., illus. [n.p., author], 2018. ISBN: 9780992760113.

Aged 15, Chris Peacey joined the RN on the outbreak of war as a boy seaman. His first ship was Prince of Wales, where he served through the Bismarck hunt and on until her sinking in the Far East. He was quickly transferred to Danae and spent some time with her in the Indian Ocean before returning to the UK. He then went to the USA where he joined the newly acquired LST 163, nicknamed Rose Marie by her crew. With her he took part in allied assault landings in North Africa, Sicily, Anzio, Normandy and Malaysia. Also describes his post-war career in submarines. A fascinating and very personal tale as told to the author.

BEAN, Charles. The Life & Love of a Seafaring Man. [4], 136p., illus. Hobart, Tasmania: [author], c.2004.

         A very anecdotal autobiography and set of poems. He served on Honeysuckle in the Atlantic and Arctic and later as a frogman in the Indian Ocean and Pacific. Full of tall tales and exciting action.

ROUSSEL, Mike. Palembang and Beyond. 272p., bibliog., illus. Southampton: Little Knoll Press, 2018. ISBN: 9780993507885.

An account of the final stages of the Pacific War for the Royal Navy. In large part based on the recollections of three survivors of 849 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm.

COOPER, Anthony. Darwin Spitfires. 516p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2013. ISBN: 9781783461882.

The Japanese air attack on Darwin is well recorded. Much less known is the large number of subsequent attacks, especially in 1943. This is the story of how the RAF ‘s No. 1 Fighter Wing fought off these raids.

The story of a hastily assembled landing force sent to the South-West Pacific in 1944. The descent into anarchy of the LSI(H) Lothian is described by one of the mutineers.

A short Japanese view of the war in the Far East. Mainly concerned with the battles against the US Navy.

The Fiji Forces served with distinction, earning one VC and many other decorations. This book records their part in the island-hopping Pacific War.

A personal tale of the war in the Pacific from 1943 to 1945, by a British naval officer attached to the US Pacific Fleet.

This ground-breaking work by David Hobbs describes the background, creation and expansion of the BPF from its first tentative strikes, through operations off the coast of Japan to its impact on the immediate post-war period, including the opinions of USN liaison officers attached to the British flagships. The book is the first to demonstrate the real scope and scale of the BPF s impressive achievement.

An important work which delineates the changing nature of the relationship over time.

A brief account of German and Japanese submarine operations based on or in Penang waters.

A brief pamphlet celebrating the role of the British Pacific Fleet.

Describes the great gallantry shown by those British officials who stayed behind and hid from the Japanese and from those islanders who joined the fighting forces.

A good modern general history.

A defence correspondent’s well-illustrated but basic and popularised account of the war around the Australian Coast. Well researched.

The first full account of how long range submarine missions were used for the exchange of technology and raw materials.

In the main a description of the Nauru and Ocean Island Relief Expedition to receive the Japanese surrender of the islands. Also includes a brief account of the German raider attack on Nauru and of the war’s effect on the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. Of limited relevance.

First published in 1991, this is a hugely expanded oral history of the British Pacific Fleet. Incidents from over 60 ships are recalled. There is a substantial section on the growth of the Japanese empire pre-war and on its morality and a long coda on the fate of the ships of the British Pacific Fleet, while extracts from various monographs are worked into the text. Although slightly eccentric as a work it is carefully edited and shrewdly linked.

One of the short, basic volumes in this series.

A detailed study from the Japanese point of view, mostly from previously unused sources. Obviously concentrates most on actions with the US Navy.

Relates how the Australian Army, supported by Allied naval and air forces, and with the help of some American regiments, drove the Japanese out of most of the mainland of Australian New Guinea in 1943 and early 1944. It also describes the concurrent operations of the American Army and amphibious forces in the Pacific.

Although these were mainly American, due notice is given to the work of RN and Dutch submarines. Limited edition of 1,000 copies.

Mainly concerned with the US submarines based at Fremantle, the book also considers the impact on the port and summarises the role of the British and Dutch boats. A second edition entitled Secret Fleets was published in 2011 (ISBN: 9781920843526).

Intended as an interim account "to whet the public appetite" for the full official histories.

The documents discovered by the author are reprinted with a linking text to reveal a brutal episode late in the war when the cruiser Tone killed its prisoners 10 days after the sinking of the ship. The incident led to a war crimes trial.

The well known raids on Oregon and Sydney Harbour were only the tip of a much more ambitious programme

Describes two successful raids on Singapore Harbour in 1943 and 1944 in which almost 40,000 tons of Japanese shipping were sunk by a handful of British and Australian raiders in canoes. A new edition was published in 1970.

These two companies fought the Japanese in guerrilla fashion for two years, before evacuation by the RAN. Reprinted in 1984.

The best account of the British Pacific Fleet. Reprinted by Douglas-Boyd Books in 1989.

Describes the classic action in which British destroyers sank a Japanese cruiser in the Malacca Straits.

Originally his thesis, this is now a book which clearly delineates the confusions and differences of view which governed the UK's attempt to develop a strategy for the war against Japan. Britain found it difficult to choose between an Indian Ocean amphibious strategy and a Pacific-based fleet strategy - and arguably could afford neither.

A profusely illustrated but thin account of this campaign.

A description of Operation Oboe 1, the invasion of Tarakan Island by Australian Forces.

An able and detailed history of the successes and tribulations of the fleet, but one which really tells of the RN’s only operations as a major carrier force. Reprinted in 1994.

A series of essays published to accompany the ceremonies at Portsmouth. Well-illustrated, with good chronologies and fleet details as well as a variety of essays by well-known experts in the field.

Based on a 1983 lecture, this is a brief operational history.

A history which demonstrates how much MacArthur's success was dependent on RAN support.

Not much naval interest, but this unexpurgated diary has lots of useful titbits of information.

Over 20,000 POWs died at sea, the majority in friendly fire incidents. Their suffering is eloquently described.

Marder had done much of the research for the second volume and drafted the earlier chapters. The work was completed by two former pupils. Although the work is flawed and unbalanced it remains an essential work on the topic.

Warramunga was involved in this essentially American assault.

A condensed but accurate general history.

This seventh and final volume in the army series of the Australian official history describes the operations of the First Australian Army in 1944-1945 in Bougainville, New Britain and Australian New Guinea, where about 170,000 Japanese were isolated; and of the well-armed and well-supported 7th and 9th Divisions in Borneo in the last great Allied offensive of the war.

A miscellaneous collection of bits and pieces ranging from the X-craft attack on the Tirpitz to the current view of the preservation of historic shipwrecks, via a long section on the Sydney Harbour attack and tantalising mentions of the intelligence role of Hector.