Touched with Fire: The Land War in the South Pacific

I am just finishing Eric Bergerud’s excellent Touched with Fire: The Land War in the South Pacific. This analysis focuses on the men, conditions, and structures of the opposing armies much more than on the generals and their plans. One of the best parts of this book is a chapter devoted to the unique environment of Papua/New Guinea, which was an active participant in the war as much as any other factor. Although small, there is a growing interest in examining the cross section between military history and the environment. My one big take away item for the role of the environment is that neither the Japanese nor the Americans/Australians were fully prepared for jungle warfare. It was an unfamiliar environment for both sides. Malaria show more and jungle rot (sounds like real horrible stuff) affected both sides. The torrential downpours and omnipresent mud tormented the combatants without discrimination. In fact, the allies were a little better prepared for it both logistically and medically than were the Japanese, although movement of supplies, including quinine, was slow in the miserable conditions. What made the Japanese soldier appear to be such better jungle fighters can be attributed to their intense indoctrination in the code of Bushido that they received in their training, not from some inherent predisposition to the terrain. This was an orchestrated effort by the army to counter the fact that their men were poorly equipped and supplied compared to their contemporaries (the navy definitely got the gravy in imperial Japan). Bergerud also discusses the native peoples of the region who wanted the war to go away. Australian Coast Watchers could survive in isolated regions, but the individual Japanese soldier and small patrols ran the risk of natives picking them off if they got the chance.

From my blog: http://gregshistoryblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/environment-and-warfare-in-south-pa... show less

Very well-written book of the land war in the Pacific using interviews and his own extensive knowledge to cover the brutal island warfare from 1942 until early 1944. Written from the viewpoint of the infantry soldier and in a topical fashion rather than a chronological order--topics such as heat, disease, Leathernecks and GIs, the Aussies, and the medical effort are discussed with skill and in a literate manner.

Carefully researched, and drawing upon many original interviews, this examination of the American and Australian soldier's experience of the ground war in the South West Pacific during WWII is a deep book and very good. (His other book, "Fire in the Sky," about the air war in the same theater, is also excellent.)

I read this at the same time as "Gates of Fire," the fictionalized story of the battle of Thermopylae, and I can't decide which men fought in worse, more inhumane conditions.

3501. Touched by Fire: The Land War in the South Pacific, by Eric Bergerud (read Nov 19, 2001) This covers the land war in the South Pacific in 1942 and 1943. There are chapters on the awful environment which Guadacanal and New Guinea furnished for fighters there. There is considerable discussion of weaponry not too interesting to a non-mechanic. There are chapters on morale and the end of the fighting in the South Pacific which are well-done. A book like this again makes one realize anew the awfulness of what so many went thru, and I was glad I read it.