Hotschi
Posts: 548
Joined: 1/18/2010
From: Austria
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These are the books I read, in chronological order, since June, when I last posted in this thread;
Kratoska, Paul H., Southeast Asian Minorities in the Wartime Japanese Empire
- how the Japanese treated the Chinese minorities in the DEI and Malaya, the Moros on Mindanao and adjacent islands, as well as local natives on Sulawesi. You learn a lot of new stuff, as well as some surprises.
Cox, Jeffrey, Rising Sun, Falling Skies: The Disastrous Java Sea Campaign of World War II
- the title was already mentioned in this thread, I consider it a must read for anyone interested in the Japanese early SE Asia conquests. This book opened the "Pandora's Box" for me, as I went into some sort of "reading-frenzy", and ended up reading...
Womack, Tom, The Dutch Naval Air Force Against Japan: The Defense of the Netherland East Indies, 1941-1942
- deals primarily with the missions of the rapidly dwindling numbers of different Dutch seaplanes.
Messimer, Dwight R., In the Hands of Fate: The Story of Patrol Wing Ten, 8 December 1941-11 May 1942
- brilliant book, the U.S. Navy PatWing 10 was stationed in the Philippines at start of the war, and was forced again and again to retreat south to evade the advancing Japanese. Also covers the Wing's history until disbandment.
Winslow, Walter G., The Ghost that Died at Sunda Strait
- about USS Houston. Winslow was one of the scout planes pilots onboard Houston. His book tells the story from the "limited" view of the sailors and servicemen onboard, so expect some "Fog of War", which makes it a very interesting read.
Carlton, Mike, Cruiser: The Life And Loss of HMAS Perth And Her Crew
- wanted to know the story about the Aussie cruiser which went down alongside USS Houston. Covers the whole history of the ship, from the Mediterranean to it's final fate. Highly recommended.
Grose, Peter, An Awkward Truth: The Bombing of Darwin, February 1942
- since USS Houston departed Darwin the day prior to the attack, I also wanted to know what happened there the day after. This book tells it, not only the actual attack, but also what happened in Darwin shortly afterwards. Interesting stuff.
Grose, Peter, A Very Rude Awakening
- and since Grose, an Australian journalist, also wrote about the Japanes Midget-sub attack at Sydney Harbour, I read this one as well.
Williford, Glen M., Racing the Sunrise: The Reinforcements of America's Pacific Outposts, 1941-1942
- What a source, also for WitP-AE modders! Every convoy, every plane, every unit, every round of ammunition or piece of equipment shipped to the Philippines prior to 7th of December '41, with dates, ports of departure, escorts, names and number of ships, etc etc, including redirected convoys (the famous Pensacola-
convoy) as well as cancelled ones, is mentioned. Simply "Wow!"
Bartsch, William H., December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor
- How MacArthur lost his offensive striking power plus most of his fighter force on Day 1 of the war, very good read. Bartsch wrote two more books about U.S. pursuit squadrons in the Philippines and at Java, but I haven't purchased them yet, but am of course interested.
Morton, Louis, The Fall of the Philippines
- This one I got for a less than 2 Euros or so as e-book, but be warned. It's the most horrible formatting I ever witnessed in any e-book I ever read - or saw on the reader of my wife. Almost unreadable, but once you get to understand the rythm of the awful formatting, it's a very very good book about the whole Japanese conquest of the Philippines. And the story doesn't end with the surrender on Corregidor, but also continues with events in the Visayas and Mindanao until final surrender of all forces. I think it's availavle to read online, but am not sure. Just avoid the e-book version - OTOH it's less than inexpensive...
Dyess, William E., Bataan Death March: A Survivor's Account
- Ed Dyess survived, was imprisoned in POW camps on Luzon and Mindanao - and escaped in 1943. He reached the U.S. in August the same year to tell the story of the Death March for the first time in the U.S. He died in late 1943 in California in a flying accident piloting a P-38.
Guardia, Mike, American Guerrilla: The Forgotten Heroics of Russell W. Volckmann
- Volckmann escaped Bataan after the surrender there, managed to reach North Luzon to wage guerilla war against the Japanese - and survived the war.
Leasor, James, Singapore - The Battle That Changed The World
- now jumping west to Malaya, the 3rd book I read about Singapore's fall.
Cheah, Boon Kheng, Red Star Over Malaya
- deals with Chinese and Malay resistance against the Japanese during WWII, the clashes between Chinese and Malays during and after the war and the British reoccupation of Malaya. Very interesting read, since refreshingly this book is NOT written from a Westerner's perspective, but it stops a year short of...
this one, which I started two days ago, Barber, Noel, The War of the Running Dogs: Malaya 1948-1960, about the Communist insurection against each and everyone in Malaya who wasn't a communist, be it Chinese, Indian, European, or Malay. Can't tell much of it yet, but starts promising.
All these books above give a good overview of and some insight into the history of SE Asia during WWII. And since I am a reading-addict the bibliographies in the books mentioned above filled up my ever increasing "to-buy"-list, which I should rather rename to the "I wish I had"-list...
Apologies for the long-winded post, I confess I got carried away.
_____________________________
"A big butcher's bill is not necessarily evidence of good tactics"
- Wavell's reply to Churchill, after the latter complained about faint-heartedness, as he discovered that British casualties in the evacuation from Somaliland had been only 260 men.
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Printable Version
RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 
Seems like I add two books for every one I finish. Damn these 99 cent specials and free "teaser" novels to get you to buy into the ensuing series! 
but fortunately things seem to have improved markedly in chapter 2 
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