Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942-April 1943

Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942-April 1943 by Gamble, Bruce. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780760323502.

For most of World War II, the mention of Japans island stronghold sent shudders through thousands of Allied airmen. Some called it “Fortress Rabaul,” an apt name for the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese forces in the Southwest Pacific. Author Bruce Gamble chronicles Rabaul’s crucial role in Japanese operations in the Southwest Pacific. Millions of square feet of housing and storage facilities supported a hundred thousand soldiers and naval personnel. Simpson Harbor and the airfields were the focus of hundreds of missions by American air forces. Winner of the "Gold Medal" (Military Writers Society of America) and "Editors Choice Award" (Stone & Stone Second World War Books), Fortress Rabaul details a critical and, until now, little understood chapter in the history of World War II.