Fortress Rabaul

Col. Walter Boyne, USAF (Ret.), author of Clash of Wings

Air Classics

Eric Hammel, author of Islands of Hell: The U.S. Marines in the Western Pacific

“Not for the first time, Bruce Gamble has done amazing work gathering a dazzling array of tiny, little facts, then arranging them in a big, dazzling story that amazes one's inner historian even as it breaks one's heart on its way to a triumphal conclusion.”

Barrett Tillman, author of Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan, 1942-1945

“To most of the reading public, the aerial siege of Rabaul remains one of the untold stories of the Pacific War.  Nobody is better qualified than Bruce Gamble to relate that lengthy campaign, beginning with the first 15 months of the conflict.  The depth and variety of his coverage is exceptional: not only the Allied and the Japanese perspectives, but the personalities and their attendant feuds; and ultimately the successful air blockade that released the unstoppable might of an industrialized America to take the war ever nearer Japan itself."

Anthony Tully, coauthor of Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway

“Continuing his theme of Rabaul opened in Darkest Hour: The True Story of Lark Force at Rabaul, Bruce Gamble now continues the saga, moving forward with the Japanese occupation in January 1942 to the almost immediate start of the Allied counter air-offensives against Rabaul. Gamble sets the stage magnificently, with a compelling description of the geography, volcanic origin and cultural setting and development level of Rabaul at the time of the Japanese occupation. After an excellent description of the too little, too late attempts to prepare for the Japanese invasion and the futile attempts to repel the powerful Japanese carrier strikes, the focus shifts to the Japanese construction at Rabaul that will make it the famous fortress port of the Solomons campaign. The human drama, Allied and Japanese, is enriched by skillfully placed anecdotes, like a botched demolition of an ammo dump by the Allied garrison to Japanese carrier aircraft having embarrassing results in bombing runs, to behind-the-scenes bickering of officers and staffs. The narrative reads with all the vigor and imagery of a novel, while incorporating copious facts and detail…Not only does Fortress Rabaul fill an important gap in the coverage of the Southwest section of the Pacific War, it makes fine and engaging reading.”

Gamble’s book is a wonderful tribute to these and all the other pilots and crews, both land-based and carrier airmen, who kept the pressure on the Japanese at Rabaul - WWII History, September 2010
 Though Rabaul has naturally loomed large in prior works on the South Pacific war, it takes center stage for the first time here, in the first of what promise to be two high-quality volumes. Opening with the easy Japanese conquest of Rabaul in January 1942 and ending with the death of Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto in April 1943, author Bruce Gamble sidesteps the pitfall of serving up a mind-numbing flow of statistics from what was essentially a campaign of attrition. Instead he shrewdly culls out episodes that have long-term significance, such as the near annihilation of the Japanese 4th Air Group in February 1942, and demonstrates key if often elided facets, like the modification of the North American B-25 for low-level attack. Using international sources, Gamble musters anecdotes from airmen on both sides to illustrate the appalling natural challenges and capricious weather, miserable living conditions, primal diseases, and frightful hazards posed by limitless spans of water and cloud-cloaked jungle peaks. He also incorporates incisive sketches of key leaders among the antagonists, notable American Maj. Gen. George Kenny and Japanese Vice Adm. Jinichi Kusaka, and underlines the logistical nightmares that rendered both aircraft and spare parts scarce for combatants locked in war at such distant reaches….Fortress Rabaul opens a broader vista on this under-studied campaign with its wide research, thoughtful analysis, and gifted story-teller’s panache.” - World War II, September/October 2010