"Pacific" Topic

Any suggestions as to where to start with some basic reading about the US Pacific campaigns? Also..in 28mm is there any significant difference between Army and USMC infantry units?

This would be a good place to start and has some good ideas for small unit scenarios
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Wolfhag

This is a nice overview of the war by some notable historians on the topic:

The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima Hardcover – by Daniel Marston (Editor).

It's a good start with nice color maps and classic pictures. It is not the end all/be all of the topic (what is?) but a nice start.

There were a lot of differences between USA and USMC orgs, and I could go on forever about the particularities of USMC Div T/Os. If you're looking for a straightforward outline of USMC orgs the most accessible source I would suggest is the snappily titled "Staff Officer's Field Manual for Amphibious Operations (esp. as it pertains to the Pacific Ocean Area)".

There is a faithful transcription at Hyperwar, though I found a PDF version years ago and looking now I cannot find where;

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It was issued in Sep 1944 and largely covers the details for the US Inf Div and USMC Div as of the major landings of Jun-Jul 1944.

Gary

At 28mm there is not a lot of detail that differs from Army and MC, other than painting things like helmet overs. Yeah, packs were different, and some minor web gear, but you'll have to decide if you can live with it at such a scale. It kind of depends upon time period and how you paint them. And how anal you are about the unfirms and equipment.

Of course, there were a great many Army units in the Pacific…

There were more Army units in the Pacific that Marine units. I don't know why figure manufacturers don't make any 25/28mm miniatures for Army units in the pacific.

As ever….most grateful to you all. This is a new project for SWMBO so she expects me to read it up…..why bark if you have a dog?

As far as reading goes – "Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan" by Ronald Spector (1985) is a great book covering the entire 1941 to 1945 campaign.

I would recommend Ian Toll's The Pacific War Trilogy (Pacific Crucible, The Conquering Tide, and Twilight of the Gods). Although if you are mainly interested in Army and Marine battles, you only need to look at the last two.

If you just want to focus on the U.S. Army in the Pacific, I suggest looking for Fire and Fortitude and Island Infernos by John C McManus.

I find the golden rule with uniform accuracy questions is: are the hats the right shape?

And, to answer Cerdic's musical question, the answer is sadly "No." The main distinguishing factor between army and marine units in the Pacific is the lack of helmet covers for army troops.

"Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War: July 1937-May 1942" by Richard Frank

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"Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle"
by Richard Frank

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"With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa" by E. B. Sledge

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"Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan" by Ronald H. Spector

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"The Fall of the Philippines 1941–42" by Clayton K. S. Chun

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I may get slammed for this, but I think you start with wikipedia.

It's free, you have access to it right now, you can get an overview you can read in twenty minutes, and that will make choosing your next reads easier. You can follow up on any particular ship, battle, or personality instantly. If the maps are inadequate you can find some other maps. It's a great way to orient yourself in a new area.

The references can give you ideas about what to read next, or not.

The books that cover everything about something as large as this tend to be very shallow. The books that are very good tend to focus on one particular aspect and assume some general knowledge. That makes both of those disappointing starting places. So I'd start with wikipedia to get an overview and orientation, then pick some books that cover your interests very specifically.

As the saying goes, Wikipedia is a great place to start your research but a terrible place to end it.

Very much obliged to you all!

Books written by Richard Frank are anything but shallow.

UFB wrote -

Any suggestions as to where to start with some basic reading about the US Pacific campaigns? Also..in 28mm is there any significant difference between Army and USMC infantry units?

Go to the "Ike Skleton Combined Arms Digital Research Library (CARL) – cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org

- and do a search for any campaign/battle of interest. I suggest that you start with "WW2 Operational Documents" section. All the documents there are freely available to the public for D/L.

WARNING: Have a thermos of coffee handy; it is a huge site.

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If you are interested to start with secondary sources, here are some suggestions -

THE LONG ROAD OF WAR – A Marine's Story of Pacific Combat
James W Johnston

UTMOST SAVAGERY – The Three Days of Tarawa
Col. Joseph H. Alexamnder USMC (Ret)

TARAWA – A Hell of a Way to Die
Derrick Wright

LINE OF DEPARTURE: Tarawa
Martin Russ

PELELIU: TRAGIC TRIUMPH – The Untold Story of the Pacific War's Forgotten Battle
Bill D Ross

KILLING GROUND ON OKINAWA – The Battle for Sugar Loaf Hill
James H Hallas

MARINE TANK BATTLES IN THE PACIFIC
Oscar E Gilbert

THE U.S. MARINES ON IWO JIMA
Captain Raymond Henri, 1st Lt Jim G Lucas, Tech Sgt David K Dempsey, Tech Sgt W Keyes Beech, Tech Sgt Alvin M Josephy Jr

NIGHTMARE ON IWO
Patrick F Caruso

PELELIU – 1944
Harry A Gailey

GUADALCANAL – The First Offensive
John Miller Jr
(Note – very good color topographical maps included)

HOLD THE MARIANAS – The Japanese Defense of the Islands
D Colt Denfeld

TARAWA
Robert Sherrod

ISLAND VICTORY
S L A Marshall
(Recommended)

ACROSS THE REEF – The Amphibious Tracked Vehicle at War
Victor J Croizat

76 HOURS – The Invasion of Tarawa
Eric Hammel and John E Lane

TENNOZAN – The Battle of Okinawa
George Feifer

B

B

Great stuff – I'm obliged to you all. SWMBO has bought a raft of USMC and we hope to have our first game on Sunday…pics will doubtless be on our FB page -- S.P.I.T. Wargames -- thereafter.

Also..in 28mm is there any significant difference between Army and USMC infantry units?

At the platoon and company level, US Army and USMC have roughly similar organisations. Main differences that I can think:

1.) USMC adjusted rifle company TOE several times over the war, so details depend on which year you are after.
2.) USMC rifle company tended to have more automatic weapons at these levels; depending on the year there might be up to 9 BARs per rifle platoon, and up to 6 MGs per company.

In 15mm both Peter Pig and Old Glory have excellent figures that can be used both as US Army and USMC. The main differences as has been pointed out are the camouflage helmet cover adopted by the Marines around 1943 and their distinctive bedroll wrapped around the rucksack. The Army generally dispensed with the puttees used in the ETO and wore their pants over the boots just like the Marines. In 15mm most figures can represent either US Army or USMC soldiers. And yes there were many more US Army units in the PTO and they conducted many more landings than the USMC. This is not to disparage the Marines, there were just too few of them for a war of that size. Cheers and good gaming!

Maybe not 'reading' but 'The Pacific' TV series was a good watch. I preferred 'Band Of Brothers'… Pacific… too much 'leave' and US stuff… but pretty good combat for inspiration!

Also..in 28mm is there any significant difference between Army and USMC infantry units?

IIRC, the USMC at times carried some unusual arms over the course of WW2 -

The Reising SMG

The Johnson semi-auto rifle

The Johnson LMG

Go here – link

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I also seem to recall hearing stories that a lot of Springfield Model 1903 bolt-action rifles were carried by Marines on Guadalcanal.

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If you check photos from the PTO island battles, you also see a lot of Marines in the field carrying M-1 semi-auto carbines with 15-round clips. Short, light and handy in confined spaces and close country.

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Then there were the ever-present specialist flame-thrower men, demolition guys and bazooka men to deal with Japanese fortifications.

FWIW.

B