World War I and II

One of the reasons for the lack of posts the past week are two books I’ve been fascinated by.

The first is Edwin P. Hoyt’s The Glory of the Solomons. The Solomon Island campaign of 1942-1943 is a fascinating topic, primarily because both the Japanese and the Allies (Australia and New Zealand both played large roles) were evenly matched. This was not true in all areas – the Japanese were superior when fighting at night, and their torpedoes were far better than the American types, while the Americans had the advantage of the increasing abilities of radar and much better interservice co-operation – but the year and a half of battle saw the tides shift towards each side many times.

The book moves its way from Guadalcanal up through the Russell Islands, New Georgia, the bypassing of Kolombangara by invading Vella Lavella, and Bouganville, which was invaded in late 1943. Even as late as then, had the Japanese committed more troops to the island, the Allied force would have found itself in serious jeopardy.

The Solomons campaign is as full of drama and luck as any other period of military history, making a study of it riveting. Not only was the issue in doubt many times, but the sheer difficulty of fighting on islands of sheer jungle make each invasion unique. 500 yards a day was exceptional – this is, by no means, Operation Cobra. The other aspect making the campaign fascinating is the learning curve on each side. After the invasion of Guadalcanal, the lessons learned in the Solomons campaign shaped the rest of the Pacific War, ranging from fighter interception and carrier radar detection to landing craft and sites to jungle warfare and how to blast the Japanese out of their defenses.

One other point of note, which translates well: exaggeration. Both the Allies and Japanese were prone to exaggeration after attacks (in terms of planes shot down, ships suck, etc). The Japanese, however, were far guiltier of this offense, having sunk the Allied fleet many times over by the end of the campaign.

The other book I am reading is John Keegan’s The First World War. I don’t know how I’ve got so far in life without reading it, because it is excellent and the First World War remains the subject around which all of the 20^th Century can be explained. It remains, also, one of the more tragic events in history – the poetry alone is tear-jerking, much less other works. Entire generations of men were wiped out because mass, supposedly, ruled the day.

There are times, looking at war, when I wonder how we possibly got here from there. A vociferous anti-war movement, a strategy in Afghanistan which has to be reduced to sound bytes and therefore makes no sense, militaries built to fight rivals as increasing trade makes it unlikely (but not impossible – see Germany, 1914), weapons which destroy entire cities. On some level, we’ve moved past nation-state war, with nuclear weapons and the globalization bug which America no longer controls – it reproduces and spreads on its own – but that means we have to learn to fight all over again. I don’t mean the military by any means, but the public. Symbols of military power and foreign success are not what they used to be at all.