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Book

Guadalcanal's longest fight : the pivotal battles of the Matanikau front

Call Number

  • 940.5426 H734 (CEN, OSH)

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Publication Information

Havertown, PA : Casemate, 2025.

Physical Description

xi, 241 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Summary

"The Matanikau battles proved to be the critical turning points in the land campaign for Guadalcanal--the campaign's longest and bloodiest ground fight. A five-month conflict raged along the river and its basin. The real importance of this area has long remained unrecognized, yet the American and Japanese forces that fought over it knew that it was the key to the ultimate prize of Henderson Airfield. In this mile-long bloody tug-of-war from the river across to the hills and ravines were fought seven major battles and countless smaller skirmishes. While countless books have been published on the Guadalcanal Campaign; none have concentrated on the pivotal battles of the Matanikau basin. Extensively researched, this first in-depth study of these important battles, objectively showing all sides, fills in this crucial missing piece of the history of the Guadalcanal campaign. The well-known Guadalcanal battlefield guide Dave Holland spent three years walking the battlefields, researching, and documenting what he found. His unparalleled knowledge of the ground enables him to take the reader along with the men on the ground. Using his investigative skills and military background, he provides a fresh, detailed, and often completely new view of the land campaign, establishing previously unknown facts and specifically illustrating their significance as the campaign's land turning points"--

Contents

  • Background and landings : 'Immediate and violent'
  • Battle of the 1st Matanikau : 'Matanikau hornets nest'
  • Initial Japanese counterattacks : 'Fought to annihilation'
  • Battle of the 2nd Matanikau : 'Gaggle of Kokumbona vagabonds'
  • Battle of the 3rd Matanikau : 'Mayhem first class'
  • Japanese offensive buildup : 'They were tired men'
  • Battle of Henderson Field, Matanikau actions : 'Had a killing day'
  • Battle of the 4th Matanikau : 'Give your soul to the Lord'
  • Battle of the 5th Matanikau : 'Rising suns sank'
  • Continuation of the Point Cruz battles : 'Pretty well used up'
  • The January final push : 'Must starve to death'
  • Conclusion : 'You're not a man until you cross the Matanikau three times.'

Subjects

Added Authors

Jon T Hoffman