Being there . . . . between 9 and 10 am on the morning of 19 February 1945 when after 72straight days of heavy bombardment, the longest and heaviest of the entire Pacific War, 8,000U.S. Marines in the initial wave stormed the black sanded shores of Iwo Jima under the largest“protective” collection of vessels ever assembled, organized, and positioned by our navyplanners. Aboard almost 500 vessels from our Fifth Fleet were 30,000 more Marines of the 4 thand 5 th Divisions awaiting transfer to landing crafts. Meanwhile, 40,000 U.S. battleship, cruiser,and destroyer shells rained down on the tiny (8 sq mile) volcanic lump of sand fortress.Tragically, the massive “softening-up” barely scratched the tough, resolute, elite Japanesedefenders perfectly dug in. After all, Tokyo, directly to the north, was only 660 nautical milesaway. So, the Japanese, in anticipation of countless assaulting Semper Fi’s, continued theirdigging elaborate miles upon miles of mazed caves, tunnels, and crevices, all carefullycamouflaged, especially pillboxes and bombproof underground hideouts. To make invasionmatters even worse, hundreds of veteran artillery troops hidden within and atop MountSuribachi, hovering 550 feet above the somewhat rocky island, awaited the signal to unleashtheir thousands of artillery and mortar shells to slaughter pinned-down, hapless marines a mere200 to 300 yards below them. What was urgently needed were battalions of flamethrowingtanks.LEAVE IT TO OSPREY PUBLISHING TO SHED NEW LIGHT ON THE MOST VICIOUSLY FOUGHTBATTLE OF THE PACIFIC WAR – – ONE IN WHICH THE NUMBER OF AMERICAN CASUALTIESOUTBUMBERED THOSE OF THE JAPANESE – – THE BATTLE FOR IWO JIMA, AN INFERNO SOGREAT, SOME SAID, THE ENTIRE SAND-COVERED ISLAND-TERRAIN WAS ABLASE. AS WAS OFTENTHE CASE IN THE ISLAND-BY-ISLAND CAMPAIGNS, BRAVE TANK ACTION WAS USUALLYOVERSHADOWED BY THE AMAZING EXPLOITS OF THE RESOLUTE INFANTRY. THANKS TOUNPUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPHS FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS AND METICULOUSLY RESEARCHEDNEW COLOR PROFILES, WE RELIVE THE BATTLE THAT STILL RAGES ON IN THE HEARTS OF THOSEDESCENDANTS OF THE HERO MARINES WHO LOST THEIR LIVES FIGHTING SO VALIANTLY.Reviewed and highly recommended by Don DeNevi“TANKS ON IWO JIMA 1945”, by Romain Cansiere, Illustrated by Felipe Rodriguez. OSPREYPUBLISHING/Bloomsbury Plc: 2024, 48 pages, softcover, 7 ¼” x 9 ¾”, $20. Visit,www.ospreypublishing.com.“U.S. BATTLE TANKS 1917 – 1945”, by Steven J. Zaloga. OSPREY PUBLISHING/Bloomsbury Plc:2024, 272 pages, hardcover, 7 ¾” x 9 ¾”, $35. Visit, www.ospreypublishing.com.Almost all military historians concur that the Pacific Campaign’s Battle of Iwo Jima was themost intense of ALL World War II battles in Europe and the Pacific Seas. Admiral Chester W.Nimitz, Commander of Central Pacific Operations, said there, “Uncommon valor was a commonvirtue”. Even the most ardent WW II buffs and enthusiasts are unaware that a quarter of all the
Congressional Medals of Honor awarded during the 1941-1945 years were won on Iwo, virtually
all during the eradication of 22,000 Japanese seeking safety in 1,500 bunkers linked by 16 milesof tunnels, enabling them to quietly exit and strike Marines in areas believed to be secure. Theemblematic event of the Battle was the raising of our flag on 23 February atop MountSuribachi. Each side fielded tanks in support of its infantry. With a ratio of more than four U.S.tanks for every Japanese tank, author Romain Cansiere is superlative in his easy-to-understandexplanations brining new light on the roles of both Japanese and American armored vehiclesand their influence on the course of the brutal fighting.In “U.S. BATTLE TANKS 1917 – 1945”, OSPREY’S other new 2024 tank book, this one byauthor Steven J. Zaloga, examines the complete history of U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corpsbattle tanks. He focuses on the history of the tank in American service from the firstexperiments with armored vehicles in the early years of the 20 th century through to the end ofWorld War II. Expanding on material published in Osprey great series, i.e., New Vanguard,Campaign, and Duel, this handsome, coffee-table sized, well-illustrated, book explores theconcepts and practices of tank development, for example, the Renault FT through the M4Sherman, then the M26 Pershing. Author Zaloa describes the experiences of the crews whowitness combat; the performance of each tank in battle; and how each American armoredfighting vehicle compared with the enemy armor it faced, as well as the key lessons learned
from combat that led to new tank concepts and technological breakthroughs.
