Review by Martin Koenigsberg
On a recent Military History tour sponsored by a prominent American Museum, I found myself being the “WWII Commonwealth Advocate”, constantly bringing up the British Imperial contribution to the Pacific War when the conversation got too US-Centric. Here in this book- for an American Audience, Brian Walter, an American Veteran, Academic and author on 20th Century topics gives us the whole story- actions, strategies, and logistics as the British Empire and Commonwealth grappled with the Empire of the Rising Sun. There are almost enough maps, and lots of Graphs, tables, and black and white photos to support the text for both the military history buff and the general audience reader. The title is apt- for I think many American readers will be surprised to read how much of an effort the Brits made in the Pacific War.
The Royal Navy had Carrier Groups in the Pacific- in at the kill. The British/Indian/African 14th Army in Burma had tank divisions that roamed the open plains. Australian amphibious assaults liberated large swathes of New Guinea and Indonesia. Most of the Gear might have been made in the USA- but the soldiers of Britain, Australia, West Africa, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore and even Canada did a lot of heavy lifting against the Japanese Empire. Walter tends to give tonnage lost figures after every Naval episode, which I found tedious at first. Then I realised as an American we do love our numbers- and many readers would appreciate the information with an eye to overall attrition. In his final analysis- he brings it all together showing that the Allies really were just that- an alliance strong than the sum of its parts. I enjoyed the book a great deal.
Most of the adult themes in the book are political, and there are no graphic injury passages, so the Junior Reader over 12/13 years will get value from this book. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast its more of a background and front catalog resource. for the Gamer- it’s a great way to find other uses for WWII forces you may already have. The Gamer with an British 8th Army for the Egyptian Western Desert- now has Pacific Early War as a possible realm for scenarios/campaigns found here. The Modeler gets a whole new realm of great builds with mostly the same gear as in the ETO – but with those sexy rondels with the red removed (the classic British Rondel with a red center was too easily confused with Japan’s single red Sun symbol). For the Military Enthusiast- it’s a good survey of all the ways the British Empire and Japanese Empire clashed with pithy content on every page. As a survey history , I think all sorts of readers will find this an interesting topic- with some ramifications to this day…
