Devil’s Fire, Southern Cross

The Conclusion of the Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign, October 1943-February 1944

Devil’s Fire, Southern Cross cover

Devil’s Fire, Southern Cross

The Conclusion of the Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign, October 1943-February 1944

Description

A fast-paced and absorbing read of the final months of the crucial Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign during the Pacific War by esteemed World War II historian Jeffrey Cox.

This page-turning history examines the closing months of the vital campaign which ultimately determined the successful conclusion of the Pacific War for the Allies. But it had not been a smooth process. The campaign continued in fits and starts with both the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy making crucial errors.

But as the pendulum of war swung, there was one distinct advantage to the Allies. This was the successful efforts by the United States Army Signals Intelligence Section and the Navy Communication Special Unit to monitor, intercept, decode and translate Japanese messages. It was thanks in part to this intelligence breakthrough that victory was secured at the Battles of Empress Augusta Bay and Cape St. George as well as the bitterly contested Bougainville invasion. But it was also due to improvements in strategic and tactical doctrine on the part of the US Navy, so much so that the Battle of Cape St. George was dubbed the almost textbook-perfect battle.

At the start of the Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign the US Navy was the underdog. By its conclusion, US naval commanders had come of age. Combining first-rate scholarly research with a novelist's flair for the dramatic, Jeff Cox concludes his brilliant quartet on this key campaign.

Table of Contents

[Subject to confirmation]
Prologue
I. Walls Closing In
II. From Pestilence to Cartwheel
III. Strategic Ambiguity
IV. The Devil's Furnace Room
V. “Japan will topple if Bougainville falls”
VI. “The entire mobile surface and air strength of the Combined Fleet”
VII. “Guadalcanal … Minus All the Mistakes”
VIII. “The Almost Perfect Action”
IX. Remember the Alamo … Force
X. Cartwheel Constrictor
XI. Anti-Climax
Epilogue: Japanese War Crimes
Index

Product details

Published Jun 05 2025
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Extent 488
ISBN 9781472864512
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations 8-page plate section in black and white
Series General Military
Short code GNM
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Jeffrey Cox

Jeffrey R. Cox is a litigation attorney and an ind…

Resources

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