To the Far Side of Hell: The Battle for Peleliu, 1944 (Alabama Fire Ant) Review

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(More customer reviews)Peleliu was a bitch. Bad intelligence, new Japanese tactics, horrible terrain, tired troops, vegetation that hid the rough terrain all combined to change the estimated three day campaign to put down a few hundred Japanese troops lasted for 71 days of truly vicious fighting by the 10,500 Japanese troops dug into the caves and hidden. It has even been argued that the invasion of Peleliu wasn't necessary as leaving it behind to wither on the vine would have done just as much good.

None the less, Peleliu was taken. One of the bloodiest battles in the the Pacific, now largely forgotten. About the only good think you can say regarding Peleliu is that it tought some valuable lessons to the Marines. These were to be well used in subsequent campaigns where the Japanese again fought with similar tactics.

Mr. Wright is becoming a well known author after publishing books on Tarawa and Iwo Jima.

The front cover is from Peleliu and has become famous as 'The Two Thousand Yard Stare."

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Product Description:
A poignant account and analysis of the bloody battle in the Pacific.

To the Far Side of Hell is the story of the World War II battle for the Pacific island of Peleliu in the autumn of 1944. Although this battle is far less well known--even among U.S. Marine Corps veterans--than Tarawa, Iwo Jima, or Okinawa, the savagery of the fighting, the courage and determination displayed, and the casualty rate suffered by the units of the 1st Marine Division can claim equal significance.

Peleliu was a troubled operation from the start. Since the fast-moving situation in the Central Pacific seemed to have removed any pressing need to occupy the Palau Islands, it is arguable that the battle was not necessary. For the planners of the island-hopping campaign, the operation was a distraction from a more important goal--the Marianas.

The 1st Marine Division, weary from earlier campaigns, was not given needed resources prior to the invasion, and there were damaging tensions within the senior ranks. When the Marines landed, they came up against Japan's new defensive technique--a garrison determined to die where they stood, fortified in deep, complex bunker systems. In searing heat, and exposed to the dug-in Japanese guns amidst the ridges and gulches of an unsuspected labyrinth of concrete-hard coral, the Marines found the predicted short conflict turned into a protracted, bloody 71-day battle.

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