WGSC: Bloody Shambles [2 vols] (GS)

[Baldrick62]

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Book Title:

Bloody Shambles (2 vols)

Author:

Christopher Shores & Brian Cull with Yasuho Izawa

ISBN:

0-948817-50-X / 0-948817-67-4

Category:

History

Format:

Hardback

Summary:

Excellent two volume work which provides, as it states on the label, 'the first comprehensive account of air operations over South-East Asia Dec 1941 - May 1942. A third volume deals with the Air War over Burma from 1942-45. Vol.1 (416pp), subtitled 'The Drift to War to the Fall of Singapore', deals with the lead-up to and Japanese operations against Malaya, the Philippines, Burma, Hong Kong and through the Indonesian archipelago to New Guinea and Rabaul, providing sortie by sortie detail of actions undertaken by both sides. This is carried on in Vol.2 (494pp), subtitled 'The Defence of Sumatra to the Fall of Burma', which further expands the action to Australia, the Coral Sea and Ceylon. Vol.2 also contains a 'missing chapter' from the previous book on the RAF attacks on Endau. Throughout both volumes, which are well served by tables and photographs, the authors draw heavily on personal accounts and recollections (mostly, though not exclusively, Allied) to detail the tragically comical state of Allied preparedness and leadership, the disparities in equipment and the very trying conditions under which the campaign was fought. There is good detail on less well-known aspects, such as the significant Dutch contributions, the severe losses suffered by the Japanese bomber forces and the amazing rescue by a Catalina of 79 survivors from a sunken Dutch ship. My only gripe is that they could have included some more detailed maps to better explain some of the operations. Overall though, a 'must have' for anyone interested in the early air war in the SW Pacific and SE Asia.

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[David Manley]

I found these invaluable when I was running naval campaigns set in and around Singapore.

[Dak21]

I’ve been reading this one over the last few weeks and really enjoying it. It is loaded with detailed personal accounts that make it hard to put down sometimes. One of my favorites so far is a story of two RAF pilots that find themselves stranded and cut off by Japanese paratroopers. They confidently stride up to a Japanese machine gunner and demand to see his superior. I won’t spoil it, but the result is quite funny, and something that could have only happened in the first few days of the war in the pacific. I highly recommend it as well. Certainly the most detailed account of the early battles in the southwest pacific, Thailand and Burma. The courage and desperation of the pilots and ground crews involved is often breathtaking.