Military Model Scene

Title: The Battle of Tinian
Author: John Grehan & Alexander Nicoll
Publisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 978-1-39908-527-4

'The Capture of the Atomic Bomb Island, July-August 1944', another Images of War title from Frontline Books and Pen & Sword. A 178-page soft-cover book.
Spread across 11 chapters, the introduction tells us how after a period of Japanese victory across the Pacific, US led forces fought back, winning back one island group at a time. From the Gilberts, then the Marshalls and then they reached the Marianas. With Saipan taken, another in the group was Tinian. An important aspect of this island was that it could form a base for the then new B-29 Superfortress, bringing it within range of the Japanese home islands. To take Tinian, with a garrison of around 10,000 Japanese troops, it started with a pre-invasion bombardment. This includes aerial attack that included the use of diesel/gasoline mis 'fire bombs', prior to the use of napalm, and used to attack cave and bunker defences. Add naval bombardment from destroyers to the might of the 16in guns of the battleship New Jersey. Then add the story of the assault itself, where we see a lot of photos of the use of LVTs, as well as both Stuart and Sherman tanks. Bags of detail for modellers. That however is far from the only stories to find in this book. Once the main Japanese forces had been defeated it still took another month to mop up any pockets of remaining resistance. Then the engineers moved in and built 6 new runways, 4 of these for the use of the B-29. It was from these runways at Tinian that the two atomic bombs, Fat Man and Little Boy, were loaded onto Enola Gay and Bockscar. Pictures show the 2 bomb pits today, now with protective covers to preserve them. Even more than this, there is the story of the USS Indianapolis. This US cruiser took the secret load of the uranium etc that were assembled on the island. Having delivered the cargo, the Indianapolis was torpedoed on her return trip by a Japanese submarine. Many of the crew escaped into the water but were then savaged by sharks.
With the archive photos, their captions, and the main text throughout the book means there is a fascinating mix of important stories of the war in the Pacific during WW2. The preparations, the invasion of Tinian, the story of the battle for the island plus the stories of the huge B-29 airfield, the atomic raids and the sad fate of the USS Indianapolis there is so much to find in this new addition to the ever popular Images of War series. I have no reservation in recommending this one.
Thanks to Pen & Sword for the review copy.

Robin