Military Model Scene

Title: Tidal Wave
Author: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
Publisher: Osprey
ISBN: 978-1-4728-

From Leyte Gulf to Tokyo Bay, the final stages of WW2 in the Pacific, from Osprey. A 320-page hard-cover book, and it is also available in e-book formats.
The book opens with a chapter on the very final shots of the war against Japan, before telling the story of how we got there, after the defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy as a meaningful force after their losses around Leyte Gulf. Even as the surviving Japanese vessels were sailing away in retreat, a new threat emerged as Japanese aircraft carried out their Kamikaze attack on 'Taffy 3', or US Light Carrier Task Unit 77.4.3 and the sinking of the St. Lo escort carrier. This remains at the heart of the book covering the last 10 months of the war. US Naval forces had to prepare for the increased threat from the Kamikaze attacks, and anti-aircraft defences, along with a new focus for US Navy and Marine air units as they countered these attacks, working hard to protect US navy units against these new attacks. There are many accounts of combat, and some US Navy pilots compiling high scores, with some becoming an 'ace in a day', when you had to down 5 enemy aircraft to gain 'ace' status. While the number of ships actually sunk was not too high, there were still casualties and many ships, including the valuable carriers, were damaged seriously enough that they had to return home to the USA for repairs and were thus removed from the battleground for many months. Then there is the arrival of the British Pacific Fleet to assist the Americans, and where the value of their armoured decks contrasted to the damage of the US wooden flight decks. There is also the account of a serious blow inflicted by the severe weather of a Typhoon, when Admiral Halsey made an error in directing his fleet, where serious damage and casualties were caused that could have been avoided. It goes on to tackle the assaults on both Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and the dear of even greater casualties if the allies were to invade the Japanese Home Islands. It also includes mention of the sinking of the IJN super carrier, the Shinano, and a cargo she carried which I for one had not known she carried before reading the book. It goes on, after the two atomic raids on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and with a further threat of a Russian invasion of the Japanese homeland, when the Japanese leadership finally chose to surrender. All leading to the final surrender being signed on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
Two important things for me with this book in how much I learned about some of the detail of what happened during these final stages of the war in the Pacific, but I also found the author's style very readable, and I enjoyed the whole book. The stories of the US Navy, the aircraft they operated from their carriers and their fights with the Kamikaze, flown in many cases by young, partially trained pilots who proved easy prey to the Hellcat, Corsair and even Royal Navy Seafire pilots. A book I can heartily recommend.
Thanks to Osprey for the review copy.

Robin