Facing Fearful Odds: The Siege of Wake IslandU of Nebraska Press, 2002 M06 1 - 754 pages Although the siege of Wake Island was not one of World War II's biggest campaigns, it had a profound psychological effect on the course of the nation's struggle. This was the battle that first raised American spirits in the dark weeks following Pearl Harbor. For sixteen suspenseful days, 449 U.S. Marines, assisted by a handful of sailors and soldiers and a few hundred civilian construction workers, withstood repeated attacks by numerically superior Japanese forces. Although Wake finally fell on 23 December 1941, its garrison made the Japanese pay an embarrassingly high price for a tiny coral outpost. ø Based on interviews with over seventy American and Japanese participants, the riveting, you-are-there narrative pulsates with the crack of rifles, the stutter of machine guns, the roar of cannon, and the concussion of bombs. This is a military history from the bottom up, an unforgettable reading experience told from the perspective of enlisted men and junior officers who served on the front lines. |
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Contents
AN EPIC THAT SHOULD GIVE EVERY AMERICAN HOPE The Birth of the Wake Island Legend | 3 |
THE MOST ISOLATED PLACE IN THE WORLD Wakes Geography and Climate | 13 |
WAKE ISLAND IS STIRRED TO LIFE The Atolls Early History 15681937 | 21 |
WE PLAN TO USE WAKE AS A BASE The US Navy and Wake Island 19351939 | 37 |
HEIGHHO HEIGHHO ITS OUT TO WAKE WE GO Congress Decides Wakes Future 19391940 | 55 |
PIONEER PARTY The Contractors Arrive January 1941 | 69 |
THE WORK IS BEING COMPLETED IN AN EFFICIENT AND WORKMANLIKE MANNER The Pace of Base Construction JanuaryDecember 1941 | 79 |
A HARDWORKING BUNCH Contractor Life on Wake JanuaryDecember 1941 | 91 |
BOY THIS DONT HAPPEN ON GUAM Wakes Second and Third Air Raids 910 December 1941 | 285 |
YOUD HAVE THOUGHT WED WON THE WAR The First Japanese Landing Attempt 11 December 1941 | 309 |
GET READY FOR ANOTHER ATTACK The Siege Stretches Out to a Week 1115 December 1941 | 337 |
IT WAS WATCH WATCH WATCH DAY AND NIGHT The Siege Drags On 1519 December 1941 | 367 |
WE LIVED AND SLEPT ON THE GUNS The Garrisons Hopes Raised and Dashed 2021 December 1941 | 385 |
WERE HEADED FOR WAKE The Pacif1c Fleet Sails to Wakes Relief 1521 December 1941 | 407 |
WE KNEW WE WAS IN FOR IT The Japanese Close In 2123 December 1941 | 431 |
THIS REMINDS ME OF A WILD WEST SHOW Wilkes Stands Firm 23 December 1941 | 451 |
TO DENY WAKE TO THE ENEMY The Marines Arrive August 1941 | 105 |
WELL BE BACK IN PEARL HARBOR IN A FEW MONTHS The Increasing American Military Commitment SeptemberOctober 1941 | 121 |
TIME GOES AWFUL FAST OUT HERE Marine Life on Wake OctoberDecember 1941 | 137 |
TIME IS SHORT Wake Nerves for War OctoberNovember 1941 | 151 |
I FEEL A BIT LIKE THE FATTED CALF Wake Gets a Fighter Squadron 28 November7 December 1941 | 167 |
THE ELITE OF ALL BRANCHES OF THE SERVICE The Wake Island Marines and Their Corps | 183 |
WE WILL BE FIGHTING ANY TIME NOW The State of Wakes Defenses 7 December 1941 | 203 |
THIS IS THE REAL THING The First Alarm 8 December 1941 | 225 |
MY GOD THOSE ARE JAPANESE Wakes First Air Raid 8 December 1941 | 241 |
DID THEY EVER GIVE US A LESSON Wakes Population Mobilizes for War 8 December 1941 | 261 |
WELL MAKE A STAND HERE The Fight for the Main Islet 23 December 1941 | 477 |
THE ISLAND IS BEING SURRENDERED The Final Hours of Resistance 23 December 1941 | 507 |
ONE OF THE GREATEST CASES OF FRIENDSHIP THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN A Battle for Survival 19411945 | 531 |
THE CUNNINGHAMDEVEREUX CONTROVERSY | 555 |
ORGANIZATION AND DEFENSE INSTALLATIONS OF THE WAKE ISLAND DETACHMENT FIRST DEFENSE BATTALION 6 DECEMBER 1... | 571 |
THE WAKE INVASION FORCE AND ITS SUPPORTS 811 DECEMBER 1941 | 575 |
NOTES | 577 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 681 |
709 | |
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Common terms and phrases
13 October 23 December Admiral air raid aircraft airfield American antiaircraft Army atoll atoll's aviation Barninger base Battery battle Bayler beach bombers bombs Brown interview Camp Capt Captain Chapman interview CINCPAC civilians Commander Cunningham Contractors coral CPNAB crew Cunningham and Sims Defense Battalion Defense of Wake destroyers enemy fire five-inch Freuler garrison Godbold gunners Hamas Heinl Holmes to author Imperial Japanese Navy Informal Report islet James P. S. Devereux Japan Japanese Navy Kajioka Kelnhofer Kimmel Kinney lagoon landing Leathernecks machine guns Major Devereux Malleck to author McAlister MCHA McKinstry Midway November Nowlin to author OANHD October officers Operations patrol Peacock Point Peale Island Pearl Harbor planes Platt Poindexter Potter Richardson Sergeant ships SNLF squadron Story of Wake Task Force Teters three-inch U.S. Marine Corps U.S. Navy USMC Wake Diary Wake Island Wake Island Command Wake Island Detachment Wake's War Plan Orange Wildcat Wilkes Island