The Second World War Illustrated: The Fourth Year

The fourth year began with intensified fighting on Guadalcanal in the southern Solomon Islands in September 1942. The United States had launched their fight back in the Pacific when they landed there the previous month. In the Western hemisphere the USA threw its almighty weight into the fight against Hitler’s Germany with the ‘Operation Torch’ landings in North Africa. The Americans had boots on the ground.

Hitherto in the war the Axis had largely been the controllers of events; now as ofte...