War at the End of the World: Douglas MacArthur and the Forgotten Fight For New Guinea, 1942-1945

by James P. Duffy

Overview

A harrowing account of an epic, yet nearly forgotten, battle of World War II—General Douglas MacArthur's four-year assault on the Pacific War's most hostile battleground: the mountainous, jungle-cloaked island of New Guinea.

“A meaty, engrossing narrative history… This will likely stand as the definitive account of the New Guinea campaign.”—The Christian Science Monitor 

One American soldier called it “a green hell on earth.” Monsoon-soaked wilderness, debilitating heat, impassable mountains, torrential rivers, and disease-infested swamps—New Guinea was a battleground far more deadly than the most fanatical of enemy troops. Japanese forces numbering some 600,000 men began landing in January 1942, determined to seize the island as a cornerstone of the Empire’s strategy to knock Australia out of the war. Allied Commander-in-Chief General Douglas MacArthur committed 340,000 Americans, as well as tens of thousands of Australian, Dutch, and New Guinea troops, to retake New Guinea at all costs.

What followed was a four-year campaign that involved some of the most horrific warfare in history. At first emboldened by easy victories throughout the Pacific, the Japanese soon encountered in New Guinea a roadblock akin to the Germans’ disastrous attempt to take Moscow, a catastrophic setback to their war machine. For the Americans, victory in New Guinea was the first essential step in the long march towards the Japanese home islands and the ultimate destruction of Hirohito’s empire. Winning the war in New Guinea was of critical importance to MacArthur. His avowed “I shall return” to the Philippines could only be accomplished after taking the island.

In this gripping narrative, historian James P. Duffy chronicles the most ruthless combat of the Pacific War, a fight complicated by rampant tropical disease, violent rainstorms, and unforgiving terrain that punished both Axis and Allied forces alike. Drawing on primary sources, War at the End of the World fills in a crucial gap in the history of World War II while offering readers a narrative of the first rank.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451418302
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/05/2016
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

James P. Duffy is the author of over a dozen previous books, most on military history. His World War II titles include The Sinking of the Laconia and the U-Boat War, Target America, and Hitler's Secret Pirate Fleet. He has also written on the American Civil War and the rulers of Imperial Russia. He resides with his family in New Jersey.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Prologue 3

Part 1 1942

Chapter 1 "This Is War, Not a Sunday School Picnic" 9

Chapter 2 "Every Man for Himself" 30

Chapter 3 First Landings in New Guinea 43

Chapter 4 A General in Search of an Army 54

Chapter 5 To Port Moresby by Sea 84

Chapter 6 Second Landings in New Guinea 111

Chapter 7 Death Along the Kokoda Track 127

Chapter 8 First Defeat at Milne Bay 153

Chapter 9 "Take Buna, or Not Come Back Alive" 167

Part 2 1943

Chapter 10 Sailing the Bismarck Sea 185

Chapter 11 Assault on Salamaua 206

Chapter 12 Pincers Around Lae 227

Chapter 13 War on the Huon Peninsula 243

Chapter 14 Invasion Across the Straits 261

Part 3 1944

Chapter 15 The General and the Admiralties 281

Chapter 16 Reckless and Persecution 295

Chapter 17 Next Stop: Wakde 311

Chapter 18 Bloody Biak 328

Chapter 19 The General, the President, and the Admiral 344

Chapter 20 Breakout from Wewak 353

Chapter 21 Island-Hopping to Victory 361

Epilogue 381

Acknowledgments 385

Bibliography 387

Source Notes 401

Index 425

Editorial Reviews

11/23/2015
Historian Duffy (Lincoln’s Admiral) recovers from the annals of nearly lost history the decisive WWII campaign to secure New Guinea from Japanese forces. Duffy’s clear, concise, and comprehensive history, based primarily on secondary sources, begins with the Japanese invasion of New Britain (in the Bismarck Archipelago off the coast of New Guinea) in 1942 and ends with the last major operations on the western end of New Guinea in August 1944. He addresses the strategic and tactical aspects of the campaign through the experiences of senior leaders such as General MacArthur as well as the common soldiers in combat. Duffy also includes the Japanese and Australian perspectives of the campaign, equally important. The New Guinea campaign, which lasted more than two full years, is not that well known because it didn’t produce a large casualty count. This doesn’t diminish its strategic importance. Had the Japanese been successful in New Guinea, the use of Australia as a base for an Allied offensive against Japan would have been impossible. Duffy makes a strong case that MacArthur’s generalship is a major reason for the campaign’s success. The book lacks some deep analysis, but it is a good introduction. Maps. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

A meaty, engrossing narrative history… This will likely stand as the definitive account of the New Guinea campaign.”—The Christian Science Monitor 

“A vivid and well-researched chronicle of a 'forgotten fight' that was crucial to Allied victory...[War at the End of the World] gives those who were part of this forgotten fight the recognition they deserve.”—The Wall Street Journal

“This essential book adds insight and detail to a pivotal piece of the overshadowed war in the Pacific.”—Library Journal

“Historians will both admire and envy James P. Duffy’s War at the End of the World, for he has done what so few of us can do: He has provided a dramatic and informative narrative history of an otherwise unknown but essential part of our history. Duffy’s account of Douglas MacArthur’s conquest of New Guinea restores to its proper place one of the greatest, and most brilliant, military campaigns in American history. Beautifully written and carefully researched, Duffy’s narrative will now take its place as the standard history for a too-long-ignored campaign.”—Mark Perry, Author of The Most Dangerous Man in America: The Making of Douglas MacArthur

“Reaching deep into the jungles of New Guinea, James P. Duffy resurrects the spirit of MacArthur, Yamamoto, and the men who fought with rifle and bayonet for the Pacific War’s pivotal island. With swift pace and an unerring sense of drama, War at the End of the World brings to life the brutal campaign that transformed General MacArthur from American hero to Allied conqueror.”—Jonathan W. Jordan, New York Times Bestselling Author of American Warlords and Brothers Rivals Victors

“In War at the End of the World, James P. Duffy has restored to the nation’s memory a forgotten chapter of World War II, the four-year struggle for the world’s largest island, New Guinea. At stake was the future of Australia and the reputation of America’s best-known general, Douglas MacArthur. Don’t miss this vivid, superbly narrated drama, which will leave you with a fresh reservoir of pride in our fighting—and thinking—soldiers.”—Thomas Fleming, Author of The Illusion of Victory: America in World War I

“With stylish narration, James P. Duffy breathes new life into Douglas MacArthur’s crucial but oft-overlooked campaign in the ‘Green Hell’ of New Guinea. An excellent read.”—Bruce Gamble, Author of Invasion Rabaul 

“Duffy expertly unwinds the many disparate threads that make up wartime planning and communication, contrasting strategy with outcome and showing how the chain of command truly takes control in an otherwise chaotic situation…. An entertaining and well-researched war history that will satisfy intrigued novices and devoted students alike.”—Kirkus

“Duffy makes a strong case that MacArthur’s generalship is a major reason for the campaign’s success.”—Publishers Weekly

“Duffy tells the story of this pivotal part of the war in clear prose and in great detail.”—The American Spectator 

From the Publisher

12/01/2015
Historian Duffy (The Sinking of the Laconia and the U-Boat War) explores a critical but often overlooked series of battles in the Pacific theater of World War II, with equal focus given to the actions and motivations of Japanese and Allied forces. Without control of New Guinea, an Allied victory would have been a near impossible prospect. The strategic location of the island gave Australia a base to land and refuel, and granted the Allies a well-fortified foothold in the area. Duffy effectively describes the capture of New Guinea, an effort that mobilized a force of over half a million Japanese soldiers, as well as the viscous, slow, and bloody fight to take the land back. Unforgiving and nearly uninhabitable by humans, the island itself becomes a mutual enemy of both armies, winnowing away their ranks through disease and starvation, with soldiers sometime resorting to cannibalism to survive. This essential book adds insight and detail to a pivotal piece of the overshadowed war in the Pacific. At times, the descriptions can be somewhat bland; nevertheless, Duffy presents a complete chronicle aided by numerous maps. VERDICT This work may help raise the profile of this particularly brutal and bloody series of battles. For World War II historians and readers interested in a greater perspective of Douglass MacArthur or military strategy.—Benjamin Brudner, Curry Coll. Lib., Milton, MA

Library Journal

2015-11-29
A history of the battle for the island of New Guinea during World War II. Duffy (The Sinking of the Laconia and the U-Boat War: Disaster in the Mid-Atlantic, 2013, etc.) sets out to tell the "forgotten" story of Allied Commander in Chief Douglas MacArthur's battle against the Imperial Japanese Army for the seemingly inconsequential island of New Guinea. It's a bit misleading to classify this story as forgotten, given the breadth of war scholarship available, and little about Duffy's account of the events that transpired to beat back Japanese encroachment throughout the South Pacific appears new or revelatory. Nevertheless, the author ably reconstructs the chronology of battles that were pivotal to staving off the Japanese and their ambitious yet foolhardy goal of limitless military expansion. The empire sought the island of New Guinea as an offensive against Australia and ultimately against Allied forces taking strategic positions in the South Pacific. The American-led coalition focused their efforts on the strategic New Guinea city of Port Moresby on the southern side of the island as well as the port of Rabaul, located on the nearby island of New Britain. MacArthur's strategy of isolating groups of Japanese troops across the island to cut them off from supply chains forced them to either surrender, starve, or die of disease, which was rampant in the tropical jungles of the region. Duffy expertly unwinds the many disparate threads that make up wartime planning and communication, contrasting strategy with outcome and showing how the chain of command truly takes control in an otherwise chaotic situation. For all his careful reconstructing, Duffy is often exhaustively detailed, but his thoroughness pays off. The events of the war are elegantly retold, and while they may not be forgotten, they are certainly overlooked. This book could change that. Duffy's portrait of the South Pacific is an entertaining and well-researched war history that will satisfy intrigued novices and devoted students alike.

Kirkus Reviews