Under a Blood Red Sun

By

John J. Domagalski

  This book was tailor made for those of us who, when we were kids, watched 'McHale's Navy' and the movie 'They were Expendable'. We were also shown and taught about the exploits of President Kennedy and the PT-109. The PT boat was part of us growing up. Sure, 'McHale's Navy' was a comedy, but it did show what these small, almost shark-like, fast boats could do. This book is about the men and actions of Torpedo Boat Squadron 3, based in the Philippines. They  were almost the only navy ships and sailors the U.S. had on hand when the Philippine Islands were invaded by the Japanese in 1941. This book is about their fight at long odds and their greatest achievement in bringing General Douglas MacArthur to safety, on orders from the president. Their 560 mile trek through Japanese patrolled waters to get MacArthur and other generals to safety was a long nightmare of bad gas and close calls.

  PT type boats were used by all of the major naval combatants in WWII. It was designed to give a small ship a mighty punch. Armed with two to four torpedoes and machine guns, these featherweights packed a heavyweight punch. A torpedo hit, especially one in the right place as in the Bismarck, could seriously compromise even a battleship.

 They were only six little ships to take on the might of the Japanese invasion force. All six of the ships were eventually lost to enemy fire. Their end was almost a foregone conclusion, but the battle they put up before being lost is the stuff that legends are made of. One of the problems that the U.S. Navy suffered with in the beginning of the war was with faulty torpedoes. The PT boats did score hits on vessels, but unfortunately the Japanese war records show no loss of ships.

 Their commander was Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley. His story, and the crews that fought with him, was front page news in 1941 and into the war years. Sadly, their fight against an overwhelming enemy has been relegated to the bottom of piles of old newspapers if remembered at all. They deserve to be remembered just as much as the 'Tin Can Sailors' from Leyte. The author, John J. Domagalski, should be thanked for bringing the brave men and their tough little boats back into the limelight. 

 The heroics of the PT boat men helped to award Lieutenant Bulkeley the Congressional Medal of Honor, among other medals, and he was touted in the U.S. early in the war as one of our first heroes. He went on to have a long career after the war and was retired as a Vice Admiral.

 The movie, 'They Were Expendable', also had some strange history to it. Robert Montgomery, who was tapped to play the part of Bulkeley, was also a PT boat skipper during WWII.


 Robert


Book: Under a Blood Red Sun
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Author: John J. Domagalski
Date of Review: 11/18/2016

The Franco-Prussian War 1870-71 Volume 1

by

Quintin Barry 

  The Franco-Prussian War in 1870 set Europe on a course of death and destruction for seventy-five years. The French loss engendered the revenge seen in World War I, which in turn brought on the vengeance of World War II. You might tie the Franco-Prussian War to the collapse of Europe from its dominant place in world politics, due to the above.

 In order for Germany to be united, the War had to happen. The smaller German states would never have rallied around Prussia if there was still a powerful outside nation to play them one against the other. The defeat in 1866 of Austria-Hungary set up Bismarck for his final challenge: to defeat France and then unify Germany over her prostrate form. Had Bismarck not taken Alsace-Lorraine as one of the spoils of war, maybe France would not have seethed so long and hard with the idea of revanche.

Helmuth von Moltke the elder

           

 The Franco-Prussian War was brought on by a telegram, helped by Bismarck's artful editing, before it was released to the press. The Ems telegram was made to look by Bismarck to be a French ultimatum for assurances that the crown of Spain would not go to a Hohenzollern.

 Mr. Barry, in this first volume about the war, goes into all of the different sticks laid on the proverbial camel's back from 1866 until the aforementioned telegram. He also goes into the building of the Prussian Army, and especially of its general staff under Moltke the elder. The book shows all of the different strengths and weaknesses of both the France and Prussia and her allies' armed forces. The technological superiority of the French Chassepot rifle had almost twice the effective range of the Prussian needle gun. It also explains how the French also misused their 'secret' weapon, the Mitrailleuse, which was the world's first effective machine gun, although it was much closer to a Gatling gun in its actual operation. The Prussian steel breech loading cannon, and their more effective use by them in 1870 compared to 1866, is shown to the reader.

Napoleon III

 The book goes into all of the battles on the frontier, and shows how the French gave better than they received through most of the engagements. The French, with a determined and centralized command structure, might have been able to at least bloody the Prussian nose enough to give Moltke pause. Unfortunately for them, the French soldiers' magnificent fighting was thrown away time after time by their generals. The near suicidal attacks by the Prussian and German soldiers on the French at Spicheren, Weissenburg, and Wörth pushed the French relentlessly back out of some excellent defensive positions. This was only after the French had inflicted large casualties on their attackers.

 The encirclement battles of the siege of Metz, and the final battle of the first part of the campaign Sedan are told to the reader along with all of the might have-beens had the French been able to work as an army instead of just as separated units.

 In the beginning of the book there is an interesting memorandum written by Moltke on the subject of the possibility of Austria entering into the war on the side of France:

  "If the political situation brings about a war of France against Prussia then the attitude of Austria will be either decidedly hostile or at least very doubtful. Should we oppose one half of our army to each of these two powers, we would be superior to neither. Therefore the first thing to be considered is: against which enemy will we in the start assume the defensive with minor forces, in order to advance offensively as strong as possible against the other?"

 Seeing that Schlieffen was tutored in the great general staff under Moltke, is it possible that this is where the 'Schlieffen Plan' actually comes from?

   The book was published by Helion and Company and distributed by Casemate Publishing. It includes seventy-four black and white pictures and also has seventeen maps of the campaign and battles.


Robert


Book: The Franco-Prussian War 1870-71 Volume 1
Author: Quintin Barry
Publisher: Helion and Company
Distributor: Casemate Publishing
Date of Review: 11/12/16

Combat Mission Road to Eindhoven Part 1 AAR by Ian Leslie

 

Part 2 of Road to Eindhoven Combat Mission AAR by Ian Leslie. Enjoy.