Leyte 1944: Return to the Philippines (Osprey Campaign 282)
Leyte 1944: Return to the Philippines (Osprey Campaign 282)
Osprey Publishing | 2015 | ISBN: 1472806905 | English | 97 Pages | True PDF | 20,1 MB
Osprey Publishing | 2015 | ISBN: 1472806905 | English | 97 Pages | True PDF | 20,1 MB
The loss of the Phillipines in 1942 was the worst defeat in American military history. General Douglas MacArthur, the 'Lion of Luzon', was evacuated by order of the President just before the fall, but he vowed to return, and in August 1944 he kept his word when he led the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific War to date on the island of Leyte. This is the full story of that fateful battle, one of the most ferocious campaigns of World War II and one of huge strategic and symbolic significance. Preceding it had been the largest naval battle ever fought: the battle of Leyte Gulf, in which the Imperial Japanese Navy was decisively crushed. This paved the way for four divisions of Lieutenant-General Krueger's Sixth Army to spear-head the assault. In the face of stubborn Japanese resistance, including the first systematic use of kamikaze attacks, the US forces ground slowly forwards before another amphibious assault took the vital position of Ormoc in the last decisive battle of the campaign.