Fire from the Sky: Surviving the Kamikaze Threat
Fire from the Sky: Surviving the Kamikaze Threat by Robert C. Stern
English | 2010 | ISBN: 1848320388 | 401 pages | EPUB | 32 Mb
English | 2010 | ISBN: 1848320388 | 401 pages | EPUB | 32 Mb
By late 1944 the war in the Pacific had turned decisively against the Japanese, and as overwhelming Allied forces began to close in on the home islands Japan unveiled a terrifying new tactic: the suicide attack, or Kamikaze. Bomb-laden aircraft which were intentionally crashed into Allied warships, these piloted guided missiles at first seemed unstoppable, calling into question the naval strategy on which the whole war effort was based. This book looks at the origins of the campaign, at its strategic goals, the organization of the Japanese special attack forces, and the culture that made suicide not just acceptable, but honorable. Inevitably, much mythology has grown up around the subject, and the book attempts to sort the fact from legend. However, its principal focus is on the experience of those in the Allied fleets on the receiving end of this peculiarly alien and unnerving weapon- how they learnt to endure and eventually counter a threat whose potential was over-estimated, by both sides. In this respect, it has a very modern resonance.