Invasion Rabaul : the epic story of Lark Force, the forgotten garrison, January-July 1942 / Bruce Gamble.

Collection type	Library
Author	Gamble, Bruce, author.; Gamble, Bruce. Darkest hour : the true story of Lark Force at Rabaul, Australia's worst military disaster of World War II.;
Call Number	940.5426585 G191i
Document type	Monograph
Year	2014.
Pagination	304 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm.
Publisher	Zenith Press,
Note	Includes bibliographical references and index. "The first book in military historian Bruce Gamble's Rabaul trilogy, Invasion Rabaul chronicles the occupation and defense of Japan's island stronghold by the Australian Lark Force garrison through the eyes of those who survived the Japanese assault"-- "The riveting first book in Bruce Gamble's critically acclaimed Rabaul trilogy, originally published in hardcover as Darkest Hour, which chronicles the longest battle of World War II. January 23, 1942, New Britain. It was 2:30 a.m., the darkest hour of the day and, for the tiny Australian garrison sent to defend this Southwest Pacific island, soon to be the darkest hour of the war. Lark Force, comprising 1,500 soldiers and six nurses, faced a vastly superior Japanese amphibious unit poised to overrun Raba ul, capital of Australia's mandated territories. Invasion Rabaul, the first book in military historian Bruce Gamble's critically acclaimed Rabaul trilogy, is a gut-wrenching account of courage and sacrifice, folly and disaster, as seen through the eyes of the defenders who survived the Japanese assault. Gamble's gripping narrative follows key individuals--soldiers and junior officers, an American citizen and an Army nurse among them--who were driven into the jungle, prey to the unforgiving environment and a cruel enemy that massacred its prisoners. The dramatic stories of the Lark Force survivors, told here in full for the first time, are among the most inspiring of the Pacific War--and they lay a triumphant foundation for one of today's most highly prais ed military nonfiction trilogies"--
Place made	Minneapolis, MN :

Abstract

Prologue -- Diggers -- Evil Spirits -- Hostages to Fortune -- Prelude to an Invasion -- Chaos -- Vigorous Youth from Shikoku -- Every Man for Himself -- You Will Only Die -- Tol -- Escape: The Lakatoi -- Escape: The Laurabada -- Outcry -- Inside the Fortr ess -- Cruel Fates -- The Long Wait -- Epilogue.