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Bruce Gamble

A history of World War II’s Operation Cartwheel, a major Allied operation by US, Australian, and New Zealand forces to take the Japanese base at Rabaul.

Prior to World War II, few Americans had heard of Rabaul, a small harbor town in a far-off corner of the Pacific. But it became a household name after the Japanese captured Rabaul in January 1942 and developed it into their most heavily defended fortress outside the home islands. Thereafter, Rabaul endured Allied air attacks for a total of forty-four months—a span unmatched by any other locale during World War II.

In Target: Rabaul, respected military historian Bruce Gamble concludes his critically acclaimed trilogy about Japan’s most notorious stronghold. Picking up where Fortress Rabaul left off, Gamble narrates the story of Cartwheel, the multiple-operation plan that isolated Rabaul through aerial and naval siege. The effort, involving all of the armed branches of the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, resulted in some of the heaviest and most dramatic aerial combat of the Pacific war, with frequent clashes between hundreds of planes.

The culmination of an amazing story, Target: Rabaul profiles the resolve of the Allied and Japanese combatants in the horrific Pacific battleground—and provides the turbulent, triumphant conclusion to the most comprehensive account of World War II’s longest battle.

“Bruce Gamble has done it again! An impeccable researcher and a master storyteller with a keen eye for details and characters, Gamble presents Target: Rabaul, a powerful conclusion to his must-read trilogy on the battle over Japan’s Southwest Pacific stronghold. The heart-pounding stories of aerial combat read like a thriller—and show why he is one of the finest writers working today.” —James Scott, author of The War Below and The Attack on the Liberty

Zenith Press

The Rabaul Trilogy

Target: Rabaul: The Allied Siege of Japan's Most Infamous Stronghold, March 1943–August 1945

“This tour de force . . . is an absolute must for anyone interested in the true story of one of World War II’s most interesting—and most overlooked—battles.” —Col. Walter Boyne, USAF (Ret.), author of Clash of Wings

For most of World War II, the mention of Japan’s island stronghold sent shudders through thousands of Allied airmen. Some called it “Fortress Rabaul,” an apt name for the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese forces in the Southwest Pacific. Author Bruce Gamble chronicles Rabaul’s crucial role in Japanese operations in the Southwest Pacific. Millions of square feet of housing and storage facilities supported a hundred thousand soldiers and naval personnel. Simpson Harbor and the airfields were the focus of hundreds of missions by American air forces.

Winner of the “Gold Medal” (Military Writers Society of America) and “Editor’s Choice Award” (Stone and Stone Second World War Books), Fortress Rabaul details a critical and, until now, little understood chapter in the history of World War II.

“Not for the first time, Bruce Gamble has done amazing work gathering a dazzling array of tiny, little facts, then arranging them in a big, dazzling story that amazes one’s inner historian even as it breaks one’s heart on its way to a triumphal conclusion.” —Eric Hammel, author of Two Flags over Iwo Jima

“Drawing on a variety of sources from both sides, the author has written a detailed reference book that reads like a novel.” —Air Classics

“Fortress Rabaul opens a broader vista on this under-studied campaign with its wide research, thoughtful analysis, and gifted story-teller’s panache.” —WWII History Magazine

Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942–April 1943