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TURNING POINTS OF
WORLD WAR
II
MIDWAY ANft GUADALCANAL BY TOM McGOWEN
Japan's surprise attack
on December
7,
on Pearl Harbor United
1941 left the
States' military forces in the Pacific se-
verely cnppled. With her main adversary
temporarily incapable of offering serious retaliation,
Japan
lost
ing her conquests.
no time
The
in
expand-
Philippines,
Hong
Kong, British Malaya, Thailand, Guam, Burma, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies all fell in rapid succession before the weight of the seemingly invincible Japanese war machine. Despite their successes, the Japanese did not accomplish all they had set out to do. The American fleet, while badly damaged, was still causing trouble with "nui-
—
sance" raids. By luring the Americans
to
Midway Island, a strategic base, the Japanese were sure they could destroy the remainder of the Americans to heel.
fleet
and bring the
On June 4, 1942, vastly outnumbered by Japanese forces and equipment, commanding Admiral Chester Nimitz used a brilliant,
cunning strategy
to
defeat the
determined Japanese. The decisive victory at Midway proved to be the turning point of the war m the Pacific, allowing the Americans offensive for the
and
first
allies to
go on the
time since the w$g
began. (CONTINUED ON BACK FLAP)
WORLD
TURNING POINTS or
MIDWAY
AND
GUADAL-
CANAL
TOM McGOWEN FRANKLIN WATTS-
1984
NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY
880100 CATALINA H
Photographs courtesy
The National Archives:
pp.
of:
12, 35;
2, 6,
Culver Pictures, Inc.: pp. 5, 46; Navy Department: pp. 21, 52; UPI: pp. 42, 49, 69, 74, 78, 84, 95; U.S.
Marine Corps: pp.
Maps courtesy
of
62, 66.
Vantage
Art, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
McGowen, Tom. Midway and Guadalcanal. (Turning points of World Includes index.
War
II)
Summary: Details the World War II battles between Americans and the Japanese at the Pacific islands of Midway and Guadalcanal. 1. Midway, Battle of, 1942 Juvenile literature.
the
—
2.
Guadalcanal Island (Solomon
1943— Juvenile 2.
literature.
[1.
Islands), Battle
Midway,
Battle
of, of,
19421942.
Guadalcanal Island (Solomon Islands), Battle of, 19421943. 3. World War, 1939-1945— Pacific Ocean] I.
Series. 940.54'26
Title.
II.
D774.M5M35 1984
84-10398
ISBN 0-531-04866-7
Copyright
©
1984
by Tom McGowen
reserved United States of America
All rights
Printed
in the
5
4
3
2
CONTENTS
Prologue
1
CHAPTER ONE The Invincible Rising Sun
CHAPTER
9
TWO
The Attack on Midway 25
CHAPTER THREE The American Counterblow 39
CHAPTER FOUR America on the Offensive 55
CHAPTER FIVE Battling
It
Out
CHAPTER First
Step
to
71
SIX
Victory 87
For Further Reading 99
Index 101
ESPECIALLY FOR BROTHER, BILL
MY
PROLOGUE
of the U.S. Navy and the empire of Japan, which played such a tremendously important part in the Pacific
The warships