Number 109 in their 'Warrior' series is on the US Marine Corps Raider of 1942-43. We have all heard of Carlson's Raiders and their raid on the Japanese held island of Makin during 1942. This was a daring raid of men transported by submarines who attacked the garrison of this atoll in August of 1942, about the same day that the Marines landed at Guadalcanal. Despite being a shambles of errors and mistakes, the men of this group were successful in the overall mission and gave the American public another morale boost in the early days of the war in the Pacific.

However, the Raiders were not what most of the hierarchy in the Marine Corps wanted. These men were something like the British commandos and so were somewhat unconventional in a corps that itself was somewhat unconventional. They were also led by some radical thinkers like Carlson and when the opportunity came to integrate the Raiders with the rest of the Marine Corps, it was taken.

Author Ed Gilbert takes a good look at what sort of person wanted to join the Raiders through the lives of two of its men (given fictitious names for the purpose of the book). These men lived very basic lives while in combat and did much with little. Constantly plagued more by the climate, topography, and disease than by the Japanese, they managed to pull off some pretty remarkable feats in their short two years of existence.

The book covers the usual sections that are in every 'Warrior' edition; recruitment and training, beliefs and belongings, appearance, dress and special weapons and the daily life of these men. Then there is a large section on specific battle experiences of the raiders and what eventually happened to these units. The usual end notes with information on museums and collections is provided.

Along with all this are superb period photos of the men involved and the conditions under which they had to fight. Howard Gerrard provides his superb illustrations to add some depth and color to the book with not only depictions of the uniforms and equipment, but also of some of the action these men saw.

In all, this is an outstanding book on a group of men that have often sparked the imagination. As in many cases, the reality is both different and more intense than originally thought. A book that I very much enjoyed reading and I know that you will as well.

September  2006

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