When one thinks of US paratroopers, one is initially drawn to the vast number used during Overlord and the even larger number deployed during Market Garden. However, Europe and the Mediterranean were not the only place that the US Army used paratroop forces. True, in the Pacific, they were not used until the last years of the war and the operations were small compared to those in Europe, but they were used with great success in a climate that turned out to be a lot less hospitable to combat troops than was Europe.

These troops were used in operations late in the campaign in New Guinea and for the rest of the war in the Philippines. In these jungle locations, it was as much a battle against the elements as it was against the enemy. The troops were not equipped as well as they would have liked to battle in the hot, humid jungles of these two locales, and I would daresay that there were as many casualties due to medical issues as there were from combat against the ever weakening Japanese defenders.

Author Gordon Rottman takes an interesting tack in presenting this book in the Warrior series from others. As you may know by now, there are key areas that are covered in each book of this series and this is all accomplished by concentrating on one unit, the 511th Parachute Regiment of the 11th Parachute Division. This was one of the two regiments in this division that performed most of the drops and other combat in which the division was involved.

We follow a typical volunteer through his initial training, jump school, specialist trainging, and finally into combat. We see how he feels about himself and his sense of pride and belonging at being a paratrooper. These men had uniforms that were different from the rest of the army and so they stood out as being part of an elite group.

To show how these men performed in combat, two major operations are covered in greater detail. One is the jump onto Corregidor to retake this island from the Japanese. These men had to be dropped in two 'shifts' due to lack of transport. They were also up against many times more Japanese than they had anticipated. Drop zones were small and caused considerable difficulty. The other was a relatively long term campaign in the jungles of Leyte during late 1944. In this one, it was as much the conditions as it was the Japanese that had to be overcome as the fighting was in very hilly jungle terrain. Both events are superbly reported, making this a book that both entertains and informs. A book that puts the spotlight on men and units that are rarely covered by other books. A book that I know you will like.

January 2013

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