Maps
Foreword
Introduction
"I would've followed him anywhere" : Southwest Pacific, 6 August 1942
"Where I'm going will either make or break me" : Southwest Pacific, 6 August 1942
"Will I run? Will I be afraid?" : British Solomon Islands, 7 August 1942
"You think we'll ever get off this damned island?" : Guadalcanal, 8-11 August 1942
The Goettge Patrol : Guadalcanal, 8-11 August 1942
"Boy, they were a sight for sore eyes!" : Guadalcanal, 18 August-14 September 1942
"A pesthole that reeked of death, struggle and disease" : Guadalcanal, September 1942
"Thirty hours of pure hell" : Guadalcanal, October 1942
"It was just a crazy thing to do" : the Battle of Point Cruz, 1-4 November 1942
"We've got the bastards licked!" : Guadalcanal, 7 November-9 December 1942
"Saviours of Australia" : Brisbane and Melbourne, December 1942-January 1943
"The trick is to turn just fast enough" : Camp Balcombe, January-March 1943
New arrivals : Camp Balcombe, January-March 1943
Planning for action : Southwest Pacific, March-December 1943
"Green hell" : Cape Gloucester, 26 December 1943-2 January 1944
Suicide Creek : Cape Gloucester, 3-4 January 1944
Walt's Ridge : Cape Gloucester, 9-10 January 1944
Seek and destroy : New Britain, January-February 1944
Operation Appease : Talasea, March 1944
"The sickness, the rain, the spider" : New Britain, March-May 1944
"Whose bright idea was this anyway?" : Pavuvu Island, May 1944
Changing places : Pavuvu Island, May-June 1944
Operation Stalemate : Southwest Pacific, June-July, 1944
Sledgehammer : Pavuvu Island, June 1944
"They really put on a show" : Pavuvu Island, June-August 1944
"This is going to be a short one, a quickie" : Southwest Pacific, July-September 1944
"Move it! Move it!" : Peleliu, 15 September 1944
"They're Nip tanks!" : Peleliu, 15 September 1944
"Everywhere shells flashed like giant firecrackers" : Peleliu, 16-17 September 1944
"I never saw such agonized expressions" : Peleliu, 20-25 September 1944
"I'm hit! Christ, I'm hit!" : Sniper's Alley, 25-26 September 1944
"Put the man out of his misery!" : Ngesebus Island, 28-29 September 1944
"Shit, they're behind us!" : Umurbrogol Pocket, 1-4 October 1944
"Hillbilly and Ack-Ack" : Umurbrogol Pocket, 5-12 October 1944
The lucky few : 13-29 October 1944
"We were worn down and sobered" : Pavuvu Island, October-November 1944
Where next? : Southwest Pacific, December 1944-February 1945
"The road to certain victory" : Okinawa, March 1944-February 1945
"In some ways it was bigger than D-Day" : from the Solomons to the Ryukyus, March 1945
Love Day : Okinawa, 1 April 1945
"We were euphoric, undisciplined, and stupid" : Okinawa, 2-10 April 1945
"I burned the whole village to the ground" : Okinawa, 13-26 April 1945
"Hit the deck and dig in!" : North of the Asa River, 1-3 May 1945
"We gotta get the hell outta here" : Death Valley, 4-9 May 1945
"Hell's own cesspool" : Wana Draw and Half Moon Hill, 11-24 May 1945
"Wild-eyed expressions of shock and fear" : Maggot Ridge to Shuri Castle, 25-29 May 1945
The final stretch : Tskuazan to Kunishi Ridge, 3-18 June 1945
End game : Kiyan Peninsula, 18-30 June 1945
"We sure have a lot to be thankful for" : Motobu Peninsula, 27 June-17 August 1945
Postscript: "We'd forged a bond that time would never erase" : returning home, summer 1944-July 2020.