ISBN: 0-7864-2769-8
Pages: vi + 198

Acknowledgments; Preface; Introduction; Abbreviations; photos; maps; TOEs; Bibliography; Index

   The United States Marine Corps earned a reputation in the Pacific war with nearly four years of toil, misery, and blood, including some of the most costly battles of the entire global conflict. Although the Marines also fielded an array of independent non-divisional formations, the six Marine divisions did the bulk of the fighting and suffered the majority of the casualties. George Clark builds his book around the stories of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Marine Divisions during World War II, with each receiving a chapter-length divisional history.
   Clark opens with thumbnail biographies of more than fifty important senior Marine officers, providing information about birth, education, service, ranks, command, and death. Here's a typical entry:

   Price, Charles Frederick Berthold. Lieutenant General. 2d MarDiv. Born on 18 September 1881, in Hamburg, Germany of American parents living abroad. Earned a Civil Engineering degree from Pennsylvania Military College in 1902. Commissioned a 2dLt of Marines in 1906 followed by education at the School of Application, Annapolis, MD. Expeditionary duty in Cuba September 1906-December 1908, Nicaragua and Panama Canal Zone 1909-1910 and the occupation of Vera Cruz in 1914. Bn commander in the 11th Marines, 5th Marine Brig, AEF in 1918. Instructor at MCS in 1923. Overseas duty with the American Legation in Peking 1925-1927, the American Electoral Mission in Nicaragua 1928 and 1930-1932, and with the Fourth Marines at Shanghai, China April 1935-November 1938. Especially noted and awarded a DSM for his superb handling of a delicate situation as the Japanese and Chinese struggled about Shanghai. Assigned to the Naval Examining Board at HQMC, 1938-February 1941. Brigadier general on 1 August 1940 while serving as a member of the Naval Examining Board at HQMC. CG of the Dept of the Pacific February-November 1941 then 2d MarDiv between November 1941 and April 1942. Major general in February 1942. Commanded the Defense Force, Samoan Group April 1942-May 1944. Commander of San Diego Area and Marine Training and Replacement Command May 1944-1948. Lieutenant general upon retirement on 25 October 1948. Decorations included the DSM and Legion of Merit, plus numerous campaign medals. Died in January 1954.

   Following the biographical section, Clark begins his divisional chapters. These range from over thirty pages to fewer than fifteen. Each chapter gives the lineage of the unit, an outline of its pre-war service, wartime training and movement, and a fairly detailed account of the division's WWII action. In most cases, Clark includes a map and OB for each campaign in which the unit was involved. The OBs are especially detailed, with all the key officers down to battalion COs and ExOs, with dates wounded, KIA, or relieved. Even so, the heart of each chapter is the operational narrative. Here's a brief extract from one of the divisional histories:

OKINAWA

   Second Division embarked in late March as part of Task Group 51.2, which launched a diversion along the southeast coast of Okinawa, at the same time the actual landings were being made elsewhere on 1 April 1945. Shortly before dawn on 1 April 1945 the great and small naval guns, plus numerous aircraft from nearby carriers, blasted the island. The 2d MarDiv was going to make a feint off Minatoga beaches. The reply came swiftly and deadly. Flights of Japanese aircraft began dropping in on transports and warships. The transport Hinsdale and LST 884, with members of 3/2, was standing by when struck. Eight Marines were killed, eight missing, and 37 wounded. It was not a good sign for the forthcoming major landings up north on the west coast.
   MG Roy S. Geiger, second in command to LG Simon B. Buckner, Jr., USA, urged his CO to land the 2d MarDiv on the southeastern coast, forcing the fiercely defending Japanese forces to disperse. Buckner, however, refused to have another Marine division ashore. Consequently, though the 2d MarDiv was available and an amphibious landing would probably have eased the losses of the American troops, the entire division was never used on Okinawa.
   It was, however, directed to land and capture two small islands in the Ryukyu chain, Iheya and Aguni. Under its new CG, MG LeRoy P. Hunt, the 2d MarDiv landed, the 8th Marines supported on 3 June; the regiment, meeting little resistance, captured the island within 24 hours. On 15 June the 8th Marines and supporting units were landed on Okinawa, to relieve the hard-pressed U.S. Army and Marine divisions laboring against fierce resistance. Though they didn't land until nearly the end of the campaign, the regiment suffered 252 casualties, of whom 36 were killed. On 21 June the island was declared secure.

   The author's prose sometimes slips into an amateurish style, but he gets the job done, and there's no doubt that he has chewed through a huge amount of information in order to produce these chapters. Most of the material in the chapters can be found in the relevant divisional history volumes as well as the USMC official history series. Anyone who owns all the divisional histories and/or all the official histories could probably live without this volume. Nevertheless, the book serves as a great introductory survey of the six divisions as well as a handy compendium for quick reference. It also makes an excellent companion to Gordon Rottman's U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle which presents tons of data about the USMC in the Pacific, but far shorter divisional sketches.
   Anyone who doesn't own all the Marine divisional histories and all the official volumes should definitely acquire this book. Anyone who already owns all the divisional histories and all the official volumes will probably want to acquire The Six Marine Divisions in the Pacific for the sake of completeness.
   Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from McFarland & Company.
   Thanks to McFarland for providing this review copy.