Singapore and After: a study of the Pacific campaign

Author: Joseph Montague Kenworthy Strabolgi
Publisher: Hutchinson & Co, 1942
Condition: Hardcover, no dust jacket, broken spine, stained cover, interior clean, first edition
Lord Strabolgi served as a naval officer on the China station for three years and knows well the area of the fighting in the Western Pacific and the ways and habits of the Japanese. In 1939, before the outbreak of war, he visited Burma, Siam, Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies and Australia. At Singapore he inspected the fortifications and the naval military and air force establishments. He saw the Dutch naval and military preparations at Sourabaya and other points in Java and Sumatra, and had important conversations with the officials concerned.

This book traces the progress of Japanese aggression from 1897 onwards and explains the plans of the naval and military cliques for widespread conquests in the East as a preliminary to world domination. It gives a detailed and vivid account of the campaign, explains the conditions and circumstances which facilitated the Japanese successes and shows how the assailants can be checked and eventually thrown back and defeated by a vigorous and ruthless offensive strategy.

There is an important description of the novel tactics employed by the Japanese in the land, sea and air campaigns and a study of the best means of defeating them.

Lord Strabolgi, while giving full credit to the bravery and devotion of the allied forces, exposes certain of the blunders in strategy and preparation and draws from them valuable lessons and conclusions.