[Editor's note: This is another abbreviated chapter excerpt from the upcoming book...]
At this point, the question may have been raised in the reader's mind as to why so much fighting took place in the South West Pacific area...Most of the islands where combat took place were small, uninhabitable for all but the most primitive of people...Almost no natural resources of international value were to be found except on the larger land masses of Borneo and Indonesia...Some plantation farming was done by European settlers including expatriate Germans and Italians, but the profits from such agriculture were not worth the cost of war...Tourism was non-existent as no amenities were in place which would have attracted travelers and vacationers...
Approach to the smaller islands where much of the fiercest fighting was engaged, was for the most part hazardous at its best, with jagged coral reefs presenting a natural barrier to deep water vessels...The few protected harbors often had points of entry which were difficult to find, and once there, challenging to navigate...In addition most of the charts available were outdated, often by centuries...Long, sloping, sandy approaches to any of the beach areas brought unwanted exposure to enemy fire for troops embarked on the slow, shallow draft landing vessels...These attributes made landing invasion troops problematic, and once there, the task of keeping them supplied was exacerbated by the preventative activities of belligerents...
Once entrenched on the islands, the occupation forces faced some resistance from the primitive islanders who only wished to be left alone, but this was more a nuisance than a genuine problem for the Japanese...Islanders made their living from fishing, and had a subsistence lifestyle, but were not able to mount any armed offense other than harassment raids...They were often forced into labor by the invading Japanese either as slaves, or extremely underpaid workers doing the menial chores of clearing jungle growth, and preparing defense foundations, digging by hand...Their only alternatives were evasion or death... Most were willing associates of the Allied coastwatchers whom they knew to be enemies of the invaders, and also paid better wages...
Most, if not all, of the Pacific Rim islands, those forming the semi-circular chain between the larger land masses of Asia, Indonesia and Australia and the vast Pacific Ocean were of volcanic origin, rising from the sea over millions of years...The black volcanic rock, and the resultant black sand from eons of wind and sea erosion, were of little agricultural use, although pockets of suitable soil led to cultivation of small fruit crops by islanders and the few settlers...The only good thing that could be said about the volcanic islands is that they were mostly snake-free until some invasive species were accidentally transported there, mostly after WWII...But other reptiles, including crocodiles, make their homes in the small waterways of the Solomon Islands...
By and large, the worst enemy the combatants had was the weather and inhospitable climate faced not only by the invaders, but the Allied forces sent to drive them out... Heat saps the energy of anyone, especially those unaccustomed to working in it...The problem is compounded when it is required to maintain a constant state of alertness, while at the same time carrying 40 pounds or more of equipment at all times...The high humidity found in the tropical islands soon soaks any clothing worn, making the wearer even more uncomfortable, and increasing the effort needed for normal activities...On some islands rainfall was almost a daily occurrence, but instead of having a cooling effect, it only added to the humidity felt by all...
In the thick undergrowth just beyond the beach areas, where all defensive positions were maintained in order to evade observation by the enemy, even less air stirred, and the jungle became the enemy as insects, rodents and reptiles all showed their resentment toward those invading their space...Mosquitoes brought on epidemics of malaria in which those infected would be incapacitated as warriors, requiring the further employment of manpower in their medical care...The Japanese diet of polished rice, with its attending deficiency of vitamin B1, combined with the general weakened condition resulting from the jungle environment, induced crippling bouts of Beriberi, requiring hospitalization and the further expenditure of manpower...
Why then would the Japanese dedicate so many military assets to the defense of small, sometimes uncharted, economically useless islands, some of which were not much more than oversized sandbars?...The answer lies in the strategic value of the outlying islands...When the Japanese military planners unleashed their series of conquests, plundering the areas of South East Asia, Burma, China and the large islands of Indonesia and Borneo, all with their rich resources of minerals, rubber and oil, they knew the stolen assets would require defense against the rightful owners, the US, Britain, Holland and France, who would be livid with rage (well, maybe not the weak-kneed French)...They also understood that the place to make their stand was not the land masses where they were busy stealing the property of others, but the tiny little spits of sand and rock arranged in an outlying semi-circle where the enemy had to approach from across thousands of miles of ocean...
They weren't so much worried about the back door and the Indian Ocean approach, as their strategy of applying airpower against the British and Dutch sea forces had paid off, destroying the British Prince of Wales, Repulse and Thracian in December 1941, as well as four more by April 1942...Dutch losses to Japanese aircraft included a sub-marine and destroyer, plus the capital ships, De Ruyter and Java to naval torpedoes, all before February 1942...French losses in the Pacific were zero through their strategy of not showing up for the fight...
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