Bloody Buna

by Lida Mayo

This is the story of the hard fought battle for Buna against the Japanese in WWII. Won by MacArthur in January 1943..it was begun in July 1942. The author began his research right after the war and obtained first hand accounts of the battle.

Genres: World War II, Nonfiction, History, Military Fiction, Military History, War

222 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping story of the campaign in New Guinea to take the coastal town of Buna. For the Australian and American troops involved, many of them inexperienced and in combat for the first time, the fighting in harsh jungle conditions against the Japanese- a foe determined to fight to the death- was as hard as any fighting in WWII. This book is of particular interest to me, as I had an uncle who served in the US artillery in New Guinea. He survived, but like almost all of his generation, has passed away. It's up to us to remember the service and sacrifice of these men.

[Robert Neil Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lida Mayo's Bloody Buna is a straightforward narrative of Allied operations against the Imperial Japanese Army in Papua New Guinea from July 1942 to January 1943. Mayo weaves together the US and Australian official histories of the campaign into a single story of a battle in which conditions oscillated from awful to almost surreal in its horror. In doing so, she reinforces the impression that the jungle battlefield in World War II was the most hostile environment in which to fight; indeed the battlefield itself was as much an enemy as the men facing each other often just yards away. Mayo's focus is, however, on the command of the battle rather than engaging fully with the 'new' military history just emerging in the 1970s where how soldiers fought became as important as how battles unfolded. Her story is no less valid for that, and Mayo's depiction of the officers, especially the aloof MacArthur, is helpful. Mayo also tells the story from all three sides so that we know who was trying to do what and how successful they were. In doing so, she creates a useful primer for understanding the battle and establishes a framework for further reading.

[Steve Dedier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice short overview of this lesser known campaign. Even though it is short is gives a good feel for the miserable conditions and brutal fighting.
The allies were yet to learn how to truly fight the dug in Japanese and didn't have the equipment to do so anyway. Lessons learned may have contributed to the later bypass strategy as isolating Japanese pockets would have had the same long term outcome with far fewer casualties

[Kraig Dodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, quick read about the bloody battle for Buna. This book chronicles the horror of the fighting for both sides, and some of the poor leadership decisions that led to the deaths of many, many men. At least we know they learned many lessons from this bitter fighting that saved lives later on.

[MatthewS · Rating 5 out of 5]

likely the first World War 2 book that I ever read. Originally published by playboy press it was part of a series of books on World War II. Even though I likely read it in the late seventies I still remember details of the text as it was extremely well-written and engaging.

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good as I recall, harrowing account of jungle fighting in New Guinea in WWII. Short but gripping.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Documents the WWII campaign in New Guinea where U.S. and Australian soldiers stopped the Japanese invasion.

Absolutely horrific environmental conditions with heavy losses to tropical diseases.