Wild Rose (Patterson Memorial)

The Ghost Mountain boys, their epic march and the terrifying battle for New Guinea, the forgotten war of the South Pacific, James Campbell

eng

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The Ghost Mountain boys

digital audio book

237177324

James Campbell

their epic march and the terrifying battle for New Guinea, the forgotten war of the South Pacific

In 1942, when World War II exploded onto New Guinea's shores, it was an inhospitable, cursorily mapped, disease-ridden land of dense jungle, towering mountain peaks, deep valleys, and fetid swamps. Coveted by the Japanese for its strategic position, New Guinea became the site of one of the South Pacific's most savage campaigns. Despite their lack of jungle training, the 32nd Division's Ghost Mountain Boys were assigned the most grueling mission of the entire Pacific campaign: to march 130 miles over the rugged Owen Stanley Mountains and to protect the right flank of the Australian army as they fought to push the Japanese back to the village of Buna on New Guinea's north coast. Comprised of National Guardsmen from Michigan and Wisconsin, reserve officers, and draftees from across the country, the 32nd Division lacked more than training-- they were without even the basics necessary for survival. Exhausted and pushed to the brink of human endurance, the Ghost Mountain Boys fell victim to malnutrition and disease. Forty-two days after they set out, they arrived two miles south of Buna, nearly shattered by the experience. Arrival in Buna provided no respite. The 32nd Division was ordered to launch an immediate assault on the Japanese position. After two months of furious, sometimes hand-to-hand, combat, the decimated division finally achieved victory

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