As the Japanese Supreme War Council plots the subjugation of seven hundred millions Asians, the rest of the country is dedicated to the Way of the Emperor. Japan eyes Rabaul on the island of New Britain in the Solomon Islands as the fortress from which they intend to control the South Pacific. In order to wrest control of Rabaul from the Japanese, American forces take control of the island of Munda, building an airstrip in the space of five days from August 8th to the 12th, 1943. From the comfort of one's living room chair, this is just one sterling example of the kind of American exceptionalism that finds itself in disrepute today.
From Munda, Allied forces landed on and gained control of Bougainville, largest of the Solomons, on November 1st, 1943. While controlling the perimeter, Americans fought heavy Japanese resistance from the interior, but eventually prevailed under Admiral Wilkins and the Third Amphibious Force before turning the battle action over to the Third Marines.
For wartime drama, this chapter of the 'Victory at Sea' series does contain some lighter moments. There's some interesting footage of Maudie's Mansion, a masseuse house apologizing for it's use of men to provide the rubdowns. I also got a kick out of seeing a sign for Duffy's Tavern; I'm sure I first heard mention of it in one of those Warner Brothers cartoons of the era when I was growing up.
What continues to amaze me as the series progresses is the amount of captured and archived enemy footage used to tell the story of American victory. Perhaps more so than most episodes up to this point, 'Rings Around Rabaul' employs many scenes of Japanese sailors at work and at leisure. In some ways, they didn't appear to be a lot different from their American counterparts. In others, they were blindly fanatical in their mission to destroy America and everything it stood for.
From Munda, Allied forces landed on and gained control of Bougainville, largest of the Solomons, on November 1st, 1943. While controlling the perimeter, Americans fought heavy Japanese resistance from the interior, but eventually prevailed under Admiral Wilkins and the Third Amphibious Force before turning the battle action over to the Third Marines.
For wartime drama, this chapter of the 'Victory at Sea' series does contain some lighter moments. There's some interesting footage of Maudie's Mansion, a masseuse house apologizing for it's use of men to provide the rubdowns. I also got a kick out of seeing a sign for Duffy's Tavern; I'm sure I first heard mention of it in one of those Warner Brothers cartoons of the era when I was growing up.
What continues to amaze me as the series progresses is the amount of captured and archived enemy footage used to tell the story of American victory. Perhaps more so than most episodes up to this point, 'Rings Around Rabaul' employs many scenes of Japanese sailors at work and at leisure. In some ways, they didn't appear to be a lot different from their American counterparts. In others, they were blindly fanatical in their mission to destroy America and everything it stood for.
