Book Review of
The Darkest Hour
Vol. 2: The Japanese Offensive
In the Indian Ocean 1942-
The Attack Against Ceylon & the Eastern Fleet
Author: Michal A. Piegzik
Helion & Co. Ltd.
Asia@War Series No. 33
ISBN: 978-1-804510-23-0
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $29.95
Asia@War Series No. 33
ISBN: 978-1-804510-23-0
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $29.95
HISTORY:
The Darkest Hour presents the imperial Japanese Navy offensive in the Indian Ocean area in March-April 1942. The main goal of which was to destroy the Royal Navy in the Far East and achieve domination on the western flank of the Pacific War on the eve of the Battle of Midway.
This bold operation by two Japanese task forces (Kido Butai and Malay Force) in the Indian Ocean would only be possible with the fall of Singapore in February and the Dutch East Indies in early March 1942.
From the strategic point of view, the Japanese offensive in the Indian Ocean was the only moment in WWII when the Axis forces could coordinate their efforts to severely threaten the position of the British Empire in the crucial Middle Eastern and Indian theatres.
Volume 2 of The Darkest Hour describes the movements of the invincible Kido Butai, consisting of five aircraft carriers and their escorts, that expected to crush the British bases on Ceylon and once and forever destroy the main core of the Eastern Fleet. The chaos provoked by the Kido Butai would then become a great opportunity for the Malay Force to cut off the British shipping routes in the western part of the Bay of Bengal.
The Darkest Hour is the first systematic attempt to describe this less-well known part of the Pacific war, by researching both British and Japanese archive documents and other sources published in many countries, including the United Kingdom, Japan and India.
The second volume examines the Japanese aerial assault upon the British bases in Ceylon, and the attacks against the carrier HMS Hermes, cruisers HMS Cornwall and Devonshire, and the destroyer HMS Vampire.
The Darkest Hour, Volume 2, includes extensive tables detailing the composition of the Japanese air attacks, and is illustrated with photographs and with color artworks of the ships and aircraft involved.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. Ltd. is based in the UK.
This book is in soft-cover of 74 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾’ page format (2 pages are blank). The second half of this book holds over 30 pages that are nothing other than text.
The cover art shows a black and white photo of the Japanese strike force underway into the Indian Ocean on 30 March 1942. Seen from the aircraft carrier Zuikaku. Visible (from left to right) are of the Akagi, Soryu, Hiryu, Hiei, Kirishima, Haruna and Kongo. However, I only see 2 ships in the background and don’t know which ones of the 7 listed they are?
At the bottom of the cover there is a color side view profile illustration of a British Air Force PBY Catalina flying boat. It is in a wave pattern of grey-green and medium-sea-grey over a sky type S undercarriage. It has large white letters A & X in the center of the sides of the fuselage, followed by the British Air Force rounder and a white letter L, just behind the waist-blister canopy, a small black serial no. Z2147 on the rudder with a vertical red, white and blue vertical fin flash. This profile is repeated again inside the book.
The back cover shows a color side profile illustration of a British Air Force Blenheim. It is overall olive drab, over a sky type S undercarriage, It has a British Air Force roundel, followed by a small black serial no R3911 on its fuselage sides and a red, white and blue vertical fin flash on the rudder.
The book begins with CONTENTS, ABBREVIATIONS, EPILOGUE & SYMBOLS used in the text and the INTRODUCTION.
There are numerous data lists. Nine of them are APPENDIX lists. There are 45 black and white photos. The end of the book has a 4 page BIBLIOGRAPHY, 4 pages of NOTES, a paragraph ABOUT THE AUTHOR.
There is a line drawing map of the middle east and 6 colorized battle maps. Black and white photos of Japanese admirals, sailors and pilots. British officers, Zero, Val and Pete float plane, aircraft carriers and other ships.
The color profiles include:
Three British Air Force Hurricane Mk.IIb’s, four Fumark Mk.II’s, two Martlet Mk.II’s, two PBY Catalinas (one is on the book cover), two Blenheims (one on the back cover of the book).
I am disappointed that there are no color profiles of any Japanese aircraft included in the book. One of the Zero, Val and Pete floatplane should have been done.
There is a color illustration of a Japanese poster showing the sinking of the British HMS Cornwall.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michal A. Piegzak is a Polish PH-D in law, living and working in Japan as a researcher, bringing new light on the Pacific War campaigns. In his academic career, he was awarded the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT) scholarship for exceptional research results and putting in practice the modern approach in science: presenting significant issues to the general audience, and deep research in Western and Japanese archives, sources and publications. Graduating from the Faculty of Law, the University of Wroclaw in 2015, he is currently researching Japanese family law at Tokyo Metropolitan University.
The Pacific War is his life’s passion, which also remarkably influenced his academic skills and career path. He lives in Sagamihara (Kanagawa Prefecture), spending his free time traveling around Japanese cities and the countryside with his wife. He is an author of five monographs and over 20 articles related to Japanese law and the Pacific War.
This book will be of interest to modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample.
All Helion & Co. Ltd. books can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
The Darkest Hour presents the imperial Japanese Navy offensive in the Indian Ocean area in March-April 1942. The main goal of which was to destroy the Royal Navy in the Far East and achieve domination on the western flank of the Pacific War on the eve of the Battle of Midway.
This bold operation by two Japanese task forces (Kido Butai and Malay Force) in the Indian Ocean would only be possible with the fall of Singapore in February and the Dutch East Indies in early March 1942.
From the strategic point of view, the Japanese offensive in the Indian Ocean was the only moment in WWII when the Axis forces could coordinate their efforts to severely threaten the position of the British Empire in the crucial Middle Eastern and Indian theatres.
Volume 2 of The Darkest Hour describes the movements of the invincible Kido Butai, consisting of five aircraft carriers and their escorts, that expected to crush the British bases on Ceylon and once and forever destroy the main core of the Eastern Fleet. The chaos provoked by the Kido Butai would then become a great opportunity for the Malay Force to cut off the British shipping routes in the western part of the Bay of Bengal.
The Darkest Hour is the first systematic attempt to describe this less-well known part of the Pacific war, by researching both British and Japanese archive documents and other sources published in many countries, including the United Kingdom, Japan and India.
The second volume examines the Japanese aerial assault upon the British bases in Ceylon, and the attacks against the carrier HMS Hermes, cruisers HMS Cornwall and Devonshire, and the destroyer HMS Vampire.
The Darkest Hour, Volume 2, includes extensive tables detailing the composition of the Japanese air attacks, and is illustrated with photographs and with color artworks of the ships and aircraft involved.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. Ltd. is based in the UK.
This book is in soft-cover of 74 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾’ page format (2 pages are blank). The second half of this book holds over 30 pages that are nothing other than text.
The cover art shows a black and white photo of the Japanese strike force underway into the Indian Ocean on 30 March 1942. Seen from the aircraft carrier Zuikaku. Visible (from left to right) are of the Akagi, Soryu, Hiryu, Hiei, Kirishima, Haruna and Kongo. However, I only see 2 ships in the background and don’t know which ones of the 7 listed they are?
At the bottom of the cover there is a color side view profile illustration of a British Air Force PBY Catalina flying boat. It is in a wave pattern of grey-green and medium-sea-grey over a sky type S undercarriage. It has large white letters A & X in the center of the sides of the fuselage, followed by the British Air Force rounder and a white letter L, just behind the waist-blister canopy, a small black serial no. Z2147 on the rudder with a vertical red, white and blue vertical fin flash. This profile is repeated again inside the book.
The back cover shows a color side profile illustration of a British Air Force Blenheim. It is overall olive drab, over a sky type S undercarriage, It has a British Air Force roundel, followed by a small black serial no R3911 on its fuselage sides and a red, white and blue vertical fin flash on the rudder.
The book begins with CONTENTS, ABBREVIATIONS, EPILOGUE & SYMBOLS used in the text and the INTRODUCTION.
There are numerous data lists. Nine of them are APPENDIX lists. There are 45 black and white photos. The end of the book has a 4 page BIBLIOGRAPHY, 4 pages of NOTES, a paragraph ABOUT THE AUTHOR.
There is a line drawing map of the middle east and 6 colorized battle maps. Black and white photos of Japanese admirals, sailors and pilots. British officers, Zero, Val and Pete float plane, aircraft carriers and other ships.
The color profiles include:
Three British Air Force Hurricane Mk.IIb’s, four Fumark Mk.II’s, two Martlet Mk.II’s, two PBY Catalinas (one is on the book cover), two Blenheims (one on the back cover of the book).
I am disappointed that there are no color profiles of any Japanese aircraft included in the book. One of the Zero, Val and Pete floatplane should have been done.
There is a color illustration of a Japanese poster showing the sinking of the British HMS Cornwall.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michal A. Piegzak is a Polish PH-D in law, living and working in Japan as a researcher, bringing new light on the Pacific War campaigns. In his academic career, he was awarded the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT) scholarship for exceptional research results and putting in practice the modern approach in science: presenting significant issues to the general audience, and deep research in Western and Japanese archives, sources and publications. Graduating from the Faculty of Law, the University of Wroclaw in 2015, he is currently researching Japanese family law at Tokyo Metropolitan University.
The Pacific War is his life’s passion, which also remarkably influenced his academic skills and career path. He lives in Sagamihara (Kanagawa Prefecture), spending his free time traveling around Japanese cities and the countryside with his wife. He is an author of five monographs and over 20 articles related to Japanese law and the Pacific War.
This book will be of interest to modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample.
All Helion & Co. Ltd. books can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.