Leyte 1944

The Soldiers' Battle

By: Nathan N. Prefer

Narrated by: Jones Allen

When General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia in March 1942, having successfully left the Philippines to organize a new American army, he vowed, "I shall return!" More than two years later he did return, at the head of a large U.S. army to retake the Philippines from the Japanese. The place of his re-invasion was the central Philippine Island of Leyte. Much has been written about the naval Battle of Leyte Gulf that his return provoked, but almost nothing has been written about the three-month long battle to seize Leyte itself.

Originally intending to delay the advancing Americans, the Japanese high command decided to make Leyte the "Decisive Battle" for the western Pacific and rushed crack Imperial Army units from Manchuria, Korea, and Japan itself to halt and then overwhelm the Americans on Leyte. As were most battles in the Pacific, it was a long, bloody, and brutal fight. As did the Japanese, the Americans were forced to rush in reinforcements to compensate for the rapid increase in Japanese forces on Leyte.

This unique battle also saw a major Japanese counterattack - not a banzai charge, but a carefully thought-out counteroffensive designed to push the Americans off the island and capture the elusive General MacArthur. Both American and Japanese battalions spent days surrounded by the enemy, often until relieved or overwhelmed. Under General Yamashita’s guidance it also saw a rare deployment of Japanese paratroopers in conjunction with the ground assault offensive.

Finally there were more naval and air battles, all designed to protect or cover landing operations of friendly forces. Leyte was a three-dimensional battle, fought with the best both sides had to offer, and did indeed decide the fate of the Philippines in World War II.

©2012 Nathan N. Prefer (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Buried headline

This story was sometimes hard to follow but the author helped me realize that this island became the biggest turning point for the Japanese ground forces. The Japs gave it their all with their best troops but were still crushed.

Good story but very dull

This book had a good story and very factual. But the narrator sounded if it was read by a computer. The narrator read was very dull and and without emotion! Won’t be listening to anything he narrates again!

Enjoyed the attention to detail and call outs of acts heroism

Very comprehensive. Enjoyed the narrative. My father served on Leyte and Luzon as a Navy corpsman attached to Army units. The book could have given better differentiation between U.S. and Japanese units during the battle descriptions. It was sometimes difficult to distinguish which army was being referred to during the battles.

LEYTE CAMPAIGN OVERLOOKED BUT ONE OF IMPORTANCE

Leyte 1944-The Soldiers' Battle By Nathan N. PreferNarrated by Jones Allen is one of the better histories of World War II. Chock .full of data with a day-by-day analysis of events. The book covers this campaign which officially started on 10/17/1944 (in reality 09/1944) and ended July 1, 1945. This audible rendition of this great book covers all the major players on both sides of the conflict. When one thinks of 1944 and World War II, immediately our thoughts go to Normandy and the D=Day invasion of France. But, the Leyte campaign was just as important as it was the first conflict involving major armies on both sides. The book does a great job of naming combat units, and brave individuals on the American side. And, I learned a lot about General Walter Krueger, who, it seems to me, was McArthur's Patton. The narration was superb. If you are interested in World War II history I can highly recommend this Audible selection.

Plodding and lackluster

it was slow at times, lots of information about the battle but it was like reading a stream of field reports and debriefing text. Very apparent that interviews and personal accounts were few or unobtainable. A fair amount of blame should be placed with the narration. Dry and monotonous.

Great Details down to individual efforts

I really liked it, only wish I had a map to see where the story happened to add perspective

Meh. . . .

The thing that killed this for me, is the narrator. He’s has voice little inflexion. Very monotone. I feel asleep several times listening. ALSO, the story is basically about troop movements, and names of officers. There are few individual stories in this book. I’d pass on it. Didn’t even finish it.

From the front lines

Let you follow the overall strategy in a personal way with the Generals who bore the responsibility of this huge undertaking and the lives involved to the frontlines of the soldiers involved who ultimately would decide the issue. Jones did a great job with the narration.

Nobody really knows the heroics of this crucial battle!

The detail was top notch! I was able to visualize where these soldiers were and what they were doing every step of the way. Very well
Done!

Reads like a 1000 continuous after action reports

Hard to follow from the big picture as it seems to utilize hundreds of after action reports at sometimes the squad level.