The Great American Elephant Chase by Gillian Cross

The Great American Elephant Chase by Gillian Cross

The true story behind the exploits of the unit that was immortalized in the blockbuster 1945 movie They Were Expendable. During the opening days of World War I in the Pacific, a small group of American sailors in the Philippines were propelled into the forefront of the fighting. They were manned with six small wooden torpedo (PT) boats and led by a courageous, larger-than-life character in Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley. The men of Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 faced insurmountable odds as they conducted a series of heroic operations against the navy and air power of Imperial Japan. As America's defense of the Philippines crumbled under the weight of a massive Japanese assault, the courageous activities of Bulkeley's men made headlines across the U.S.--often as the only good news coming from the bleak Pacific front. The unit achieved everlasting fame by evacuating General Douglas MacArthur from the front. Then the squadron continued to fight on until all six of its torpedo boats were lost under fire. The fate of the doomed American defenders was sealed when the Japanese won the battle for the islands in the spring of 1942. The exploits of the unit were immortalized in the blockbuster 1945 movie They Were Expendable, starring John Wayne and Robert Montgomery, but since then the saga of Bulkeley and his men has slipped into history. Under a Blood Red Sun revives the story of the Philippine PT-boats through the intertwined accounts of Bulkeley and his subordinate officers and men. It is a story of the courage and sacrifice of men thousands of miles from their homeland, representing American gallantry and fighting prowess, while giving the Japanese a taste of what was further to come their way.

Cross, Gillian: - Gillian Cross has been writing children's books for more than thirty years. She received degrees in English from Oxford and Sussex Universities in the United Kingdom. She lives in Dorset, United Kingdom.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780823410163
ISBN 10	0823410161
Title	The Great American Elephant Chase
Author	Gillian Cross
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Holiday House
Year published	1993-04-01
Number of pages	160
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.