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After The Battle, Issue 62

The main feature of this issue is titled The Aleutians and describes the conflict with Japan in this remote and desolate part of Alaska.  Early in the war this part of the North Pacific Area was largely undefended.  This 27 page article commences with the Air Raid On Dutch Harbour which was part of the Japanese plan acting as a diversion for the assault on Midway.  Those islands invaded were occupied for less than a year but the impact can still be seen today and this is covered in the second part of the article: The Aleutians Today.  The final part of the article – Attu Forty Years After – describes a visit by the author to the island of Attu on which in May 1943 US forces of the US Seventh Infantry Division recaptured the island suffering 549 dead and a further 1,148 wounded.  This was second only to Iwo Jima as the costliest of the Pacific landings.  Only 29 out of the 2,500 Japanese defenders survived. The article is well illustrated throughout with maps and photographs.

The following article, under the “It Happened Here” format describes the difficulties in identifying the remains of a body wearing a RAF flying Jacket found in boggy land close to Lindholme airfield in South Yorkshire during July 1987.  The author of this article is a Detective Constable involved closely in the investigation.  A fascinating story of how the war can still touch people today.

The Munich Crisis is a detailed account of the prelude to war and the events leading to Neville Chamberlain’s infamous meeting with Hitler after which he returned home declaring “Peace for our time”.

Time Warp In Tubney Wood is a short article investigating the remains of an ex-WWII dispersed factory to the west of the A338 in Oxfordshire.

The final article is Back To The Bunker and not only tells the story of the final demolition of Hitler’s bunker in Berlin but recounts a previously unpublished account of the scenes inside shortly after its capture by the Russians when British correspondents were allowed inside.

This issue contains 54 pages of fascinating military history that is very well illustrated throughout and follows the well respected “Then and Now” format.