1944 U.S. Navy Guide to the Western Pacific with Pictorial Maps

This is a CinCPac (Commander in Chief Pacific) CinCPOA (Commander in Chief Pacific Ocean Area) guidebook to the Western Pacific featuring pictorial maps of many of the islands where battles were fought during World War II (1939 - 1945). The guidebook provides information on various Pacific islands including the Gilbert Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Caroline Islands (with sections dedicated to specific islands in the archipelago some of which were still occupied by the Japanese and had been left to 'wither on the vine'), the Marianas Islands, the Philippines, Taiwan (Formosa), and the Nansei Shoto (Southwestern Islands) which include Okinawa. There's also a section dedicated to the China coast from Hong Kong to Shanghai. A section is dedicated to Wake Island, which had fallen to the Japanese shortly after Pearl Harbor despite a valiant defense by American forces stationed there.

The Cover

The cover (a brilliant blue) bears an illustration of a gigantic soldier carrying a Thompson machine gun advancing from the Marshall Islands toward the Marianas while firing toward Japan. Two aircraft carriers (incongruously smaller than the firing soldier) navigate toward Japan and launch fighter planes. One is bearing down on Iwo Jima, while the other passes through the Marianas. Three bombers are illustrated: one American dropping bombs on Palau and two Japanese heading for Japan. American flags appear on Tarawa, Makin, Majuro, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Ujelang, Guam, Tinian, and Saipan.

Pictorial Maps

Seven pictorial maps appear within the guidebook: Gilbert Islands, Wake Island, the Marianas Islands, the Philippines, Taiwan (Formosa), Nansei Shoto, and the China Coast. All blend the comic with the martial. For example, the map of the China Coast combines a Japanese soldier holding a bloody saber saying 'So Sorry Miss Nanking' beside a Chinese scholar. A missionary arrives by boat while a dragon holds the title banner at bottom. Sea monsters appear alongside soldiers and submarines in the Gilberts, while a Marine holds off three Japanese soldiers on Wake. Each map has its own character and appeal, even if the content can be disturbing. An eighth map, at the center of the guidebook, illustrates the full Western Pacific.

Publication History and Census

This guide was created by the U.S. Navy and published as a CinCPac-CinCPOA Bulletin in August 1944. We are aware of at least 1 other edition, published in February 1945. This guidebook is well represented in institutional collections, although it is unclear if the cataloged examples represent the August 1944 edition or the February 1945 edition.