4.5 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 17 October 2022
⏱️ 37 minutes
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When US Marines landed on the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific, in August 1942, they were taking part in the first US ground offensive of World War 2.
As Saul David tells Don, in taking on the Japanese in the Pacific, they would go on to engage in some of the bloodiest fighting of the whole war.
Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.
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0:00.0 | It's almost quarter past six on the morning of 7th August, |
0:07.0 | 1942, just off the coast of the Solomon Islands. |
0:11.0 | We're on board the USS Fuller. The only sound is the lapping of the sea against the ship and the |
0:17.0 | murmuring and shuffling of troops on deck preparing to go ashore. |
0:21.5 | 16,000 U.S. soldiers are preparing to storm Guadal Canal Island, |
0:26.0 | currently occupied by Japanese troops. |
0:28.0 | Suddenly, bright yellow-green flashes fill the air as the shelling of the coast begins. |
0:36.0 | U.S. Plains bomb and machine gun the beaches, clearing the way for the troops to land. |
0:41.0 | Troops are loaded onto landing craft and make their way to shore. |
0:45.0 | Everyone is tense, not knowing when the Japanese army will appear. |
0:50.0 | They reach the beach unopposed, |
0:52.0 | make their way to the edge of the jungle, and wait. |
0:55.0 | They will soon become the first U.S. soldiers to engage in battle in World War II, |
1:00.0 | and they will be involved in some of the most vicious fighting of the whole war. Hello and welcome to our podcast. I'm Don Wildman and today we have the |
1:18.0 | great fortune to meet an acclaimed acclaimed |
1:25.0 | acclaimed scholar and broadcaster, |
1:24.0 | whose list of written works encompasses a wide breadth of content |
1:28.0 | from the Zulu War of 1879 |
1:30.0 | to British colonialism and ample histories of World War II. Lord it leaves one breathless and |
1:34.9 | you're not even an old man. Welcome Saul David to American history. |
1:38.3 | Thanks Don, very good to be here. |
1:40.3 | I'm so honored. It is the 80th anniversary of, well, so much about World War II. I mean, we'll be spending the next four years marking various milestones all around the world, but here in America and in this particular year, it's the 80th anniversary of the |
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