Got any recommendations on a good book about the Battle of Leyte? Found out my father was a 17 year old on a Navy ship in the midst of that battle (He never said anything)....need to read more.
The book I have is The Battle of Leyte Gulf..... The last Action Fleet by H.P Willmott. I can’t compare it to others but it is recent, 2005.
Also, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour by James D. Hornfischer. This book describes the extrodinary heroism of the destroyers and destroyer of Taffy 3 as they met the main Japaneese fleet head on.
The battle of Lyte Gulf is the largest naval engagement in history and took place over literally hundreds of miles of ocean. There were hundreds of ships involved. As such, there are many written accounts that either gloss over details or focus on some aspect of the various engagements that took place.
Lately, I have been watching You Tube a lot. If you can, I would advise searching on You Tube for the Battle of Leyte Gulf. You will get way more videos than you want but they will provide a geographical back ground for the events in places you never heard of and probably can’t relate to. Having the marine geography in mind is very helpful to understanding the detailed written accounts. The maps and conputerized graphics of the various American and Japanese fleet elements movements is crucial for an understanding of an extremely complex action that took place over several days.
Being able to find out about your father’s experience is a worthy goal. Do you know the ship on which he served?