Jungle Fighters

In the early stages of the Pacific War, General Douglas MacArthur was expected to prevent the Japanese from taking Australia. With limited forces, MacArthur had to be tactical, and the key to the continent’s defense was the island of New Guinea, just above the northeast tip of Australia. In order to defend New Guinea, MacArthur sent a small task force to Milne Bay, where the Coral Sea rounded the southeast tip of the island. His plan: to establish an airfield base for bomber and fighter planes that could attack enemy invasion convoys as they rounded the tip of New Guinea to attack Australia.

In the fall of 1941, at the age of twenty-six, Jules Archer joined the US Armed Forces. A few months later, he joined MacArthur as a member of the small task force being sent to New Guinea.

With good reason not to expect to return alive, Archer and his troop were plunged into a new kind of war. They fought in a jungle among a primitive Melanesian people, some tribes of which were headhunters. For nearly four years they endured in the distant jungle. This is an inside look at one of the lesser-known stories of one of the worst wars the world has known. It’s a story of the absurdities, fears, camaraderie, and even humor of life as a wartime solider.

Jules Archer was one of the most respected names in nonfiction for young people. During his lifetime he published more than seventy books, which have been translated into twelve languages throughout the world. He lived in Scotts Valley, California, until his death in 2008.

Alex Kershaw is the widely acclaimed author of several bestselling books about WWII, including The Bedford Boys, The Longest Winter, The Few, Escape from the Deep, and The Envoy. He is an honorary colonel in the 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Division and resides in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

"Archer has written a fascinating and action-packed account of New Guinea’s jungle warfare by drawing upon his own experiences as a master sergeant in a Signal Corps aircraft warning company and later as a transferee to the Air Corps and as a war correspondent....This book is illustrated with an excellent selection of black-and-white photographs."
—School Library Journal, starred review