A new television series of interest to hardcore WW2 battlefield explorers began airing the end of October 2019 on the National Geographic Channel in the USA (link to the show in the UK). Ultimate Survival WWII consists of six episodes and is presented by adventurer/survivalist Hazen Audel. The show is an interesting, refreshing, and redefining take on the WW2 television documentary genre. Of note and pleasant surprise, the subject of one of the episodes, Desert Island Manhunt, is..., which is an area of our expertise and destination on our Solomons expeditions... Sentence about our team members mentioning the filming to us and they served as local handlers/assisted with filming of this episode. Instead of reviewing the series as a whole, I will comment and give my feedback on each of the six episodes. The official synopsis of the show reads: 'Hazen Audel travels across the globe to relive some of the most astonishing stories of wilderness survival from World War II. During this brutal conflict, soldiers, sailors and airmen became lost behind enemy lines in some of the most inhospitable places on Earth, beginning epic battles to stay alive. Now Hazen will retrace these journeys in the same locations and armed with the same supplies, to see if he has what it takes to make it out alive.'

1. POW Jungle Escape

2. Death in the Outback

3. Frozen Nazi Escape
We Die Alone, a classic of WW2 literature

4. Desert Island Manhunt

5. Death Railway Escape

6. Nazi Island Manhunt

1st Raider Battalion
Formation: 16 February 1942
Disbandment: 1 February 1944
Campaigns: Tulagi, Guadalcanal, New Georgia

2nd Raider Battalion
Formation: 19 February 1942
Disbandment: 1 February 1944
Campaigns: Midway, Makin, Guadalcanal, Bougainville

3rd Raider Battalion
Formation: 20 September 1942
Disbandment: 1 February 1944
Campaigns: Pavuvu, Bougainville

4th Raider Battalion
Formation: 23 October 1942
Disbandment: 1 February 1944
Campaigns: New Georgia

In surprise landings, such as that carried out on Jap-held Makin Island, their objective is to destroy enemy air and naval bases, communication centers, ammunition centers, and defense installations. They are also specially trained to bring back information as to the disposition of enemy troops and supplies, and make maps of the general layout of the countryside. Each Raider is a specialist with a specialist's job, and in such a raid one of the most important tasks is to capture prisoners so quietly that they can be taken away without their comrades being alarmed. On Makin, the "green" Marine Raiders accomplished this against the wiliest of all enemies the Jap, himself a master of stealth and cunning.

Raider attacks are often made to create a diversion, but the Battalions are also used to function as the spearhead of a full-size invasion. Their job calls for superb physical fitness, cold courage, and fighting spirit. The men are hand picked from a flood of volunteers, and after completing their normal Marine training they get special schooling in close-range fighting and a physical-training course which can be undertaken only by the fittest.

The training course is tough and prolonged, but it builds fighting men with fine physique and minds that are quick on the trigger. This kind of work is only an accessory to the other training which the Raiders must undergo before being knitted into a compact fighting unit. As amphibious soldiers they have to learn how to operate with rubber boats. Each Raider Battalion has its quota of snipers, armorers, chemical warfare experts, communication and demolition experts.

The demolition expert learns how to use dynamite for the destruction of bridges, powerhouses, and fortifications. His job is a dangerous one. In the words of a military man, "he is highly expendable" and he knows it. He may be left behind after a strategic evacuation with instructions to destroy a bridge in the face of the enemy. He has to know how to use his explosive charge on the most suitable section of the bridge structure, how to explode it from a safe distance, and be prepared to make a last-ditch stand if the circumstances demand it. Like other marines, he works with his rifle in his hand, and any enemy within five hundred yards is an easy target for him.

A special feature of the Raider training is learning to live and fight under the most difficult circumstances man can be called upon to face. The Raiders have to learn to "navigate" their way across country by the stars as well as by compass, and to "live" on the country they are invading. They learn wood-lore, how to catch game without making a noise, and how to conceal themselves in trees and foliage should the enemy be on guard.

One of the tests given to the Raiders before going into action is to "land" on unfamiliar territory in complete darkness and arrive at a rendezvous twenty miles away without being discovered by watching scouts. The rendezvous is nothing but a speck on a map to the men before they set out, but they must make it, or fail in their test.

Another exercise is a twenty-mile march with pack, at a minimum speed of seven miles an hour, which is not easy. The Raiders accomplish this by half-running and half-walking, with no time out for rests. Sometimes the test march may be routed across a river or stream. The men have to get across either by swimming or wading and they must keep their arms dry. No extra time is given for crossing the water. War does not allow that. If the Raiders are ordered to be at a certain spot at a certain time, they have to be there, water or no water, and their arms have to be in shooting condition, otherwise they are wasting their time.

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-"islands of destiny"
-intro from "Green Hell" about Solomons being turning point of war
-after write article change post date to 10 Nov 2018 for 75th anniversary

This article was written by:

in Q&A go into two distinct branches of War Historian, LLC

nothing like the rush of discovering a WW2 memoir just when you thought there is nothing new out there that you'd not heard about, or uncovering new research that changes entire perspective

Q: What is your favorite WW2 documentary?
A: Hands down my favorite is Hell in the Pacific (2001), followed by The Color of War (2001) as a close second.

Q: What is your favorite Vietnam War documentary?
A: think about this one but chose something like Anderson Platoon or something about the French

Q: What is your favorite WW2 movie?

Q: What is your favorite Vietnam War movie?
A: Hmmm this is a tough one... I don't have a favorite as most play off of the common tropes of the Vietnam War, but I appreciate aspects of Go Tell the Spartans (1978), The Odd Angry Shot (1979), Platoon (1986), Hamburger Hill (1987), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Platoon Leader (1988), Bat 21 (1988), Casualties of War (1989), The Iron Triangle (1989), 84 Charlie Mopic (1989), The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989), Tigerland (2000), We Were Soldiers (2001), The Quiet American (2002), Rescue Dawn (2006). The Vietnam War scenes in Forest Gump (1994) are well done. I really want to see the French films Patrouille de Choc (1957), The 317th Platoon (1965), Le Crabe-Tambour (1977), Charlie Bravo (1980), and Dien Bien Phu (1992).

Q: What is your favorite movie in the history genre?
A: This is another tough one... I can't possibly narrow it down to just one! But the movies that have most influenced me/impacted my life are the following (listed in order of release date NOT preference!): Bridge on the River Kwai, The Great Escape, Zulu, The Charge of the Light Brigade, March or Die, Breaker Morant, Gallipoli, Das Boot, Bounty, Pirates, The Lighthorsemen, The Beast, Glory, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Last of the Mohicans, Geronimo, Gettysburg, The Thin Red Line, Legionnaire, Master and Commander, Black Hawk Down, Alamo, Kokoda, The Proposition. Disney movies?