Hell Wouldn't Stop: An Oral History of the Battle of Wake Island

Taken as prisoners, the men were enslaved in the highly profitable Japanese War machinery, enriching companies like Mitsui and Hitachi. The savagery and endless brutality of the Japanese against the POWS became an a living hell. Truly, Cunningham has written the personal answers of so many to the question: "What really happened to these gallant men?"

Regrettably, little is said of the gallantry of the civilian construction company employees, many of whom were equally gallant defenders.


Hell Wouldn't Stop Is Well Worth Reading   February 22, 2006
David Richard
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Hell Wouldn't Stop is probably the most complete resource available concerning the invasion of Wake Island and the POW experiences of the survivors. The personal accounts are quite gripping. However, since this book is an oral history, given by survivors, and transcribed verbatim, most events are repeated very often but from the unique perspective of each survivor.

The repitition gets tiresome occasionally but the author allows each man to tell his complete story, long or short, so these accounts do not appear edited.

The survivors of the Wake invasion became the first POWs of the Pacific Theater. Their accounts are important since they spent the longest time in the brutal Japanese prisoner of war system.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII


One of the most important accounts of the Wake Island Defenders.   December 29, 2006
Ryan Fisher (Santa Maria, CA, USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Hell Wouldn't Stop is perhaps one of the better research resources I have yet read regarding the battle of Wake Island. Having read several more books on Wake Island since writing my first review I must make some editing.
I do however, commend Chet Cunningham's work to compile these lesser known tales of Wake's enlisted men and officers alike. Such firsthand accounts, while repetitive provide valuable insight into the battle and subsequent imprisonment of the survivors.
Cunningham, NO RELATION TO THE GARRISON COMMANDER, has given a voice to the many enlisted servicemen whose stories would have otherwise gone untold.
Most Wake island stories are either officer's accounts or historical perspectives that rely on officer's accounts.
Cunningham, whose brother survived the battle and was the source for much of the book's material, was a Marine Private; his experiences reveal the unfortunate class differences between officers and enlisted men throughout the entire ordeal.
It is a shame that these enlisted men were forced to endure considerable hardships in Japanese captivity with such little advocacy or support from the commanders who surrendered them.
One man tells of the often lauded Marine Maj. Devereaux jotting down minor infractions like not saluting in his "little book" for later punishment, while his men endured 14 hour days of labor and frightful treatment by the Japanese.
This book is almost entirely first hand anecdotal material with little editing around mis-remembered facts.
If you can mentally overlap the stories as you read this book is fascinating, if not it is easy to get lost in its non-linear format. THINK TARANTINO IN BOOK FORM.
REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ, AUTHORS DESERVE YOUR OPINIONS!



The Oral History of the Gallant Defenders of Wake   February 8, 2005
Jeffrey T. Munson (Dixon, IL)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

In this eye-opening book, author Chet Cunningham pieces together oral testimony from the surviving members of the Marines and civilians and weaves a startling picture of the battle itself and the horrors that the men were forced to face as POWs.

On December 8, 1941, the Japanese launched thier first attack against Wake; a scant five hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Eight of the Marines' twelve F4F Wildcat fighters were either destroyed outright or damaged so badly as to be unflyable. For the next fifteen days, the Marines and civilians endured daily bombing raids. On December 11, the Japanese tried an amphibious landing, but this was beat back by the defenders at tremendous loss to the Japanese. Three destroyers were sunk, a light cruiser heavily damaged, and hundreds of Japanese sailors and Marines were killed. However, this action only offered a brief respite for the Wake defenders, for on December 23, the Japanese returned in much greater numbers and successfully landed on Wake.

After much savage fighting in which the Americans inflicted much greater losses on the Japanese than they suffered themselves, Commander Winfield Scott Cunningham, perhaps somewhat prematurely, decided to surrender to the Japanese. Major Devereux was in charge of passing the surrender order to the surprised and angry Marines. Many contimplated mutiny and threatened to continue to fight, but in the end, all surrendered to the Japanese. This surrender began the defenders' three and one half years as POWs.

In no greater battle have the Marines fought so bravely against such unbelieveable odds. These men held out for fifteen long and stressful days against an enemy who was better equipped and more numerous than themselves. The amount of damage they were able to inflict on the Japanese is staggering considering there were less than 500 Marines on Wake. It is a true testament to their skill and desire to survive that they held out for so long.

This book gives a unique look at the battle as told by the members of the Wake Marines. The stories are heroic and horrific at the same time. Many of these men charged into battle with little regard for thier own lives. Their only objective was to stop the Japanese, which they did very effectively. The story of the Japanese POW atrocities brings to light the mistreatment that these brave Americans were forced to endure for forty four months of captivity. Surviving on very little food and water, these men survived on sheer will and determination. The acts of cruelty that the Japanese took out on these men is simply unforgivable. Its no wonder that so many of these brave Marines called the Atomic Bombs an act of deliverance. If not for their use, they would have been forced to endure a much longer time at the hands of the sadistic Japanese.

I found this to be a very interesting and eye opening book. Many historians can write about a particular battle, but the only way to get a true sense of how it REALLY was to be there is to hear it from the survivors themselves. These heroic men tell their tales in graphic detail. Each aspect of the battle is described; from the initial bombing to the thwarted invaision, to the surrender. These men were the first heroes of the war. Their heroic example served as a benchmark for all future battles. It is a testament to their will to survive and thier guts that they managed to hold out so long. Read this well-written book and learn first-hand what it was like to face the Japanese and slap them in the face.


Defenders of Wake Island Remember Their Heroic Efforts!   December 2, 2003
Gregory R. Cunningham (Winchester, VA United States)
9 out of 12 found this review helpful

Chet Cunningham does a valant job in letting the few remaining survivors 'tell their story' and does a great job in sharing the sacrifices of his brother, Kenneth Cunningham, who wrote a short account of his survival during the defence of the island and time spent in the 'hell' of the prison camps. This book is much better in factual detail and better balanced than 'Given Up for Dead' by Bill Sloan.