Not long after the fall of France in 1940, the French colonials on the island revolted against their pro-Vichy governor and declared for the Free French, so the island and the harbor at Noumea, the colony’s capital, became a huge naval repair, troop transit, and logistical nexus for America’s armed forces. During the war, however, it was the island’s strategic position that made it the subject of a Pocket Guide to New Caledonia. This large island in the Southwest Pacific, a French territory only now looking towards a future referendum on independence, is populated by Melanesian Kanaks and French settlers and has an economy centered on nickel mining. Others were obscure then and remain so today, unless you’re a specialist or someone with an inordinate curiosity about things in general (me).įor out of the way places, you can’t beat New Caledonia.

Some of those places are still hot spots, like Iraq. From time to time I’ve talked about the little World War II-vintage booklets produced to familiarize Army and Navy personnel with various places around the world that the fight against the Axis might compel them to go.

Hyperwar us navy world war ii