Resources for upcoming WW2 novel

List of resources for WW2 novel in progress. If you're writing a WW2 story, fiction or nonfiction, these resources might be helpful.

Forgive me for websites and pages I'm not specifically listing. More out there than you can imagine, some of it compilations of other sites and some of it downright disturbing. Things I didn't want to know, but probably widened my awareness.


  • Farrell, Mary Crook, “Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific,” Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2014.
    • Nurses played cards. 
    • Yet, Ruby Bradley mentioned in her essay that those who were busy were happiest.

  • Wikipedia: Camp John Hay: During the Japanese occupation, General Tomoyuki Yamashita used The American Residence as his headquarters and official residence.

  • Colonel Ruby Bradley's essay: https://achh.army.mil/history/bradley-bradley
    • So enlightening! Read between the lines. What a powerful lady in the subtlest way.
  • Ginter, Steve, “Naval Fighters Number Eighty-Nine, Curtiss SOC Seagull,” 2011.
    • This is such a unique plane. Scout-Observation, potential for a gunner in rear passenger seat. The landing gear swaps out for floats. Only a few were made. I picked the SOC-1 Seagull on a whim (intuition, maybe?) and it weaves perfectly into this story.
  • The Philippine Diary Project (https://philippinediaryproject.com/) 
    • Colonel John Paul Horan IV
    • https://philippinediaryproject.com/author/john-p-horan-iv/

    • Colonel Horan wrote that he gave out 7.5 minutes from the Jorgensen Saw Mill (how very specific on the time.) Sounds like his heart; read elsewhere he had a heart attack on the trail. He was carried in by Dr. Jacobs (Captain Jacobs) and a couple of other soldiers. He also wrote about some of the worst hiking he’s ever done. Had to cut new trails when the Jorgensens sent him in the wrong direction. (Oops or sabotage?)

  • Dr. Beulah Ream Allen, Wikipedia bio
    • I would have loved to have met this lady. Gutsy and a class act all at once.
    • Actually requested a transfer from one internee camp (Camp Holmes) to the Santo Tomas Internment Camp, which had worse conditions, because the in-charge officer wouldn't heed her advice regarding sanitation. 
    • Led the push for women to hold seats on the internee's leadership council at Camp Holmes Internment Camp, which won by popular vote, but still wasn't instituted. (Boo! Hiss!)
  • Larkins, William T., “The Curtiss SOC Seagull,” Profile Publications, Number 194, George Falkner & Sons, for McCorquodale City Printing Division, London. (No year on pamphlet.)
    • Did you know that not a single SOC-1 survived? There's not one in a museum. An amazing plane. Way too bad!
  • Shirley, Craig, “December 1941, 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World,” published by Thomas Nelson, 2011.
    • Detailed and interesting. You'll want to skim because it's so long, but you'll miss the subtleties that are as important as the major points.


Captain Juan Pajota ---has become one of my personal heroes: 

 Liberties: Ruby Bradley never married. There’s no history of her romantic life.


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