On Oct. 7, Matt Soltis surprised an audience at the Cornwall Public Library with a trailer for a film that will be released in November. For three minutes, planes zoomed across the screen, bombarding a hapless enemy aircraft carrier. The film depicted the Battle of Midway, which changed the course of World War II in the Pacific.
Mr. Soltis has been busy this year lecturing on art and aviation. He developed an interest in air travel in 2003 when the world celebrated the centennial of the Wright Brothers’ first flight.
Partially through luck, Midway is an American success story. Mr. Soltis related the events leading up to the battle, and described the American and Japanese planes without ever referring to notes.
Rear Admiral Wade McCluskey was one of the commanders who contributed to the Americans’ success in the 1942 battle. With his squadron running low on fuel, McCluskey spotted a Japanese destroyer and alertly followed it to the main fleet.
When McCluskey reached his destination, he joined other American units in attacking the Japanese aircraft carriers. The Japanese had intended to launch another surprise air raid to duplicate the damage done at Pearl Harbor. But American cryptographers deciphered their messages and became aware of their plans.
Mr. Soltis described Midway as a “strategic and statistical victory” in which the Japanese lost four carriers, a cruiser, 292 planes and 2,500 servicemen. The American losses were light by comparison. After Midway, Mr. Soltis said, the Japanese campaigns were all defensive.
The library’s Community Room was almost full for the Monday afternoon presentation. Mr. Soltis will return to the library at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 3 to discuss the attack on Pearl Harbor, which lured the United States into the largest battleground in history, the Pacific Ocean. During the years that followed the weapon of choice changed from the battleship to the carrier-borne aircraft.
