Following their attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 the Japanese conquered great swathes of the Pacific region and formed a defensive perimeter that stretched from western Alaska in the north to the Solomon Islands in the south. However, from 1943 onwards America began to increasingly take the offensive to the Japanese across the region, using the strategy of leapfrogging or island-hopping. The technique involved bypassing heavily fortified islands and instead capturing by sea and air assault more lightly defended ones which could then be used as a launch platform for an attack against the next island and ultimately the Japanese mainland. To increase the number of troops available for these operations in 1943, a new campaign was launched urging American citizens to enlist in the Navy and Marine Corps using the slogan ‘Let ’em have it’. At home a loan drive was also launched with the same slogan encouraging citizens to invest in war bonds to fund the campaign.86
The following year Advance Games Incorporated in New York City produced a game also called ‘Let ’Em Have It’. Reflecting the mood and pride of the nation in its fighting forces, its subtitle was, ‘Our Fighting Rangers’. Aimed at young boys aged 5–10, the game was designed to give an idea of what it was like to island-hop in the Pacific against the Japanese. Unlike the wartime economy in Britain, in America paper was not so severely rationed so the game was marketed in a big box with colourful artwork. The cover showed US Rangers storming ashore from their landing craft and advancing up the hill complete with a Sherman tank in support. At the front of the advance was a Ranger firing a Browning M1917 heavy machine gun while behind him another Ranger hoisted aloft the American flag.
In 1944 Advance Games Incorporated of New York City produced a game called Let ’Em Have It. Reflecting the mood and pride of the nation, its subtitle was ‘Our Fighting Rangers’.
The game was based on snakes and ladders and consisted of two game boards with ninety steps in total needed to liberate the island from the Japanese. Each Ranger, represented by a small wooden pin, advanced according to the number of steps the player spun on the attached spinner. The hazards, or snakes, along the way were designed to introduce children to the risks involved in war, notably being killed in action, the ultimate sacrifice. They also included being discovered by the enemy, your cruiser providing supporting fire being damaged, a tank trap, counterattacks, enemy planes setting fire to your ammunition depot, landmines, being mortally wounded (and out of the game), your return steamer developing engine trouble and having to pick up pilots at sea from a stranded airplane. The advances, or ladders, included starting out early in the morning, successfully attacking enemy positions, the Japanese retreating, paratroopers landing behind enemy lines, capturing Japanese soldiers, ramming an enemy submarine and the transport ship arriving in your home port. To make the game a little more interesting the designers included the potential for players to also win medals and buy toy war bonds.
Let ’Em Have It was notable for the creativity and licence used in its artwork on the game board and cover. The board featured drawings of the Waco CG-4A glider, whose compact size made it ideal for landing on islands, and the hand-held walkie talkie, the SCR-536, which was famous for being the most portable radio of the war despite weighing in at five pounds. The cover with its picture of troops storming a Japanese-held island was designed to encapsulate the spirit of the US Rangers’ motto, ‘Lead the Way’. It also contained a piece of pure propaganda in the form of an American Lockheed P-38 Lighting, nicknamed the fork-tailed devil, shooting down a German Messerschmidt Me 262, the world’s first operational jet fighter. While the Lockheed did capture footage of an Me 262 being shot down, the Me 262 was never operational over the Pacific. Despite this piece of fiction, in the Pacific war the Lightning was hugely successful, shooting down more Japanese airplanes than any other fighter and flying over 130,000 combat missions during the campaign.
Aimed at boys aged 5–10, the game was designed to give them an idea of what it was like to island-hop in the Pacific against the Japanese.