Turning Back The Empire, Part III: Victory

In our last entry, part II of this three-part series on the Guadalcanal campaign, we ended with the conclusion of the fight for the Tenaru River, an American victory that foiled a Japanese attempt to drive the Americans off of Guadalcanal.

The end of August and the arrival of September found the American Marines on Guadalcanal battered, tired, but none the less alive and continually ready to fight. The success of the Tenaru River battle bolstered the Marines fighting spirit; but by no means were the Americans enjoying the comfort of complete victory. The Japanese bombed the Marines at Henderson Field from the air daily; and the Japanese command knew that the only way to achieve victory was to land more troops on the island, then to take Henderson Field as soon as possible, therefore annihilating the Americans, placing the island once and for all under complete Japanese control.

Here are two examples of Japanese air force pilots who took part in the Guadalcanal campaign:

a Japanese fighter pilot, his back to the morning sun. A fighter pilot receiving instructions from his superior at the Japanese air base at Tulagi (one of many islands off Guadalcanal's coast still under Japanese control). On September 13th, after days of continual air bombardment, the Japanese attempted to take Henderson Field by attacking a ridge to the South of the Field, held by two battalions of Marines. The ridge guarded the Southern--or inland--side of Henderson Field, the island coast being to the North. Therefore it was the North side of Henderson field that was the most strongest fortified part of the American line, since Japanese troops would have to land on the beaches to the North of Henderson field to attack the Americans. To land troops on the coast far from Henderson field, and to march them through the thick jungle to attack the relatively weak Southern portion of the American line, therefore, would surely bring success.

The Japanese were well adapted to attacking strait through the thickest of jungles, as the Japanese conquest of British-Held Singapore proved earlier that year.

And so, the attack on the ridge was launched just before midnight, and lasted well into the following morning. The Marines, while inferior in numbers, were strong in their position. The grassy field that the Japanese soldiers had to cross to get to the ridge was completely bare of trees; rather, they had to attack in the open. The Japanese had sent snipers around the flanks of the ridge to fire on the Marine positions from the rear; they kept quite busy harassing the Americans during the battle. The troops attacking the ridge head-on enjoyed no such luxury; mown down in large numbers in the wall of fire from the Marines machine guns, rifles, and grenades as they pressed up the slope, the Japanese met their chosen alternative to defeat: death. Handfuls of soldiers broke through portions of the Marines lines on the ridge, but were quickly driven back each time. On the break of the following morning--September 14th--the frontal assaults had been driven back, and the rest of the day for the Marines was spent evading snipers and fighting off pockets of Japanese resistance.

One more Japanese land battle to take Henderson Field failed, with the Japanese suffering hundreds of casualties. On the 18th of September, the Marines were finally re-enforced by more Marines and U.S. Army troops. This was exactly what the exhausted Marines on Guadalcanal needed; combat losses and deadly tropical diseases had been taking their toll through the American ranks, but with fresh troops, equipment, and supplies, things were now looking less bleak.

A U.S. soldier cleans his rifle. Weapons maintenance was essential in jungle combat; high temperatures and humidity could reduce metal gun parts to rusted junk in a single day if not properly cared for.

Problems for the American armed forces stationed on this tiny island were by no means over, however; rather, on the night of October 14th, a Japanese fleet sailed within extremely close range of the Americans and shelled their positions intensely with the soul objective of causing as much damage to Henderson field as possible. Nearly half of the 90 or so airplanes of the "cactus air force" (the nickname given to the detachment of Navy and Marine fighter and bomber aircraft stationed at Guadalcanal) were either destroyed or badly damaged. Ammunition and gasoline stores were transformed into flaming wrecks, and several Americans were killed or injured. But ingenuity prevailed the following day as the Americans repaired the airplanes with spare parts, and gas was siphoned from the tanks of destroyed B-17 bombers to be used in other surviving aircraft. As both sides poured re-enforcements onto the island, preparing for the knock-down, drag-out fight that was sure to come, two new arrivals--the American battleships U.S.S. Washington and U.S.S. South Dakota--won a narrow but critical victory against a huge Japanese ship fleet. Several Japanese troop transports, each full of soldiers to be landed on Guadalcanal to support the fight against the Americans, were sunk in the battle.

By December, American Army and Marine re-enforcements were arriving in such numbers that the 1st and 7th Marine regiments were allowed to pull out of Guadalcanal for a long-awaited and well deserved rest. General Vandegrift, who was the commander of the two Marine regiments who landed on Guadalcanal in August, was replaced by General Alexander M. Patch of the U.S. Army. General Patch, who now possessed superior ground, air, and firepower, took the offensive against the Japanese still on Guadalcanal, attacking the Japanese held high ground overlooking the American held areas, chiefly at a low mountain called Gifu.
Fighting was fierce, back-and-fourth, and when Gifu finally fell the Americans found that the Japanese had been preoccupied with evacuating Guadalcanal for good. Nearly 10,000 troops had been pulled out of Guadalcanal during night evacuation runs, to fight elsewhere in the Pacific.

On February 9th, 1943, General Patch sent

this message via radio to his superior,

Admiral Halsey:

"Total and complete defeat of Japanese forces

on Guadalcanal effected 1625 today"

(Note: "1625" means 4:25 p.m.)

The Guadalcanal campaign was over. It took nearly six months, from August to February, to win this first American land victory against the seemingly invincible Japanese armed forces. The United states lost 1,600 men in land and air combat; in Naval engagements, 2,000 sailors had given their lives. The Japanese lost a total of 20,000 men in the campaign to keep Guadalcanal under their control.

The victory of Guadalcanal was the major turning point in the war in the Pacific. The Japanese defeat at the Naval battle of Midway early in 1942 was a hard blow, and the first American victory of the war, but the Guadalcanal campaign was the first major step to winning the war, a goal that would be achieved in September 1945.

Turning Back the Empire, Pt. II: Guadalcanal

Henderson Field to Tenaru River

As we saw in our last entry, the beach landings on Guadalcanal went well, without a hitch. But it was not before long after the landing crafts reached the shore than Japanese air attacks swarmed down on the transport ships landing troops and supplies onto Guadalcanal. As a result, it became increasingly difficult for supplies to be landed. While casualties resulting from the air attacks were low, the greatest problem on the beaches was the chaos that resulted from inexperienced boat captains unloading gear, ammo, and food on the beach in an extreme hurry to get out of the area and back to safety--leaving the beaches littered in a disarray of vehicles, troops, and supplies. Needless to say, this provided a tempting target for Japanese bomber pilots.
When the 1st U.S. Marine Division landed on Guadalcanal virtually un-opposed by enemy land forces, they were dumbfounded. "Where are the Japanese?" was the question on every body's minds. Other than the air attacks, there was virtually no sign of the enemy's presence. As the Marines moved inland, however, they did meet slight pockets of resistance as we saw in the entry below. The Japanese airfield on Guadalcanal was captured without opposition only 36 hours after the landings. The airstrip was renamed "Henderson Field", after an American pilot who died in the battle of Midway the previous June. Before long several American aircraft were arriving from aircraft carriers. These were mostly Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat fighters and Dauntless Dive-bombers.

A Dauntless Dive-bomber warms up on Henderson Field before take-off. A Dauntless Dive-bomber flies over the jungle of Guadalcanal. Two American Soldiers move along a jungle trail on their way inland. Trees are felled to make the rural paths wider....
...until roads are formed, wide enough for vehicles.
In reality, the Japanese were completely caught unaware of the U.S. Invasion. When the severely understrength and outnumbered Japanese garrison on Guadalcanal came under attack, the troops guarding the coast fled inland to put up a fight elsewhere on the island. When the Japanese High Command learned that Guadalcanal was under attack, it was decided that all efforts would be taken by the Imperial Army and Navy both the push the Americans off of Guadalcanal. Things for the Americans soon got tough; as Japanese planes attacked the Marines and their supply ships from the air, Japanese ships brought fresh troops from other islands to fight on Guadalcanal. And in the early hours of August 9th, four ships from the American Navy were sunk in a night battle by a Japanese naval force with superior night-fighting skills and experience.
But the Marines were not easily removed; rather, despite attacks from fresh Japanese infantry on Henderson Field a few days after it's capture, the Americans held onto their 3x6 mile toehold they had gained on the island and stubbornly resisted all the Japanese could throw at them.
More and more Japanese troops poured into Guadalcanal's Japanese-held territory. Japanese supply and troop ships came and went so frequently on a regular schedule that the Marines dubbed the endless back-and-fourth movements of boats "The Tokyo Express".

Reports pour into the U.S. Headquarters. Communication was vital for the Americans for decision-making. A Dauntless Dive-bomber takes off from Henderson Field to bomb Japanese infantry positions facing the Marines front. On August 21st, the Japanese Army took up position on the Tenaru River, very close to Henderson Field. A fight ensued between the Marines and the Japanese, and each side contested for full control of both river banks.

Two U.S. Marines advance in high grass towards the Tenaru River.

Orders are given to send four American Tanks to the Tenaru river fight, to assist in flushing out the Japanese from the riverbanks. Japanese Soldiers rush in to the front on the Tenaru river. The battle lasted for several hours. A Japanese Marine keeps a wary eye on the enemy as he reaches into his ammo pouch for more ammunition to re-load his rifle. Fighting conditions were difficult; grass and trees higher than a man's head covered the island, and only a small patch of open ground ran along each river bank between the sandy waterline and the treeline.

A U.S. Marine breaks out into the open to let loose with his M1 Thompson Sub-Machine gun. The firing is kept up.... Anyone who steps into the open risks being shot. Here a U.S. Marine reloads his M3 Sub machine gun (nicknamed a "grease gun" because of it's appearance). The Americans won the battle, partially in thanks to the use of Tanks to help flush the Japanese out of concealed riverside positions. The fight for the Tenaru took place very near the delta, close to where the river met the open sea. Soldiers took cover behind sand bars, curves in the riverbank, and tall river grass or anything that offered the slightest bit of cover.

The battle for Guadalcanal was tough, but the Marines were doing well. Japanese losses were very high, and the Marines garrison was holding out despite the hardships. Jungle Heat: a Marine offers a drink from his canteen to a buddy during a break on a patrol through the jungle. Patrols were conducted throughout day and night to detect all enemy movement possible. Here a Marine refills his canteen. In the blistering heat of the South Pacific, water was more essential than bullets in jungle campaigns. When water was found, it didn't always have to be crystal-clear to be accepted as "drinkable"... Despite the hardships, the Marines were doing well--so far. But they braced themselves for something else that they knew was inevitable: a major, all-out attack on Henderson Field in an attempt to break the Marines line of defense and push them off Guadalcanal once and for all. Only 1,000 Japanese troops had been sent to take Tenaru, and were defeated; but thousands more were being massed for another attack somewhere else on the American lines.

More is to follow in the next upcoming post.

World War II, Pacific Theatre:

An Overview

In this entry, we will turn our focus once again to the second World War; but this time, we will be featuring the Pacific Theatre rather than Europe.

When most people think of the South-East Pacific, what usually comes to mind will include warm oceans, beautiful volcanic islands covered in palm trees, sandy beaches, and Hawaiian shirts. But to the Allied troops fighting in the jungle islands from 1941-45, it was no happy vacation. On December 7th, 1941, the Japanese suprise attack on Pearl Harbor threw the United States into one of the worst wars in the history of the world; and to defeat Japan, which had been taking over much of Asia since the 1930's, the U.S.-along with our allies in the Pacific, Great Britain and Austrailia to name a few-soon found themselves fighting a new kind of warfare in South-East Asia. In most of America's past wars, both armies fought on stable continents; but in the Pacific, almost every battle was fought on very small islands or in the middle of the ocean. This led to a kind of "leap frog" warfare: "jumping" armies from one island to the next to take ground, and naval engagements in between, if not involved in the land battles. The Pacific theatre saw a rise in airplane engagements; and with the development and improvement of the aircraft carrier, planes soon made a huge part of the defending and attacking forces on both sides.

In this overview, we will see what fighting in South East Asia was like, and what made the Pacific Theatre of the war so different, and yet so vital of importance.

The Americans

"Hit the beach!" After a naval artillery barrage and aircraft bombings to "soften up" the dug-in enemy, U.S. troops beach landings could turn out to be a brilliant victory or a bloody nightmare of a failure.

A U.S. Soldier runs for cover on a hill covered with giant native grasses and bamboo. The jungle islands were often covered in dense foilage; giving the enemy excellent concealment. A U.S. Soldier waits at the ready near a coastal cliff.
This picture, along with the one above, shows the gear of the average U.S. Marine serving in the South Pacific. Helmet with cloth camoflauge cover, belt with ammo pouches and-most importantly-a canteen, camoflauge uniform, and M1 Garand rifle with bayonet.
The Enemy: Japan

This is what the enemy soldier looked like.

A khaki uniform, cotton for the hot jungle, putees, and U.S. made M1 Springfield rifle leftover from the First World War (we were allies then, and the United States had been supplying Japan with military arms, equiptment, raw materials, and advisors since the 1860's). The only gear he wore was a light-weight belt with ammo pouches, a canteen, and a bayonet. He wears a standard issue field cap.

A Japanese soldier with standard-issue jacket and early-style helmet. The Aircraft

A Japanese A6M5 Mitsubishi, nick-named "zero" by U.S. troops. It was extremely effective, and during the first two years of the war it could not be out-fought by any fighter the allies could muster.
U.S. Navy Avenger, a fighter-bomber that proved it's service well.

A U.S. P-38 Lightning, nick-named "forked-tailed devil" by the Japanese for it's unique fuselage. It was one of the best airplanes in U.S. Service, and it was a group of Lightnings that shot down and killed Japanese Admiral Yamamoto in his private plane as he flew out one morning to survey the area before the battle.

The Combat
Combat in the jungle was often a nightmare of an experience involving close-combat on many occasions, or assaulting an open beach which often ended in a horrid battle.

U.S. troops fire at oncoming Japanese troops.
A U.S. Marine fires through an opening in the jungle at a distant enemy.

We hope you enjoyed this entry, and we'll be updating with more in-depth entries on the Pacific Theatre soon!