The FReeper Foxhole Revisits "Operation Watchtower" - Guadalcanal (8/1942-2/1943) - Aug 27th , 2004

http://grunts.net ^ | Joseph Leach

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


...................................................................................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer.

If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions.

We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

The FReeper Foxhole Revisits

The Battle of Guadalcanal

Shortly after defeating the Japanese at the battle of Midway, the United States decided to push into the strategically important area of the southwest Pacific. Now that Hawaii was deemed secure from immediate attack it was time to take the fight to the Japanese. Both American C.O.'s in the Pacific,General Douglas MacArthur (SW Pacific) and Admiral Chester Nimitz (Pacific Ocean) were offensive minded, aggressive leaders, and welcomed the directive that came from the Joint Chiefs on July 2, 1942. This directive called for parallel attacks on Rabaul Island, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands Chain. Plans were started for attacking in these areas immediately.

Just as fast the plans had to be looked at from a different angle, when air recon showed that the Japanese were moving troops from Tulagi to Guadalcanal and building an airfield on the latter. These islands were next to each other in the lower Solomon Chain. The Americans had been warned earlier by Australian Coast watchers that the Japanese were starting to occupy Guadalcanal,an island 90 miles by 25 miles and covered mostly by rain forests,mountains, and swamps. A Japanese airfield here would jeopardize all U.S.forces in the area. Guadalcanal had to be taken and taken right away. Normally the island would fall under the command of MacArthur,but for now the boundary between the two commands was moved, giving command of the operation to Nimitz.


Marines quickly exit their landing craft directly in the palm tree line. Landing close to the trees gave the Marines cover from possible Japanese defenses.

Preparation and training started at a feverish pace. Nimitz assiagned three carrier groups (Saratoga, Wasp, and Enterprize) under the command of Admiral Fletcher to support the operation. Fletcher was in over-all command of the operation. Admiral Turner was in command of the landing force. This force consisted of the lst Marine division and a regiment of the 2nd Marine Division.(19,000 men) General Vandergrift commanded these troops. Lastly the operation was backed up by a joint force (TF44) of American and Australian cruisers and destroyers.


Raising the Colors on Guadalcanal after the initial landings, circa 7 August 1942.
Officer standing second from right in this group appears to be the First Marine Division commander, Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift, USMC.

At 0900 hours on 8/7/42 (8 months to the day after the sneak attack on Pearl harbor) 11,000 Marines landed on Guadalcanal after a lengthy naval and air bombardment. The landing was not contested by the Japaese and the airfield was secured that first day. Tulagi was also hit by a force of 1,000 Marines and it was a different story. The Japanese resisted fiercely and in two days fighting the Marines killed just about all of them.

On the 2nd day things became more difficultt for the Marines on Guadalcanal. Fletcher withdrew the Carrier groups for fear of air attacks from Rabaul. Turner did the same with the transports. The Marines were now on their own in enemy territory. To make matters worse for them, Turner's transports held much needed supplies and equipment. In addittion to the supplies there were also 1,000 Marines still on the transports that would be sorely needed in the coming hours. The only naval force in the area were the patrolling ships of TF44. Vandergrift put the Marines in a five mile long defensive perimeter and started to finish building the airfield with the equipment he had, plus that which the Japanese left.


Captain Warren Frederick Martin Clemens, British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defense Force (BSIPDF), with six members of the BSIPDF Scouts, on Guadalcanal circa the later part of 1942.
Clemens identifies these men as (standing beside him): Daniel Pule (left) and Andrew Langabaea. Those seated are (left to right): Olorere, Gumu, Chaparuka and Chaku.
Each of the Scouts is armed with a British SMLE #1 rifle. Clemens, the British Colonial Service District Officer on Guadalcanal, had remained on the island throughout its May-August 1942 occupation by the Japanese.

The Japanese Commander in the area, Admiral Mikawa, sent a naval force from Rabaul down between the islands of the Solomon Chain (known as "The Slot") on the night of the 8th and hit TF 44 by suprise. In two quick battles off savo Island the allied force lost the Canberra, Quincy, Astoria, Vincennes, and the Chicago with a great loss of life.




On the night of the 20th of August the Japanese that had been landed earlier hit the Marine line at the Tenaru River in a fanatical "Banzai" attack. The young Marines held their ground and slaughtered the attackers. When the sun came up the ground before the Marine line was littered with over 800 dead Japanese. These young Americans who had been civilians a short time ago had stood up to a professional, experienced army and beat them.

Their hardships and heroism was just starting though.

August 20th was also the day the first Marine fighter planes landed on the now usable airfield. They quickly dubbed themselves "the Cactus Air Force." The field itself was named Henderson Field in honor of Major Lofton R. Henderson killed in the Battle of Midway.


Temporary grave with marker which reads, "Here lies a Devil Dog",

The Japanese kept underestimating the strength of the Americans on Guadalcanal and kept putting their troops ashore piecemeal. They also kept up the pressure on the U.S. Navy which returned to the area. In ensuing sea battles the Enterprise was crippled by bombs. The Japanese lost a seaplane carrier(the Chitose) and over 70 planes. A Jap troop ship was also sunk, and the USS Saratoga was put out of action for 3 months by torpedoes. The Wasp and the battle ship North Carolina were also sunk. The loss of life inflicted upon the sailors engaged was extremely high.

The battle for the island continued with the Americans landing troops and supplies during daylight hours and the Japanese doing the same after dark. This procedure the Japanese used with ships (mostly destroyers) shuttling troops in at night became known to the Marines as "the Tokyo Expess." The night of the 21st of August was the scene of another "Banzai" attack against Henderson Field. l,000 Japanese ran screaming into the Marine positons and 800 were killed before morning.


Japanese Navy Type 1 land attack planes (later nicknamed "Betty") fly low through anti-aircraft gunfire during a torpedo attack on U.S. Navy ships maneuvering between Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the morning of 8 August 1942.
Note that these planes are being flown without bomb-bay doors.

The "Tokyo Express" dropped off another 6,000 troops and on the 13th of September 3,500 of them hit the south perimeter of the airfield. This area was defended by the lst Marine Raider Battallion under the command of Lt.Col. Merritt (Red Mike) Edson. They were dug in on a ridge and bore the brunt of wave after wave of "banzai" attacks. Edson was all over the field of battle, exhorting his men, and fighting right in the line wih them. At one point the Japanese breached his line and he ordered a pullback and then called in artillery strikes on their previous positions catching the attackers in the open. This area became known as "Bloody Ridge."

Dawn broke over the bodies of l,000 Japanese lying in and around the Marine positions. The balance had fled back into the jungle. After the battle, Vandergrift sent large patrols into the jungle after the retreating enemy. There was almost a serious setback when a battallion of Marines were hit by a large body of Japanese and were pushed back to the beach. It looked like they'd be overrun until a destroyer responded and bombarded the attacking Japanese while the Marines were evacuated by landing crafts. It was during this operation that Coastguardsman Douglas Munro put himself in harms way while evacuating the Marines and received the Medal of Honor posthumously. He was the only member of the Coast Guard to receive this honor.

---

---

FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[E.G.C.]

Good morning.

We're in a slight risk for severe t-storms later today. There's already a watch out for parts of Kansas and Missouri. We'll be unplugging the computer later today.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning feather.

[snippy_about_it]

Stay safe.

[Darksheare]

Yuppers.
Had to wrestle and drag kitty in for a follow up at the vets.

[alfa6]

Your comment reminded of a MAD magazine cartoon on Bob Dylan entitled "Bob Dylie Sings, Almost"

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[USMCBOMBGUY]

Good Morning Foxhole, I have been lurking around the Foxhole for a few months and wanted to finally say hello and I enjoy the posts. Thank you for your diligence in keeping our history alive.

[colorado tanker]

Happy TGIF day to all in the Foxhole!

Guadalcanal was bought at a very high price, but it was worth it. From then on the tide turned on the ground and we were playing offense.

I've ordered my Swiftie book but I was too late and I'm on backorder. I've contributed to the Swiftie site, though. I can't believe John Fraud Kerry is doing all he can to keep this issue alive. The guy just isn't very . . . swift.

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks so much for finally "fallin in" to say hello. We appreciate your kind words. Please feel free to drop in anytime, we're a pretty friendly bunch. ;-)

Thank you for your service to our country. Were you EOD or some other type of "Bombguy"?

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. Good morning tanker. We've been to every bookstore within 20+ miles of here, no book. I only ranted at one place, Borders. Heck all the bookstores seem to me to be leftist fronts. I'm amazed at the multitude of "Hate America" books on the shelves. I have to come back to the Foxhole to feel good again.

[snippy_about_it]

Had to wrestle and drag kitty in for a follow up at the vets.

I hope you were wearing protective clothing. ;-)

[colorado tanker]

We knew a very sweet but very befuddled lady who worked at a local bookstore. She would actually admit to hiding conservative books.

[USMCBOMBGUY]

Active Marine EOD. Out In California taking a break from the deployments, or so I thought, heading out again soon.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Feather.

Congratulations on your one year Anniversary of "The Dragon Flies' Lair"

[SAMWolf]

I'm driving Snippy crazy, we've been hitting every book store in the area and they all are either "sold out" or have the book on backorder.

[SAMWolf]

He also played "Colonel Hessler" in the "Battle of the Bulge" (a really bad movie) and the villian in "From Russia with Love" (IMHO, one of the best Bond Movies)

[Soaring Feather]

Thank You, Sam. I did not do it alone we have some mighty fine poets in the Lair.

[SAMWolf]

Welcome to FR and the Foxhole, USMCBOMBGUY

Thanks for the compliment. Glad you enjoy the threads at the Foxhole.

Based on your screen name, were you EOD?

[colorado tanker]

I can't wait to read the book - the stuff I've heard from O'Neill is just incredible. I'm beginning to think Kerry has a serious personality defect from his constant need embellish, exaggerate and in some cases lie. And the way he feels the need to respond and attack anyone who questions him. Most politicians know the business is tough and you have to ignore a lot of this stuff to stay on message, but he doesn't. I'm thinking the Dims put the "weirdness" label on the wrong guy.

[SAMWolf]

Thank you for your service. You and US Army EOD might have some "war stories" to swap.

[SAMWolf]

He reminds me of an Al Gore on steroids. But without Al Gore's "charm" :-)