August 1942 (1)

USS Gregory carries the 1st Raiders to Tulagi, 8 August 1942

7-8 August – the 1st Marine Division (19,000 men) landed on Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, unopposed.  The Japanese intelligence had failed to release an advance warning.  The enemy lookouts at Tulagi radioed: “LARGE FORCE OF SHIPS UNKNOWN NUMBER OR TYPES ENTERING SOUND WHAT COULD THEY BE?”  Seconds later, at 0613 hours, the 8″ guns of the cruiser, USS Quincy thundered.  The Tulagi enemy commander radioed at 0630, “ENEMY FORCE OVERWHELMING.  WE WILL DEFEND OUR POSTS TO THE DEATH.”  That was the final message as the warships bombed the transmitting station.

Tanambogo Island, enemy stronghold, bombed before Solomons landings, 7 Aug. 1942

On the slopes of Guadalcanal, Australian Coastwatcher, Captain Martin Clemens wrote in his diary: “Wizard!!!  Caloo, Callay, Oh!  What a Day!”  He also noted down that the morale of his native scouts went up 500% as he tuned in his shortwave radio to listen to the American pilots.

The first wave of troops went ashore on Red Beach, Tulagi and signaled for the next wave to come ahead and hit Blue Beach.  The town was taken by late morning, but farther inland they were met by scattered snipers and the enemy in dugouts.  Fierce hand-to-hand combat ensued.  Even further, they encountered 2,000 defenders who fought the attack and refused to surrender.  The Americans were encountering their indoctrination to the Japanese belief of bushido, the warrior way; only 23 of the enemy were taken alive.  The Marines had lost 100 men.

Death on the battlefield and by suicide.

On Red Beach at Lunga Point, with its ¾-finished airfield (later called Henderson Field), was found deserted.  The Japanese construction crews were without weapons and had abandoned everything.  The Marines found hundreds of cases of Japanese beer and the refrigeration plant, which they aptly signed as: “TOJO ICE FACTORY – UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT.”

The enemy had been taken by surprise.  Admiral Mikawa’s bombers were taking off to support their troops on New Guinea and the cruisers were scattered.  On Yamamoto’s orders, Mikawa’s plans were changed.  He boarded the Chokai and led 5 heavy cruisers and 2 light cruisers to retake Guadalcanal.  The Coastwatchers and air patrols notified the US of the advancing force, but air reconnaissance failed to locate the ships. During the moonless night, the enemy aircraft made their way over Savo Island.

Guadalcanal

HMAS Canberra received 24 hits and a torpedo found the USS Chicago.  The USS Astoria, hit and ablaze, did manage to get her gun crews into action.  Still, 2 torpedoes hit the Quincy and the USS Vincennes was blasted out of the water.

Mikawa’s decision to withdraw after winning the Battle of Savo saved Guadalcanal from being a total disaster and Operation Watchtower from collapsing.  This was the worst naval defeat in US history with 4 cruisers [in 90 minutes] and over 1,000 Allied seamen on the bottom of what would come to be known as “Ironbottom Sound.”  A US submarine had gotten the enemy cruiser Kako.

Guadalcanal

In view of impending air attacks, Admiral Turner withdrew his surviving warships.  Vandergrift’s 6,000 men on Tulagi and the 10,000 on Guadalcanal were left with less than a month’s rations.  Japanese and US troops alike dug in at their positions.

— Eventually, the Allies would have a total of 32 ships at the bottom of Ironbottom Sound and Japan had 14.  For those of you interested, Wikipedia has both a list of the names and a map indicating the locations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironbottom_Sound

TO BE CONTINUED….

Click on images to enlarge.

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Military Humor – 

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Farewell Salutes – 

James Best – Powderly, KY; US Army, WWII, (beloved actor)

Samuel Charters – Sacramento, CA; US Army, Korea

Joseph Dionisi – Mountain Home, AR; US Army Air Corps, WWII

Arthur Evans – AUS; RA Air Force, Signals, WWII

Robert Hite – Texas; US Army Air Corps, WWII, LtCol., co-pilot, Doolittle Raider, POW

Mary Knox – Anchorage, AK; US Air Force

Carl Lovendale – MA & ME; US Navy, WWII, minesweeper, 2 Bronze Stars

Norman McLeod – Sunnynook, NZ; RNZ Army # 204440, K Force

Richard Murphy – Wadsworth, OH; US Army, WWII, ETO, 75th Inf/289 Div., Bronze Star/ Korea, 2nd Inf. Div.

Bill Romano – Chicago, IL; US Army, Korea

Gene Saks – Hackensack, NJ; US Navy, WWII, ETO, (Broadway director)

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