New Guinea ~ situation while Smitty was there

New Guinea, WWII

Smitty always made mention of how hard the soldiers before him had to struggle.  He noticed that no matter how hard people or nature tried to disguise their surroundings, the scars of war were everywhere.  In New Guinea, my father had a clear view of the battle remnants of General Robert Eichelberger’s Australian and American troops from when they fought on a similar terrain and in battles as fiercely intense as Guadalcanal – on each island the territories had to be taken inch by inch.

Lt. Gen. George C. Kenney, Chief of Allied Air Forces, in the southwest Pacific sent his complaints to the War Dept.  and Gen. “Hap” Arnold, head of the U.S. Army Air Forces to explain just that in 1942:

General Kenney

“… The Japanese is still being underrated.  There is no question of our being able to defeat him, but the time, effort, blood and money required to do the job may run to proportions beyond all conception, particularly if the devil is allowed to develop the resources he is now holding.

“Look at us in Buna.  There are hundreds of Buna ahead for us.  The Japanese there has been in a hopeless position for months.  He has been outnumbered heavily throughout the show.  His garrison has been whittled down to a handful by bombing and strafing.  He has no air support and his own Navy has not been able to get passed our air blockade to help him.  He has seen lots of Japs sunk off shore a few miles away.  He has been short on rations and has had to conserve his ammunition, as his replenishment from submarines and small boats working down from Lae at night and once by parachute from airplanes has been precarious, to say the least.  The Emperor told them to hold, and believe me, they have held!  As to their morale — they still yell out to our troops, “What’s the matter, Yanks?  Are you yellow?  Why don’t you come in and fight?”  A few snipers, asked to surrender after being surrounded, called back, “If you bastards think you are good enough, come and get us!”

“…I’m afraid that a lot of people, who think this Jap is a “pushover” as soon as Germany falls, are due for a rude awakening.  We will have to call on all our patriotism, stamina, guts and maybe some crusading spirit or religious fervor thrown in to beat him.  No amateur team will take this boy out.  We have got to turn professional.  Another thing: there are no quiet sectors in which troops get started off gradually, as in the last war.  There are no breathers on this schedule.  You take on Notre Dame every time you play!”

According to Gen. Kenney’s reports, the last 2 weeks of June saw the last of the enemy air force, at least as far as New Guinea was concerned, and ports for re-supplying their troops were being repeatedly hit.  Babo, Manokwari and Sorong saw 10,000 tons of shipping go to the the bottom in these series of attacks.  By the end of the month, airdromes were mere burned out shells of buildings and cratered runways.

Here is where the specialized training for the 11th A/B began and the War Dept. also saw the need for improved weapons for this “new type of war.”   Under the direction of Colonel William Borden this effort resulted in: 105-mm and 155-mm mortars, flamethrowers, ground rockets, colored smoke grenades and the skidpans for towing heavy artillery in muddy terrains.

General Eichelberger

But – still at this point – only about 15% of the Allied resources were going to the Pacific.

(These two photographs are courtesy of the World War II Database. ww2db.com)

damaged Zero planes near Lae, New Guinea

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Military Humor –

 

“Ya might hafta catch a boat. One of them kids you chased off the field was the pilot.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes –

Fort Rosecrans Cemetery, San Diego, CA

John Chrenka – Berwyn, IL; US Army, WWII, ETO, Silver Star

Dominic DeSorbo – Hartford, CT; US Navy, WWII, 6th Fleet, USS Lake Champlain

Kenneth Ernst – New Orleans, LA; US Navy, Korea

Ike Farrar – Bedford County, TN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, C-46 pilot

Richard Jennings – Flint, MI; US Navy, WWII

Dick Leabo – Walcott, IA, US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI, ‘Flying Tigers’

Charles McCready – Montreal, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII, pilot

Charles Mitchell – Richmond, CA & Ontario, CAN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Div., Pvt. /US Air Force (Ret. 30 yrs), Chaplin, Col.

Harold Rothbard – Brooklyn, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, B-17 tail gunner

Donald Wachter – St. Louis, MO; US Army, WWII, 7th Infantry Division

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