Guadalcanal 72 Years On

[kham]

Japan learned many lessons about military aviation over China before WW2. The wrong lessons!
In January 1942, the perception was that the Zero was a wonder weapon that no Allied fighter could match.
Zero required a lot of hand labor to build. March 1939 - March 1942 = 837 built April 1942 - March 1943 = 1,689. Not a lot!
Zero Specs

J. radios were unreliable enough that many pilots removed them to save weight. US pilots thought that was crazy. US pilots looked out for each other via radio. US pilots noticed poor teamwork between Zeros - probably due to lack of radios. As usual, most of the that info is from "Fire in the Sky" - Eric Bergerud

Both the F4F and Zero were good enough to stay in production until the end of the war.
(**Interesting note-- the only counterparts in the ETO to have this were the 109 and Spitfire....)

[kham]

A wonder weapon - the IJA's Type 89 50mm grenade launcher. (or light mortar)
J. had trouble matching Western industry. Where the USA used artillery, J. would use inexpensive mortars. Compared to artillery, mortars are lighter, cheaper and easier to use. Due to translation issues, some Americans thought it was called a "Knee Mortar" and that you braced it against your leg to fire.
Nah, bro. That'll break your leg....
J. was brilliant with mortars.
Mortar info mostly from "Touched with Fire" by Eric Bergerud

The weather has improved. Rabaul now has a 2-1 edge in fighters and will start an offensive to wipe out the air power at H. (**Heard that about 12 months ago by another arrogant fatboy...)

[kham]

Kennedy, on New Georgia, reports 18 Bettys and *38* Zeros inbound!

Near Matanikau, one company of Marines lands near Point Cruz and advances 350 yards to a ridge (Hill 84). Maj. Rogers calls a command conference on the hilltop. All the honchos are together... Rogers is killed by a 50mm grenade! The number two is seriously wounded. Many others are wounded. The other company lands and starts marching to join the company on Hill 84. RIGHT THEN the J. attack Hill 84! At this worst possible time, Bettys from Rabaul bomb the division command post - fouling up communications. F4Fx34 intercept today's Raid from Rabaul. Marines claim 5 Bettys, 5 Zeros but Bettys were able to bomb first. 1 SBD destroyed, 4 damaged, 3 TBF heavily damaged. 5 F4Fs damaged, no pilots hurt. H. has SBDx18 and TBFx1 flyable (a wrecked SBD - could be from today's raid)

(From now on, the times of events related to Hill 84 are totally vague. Books say *what* happened but don't say when.) est Capt. Kelly, in command on Hill 84, sees J. moving to a position to attack the raiders but he has no radio and can't tell anyone. Another problem - he has just one mortar with only 50 rounds

est All the original SBD pilots (who weren't wounded or killed) have been replaced by now. Worn out in just a month and a half. Pilots from Enterprise also depart 'canal. Their planes are worn out - so are they.

est All 3 Marine forces in the Matanikau area are in combat and immobilized.

[kham]

est The men on Hill 84 are surrounded by the J. on 3 sides and are burning up their ammo quickly. The missing radio is a serious problem. Marines on Hill 84 Improvise. They lay out T-shirts on top of Hill 84 spelling out HELP. est 1st Lt. Dale Leslie flies over Hill 84 in an SBD, sees HELP, and radios the info in.

Puller and Edson get the word about Hill 84 and organize a rescue featuring naval gunfire from APD Ballard. APD Ballard (Puller on board) helps out Hill 84 with naval gunfire. The signalman who forgot his radio brought along his signal flags! He's able to send messages to APD Ballard and direct the guns to clear a path to the beach. Marine arty stationed W. of H. join in. The gunfire is effective although there are a few overshots that hit Marines on Hill 84

Platoon Sgt. Anthony Malanowski grabs a BAR (a light machine gun) to cover the retreat. He's never seen again alive but men hear his BAR fire and fire. Much later, when Marines finally occupy this area, they find his body.

est Pvt. John Giles mans a MG on Hill 84. He says he will not leave until everyone else has left the ridge. He dies at his gun. When his gun found, later, it has 4 rounds left. Oddly, there's no mention of a Navy Cross or MoH for Giles

est The men from Hill 84 fight their way to the beach within 45 minutes of APD Ballard opening fire. Landing craft head in. Previously unseen J. MGs fire on the landing craft ... they turn back! 1st Lt. Leslie strafes the ocean near the landing craft to show that he can provide close support. The boats return but it takes another 30 minutes to reach the beach.

est The last boat to leave the beach is commanded by Coast Guard signalmen Douglas Munro.

[kham]

A gunner on his boat is killed so Munro grabs the gun and suppresses J. MG positions until he is killed by a mortar. Munro's last words: "Did they get off?"
During this action, Raymond Evans is steering the boat with 1 hand and firing a MG with the other.
As Munro's boat leaves it's steering is shot up. The boat turns circles 3 times before it's fixed. Then, just as it's leaving, the *LAST* Marine jumps off the beach and swims to the landing craft!

The part of Puller's battalion that got entangled at Hill 84 had 24 killed and 23 wounded. The estimates are that there were about 1,600 J. in the area. For all the Marines in today's action there were 60 killed and 100 wounded. The intensity of the resistance to this offensive convinces V. that there are a lot more J. on 'canal than there actually are. V. decides to poke again - next attack will be with a full regiment. The Sept 23-27 offensive was not a success in terms of territory but it *was* an effective spoiling attack. Disrupting the IJA, forcing them to use up supplies and throwing off their schedule.

est Father de Klerk makes it back to Tangarare in just 3 days. Amazing!

[kham]

est Nimitz meets Ghormley in Noumea. Nimitz doesn't like Ghormley's attitude (I assume he means the defeatist attitude) Ghormley has a lot of Army aircraft - he's holding most in reserve. Ghormley has many Army regiments - none are being sent to 'canal. Nimitz wants to know why TE runs aren't being challenged.

Nimitz graybook. --- In reality, Zuikaku unscathed. Blair's history of WW2 US Sub ops doesn't even mention it.

[kham]

The PBY evac of Tangarare (de Klerk's mission) is postponed until Sept 30.

est A *Maximum Effort* raid from Rabaul. 27 Bettys, 42 Zeros!

Coastwatchers give good advance warning and 34 F4Fs are able to intercept well away from H. The Betty formation is shredded! 4 Bettys shot down, 3 more fail to return to Rabaul. 1 Zero shot down, 5 F4Fs damaged. Over the last 2 days Rabaul has sent 45 Bettys to H. and lost *12*. That's not an unsustainable loss rate, that's a *ruinous* rate! Compare with RAF bomber command. For all of WW2, Bomber Command had a 5% loss rate per mission. That 5% rate was high enough to make them question if strategic bombing was viable. McCain's "sinkhole" strategy is working! Rabaul is dismayed at the Betty losses. They decide that tomorrow they'll do a fighter sweep - no bombers.

[kham]

est TBFx4, SBDx6 arrive H. These are from Wasp. Half the planes at H. are from damaged or sunk CVs!

est Adm. Turner limits transports for 'canal to carry a max of 3,000 tons - the amount that can be unloaded in 1 day. Transports at Tulagi may unload at night - it's harbor is more secure.

est Rabaul's raid today is 9 Bettys and 27 Zeros - a fighter sweep. The Bettys are used only as navigational guides for the Zeros. The Bettys return to Rabaul when they're 60 miles from H. F4Fx33 scramble, 15 are able to intercept. 1 F4F and 1 Zero are destroyed. The Marines, wisely, don't seem interested in dogfighting. BTW, J. claim to have shot down 8 F4Fs this sweep. Errors like this lead to bad assumptions on what airpower remains at H.

[kham]

TR Alhena, on the way back to Espiritu Santo from 'canal, is torped by sub I-16. 4 killed, 26 wounded, 25+ MIA (wounded Marines). Alhena is put under tow and makes it back to Espirtu Santo on Oct 7th.

The PBY evac of Tangarare is postponed until further notice. Meanwhile, J. are still moving down the SW coast. Father de Klerk is supposed to be evacuated on the PBY as well. He's thinking he can fight the J. better if he stays behind with a coastwatcher's radio and his native network. But Vandegrift wants to evac *everyone*

est Nimitz visits 'canal He almost doesn't make it! His B-17 gets lost en route. His Air Officer, Ralph Ostie, has to work out the way to H. using a National Geographic map. What happened? It seems the B-17 pilot was navigating casually based on just following a compass heading from Espiritu Santo. When he has to change course to avoid a thunderstorm, he gets lost. They're able to find the island but don't know what part of the island they're flying over. Ostie plus NatGeo save the day! Nimitz is there to inspect and hand out medals. The fact that he's there boosts morale. (**I know Chester Nimitz was a pretty easy going guy, but I would have had this guy flying Piper Cubs in Kansas until fucking 1950)

Nimitz now wants more reinforcements - he's *pissed* that Ghormley has EIGHT loaded transports at Noumea ...and doesn't plan to rush them to 'canal. Nimitz orders Ghormley to send the Army's 164th Regt (of Americal Division) to 'canal - ASAP! While Nimitz is on 'canal he notes Marines are *much* more confident than Ghormley.

[kham]

Gen. Hyakutake now estimates there could be as many as 7,500 Marines on 'canal. (actual number around 20,000)

Bad weather, no Rabaul raid.

It's *hard* to bomb moving ships! Stats for last 2 months...In the Solomons, for the US, during ... August - 434 bombs, 19 hits Sept - 425 bombs, 9 hits (I don't know if those numbers include B-17s)

Malaria: Don't have Malaria infection numbers for this month. (Next month's amazing numbers make up for it!)

Shortlands, at the S. end of Bougainville, is now key to J. operations for 'canal.
Fast ships leave Shortlands, wait just outside SBD range at sunset and then dash in to 'canal in the dark. New airfields are almost ready to support fighter operations. Barges and transports are building up at Shortlands for the Oct. offensive.
The Hornet departs Noumea with CAx4, DDx6. Target... Shortlands! The TF travels far S. of 'canal to avoid the subs in Torpedo Alley.