Meeting created at: 10th Sep, 2025 - 9:36 PM1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:07,440 How did the United States commence their first land offensive, littoral maneuver, no less, in the Second World War. 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:15,760 We look at US Marines on Tulagi 1942, the forgotten first US offensive of the Second World War. 3 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:23,600 This is the Principles of War podcast, professional military education for junior officers and senior NCOs. 4 00:00:28,730 --> 00:00:30,810 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the podcast. 5 00:00:30,810 --> 00:00:33,530 Very excited to have Dave Holland back with us. 6 00:00:33,530 --> 00:00:38,330 Today we are continuing our Guadalcanal Campaign series. 7 00:00:39,130 --> 00:00:44,650 Dave is a battlefield guide with extensive experience around Guadalcanal. 8 00:00:44,890 --> 00:00:53,050 He's got encyclopedic knowledge of the Guadalcanal land campaign and he is the author of Guadalcanal's Longest Fight. 9 00:00:53,370 --> 00:00:58,890 Today we're talking about Tulagi, Tanambogo and Gavutu Islands. 10 00:00:59,290 --> 00:01:00,810 Let's get back to the discussion. 11 00:01:01,130 --> 00:01:04,569 The Marines first combat landing of the Second World War. 12 00:01:04,890 --> 00:01:06,490 Welcome back to the podcast, Dave. 13 00:01:07,130 --> 00:01:07,770 Thanks, James. 14 00:01:07,770 --> 00:01:11,010 It's great to be back and I'm ready for episode two. 15 00:01:11,010 --> 00:01:13,370 So now we're actually getting into some fighting, so. 16 00:01:13,530 --> 00:01:14,290 Absolutely. 17 00:01:14,290 --> 00:01:16,730 So we're going to look at Tulagi. 18 00:01:17,050 --> 00:01:20,970 The Marines left Wellington on 22 July 1942. 19 00:01:21,430 --> 00:01:25,270 That's the same day as the Japanese landing at Buna and Gona. 20 00:01:25,270 --> 00:01:32,790 The task force was to conduct landings on five islands, Florida, Gavutu, Tanambogo, Tulagi and Guadalcanal. 21 00:01:33,110 --> 00:01:36,950 How well prepared were they when they left Wellington? 22 00:01:37,189 --> 00:01:45,990 Okay, I think it goes back to the last episode when I was talking about the, I guess composition and the training and the experience or non experience of the division. 23 00:01:45,990 --> 00:01:49,200 I think I said in the last episode they're fairly green factor. 24 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,120 I'd say 70%, 80% of the division was very green. 25 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:57,520 And so their planning was three to four weeks or I think extended out to at least the seventh. 26 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,480 From the first they got a reprieve for another week. 27 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:01,200 King gave them another week for the seventh. 28 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,000 So the plan was only five weeks. 29 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:08,759 So Operation Watch Time became Operation Shoestring, which was the joke at the time. 30 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:11,240 It was a shoestring invasion. 31 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:19,050 So I guess as you could say in five weeks, launching the largest US amphibious assault in their history. 32 00:02:19,050 --> 00:02:23,890 At that stage it's probably the best they could be within five weeks training and five week preparation. 33 00:02:24,130 --> 00:02:25,770 So they weren't that well prepared. 34 00:02:25,770 --> 00:02:29,650 But they had to do what they had to do, had to make the best of a bad situation. 35 00:02:30,130 --> 00:02:38,610 Luckily, I think I spoke about in the last episode, they had some good quality officers and some good NCOs, and they had a high quality of the green recruits. 36 00:02:39,090 --> 00:02:43,600 I think I said too also that of these recruits, one also said they're all officer. 37 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,040 If they were in peacetime, they'd be officer caliber because of volunteers. 38 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:49,840 And these are the bunch that came straight out of the Pearl Harbors. 39 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:50,960 They're very well motivated. 40 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:57,120 They were keen to take on the Japanese and they're very motivated and dedicated, so to speak. 41 00:02:57,200 --> 00:02:58,000 Ready to go. 42 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:05,600 Now on the way to Guadalcanal, they stopped at Coro island in Fiji for two rehearsal landings. 43 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:06,880 How did they go? 44 00:03:07,430 --> 00:03:09,110 Well, think it's kind of common knowledge. 45 00:03:09,110 --> 00:03:11,950 That was a fiasco, a complete fiasco. 46 00:03:11,950 --> 00:03:16,790 That was what Lt. Col. Merrill Trining, one of the Division Klan officers, said it was a complete fiasco. 47 00:03:16,870 --> 00:03:22,630 But in a lot of books and a lot of accounts they just write it off as nothing was learned. 48 00:03:22,630 --> 00:03:24,950 But there was some valuable lessons learned from this. 49 00:03:25,350 --> 00:03:29,310 I guess some of the things that they dubbed it to be a complete fiasco. 50 00:03:29,310 --> 00:03:30,790 The reasons were law. 51 00:03:30,790 --> 00:03:32,710 The boats were hung up on the coral. 52 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,080 So Cairo is about 400 miles south of Fiji. 53 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:38,000 That was the rendezvous place. 54 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,800 And there was also the rendezvous for, or the meeting place for the whole fleet. 55 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,720 So you had Admiral Fletcher and Admiral Kerner and the transport units. 56 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:47,840 He had them all meeting at one stage. 57 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:54,040 This is the first time that the three elements were meeting all together so that it was also a chance to do rehearsals. 58 00:03:54,040 --> 00:04:00,160 Also a chance to have the actual first conference with the tactical commander, which is Admiral Fletcher at the time. 59 00:04:00,490 --> 00:04:02,170 So we'll talk about that in a second. 60 00:04:02,170 --> 00:04:07,170 But when they actually did the dress rehearsals, a lot of the boats were hung up on coral. 61 00:04:07,170 --> 00:04:09,450 They landed like one or 200 yards off. 62 00:04:09,690 --> 00:04:14,090 They swamped a lot of boats, ran into their own beaches, landed on their own beaches. 63 00:04:14,570 --> 00:04:18,570 Some of the guys going down the ladders and the ropes got hung up. 64 00:04:18,570 --> 00:04:20,010 Equipment fell in the ocean. 65 00:04:20,010 --> 00:04:22,250 Yeah, it was a complete fiasco. 66 00:04:22,250 --> 00:04:29,120 But things they, I guess cons, you could say it was the first time for a lot of the smaller units that have meetings. 67 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:31,040 So they coordinated a lot of stuff. 68 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:38,080 Some of the air and the naval coordinated the timings with the firing and how they work together. 69 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:40,080 The boat timings were worked out. 70 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:45,800 It allowed them a chance to repack and continue packing some of their gear. 71 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:56,520 Because as you know, we discussed in last episode, when they landed in New Zealand under Operation Longville for the six month deployment there, they're all admin packed in the cargo ships. 72 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:01,160 So they had to do a rush repack the best they could to combat load those ships. 73 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:04,280 So it gave him a chance to continue that combat loading. 74 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,440 So there was some lessons learned from it and some good things from it. 75 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:10,039 But overall it didn't fill them with optimism. 76 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:12,840 Now the conference was on the 26th of July. 77 00:05:12,840 --> 00:05:13,880 So that was Fletcher. 78 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,880 He was meeting with Turner who was the amphibious force commander. 79 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:23,520 Vander Griff was Division 1st Marine Division Commander and a guy called Admiral Rear Admiral Callahan. 80 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:28,080 So he was the chief of staff for Re or Vice Admiral Gormley. 81 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:29,760 It was a South Pacific commander. 82 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,800 Interestingly Gormley didn't attend. 83 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:34,880 He was still back in this stage. 84 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:39,560 I think he'd moved his headquarters to New Caledonia I think at that stage, or potentially New Zealand. 85 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:43,560 But it was one of those two PR I think it far deployed to New Caledonia. 86 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:44,480 But he wasn't there. 87 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,540 So Fletcher wasn't really convinced about the invasion. 88 00:05:48,540 --> 00:05:58,060 He what Vandergriff said that Fletcher had the he was opinion that Fletcher thought of it more of a raid, amphibious raid, in and out, not of we're going to go there and stay. 89 00:05:58,300 --> 00:06:01,900 Obviously he had three carriers and he was very protective of his carriers. 90 00:06:02,060 --> 00:06:08,060 So the debate was how long was the air cover going to remain to unload the transports and cargo ships. 91 00:06:08,060 --> 00:06:09,900 So it's a big controversy even today. 92 00:06:10,140 --> 00:06:13,400 So Fletcher says I'll give you D plus one. 93 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:15,320 So D day, landing day plus one. 94 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:16,600 So two days of air coverage. 95 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:17,480 Then I'm out of there. 96 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:27,880 Because he didn't want to keep his carriers on station in a stationary position because they're susceptible to especially land based bombers and he wanted to keep them on the move. 97 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,920 So Turner and Vande Griff wasn't keen or wasn't happy with that idea. 98 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:37,360 They said was no way they were spent at least four to five days to unload those cargoes and transports. 99 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:44,040 I mean download a transport ship's not you got men on it, you can unload them quite quickly but all the cargo is going to take a number of days. 100 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:45,720 So they said look, four to five days. 101 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:47,600 Fletcher goes and went back and forth. 102 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:49,880 Finally Fletcher said okay, I'll give you D plus two. 103 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,200 So three days and that's it, I'm out of there on the 9th of August. 104 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:54,520 I'm out of there now. 105 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:58,920 Callahan, who is supposed to be Gormley's representative, didn't say a word. 106 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,120 He might, he was just kind of acting as the scribe. 107 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:02,040 He wrote notes down. 108 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:09,570 So if Gormley would have been there, at least he would have been, I guess the person who could mediate it and made the final decision. 109 00:07:09,570 --> 00:07:10,450 But he wasn't there. 110 00:07:10,690 --> 00:07:12,210 And that's a big controversy. 111 00:07:12,370 --> 00:07:13,730 And so they left the conference. 112 00:07:13,810 --> 00:07:17,330 Vandergrift and Turner wasn't too happy because they said, we only got three days. 113 00:07:17,650 --> 00:07:23,410 Fletcher wasn't really happy because I don't think he really wanted to command the expedition to start with. 114 00:07:23,650 --> 00:07:26,770 So what Turner had come up with, he said, this is our plan. 115 00:07:26,770 --> 00:07:30,050 It's going to take us at least four to five days to unload these cargo ships. 116 00:07:30,050 --> 00:07:30,305 So. 117 00:07:30,305 --> 00:07:38,220 So we have a covering force of cruisers, heavy cruisers, and some destroyers under a guy called Admiral Crutchley, who was a British admiral, actually. 118 00:07:38,540 --> 00:07:43,260 Victoria Cross, had been awarded a Victoria Cross, I think, in the First World War. 119 00:07:43,260 --> 00:07:46,860 So he was on loan to the Australian Navy he commanded. 120 00:07:46,860 --> 00:07:48,860 His flagship was the hmas. 121 00:07:49,340 --> 00:07:51,020 I said HMS once and someone. 122 00:07:51,500 --> 00:07:53,420 Someone basically flogged me on the. 123 00:07:53,420 --> 00:07:59,220 On the podcast I was on or I think on Facebook, HMAs get my accent right. 124 00:07:59,300 --> 00:08:01,660 Australia and also the Camber there. 125 00:08:01,660 --> 00:08:07,060 And I think there was a cruiser I can't think off top of my head, you might know it, but there was three Australian ships involved. 126 00:08:07,060 --> 00:08:08,820 So they're part of the covering force. 127 00:08:08,820 --> 00:08:19,780 And what they were going to do is he was going to use those covering force of heavy cruisers and some destroyer pickets, and then they were going to provide protection to the cargo ships get offloaded. 128 00:08:19,860 --> 00:08:24,420 This becomes very important a bit later on when we get to talk about the Battle of Sabo Island. 129 00:08:25,170 --> 00:08:26,370 This really comes into. 130 00:08:26,690 --> 00:08:28,770 Into very important there. 131 00:08:29,330 --> 00:08:30,690 So, yeah, so that was the plan. 132 00:08:31,250 --> 00:08:34,450 And after that, they proceeded on to do the invasion. 133 00:08:34,450 --> 00:08:38,409 And at this stage, most of the Marines didn't know they were going to invade Guadalcanal. 134 00:08:38,409 --> 00:08:45,650 I think it was actually right before Coral or at Coro that most of the Marines were just learned, okay, invasion is Guadalcanal. 135 00:08:45,970 --> 00:08:46,930 Even though there's. 136 00:08:46,930 --> 00:08:50,770 You read some accounts or hear some accounts that it was already known. 137 00:08:51,540 --> 00:08:58,100 But generally when you read most of the, I think the enlisted men in the private soldiers accounts or Marines accounts, they didn't know where they were going. 138 00:08:58,100 --> 00:08:59,860 They just knew they were going into combat. 139 00:08:59,940 --> 00:09:01,460 In fact, the COVID story. 140 00:09:01,700 --> 00:09:02,580 No, I'll take it back. 141 00:09:02,580 --> 00:09:08,300 The COVID story the division came up with the troops was, oh, we're packing very quickly. 142 00:09:08,300 --> 00:09:11,060 We're going to go do some exercises and some training. 143 00:09:11,140 --> 00:09:20,300 But some of the old NCOs and some of the officers started realizing when the live ammunition started coming out, yeah, we're not going to do training, we're going into combat somewhere. 144 00:09:20,460 --> 00:09:22,460 So that was the coverage story when they left. 145 00:09:23,100 --> 00:09:29,980 So after the Koro was finished conference, when they started heading basically north the word got out. 146 00:09:30,140 --> 00:09:34,140 Maps, well, not maps, rudimentary maps and have good maps came out. 147 00:09:34,140 --> 00:09:35,380 We're going everybody canal. 148 00:09:35,380 --> 00:09:37,100 And it started working out the plans. 149 00:09:37,580 --> 00:09:43,300 So leading the landing at Tulagi was Brigadier General William Rupertis. 150 00:09:43,300 --> 00:09:47,130 And he's second in command under Major General Alexander Vandegrift. 151 00:09:47,130 --> 00:09:48,410 What was Rupertus like? 152 00:09:48,650 --> 00:09:52,330 Yeah, so sir Pertus, sometimes Rupertus was man Rupertus. 153 00:09:52,650 --> 00:09:56,090 So Mariam Rupertus was a career Marine. 154 00:09:56,250 --> 00:09:57,450 Initially he came in. 155 00:09:57,450 --> 00:10:00,330 I think it was a Revenue service. 156 00:10:00,330 --> 00:10:05,370 But what's modern called Modern today the Coast Guard and for medical Regency. 157 00:10:05,370 --> 00:10:08,810 He didn't make it to academy, so he received a commission in Marine Corps. 158 00:10:08,890 --> 00:10:11,960 So he was an excellent marksman, competition shooter. 159 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:13,720 He actually, he was the author the. 160 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:14,280 The Marines. 161 00:10:14,680 --> 00:10:17,240 Well, all Marines know it's called the Roffman's Creed. 162 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:19,720 There are many rifles, but this one was mine. 163 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:21,000 And we. 164 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,080 Well, Marines still say it to this day in boot camp. 165 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:24,680 But yeah, he was. 166 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:25,800 He was known as a. 167 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:27,080 A great staff officer. 168 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:28,040 Very smart fellow. 169 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:29,800 I think he graduated number one in his class. 170 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:33,400 He'd served in a quote, banana wars, but I think he's more administrative. 171 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:35,480 Top roles in Haiti. 172 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:36,360 And then he. 173 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:37,480 He served in the China. 174 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:42,920 It was a part of China Marines commander battalion in the 4th Marines, which is 4th Marine Regiment in China. 175 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:46,000 So he was 37, 38. 176 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:50,600 Around that time he had an opportunity to observe the Chinese because as you know, they were. 177 00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:55,240 That was when the Sino Japanese war was kicking off for the second time. 178 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:56,440 So he was in Shanghai. 179 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:57,840 He got to observe. 180 00:10:57,840 --> 00:10:58,440 I'm pretty sure. 181 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:00,280 Yeah, I think they were. 182 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:02,040 But anyway, he got to observe the. 183 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,200 These future enemies and how they fall. 184 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:05,480 So he was the. 185 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:08,570 The visions Assistant division commander. 186 00:11:08,730 --> 00:11:11,290 So he was friends with Vandergrift, the division commander. 187 00:11:11,370 --> 00:11:17,890 And he later became very controversial because he was the first Marine division commander to Bala Peleli. 188 00:11:17,890 --> 00:11:18,890 And that's where he. 189 00:11:18,970 --> 00:11:22,650 There's a lot of controversy around that battle and he was the division commander there. 190 00:11:22,650 --> 00:11:25,210 So a lot of controversy follows Robertus. 191 00:11:25,210 --> 00:11:25,930 In my opinion. 192 00:11:25,930 --> 00:11:28,330 Robertus was a great staff officer. 193 00:11:28,650 --> 00:11:34,850 He wasn't really known to be a frontline combat officer, say like a Puller or Edson or even a Vandergriff. 194 00:11:34,850 --> 00:11:36,130 He wasn't very personable. 195 00:11:36,130 --> 00:11:37,850 He didn't like to visit the guys on the. 196 00:11:37,850 --> 00:11:39,570 On the lines and things like that. 197 00:11:39,570 --> 00:11:40,690 But I think his. 198 00:11:41,090 --> 00:11:45,570 He's shown in his planning and his staff officer capability. 199 00:11:45,730 --> 00:11:47,250 He's very smart planner. 200 00:11:47,569 --> 00:11:48,290 So in this. 201 00:11:48,530 --> 00:11:51,290 In this battle, I think we'll get to it a bit later. 202 00:11:51,290 --> 00:11:57,810 But they divided the forces in the into two forces, one under reporters and one under Vandergriel. 203 00:11:57,970 --> 00:12:09,730 So Vandergrift had task force X ray and they went to Guadalcanal and repertoires had task force Yoke X Y and they speared north to go to Tulagi and the surrounding islands. 204 00:12:09,730 --> 00:12:13,810 So it was basically two separate battles unsupported, fought at the same time. 205 00:12:14,450 --> 00:12:17,410 So what's the terrain like in Tulagi? 206 00:12:17,490 --> 00:12:23,570 Well see Tulagi was the, was the British pre war colonial capital. 207 00:12:24,060 --> 00:12:28,060 So the Bruce Solomon Islands I think from 1896 was a British protectorate. 208 00:12:28,140 --> 00:12:31,900 So they administered and ran the whole Solomon Islands. 209 00:12:31,980 --> 00:12:34,180 So they established their headquarters on Tulagi. 210 00:12:34,180 --> 00:12:36,780 Now the reason they did that tag is nice little island. 211 00:12:37,100 --> 00:12:42,900 It's basically free from some of the tropical diseases and away from the mainlands and the swamps and things like that. 212 00:12:42,900 --> 00:12:44,220 It's a good place to establish. 213 00:12:44,220 --> 00:12:50,860 Plus Tulagi harbor is one of the best deep water ports I've been told in the Pacific, but definitely in the South Pacific. 214 00:12:51,130 --> 00:12:52,970 So it's a very strategic area. 215 00:12:52,970 --> 00:12:57,610 So Tulagi is about 4,000 yards long, roughly about a thousand yards wide. 216 00:12:57,850 --> 00:13:03,610 During the time of the battle most of it had been cleared because the British had established their headquarters there. 217 00:13:03,770 --> 00:13:06,730 It's what you would think of a pre war British outpost. 218 00:13:06,970 --> 00:13:12,490 It had a cricket oval, cricket pitch, had a nine hole golf course. 219 00:13:13,290 --> 00:13:21,510 It had a giant country club, nice neat line streets with colonial administration buildings, had a prison, had a hospital. 220 00:13:21,590 --> 00:13:23,990 So it's very well maintained area. 221 00:13:24,150 --> 00:13:26,710 And most of the vegetation had been cut loose. 222 00:13:27,030 --> 00:13:30,950 On the northern bit there's a mango swamp and that was probably the thickest part. 223 00:13:31,110 --> 00:13:35,310 Running down the island was a, or still is. 224 00:13:35,310 --> 00:13:40,790 What I keep saying was I was only there three weeks ago is a, a mountainous spine. 225 00:13:40,790 --> 00:13:42,790 I won't say mountains, a hills, hill spine. 226 00:13:42,950 --> 00:13:48,860 So the highest peak it ends at the northern or sorry the southern bit of the island on a hill called 281. 227 00:13:48,860 --> 00:13:50,420 So it's 281ft. 228 00:13:50,420 --> 00:13:51,780 That's what they designated as. 229 00:13:51,780 --> 00:13:54,220 So that was where the highest point was 281. 230 00:13:54,220 --> 00:13:58,180 But that's Hill spine ran the whole length toward the southern bit. 231 00:13:58,340 --> 00:14:04,740 The British had cut a path about a normal road width through the ridge. 232 00:14:04,980 --> 00:14:09,340 So they're allowed to one side to go from the government buildings to the living quarters. 233 00:14:09,340 --> 00:14:15,410 So they call it the cut which when the battle of Tulagi comes of importance. 234 00:14:15,810 --> 00:14:16,970 So that's what Tulagi was. 235 00:14:16,970 --> 00:14:18,690 It was actually a very nice area. 236 00:14:18,690 --> 00:14:22,050 It still is but it was super nice in 1942. 237 00:14:22,130 --> 00:14:22,450 Yeah. 238 00:14:22,450 --> 00:14:26,530 It's unusual being in the Solomons and seeing a cricket ground. 239 00:14:26,930 --> 00:14:27,330 Yeah. 240 00:14:27,330 --> 00:14:28,010 Cricket pitch. 241 00:14:28,010 --> 00:14:28,370 Yes. 242 00:14:28,770 --> 00:14:29,130 Yeah. 243 00:14:29,130 --> 00:14:32,050 I've got Martin Clemens, who was the famous coast watcher. 244 00:14:32,130 --> 00:14:34,610 I've got a photo from his private album and it shows. 245 00:14:34,690 --> 00:14:38,670 It shows a Creek pitch in 1938 and looks just like you're in Australia somewhere. 246 00:14:38,830 --> 00:14:39,390 And they. 247 00:14:39,710 --> 00:14:41,590 I think when you were there, you've seen the actual. 248 00:14:41,590 --> 00:14:42,510 The cricket pitch. 249 00:14:42,590 --> 00:14:45,070 For American listeners, that's like at the. 250 00:14:45,150 --> 00:14:46,270 The concrete long. 251 00:14:46,270 --> 00:14:47,630 Are you explaining, James, what. 252 00:14:47,630 --> 00:14:49,070 How would you explain a cricket pitch? 253 00:14:49,070 --> 00:14:49,790 What is that? 254 00:14:50,270 --> 00:14:50,910 It's the. 255 00:14:51,150 --> 00:14:53,149 The oval is an oval shape. 256 00:14:53,149 --> 00:14:54,950 That's the playing ground where you play the cricket. 257 00:14:54,950 --> 00:14:58,030 And there's a pitch where the bowling and the batting happens. 258 00:14:58,030 --> 00:14:59,790 So that's where most of the action occurs. 259 00:15:00,270 --> 00:15:08,160 And so if someone bowls a ball and the batsman at the other end tries to hit it as far and as fast as he can, and then they. 260 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:09,600 In between the wickets. 261 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:11,200 How long do you think a pitch is? 262 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:12,520 10, 15 meters? 263 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:12,960 I think. 264 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:13,560 Not sure. 265 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:15,600 But, yeah, it's not a huge distance. 266 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:16,440 Yeah. 267 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:17,520 And this one was made of concrete. 268 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:18,560 It's still there, as you know. 269 00:15:19,199 --> 00:15:19,880 Anyway, that's. 270 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:20,600 That's all we got. 271 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:31,570 Tulagi Loop so the first landing of the Guadalcanal campaign, and so this is the commencement of US land offensive for the Second World War, was at Tulagi. 272 00:15:31,570 --> 00:15:32,930 How did that landing go? 273 00:15:33,170 --> 00:15:36,930 Actually, it was at Hale, which is a few hundred yards from Tulagi. 274 00:15:36,930 --> 00:15:37,810 That's one of the things. 275 00:15:37,890 --> 00:15:41,810 And a lot of people forget or don't even realize the 2nd Marines. 276 00:15:41,810 --> 00:15:49,170 So when I say 2nd Marines and the Marines, Marine Corps, they say they pronounce their regiments by Marines, like 1st Marines, 2nd Marines, 3rd Marines. 277 00:15:49,170 --> 00:15:49,970 That means regiment. 278 00:15:49,970 --> 00:15:52,290 So they want to say Division is 1st Marine Division. 279 00:15:52,370 --> 00:15:54,050 Sometimes that's confusing to people. 280 00:15:54,450 --> 00:16:04,220 So the 2nd Marines was part of Task Force Yoke, and they were going to be a reserve force only because Turner had wanted to use them reserved. 281 00:16:04,220 --> 00:16:10,780 And after the landings, he was going to take the whole regiment and send them to a place called Nandini, which is in Santa Cruz Island. 282 00:16:10,780 --> 00:16:14,140 So that's between Espirito Santos and Guadalcanal. 283 00:16:14,140 --> 00:16:15,900 They were going to grab Nadini. 284 00:16:15,900 --> 00:16:19,740 So N D E N I N D. So that was the idea. 285 00:16:20,060 --> 00:16:29,140 So I think we discussed on last episode how the 7th Marines, which is one of the third rifle regiments of the division, had been earmarked and sent previously in March. 286 00:16:29,460 --> 00:16:30,340 Sorry, yeah. 287 00:16:30,340 --> 00:16:30,820 In April. 288 00:16:30,900 --> 00:16:31,540 Sorry, April. 289 00:16:31,620 --> 00:16:32,700 May, in 42. 290 00:16:32,700 --> 00:16:33,300 To Samoa. 291 00:16:33,300 --> 00:16:34,460 So they're garrisoned Samoa. 292 00:16:34,460 --> 00:16:36,740 So it left Vandergrift without a rifle regiment. 293 00:16:36,740 --> 00:16:38,260 So he was down to two rifle regiments. 294 00:16:38,260 --> 00:16:42,780 So the second Marines was on loan temporarily for this initial invasion. 295 00:16:42,780 --> 00:16:45,140 Then they were going to shoot off in Benning. 296 00:16:45,540 --> 00:17:03,790 So part of their job, B Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, was the land to the west of Tulagi, about 500 yards in the Florida Islands, because Tulagi's you're only separated for like 4 or 500 yards from the Florida Islands, which is a large island group. 297 00:17:03,870 --> 00:17:10,589 But on the tip overlooking the beach that the Marines were going to land on Tulagi was a small village called Haleta. 298 00:17:10,750 --> 00:17:18,089 So they thought, well, if there's any Japanese Hale to they could pour enfilading fire straight on Blue beach, which is at Stilagi landed beach. 299 00:17:18,170 --> 00:17:28,010 Therefore, 20 minutes earlier, we're going to land a company of marines on Haleta to secure that village to ensure the protect the left flank of the. 300 00:17:28,010 --> 00:17:30,290 The raiders landed on Tulagi. 301 00:17:30,290 --> 00:17:39,460 So at 0740 or 7.40am on the morning of the 7th of August, B Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines and a Captain Crane landed. 302 00:17:39,530 --> 00:17:40,970 They were the first troops to land. 303 00:17:41,050 --> 00:17:43,610 Now let's put an Australian spin on this. 304 00:17:43,850 --> 00:17:57,010 I think I mentioned in a previous episode that when Lieutenant Colonel later Colonel G, the division intelligence officer, went to Australia, he spoke to a number of former planters and what colonial officials and things like that. 305 00:17:57,010 --> 00:17:57,490 It lived there. 306 00:17:57,490 --> 00:17:58,570 So he gathered intel. 307 00:17:58,650 --> 00:18:02,010 So he incorporated about, I think eight or 12 of these as gods. 308 00:18:02,170 --> 00:18:05,690 So one of the guides was a guy called always get this wrong. 309 00:18:06,430 --> 00:18:08,390 Pilot officer, flying Officer. 310 00:18:08,390 --> 00:18:09,710 I think it's flying officer. 311 00:18:09,790 --> 00:18:12,390 I get my raw Australian ranks wrong sometimes. 312 00:18:12,390 --> 00:18:15,990 Anyway, it just says Flying Officer C. Spencer. 313 00:18:15,990 --> 00:18:21,630 Now, Spencer led those guys because Spencer lived on Tulagi for a number of years, so he knew there quite well. 314 00:18:21,630 --> 00:18:23,310 So he led that those guys in. 315 00:18:23,550 --> 00:18:28,270 Now, the first man to put his foot on the soil was an Australian, Spencer. 316 00:18:28,350 --> 00:18:28,990 Oh, wow. 317 00:18:29,470 --> 00:18:29,870 Yeah. 318 00:18:29,870 --> 00:18:32,150 So I've got Spencer's unpublished memoirs. 319 00:18:32,150 --> 00:18:32,710 Oh, sorry. 320 00:18:32,710 --> 00:18:35,820 It was published in the Sydney papers, I think in the 40s and 50s. 321 00:18:35,820 --> 00:18:37,500 But it needs to be a book. 322 00:18:37,500 --> 00:18:39,420 But hopefully one day it will turn into a book. 323 00:18:39,660 --> 00:18:41,580 It was into Australian War Memorial. 324 00:18:41,820 --> 00:18:44,460 So, yeah, he was the first ones to land an Australian. 325 00:18:44,460 --> 00:18:47,220 So they landed there unopposed, no one there. 326 00:18:47,220 --> 00:18:49,420 They jumped back in the boats and headed back. 327 00:18:49,820 --> 00:18:55,100 So they were the first troops to land the second Marines in the Guadalcanal campaign. 328 00:18:55,420 --> 00:18:59,260 Now, 8 o', clock, the first Marine Raiders were picked to land. 329 00:18:59,830 --> 00:19:00,950 They landed at Blue Beach. 330 00:19:01,110 --> 00:19:03,750 Now, you may give you the reason why they landed At Blue Beach. 331 00:19:05,030 --> 00:19:05,390 Yeah. 332 00:19:05,390 --> 00:19:07,510 So they were looking for somewhere that was unopposed. 333 00:19:07,910 --> 00:19:14,150 And their intelligence suggested that they would be more towards the southeast part of the island. 334 00:19:14,150 --> 00:19:16,310 So they were looking for somewhere where they could. 335 00:19:16,470 --> 00:19:19,590 And I think there was also a consideration around the amount of coral as well. 336 00:19:19,990 --> 00:19:20,310 Yeah. 337 00:19:20,310 --> 00:19:26,790 So Vanderger, his whole idea, he says, look, because of the plan and everything, he wanted to try to get a one up on the. 338 00:19:27,070 --> 00:19:34,910 The Japanese because this was the first amphibious landing American had done since the Spanish American war in the late 8 or 1898. 339 00:19:35,230 --> 00:19:36,030 So it was. 340 00:19:36,190 --> 00:19:37,630 They said, we're going to hit them where they. 341 00:19:37,630 --> 00:19:38,670 They don't expect us. 342 00:19:39,070 --> 00:19:44,670 So in Tulagi, like you said, the southeast and southwest parts, the main landing beaches to the Japanese had. 343 00:19:44,670 --> 00:19:49,150 Had put their defenses on the southern part of the island based around Hill 281. 344 00:19:49,550 --> 00:19:55,610 So the planners pointed to this beach and they spoke to one of the former, the Australians who formerly lived there. 345 00:19:55,610 --> 00:19:57,250 And they said, what about this beach? 346 00:19:57,250 --> 00:19:57,890 Can we land there? 347 00:19:57,890 --> 00:20:01,770 The Australian says, if you don't care about your boats, yeah, you can land there. 348 00:20:01,770 --> 00:20:02,890 Because of the coral. 349 00:20:02,890 --> 00:20:05,530 Vinegar says, yeah, we don't care about our boats. 350 00:20:05,690 --> 00:20:06,290 Well, we don't. 351 00:20:06,290 --> 00:20:08,410 We want to land where they don't expect us to be. 352 00:20:08,730 --> 00:20:16,410 So, yeah, true to what the Australian said, when the Marines went in first rate of battalion, the boats grounded on a coral. 353 00:20:16,730 --> 00:20:19,090 It didn't smash the boats up, it just grounded. 354 00:20:19,090 --> 00:20:23,420 Most of them grounded on the coral about 100 yards off, but luckily for them is unopposed. 355 00:20:23,740 --> 00:20:28,780 And they jumped out of the boats and waited ashore and they landed without a shot being fired. 356 00:20:28,780 --> 00:20:31,820 They quickly started spreading out over the island. 357 00:20:32,300 --> 00:20:32,940 I guess. 358 00:20:33,020 --> 00:20:43,980 I think the really interesting thing with this is despite all of the difficulties in conducting amphibious operations, the one thing that you've got in your favor is the flexibility to choose the landing site. 359 00:20:44,620 --> 00:20:49,630 And that's why, because amphibious operations tend to be quite successful initially in. 360 00:20:49,870 --> 00:20:51,310 In making that landing. 361 00:20:51,630 --> 00:21:05,710 Obviously there's examples like Dieppe which weren't successful, but it's the importance of the intelligence and to be able to land where the enemy isn't because it's difficult to, you know, depending on the. 362 00:21:05,790 --> 00:21:09,310 On the objective, they had quite a few places where they could have landed. 363 00:21:09,390 --> 00:21:09,710 Yeah. 364 00:21:09,710 --> 00:21:11,070 And what they're expected to land. 365 00:21:11,310 --> 00:21:12,070 And now think. 366 00:21:12,070 --> 00:21:13,950 I don't know if I mentioned the last episode. 367 00:21:14,230 --> 00:21:20,470 Vandergrift wanted to send the first Marine raiders in previously prior to do a reconnaissance and feverish reconnaissance. 368 00:21:20,870 --> 00:21:25,030 Once again, this is the first invasion and the Navy planners hadn't that. 369 00:21:25,110 --> 00:21:32,230 I think Twinning said They're still operating on 1907 blue book manual which is this is how we fought 1907. 370 00:21:32,470 --> 00:21:36,030 And they said no, it's too dangerous to send recon in beforehand. 371 00:21:36,030 --> 00:21:38,350 And I think I mentioned too that he wanted to do a not landing. 372 00:21:38,350 --> 00:21:39,670 They go no, it's too dangerous. 373 00:21:39,830 --> 00:21:41,110 They were more aware about their boats. 374 00:21:41,430 --> 00:21:42,870 But yeah, they hit them where they're not. 375 00:21:42,870 --> 00:21:45,350 And that was a good planning technique. 376 00:21:45,670 --> 00:21:56,230 That was part of their tentative 1934 tentative landing manual is to use the intelligence and try to hit them whether or not or do amphibious fates to do demonstrations to pull them in. 377 00:21:56,390 --> 00:21:58,390 And we'll see that a bit later in a campaign. 378 00:21:59,190 --> 00:22:03,510 So what naval gunfire and air support did the troops have as they went ashore? 379 00:22:03,750 --> 00:22:07,750 Okay, so there were three carriers like I mentioned before under Fletcher. 380 00:22:07,850 --> 00:22:10,010 I think they were about 250 almost said yards. 381 00:22:10,330 --> 00:22:11,650 Geez, that was a bit of a mess. 382 00:22:11,650 --> 00:22:14,010 250 miles southeast. 383 00:22:14,490 --> 00:22:19,370 So they provided all the CAS support or the close air support. 384 00:22:19,690 --> 00:22:24,970 And then the naval support came from one cruiser which is a San Juan. 385 00:22:25,210 --> 00:22:36,410 If you know about the cruisers they're calling the anti aircraft cruisers or the machine gun cruisers on plane but it's the USS San Juan which is a cruiser and two destroyers was the Monson and the Buchanan. 386 00:22:36,490 --> 00:22:41,050 So they had three ships for close naval gunfire support. 387 00:22:41,930 --> 00:22:48,410 Now the air strikes came initially early in the morning preceding the invasion. 388 00:22:48,490 --> 00:22:56,410 There's some great photos out there of the taken on the day and it shows them striking Gavutu, Cano, Tulagi. 389 00:22:56,570 --> 00:22:59,450 Some great photos from air shots. 390 00:22:59,850 --> 00:23:06,180 It shows fires burning and docks burning and it screws some right good footage. 391 00:23:06,500 --> 00:23:10,260 Now the Japanese on Tanabogo had a float plane bases. 392 00:23:10,260 --> 00:23:11,780 We discussed last episode. 393 00:23:12,020 --> 00:23:21,420 It differates you speak to some accounts have 12 other accounts have 15 float planes and the Japanese hadn't had flew the reconnaissance place. 394 00:23:21,420 --> 00:23:32,250 And that was a kind of a benefit for the Americans because they came in under cover of weather that's allowed them to approach undetected because it the weather I think for the last two days had been pretty bad. 395 00:23:32,250 --> 00:23:38,170 So allowed them to come in darkness around 2 something in or 2:30 in the morning. 396 00:23:38,490 --> 00:23:42,290 They they came in and broke up into two separate X ray and yoke. 397 00:23:42,290 --> 00:23:45,690 But the Japanese hadn't been flying any reconnaissance planes. 398 00:23:45,690 --> 00:23:46,570 So early that morning. 399 00:23:46,570 --> 00:23:50,890 I think that the weather had cleared and they were like revving their planes up and getting them ready to go. 400 00:23:51,370 --> 00:23:58,900 And out of the sky come the Wildcats and shot them up and destroyed most of them I think destroyed all of them. 401 00:23:59,140 --> 00:24:02,460 To this day, you can, I think you can dive two or three off Tulagi. 402 00:24:02,460 --> 00:24:03,580 It's a great diving spot. 403 00:24:03,580 --> 00:24:04,660 People dive on those things. 404 00:24:04,980 --> 00:24:08,740 So it wiped out their air power off the bat on these strikes. 405 00:24:08,740 --> 00:24:10,740 So they're very effective from the very beginning. 406 00:24:11,060 --> 00:24:13,300 So how did the fight for Tulagi go? 407 00:24:13,620 --> 00:24:16,180 Well, initially, when, like I said, when the marines landed. 408 00:24:16,180 --> 00:24:27,370 So the first rate of Battalion went in first, followed by the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Rooms under Lt. Col. Rosecrans, now Vandegrift, because he expected a tough fight in Tulagi and the surrounding islands. 409 00:24:27,450 --> 00:24:30,810 I say the surrounding islands up in Tulagi, Gavutu and Tanabogo. 410 00:24:30,890 --> 00:24:32,410 So they picked the best units. 411 00:24:32,650 --> 00:24:37,690 So first rated battalion, first Parachute battalion, second Battalion, fifth Marines. 412 00:24:37,850 --> 00:24:40,330 So they're one of the best units ahead. 413 00:24:40,730 --> 00:24:41,770 Infantry battalions. 414 00:24:42,010 --> 00:24:48,250 So there were the three battalions or regimental sides they were going to hit with the 2nd Marines in reserve to assist. 415 00:24:48,810 --> 00:24:55,690 So when the first raiders hit, their job was to land and turn to the right, which is south, and spread out over the island. 416 00:24:55,690 --> 00:24:56,570 So 2 5. 417 00:24:56,810 --> 00:25:00,250 When I say 25 at second time, 5th Marines came in behind them. 418 00:25:00,330 --> 00:25:03,850 And then they turned left to clear out the northern end of the island. 419 00:25:04,090 --> 00:25:08,090 So raiders come in, they spread out and they started moving down the island. 420 00:25:08,250 --> 00:25:14,650 It brought one company one coast, the other company another coast, and two companies on that spine, that ridge spawn. 421 00:25:14,650 --> 00:25:15,530 So they're moving down. 422 00:25:15,930 --> 00:25:20,730 25 came in, turn left, cleared the left, the top of the island under no resistance. 423 00:25:20,730 --> 00:25:24,250 Maybe a few sniper shots or rifle shots they call it, they said. 424 00:25:24,330 --> 00:25:35,770 And then it wasn't until around midday that the marines started, got the first resistance because the Japanese had built all their resistance on round 281, which is on the far south in the island. 425 00:25:36,090 --> 00:25:42,170 So the village called Sepia, there were a few, I think it was one machine gun, a few rifles there. 426 00:25:42,550 --> 00:25:44,630 B Company got into a little bit of a brawl with. 427 00:25:44,870 --> 00:25:47,990 But they managed to push through them quite quickly. 428 00:25:48,230 --> 00:25:50,950 But C Company, they passed the hill called 201. 429 00:25:51,190 --> 00:25:56,910 Now, 201 was the home of the police superintendent and the police barracks, they've been long gone. 430 00:25:56,910 --> 00:25:58,870 They evacuated long before that. 431 00:25:59,190 --> 00:26:05,750 So the Japanese had a couple machine gun posts up there, and that's a barbed wire over the road. 432 00:26:05,830 --> 00:26:12,510 So C Company, under a guy called Major Ken Bailey, pushed past Hill 201. 433 00:26:12,590 --> 00:26:14,670 And they started receiving fire from the rear. 434 00:26:14,670 --> 00:26:15,550 So they had to. 435 00:26:15,550 --> 00:26:20,990 They were pinned down for a short time and then had the assault and take those two machine gun posts out. 436 00:26:21,070 --> 00:26:28,710 Now Bailey in the process of taking him out, the company commander, he's up one of the bunkers pulling sandbags out. 437 00:26:28,710 --> 00:26:30,470 They're trying to throw grenades in this thing. 438 00:26:30,470 --> 00:26:32,830 He got shot in the thigh, but he continued on. 439 00:26:32,830 --> 00:26:36,740 And Bailey's gonna, we're going to speak about Bailey later in the campaign, but. 440 00:26:36,740 --> 00:26:40,940 And then he was wounded and he was sent back to New Caledonia to hospital. 441 00:26:40,940 --> 00:26:43,380 And there he gave talks to the army there. 442 00:26:43,380 --> 00:26:48,500 But yeah, just keep Ken Bailey in your back of your mind because he later. 443 00:26:48,500 --> 00:26:53,860 But he was, I think he's like six foot three, bigger than life, a very aggressive commander now. 444 00:26:53,860 --> 00:26:54,420 I loved him. 445 00:26:54,420 --> 00:26:57,380 So anyway, they continued on after that resistance. 446 00:26:57,460 --> 00:26:59,860 They made it almost to the, it was getting dark. 447 00:26:59,860 --> 00:27:08,560 Then they made it to the cricket oval and they made it to the cut when I mentioned earlier, the cut which is, which ran through the line, the thing that was their objective line. 448 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:15,080 As you know, mainly objective lines are based on geographical features so people can easily recognize it. 449 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:22,000 I mean not everyone's been carrying a map with a little line on it and they go, the objective line is this stream or this ridge or into the ridge or whatever. 450 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,840 So they reach the objective line by the evening. 451 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:29,600 So what they're planning on doing was going to dig in, establish a strong perimeter. 452 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:32,560 Then next day they were going to clear out the rest of the island. 453 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,920 So that's where they were on the night of the 7th and the 8th. 454 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:43,479 So the Japanese, you had roughly about 3 to 350, depends on which account you read of Japanese there. 455 00:27:43,479 --> 00:27:47,080 And there was Special Naval Landing Force, this from the third Korea. 456 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:54,040 Special Naval Landing Force at that stage, I think they've been redesignated the 81st or in the 84th guard unit. 457 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:56,320 But they were Japanese Naval infantry. 458 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:59,400 You know, contrary to what you read, they weren't the most elite. 459 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:04,360 They weren't Japanese Marines as, like the US Marines, Royal Marines were known as. 460 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,560 They weren't as well trained as Imperial Japanese army. 461 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:11,480 But they just have this mystique about them that they're they were the best. 462 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:12,920 Mostly late Japanese. 463 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:16,800 They were well trained, don't get me wrong and Bitch is a reservist un. 464 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,400 I think the average age is in the 30s and 35 for these guys. 465 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:28,670 I mean there's a great photo, it shows the third courier and their NCOs and officers and they look some pretty well competent and well determined men. 466 00:28:28,750 --> 00:28:32,350 But anyway, they were no business the surrender and they were fighting quite hard. 467 00:28:32,430 --> 00:28:33,870 So that night they launched five. 468 00:28:34,030 --> 00:28:36,030 I don't like to use Bonsai attacks. 469 00:28:36,030 --> 00:28:36,829 It wasn't bonsai. 470 00:28:36,829 --> 00:28:40,110 They're mainly the part of their Japanese doctrine for infiltration. 471 00:28:40,510 --> 00:28:49,550 So five assaults against the Marines that cut one of the platoons of C Company off at the most of the attacks were beaten back quite easily. 472 00:28:49,630 --> 00:28:50,910 They lost a lot of the guys. 473 00:28:50,990 --> 00:28:56,390 So the next day, 2, 5 it came in and the plan was to reduce the Japanese. 474 00:28:56,390 --> 00:28:59,230 At this stage they were in a pocket on 281. 475 00:28:59,310 --> 00:29:09,710 So they had some hills and sorry, they had some caves and some sandbag positions at the bottom of the cricket oval and the cricket pitch, that area. 476 00:29:09,950 --> 00:29:18,170 I think a lot of these caves wasn't machine gun made, machine gun bunkers because they didn't really expect an invasion from my reading. 477 00:29:18,170 --> 00:29:29,410 And just my theory is I think a lot of these were air race shelters dug into the hill and they just threw sandbags or rocks and use them as barriers and they just became instant bunkers, machine gun bunkers. 478 00:29:29,410 --> 00:29:33,170 So the fight was on for there and that had to get these guys out of this little ravine. 479 00:29:33,330 --> 00:29:40,690 Now this is the days before they had Marines had bazookas or flamethrowers and they had to use a lot of emperor improvisation. 480 00:29:40,690 --> 00:29:41,570 They adapted. 481 00:29:41,890 --> 00:29:49,330 One of the ways they adapted was they were using the TNT charges, central charges and TNT blocks of tnt. 482 00:29:49,490 --> 00:29:52,210 Then we're tying them onto ropes. 483 00:29:52,210 --> 00:29:58,490 They would like get above the Japanese and just swing the TNT block over the entrance and try to blast them that way. 484 00:29:58,490 --> 00:30:06,060 They're putting them on plywood, pieces of like plywood with long sticks or and just blast them in like that way. 485 00:30:06,300 --> 00:30:08,060 Some of them are actually putting on ropes. 486 00:30:08,140 --> 00:30:13,060 Like one of the famous gunnery sergeant who's a demolition specialist, Angus Goss, he was doing a rope. 487 00:30:13,060 --> 00:30:18,420 He just, I wouldn't say ab sale when those absent in those days just put a rope around your waist and go down the thing. 488 00:30:18,420 --> 00:30:20,940 And he was throwing demolition charges in. 489 00:30:21,020 --> 00:30:30,220 At one stage in the cut, there was a small Japanese hole there with air raised shelter and it's roughly about 30, 40 Japanese in there and had a machine gun and a sandbag. 490 00:30:30,350 --> 00:30:31,830 You can imagine both sides, the cuts. 491 00:30:31,830 --> 00:30:37,710 The Marines were on both ends trying to fire and you know you had crossfire and they couldn't get into that cut. 492 00:30:38,270 --> 00:30:40,110 So one of the Marines come up with a solution. 493 00:30:40,110 --> 00:30:45,670 He says, he said there's a 50 gallon gasoline drums down by the government dock. 494 00:30:45,670 --> 00:30:53,590 So they wrote a couple of those 50 gallon or 44 liters talking Australian up to the top and they poured the fuel down and they burned the Japanese out. 495 00:30:53,590 --> 00:30:55,870 And then when they ran out, they'd shoot them that way. 496 00:30:56,180 --> 00:30:59,380 So we use a lot of improvised techniques to make it happen. 497 00:30:59,940 --> 00:31:13,820 So by the end of the second day, which is the eighth most resistance was completed and the island was secured, even though a number of days later they had stragglers or snipers still in caves that they were trying to clean up. 498 00:31:13,820 --> 00:31:19,140 But being the second day on Tulagi, the island was secured by Repertos, declared secured. 499 00:31:19,140 --> 00:31:24,180 They actually tried to bring two tanks in at one stage because the 2nd Marines had a company of tanks with them. 500 00:31:24,260 --> 00:31:25,900 The 2nd Marine Battalions. 501 00:31:25,900 --> 00:31:27,300 These are the M3 tanks. 502 00:31:27,380 --> 00:31:28,540 This is on Tulagi now. 503 00:31:28,540 --> 00:31:35,780 And they brought two in to assist, but one had mechanical breakdown and the other one got stuck or bogged, so they wasn't involved. 504 00:31:36,020 --> 00:31:39,740 Then we talk about 10 and Bogo, they had two tanks and they were involved. 505 00:31:39,740 --> 00:31:41,220 And we'll talk about that in a minute. 506 00:31:41,540 --> 00:31:43,780 So, yeah, that was the fight on Tulagi. 507 00:31:43,860 --> 00:31:46,900 Now all the Japanese were killed except for three. 508 00:31:47,300 --> 00:31:47,940 And about. 509 00:31:48,630 --> 00:31:53,910 Well, not about 45 marines were killed fighting for that island. 510 00:31:54,310 --> 00:32:04,750 So this is the first time that the Americans or their allies that seen the Japanese fight defensively in caves and bunkers, and they knew we had to kill every one of them. 511 00:32:04,750 --> 00:32:07,270 That's why they said we had to kill every one of them to get them out. 512 00:32:07,270 --> 00:32:09,110 We had to go in there and kill them to get them out. 513 00:32:09,110 --> 00:32:13,950 This was the first real encounter of the Japanese in the defensive that was going to be seen throughout the Pacific. 514 00:32:13,950 --> 00:32:14,170 This is. 515 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:19,120 Is the first time that we're coming face to face with these heavy encounters. 516 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:25,600 The Japanese are pride themselves on offensive doctrine, but they ended up to be defensive geniuses. 517 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:36,000 One of the things that I find really interesting is despite this being the first amphibious operation for the Marines of the war, they've got their tanks available to them. 518 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:48,330 So probably a much more advanced concept of combined arms straight out of the box than we've seen with some of the other armies trying to fight in the jungle. 519 00:32:48,730 --> 00:32:54,090 Yeah, well, it goes back to that tentative landing doctrine I was discussing on the last episode. 520 00:32:54,650 --> 00:32:56,250 And tanks were in the. 521 00:32:56,890 --> 00:33:03,050 Just infancy with the infantry and, and learning the tank infantry tactics. 522 00:33:03,210 --> 00:33:04,730 The Marines hadn't worked it out. 523 00:33:05,290 --> 00:33:06,010 We'll see. 524 00:33:06,090 --> 00:33:11,310 We talk about Tannenbogo in the first tank attack were unsupported by infantry and what could go wrong there? 525 00:33:11,470 --> 00:33:23,630 There was a lot to be learned, but yeah, they had them there and they had a whole tank battalion with the division of M3s and had some M2s too, which is the only Time they were used in combat, but they had M3 Stuarts and M2s, light tanks. 526 00:33:23,630 --> 00:33:30,550 So while we've got the landing going on at Tulagi, we've also got operations going on with Gavutu and Tanambogo. 527 00:33:30,550 --> 00:33:36,110 Do you want to sort of talk us through what those two islands are like and you what the terrain's like? 528 00:33:36,270 --> 00:33:43,430 Okay, well, we'll talk about what they were like beforehand or what how they became known and why the Japanese landed there. 529 00:33:43,430 --> 00:33:47,230 I think I mentioned to in the last episode how the Australians were there at Tananbogo. 530 00:33:47,230 --> 00:33:49,630 Did we mention that I think had a seaplane base? 531 00:33:49,630 --> 00:33:49,990 Yes. 532 00:33:49,990 --> 00:33:50,510 Yep. 533 00:33:50,909 --> 00:33:51,270 Yeah. 534 00:33:51,270 --> 00:33:52,990 So the Australians had a seaplane base. 535 00:33:52,990 --> 00:33:53,990 Japanese took it over. 536 00:33:53,990 --> 00:33:58,510 So Tanambogo was the main seaplane base and the Gavutu was used also. 537 00:33:58,510 --> 00:34:02,080 So pre war, Gavutu was the headquarters of the Lever Brothers. 538 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:04,360 And the Lever Brothers, the big coconut plantation. 539 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:05,600 I think they're still in business. 540 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:06,120 I don't know. 541 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:11,639 But they were the coconut plantations that own business, that owned all the coconut plantations in the area. 542 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:14,520 So that was their main headquarters on Tulagi. 543 00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:15,120 Oh, sorry. 544 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:15,840 Gavutu. 545 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:17,400 So Gavutu was clear. 546 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:19,080 There was no jungle there. 547 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:21,239 Had buildings. 548 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:25,000 Had their big store at headquarter buildings. 549 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:26,120 It was nice and clear. 550 00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:27,480 Coconut trees on it. 551 00:34:27,710 --> 00:34:28,989 It was a nice place, too. 552 00:34:29,230 --> 00:34:32,429 Had their loading docks, big concrete piers, docks. 553 00:34:32,429 --> 00:34:38,110 The Japanese had a seaplane, had their seaplane docks there and seaplane establishments. 554 00:34:38,190 --> 00:34:40,110 So Gavutu is small. 555 00:34:40,110 --> 00:34:41,870 I mean, both of them are very small. 556 00:34:41,870 --> 00:34:44,830 They're basically just juts of Carl popping up out of the ocean. 557 00:34:45,070 --> 00:34:49,389 So Gavutu is about 500 to 600 yards long. 558 00:34:49,630 --> 00:34:52,830 About 300, 250, 300 yards wide. 559 00:34:52,909 --> 00:34:54,518 So depends on where you measure it from. 560 00:34:54,839 --> 00:34:56,359 Has one hill on it. 561 00:34:56,438 --> 00:34:58,199 That's Hill 148. 562 00:34:58,279 --> 00:34:59,879 And that's right there. 563 00:35:00,039 --> 00:35:05,319 Now, Gavuku is separated by Tanenbogo, they separated by caswell. 564 00:35:05,319 --> 00:35:08,879 There's about 300 yards between both islands. 565 00:35:08,879 --> 00:35:14,199 So pre war, what the Australians have done and the Lieber brothers have done, they put a causeway there. 566 00:35:14,199 --> 00:35:19,399 The causeway is about a roadside size width, 300 yards long. 567 00:35:19,750 --> 00:35:24,390 They could go from island to drive vehicles back and forth and move material. 568 00:35:24,390 --> 00:35:25,430 So there's a causeway. 569 00:35:25,430 --> 00:35:28,470 You could just walk from one island to the other, about 300 yards long. 570 00:35:28,470 --> 00:35:29,630 So that was separated by that. 571 00:35:29,630 --> 00:35:32,310 And the causeway is built over just a coral ledge. 572 00:35:32,550 --> 00:35:35,750 So Tanenbogo was even tinier. 573 00:35:36,070 --> 00:35:38,550 So it's about 250 yards by 250 yards. 574 00:35:38,630 --> 00:35:39,670 It was clear too. 575 00:35:39,670 --> 00:35:44,870 And it had warehouses on it and cranes and all this stuff that involved in a safeline bikes. 576 00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:49,680 And it had a one, it had a small hill called one two one, so 121ft. 577 00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:56,400 So these two hills going to be very prevalent when the Marines try to land there because both those hills can support each other. 578 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:59,360 So we're only talking thousand yards apart, if that. 579 00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:06,160 800 yards apart, these two heels to get 148, 121 and they separated by 800 yards. 580 00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:07,640 So that's what the terrain looked like. 581 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:11,040 Very open, very built up actually with buildings. 582 00:36:11,530 --> 00:36:14,610 So the seaplane base was at Gavutu and Tanambogo. 583 00:36:14,610 --> 00:36:20,490 Gavutu was assaulted by the US Marine 1st Parachute Battalion at 1200. 584 00:36:21,050 --> 00:36:27,690 This was after the landings at Guadalcanal and Tulagi because there wasn't enough air cover to support three landings at once. 585 00:36:27,850 --> 00:36:29,770 How did the Gavutu landings go? 586 00:36:30,090 --> 00:36:35,290 Yeah, so I probably say it in one sentence, but it was the first by the Americans in World War II. 587 00:36:35,690 --> 00:36:37,530 So go back to those two hills. 588 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:42,120 The Americans expected to be about 200 Japanese on those islands. 589 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:47,240 It was, their intelligence said it was 1500 Japanese on all the Tulagan shrine and islands. 590 00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:53,120 They roughly said, look, it's roughly 200, 250 on Tananburga in Gavutu. 591 00:36:53,120 --> 00:37:07,210 The Japanese on Tannenbogovutu consisted of the Yokohama Air Group, which is the float planes which you talk about, the pilots, the air crews, the aircraft maintenance staff and things like that. 592 00:37:07,610 --> 00:37:15,370 And then you had the 14th construction unit, mainly Koreans, laborers and some Japanese engineers and some Japanese civilians were in there too. 593 00:37:15,370 --> 00:37:21,850 You had one platoon of Colt fighters and that was a special Naval Land enforcement platoon from Tulagi. 594 00:37:21,850 --> 00:37:24,730 The rest of them were just support personnel. 595 00:37:24,810 --> 00:37:28,810 There were about 500 to 600 of them there on both those islands. 596 00:37:28,990 --> 00:37:32,390 But what they had was they wouldn't expect a direct amphibious assault. 597 00:37:32,390 --> 00:37:35,070 They didn't have bunkers set up and pillboxes and barbed wire. 598 00:37:35,150 --> 00:37:41,870 What they did have was a lot of anti aircraft weapons, machine guns because that was what they expected to get hit by. 599 00:37:42,110 --> 00:37:43,630 Because Americans had been doing raids. 600 00:37:43,630 --> 00:37:46,030 There's B17, especially on Guadalcanal. 601 00:37:46,350 --> 00:37:53,390 So 1st Parachute Battalion obviously was an elite unit of the Marine Corps is a bit of debate. 602 00:37:53,550 --> 00:37:54,910 But in my opinion there are. 603 00:37:55,070 --> 00:37:58,510 They're better trained and a higher caliber than the raiders. 604 00:37:58,590 --> 00:38:04,350 The first parachute majority of them were pre war regulars, especially the NCOs and officers. 605 00:38:04,350 --> 00:38:06,710 And they had the peak of the NCOs and officers. 606 00:38:06,710 --> 00:38:08,270 He had a very good unit. 607 00:38:08,270 --> 00:38:13,390 So obviously they Wouldn't coming in by playing on this one, they're coming in by amphibious assault. 608 00:38:13,470 --> 00:38:16,630 They didn't expect much resistance on Gavutu. 609 00:38:16,630 --> 00:38:24,060 So what Vandergriff had planned to do with Gavutu, they're going to land on Gavutu, secure it and then potentially because they had a whole battalion or. 610 00:38:24,060 --> 00:38:35,060 Sorry, yeah, whole battalion of artillery from the 10th Marines which is attached to the 2nd Marines, they're going to land at least a battery of 75 millimeters there and provide support to Tulagi. 611 00:38:35,060 --> 00:38:37,539 This is only 3,000 yards from Tulagi. 612 00:38:37,539 --> 00:38:41,100 So Gavutu and Tanabogo is 3,000 yards east of Tulagi. 613 00:38:41,100 --> 00:38:43,340 So they were going to use that to support. 614 00:38:43,500 --> 00:38:45,580 They didn't expect much resistance. 615 00:38:45,980 --> 00:38:57,120 So the pre landing bombardments, the Marines had planned to land a seaplane dock, but when the carrier planes came in, it blasted that seaplane dock, threw concrete everywhere. 616 00:38:57,120 --> 00:38:57,880 So that was off. 617 00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:00,520 Off the sharks or off the table. 618 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:05,760 So they had to land at a small beach about 100 yards wide, if that. 619 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:09,080 Not even 100 yards at 50 yards wide to the left of the dock. 620 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:13,320 And plus they had the land at a big concrete loading dock. 621 00:39:13,750 --> 00:39:15,670 That was pre war lever brothers. 622 00:39:15,750 --> 00:39:27,430 So the first boats came in, they automatically started taking fire from both of those hills, inflated heavy machine gun fire and guys were, you know, killed and wounded in their boats before they even got out. 623 00:39:27,590 --> 00:39:37,030 There was one interesting point, you remember I said about the float planes, how the carrier planes come and suck all the float planes, one marina countless when they're heading in. 624 00:39:37,350 --> 00:39:42,360 One of the float planes was still floating, is in paces and sitting on the wing. 625 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:43,440 They said it was a pilot. 626 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:44,880 So I don't know how they knew it was a pilot. 627 00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:54,040 But it's Jeff definitely a Japanese there with his pistol out firing at him is, you know, all these Marine landing craft were coming in with all these, you know, hundreds of marines coming in. 628 00:39:54,040 --> 00:40:00,120 This one Japanese just defiantly firing his pistol and he didn't last long because the guy on the. 629 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:03,760 One of the landing craft had the Lewis gun and he cut him down. 630 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:05,720 But just the defiance of that Japanese. 631 00:40:06,230 --> 00:40:10,950 But anyway they came in, started getting hit and then they were almost getting pushed back. 632 00:40:11,190 --> 00:40:13,790 So they managed to land a couple of machine guns. 633 00:40:13,790 --> 00:40:19,830 They started throwing fire on 148 and they started had enough suppressing fire so they could land more guys on there. 634 00:40:19,910 --> 00:40:21,430 They're taking heavy casualties. 635 00:40:21,430 --> 00:40:26,390 The battalion commander was hit, wasn't killed, but he was mortar or knocked out, very seriously wounded. 636 00:40:26,470 --> 00:40:30,950 They managed by the end of the day to take Hill 148 with a lot of casualties. 637 00:40:31,030 --> 00:40:35,390 And then at the end of the day, Tannen Bogo was still in Japanese hands. 638 00:40:35,390 --> 00:40:45,190 And when he was getting dusk, they made a decision that B Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, the guys that landed Helaitin at 7:40 in the morning, they put in five landing craft. 639 00:40:45,190 --> 00:40:49,830 When he was getting dusk, they said, we'll make an amphibious assault straight on Tanenbogo. 640 00:40:50,470 --> 00:40:56,710 Well, one of the airplanes, Cass, came in and hit a fuel dump there and just lit the place up. 641 00:40:56,790 --> 00:41:03,010 So these guys were lit up when they came in and the Japanese just pounded them with machine gun fire and turned them back. 642 00:41:03,410 --> 00:41:05,890 So they, that amphibious assault was turned back. 643 00:41:06,050 --> 00:41:12,050 So at the end of the day, on the end of the 7th, Gavutu was in Marine hands after heavy casualties. 644 00:41:12,690 --> 00:41:17,090 I'm trying to think, I mean, I'm trying to think how many of the parachute they lost. 645 00:41:17,090 --> 00:41:18,370 They lost quite a bit of guys. 646 00:41:18,850 --> 00:41:19,650 I forgot. 647 00:41:19,810 --> 00:41:21,010 Let me find it. 648 00:41:21,250 --> 00:41:23,850 Yeah, they had 30 killed and 54 wounded. 649 00:41:23,850 --> 00:41:28,390 Now you got to remember the parachute battalion was only, I want to say about 400 guys. 650 00:41:28,630 --> 00:41:29,510 They weren't full. 651 00:41:29,670 --> 00:41:32,310 They were half the strength of an infantry battalion. 652 00:41:32,550 --> 00:41:35,110 Yeah, they're about, I think 400 that landed. 653 00:41:35,270 --> 00:41:38,550 So initially they said one out of, you know, they lost 50. 654 00:41:38,870 --> 00:41:40,710 That was the reports coming into the division. 655 00:41:40,710 --> 00:41:47,630 And 50 casualties, or 6% casualties, about one every 10 they reckon was hit, suffer casualty. 656 00:41:47,630 --> 00:41:51,670 So they've such a waste of some good infantry or good Marines. 657 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:52,720 But they took it. 658 00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:56,320 And then end of the day they still got Tannenbago on the tape. 659 00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:59,040 So that puts us up the next morning to Tannenbogo. 660 00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:00,360 So yeah. 661 00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:02,720 What was the plan then to seize Tanambogo? 662 00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:13,320 Well, at this stage the second Marines hadn't got back in their boats and headed to Santa Cruz Islands because Van Griff appealed to putting appeal. 663 00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:16,800 He just told flat out through reporters during contact. 664 00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:20,890 He told reporters, he goes, look, your purse says I need more troops. 665 00:42:20,890 --> 00:42:22,930 I don't have any troops to take Tannenboa. 666 00:42:22,930 --> 00:42:24,730 It's more heavy resistance than we thought. 667 00:42:25,050 --> 00:42:31,210 So Vandergrift then went to Turner, the amphibious force commander, and said, we need the 2nd Marines to help us. 668 00:42:31,450 --> 00:42:31,850 Okay. 669 00:42:31,850 --> 00:42:38,890 So they released the 3rd Battalion, the 2nd Marines, to assist in the taking of Tannenburga. 670 00:42:39,050 --> 00:42:46,960 So the plan was they used a parachute battalion to provide supporting fire from Gavutu because they had 148 in their possession. 671 00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:57,480 One company was going to be on the causeway and another company was going to land amphibious assault supported by two light tanks, M3 tanks in the 2nd tank battalion. 672 00:42:57,480 --> 00:42:58,320 That was the plan. 673 00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:01,360 They were going to proceed with cast support. 674 00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:02,960 That takes me back too. 675 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:08,480 I'll talk about some of the close air support on the first day that was happening because this is very important. 676 00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:18,500 When they were taking Hill 148, they called for air support and two airplane, two Dauntless bombers came in and dropped two bombs two separate times and killed a number of marines. 677 00:43:18,500 --> 00:43:19,700 They killed four marines. 678 00:43:19,700 --> 00:43:25,140 And from then on they said no more air support because it's just too small of an island and we can't risk it. 679 00:43:25,140 --> 00:43:26,860 So from then on there's no more air support. 680 00:43:27,340 --> 00:43:29,780 There was some naval gun support for anything, a destroyer. 681 00:43:29,780 --> 00:43:30,700 So that was the plan. 682 00:43:31,100 --> 00:43:36,060 So the next day the base of fire came from Gavutu Stray on Tan and Bogo. 683 00:43:36,140 --> 00:43:39,510 They, they landed, the two tanks came in, one went left, one went right. 684 00:43:39,750 --> 00:43:47,990 It kind of channelized them because if you look at the photos at the time, the naval bombardment had hit some of the warehouses and there was just stuff everywhere. 685 00:43:48,310 --> 00:43:53,830 So they had to go through drums and cranes and broken equipment and they overran their infantry. 686 00:43:53,830 --> 00:43:56,870 Outran the infantry, not overran, they outran their infantry support. 687 00:43:57,590 --> 00:44:04,770 And they got to the base of Hill 121 and a lot of these Japanese, like I said before, the construction workers, they weren't armed. 688 00:44:04,930 --> 00:44:10,290 So they came out with knives and picks and sticks and spears or whatever they can. 689 00:44:10,370 --> 00:44:15,730 At one tank commanded by Lieutenant Sweeney had went close to 1, 2, 1. 690 00:44:16,050 --> 00:44:24,410 They said about the eyewitness accounts that 30 to 40 Japanese come straight out of the hill and surrounded with mossed off cocktails and sticks. 691 00:44:24,410 --> 00:44:28,050 And they killed Sweeney with a rifle shot. 692 00:44:28,210 --> 00:44:34,770 And then they would start dragging the crewmen out, burning the tank, dragging one crewman out and they cut him up and beat him up. 693 00:44:34,770 --> 00:44:35,850 He actually lived. 694 00:44:35,850 --> 00:44:38,250 He played dead, he lived tail to tell. 695 00:44:38,650 --> 00:44:40,810 Quite a heroin account if you read it. 696 00:44:40,970 --> 00:44:45,130 The driver managed to put it in reverse and get out because it was stuck on a stump. 697 00:44:45,130 --> 00:44:48,250 Initially that's what caused the Japanese to run out. 698 00:44:48,410 --> 00:44:49,850 And he made it back to the medical. 699 00:44:50,570 --> 00:44:55,850 The other tank had provided fire as best as it could, but then it pulled back too. 700 00:44:56,260 --> 00:45:13,060 By that stage, one company, the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines had charged across the causeway and established a foothold in junction to the other company had landed and both of those companies swept through and they basically took out the island. 701 00:45:13,140 --> 00:45:20,820 And what they were doing on Tulagi were using some of the innovative tactics like pouring gasoline in caves and using demolition charges. 702 00:45:21,220 --> 00:45:26,040 They were doing the same on both of these islands too, especially develop in Tamboga. 703 00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:27,160 They were sealing them in the caves. 704 00:45:27,160 --> 00:45:30,920 They'd just hear them down in a cage and just blow the cave entrance like you've seen later. 705 00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:35,240 Some of the later campaigns like Iwo Jimin and Kalaloo, they just seen them in there. 706 00:45:35,240 --> 00:45:39,000 And to this day there's some Japanese still there sealed in those caves. 707 00:45:39,719 --> 00:45:42,600 Think the Japanese come and try to cover them as best they could. 708 00:45:42,600 --> 00:45:44,120 But yeah, they still remains there. 709 00:45:44,600 --> 00:45:46,080 So some very tough fighting. 710 00:45:46,080 --> 00:45:53,250 And as you said, we're seeing the Japanese what their way of fighting on the defense. 711 00:45:53,250 --> 00:45:58,930 And it's in many respects just as harrowing as their offensive capabilities, isn't it? 712 00:45:59,090 --> 00:46:04,210 Yes, because once again you've got to literally kill them, kill every one of them to get them out of there. 713 00:46:04,210 --> 00:46:04,850 And they're not. 714 00:46:04,850 --> 00:46:06,850 And they can be sick and wounded and. 715 00:46:06,850 --> 00:46:11,730 Or like we've seen here, they could just be civilians and construction workers with no training. 716 00:46:11,970 --> 00:46:16,860 Doesn't take much training to I think our patents and or pull a trigger on a machine gun. 717 00:46:16,940 --> 00:46:18,060 So you have to do. 718 00:46:18,460 --> 00:46:20,900 And if you're not going to surrender and. 719 00:46:20,900 --> 00:46:27,900 And then in those days the Marines didn't have the blows, torch and corkscrew techniques they developed later in the war. 720 00:46:27,900 --> 00:46:34,020 And we talk about in January 43, we get to that point, we talk about when the Marines are starting to use some of them with innovative. 721 00:46:34,020 --> 00:46:39,900 But they've had to come up with a lot of innovative techniques and think off the fly and off the cuff what's going to work. 722 00:46:40,140 --> 00:46:42,720 Fire seem to be the biggest way to get them out. 723 00:46:42,720 --> 00:46:43,840 But once again, how do you gonna. 724 00:46:43,840 --> 00:46:45,080 You don't have flamethrowers. 725 00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:48,160 They didn't come around until January 15th on Guadalcanal. 726 00:46:48,160 --> 00:46:52,560 So pull fuel down there and try to blast them out as best you can and put TNT blocks. 727 00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:59,000 They were doing that putting TNT blocks and fuel drums rolling up to cave entries and just blasting them, just using what they know. 728 00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:03,000 Once again though, we're seeing the use of artillery. 729 00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:15,640 So even in this first it's a really comprehensive approach to combined arms which many of the armies that we've been looking at in the way that they've been fighting the Japanese. 730 00:47:15,640 --> 00:47:31,840 And so at this time we've got the Kokoda campaign about to start and yet the Australian troops would be fighting without air cover, without any artillery until almost the end or the peak of the Japanese advance. 731 00:47:32,240 --> 00:47:40,630 And so a much more well rounded approach towards combined arms which significantly makes things a lot better. 732 00:47:40,630 --> 00:47:44,950 And we'll see a lot more about the artillery when we move across the Guadal Canal, won't we? 733 00:47:45,190 --> 00:47:45,830 Yes, yes. 734 00:47:45,830 --> 00:47:57,550 And I was speaking to an Australian historian and he was mentioning the biggest thing, I guess difference between especially Kokoda popo campaign and Guadalcanal is artillery. 735 00:47:57,550 --> 00:48:02,910 Artillery was real, made the big force multiply and the Marines had a lot of artillery. 736 00:48:02,910 --> 00:48:04,750 They brought a lot of artillery with them and they. 737 00:48:04,750 --> 00:48:11,630 And you will say when we hit Guadalcanal, they had one battery up and firing within four hours after landing over 75 pack power. 738 00:48:12,030 --> 00:48:12,350 Yeah. 739 00:48:12,350 --> 00:48:18,510 The point about artillery on the Kokoda campaign is very interesting because if you. 740 00:48:18,510 --> 00:48:37,320 The Japanese had artillery and they put a significant amount of their logistics effort and the Kokoda campaign was a logistics campaign, but because of the difficulties in just getting everything forward to where the fighting was, they put a significant amount of effort into moving guns and artillery ammunition. 741 00:48:37,880 --> 00:48:44,360 So they were able to outrange the Australian troops often, which would have been quite demoralizing. 742 00:48:44,360 --> 00:48:53,800 Yeah, I've got some tributes here for the Landlong Tilaj surrounding islands for the merits they all up there, 145 killed, 194 wounded. 743 00:48:54,200 --> 00:48:55,960 The Japanese that lost. 744 00:48:56,200 --> 00:49:01,600 I think they had 15 prisoners on Gavutu and Tanabogo, three on Tulagi. 745 00:49:01,600 --> 00:49:02,440 That's 70. 746 00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:05,400 This approximately 70. 747 00:49:05,400 --> 00:49:12,960 As you know, these figures are not dead on that has swam escaped to the nearby Florida islands and the 2nd Marines. 748 00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:19,200 And some of the writers spent for the next weeks and months chasing these guys in the Florida islands. 749 00:49:19,200 --> 00:49:20,130 So there was. 750 00:49:20,130 --> 00:49:25,170 There was a taste of what was the respect is going to be in the heavy fighting that's going to be coming. 751 00:49:25,490 --> 00:49:26,930 Yep, we'll leave it there. 752 00:49:26,930 --> 00:49:31,810 We'll return next week with our look at the landings on Guadalcanal. 753 00:49:31,970 --> 00:49:39,170 And keep an eye out for Dave's book, Guadalcanal's Longest Fight the Pivotal Battles of the Matanikau Front. 754 00:49:40,210 --> 00:49:43,730 The Principles of War podcast is brought to you by James Ealing. 755 00:49:44,050 --> 00:49:55,180 The show notes for the Principles of War podcast are available at www.theprinciplesofwar.com for maps, photos and other information that didn't make it into the podcast. 756 00:49:55,580 --> 00:49:59,100 Follow us on Facebook or Tweet us at surprisePodcast. 757 00:49:59,500 --> 00:50:05,660 If you've enjoyed 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