THE GREAT ATTACK ON NEW GEORGIA DURING WORLD WAR TWO

Attacks on New Georgia

The New Georgia group of islands was about one hundred miles north of Guadalcanal.

The five large islands were originally bypassed by the Japanese in favour of skipping to Guadalcanal, but as the American Marines garrisoned the captured Henderson Field, the strategy was revised as more land-based planes were needed to strike Guadalcanal.

On 24 Nov 1942, a large Japanese convoy sailed for a small clearing on the western side of New Georgia island, currently used by a small coconut plantation. Although the convoy attracted American attention as early as 28 Nov, American intelligence saw nothing there based on aerial photographs besides a few scattered small buildings.

Finally, on 3 Dec, a sharp-eyed American intelligence expert saw something: the Japanese were building an airfield underneath the neat rows of coconut trees. Whenever a tree needed to be uprooted, overhead wires were laid and dressed with leaves so that the appearance of a tree was maintained in the same location.

On 6 Dec, American aircraft from Henderson Field paid a low-level visit to the location and confirmed the existence of the airfield after strafing at the Japanese engineers and troops there.

On 9 Dec, the first major operation against the newly constructed Munda Field was mounted. 18 B-17 bombers began a series of raids by various types of aircraft on Munda. On 13 Dec PBY Catalina aircraft began their occasional nighttime bombings.

On 4 Jan 1943, while US Army infantry were advancing on Guadalcanal on a planned offensive, Halsey sent a fleet to bombard Munda Field to divert any aerial reinforcement that might be sent to disrupt the Army offensive.

The bombardment force consisted of three light cruisers and two destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Walden Ainsworth; the support group behind them had three light cruisers, one heavy cruiser, and three destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Mahlon Tisdale.

Shortly after 0100 in the early morning of 5 Jan, the bombardment commenced. For the next 50 minutes, they had deposited nearly 3,000 rounds of 6-in shells and 1,400 rounds of 5-in shells on the Japanese airfield.

The next morning, American reconnaissance aircraft visited Munda Field and reported a heavily damaged airfield and no sign of enemy anti-aircraft fire. A retaliatory strike by air came as the ships were steaming home, but it only damaged one of the turrets atop the New Zealand destroyer Achilles that sailed with the support group.

Munda Field was not the only airfield the Japanese constructed in the New Georgia island group. Another field, Vila, was built on the southern tip of Kolombangara.

On the evening of 23 Jan, Ainsworth made another trip up the slot to New Georgia.

At 0200 on 24 Jan, his bombardment group consisting of two light cruisers and four destroyers began firing. In the following hour, the two light cruisers nearly sent 2,000 rounds of 6-in shells in the direction of the airfield, and the destroyers added 1,500 rounds of 5-in.

A few return fires came from coastal batteries, but they were generally ineffective. The Japanese then tried to defend from the air, but a convenient squall together with radar-directed anti-aircraft gunnery saved the American ships.

After daybreak on 24 Jan, 24 SBD, 17 TBF, and 18 F4F aircraft took off from Henderson Field to follow up on the attack. The American aircraft dropped 23 tons of bombs on Vila by 0800.

Although the "Ainsworth Express" runs, augmented with aerial bombardments, were effective in damaging the Japanese airfields, overall the Japanese engineers were as capable of repairing damaged airfields as the American Marine engineers were with Henderson.

The attacks achieved short-term objectives by disrupting Japanese capabilities to launch land-based aircraft, but in the long run, Halsey knew that the only way he could halt the operations from these new fields was to take them from the Japanese.

That was something he was not ready to do, yet.

Pictures shown. US Marines, New Georgia, 1943 1 of 2

Ambulance and medical personnel, New Georgia, 1943 pic 2 of 2

Comments

The Heroic Story Of Lieutenant Colonel Jay Zeamer, Jr. of Carlisle, Honoring Him For His Extraordinary Actions During WWII.

The Heroic Story Of Lieutenant Colonel Jay Zeamer, Jr. of Carlisle, Honoring Him For His Extraordinary Actions During WWII. U.S. Army Air Forces Lieutenant Colonel Jay Zeamer, Jr. of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on June 16, 1943, over Buka area, Solomon Islands. In October 1939, Zeamer applied for the Army Air Corps flight training program and was accepted in December. His entrance to the program was deferred until after graduating from M.I.T. in June 1940 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering, specializing in Structural Engineering. Zeamer began elementary flight school training as a flying cadet in the Chicago School of Aeronautics, Glenview, Illinois, where his leadership skills earned him the position of Captain of Cadets of Class 41-B. In March 1941, he received his wings and a commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps after graduating from basic and advanced flight school at Maxwell Field, Alabama. On June 16...

The Japanese WWII Soldier Who Refused to Surrender for 27 Years

Unable to bear the shame of being captured as a prisoner of war, Shoichi Yokoi hid in the jungles of Guam until January 1972 When Japanese sergeant Shoichi Yokoi returned to his home country after almost three decades in hiding, his initial reaction was one of contrition: “It is with much embarrassment that I return.” Then 56, Yokoi had spent the past 27 years eking out a meager existence in the jungles of Guam, where he’d fled to evade capture following American forces’ seizure of the island in August 1944. According to historian Robert Rogers, Yokoi was one of around 5,000 Japanese soldiers who refused to surrender to the Allies after the Battle of Guam, preferring life on the lam to the shame of being detained as a prisoner of war. Though the Allies captured or killed the majority of these holdouts within a few months, some 130 remained in hiding by the end of World War II in September 1945. Yokoi, who only rejoined society after being overpowered by two local fishermen in Janu...

HONORING EDITH CAVELL FOR HER WONDERFUL SERVING WWI, REST IN PEACE BRITISH WAR HEROINE.

Edith Cavell - a British war heroine. Edith Louisa Cavell was born on the 4th of December 1865 at Swardeston, near Norwich, the daughter of a local vicar. Edith trained as a nurse and would become the matron of The Berkendael Medical Institute in Belgium in 1907. She was also active in nurse training there. The first World War broke out in 1914 and at the time Edith was on holiday, visiting her mother in Norfolk. Her family begged her to stay in England but she returned to her job in Brussels. The city would fall to the Germans on the 20th of August 1914. Edith was allowed to remain at her post when the hospital was taken over by The Red Cross. Edith began rescuing and treating injured British and French soldiers and getting them across the border into neutral Holland from where they could return to Britain. She also assisted Belgian civilians. These activities constituted a crime under German Military Law. Paragraph 58 of the ...

Why Anna Maria Von Stockhausen’s corpse, strapped to keep her coming back from the dead.

Why Anna Maria Von Stockhausen’s corpse, strapped to keep her coming back from the dead. This is the corpse of Anna Maria von Stockhausen. After death she was strapped down to keep her in her grave. According to folklore, Stockhausen was a witch who resurrected herself 5 times. She was accused of being a witch during the Middle ages and Black Plague. This folklore about Anna was that she was killed about 6 times. She was first hanged and later clawed herself out of the grave. The town people captured her in a nearby town and quickly drowned her in a lake, by tying her to a plank. The townspeople said they checked her several times after dragging her lifeless body out of the water. View more graphics content below View more below:

Honoring Gene Autry "Cowboy Entertainer" For His Services During WWII .

🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Gene Autry: Cowboy, Entertainer and Proud World War II Veteran "When World War II broke out, Gene Autry was determined to join the armed forces and do his part. On July 26, 1942, during a live broadcast of his radio show Melody Ranch and at the Pentagon's request, he was inducted into the Army Air Forces as a Technical Sergeant. Already a private pilot, Gene set out to earn his wings as a Flight Officer. After basic training at the Santa Ana Air Force Base, and serving at Luke Field, Thunderbird Field, and Phoenix Airport, he was eventually accepted for flight training at Love Field in Dallas." "A week after Gene was sworn into the military, the Gene Autry Melody Ranch radio show became the Sergeant Gene Autry radio show on August 2, 1942. The program was part of Gene’s regular duties in the Army Air Forces and still had his music, comedy, and action in a dramatic story but now with a military theme. The songs were patriotic, the comedy based on...

The Most Horrifying Forms of 3 Executions in History

What was the unusual execution method used in history? Stoning, also known as lapidation, is a method of execution that involves pelting the condemned individual with stones until death occurs. It has been practiced in various societies throughout history and is often associated with religious or cultural beliefs. Stoning as a form of punishment is primarily intended to instill fear and act as a deterrent. In stoning, the condemned person is typically buried up to their chest or neck in a pit or shallow hole to restrict movement. The crowd or a group of executioners then proceeds to throw stones at the individual until they are killed. The stones used in stoning are typically of a specific size and weight, ensuring that the punishment is prolonged and painful rather than immediately lethal. The severity and execution of stoning can vary between different cultures and regions. It is important to note that stoning is often linked to moral or religious offenses, such as adultery or bla...

The Painful Death Of Sergeant John D. Kelly of Venango Township. And His Medal Of Honor For Action WWII.

The Painful Death Of Sergeant John D. Kelly of Venango Township. And His Medal Of Honor For Action WWII. U.S. Army Technical Sergeant John D. Kelly of Venango Township, Pennsylvania, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on June 25, 1944, near Fort du Roule, France. Kelly joined the Army in June 1942, and by June 25th, 1944, was serving as a Corporal in Company E, 314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division. On that day, at Fort du Roule, Cherbourg, France, Kelly repeatedly exposed himself to hostile fire to destroy an enemy emplacement and capture its occupants. He was killed in action five months after being promoted to technical sergeant. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on this day. Kelly is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in Epinal, France.

🇦🇺WWII uncovered: Private Edward Kenna Honored with Victoria Cross for Bravery at Wewak New Guinea.

🇦🇺WWII uncovered: Private Edward Kenna Honored with Victoria Cross for Bravery at Wewak New Guinea "Edward (Ted) Kenna was born at Hamilton, Victoria, on 6 July 1919. He completed his education in his home town before becoming a plumber. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in August 1940 and served in the 23/21st Battalion in Victoria and later in the Darwin area. In June 1943 his unit returned to Victoria before being sent to Queensland. At this point the unit was disbanded and its members allotted as reinforcements to other units. Kenna was assigned to the 2/4th Battalion and embarked for New Guinea in October 1944." (AWM 096203) On 15 May 1945, Kenna was involved in an action near Wewak, New Guinea, during which he exposed himself to heavy fire, killing a Japanese machine gun crew and making it possible for his company's attack to succeed. For this he was awarded the Victoria Cross. ⭐ Private Kenna's Victoria Cross Citation reads as follows: War...

JOHN MARTIN SCRIPPS THE TOURIST FROM HELL, HANGED IN SINGAPORE FOR MURDER

John Martin Scripps - "The tourist from hell". John Martin Scripps became the first Westerner to be hanged in Singapore for murder and only the second for any offence. (Dutch born Johannes van Damme was executed for drug trafficking in 1994). He is the last British murderer to be hanged since Britain abolished the death penalty. Dubbed the "tourist from hell" by the British tabloids he may well have murdered three people in all. Scripps was convicted of the murder of Gerrard George Lowe after a trial that began on October the 2nd, 1995. It was to be Singapore's most sensational murder case since that of Adrian Lim, who with his wife and girlfriend, were convicted in May 1983 of the murder of two children in 1981. Forty six old Lim, a self-styled spirit medium and the two women, Hoe Kah Hong and Tan Mui Choo who were both in their early 30’s, were hanged together in Changi prison in November 1988. September 18th, 1995. In the Singaporean equivalent of Comm...

RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS, COURTESY AND HONOR IN THE WORST OF TIMES!

LITTLE KNOWN MILITARY HISTORY! RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS, COURTESY AND HONOR IN THE WORST OF TIMES! In 1943, Second Lieutenant Charlie Brown was piloting his B-17 Flying Fortress, Ye Olde Pub, back to England after bombing industrial centers in Bremen, Germany. During its run, the nose was torn apart by flak fire, causing the plane to drop out of formation and come under attack from fifteen enemy fighter planes. The plane lost sixty percent of its electric capacity, lost its oxygen, and half its rudder. Of the ten crewmen on board, the tail gunner had been killed, the rest wounded. 2Lt Brown himself was hit in his right shoulder. He then passed out from oxygen deprivation and woke up to find the bomber in a 4,000-foot dive. He pulled the plane up and headed home, having been left for dead by the pursuit fighters. On the way back to England, Germans on the ground spotted the bomber. The Luftwaffe dispatched ace fighter pilot Oberleutnant (Lt)...

Search This Blog