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U . S . M a r i n e C o r p s . J R O T CCategory 5– General Military Subjects

Skill 7 – Military History

1943

PURPOSE In 1943, the Allied strategy experts decided that the defeat of Japan would require a two-pronged attack. One force, lead by General Douglas MacArthur, would go through New Guinea and the Philippines. The other, lead by Admiral Chester Nimitz, would skip through the Central Pacific islands by way of the Marshall and Marianas Islands. The Marines would be involved in both efforts. This lesson explores the first part of that plan – the taking of the rest of the Solomon Islands and the first attack in the Central Pacific.

IntroductionThe two-pronged attack was to

begin at Henderson Airfield in Guadalcanal – 565 air miles from Rabaul – and at Port Moresby in New Guinea – 445 miles from Rabaul. Rabaul was the huge Japanese base on the eastern end of New Britain Island that provided them with planes

and ships. Neutralizing Rabaul would allow the two-pronged attack to move forward. The hard fought success at Guadalcanal was the first step in capturing the Solomon Islands chain. In February of 1943, the Russell Islands were captured without much opposition. The rest of the campaign in the Solomon Islands and in the Gilbert Islands would prove more costly.

New GeorgiaThe next step in the

continuation of the Solomon Islands campaign was the capture of the Japanese airbase at Munda Point at the northern end of New Georgia Island. The strategy called for several complicated amphibious landings. It would require 30,000 troops and several weeks of fighting. One landing took place at the southern end of the island where after four days of fighting in the swamps and rivers the Japanese were finally defeated.

The main landings took place on June 30. Colonel “Harry the Horse” Liversedge, a former Olympic shot-putter, led 2,600 men southwest from his base across the lagoon from Munda Point. The battles were nip and tuck as first the Marines pushed forward, and then were driven back. One of the objectives on the way to Munda was Bairoko Harbor, the main route to Munda. Liversedge used up all but 933 of his troops in his effort to

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capture it. With the help of the Army, Munda Point was finally secured on August 5. A good part of the credit to the ultimate success of the work at New Guinea must go to the arrival of the VMF-124 and the Vought Corsair F4Us. These planes had twice the range and much greater speed than the Japanese fighters. American planes shot down 101 Japanese aircraft of the 130 encountered on June 30. In total, the Japanese lost 358 planes trying to hold Munda.

By the last quarter of 1943, Marines were involved in three important campaigns, Cape Gloucester on New Britain, Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, and Bougainville, the final objective in the Solomons.

Bougainville

Bougainville was the last stop in the effort to bring Rabaul into fighter range. The strategists determined that the way to capture Bougainville was by deceiving the Japanese into thinking that the attack was really going to be focused on Choiseul Island. When the Japanese committed reinforcements to Choiseul, the attack on Bougainville would begin. D-Day was set for November 1.Choiseul

Lt. Col. Victor “Brute” Krulak and his 656 men led the attack on Choiseul on October 28. Krulak landed and then marched toward the enemy’s base. When they encountered a Japanese patrol, they allowed three soldiers to escape and carry the word back to the enemy commanders. They then proceeded to attack the enemy base. The ruse worked as the Japanese poured in reinforcements from Bougainville. Krulak was wounded in the skirmish that followed, and on November 4, PT boats withdrew him and his men from the island. Lt. John Kennedy, who later became President of the United States, commanded one of the boats.

A hero of the air campaign to capture Rabaul, Major Gregory Boyington was called Pappy because at 31, he was considered an old-timer. Beginning in September, Boyington lead a squadron known as the Black Sheep. His squad downed 57 planes in one month. Boyington earned a Medal of Honor for his 28 kills over Rabaul and China before Japanese shot him down and captured him on January 3, 1944.

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Cape Torokina

Intelligence indicated that the area near Bougainville with the fewest number of Japanese defenders was Cape Torokina. The strategy to attack at that point involved landing troops at a very difficult location. The beaches were narrow and swamps, lagoons, and deep jungle bordered them. On November 1, Marines landed on 12 beaches from Cape Torokina north. Enemy fire and rough surf wrecked or sank nearly 90 landing craft. When the Marines reached the beach, they found that the Japanese had set up a defense perimeter of solid log and sand bunkers. Enemy planes strafed the narrow beaches. In spite of machine gun, mortar, and rifle fire, the Marines knocked out 25 of these bunkers and got 14,000 men ashore.

The Marines established a beachhead with the idea in mind of building their own airstrip and expanding the perimeter. The Japanese counterattacked over and over again. Because of superior firepower, the Marines were able to hold off these attacks and by November 9, the area was secure. When the Army’s troops arrived to take over the northern half of the perimeter, there were nearly 34,000 Americans on the island. However, the Japanese had been able to secure the site selected for the airfield. The Marines set about to capture several high ground areas including what came to be called Cibik Ridge, Grenade Hill, and Hellzapoppin Ridge.

More than 400 Marines were killed in the effort to take Bougainville. The airbase provided the air power to fly the 210 miles to Rabaul. By the end of January 1944, the Japanese had lost nearly 400 planes and moved the rest of their planes out of Rabaul.

TarawaThe plan to retake the Central

Pacific began in the Gilbert Islands, moved on to the Marshalls, the Marianas, and the Carolinas. The Gilbert Islands were important to the approach the Marshall Islands and Truk where the Japanese were firmly in control. Truk (now called Chuuk) is one of the states in a country that is today known as the Federated States of Micronesia. The first objective in the Central Pacific was the atoll in the Gilbert Islands known as Tarawa. An atoll is a ring-like coral island that almost completely surrounds a lagoon. Tarawa included many small islands defended by the Japanese.

The first step in capturing Tarawa was taking the heavily fortified island of Betio. Betio was only two miles long and a half-mile

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wide. It mainly consisted of a three-strip airfield. Betio was defended by 5,000 Japanese naval troops who fired hundreds of guns at the attacking Marines. The landing was made more difficult by man-made fortifications built by the Japanese and the natural coral reef that encircled the island.

The invasion of Betio began on November 20. Even though American warships bombarded the island and American planes strafed the beaches, the shelling had little effect. Japanese shore batteries fired at the Marines attempting to land. Moreover, the Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) that carried the Marines could not get closer than a few hundred yards from the beach. The Marines were easy targets as they waded ashore. Some drowned attempting to make it to the beach. Despite heavy casualties, the island was secured by November 23. Colonel David Shoup, who commanded the 2nd Marines, sent a message on the second day, “Casualties: many. Percentage dead: unknown. Combat efficiency: we are winning.”

Once Betio Island was captured, the rest of the islands in the Tarawa atoll were more easily taken. Betio Island has been so heavily fortified that the Japanese commander boasted that it would take a million Americans 100 years to conquer it. It took the Marines slightly longer than three days. The cost, however, included 1,100 dead and 2,300 wounded. The Japanese lost about

4,500 of their troops, including many who refused to surrender and either fought to the death or committed suicide. Colonel Shoup, who later became a Commandant of the Marines, was wounded and won the Medal of Honor, as did three others.

The battle of Tarawa was unique; for the first time in history, an assault from the sea was launched against a heavily defended atoll, and assault amphibious vehicles had been used to make the assault landing. Coral was difficult to cross. Landing craft could not make it, but amphibian tractors could. The operation demonstrated the soundness of the existing Marine Corps practices, but it also brought to light other areas that required improvement for future operations. More Marines were needed to take the island; using land artillery from the adjoining island may have saved Marine lives; and the water was too shallow for LCVPs; more tractors were needed. Because of these lessons learned, Tarawa was probably more important than other operations for which it paved the way.

Cape GloucesterAs General MacArthur planned

his moves along the New Guinea coast, he felt taking Cape Gloucester was necessary to protect his troops from the rear. Located on the western end of New Britain Island, Cape Gloucester was 350 miles away from Rabaul through the jungle.

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On the morning of December 26, 1943, the Marines landed at Cape Gloucester. The Marines landed unopposed, but soon were engaged by the Japanese. After a week of hard fighting, the Cape Gloucester airfield was taken. It took another four months of hard fighting to secure a third of New Britain. By that time, MacArthur’s flank was secure, and he could proceed toward the Philippines.

ConclusionBy the end of 1943, the

Marines had accomplished a great deal at a great cost. They had neutralized Rabaul, the important supply post for the Japanese. They had established air superiority. They improved on their amphibious landing techniques. They had also learned that victories over the Japanese would be hard fought and would come at great costs. The suicidal banzai charge demonstrated that the Japanese would not quit fighting easily. The trek through the Central Pacific to the mainland of Japan would prove to be extremely demanding on both skill and will.

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