One Brush of the Armored Sleeve-Tulagi and Tenaru with special guest Dave Holland
One Brush of the Armored Sleeve-Tulagi and Tenaru with special guest Dave Holland  
Podcast: The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War
Published On: Tue Nov 22 2022
Description: H-Hour Guadalcanal American intel assumed that the bulk of the Japanese were on Guadalcanal, specifically along Lunga PointEstimated 5,000 men5th Marines secured the beachhead, 1st Marines passed through them and headed for “Grassy Knoll”It was assumed there would be heavy defensive fire on the beachesThe landing on Guadalcanal could not have gone any better, as virtually no opposition was encounteredThe beach head was a jumbled mess of supplies as there were not enough marines nearby, or sailors, to unload the supplies.Marines pressed inland and encountered the jungle for the first time TulagiAbout 2 miles long ½ mile wide.  Japanese garrison was the 3rd Kure Special Naval Landing Force, about 350 menMarines that assaulted Tulagi, Florida, Gavutu/Tanambogo were:1st Raiders1/22/51st Parachute Btln.The first boots on the ground belonged to 1/2 who landed at Florida island. Initially, resistance was nill until the Raiders hit phase line A where they ran into stiff defenses. Japanese embedded themselves in cavesHarbinger of future defensive efforts throughout the PacificThe night of August 7-8, the Japanese counterattacked on Tulagi, breaking marine lines in one point.By morning, those Japanese had all been killed Good personal stories of the Raiders? Gavutu/TanambogoAssigned to the 1st Parachute Battalion, numbering some 397 menFacing the Paras were over 500 JapaneseHeavy Japanese resistance caused many casualties among the ParasBy nightfall, neither island had been secured and Marine casualties had been very heavyParas requested reinforcements for morning assaultReinforcements sent in, but the landing was a failure because of enemy fireLanded near the causeway insteadLike on Tulagi, the Japanese holed up in caves and had to be blasted outTalk about Angus Goss (An explosion was the sweetest music conceivable)Talk about Harry TorgersonBlew up caves using dynamiteOne blast was so close that it blew the majority of his pants off of his body, exposing most of his ass surrounded by shredded pants.Hence the name “Raggedy Assed Marines”The conversation supposedly went, “Captain you done tore your pants!”  “Screw the pants!  Get me more dynamite!”Awarded a Silver Star for this actionThe islands were finally captured, most Japanese were killed at the loss of 70 KIA and 87 WIATotal casualties for Tulagi, Gavutu and Tanambogo were 122 KIA for USMC and 863 KIA for the Japanese Air RaidOnce the landings were revealed to be an invasion and not a raid, Yamamoto ordered a “decisive counterattack”While the IJN would respond off Savo within 24 hours, the first “decisive counterattack” came by air53 aircraft were involved in the initial air attackMixture of Betty’s, Zeroes and ValsOnly 12 F4Fs were aloft to intercept the incoming raidersSaburo SakaiAttacked SBDs from CV6Got creased in the head from a rear seat gunner in one of the SBDsThe wound left Sakai blind in his right eye, his left side was paralyzed, and his Zero was shot to piecesSakai losing blood quickly, fought off death by punching himself in his wound to stay conscious, and managed to steer his crippled airplane the 565 miles back to Rabaul The raid achieved nothing in terms of stopping the landing, but it did deprive the Americans of most of their fighter contingent from the CVs, thus compelling Fletcher to pull his CVs back away from Canal as he did not have the fighter capability to withstand another attack by torpedo carrying Betty’s (or so he thought anyway) Pulling his CVs back put them out of reach for proper patrols the next day, which could have spotted Mikawa’s force coming south to destroy the Allied force in what would be Savo Island TenaruBy the time the Tenaru battle unfolded, the Marines had been ashore for 3 weeksNo serious Japanese counterattacks had yet been made against CanalOn August 10, plans had been drawn up to send forces to Guadalcanal to expel the invadersOne of the units selected was the 28th Infantry Regiment, under COL Kiyoano IchikiDue to poor intel, a lack of Allied naval activity or aerial presence on Guadalcanal, the Japanese thought that the majority of Americans had been withdrawn from GuadalcanalWho was Ichiki?Known expert in infantry tacticsCommanded rifle units in ChinaHis actions are said to have started the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, often marked as the beginning of WWIIVery headstrong, was slated to land at MidwayBelieved that the sword and night tactics of traditional Japanese infantry could and would best any defensive positions he may encounter Ichiki Detachment numbered some 900 men The Battle begins2/1 had set up their positions in the days before the attack Myth says that they set up their positions only hours before the attack because of Jacob Vouza’s warningDispel the myth of Vouza here Dug in MG positions manned by H/2/1 and rifle positions manned by G/2/1 stretched from the ocean front down “stream” on the west bank of the river Marines had 1917 water cooled MGs, some 50 caliber weapons, and several 37mm anti-tank weapons, at least two of which were supplied with canister shot Ichiki’s plan was to essentially march down the beach, and assault the Marine positions, eventually capturing the airfield and a further position around Lunga Attack and AnnihilationInitial contact was made shortly after midnight, with scattered rifle shots between Marine Ops and Ichiki’s van Around 0200 the first wave of Japanese troops came crashing across the sand bar This wave was met by strong defensive fire from MGs, 37s, and artilleryWave was essentially wiped out after a few broke through into Marine lines and engaged in hand to handAt least three more waves of attackers hit the Marine lines only to be slaughtered by withering fireJohnny Rivers, Diamond and Al SchmidFrank Pomroy Marine artillery walked itself down the Japanese side of the river and collected in a grove where it presumably broke up another potential assault.Following this, the Japanese holed up on their side of the river and a firefight ensued all night longThe following morning, elements of 1/1 crossed the river and flanked what was left of Ichiki’s unitSlowly, the Marines closed the trap around Ichiki, forcing the survivors to dart across the coconut grove or into the sea where they were killed by riflemen M3 tanks under the command of Lt Leo Case crossed the sand bar and turned into the coconut grove eliminating what was left of the enemy Over 777 dead Japanese littered the field of battle 1 surrendered, and 12 wounded were taken prisoner Marine losses were around 44 KIA and 71 WIA Implications on the CampaignJapanese refusal to surrender informed the Marines how the war would be fought from here on Wounded Japanese tried to kill those attempting to help themRather die than surrender CLOSER:1st Mar Div report of Tulagi Operation:“The combat assumed the nature of a storming operation from the outset, a soldier’s battle, unremitting and relentless, to be decided only by the extermination of one or the other of the adversaries engaged.”