This is a new year, and the start of a new chapter for the Pacific War.
Around a year ago, we were still covering the start of the Japanese onslaught across
the Pacific, as the Imperial forces continued their advance along the Malayan peninsula,
as they kept pursuing the retreating American-Filipino troops in the Philippines and as they prepared
to embark on one of their most complex campaigns yet: the invasion of the Dutch East Indies.
Today, the picture is much more different, however, due to the fact that the Japanese
have been thrown into the defensive both in the Solomons and in New Guinea.
With plans already underway to evacuate Guadalcanal, and with the recent fall of Buna as we saw
last week, the horizon looks grim for the Empire of Japan.
In this episode, we’ll continue with our coverage of the Battle of Buna-Gona as it
enters its last phase: the Sanananda Campaign; and we’ll also head to the CBI theater to
see some new developments in the Yunnan border.
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As we last saw in the Sanananda front by mid December, the American forces of the 126th
Regiment had successfully established the Huggins roadblock, subsequently defending
their gained perimeter as the Australian 30th Brigade drained out its strength trying to
relieve Lieutenant Dal Ponte’s exhausted men.
Assessing the situation, Generals Herring and Vasey knew that they needed to reinforce
their depleted forces on this front.
With the 18th Brigade assigned to reinforce Warren Force, the Australians knew that they
couldn’t leave Milne Bay undefended, so the 17th Brigade was out of the question.
Only two units thus remained in Port Moresby: the militia 36th Battalion and the 2/7th Cavalry
Regiment, which had undertaken training as infantry in the last months.
By December 15, as these two fresh units began to assemble at Soputa, Brigadier Porter counted
with 527 men from his 30th Brigade; 119 soldiers from the 2/3rd Battalion; and 555 Americans
from the 126th Regiment.
The last two, because of sickness, exhaustion and reluctance to attack, could only be used
in a positional role.
In that regard, a policy of patrolling and infiltrating the entrenched Japanese positions
had been adopted instead of launching another costly frontal assault.
But if the state of the Allied forces was dire, especially that of the Huggins’ Force,
it was nothing compared with that of the Japanese they had cut off.
Colonel Tsukamoto’s men had been foodin their positions since November 21 without
reinforcements or reliable supplies.
They were short of food , weapons and ammunition, dependent on a trickle that came down the
Killerton track from time to time.
Under continual rain by night and scorching sun by day, they were again close to starvation
and were ravaged by malaria and diarrhea in a breeding ground created by their own encirclement.
Against this background, Vasey planned to renew his offensive by December 19 with his
newly-arrived cavalry and the remnants of the 30th Brigade . Skirting the most forward
Japanese positions and starting from Huggins roadblock, the 2/7th Cavalry was to push quickly
along the track and seize the beach area while Porter’s men were to eliminate all the Japanese
then remaining in the area from Giruwa to Garara.
On December 16, the first squadron of the 2/7th Cavalry set out along the pathway which
came in from the west to cut the Killerton Track and then passed on to join the Sanananda
Track at Huggins’ roadblock.
This was the same pathway that had been used to supply the roadblock, and although they
had to fight their way through a dangerous kunai area in the vicinity of the Killerton
Track, the regiment would safely arrive at the roadblock by December 18 after crossing
several swamps, some chest-deep, and after passing through the rotting casualties of
previous encounters.
In the morning of December 19, Porter’s renewed offensive then began as mortar and
artillery fire started to fall on the Japanese positions.
A few minutes later, his two battalions began their closing movements towards the Sanananda
track.
Although the 49th Battalion made considerable progress on the right and successfully overran
two or three enemy machine-gun positions, the 55th/53rd came against a strongly-held
area from which two machine-guns and stubborn riflemen refused to be dislodged.
Suffering huge casualties , the composite battalion would fail to overcome the enemy
in front, and in the confusion, the attack would have to be called off.
Yet the 49th still continued forward, reinforced by a company of the 36th Battalion , and finally
got to contact Huggins’ roadblock.
In the meantime, the 2/7th Cavalry had set out along the track with the objective of
reaching Sanananda Point at all cost.
Dazed after the long night and the savage bombardment, the Japanese allowed the Australian
squadrons to advance for about 450 yards without hindrance, until the cavalrymen found themselves
facing Colonel Yokoyama’s main positions in the Central Sector.
Now thoroughly alert, such a strong and devastating rain of fire fell upon the Australians that
the first squadron of the 2/7th Cavalry was almost completely annihilated.
Instead of launching another frontal assault against these positions, the B Squadron of
Captain John James was directed to make a left flanking sweep while D Squadron executed
the same maneuver to the right.
Yet the Murase Unit offered strong resistance against this outflanking attempt, so James
would only be able to establish a defensive perimeter some 400 yards forward of the Huggins’
roadblock.
This new tenuous position, with men from the Murase Unit still occupying the track between
it and Huggins’ roadblock, was manned by some 100 men and would be known as the Kano
Roadblock.
Despite the relative success of Captain James, the remaining squadrons of the 2/7th Cavalry
would have to retreat by nightfall, thus concluding the attack.
The following day, Porter ordered the rest of the 36th to join the 49th Battalion in
their offensive, yet the inexperienced militiamen would fail to make much progress during the
night, suffering many losses against Tsukamoto’s forces.
Meanwhile, James had been settling his men more firmly within their defenses and laying
out ground strips to guide the aircraft which he hoped might bring him ammunition, batteries
for his wireless, and food.
Vigorous patrolling from both Huggins’ and James’ roadblocks in the next few days also
added much to the Australian’s knowledge of the Japanese dispositions.
On December 22, the Australians thankfully saw some reinforcements arrive, as Brigadier
Dougherty came over from the Gona area with his 39th Battalion to take command of the
Huggins’ roadblock area and forward, including the positions held by the 49th Battalion and
the 2/7th Cavalry.
Upon arriving at Huggins’, the 39th relieved the battered and exhausted Americans there,
yet the men of the 39th were also weary, so Dougherty was not to launch any offensive
operations.
Instead, his mission was to maintain the two roadblocks, build up reserves of ammunition
and rations, and patrol aggressively . Early on December 23, however, D Squadron again
departed Huggins’ roadblock to establish a line of communication with the Kano roadblock.
Swinging wide to the right and moving slowly to avoid detection, the Australians would
successfully arrive at James’ position by December 24 and would also establish two firm
bases across the way for patrols to keep sweeping the line which was being opened.
Due to this success, it was determined that the entire 2/7th Cavalry Regiment would move
to the Kano roadblock, immediately starting to improve and fortify this tenuous position.
Meanwhile, Porter saw himself in a similar situation to that of Dougherty, so he could
achieve little more than active patrolling during what remained of the year.
Generals Vasey and Herring agreed that further major offensive action on this front was impossible
without tanks and fresh infantry, and these had all been deployed on the Buna front.
The well-trained American 163rd Regiment was also earmarked to reinforce the Sanananda
front, but it would take some time for their arrival.
Thus, the Australians could only wait, for now.
During this time though, the starving Japanese would become much more aggressive, launching
raiding and scavenging parties to get food and ammunition.
The most important engagement of this sort happened on the night of December 28, when
a raiding party fell upon the gun positions, exploded a charge in the barrel of one gun
and destroyed it.
Thence forward the gunners could never feel safe.
With the fall of Buna on January 2, 1943, however, the forces on this front were finally
freed to reinforce Sanananda.
Herring then disposed that he would form two main forces against Sanananda: Vasey’s 7th
Division, with the 14th , 18th and 30th Brigades, the tanks of the 2/6th Armoured Regiment and
the American 163rd Regiment , which arrived on the night of January 2; and General Eichelberger’s
Buna Force, with the three regiments of the 32nd Division.
The task of the 7th Division would be to capture the Sanananda Point-Cape Killerton position
and contain the Japanese in the Amboga River-Mambare River area, while Buna Force was to defend
the Cape Endaiadere-Buna area from seaborne attack and advance up the coast against the
Sanananda defenses by way of Tarakena.
Yet we’ll also recall that Tarakena had fallen to the forces of Colonel Yazawa on
January 4, so Colonel Grose immediately decided to send the three companies of the 127th Regiment
to retake this vital position.
These would cross Siwori Creek the following day, slowly approaching their objective while
the Japanese executed delaying actions.
By nightfall on January 8, the 127th had reached Tarakena, holding their enemies at bay at
the village.
Two fresh companies then came through these tired men and finally reduced the village
before the night was far advanced.
Yet strong Japanese positions would then successfully stop the American advance at Konombi Creek
until January 10, when a bridgehead was at last established.
But this well-earned success quickly turned sour as they discovered that the terrain ahead
was impassable, with the ocean and swamps merging at high tide, so it seemed the American
advance would have to be paused for the time being.
Meanwhile, Vasey had deployed the 163rd Regiment of Colonel Jens Doe in the positions in and
around the two roadblocks, preparing the Americans to launch a renewed offensive to reduce Colonel
Tsukamoto’s forces on the Southwest Sector.
To support them, the 18th Brigade would also relieve the depleted 30th Brigade and 126th
Regiment, with the 2/7th Cavalry becoming a part of Brigadier Wooten’s forces.
On December 8, action finally resumed as Colonel Doe proposed to overcome the main Japanese
positions between the two roadblocks.
After a heavy bombardment of the two defensive perimeters of the Murase Unit, the 1st Battalion,
163rd Regiment, launched its assault but was easily repulsed by the battle-hardened defenders.
The next day, after this failure, it was the turn of the 2nd Battalion, under the command
of Major Walter Rankin, which was to strike across country towards the Killerton Track
as per Vasey’s main plan.
Rankin’s advance would be swift and faced little opposition, so by the end of the day,
his battalion was sited across the track in close contact with enemy positions to the
south in a position that was to be known as the Rankin roadblock.
New and important events would then unfold in the following days, but we’ll have to
cover them in the future.
For now, we have to move to the CBI theater, where a new offensive threatened the Chinese
position on the Yunnan border.
We have to recall that during the year of 1942, the Kingdom of Thailand that was ruled
by Marshal and Primer Minister Phibun Songkhram had aided the Japanese Empire during the Conquests
of Malaya and Burma and thus had gained control over some territories to the south as well
as the Shan States.
In the latter, the Thai Army had aggressively engaged the retreating Chinese forces, while
at the same time issuing racist policies against the Chinese inhabitants in their own territory.
By the end of the year, Phibun was now preparing to invade the province of Yunnan because a
small Thai minority populated its southwestern border, which he considered a part of his
dreamed Greater Thailand . Thus, a total of 30000 soldier of the Phayap Army had concentrated
in the Shan States by late December, with Lieutenant-General Charun Rattanakun Seriroengrit
initially planning to cross the Nam Loi River and secure the Nanlan River valley.
As a preliminary, the 4th Division’s 9th Regiment would set out from Kengtung and advance
to Mongwa, capturing the town by late December.
From there, a combined force under Major-General Luang Haansongkhram was to capture the towns
of Mongma and Mongla to secure the border with Yunnan.
On January 7, 1943, the Thai offensive finally started as the Nam Loi River was crossed.
Yet their attack wouldn’t be easy, as the entrenched defenders bravely resisted the
incessant attacks of the invaders for three days straight until such relentless pressure
forced the Chinese to retreat on January 11.
Simultaneously, the Royal Thai Airforce, now boasting some Ki-27s and Ki-30s bought from
the Japanese, severely pummeled the Kuomintang positions on their rear.
Air attacks such as the incursion on the Chieng Bung Base of January 12 would take the life
of numerous Chinese soldiers and would cause much harm to their logistics.
The air superiority also allowed the invaders to quickly advance through the jungles, rapidly
overrunning a vast number of enemy garrisons . On the morning of January 13, the 3rd and
13th Regiments then crossed the Nanlan River at Mongla and advanced in the direction of
Chien Lung, where they would finally be stopped ten days later by a strong Chinese fortification.
There, the Thai soldiers would launch several assaults against the entrenched Chinese defenders,
yet they would all end in with the same result: massive loss of life for the invaders.
This was because the Chinese had set up machine-gun positions in the adjacent hills, thus devastating
the Thai forces with their crossing fire and finally forcing them to retreat.
But this wasn’t the end of the struggle, as numerous air attacks by Ki-30s would then
unfold to destroy the Chinese fortifications, culminating with a bomb explosion on a powder
keg that caused an extrendous explosion and that left the area covered with a dense pall
of smoke.
The Chinese defenders were stunned by this attack, so the Thai forces would quickly take
advantage of this favorable event to storm Chien Lung, finally taking the fort on January
28.
Yet Thai casualties had been very high, and thus the invaders would be unable to proceed
with the invasion.
Furthermore, the Thais were seeing the recent Japanese defeats as a bad omen for the future,
so they wanted to increase their relations with China and the Allies by withdrawing from
Yunnan.
By January 29, the offensive was finally brought to a halt, and a sort of static trench warfare
would develop over the next two years in this immense line of defensive posts and fortifications,
in which both sides would further suffer many more casualties.
But that is all for this week when we return to Guadalcanal to cover the continuation of
General Patch’s major offensive on the Mount Austen area, so make sure you are subscribed
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