# My 1102 Days of W.W. II/Chapter 7

VII. THE SECOND BATTLE OF BOUGAINVILLE
In March 1944, the Japs made an assault to drive us off the island, which they almost accomplished. They over-ran the two outer defense lines in places but were stopped by the third line, with the exception of a few that managed to slip through. Previously the marines had secured the beachhead area and had already moved on, and the area had been turned over to the army.
A call was made for re-enforcement and in a few days the harbor was full of troop, cargo and combat ships. As it turned out the troops were not used at that time, but we did unload the badly needed ammo, bombs, and gasoline. We were put on an 18-hour day - 6 on and 12 off. We had to go to work 6 hours earlier each day when you think in terms of a 24 hour day. It was impossible to get your system adjusted to this, (18 hour day), but we lived through it with very little complaining at a time like this.
On one occasion at the height of the push we were unloading 500 pound bombs onto Ducks (a 2 1/2 ton amphibious truck nicknamed "DUCK"), which would take their loads to the beach and right on to the fighter strip. The planes (Douglas dive bombers) would load up and head for the enemy line. The enemy was so close we could see the planes from the ship dive to drop their bombs. The planes would come out over the harbor from the air strip and one plane accidently dropped her bombs not far from the ship we were working on. The pilot immediately turned around and went back for another load.
With the use of these Ducks we were able to save time since we did not have to transfer the cargo onto a truck at the beach. Still it was difficult to load these ducks by the ship, as the water there was never very calm. They ​were about the size of a heavy truck and almost impossible to set the load down in the cargo area, as they were continually bobbing up and down and sideways like a cork. On one occasion we had a load come down on one side of the duck as it was coming up caused the vehicle to turn over and sink. The driver managed to swim to the Jacobs ladder and climb aboard the ship safely.
To better understand the above you should know the procedure of this type of unloading a ship. One of the booms is rigged to hold the cable approximately over the center of the ship's Hatch and the other one is set to hang out over the side over the barge. The winch operator who sits in the center of the ship by the controls right near the ship's hatch, cannot see the load once he lets it over the outside of the ship, where the average deck is 30 or 40 feet above the water. He must take orders from a signalman by the rail where he can see both the load and the barge. Thus, it is obvious that the margin of error and danger is great, with the ship rolling and the duck or barge moving.
The above method of unloading cargo is limited to the weight per load, depending on the size of the ship and its structure, and is used mostly on loose cargo that requires a net. On heavier loads such as trucks, guns and tanks it is necessary to use the "Jumbo Boom" which is more complicated and slower. This single wooden boom (being 15 or 18 inches in diameter and about 40 feet long) carries the load from the ship's hatch to the barge (or whatever) on a heavy cable and moving the load sideways by heavy lines being controlled from two powered capstans, one near each side of the ship.
On one occasion in using the Jumbo Boom we worked ourselves into an embarrassing situation, as we were unloading a 5 Inch Gun weighing 5 or 6 tons. As usual the men on the two capstans were taking orders from the signalman when one of them failed to release his line (controlling the side movement of the load) as the other man was taking his side in. This broke the ​1 1/2 inch line - allowing the load to swing out over the water, ahead and beyond the barge. No one volunteered to crawl out on the boom to attach a line, but someone came up with the idea of lassoing it. This soon relieved us of this predicament.
The heaviest piece of equipment we unloaded was a 60 ton floating target, used for Naval gun practice.
During the push a few of the enemy broke through the lines into our territory, hiding out during the day and coming out at night to find something to eat in our mess halls. Several were captured or killed. One of our men - a cook - was killed with a knife as he went into the mess hall early one morning.
If for any reason we left the camp other than work (and sometimes then), we had better have the M1 with us. When we went to bed that rifle and my knife were ready and within reach. The latter was an eleven inch bowie knife that my brother Roy had made for me.
Guard duty was one job I did not especially care for but all of us took our turn at it. At night we always had 6 or 8 guards placed around the camp at equal intervals. As corporal of the guards, it was my duty to make a round every hour to see that everything was secure. There was a 45-Colt in the O.D.'s office that I could carry, but preferred my knife, since the enemy would slip up behind you and put one are around your neck and cut your throat with the other, without making any noise.
Prisoners were a very valuable source to learn information from about ​their strategy, but it was extremely difficult to capture them, as the majority would fight until death or commit harikari before being taken prisoner. There was a bounty at one time of a hundred dollars on each one brought in alive. The Fijian soldiers were great Scouts, as they had a way of sneaking up and taking them alive.
The Marines didn't collect many rewards on prisoners, as they usually eliminated them on the spot. They did bring in one that spoke English tied onto the hood of a jeep. On questioning him, the prisoner made some smart remark to the Marine that had captured him. Without batting an eye the Marine raised his BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) and filled him full of holes.
After this enemy assault was over we received a letter of commendation from Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet for a job well-done in stopping the Japanese. Later this became known as the "Second Battle of Bougainville."
While unloading 5-inch shells (projectile) weighing nearly 100 lbs. apiece from the ship's hole just forward of the bridge, we placed the shells in a cradle made for this purpose, holding about 75 or 80. We set this load down on the steel deck of the barge; the men there would disconnect the slings from one side of the cradle and have the winch operator raise the cradle spilling the shells rather than removing them by hand one by one. This made a lot of noise and the sparks did fly, but it did save valuable time. The skipper of the ship came out on the deck above all excited and said harshly, "You can't do that, you will blow up my ship." I replied, "Skipper, there's a war going ​on right over there and those people need this ammunition." We continued right on. The shells, minus the fuse, were loaded with explosive powder.
At the time the Japanese were making their big push - some nights we would go to sleep with the five inch guns and the 105MM Howitzer going continuously and we would wake up next morning with them still going. We had learned to sleep with the noise. One of the 105MM was not far back of us; the concussion would shake our tent when the gun was fired.
After the enemy had been pushed back into their area, Rice and I went up on a high ridge at the most forward defense line overlooking the enemy territory. The army men told us about two of our men being stationed as lookouts in a huge tree nearby before the Japs made their push. and the last thing that was heard from them (by phone) was that one had been killed.
On re-taking this ridge the enemy who had dug in under this lookout tree had to be burned out by flame throwers. While standing there talking and surveying out into enemy territory, we turned around and to our surprise we were looking directly into the muzzle of a 105 gun, camouflaged in the edge of the bushes.
The 90MM ammunition is a high power shell and is used principally against enemy aircrafts. The 105MM is a standard shell and is used in surface combact. Both of these are assembled in a brass shell or casing known as "fixed type." The 5-inch and larger ammo is not assembled, due to its weight in loading. All of the three above are equipped for time fuses, which are screwed in just before use and pre-set for explosion as required or set to explode on contact.
​On one occasion while unloading gasoline in 50-gallon drums we ran across an empty one which we placed on top of the loaded barge. We were at the end of our shift so we signaled the beach not to send after us as we would be coming in on the barge.
The beach crew that was unloading barges was unaware of the empty drum. When the barge beached, a truck backed in for a load and I said, "Come on fellows, let's get this barge unloaded." I grabbed this drum, straining every muscle as with great difficulty and threw it on the truck. It was all unbelievable to the beach crew until it hit the truck, for then they realized by its sound that if was empty.
The LST landing-ship-tanks was an ideal craft for moving cargo. It had a load capacity of 125 tons which we could load up to 650 four hundred pound oil drums, or four 32-ton tanks and take this load onto just about any sandy beach area. It was necessary to go in at a speed of about 5 knots to position the barge far enough onto the beach that a truck could go in or out after lowering the ramp.
To aid the motors in pulling the craft back off of the beach into deep water, the Skipper would winch in the cable onto an anchor that had been dropped several hundred feet while going in. (The name of this craft was changed to LSU, Landing Ships Utilities, in 1952 and the name LST was given to a larger landing craft).
​After being there three or four months supervising men in handling cargo, my trade rating was changed from Machinist to Boatswain Mate. Shortly thereafter I was promoted to Chief Boatswain Mate.
Before the marines left the new M16 Garrand rifle supposedly the latest and best had been issued to them. Pop Rice would have given his right arm for one of them to take back to New Hampshire to hunt deer. But, of course, no one could get one legally, and those that did, had to turn them in before starting home.
Each company or outfit had a gun-smith and spare parts to keep their guns in good shape, and they would all help you if you needed a part. So Rice started out one day to visit the gun-smiths. At the first place he told them he needed a barrel, at another, a gun stock, at another a magazine and at another a firing mechanism.He continuted until he had a complete gun. And as far as I know, he still has one of the Garrand Rifles without the government having any record of it.
After things quieted down somewhat, the Army transported us by ducks to and from the ships in the harbor. On one accasion at the end of our shift at midnight, a driver picked up our gang of 20 men from the ship. As there were ​no crews following us as usual all lights were cut off on the ship and beach. I knew how to reach the beach area in the dark by heading for a V-shaped gap in the mountain that was visible at night. Thinking the driver knew where he was going, I didn't notice until the wheels of the vehicle began hitting coral reefs and the breakers began coming over the stern, that we were off course. I immediately ordered the driver to reverse his screw and not to move the steering wheel. This kept the vehicle across the breakers and brought us back out into deeper water that enabled us to get on the right course to the beach.
He had been heading for the outer side of Puruata Island where the breakers were always rough. If we had been caught in the trough of one of those breakers we would have never made it back to shore.
After we left Bougainville the island was turned over to the Australian Forces. Sometime later they made an all-out drive to eliminate the enemy remaining there, by bombing, shelling and keeping their supply lines cut. At the end of the war it was reported that the Aussies had killed 8 or 9 thousand and another 10 thousand plus died from sickness or starvation, as there was no way for them to get any food or supplies.