Evening star., 1943-10-30
Allied Landing Made
On Treasury Islands
Under Noses Of Japs
BY REMBERT JAMES.


ABROAD UNITED STATES
TROOPSHIP, Northern Solomons,
Oct. q Delayed) After hours of
steaming northward in dafkness,
this motley but powerful convoy OF
troop and supply carrying craft and
destroyers reached the Treasury Is
lands at dawn today.
Allied troops streak ashore in
landing boats under the cover of the
heaviest bombardment from United
States warships since the invasion
of Guadalcanal, August 7, 1912.
japanese machine gun nests along
the beach and mortar batteries were
silenced by laundering salvos from
three destroyers and United States
gunboats.
The Japanese garrison, estimated
to number between 200 and 300, re-
treated into the jungle and was
largely destroyed during heavy
fighting Of the next IA hours.
30 Miles From Bougainville.
Treasury is 30 statute miles from
heavily garrisoned Bougainville, an
chor Of Japan's South Pacific hold
ings, and only IS miles from the
intervening Japanese occupied
Shorthand Islands.
Gen. Douglas MacArthurs
communique for Thursday an
nounced the landing of Allied
forces on the Treasury group
after minor opposition
The Treasury landing occurred
in daylight, only seven or eight
minutes flying time from japanese
airflelds at Ballale, Kahili and
Kara in the Southern Bougainville
area, but the explanation for
meager japanese air resistance was
simple: Allied raids of recent
weeks had made the enemy fields
unserviceable and many japanese
planes had been destroyed.
l went on the beach with the
Treasury invaders while our heavy
bombardment still was in progress.
Beach Positions Shelled.
Destroyers and gunboats began
the shelling at $40 am, hurting
hundreds of high explosive shells.
Later, landing boats, carrying
troops. pumped 10000 rounds of
machinegun slugs into enemy beach
positions and into the jungle on
rising hills.
The boat on which I was riding
showed off from its ship at SAT
am. as the bombardment was
reaching maximum. 1t headed for
the beach three miles ahead
around Stirling Island and across
the channel to Mono Island.
Reaching the entrance to the
channel, it and other landing boats
were forced to halt while our ships
sllenced japanese guns which still
were throwing steel at US. The
water was smooth as glass. There
was no wind and exhaust fumes
from the landing boats made it ap-
pear like city street during
heavy traffic.
After several minutes. Japanese
shore fire diminished and Coxswain
Charles Chick" Martin, Hickory,
N. c., headed our boat along with
others into mid-channel, pointing
for the landing, still a mile away,
The troops crouched on the deck
of our boat. Machine Gunners Navy
Flremen Kenneth Barnard, For,
Smith. Ark, and Richard Franklin
Stratford, Conn, held their fire un-
Til we were within so yards of the
hostile shore. Then they opened up
Troops Charge Ashore.
The stinging smell of gunpowder
mingled with the frangrance of jun
gle flowers. Other boats were firing
too, and the din grew greater and
smoke floated low over the trees
ahead. Dozens of white cockatoos
in pairs f1uttered over jungle growth
covering hillside.
Landing boat bottoms grated on
the coral. 10 yards from shore
Franklin and Barnard lowered the
ramp. Troops with fixed bayonets
rushed out in shallow water ano
then plunged into the bush where
Tor the next minute or two there
was an occasional rifle crack.
Then the landing boat started
back to sea for another load of men
The second trip was equally success.
full. While supplies were being un-
loaded on the beach Barnard glanced
at wooden post on the boat, Just in
front of his machine-gun station.
Half buried in wood after penetrat-
ing a portion of the bulkhead were
two japanese machine-gun slugs.