Evening star., 1944-04-02

EISill, ran iIllO JGEdneSe DlFOudC
area. ignoring the snipers, the
Marines went after the Japanese
machine gunners who barred their
advance. Upward they struggled,
slipping sliding. holding on to the
roots OF trees to pull themselves
through the hail of enemy fire.
Every few yards they grubbed out
Japs. There wassno surrender; 1t
was death for cne or the other.
Slow, Slippery Gcing.
Fighting broke out ell along the
skirmish line as our trcors pu-hed
deeper into the Jap defensive PERRIN
eter. Behind the assault troops,
Marines formed human chains to
pass along machine guns and rife
ammunition. No man could have
gone up that rain-slick hill with
out using 10th hands.
Foot by-foot. man by man, the
bitter fighting continued through
out the afternoon. BY o'clock,
the issue hung in doubt. Right
then Col. Bu-e had to make an
important decision-either ABANDON
the plan of taking the mill that
day and push around the south
base to form junction with the
weapons company on the beach;
or, the bolder, more dangerous
course, redoubled the fury Of his
attack to wrest the heights be-
fore night fell. He chose the latter
plan.
Like their commander, the
marines were eager to sleep on $50
that night. In the heightening
pitch OF battle and the resulting
confusion of intermingled lines. the
Marines were no longer fighting as
companies or platoons, but as small,
determined units, each with the
same purpose foremost in mind
to reach the crest only $50 yards
above.
The angle of the hillside rose
sheerly to an almost perpendicular
wall. The Japs had machine guns
cleverly distributed above. Our boys
were dead tired. They had been
living and fighting in the front
lines for Is days. They were thin,
haggard, wet to the skin, and going
on nerve alone.
Hill Taken After Charge.
Not even Col. Buse can explain
it. The Marines rose spontaneously
In that final hour and charged up
the vertical face Of $50, roaring de-
fiance, and hurled the japanese
from their positions with the vio-
lence of their attack. The Marines
dashed over the Jap defenses like
breakers over coral reef. Hill $50
fell at 6 p.m., one hour before
darkness
Two-wheeled automatic cannon,
20-odd Nambu light machine guns,
and scores of small arms were
abandoned by the fleeing enemy.
Contributing to the demoraliza-
ton of the Japs was the constant
threat of complete encirciement by
Buckley's Marines who had already
cut off one route of escape via
the coastal road
Exhausted tough they were, the
Americans automatically dug de-
fensive emplacements in prepara-
ton for the night. The rain began
to fall in steady downpour. They
squatted among the unburied
enemy dead and ate their cold
rations. They drank rainwater
caught in their helmets. Even the
trifiing luxury Of a cigarette was
denied them. There was little talk
no boasting.
Hall Sleep While Mates Watch,
When the tropic night fell over
the pock-lnarked hill. half Of the
men rolled up in their rubber pom
chos and dropped of to sleep, while
the other half doggedly maintained
a vigil against enemy counter
attack.
The 18th dawned through a
misty driZzle. With restored en-
ergy, the marines set about con-
solidating and imroving their posi-
tions. Bodies of dead Japs were
everywhere; green blow les
swarmed over the corpses. The
Marines cheWed tobacco as they
buried the enemy dead in shallow
graves.
Stretcher parties picked their
way down the slippery slope carry
ing the wounded as care-ullv as
they could. Ponchos shrouded the
dead. Other parties hauled up hot
food, water, and dry socks.
From the crest of $50, the coast
of southwestern New Britain could
be seen for miles. Behind lay
Morphine Hill and Unnamed River,
bloody milestones. Eight miles
beyond was the vital airfield now
in Marine hands. Ahead lay Jap
held territory; Talasea was rs miles
away, bastion on the road to
Rabaul.
That day and the next, the Japs
remained out of sight and by