Evening star., 1947-08-09

The American offensive was undertaken sud-
denly and with minimum of preparation. 1t
was in the nature of gamble. So nearly did it
resemble forlorn hope, indeed, that the idea
of mounting 1t was opposed by both Army and
Navy officers of high rank.
The troops concerned with the landing were
not notified of plans until June 26, 1942-six
weeks to the day from the date of the landings.
Half of the division was in New Zealand,
recently arrived and expecting to be allowed
several months trainingS while the remainder,
together with much of the materiel for the
whole division, was at sea, en- route from the
United States
The tale of the quick planning-carried out
under difficult circumstances of liaisonrand
that of the unloading and the reloading of the
transports and the supply ships has an improb-
able tinee, even today. Efforts put forth by
both the officers and the men of the division
could be called Herculean 1t Is sufficient to
say that the plans were made and carried out,
and that the landing force went ashore on
schedule.
Thereupon began struggle that was to last
for months. The Marines found themselves'i in
the precarious position of being ashore with
short supplies-less than 80 days food for
example-and without protection by air or by
surface craft. The disastrous defeat of the
United States force at Savo Island early on
August had eliminated all surface craft
protection, and Admiral Fletcher's plans to
retire early from the scene with his carrier
force withdrew all protection against air
strikes.
The situation of Gen. Vandegrift and his
men could hardly have been darker. In an
unhealthy location, with short supplies and
with no assurance as to when they would be
increased, with no knowledge of the terrain
surrounding them and no maps whence such
knowledge could be obtained, the Marines did
not even know what enemy forces opposed
them. Little contact with the enemy had been
made although there were signs that sizable
force present.
The tale of the first few weeks Is one of
Improvisation and of desperately hard fighting
The Battle of the Tenaru was won, and spirits
rose The first aircraft arrived at the partially
completed field, and again there was a rise OF
morale The Battle of the Ridge, when Col
Edison and his combined battalion OF raiders
and parachute troopers turned back desperate
attack by a superior number of japanese, was
won, and feeling of self confidence began to
permeate the ranks.
This feeling went further At the time the
landing was made, the American people had
begun to look upon the Japanese soldier as
a superhuman fighting machine. Concurrently
with a feeling of amused indignation at the
constantly recurring phrase withdrawal to
more easily defended positions" and as the
ominous news came from Corregidor, Singapore
Kuala Lumpur, there began to grow in the
American mind the picture of an indefatigable
enemy who could move through the trees as
easily as he could through the pathways OF
the jungle who could subsist on nothing, who
fobt INV, ,oiO ~
who was utterly and completely fearless.
As the great victories-and they were great
victories, make no mistake about that-began
to be won at the Matanikau at Kokumbona,
at Point Cruz, and at Koilotumaria, and
Gurabusa and Tasimboko, 1t began to be
realized that the enemy was no superman,
that he was human, not overly intelligent, and
no match, physically, for the average Ameri-
can At last. all that was left of the first
mistaken idea was the realization that the
enemy was fearless man.
The fighting went on for six months and two
days Then new enemy took its toll. Trop-
ical diseases notably malaria. commenced
sapping the strength of some men and sent
others to the hospital areas as surely as
though they had been battle casualties. BY
December. the 1st Division alone had suffered
some 5000 reported cases, and other units on
the island were similarly affected. Long after
the fighting was over, and when members of
the 1st and the I'd Divisions had returned to
Australia and to New Zealand, the hospitals
were full of emaciated men who had lived and
fought for weeks and months in the steaming
jungle.
But the victory was won and the impetus
Of that one step forward never was lost. New
Georgia was hit and seized, and Bougainville,