_Other defense battalion Marines skillfully employed their 90mm gun
batteries and their radar-operated fire control systems to keep enemy
aircraft high and away from their ground targets. Gun positions were
built above the water table as seen here._]
The following morning, Wantuck was found dead from gunshot and sword
wounds. Rothschild was wounded in a hand-to-hand encounter with an
enemy officer, whom he killed. Wantuck and Rothschild killed 18,
wounded 12 to 15 others, and put a 90mm mortar crew out of action. The
senior Army officer present, Major Charles C. Cox, credited these two
Marines and timely artillery fire with saving the division rear and
beachhead area. Rothschild and Wantuck each received a Navy Cross for
their action. In all, Wismer’s detachment had repulsed four different
columns, killing 18, wounding others, and capturing a prisoner. Over
100 Japanese bodies were found later on the field by Army units.
Pharmacist’s Mate First Class Francis G. Peters was with the Zanana
detachment. While with the unit, he performed as a one-man clearing
station for evacuating the wounded, mainly Army personnel, who were
taken from the beach by boat. He remembered the attack of 17 July
because the Japanese “penetrated as close as 25 yards and I could see
them shooting at our men on the AA guns.” After the attack, his work
really began, tending to the wounded, including a couple of Japanese
soldiers.
While the fighting for New Georgia was ongoing, there were several
changes in the command structure of the campaign. Major General Oscar
W. Griswold relieved General Hester as commander of XIV Corps, and Rear
Admiral Theodore S. Wilkinson relieved Admiral Turner as commander of
Task Force 31. The buildup of forces on New Georgia continued with the
arrival of elements of Major General J. Lawton Collins’ 25th Infantry
Division on 21 July and the arrival the next day of the remainder of
the 37th Infantry Division. What one division failed to accomplish
would now be attempted by two, the 43d and the 37th.
[Illustration: _To keep the pressure on Munda and to prevent Japanese
reinforcement from Bairoko, plans were made for the Northern Landing
Group to attack on 20 July 1943. The commanders involved review the
plan: left to right, Maj Charles L. Banks, LtCol Samuel B. Griffith II,
LtCol Michael S. Currin, LtCol George G. Freer, and LtCol Delbert E.
Shultz, the last two both U.S. Army._
U.S. Army Marine Corps Historical Collection
]
After their initial daytime air losses, the Japanese relied on air
attacks at night with only infrequent daylight bombings. One was
mounted against the Rendova area on 20 July by 6 planes, one on 1
August by another 6 planes, and another on 7 August by a formation
of 15 aircraft. Nightly harassing raids were made over the area by
different planes and pilots all dubbed “Washing Machine Charlie.”
Several larger flights were turned back by 90mm fire. Marines of
Battery F, the searchlight battery, remained at their posts despite
Japanese strafing, and radar men at their exposed, above ground posts
remained at their stations throughout the raids, also. At dawn, after
one all-night raid, a Battery C Marine was at the fuze pot stark naked,
“he hadn’t had time to dress.” A total of 26 enemy planes were downed
by battalion antiaircraft fire over Rendova.
[Illustration: