_The 9th Defense Battalion’s tank platoon lead by Capt Robert W. Blake
supported the infantry attack. This vehicle is shown knocked out on top
of a position at the Laiana water point. The Japanese bunker is all but
indistinguishable from the debris that covered it._]
[Illustration: _A tank crewman examines the damage to his vehicle which
put it out of commission. The Japanese employed a mix of antitank
weapons and individual close-in tactics to counter the light tanks.
Because of the loss of 9th Battalion tanks in the drive on Munda, tanks
of the 10th and 11th Defense Battalions’ armored platoons were fed in
as replacements._
Marine Corps Historical Collection
]
On 26 July 1943, the 9th’s tanks, reinforced by six others from the
10th Defense Battalion, led the assault on enemy positions near
Lambetti Plantation. Tank operations were conducted over difficult
terrain consisting of steep slopes, heavy underbrush, and closely
spaced trees. The Japanese were in a strongly fortified defensive
position, which consisted of a number of heavy bunkers and pillboxes
in a clearing. In this action, which lasted approximately five hours,
one of the tanks was disabled by a magnetic mine, and two men were
killed and four wounded. A second assault on this position on 28 July
by a battalion of infantry and four Marine tanks, was successful.
Approximately 40 heavily fortified bunkers and pillboxes were destroyed
and a large number of Japanese killed or wounded by tank fire.
[Illustration: