_by Captain John C. Chapin, USMCR (Ret)_
Assault landings began for the men in the blackness of the early
hours of the morning. On 1 November 1943, the troops of the 3d Marine
Division were awakened before 0400, went to General Quarters at 0500,
ate a tense breakfast, and then stood by for the decisive command,
“Land the Landing Force.” All around them the preinvasion bombardment
thundered, as the accompanying destroyers poured their 5-inch shells
into the target areas, and spotters in aircraft helped to adjust the
fire.
As the sun rose on a bright, clear day, the word came at 0710 for the
first LCVPs (Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel) to pull away from
their transport ships and head for the shore, a 5,000-yard run across
Empress Augusta Bay to the beaches of an island called Bougainville.
Almost 7,500 Marines were entering their LCVPs (with Coast Guard
crew and coxswains) for an assault on 12 color-coded beaches. Eleven
of these extended west from Cape Torokina for 8,000 yards to the
Koromokina Lagoon. The 12th was on Puruata Island just offshore from
the beaches. The six beaches on the right were assigned to Colonel
George W. McHenry’s 3d Marines and Lieutenant Colonel Alan Shapley’s 2d
Raider Regiment (less one battalion). The five on the left and Puruata
Island were the objectives of Colonel Edward A. Craig’s 9th Marines and
Lieutenant Colonel Fred D. Bean’s 3d Raider Battalion.
[Illustration]
As the men headed for shore, 31 Marine torpedo and scout bombers,
covered by fighters, came screaming in from their base at Munda,
bombing and strafing to give the beaches a final plastering. At 0726,
the first wave touched ground, four minutes ahead of the official
H-Hour. As the other waves came in, it was immediately apparent that
there was serious trouble in two ways. A high surf was tossing the
LCVPs and LCMs (Landing Craft, Medium) around, and they were landing
on the wrong beaches, broaching, and smashing into each other in the
big waves. By the middle of the morning, 64 LCVPs and 22 LCMs were
hulks littering the beaches. Three of the designated beaches had to be
abandoned as unusable.
[Illustration: