_Concealed in the heavy jungle growth, these men of Company E, 2d
Battalion, 21st Marines, guard a Numa-Numa Trail position in the swamp
below Grenade Hill._]
Before that could be assaulted, there was a reorganization on D plus
24. The beat-up 3d Marines was beefed up by the 9th Marines and the 2d
Raiders. Since D-Day a total of 2,014 Japanese dead had been counted,
but “total enemy casualties must have been at least three times that
figure.” And as a portent for the future use of Bougainville as a base
for massive air strikes against the Japanese, U.S. planes were now able
to use the airstrip right by the Torokina beachhead. With the enemy
at last driven east of the Torokina River, Marines now occupied the
high ground which controlled the site of the forthcoming Piva bomber
airstrip.
_Hand Grenade Hill_
The lead for the next assault on 25 November was given to the fresh
troops of Lieutenant Colonel Carey A. Randall, who had just taken over
the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. They were joined by the 2d Raider
Battalion under Major Richard T. Washburn. Randall could almost see his
next objective from the prime high ground of Cibik Ridge. Just ahead
rose another knoll, like the ridge it would be the devil to take, for
the Japanese would hold it like a fortress. It would soon be called
“Hand Grenade Hill” for good reason. Two of Randall’s companies went
at it with Washburn’s raiders. But the Japanese gave a good account of
themselves. Some 70 of them slowed the Marine attack, but one company
got close to the top. The Marines were from five to 50 yards away from
the Japanese, battling with small arms, automatic weapons, and hand
grenades. The enemy resisted fiercely, and the Marines were thrown back
by a shower of hand grenades. One Marine observed that the hill must
been the grenade storehouse for the entire Solomon Islands.
It was on Hand Grenade Hill that Lieutenant Howell T. Heflin, big,
memorable, one of Alabama’s favorites, son of a Methodist minister,
snatched up a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) and sprayed the Japanese
positions. He pried open a way for his platoon almost to the hilltop,
but could not hold there. He was awarded the Silver Star Medal, and
later he went on to become Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court
and then the senior U.S. Senator from Alabama.
[Illustration: