_The Piva airfields (shown here in February 1944 photograph) became key
bomber and fighter strips in the aerial offensive against Rabaul._]
The landing force had seized the beachhead, destroyed or overcome the
enemy, and won the ground for the vital airfields. Now they prepared
to leave, as the airfields were being readied to reduce Rabaul and its
environs.
Since 10 December, F4U Vought Corsairs of Marine Fighting Squadron
(VMF) 216 (1st Marine Aircraft Wing) had settled on the new strip on
Torokina, almost washed by the sea. The fighter planes would be the key
to the successful prosecution of the AirSols (Air Solomons) offensive
against Rabaul, for, as escorts, they made large-scale bombing raids
feasible. Major General Ralph J. Mitchell, USMC, had become head of
AirSols on 20 November 1943. By 9 January 1944, both the fighter
and bomber aircraft were operating from the Piva strips. Following
Bougainville, Mitchell would have twice the airpower and facilities
that the Japanese had in all of the Southwest Pacific area.
The campaign had cost the Marines 423 killed and 1,418 wounded. Enemy
dead were estimated at 2,458, with only 23 prisoners captured.
It was now time for the 3d Marine Division to go home to Guadalcanal,
with a “well done” from Halsey. (In the Admiral’s colorful language,
a message to Geiger said, “You have literally succeeded in setting up
and opening for business a shop in the Japs’ front yard.”) Now there
would be plenty of papayas and Lister bags, as well as a PX, a post
office, and some sports and movies. General Turnage was relieved on
28 December by Major General John R. Hodge of the Americal Division,
which took over the eastern sector. The 37th Infantry Division kept its
responsibility for the western section of the Bougainville perimeter.
Admiral Halsey directed the Commanding General, XIV Corps, Major
General Oscar W. Griswold, to relieve General Geiger, Commanding
General, IMAC. The Army assumed control of the beachhead as of 15
December. The 3d Marines left Bougainville on Christmas Day. The 9th
left on 28 December, and had a party with two cans of beer per man.
The 21st, last to arrive on the island, was the division’s last rifle
regiment to leave, on 9 January 1944.
Every man in those regiments knew full well the crucial role that
the supporting battalions had played. The 19th Marines’ pioneers and
engineers had labored ceaselessly to build the bridges and trails
that brought the vital water, food, and ammunition to the front
lines through seemingly impassable swamps, jungle, and water, water
everywhere.
[Illustration: _A chaplain reads prayers for the burial of the dead,
while their friends bow their heads in sorrow at the losses._
From the Leach File, MCHC Archives
]
And the amtracs of the 3d Amphibian Tractor Battalion had proven
essential in getting 22,922 tons of those supplies to the riflemen.
They were “the most important link in the all-important supply chain.”
Working behind the amtracs were the unsung men of the 3d Service
Battalion who, under the division quartermaster, Colonel William C.
Hall, brought order and efficiency from the original, chaotic pile-up
of supplies on the beach. As roads were slowly built, the 6×6 trucks of
the 3d Motor Transport Battalion moved the supplies to advance dumps
for the amtracs to pick up.
The 12th Marines and Army artillery had given barrage after barrage of
preparatory fire--72,643 rounds in all.
The invaluable role of Marine aviation, as previously mentioned,
was symbolized by General Turnage’s repeated requests for close air
support, 10 strikes in all.
The Seabees, working at a “feverish rate,” had miraculously carved
three airfields out of the unbelievable morass that characterized
the area. And it was from those bases that the long-range, strategic
effects of Bougainville would be felt by the enemy.
The 3d Medical Battalion had taken care of the wounded. With
omnipresent corpsmen on the front lines in every battle and aid
stations and field hospitals right behind, the riflemen knew they had
been well tended.
General Turnage summarized the campaign well, “Seldom have troops
experienced a more difficult combination of combat, supply, and
evacuation. From its very inception, it was a bold and hazardous
operation. Its success was due to the planning of all echelons and the
indomitable will, courage, and devotion to duty of all members of all
organizations participating.”
Thus it was that the capture of Bougainville marked the top of the
ladder, after the long climb up the chain of the Solomon Islands.
_Epilogue_
There were, however, two minor land operations to complete the
isolation of Rabaul. The first was at Green Island, just 37 miles north
of Bougainville. It was a crusty, eight-mile-long (four-mile-wide) oval
ring, three islands of sand and coral around a sleepy lagoon, and only
117 miles from Rabaul. To General Douglas MacArthur, it was the last
step of the Solomon Islands campaign.
The task of taking the island fell to the 5,800 men of the 3d New
Zealand Division under Major General H. E. Barrowclough, less the 8th
Brigade which had been used in the Treasuries operation. There was also
a contingent of American soldiers, Seabees, and engineers, and cover
from AirSol Marine planes under Brigadier General Field Harris. Rear
Admiral Wilkinson had Task Force 31, whose warships would wait for
targets (although Green Island would get no preinvasion bombardment).
The atoll ring was too narrow and bombardment would pose a danger to
island inhabitants.
Late in January 1944, 300 men of the 30th New Zealand Battalion and
Seabees and engineer specialists went ashore, measured and sized up the
island’s potential, found spots for an airfield, checked lagoon depths,
and sought accommodations for a boat basin.
All of this warned the Japanese, but it was too late for them to do
anything. Then, on 14 February, Japanese scout planes warned the 102
defenders on Green Island that a large Allied convoy was on the way,
shepherded by destroyers and cruisers. Japanese aircraft from Rabaul
and Kavieng attacked the convoy by moonlight, but at 0641, the landing
craft had crossed the line of departure unscathed and were almost to
the beach. Within two hours, all were ashore, unopposed. Then Japanese
dive bombers came roaring in, but the Allied antiaircraft fire and
Marine fighter planes (VMF-212) were enough to prevent hits on the
transports or beach supplies. New Zealand patrols got only slight
resistance, a few brief firefights. By 19 February, the 33d, 37th, and
93d Seabees were laying an airfield on the island.
By 4 March, a heavy B-24 bomber was able to make an emergency landing
on the Green Island strip. Three days later, AirSols planes were
staging there giving the strip the name “Green.” Soon B-24s were there
to strike the vast Japanese base at Truk.
[Illustration: _Heavy, constant artillery support for the riflemen
required a regular flow of ammunition. Here shells are being unloaded
from a LST (Landing Ship, Tank)._
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 71180 by PFC Philip Scheer
]
The second operation saw the seizure of Emirau Island. It was well
north of Green Island, 75 miles northwest of the New Ireland enemy
fortress of Kavieng. Actually, Kavieng had been considered as a target
to be invaded by the 3d Marine Division, but higher authorities
decided the cost would be too high. Better to let Kavieng die on the
vine. Taking Emirau and setting up air and naval bases there would
effectively cut off the Solomon Islands and the Bismarck Archipelago
from the Japanese. It would be a small investment with big results.
Emirau is an irregularly shaped island in the St. Matthias Group, eight
miles long, four miles wide, with much jungle and many hills, but with
room for boat basins and airstrips. The natives said there had been no
Japanese there since January, and air reconnaissance could find none.
The unit selected for the landing bore a famous name in the lore of
the Corps: the 4th Marines. The original regiment had been the storied
“China Marines,” and had then been part of the desperate defense of
Bataan and the subsequent surrender at Corregidor in the Philippines.
Now it had been reborn as a new, independent regiment, composed of the
tough and battle-hardened veterans of the raider battalions.
The 4th Marines arrived at Emirau shortly after 0600 on 20 March
1944. The Marines and sailors fired a few shots at nothing; then the
amphibian tractors opened up, wounding one of the Marines. The Seabees
got right to work on the airfields, even before the island was secured.
In no time they laid out a 7,000-foot bomber strip and a 5,000-foot
stretch for fighters.
All was secured until attention fell on a little neighboring island
with a Japanese fuel and ration dump. Destroyers blew it all to
debris ... then spied at sea a large canoe escaping with some of the
enemy. Hardly bloodthirsty after this placid operation, the destroyer
casually pulled in close. The Japanese chose to fire a machine gun. It
was folly. The destroyer was forced to respond. The canoe didn’t sink
and was brought alongside with the body of a Japanese officer and 26
living enlisted men--who may have privately questioned their officer’s
judgement.
_Bougainville Finale_
These were small affairs compared to the finale on Bougainville. With
the withdrawal of the 3d Marine Division at the end of 1943, after
it had successfully fought its way to the final defensive line, the
two Army divisions, the 37th Infantry and the Americal, took over and
extended the perimeter with only sporadic brushes with the Japanese.
Then, in late February and early March 1944, patrols began making
“almost continuous” contact with the enemy. It appeared that the
Japanese were concentrating for a serious counterattack. On 8 March,
the 145th Infantry (of the 37th) was hit by artillery fire. Then the
_6th Division_, parent of the old enemy, the _23d Infantry_, attacked
hard. It took five days of “very severe” fighting, with support from
a battalion of the 148th Infantry, combined with heavy artillery fire
and air strikes, to drive the determined Japanese back. Meanwhile, the
129th Infantry had also been “heavily attacked.” The enemy kept coming
and coming, and it was a full nine days before there was a lull on 17
March.
On 24 March the Japanese, after reorganizing, launched another series
of assaults “with even greater pressure.” This time they also threw
in three regiments of their _17th Division_. The artillery of both
American divisions, guided by Cub spotter planes, fired “the heaviest
support mission ever to be put down in the South Pacific Area.” That
broke the back of the enemy attackers, and the battle finally was over
on 25 March.
Major General Griswold, the corps commander, after eight major enemy
attacks, wrote in a letter four days later:
I am absolutely convinced that nowhere on earth does there exist
a more determined will and offensive spirit in the attack than
that the Japs exhibited here. They come in hard, walking on their
own dead, usually on a front not to exceed 100 yards. They try
to effect a breakthrough which they exploit like water running
from a hose. When stopped, they dig in like termites and fight to
the death. They crawl up even the most insignificant fold in the
ground like ants. And they use all their weapons with spirit and
boldness.... Difficult terrain or physical difficulties have no
meaning for them.
The Americal Division had advanced along with the 37th in the
March-April period with its last action 13-14 April. This ended the
serious offensive action for the two Army divisions; the enemy had been
driven well out of artillery range of the airstrips, 12,000 yards away.
For Americans this marked the end of the Bougainville saga: a tale of
well-trained units, filled with, determined, skillful men, who fought
their way to a resounding victory. The 3d Marine Division had led the
way in securing a vital island base with the crucial isolation of
Rabaul thus ensured.
_Sources_
The author owes a substantial debt to Cyril J. O’Brien who was a Marine
Combat Correspondent on Bougainville. A draft he prepared describing
this operation used U.S. Army, Coast Guard, and New Zealand as well as
Marine Corps sources, and contained a variety of colorful vignettes and
personal interviews, with some photographs not in official USMC files,
all gratefully acknowledged.
As always, the basic official Marine history of the Pacific campaigns
covers Bougainville and the auxiliary landings in massive detail: Henry
I. Shaw, Jr., and Maj Douglas T. Kane, USMC, _Isolation of Rabaul_,
vol. 2, _History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II_
(Washington: Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine
Corps, 1963).
An earlier, more condensed official history is Maj John N. Rentz,
USMCR, _Bougainville and the Northern Solomons_ (Washington: Historical
Section, Division of Public Information, Headquarters, U.S. Marine
Corps, 1948).
The earliest, most modest official account is a mimeographed summary,
characterized as a “first attempt”: U.S. Marine Corps, Headquarters,
Historical Division. Unpublished monograph: “The Bougainville
Operation, First Marine Amphibious Corps, 1 November-28 December 1943,”
dtd Feb45. VE603 1st.A2, Library, Marine Corps Historical Center,
Washington, D.C.
A quasi-official history of the 3d Marine Division was “made possible
by the Commandant, who authorized the expenditure of the division’s
unused Post Exchange funds.
The final draft was approved by a group of 3d Division officers....”
The book is: 1stLt Robert A. Aurthur, USMCR, and 1stLt Kenneth Cohlmia,
USMCR, edited by LtCol Robert T. Vance, USMC, _The Third Marine
Division_ (Washington: Infantry Journal Press. 1948).
An account representing direct personal participation in the campaign,
supplemented by later interviews, is: Capt John A. Monks, Jr., _A
Ribbon and a Star: The Third Marines at Bougainville_ (New York: Holt
and Co., 1945).
Another history traces the campaign on the island past the Marine
operation to the subsequent U.S. Army battles, and concludes with
the Australians as the final troops leading to the overall Japanese
surrender in 1945: Harry A. Gailey, _Bougainville 1943-1945--The
Forgotten Campaign_ (Lexington, Ky: University Press of Kentucky, 1991).
The full story of the crucial naval battle as the Marines landed is
in RAdm Samuel Eliot Morison, _Breaking the Bismarck Barrier, 22 July
1942-1 May 1944_, vol. 6, _History of United States Naval Operations in
World War II_ (Boston: Little Brown and Co., 1950).
A detailed account of the death of Adm Yamamoto is in R. Cargil Hall,
ed., _Lightning Over Bougainville_ (Washington: Smithsonian Institution
Press, 1991).
Personal Papers and Oral Histories files at the Marine Corps Historical
Center were unproductive, but the biographical and photographic files
were most helpful. The staff of the Marine Corps Historical Center was
always cooperative, in particular Catherine Kerns, who prepared my
manuscript copy.
_About the Author_
[Illustration]
Captain John C. Chapin earned a bachelor of arts degree with honors in
history from Yale University in 1942 and was commissioned later that
year. He served as a rifle platoon leader in the 24th Marines, 4th
Marine Division, and was wounded in action during assault landings on
Roi-Namur and Saipan.
Transferred to duty at the Historical Division, Headquarters Marine
Corps, he wrote the first official histories of the 4th and 5th Marine
Divisions. Moving to Reserve status at the end of World War II, he
earned a master’s degree in history at George Washington University
with a thesis on “The Marine Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1922.”
Now a captain in retired status, he has been a volunteer at the Marine
Corps Historical Center for 12 years. During that time he wrote
_History of Marine Fighter-Attack (VMFA) Squadron 115_. With support
from the Historical Center and the Marine Corps Historical Foundation,
he then spent some years researching and interviewing for the writing
of a new book, _Uncommon Men: The Sergeants Major of the Marine Corps_,
published in 1992 by the White Mane Publishing Company.
Subsequently, he wrote four monographs for this series of historical
pamphlets, commemorating the campaigns for the Marshalls, Saipan,
Bougainville, and Marine Aviation in the Philippines operations.
[Illustration]
THIS PAMPHLET HISTORY, one in a series devoted to U.S. Marines in
the World War II era, is published for the education and training of
Marines by the History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine
Corps, Washington, D.C., as part of the U.S. Department of Defense
observance of the 50th anniversary of victory in that war.
Editorial costs of preparing this pamphlet have been defrayed in part
by a bequest from the estate of Emilie H. Watts, in the memory of her
late husband, Thomas M. Watts, who served as a Marine and was the
recipient of a Purple Heart.
=WORLD WAR II COMMEMORATIVE SERIES=
_DIRECTOR EMERITUS OF MARINE CORPS HISTORY AND MUSEUMS_
=Brigadier General Edwin H. Simmons, USMC (Ret)=
_GENERAL EDITOR,
WORLD WAR II COMMEMORATIVE SERIES_
=Benis M. Frank=
_CARTOGRAPHIC CONSULTANT_
=George C. MacGillivray=
_EDITING AND DESIGN SECTION, HISTORY AND MUSEUMS DIVISION_
=Robert E. Strudet=, _Senior Editor_;
=W. Stephen Hill=, _Visual Information Specialist_;
=Catherine A. Kerns=, _Composition Services Technician_.
Marine Corps Historical Center
Building 58, Washington Navy Yard
Washington, D.C. 20374-5040
1997