Dispatches from the Pacific

[dialectic2003]

Elements of 1st Battalion, 4th Regiment, 6th Marine Division embarked in landing craft and en route to the beaches

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Fantastic ti have you back

Kep it coming

[Paddy]

December 1943 TOP SECRET
From East Coast Australia Allied Command Centre Sydney
To West Coast America Allied Command Centre San Francisco


Admiral Nimitz, yet again your actions have again brought great news to the people of the Commonwealth. We be quite glad to have you as allies in this conflict.

General B Scott – 7th ANZAC Army has two solid columns moving through the hills north east of canton, heading into the Jap held region of Hankow. They would make better time, except for the Chinese units that they are sharing the borderlands with.
Major General Charles Barrett, 45th Tankers Regiment, 7th Anzac Army, and his Battalions: ‘The Flying Wagga Light Tanks’ and the ‘Brumby Jack’s Light Tanks’ continue within the columns, yet they are champing at the bit to re-engage the Jap
General Hill and his 9 artillery rgts have joined the columns.

Squadron Leader David, 17th Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Fighter Wing, reports that the massive build up of P38’s and P61’s in and around Hong Kong continues at a steady rate. So far they have inflicted quite a mauling to Jappa forces within the region of Hankow – Nanking to Formosa through to Okinawa.
They have sent some great details of your invasion of Formosa – may the powers be with you and you people in this endeavour.
Along with reports that your Marines are fighting hard on Okinawa J

Admiral Wally Peterson and his TF 35 & 39 continue steaming across the South China Seas for Hong Kong, with the 9th Anzac Army. They will make a welcome relieve in the battle to clear the mainlands of the Jap.

Task Force 35
BB Prince of Wales
BB Repulse
CA Canberra
DD Marget’s
Tr Coogee
Tr Curl Curl

Task Force 39
CA Canberra
CA Dragon
CA Leander
CA Exeter
Tr Ruby Jane

There is still no final word on when Admiral Hollingsworth Destroyer Squadron will be completed and fully operational. Several boats have been completed and are rushing to the South China Seas as you read this. They are carrying out there trails while at sea, and will utilize the various ports along the way for any work that they cannot complete by themselves.

Kuala Lumpur has a new water station completed. This will finally allow the population to expand and growth at last without the disease of yesteryear.

Other news has the Transport Wanda departing Darwin for Hong Kong. She is carrying 3 new flak units and the Daly Waters Medium Tank Regiment.

The discussions of repatriating areas to China continue with Wing Chu, the Ambassador of China. Yet while we talk they continue to flood the area with their troops. I must say that some of my commanders in this region are feeling the push and shove of Chinese Infantry and Tank units. They have taken strongholds, choke points in the road and rail systems, and also several outer airfields. It is quite a shame that they are not utilizing these massive forces in the advance on the Jappa positions to our north. Though I must admit I have little to complain about with these matters, after all it is there country that the Jap and my forces hold.

Please find enclosed a picture of British Prime Minister Churchill with two of his favourite vices, a cuban cigar and a yankee tommy gun Thought this would give your lads a good chuckle to see one of our leaders on the hunt.

and a Beer before Christmas ’44, sounds like a grand plan.

Your Allie to the end…

[Mad Bomber]

Paddy and dialectic

ye weave a good tale. I like the historical feel to the piece.


I hope you will allow me to make a few minor points:
1)In WWII, Destroyers were armed with 5" guns as their heavy armament, Heavy Cruisers were armed with 8" guns.

2) Any ship armed with larger guns were termed Battlecruisers (HMS Hood, HMS Repulse) Pocket Battleships (Lutzow, Sharnhorst, Gniesenau) or Large Cruisers (also termed 'Super Heavy Cruisers) which consisted of the American Alaska class.

3) A 16 inch shell weighs in excess of 2000lb's, nearly all of this weight is the warhead of the shell.

[dialectic2003]

The delay

My Apologies, its been a long time between drinks so to speak.

Theres a couple of reasons for it, none of which rate a mention. Suffice it to say its taken me some time to get the inspiration for the latest instalment

At any rate I hope you enjoy

[dialectic2003]

January 1944 TOP SECRET
From Allied Command Centre San Francisco America
To Allied Command Centre Sydney Australia

A new year has dawned bringing with it more stark evidence that the end to this titanic struggle is now approaching. Added to this joyous realization is the painful memory of all our comrades who won’t be celebrating with us; their sacrifice shall not be in vain, their legacy will not be forgotten. Now is not the time for idle reverie however, let us concentrate all the more fully on hastening our adversary’s demise.

Perusing the intelligence garnered from our recently captured radar installation on Okinawa, I could see yet more evidence confirming our gathering belief that the enemy was on the ropes and required little more than a hard push to end the hostilities. I could see no Jap activity, either on land or at sea. It appeared as if the enemy had just gone to ground and disappeared. Surely they must have re-supply and logistics networks maintaining the garrisons of their ever-shrinking empire? While the radar outpost wasn’t showering us with a plethora of targets to choose from, it did serve its function and it allowed us to be a little more aggressive in our planning as now we had no reason to suspect any enemy surprises were just around the corner.

To that end I ordered General Davidson’s 6th marine division to make for Okinawa and to seize the port by coup de main. While the radar didn’t allow us to inspect closely the garrison of this sizable chunk of pacific real estate, I was willing to wager that the Jap’s would be so shell shocked by developments over the course of the last 3-4 months that the level of resistance would be minimal. Also, whereas before when the division was tasked with the capture of the radar outpost there was an element of haste added to the mission requirements, now the marines could take their time. In addition, we have allotted a further battalion of guns to the divisional artillery support complement.

The plan was relatively simple, attack on a two-regiment front with the under-strength 4th regiment in reserve. The artillery was to lay down a heavy suppressing fire and then to send in a smokescreen for about half way to the main line objectives for the first days march. The terrain was quite rugged on Okinawa. In some parts, notably in the north where the original landing had been conducted, much of the land is a fertile floodplain where rice paddies compete with hills for space. As the attack made its way south however the officers and men had been briefed to expect difficult ground, with ridgelines interspersed with deep gullies and easily fortified caves and culverts. The likelihood for ambush had left General Davidson little choice but to order his men to stay close together to provide mutually supporting cover fire. To compensate a little the General had managed to source and distribute extra material and rations for his men. Additional grenades, flamethrowers and satchel charges were all warmly welcomed, though not has heartily as the special ration of 2 cans of Australian beer per man for the next 2 days. This was given out with a hot meal the night before the main attack was to be launched, and the soiree put a little more fire in 6th marine divisions bellies as they prepared to push on south and capture the remainder of Okinawa island.

The attack began poorly as the 5th regiment on the right flank had some delay in making their allotted jumping off points and the 6th regiment had not been informed in a timely fashion. To compound the problem, carnage erupted in the 6th regiments rear areas when some artillery support from the assembled battle fleet was improperly targeted and fired prematurely, killing some 12 members of the 2nd bn’s HQ unit. At the time the source of the fire was not immediately known and so the advance was held up significantly while the CO sent out recon elements to make sure they didn’t have an enemy forward artillery observer on their front. By 1300 hours though all had resumed the appearance of a fluid military operation and the division reached the approaches to the main port on Okinawa. Little or no opposition had been encountered on the south apart from some desultory mortar shelling and some cleverly hidden snipers.

General Davidson brought up his divisional HQ and artillery observer elements and ordered the marines to resume the advance towards the port, but to stop and await orders when a mile outside the port outskirts. When the CO of the 5th marine regiment received his orders some 20 minutes later, he was advised to double time it to his objective and there to await the smokescreen and suppression shelling. When he received his go code he was to assault en echelon by company and seize the port. While the assembled men of the 5th and 6th marine regiments waited for the order to advance, they sat back and watched the awesome fireworks display that had been the port’s main ammo dump, hit by a single shell from the battle fleet just off shore. A normal 8” shell routinely does a weighty amount of damage, however, the results of this particular salvo were truly awe inspiring and made the marines glad to a man that they weren’t caught anywhere near the blast radius within the port.

Soon after the shells began to rend the air and their explosive detonations began to wreak the ground the first smoke canister shells were landing. Shortly after the first five or so had reached the ground and started releasing their chemical cargo, a thick fog of swirling gas had gathered on the attacks front. While the men could no longer see the enemy positions, they could still hear the deafening maelstrom of explosive carnage ripping through the base. Moments later the go code was received.

Upon seeing the last of smoke shells land and discharge its obscuring contents the commanders of the lead companies ordered their men up out of their positions and to advance toward the objective. The terrain to their front was a gently downward sloping hillside, strewn with rocks and some dry creek beds but devoid of any major vegetation that might lend itself as cover to the advancing Americans. About three quarters of a mile away the smokescreen was blocking the enemy view, but also stopped any possible suppression of Jap positions by US elements among the ground assault force. The plan was for the naval bombardment, still ongoing, to accomplish enemy disruption with heavy and medium fleet guns. The base was only about two maybe three hundred yards beyond the far side of the smoke screen, this was to be crossed at the double by the two assaulting regiments with one company from each of the wings of the reserve 4th regiment to be detailed to maintain a fire base from the far edge of the smokescreen.

The distance to the smokescreen was covered without major incident, the smokescreen doing an admirable job of preventing any accurate enemy direct fire from disrupting the marine advance. There certainly were casualties on the approach though, the enemy had pre-registered mortar and machine gun emplacements that had apparently not been knocked out or suppressed as readily as had been hoped. The companies on the interior wings of the lead and successive assault waves were the hardest hit. Able company from 5th regiment on the right received the roughest treatment and was severely pinned after it lost some twenty or so enlisted and an officer when an 81mm mortar volley intersected with a fire lane from a medium machine gun and tore up two platoons. Though some elements were pinned, none broke and so the attack maintained a good momentum as the ground to the smokescreen was quickly covered.

‘As soon as you reach the other side of the smokescreen and can sight the base and enemy positions, set up a fire base until such time as the 4th regiment can reach your position’ General Davidson had ordered his regimental commanders just prior to beginning the assault. The importance of accurate direct fire to suppress the enemy in support of a general advance was not lost on these seasoned marine officers and so this is exactly what they set about doing. Companies were ordered to establish their front with .30 cal machine gunners and Browning Automatic Rifle squads prone and laying down the fire, while their rifle and recon teams were ordered to begin crawling toward the base to start leapfrogging to their objectives. The enemy positions showed some signs of having been suppressed by the heavy shelling just passed, but it was patchy to say the least. On the right the base appeared to be intact, a series of buildings and fortified positions interspersed with slit trenches and foxholes. The Japs were making good use of their cover to lay down a significant amount of fire on the Americans. This was in fact aided by the shorter than expected life span of the smokescreen, which had now lifted and revealed the onrushing US forces in all their stark vulnerability. The left front quadrant side of the base however, seemed to be almost completely wreaked, there were no buildings remaining just a few scattered entrenchments, and the Japs were putting them to good use. It seems that for all that sound and fury, the fleet’s shelling had fallen just wide of the center of the base. The ammo dump had been a good score for the US forces and had obviously resulted in the near eradication of the left front section of the base, but the remaining quadrants were relatively unscathed and capable of putting up a decent fight.

The forward elements of the 4th regiment finally made their way to the fire base position and established their machine gun and BAR squads to exert as much suppressive fire as possible on the suddenly fully active and responsive Jap stronghold. The 5th and 6th regiments left many of their .30 cal and, now set up, 60mm mortar teams in position to aid in the reduction of the firepower being hurled at the now much slowed US advance. Bracing their men with exhortations to remember their duty and to fight on in semper fidelis style, the commanders of both regiments ordered their men up and out of their treasured skerricks of cover and to double time to the enemy position. No US marine failed to heed the call, they did exactly as ordered and began their rush at the entrenchments surrounding the enemy position. Firing from the hip to try to keep the Jap’s heads down, some 2000 men charged down that last 200 meters like their lives depended on it, which in many ways it did. To falter at such a time was not only to risk your own life but that of your buddies; if anybody felt fear they didn’t show it.

Men fell in ones and twos at first, then as they got closer and the machine guns, mortars and rifle fire swept through their ranks the US marines started to fall in clumps. But before the enemy got a chance to do any significant damage to the formation as a whole, and before the grunts got a good look at how many casualties they were suffering, the marines had rushed up to the first trench and foxhole line and engaged the enemy in close combat. Flamethrowers roared; pistols, submachine guns and rifles blasted, even the lowly bayonet was put to good use clearing the first line of fanatical bushido warriors. Now that the main defences were concentrating their fire on the forward squads of US soldiers, the assembled firebase of the 6th marine division was able to pick off the remaining defenders in the bunkers and other fortifications with relative ease. With the first line of defences firmly in the marines grasp the regimental and divisional commanders moved forward and disseminated the final orders for the capture of the enemy facility.

Word passed from General Davidson that the 6th regiment was tasked with swinging around the flank of the base to fix the enemy while the other 2 regiments were to clear the entrenchments with fire and maneuver tactics frontally. Alternating by platoon between fire positions and rushing the next cover, the rest of the base was taken with ease. The Japs even began to surrender; in droves no less, once their commander had taken his own life. The casualties amongst our boys was exacerbated by the harsh approach route required, made much worse by the abject lack of cover and slight descent to the objective, but also by the abrupt early dispersal of our precious smokescreen concealment. Even with these negative conditions the total wounded, KIA and MIA was two hundred and ninety three men out of the two forward regiments; a tragic but acceptable scale of losses for the objective attained.


Attached photo is of the Marines of the 5th Regiment inspecting disabled fortifications after the Okinawan base was captured

[dialectic2003]

January 1944 - Continued TOP SECRET
From Allied Command Centre San Francisco America
To Allied Command Centre Sydney Australia

The month of January held other, no less desirable jewels to conquer, foremost among them was the air sea base at Formosa. The Southernmost major Jap base remaining distinct from the home islands, the large island base was the last major repair and refueling station for the IJN and fast dwindling air arm of the Japanese armed forces. Shaped roughly akin to a tobacco leaf, the island of Formosa is around 390kms long and 140kms wide at its broadest point. Though quite hilly, with many forested peaks, the island is geographically easily defined between the high ground stretching over four fifths of the island and the terraced flatlands and coastal plains occupying the strip of land along the West and Southwest portion of the island. After careful study of the lay of the land, the commanding officer in charge of the invasion of Formosa base, Admiral King, ordered in late December 1943 for his subordinates to prepare for a landing and push inland from the North West section of the Western coastline. This area offered the most promising opportunities as it was devoid of frustrating mud flats and population centers.

The force consisted of three regiments of medium tanks and two of light tanks, making up the 2nd Armored division. Supporting this mailed fist was the 3rd Marine division and 5th Infantry division, which contained not only a wide array of reliable tough infantrymen, but also a battalion of combat engineers. Not wanting to let anything to chance Admiral King had requisitioned all of the captured Jap retribution batteries and regular US artillery complements available to his sector, planning to unleash a blistering inferno of metal on the inhabitants of Formosa. Which, by the way show every sign of being successfully suppressed by your superior bombing arm in the region, many thanks to you and your brave airmen.

The landing was conducted without fuss early in the morning on the 30th of Dec, the enemy had apparently decided the better part of valor lie in remaining alive to defend the base and so there was not a soul present to oppose the landing of this mighty force. Once safely ashore and all prepared, the land commander, Major General Sam Buckner, laid out his plan of attack for his command team. ‘The plan of attack calls for the massive artillery preparation and softening up operation beginning at 0500 hours on the 3rd of January and proceeding for the next two weeks. I will not brook any danger to the troops under my command if at all possible, to that end I have brought forward considerable stockpiles of the required munitions and we will hammer these dang blasted Japs until we are blue in the face or there isn’t anything left to shoot at! When the artillery preparations are complete we will initiate the assault with the 10th Med. Armored regiment accompanied by the 23rd combat engineer battalion. The 8th Med Armored and 14th Light Armored will follow up supported by the 12th Infantry. I don’t anticipate any need for these extra troops but we’ll see.’ Leaning over the map board and chomping on his cigar, dripping a little ash on the board as he did so, he solemnly intoned ‘Take good care of your men, we’re close now I can feel it. Any Questions? Dismissed.’

And so it began, a shelling to rival that hurled at the Russian city of Leningrad in the current war or the fortress of Verdun in the First World War. Though certainly not as prolonged nor over the same geographical space, but definitely alike in intensity. There was almost a corps of artillery pieces battering the sorry defenders of the Formosa base, pounding the once sturdy entrenchments and exterior walls to rubble and then bouncing the rubble. For two long and stultifying weeks the assault force prepared mentally and physically for the attack, PT followed by marches followed by instruction, the only break being their chow time and shut-eye.

Then it was time. The Sherman M4A3s and M10 Wolverines of the 10th Med Armored regiment, closely shadowed by the 23rd combat engineers battalion set out for the outskirts of the enemy held base. At first the going was quick and uninterrupted. The plan was to proceed southeastward to the main base along the coast to the southern tip of the island, there to engage and destroy the enemy wherever he was found. Apart from the occasional sniper and mortar attacks there were no contacts, allowing the infantry to ride the tanks for much of the distance. In this fashion the going was much more rapid than foreseen, bringing the force three quarters of the way to the base well ahead of schedule. Upon approaching the final two kilometers before the base, a halt was called to allow the main body of the assault group to catch up and take up positions for the push.

Not eight hundred meters further along the road were the outlying positions of the Japanese main defense line protecting Formosa’s naval base. Hoping to catch the Americans unawares and thus deal a savage blow to any ambitions for a quick and bloodless sweep of the island, the Jap commander, General Yamaguchi, had set out his meager complement of units in a relatively shallow defense cordon extending in a rough semi-circle some fifteen hundred meters from the base periphery. Though there were never enough forces at the Japanese commanders disposal after the summer of 1943, the infantry arm of his defense force was still quite strong, with two regiments of rifle infantry and a third of guerrilla bands. Backing up his command he had the 34th flak battalion and the 15th Artillery regiment. All of this Intel regarding the Jap positions came through to us in the unit commanders report after the action, having captured some important documents regarding Jap dispositions, strengths and procedures in General Yamaguchi’s headquarters facility.

When all the combat engineers and tank formations had assembled in their respective jumping off positions the order to advance was given. The attack would be made along a narrow attack vector with a single company frontage, the tanks immediately behind and supporting the engineers. The terrain to be traversed was decent tank country; rolling hills of slight gradient interspersed with copses of trees, some small and sparse, others large and dense. There was very little difficult or rough broken ground. Rumbling into life the tankers and their machines moved out, remaining a short distance behind the front lines of the advancing infantry to avoid a repeat performance of the minefield debacle on Saipan. There would be no more lounging on top of the tanks for the engineers, they were foot soldiers once more and had to slog it out for the remainder of the two thousand meters to the objective. After progressing only about three hundred meters from their start line, the front recon elements of the lead company encountered sporadic sniper fire from the copse of trees off to their far left. Losing a platoon leader and several men, the unit hit the dirt and remained pinned down until two Sherman tanks, positioned thirty meters behind, had been brought up and started randomly shelling the copse. This relieved the pressure on the lead recon platoon, and, after some hasty rearrangement and a battlefield promotion of the recon platoon’s veteran Sergeant, the advance was able to resume. The sniper would have to be bypassed frontally and then a unit detached to sweep the woods after the main body of the invasion forces had caught up with the assault detachment.

Having advanced another hundred meters or so the engineers were fired on again, this time from concentrated mortar fire. The effects were deadly. The attacking American forces were fairly well spread to avoid just this type of attack; however there was a particular spot where the natural lay of the land forced the troops to be congregated in a small area. The engineers were fording a small creek, which didn’t even appear on the survey maps they were issued, when shells began raining down on both sides of the watercourse. The high pitched tone created by a mortar round whistling through the air at speed was bad enough, but when coupled with the subsequent crack of the impact and boom of the detonation the effect could be as devastating to the morale of the men as the shell and shrapnel were to their bodies. Unlike the previous encounter with the sniper there was no obvious source of the fire to be silenced, and so men and machine just had to make their way through the deadly storm as best they could. After ten to fifteen minutes of fairly intensive shelling the Japs stopped firing, probably because they wanted to conserve ammunition for when the Americans got close. Regardless, with five dead, twelve seriously wounded and the advance delayed until medics had attended the men, the Japs had dealt a significant blow to the US advance without suffering a casualty.

After some 25 minutes and hurried medic evacuations, the commander of the forward company, Capt Winters, ordered his men to resume the advance to the objective and sent a radio message to his commanding officer Major Sink that he had come under heavy mortar fire and that the following formations will want to be wary of the small creek just passed, it obviously had been pre-registered for the Japs artillery. That done Winters called out to his men to spread out even more than usual just to avoid any more mortar attacks having such an impact for so little effort from the Japs. The rolling hills seemed to stretch on and on in front of the combat engineers and tankers of the assault force, a ceaseless verdant undulation all the way to the horizon, only intermittently punctured by dark patches of woods. Having been hit by accurate pre-registered mortar fire, Winters was wary of an ambush up ahead and so advised his men to move up slowly while he and his adjutant crept forward for a quick reconnoiter. No sooner had he moved forty yards ahead of his main line than he identified through his field glasses the outline of the main Jap defensive works. They were positioned in the tree-line on either side and along one of the many slight crests that stood between the engineers and their objective, just beyond the horizon.

Assembling his platoon leaders Winters laid out his approach plan for the clearing of the newly discovered Jap positions, first and second platoons were to make the assault on the left while third platoon maintained a base of fire to pin the defenders down. The assistance of the armored force supporting the combat engineers was vital, both in the approach, in the suppression of the enemy and their ultimate destruction. With Bravo and Charlie companies following behind Winters’ Alpha Company, the left of the enemies main line was breached with relative ease. Few casualties were incurred on the approach and when the Americans did engage the employment of flamethrowers (to force the enemy out of hardened positions) and satchel charges (to break those that didn’t relent) kept the toll on American lives to a minimum.

Once the line was breached and the way to the main Formosa base lay open, there was a failure in communications between the armored and infantry arms of the attack force. The tankers had their blood up and were all for charging the base and ending the fight operationally, whereas the combat engineers were instead intent on reducing the enemy where they stood. In the Pacific theatre the engineers knew things to be a little different from things in the European theatre, where the med tank unit had recently been employed in North Africa. Against the Germans a thrust through the main defense line and into the enemy’s command and control center would necessitate the retreat of the enemies’ remaining forward elements. Against the Japanese, however, a breakthrough was all well and good, but it didn’t mean anybody was pulling back or surrendering if unable to do so. Far from it, any success by the Americans simply seemed to be encouragement for them to fight even harder. Thus, when the tankers saw that they were through the thin defensive line they rushed off and attacked the base, hoping to stop the enemy from pulling back and establishing another strong defensive position. Regrettably, this simply allowed the Japanese to concentrate on the remaining engineers and they proceeded to unleash heavy machine gun and rifle fire on the suddenly unsupported combat engineers. Due to the pace of their initial advance the engineers and med tanks in the first wave had put a significant distance between themselves and the next formation in the assault, the 8th medium tank regt.

So after the initial shock of seeing their well protected comrades drive off and soon coming under accurate direct fire, the US combat engineers began to follow their training and work together in small teams to destroy the enemy resistance. Hugging what cover they could, maintaining fire bases long enough to allow the assault team with flamethrower and demolition charges to rush the suppressed enemy positions and then moving onto the next one; simply put, the American forces followed their training doctrine to the letter and were inching their way one foxhole at a time closer to clearing the line of the Japanese. Though they were meeting with some success, the precipitate advance of the tanks had left the infantry without support and they were paying for their advance in blood. Capt Winters lead company was doing everything in its power to clear the crest of Japanese but they were down to 45 effectives and were coming close to the limits of their endurance. Just when things were getting bleak for the engineers and Major Sinks 2iC was killed trying to get in close and report on the conditions for regimental command, the Americans savior arrived in the form of the large high profile of a M4A3 coming over the hill not a hundred yards behind them. With the additional firepower of the Medium tanks and the M5A1 Stuarts close behind, the engineers destroyed all the remaining Jap resistance in a matter of twenty or thirty minutes.

Shortly thereafter the American forces were over the few remaining crests and down into the base at Formosa. When quizzed by his superiors about the disgraceful conduct of his formation at the height of the crisis the commander of the 10th Med tank regiment, Major John Pike said he didn’t think the engineers needed any further assistance and that obviously the objective was the base and they needed to capture it as soon as possible. His commanding officer saw things differently and had him court-martialled, cashiered and demoted.

All in all, a very successful months operations and I think you will agree that the writing is now firmly on the wall for the Japanese empire. The sun sets in the background as I write this dispatch to you from my office in Pearl Harbor. The sight of your glorious leader, Mr Churchill enjoying the heft of one our damn useful Tommy guns has my command team and I in stitches. I appreciate your sending it over. Developments in your sectors sound positive and heartening. I can understand your umbrage at the Chinese constantly running interference and holding up your men, perhaps there is something going on in the Chinese domestic scene we are not aware of. As you say it is their country. Thanks for your fine words of encouragement regards our effort in Formosa, as you can see we have successfully eliminated the last of the major Jap strongholds in the Pacific. Now for the mainland!


Attached photo is of elements of Alpha Co, 23rd Bn Combat Engineers using a flamethrower to clear the japs from the hills around Formosa

[unscratchedfoot]

Wow this is sure a big story. Is this a record on this forum for length and longevity? That is sure a lot of work you 2 blokes did there. Inspired by your perseverence, maybe I'll resurrect my old Royal Service for another episode. But I got a second chapter of Round Four on the boil right now.

[Paddy]

January 1944 TOP SECRET
From East Coast Australia Allied Command Centre Sydney
To West Coast America Allied Command Centre San Francisco


Admiral Nimitz, yet again your actions have again brought great news to the people of the Commonwealth. We be quite glad to have you as allies in this conflict.

Squadron Leader David, 17th Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Fighter Wing, reports P38’s and P61’s out of Hong Kong have laid some serious damage on Nanking.

General B Scott – 7th ANZAC Army and his two columns have started to arrive outside of Nanking.

Major General Charles Barrett, 45th Tankers Regiment, 7th Anzac Army, and his Battalions: ‘The Flying Wagga Light Tanks’ and the ‘Brumby Jack’s Light Tanks’ continue within the columns, yet they are champing at the bit to re-engage the Jap

General Hill and his 9 artillery rgts have stayed within the columns.

The discussions of repatriating areas to China continue with Wing Chu, the Ambassador of China. Another 5 major cities have been handed over to the Chinese.

May your adventure continue to grow and develop, and my people agree with you completely, the writing is on the wall for Japan now.

Admiral Wally Peterson and his TF 35 & 39 have started to arrive and the Tanker Regiments are already on their way to the front.

[Paddy]

February 1944 TOP SECRET
From East Coast Australia Allied Command Centre Sydney
To West Coast America Allied Command Centre San Francisco


Admiral Nimitz,

This day the destroyers HMAS Darwin, HMAS Cape York and HMAS Moresby passed through the Boela straights on their way through to Manila. Each destroyer carries a battalion of the Royal Australian 13th Regiment.

The Carrier HMAS Australia and Task Force 65 (formerly TF 35, 39 & 91) has gatheredoutside of Hong Kong, and will sail soon for the north. Admiral Wally Peterson signal ed that all is well and they are ready to strike hard into the Jappamans heartlands.

The repatriating areas to China seems to have been a sucess. Earlier this week I recieved a series of packages from Wing Chu, the Ambassador of China, each containing a very precise note of thanks for each of the cities that we handed over.

Squadron Leader David, 17th Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Fighter Wing, reports P38’s and P61’s out of Hong Kong have laid some serious damage on Nanking.

It is here in the battle of Nanking that my troops are running into serious issues with our Chinese allies. The Chinese certainly do have a large army, and they continue to block General B Scott's 7th ANZAC Army. General Hill and his 9 artillery rgts have stayed within the columns.

It certainly will do our lads good that Major General Charles Barrett, 45th Tankers Regiment, 7th Anzac Army, and his Battalions: ‘The Flying Wagga Light Tanks’ and the ‘Brumby Jack’s Light Tanks’ along with the RAR 19th took Nanking.

It certainly would be good to have the Chinese clear the roads and rails so we can get our troops through. Yes I am a tad frustrated by the Chinese actions in this matter.

May all be well with you

[wargamer]

Did you see this?

https://www.microgeo.pl

https://www.microgeo.pl/CoralSea.html

https://www.microgeo.pl/BloodyNights.html

(in polish)

http://www.gry-online.pl/S013.asp?ID=19839

http://gry.o2.pl/zapowiedzi/?co=pokaz&id=368

[Paddy]

thank you

I had not seen these before.