Dispatches from the Pacific

[Paddy]

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

Well Sir, it feels like quite sometime since I sat at this keyboard and put a dispatch together. Thank you for your report, your forces has been quite active, and it was with great joy to hear you have the Jap Carrier fleets on the run, and on the sea bed. Well done to you Sir.

I see that you have come across these Kamikazes. This I believe is the Divine Wind that we discussed several months ago.

Admiral Peterson and his Task Force 35 have successfully taken the Japanese Fleet that escaped from Donggala. We confirm that the Jap BB Kongo, CA Kumano, and escorts now reside on the bottom of the sea. From there the task force is to head for Hong Kong. At this time the Admiral has temporarily broken up the task force. The Cruisers have made a fast track for Hong Kong, with a fully loaded transporter. The Repulse and The Prince of Wales will be on their way shortly. They along with their destroyer component are awaiting several other transporters that are making top speed to this region.

Adding to this we have several transporters coming off the slips in the area very soon. General Collins has quite a force coming together via these transporters. It is our hope that we are able to assist you in taking the Jap home islands.

Away to the south, Admiral Hollingsworth has informed me that 6 new destroyers will hit the waters in as many weeks. The project he has been heading is to raise a new Destroyer squadron. For this, the Admiral went out into the islands of the Pacific, and the bases along the Australian North East Coast. Admiral Hollingsworth and his staff have also been working closely with the various barracks on these island bases. The team has assured me that each Destroyer with a Battalion of Anzac troops assigned to it. Some of these need to be collected from neighbouring islands, so they should be in operational regions some weeks after that. I am quite impressed with his resourcefulness.

Kiungchow is an egg that General B Scott and his 7th ANZAC Army hope to crack in the coming month or two. He has brought General Hill and his 9 artillery rgts into range, and bombardment has begun. It was really hoped that Major General Charles Barrett’s 45th Tankers Regiment, and his Battalions: ‘The Flying Wagga Light Tanks’ and the ‘Brumby Jack’s Light Tanks’ could once again storm the gates and take the town. Unfortunately they have been held up several hundred miles to the west, we have more Chinese troops on the march into the Saigon District. So to take Kiungchow, General B Scott has brought up quite a force of Anzac troops. Thus we should have this last egg cracked in the coming 6 to 7 weeks.

I have an interesting situation; Crown Prince Samsa Jimbangorjo of the Borneose Royal Family has joined up with the “The Sibu 19th Squadron". The fighter squadron of Sibu has been very active and we will be transferring these veterans to Hong Kong next month for the push up into North Eastern China. Royalty are a blessing and a curse, I have two British Royals in my theatre at this time, and they cost a certain amount of time to monitor etc. Anyway, just thought you should know, as he is a good friend of Douglas’ and could turn up anywhere.

Again I have turned to the operational school at "Duntroon" to war-game out the various options for taking the Northern Cities of China. Here I could use some advice. I would like to start seeding some of these former Chinese lands to China. Could you please look over the appropriate maps and let me know your feelings on this matter.

Squadron Leader David of the 17th Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P38 Squadron has been having quite a good time over Formosa. My boffins keep talking up the ways of these great units. We have quite a few in production and a heavy force of them in Hong Kong at this time.

The following picture shows the base of Kiungchow that we are heading for. I have also highlighted 2 of the 4 sets of Chinese units moving into the Siagon Region.

Wishing you well in these most uncertain of times.

[Paddy]

October 1942 TOP SECRET
From East Coast Australia Allied Command Centre Sydney
To West Coast America Allied Command Centre San Francisco


Additional Mapp of some Key Australian Production Sites

[unscratchedfoot]

Keep the goods coming.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Nice update and pics Paddy

[vovan]

What they said.

[dialectic2003]

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

Much has happened on the home front since I last sent a high level coded dispatch to you, my good friend in Australia. While we had our concentration transfixed on the fleet maneuvers and engagement with the mighty IJN battle fleet, there have been several developments that both set my heart at ease and chill me to the core. Our counter-intelligence operatives have been conducting an intense program of surveillance and undercover investigation to try to root out the subversives in our midst. We were first tipped off about something big being planned when we had apprehended a young male scouting out good positions for infiltration into the compound along the now patrolled exterior guard wire. Everyone is so jittery these days that it seems all our trust is gone, the MP’s at first were just going to tail him, but when he started to radio back information they immediately pounced and hauled him off to the stockade. Legally speaking we’re in a bit of a black hole here; there was no trespass on the base, but there was good reason for suspicion so they brought him in and advised our local FBI of the circumstances. FBI agents were down here in 15 minutes. It seems they didn’t have too many leads before this occurred. The incident was a godsend according to the director of the FBI, a Mr. Hoover. I have just gotten off the phone with him; now there is a strange man, alarming really, it sounded almost like he was interrogating me! At any rate, in the week and a half since we caught that spy the FBI have managed to track down and arrest an entire ring of domestic terrorists in league with the Axis of evil. Amongst those handcuffed and lead away there were plumbers, electricians, clerks, an office manager at our local telecommunications company and even a housewife (though luckily not my wife). Needless to say this has lightened the load off all the personnel here at the Supreme HQ Pacific including me, people are able to smile and greet one another cordially again as they pass in the corridors. All those fearful looks and suspicious glances were beginning to tell on both our emotions and work performance. Now that the war against the land of the rising sun has entered such a critical stage we need to have all our concentration and wits at the ready.

This now brings me to the issue that has struck at the very core of what it is to be American, the issue of internment. In light of the terrorist attack on our compound, nefarious actions and the threat of actions on the East coast added to the heightening tension from the war evident in all our communities, the President has issued an order for all Americans and visitors of Japanese or German descent to be rounded up and locked away in internment camps. The propaganda sells this move as both for their protection and ours, but I don’t see it that way. Though I may get into hot water over this one, I couldn’t help but advise you, our allies in the Commonwealth, in case you have personnel over here that match that description. For their sake, get them out and get them out now. This action has chilled me to the very marrow of my patriotic sentiment. If what I read from our agents in Nazi Germany is correct, it seems we have taken a leaf from their handling of the Jews, truly a disgusting development. Especially since all those that we have apprehended have in no way been connected with any stereotypical Japanese or German descent! Indeed, many Japanese-Americans have served their country with pride and distinction, one of which even helped raise the stars and stripes on Mt. Suribachi on that blasted infernal speck of an island, Iwo Jima. Not only have people been put in concentration camps, but also civil liberties are to be rolled back to aid in the war effort. This is a sad day for us, what will they think of next? I’m sorry to have gone off the handle a bit there, but I take this issue so very seriously as it is attacking the very foundation of why millions of soldiers, airmen and sailors fight so damn hard for this country.
Moving from the home front and into the Pacific, on the military dimension I have received some disturbing reports from the main fleet and the inbound TF Charlie elements. It seems that while our main fleet was regrouping and probing westerly on a search and destroy mission for the remnants of the IJN battle fleet broken up and scattered last month, the enemy heavy cruiser CA Chikuma and DD Shiranui both defied our predictions and slipped through our patrol nets into our supply lines. In 2 separate incidents they have fallen on our weaker communication and supply elements and slaughtered them.

When dawn broke on the morning of the 3rd of November, a radio transmission was received from a transport flotilla making its way North by Northwest along the coast of the Philippines towards our staging area of Aparri. A ‘Mayday! Mayday’ was received from 2 different transports, convoyed together to reduce the chance of Jap subs spotting them. One was empty and preparing to load up at Aparri for the attack on Formosa, the other held 2 of our finest attack units, the 8th and 9th medium tank regt., and 2 formations of the ever dependable and resilient marines, the 13th and 16th regt’s. This was a calamity Adm. King could not allow to befall us, especially as we were so close to beginning the landing preparations for the Formosa operation. He immediately dispatched the newly arrived, but battle ready veterans of the CA St Louis to intercept and destroy the enemy cruiser. During the several hours of steaming it took for the St Louis to reach the area from where the radio message was transmitted, several more ‘Mayday’ calls were received. Finally the ominous ‘SOS’ signal could be discerned from the harsh hiss of the wireless speaker back on the bridge of Adm. King’s flagship, the Enterprise. Some radio intercepts were then blasted over the bridge’s speakers, this time in Japanese. It sounded like a victory celebration on board the CA Chikuma was in full swing. Adm. King contacted the St Louis to check on its progress and to his alarm received no reply. Biting back his rising bile, he ordered out a squadron of patrol aircraft to check the vicinity, knowing full well that they had no chance of attacking the still dangerous CA Chikuma as it was one of the Jap’s finest cruisers in air defense.

The St Louis, however, far from having been destroyed, had steamed across those seemingly interminable nautical miles with abandon. As Adm. King ordered out his recon elements to check on the situation, the St Louis was in the midst of discovering a ghastly scene. On all sides the water lapping against the hull of the heavy cruiser carried with it small pieces of debris, the sort of small jagged metal that would come from a large group of 120-man troop ships. As the captain of the St Louis, a Commander G Thomas, scanned the horizon he could make out a dark shape, a heavy cruiser still listing to one side form a recent serious engagement. He could also discern several rockets being fired apparently from the open ocean around the enemy warship, ‘some of our boys are still alive and kicking!’ he thought and he immediately ordered his gunners to train their sights on the enemy vessel. Careful not to fire over the ship for the danger that presented to his comrades, he ordered his 12” guns loaded with AP timed to explode only after penetrating some 5-10 feet into the hull of the Chikuma. After some near misses, one shell struck home and utterly destroyed the bridge, while another went clean through the hull and into the engine room before detonating. Within a minute the Jap ship keeled over and sank to the briny depths. Though the brave souls manning the western transports had been killed almost to a man, with only 16 sailors rescued by the St Louis hanging onto assorted debris, their transports had carried no cargo. Luckily, the St Louis had reached the scene in time to stop the cruiser from sinking our other transports laden with war material. A huge sigh of relief escaped from Adm. King when he received the report from both his patrol aircraft and the commander of the St Louis. Things might not have seemed quite so dire had the radio aboard the heavy cruiser not malfunctioned, but Murphy’s law holds at all times and most especially in war.

Meanwhile, further north in Pacific, about mid-way between Formosa and Saipan, a battle was raging of an entirely different sort. Making their way across down to the main fleet were 3 battleships; the Oklahoma, the Arizona and the Tennessee; escorting the carrier Bunker Hill. The DD Paul Jones had swung north to aid the inbound reinforcements from Iwo Jima, and had been assigned the position of lead patrol escort and ASW vessel. After the severe firefight that was the battle of the previous weeks near the Philippines, the DD Paul Jones had significant damage to her rear turrets and boiler, but could still make decent speed and was battle worthy in all other respects. During the afternoon on the 2nd of November, the enemy destroyer DD Shiranhui had appeared from the sunward side and began shelling the lead escort destroyer of TF Charlie. Caught by surprise, the destroyer took 2 hits before being able to respond. Those 2 hits started fires below decks, one starting to rage near the engine room, the other on the bridge itself. In the panic of the sudden maelstrom of heat and smoke, the gunners were only able to register one minor hit, which glanced harmlessly off the side of the enemy destroyer. Though the Shiranhui was also damaged, she had taken the initiative in the encounter and was able to deliver several telling blows, before the 2nd officer of the DD Paul Jones issued orders to break off and retreat. The commander was dead and the radio wrecked; there seemed no hope for the destroyer and her crew. A final shell crunched into the hull of the vessel and she was done for, water began pouring in through the rent side and she was sinking fast. The order to abandon ship was given, many of the crew managed to get out only to be sucked down into the whirlpool the destroyer created when it finally went under.

Due to the lead-time the escort had given the carrier to try to keep enemy subs away from the most precious of naval assets. The local fleet commander, Adm. Spruance was wholly in the dark about the dreadful happenings not 20 nautical miles away. That was until he made his routine contact with each ship in the fleet and received naught but dead air from the DD Paul Jones. With alarm he ordered one of the fighter escorts making up his CAP to check out the situation up ahead. Soon thereafter his worst fears were realized when the aircraft spotted only a handful of survivors clinging to life rafts and the enemy destroyer fast approaching. He called up the captain of the BB Arizona and ordered him to intercept at full speed and destroy the enemy warship. Unfortunately, the carrier was only carrying F4F Wildcats, having been assigned an air dominance role in the North of the Pacific, so he had no torpedo bombers or dive bombers at his disposal. The BB Arizona made good speed, the engineers and boiler room crew surprising their commander and even themselves at the performance they had wrought. As he neared the scene he could make out the enemy destroyer on the horizon and proceeded to take this matter very personal indeed. His son served on the DD Paul Jones, and he had no way of knowing whether he was alive or dead. He went down to the gunner area himself and assisted with the alignment of the guns and calculation of the necessary trajectory. It was in no way a match or even contest, the battleships guns easily outranged those of the Jap destroyer and the armor was too thick for their guns to make much of an impression even if they were able to get shots off. The battleship fired 3 full broadsides and hit the destroyer 5 times. In mere moments the destroyer’s battered hull buckled under the weight of fire and simply collapsed, followed immediately by the rest of the ship into the sea.

This was the extent of the combat operations reported to me during the preceding weeks. I have sighted another enemy destroyer to the North of Iwo Jima and have dispatched a squadron of the new Jet fighters, the P-83 to reconnoiter and report. I may have to send back some of the main fleet’s newly arrived elements of TF Charlie if there is a sizable enemy force in that area, but at this stage I am confident that won’t be necessary.

One last point needs to be made here, concerning more the societal aspect of the outlying islands than the purely military dimension, though I have become convinced that to avoid uprisings and possible sabotage on our military assets in this region a calm society is necessary. The citizens of Puerto Princess are still starving due to a lack of interest in working in the fields and fisheries, while the still resisting populace of Saipan is in open revolt. I have decided to follow your lead in raising the expenditures on luxury items and lowering the tax burden on the people in an effort to alleviate some of the pain of boredom and bitterness, which simply lead to wholesale unhappiness. This has resulted in Puerto Princess returning to a calm unknown since before the invasion and subsequent food crisis. We have about 100 gold less every turn, but I can live with that if peace can be restored to these troubled lands.

In order to further coordination between our two mighty war machines toward the final realization of the ultimate objective, the demise of the Japanese as an aggressive imperial power, I would recommend that we organize a conference. Perhaps we could include attaches from our respective allies as well as our respective heads of the main military services. Please advise your thoughts on this matter. In relation to your request for advice on the ceding of territory to the Chinese, I would most heartily urge you to reconsider. As you are already apparently having problems with their troops blocking your railways, surely granting them a city (even if they did previously own it) would only make matters worse as far as I can see. Besides, when the war is over I suspect there may need to be a reckoning with the Chinese as there are rumblings of communist insurgents in the hills and cities. Indeed, just before the war Chiang Kai-Shek had been spending all his time trying to eradicate them and if Intel from that great unknowable land is correct, the Communists under Mao Zedong appear to be going from strength to strength in their popularity and organizational capabilities. Plans are already being drawn up for an invasion if need be, another good reason to ensure we have a strong base on Formosa and Okinawa. For all the above reasons, I would recommend holding on to all the Asian cities and strongholds you can. We can discuss this further at a conference if you are interested. Oh and by the by, good luck with Kungchiow!

Attached is an aerial shot of the CA St Louis, taken from a recon 4F4 Wildcat:

[Paddy]

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

Admiral Nimitz, your Naval actions have again brought great news to the people of the Commonwealth.

General B Scott – 7th ANZAC Army is preparing to strike out with a fine force of Anzac Infantry across Chinese lands towards the Japanese held cities of Hankow and Nanking. Supporting them are Major General Charles Barrett’s, 45th Tankers Regiment, and his Battalions: ‘The Flying Wagga Light Tanks’ and the ‘Brumby Jack’s Light Tanks,’ otherwise known as the gate crashers. We feel that they will be on the outskirts of these cities in the coming month. It is hoped that the Chinese will clear the roads of their blockades so that we can rush General Hill and his 9 artillery rgts from their bombardments of Kiungchow.

Negotiations are underway in Saigon with the Ambassador of China, Wing Chu, and your very own Douglas. The idea is to seed several of these southern cities in this district to the Chinese. We have worked out that we can free up fifteen Anzac battalions through giving back these cities. I will keep the Malaya Peninsula. So it is hoped that eleven Battalions will head up north soon. I appreciate your words on the Issues of Communism within China, yet on this matter the leaders of the Commonwealth would like us to work with the Chinese on repatriating their lands. We are not Chinese and know the many issues that have come from our history in Hong Kong.

As to Hong Kong, the Airbase there is bristling with The P38’s and P61’s Squadrons. I have spoken with Squadron Leader David of the 17th Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Squadron Leader David. He assures me that although they do not have a lot of room, they are quite happy to share and crowd in throughout this period. These squadrons have continued in their bombardment of Formosa. We believe that you are close to taking Formosa. When you have taken Formosa, the Squadrons will transfer their attention to Hankow.

Admiral Wally Peterson and his Task Force 35 are still split across the South China Seas. I look forward to them regrouping in Hong Kong. General Collins and his 9th ANZAC Army, on the transporters in Task Force 35, will be just itching for some more action by the time all of the transporters have landed in Hong Kong. Please keep these valued units in mind for the coming months.

Admiral Hollingsworth’s Destroyer Squadron are still on their way.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Paddy and Dialetic, once again well done lads!!

There is still some way to go but I just want to emphsise my real enjoyment of this epic joint effort of yours.

It has been an enduring pleasure over the last weeks to be able to read the regular updates in this work, and you have both done us proud, BRAVO

[unscratchedfoot]

The navy parts are good. The spy and terrorism stuff though detracts from the story in my opinion. It feels like a very unwelcome interruption to the overall war situation. I like the tank regiment names though, very classy.

Keep the story flowing like a good wound.

[Kaos XIII]

Great, keep going!

[Paddy]

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Apologises to our readers...

Due to issues in the RW... this game / story is on indefinite hold.

The American and Commonwealth Governments look forward to bringing you the final destruction of the Japanese home islands at some stage. You will see it here first.

Thank you one and all, for your vaste encouragement and many posts of support

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[vovan]

Well done so far. I just hope to get another dispatch of news some time soon.

[Paddy]

a secret trining base along the Nanking Hanoi Road

Chinese troops under instruction in the arts of close in combat.

As the Commonwealth gather a greater foot hold, and as the mighty American war machine gathers momentum, the Chinese Armed Forces builds and trains for the continued flushing of the mainland and then for the eventual push on the Japanese Home Islands.

[dialectic2003]

Back in action



We are back in action after a hefty hiatus. Enforced interludes of this magnitude are enough to make one extremely

Enjoy

[dialectic2003]

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

Colonel Garrett looked out over the faces of his assembled officers and imparted the orders recently received from Supreme HQ. ‘Take the Northern half of Okinawa to clear the hills and ridges of enemy and establish bridgeheads for the main army, due from Formosa in the coming months. Take note of the radar station, we intend to make use of this in due course; ensure its capture in good condition. According to our intel, the enemy force consists of only one regular line infantry regt. dug in on the hills surrounding the radar station. Aerial surveillance shows very few above ground entrenchments; watch out for caves, defiles and ambushes. The attack force consists of the 6th Marine Div, the 4th marine regt leading the first wave, while the 5th and 6th marines form the second and reserve waves respectively. Further orders to follow on receipt of your sit-rep. Good luck.’

Moving over to the chart table, the Colonel traced the contours of the rough hilly terrain his troops were going to have to take. ‘The best way to reach that radar station while taking care of the flanks is the wedge formation, company then platoon.’ Turning to the CO of his 1st bn, Major Hanrahan, Garrett gave his instructions ‘Emphasis should be on firepower and mobility, suppress with heavy infantry and recon elements and close for reduction. Bypass the heavy time investment targets for the wings of the following battalions; time is of the essence as the Japs may have charges set on our main objective. Make sure to capture that facility quickly and intact. H-hour is 0530 so have your troops loaded and en route to the shore marked on your map by 0515. Any questions? Go get your men ready.’ With a quick nod, Garrett then quickly moved on to his other bn CO’s to appraise them of their own orders to support the lead formation and clear the flanks of enemy. Soon the meeting was over and the officers departed to their units to set about readying their troops for the next days attack. The Colonel then met with Rear Admiral Halsley to discuss and plan the preparatory bombardment target list and timing pattern.

The word from on high Hanrahan eventually filtered down to 1lt Underhill about an hour later, at 2235. The plan seemed simple enough; his 2rd platoon, Charlie Co. would be detached and assigned to Alpha Co., forming the middle of the wedge attack. He called over his crew and told them how it was: ‘We’re hitting the beach at 0530; so be up, fed and ready by 0505. Plan calls for us to be in the lead Co., we need to move quickly and secure the Northern half of Okinawa. We’re relying on maximum mobility so leave unessential items behind; personal effects can be registered with the ship’s hold. Intel reckons the enemy resistance to be light, there appears to be only one regular infantry regt. entrenched on our front, but we need to capture that radar facility at grid ref 1020G1 fast. Get some sleep; we hit the transports at 0515, I’ll see you guys at 0505.’ With a quick glance around his platoon, 1lt Underhill dismissed the men and set about finishing his preparations so he could get down to the hold and win back that $20 he’d lost at poker the night before.

As the sea swelled and ebbed around the transport ship and the sky began to lighten in anticipation of a new day; the attack force readied itself for the next operation. As the transport’s kitchen got into full swing with meals being prepared and served for thousands of marines, the nearby battleship Oklahoma began the saturation shelling that was to pave the way for the assault. The entire complement of heavy guns from both the battleship and the escort destroyer Laffey let loose salvo after salvo at targets on the beach and hinterland invasion area. The plan was for the bombardment to be relatively short, only an hour or so, before sending in the troops under its cover. ‘The damage might not be as heavy, but the suppression should be as significant as if they were being shelled for 10 times as long. This way, we still maintain the element of surprise and prevent the Japs from moving up reinforcements while we’re still on the beach.’ Rear-Adm. Halsley explained to a skeptical CO of the 6th marine division, General Davidson. The General eventually agreed and they orchestrated the coverage from the creeping barrage that was to protect the troops. His main stipulation was that in addition to the preset creeping barrage, there was to be at least 2 batteries of 16” guns and 4 of 12” ready to support the ground troops in the actual combat phase of the operation, each Co. having a radio liaison to convey grid references and fire adjustments back to the fleet.

H-hour saw the assembled mass of men and machines start toward the beach invasion zone. The preparatory bombardment seemed to have been remarkably successful for, as the men got closer and closer to their touchdown points, they could see the moonscape that was once an idyllic bay and beach. Indeed, the bombardment had been so successful that there was no opposition to hinder the marines initial landing and push into the hinterland; all life was wrecked and wasted before them. Soon the troops of the 4th regt had reached their first objective line along the axis separating beach from hinterland and were beginning to fill out the flanks to probe for enemy and prepare for the dash for the radar facility.

The attack companies formed up and moved to their assigned jumping off positions within the narrow beachhead perimeter. The light early mist was beginning to give way down by the beach, but was still impeding full visibility up in the hills surrounding their final objective. ‘Let’s move!’ yelled the CO of the Alpha Co. Signaling to his men to spread out and be on the look out for enemy ambushes, Captain B Rogers scanned the looming ridges and hillsides to his front for any sign of the enemy. The advance was carried out successfully and without opposition for the first few miles, but when the lead Co. reached the valley at the foot of the inner ring of hills the enemy made his presence felt. For, while the troops had been rushing to capture the radar station intact they had been forced to cast much of their normal wariness and precaution to the winds, just as the enemy had been preparing a trap of cruel efficiency and deadly intent.

Rifle fire rang out from their front and was suddenly joined by accurate mortar fire. When a recon team was sent forward to gauge the level of opposition several MG’s opened up from hidden emplacements somewhere in their forward 90-degree arc. The mist was thoroughly translucent now and disappearing fast, the Jap soldiers taking full advantage and wiping out the recon element to a man. In that lead attack company of perhaps 150 men all movement stopped as men hit the dirt and hugged whatever cover they could find. As the marines squirmed around their suddenly deadly environment searching for a good vantage point to fire from, a fresh misery was unleashed upon them. Enemy MG and rifle fire began picking troops in that lead Co off from caves to their rear. Now there was no place to shelter from the withering mortar fire and hot lead flying through the air. Bullets ricocheting and bombs exploding created a deafening cacophony of battle sounds, sowing a wave of destruction as well as sending deadly shrapnel through trees, dirt, flesh and bone. Defying the chaos, Captain B Rogers kept his calm and began giving orders to his confused troops. ‘Bacon, go round and smoke the hole behind us, make sure he cant see out of his little rabbit warren to shoot us. Underhill, take your 2 30 cal MGs and set up over by that clump of tree stumps, we need good suppressing cover fire on the enemy MG’s and rifle positions to our front so we can continue this advance. Wait till we have a good smokescreen before setting up though, I need you boys alive’

Taking advantage of a small lee in the ground between his position and a point some 40 yards from the base of the cliff housing the suddenly dangerous caves, Bacon managed to crawl his way to his assigned objective and release his 2 smoke grenades. The first bounced to the wrong side and was wasted, but the second managed to land squarely underneath the target. When the smokescreen had been sufficiently established, he gave the hand signal to Capt Rogers, who then passed his message on to the crouched 1lt Underhill some 20 feet further on. ‘Cover fire!’ Rogers yelled and five men were up and firing; blindly yes, but they were firing. When they came back down to reload 3 were casualties, but by then the .30 cal MG was established and laying down a steady stream of hot lead on the main enemy rifle and MG line. Sensing a slackening of the enemy fire, Capt Rogers ordered an engineer team to take some satchel charges and blow the rear cave to kingdom come. With their vision obscured by the smokescreen the Japs had quickly departed from the front of the cave, they knew what was coming. It didn’t really matter though, the cave entrance was smashed and no further hostile fire would be coming from that position.

With their rear now secure again the Marines were able to move forward much more quickly. Leapfrogging by team, squads and platoons they cleared the main enemy fire positions with a quick lob of grenades and Thompson SMG fire. Shortly after that they were rushing the last of the inner ring hills, clearing the sporadic resistance they encountered. When they reached the radar station perimeter, the only enemy to be found had apparently committed ritual seppuku as the demolition charges they had set failed to go off. Seems the enemy’s main line of resistance had been on the beachhead, but was successfully obliterated, for once, by the awesome power of the 16” guns. The rush to take the radar station had been costly in terms of casualties, some 30% of the total force detailed to lead the attack did not make it back to roll call that evening. But it would soon prove invaluable in terms of interdicting the Jap interior lines of communication between the southern island bases, the Jap armies in China and the home islands themselves.

The other developments in the previous few weeks since our last correspondence have been very quiet, with thankfully very little in the way of combat action to report. We have brought our main invasion fleet around from the West and East of the Phillippines and successfully landed the main ground components in two large fortified areas on the island of Formosa. This begins the assault on the home island chain proper. The force consists of the 5th Marine Division with the new 2nd Armoured Division in support. The artillery and other support elements for this invasion force are quite extensive and we feel quietly confident of a quick success.

The naval fleet operations have been limited to supporting the ground attack component of our strategy. The last 2 months actions seem to have broken the back of the IJN and there does not appear to be any major enemy fleet elements threatening to disrupt our plans at this juncture. Having said that, we are ever vigilant in case the indomitable Japs do have a trick or two up their proverbial naval sleeve. The fleet has been sorted in to 2 main battle fleets: the Lexington and Yorktown, with BB Oklahoma and CA Chicago as escorts, are defending the northern approaches between Okinawa and Komi ensuring early warning of any move South by any remnants of the IJN. The main battle fleet is in the south guarding the invasion forces and approaches to the Phillippines, which General D. MacArthur is adamant must have all available resources defending it. This main fleet consists of the Enterprise and Saratoga with the vast bulk of the ships of the line, the battleships and cruisers. These elements will open a world of hurt on the defenders of Formosa in the weeks to come.

I appreciate your assistance in maintaining a close air suppression and reduction of the enemy’s Formosa garrison, I believe this will help greatly in speeding our impending assault. Also, I have discussed the idea with my superiors and wholeheartedly support your suggestion of repatriation of the Southern Chinese cities. Any and all efforts must be made to end this war as soon as possible. If we have to negotiate with the Communists eventually so be it. In the near term we’ll have to make do and defeat the Japs first and worry about the commies later. Besides there still hope in the eventual victory of Nationalists, especially with the ridiculous amount of aid we are sending them. I am heartened to read your dispatch as always, keep up the good work and we’ll be sharing that beer before Christmas ’44.