Battle of the Tenaru

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Battle of the Tenaru
Fallen Japanese soldiers on a sandbar at the mouth of Alligator Creek, photo after the battle on August 21, 1942
Fallen Japanese soldiers on a sandbar at the mouth of Alligator Creek, photo after the battle on August 21, 1942
date August 21, 1942
place Guadalcanal
Casus Belli Japanese offensive against allied positions
output Allied victory
consequences Dispatch of further Japanese forces to Guadalcanal
Parties to the conflict

Japanese EmpireJapanese Empire Japan

United States 48United States United States United Kingdom
United KingdomUnited Kingdom 

Commander

Hyakutake Harukichi
Ichiki Kiyonao (†)

Alexander A. Vandegrift
Clifton B. Cates

Troop strength
917 about 3,000
losses

774–777 dead,
15 prisoners

41–44 dead

The battle of the tenaru , sometimes Battle of the Ilu River or Battle of Alligator Creek called, was a land battle that on 21 August 1942 during the Pacific War between units of the Imperial Japanese Army and the Allies , mainly the States United Marine Corps , on the Guadalcanal Island , Solomon Islands . It represented the first major Japanese offensive during the Battle of Guadalcanal .

During the battle, American marines, under the command of Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift, repelled several attacks by soldiers of the so-called Ichiki Regiment, under the command of Colonel Ichiki Kiyonao . The Marines defended the Lunga perimeter that protected Henderson Field airfield . The Allies were able to occupy this airfield immediately after landing on Guadalcanal on August 7th. In response, Colonel Ichiki and his unit were sent to Guadalcanal to retake the airfield that had been built by Japanese construction units in the previous weeks and to drive the Allied troops off the island.

Since he underestimated the strength of the Allies on the island, Ichiki had his soldiers carry out a night frontal attack on the enemy positions on Alligator Creek at the eastern end of the Lunga Perimeter . This attack could be repulsed with heavy losses for the Japanese. The following day, the Japanese unit was almost completely wiped out in a counterattack.

The battle was the first of a total of three different land offensives that the Japanese carried out in the course of the Battle of Guadalcanal in order to bring the island back completely under their control. After the Battle of Tenaru, the Japanese high command in Rabaul understood that the number of soldiers already brought to the island by the Allies was far higher than originally assumed. It therefore decided to send more troops to Guadalcanal to secure the island.

background

Japanese operations on Guadalcanal, early 1942

The Solomon Islands, among which is Guadalcanal

On August 7, 1942, Allied troops landed on the Florida Islands and Guadalcanal, which had been occupied by Japanese troops a few months earlier as part of Operation MO . The landings were intended to regain the islands for the Allies and destroy Japanese bases under construction there, from which the supply routes between Australia and the United States could have been threatened. In addition, the islands were to serve as a base for a large-scale counter-offensive by the Allies to isolate the Japanese regional headquarters in Rabaul . The landings marked the start of the six-month battle for Guadalcanal.

Due to their material and personal superiority, the Allies succeeded in occupying the Florida Islands completely within two days and the airfield under construction on Guadalcanal was also secured by the evening of August 8th. The following night, a small Japanese fleet of seven cruisers and a destroyer under the command of Vice Admiral Mikawa Gun'ichi attacked a group of Allied ships covering the unloading of materials and soldiers. After the defeat in the ensuing battle off Savo Island and the loss of several ships, Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner ordered the retreat of all Allied ship units on the evening of August 9, whereby the further unloading of heavy equipment, supplies and troops on Guadalcanal is stopped had to. Although 32 howitzers of caliber 75 mm and 105 mm could be brought ashore, food was only landed for about five days.

The Marines that had already landed on Guadalcanal concentrated on building defensive positions around the captured airfield, transporting the landed supplies there and making the airfield ready for use. Major General Vandegrift distributed his approximately 11,000 troops located on Guadalcanal in loose formation in the area around Lunga Point. For the work that began on the airfield, the Americans mainly used the equipment left behind by the Japanese. On the 12th, it was renamed Henderson Field in honor of Navy pilot Lofton R. Henderson, who died in the Battle of Midway . Captured Japanese rations supplemented the American rations so that they would last for about 14 days according to plan. Since it was not known when the Allied fleet would be able to land new provisions, Vandegrift had his soldiers' rations reduced to two meals a day.

Colonel Ichiki Kiyonao, commander of the 28th Infantry Regiment

In response to the Allied landings, Imperial Headquarters ordered the 17th Army to repel the enemy and secure the island. Since the 17th Army, which was under the command of Lieutenant General Hyakutake Harukichi and had its headquarters in Rabaul , was tied up with most of its troops in fighting in New Guinea , they could only send a few units to the southern Solomon Islands. Among these units were the 35th Infantry Brigade under Major General Kawaguchi Kiyotake , which was still on Palau , the 4th Infantry Regiment in the Philippines and the 28th Infantry Regiment under Colonel Ichiki Kiyonao , which was already on the transport from Guam . The 28th Infantry Regiment was the first to reach Guadalcanal because it did not have to be set in motion first, but was already on the move .

On August 12, a Japanese aerial reconnaissance aircraft from Rabaul flew over the Allied positions on Guadalcanal and could see only a few enemy troops on the island and no larger ships in the surrounding waters, which convinced the imperial headquarters that the Allies were most of their troops withdrew from the island. In reality, however, all the troops were still on Guadalcanal and had escaped detection by the scout. Lieutenant General Hyakutake then ordered the 28th Infantry Regiment to transfer 900 men to the faster warships accompanying their convoy and land on Guadalcanal as soon as possible in order to attack the Allied positions and retake the airfield. Later, the successful unit was to be reinforced by the rest of the regiment, which remained on the slower transport ships. In the Japanese naval base on Truk , where Ichiki's regiment had initially been landed, Colonel Ichiki received the information that the strength of the enemy troops on Guadalcanal was estimated between 2,000 and 10,000 men and that he should therefore avoid a frontal attack.

Ichiki and 916 of the regiment's 2,300 soldiers were landed around 1:00 a.m. on August 19, with food for seven days, at Taivu Point, about 35 kilometers east of Lunga Point, by six destroyers without resistance. After leaving about 100 men on guard at the landing site, Ichiki advanced with the remaining 800 soldiers and set up a camp about 14 kilometers from the Allied positions. The Japanese landing had been registered by the Allied reconnaissance and reported to the troops around Henderson Field, which were now taking steps to investigate these events more closely and to track down the enemy. World icon

battle

Preparations

British officer Martin Clemens with local members of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defense Force who served as scouts and guides for the Allies throughout the Battle of Guadalcanal

The Allies received from various sources some detailed reports on the movements, strength and position of the Japanese forces landed on Guadalcanal. The information from locals who served in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Constabulary and the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defense Force , which was organized by the British colonial power, proved particularly helpful . On August 19, a patrol of 60 Marines and four local leaders was sent east from Lunga Point to gather more information on the Japanese.

Around the same time, Colonel Ichiki sent a patrol of 38 men under a telecommunications officer in the direction of the Allied positions to clarify the situation and set up an advanced post. Around 12:00 noon on August 19, the Allied patrol discovered the Japanese group near Koli Point and was able to set an ambush in which five Japanese fell before the rest of them retreated to Taivu Point. The Marines suffered losses of three dead and three wounded.

Records found on the dead Japanese revealed to the Allies that the troops facing them were part of a much larger unit and had detailed information about their positions at Lunga Point. However, the documents did not contain any information about how many Japanese troops were already on Guadalcanal or when an attack was to be expected.

Since he could now be sure that the Japanese attack would come from the east, Major General Vandegrift directed his troops at Lunga Point in this direction and had them set up defensive positions. In several official US versions, the established defensive position is located on the course of the Tenaru River . However, this runs further east, so there was a mix-up and the Illu River was meant, which was called Alligator Creek by the Allied soldiers. Since there are only crocodiles on the Solomon Islands, this name was also wrong. In the mouth of Alligator Creek, which actually looked more like a lagoon, there was a sandbank at that time that was between 7 and 15 meters wide and up to 30 meters long.

Colonel Clifton B. Cates , commander of the 1st Marine Regiment, posted its 1st and 2nd Battalion along the west side of Alligator Creek . To defend the sandbank, he brought the 1st Special Weapons Battalion into position with two M3 guns , which should fire grapeshots . The divisional artillery available was directed to the area east of Alligator Creek and posted artillery monitors in the front defenses. Expecting the Japanese attack very soon, the commanders urged their soldiers throughout the day of August 20th to complete as many of the defenses as possible by nightfall.

When Colonel Ichiki learned of his patrol clash with that of the Allies, he dispatched an advance company to bury the fallen and later followed with the rest of his men. In a night march they came within a few miles of the enemy positions until around 4:30 a.m. on August 20, before Ichiki ordered a stop to prepare his units for an attack planned for the following night.

Struggles

Map of the Allied counterattack against the positions of the 28th Infantry Regiment

Shortly after midnight on August 20-21, most of the 28th Infantry Regiment reached the east bank of Alligator Creek, where they encountered Allied forces not so far from Henderson Field. Forward guards had already noticed the approach of the Japanese through "clinking" noises, voices and other noises and withdrew to the west bank of Alligator Creek. At around 1:30 a.m. Ichiki's troops began to fire on the west bank with machine guns and mortars , and a first group of around 100 men advanced across the sandbar against the Allied positions.

Machine gun fire and grape-shooting from the 37mm cannons killed most of the attackers as they crossed the sandbar. Some managed to advance to the positions of the Marines and force them into hand-to-hand combat, capturing some of the foremost posts. In addition, the Japanese barrage was able to take out some of the Allied machine gun crews. By deploying a reserve company of Marines, it was finally possible to repel the invading Japanese by around 2:30 a.m., killing most of the attackers who were still alive from this first wave.

Shortly thereafter, a new wave of around 150 to 200 Japanese attacked across the sandbank, but was also almost completely wiped out. At least one officer who survived this attack then advised Ichiki to break off the attack and to withdraw, which the latter refused.

Under cover of mortar barrages, Ichiki regrouped his remaining troops east of Alligator Creek. The Allies also responded with mortar fire, supported by 75-mm howitzers. The next wave of attacks took place around 5:00 am, in which the Japanese attacked the seaward flank of the Marines by wading through the shallow sea and advancing up the beach. Heavy machine gun and artillery fire also repulsed this attack and forced the Japanese back to the east side of Alligator Creek with heavy losses. Over the next few hours, both sides fired at each other at close range over Alligator Creek and the sandbar without launching new attacks.

Despite their heavy losses, Ichiki's forces continued to hold positions on the east bank of Alligator Creek, unwilling or unable to withdraw. At sunrise on August 21, the commanders of the Allied units met and discussed how to proceed, and they agreed to launch a counterattack. The 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment under Lt. Col. Lenard B. Cresswell crossed Alligator Creek inland and circled the 28th Infantry Regiment from the south and east to prevent its retreat. Then she began to push Ichiki's unit in front of her and into a coconut grove at the mouth of Alligator Creek.

Airplanes meanwhile moved to Henderson Field took off and caught Japanese people trying to flee along the beach. Later that afternoon, five landed M3 Stuart tanks attacked the trapped Japanese over the sandbar. They used both machine gun and grape fire and rolled over the bodies of both dead and living enemies who did not want to or could not clear the way. Major General Vandegrift wrote after the battle that the backs of the tanks looked like meat grinders after the attack.

Fallen soldiers from Ichiki's regiment lie on a sandbar in Alligator Creek, partly covered with sand by the tides

By 5:00 p.m. on August 21, the Japanese resistance at Alligator Creek ended completely. Colonel Ichiki was killed or seppuku during the fighting, depending on the source . As marines crossed the battlefield, some of them were shot at by wounded Japanese who had pretended to be dead, some of whom died and were wounded. Afterwards, the Marines shot or stabbed almost all Japanese bodies lying around, about 15 wounded and unconscious Japanese survived this action and were taken prisoner. 28 Japanese managed to get through to the parts of the 28th Infantry Regiment remaining at Taivu Point .

consequences

For the United States and its allies, the victory at Tenaru was an important psychological achievement, as it showed, after months of retreats and defeats across the Pacific and East Asia, that the Japanese could be defeated in a land battle. The battle was also one of the first cases in which the Allied soldiers realized that Japanese soldiers often refused to surrender and preferred to die fighting to the end. On this subject, General Vandegrift later remarked that he had never heard or read of this type of fight before.

The battle represented a significant psychological turning point for the Japanese as well. Until now, most Japanese soldiers have often considered themselves superior due to the many successes in the early phase of the war. By August 25, most of the surviving Japanese had reached the Japanese positions at Taivu Point and radioed the headquarters of the 17th Army in Rabaul with the news of the almost complete annihilation of the regiment. The Japanese high command responded by sending more troops to Guadalcanal to prepare a new attack on Henderson Field. About three weeks later, the Japanese attacked the Lunga perimeter again, but this time with stronger forces , leading to the Battle of Bloody Ridge .

presentation

The Battle of Tenaru is a crucial part of the biographical film Pride of the Marines , released in 1945 . In 2010 it was the climax of the first episode of the miniseries The Pacific . In this episode, however, the battle is presented differently than it really was. The fighting was highly dramatized for the audience and several Marines were made into heroes who would have killed over 200 Japanese during the battle.

Remarks

  1. ^ Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990 p. 147 and 681.
  2. Stanley Coleman Jersey: Hell's Island: The Untold Story of Guadalcanal. P. 209.
    Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, pp. 14-15.
  3. Each of the three naval battalions involved consisted of around 900 soldiers. In addition, these were reinforced by special weapons teams and divisional artillery.
  4. ^ A b Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990 p. 156 and 681. According to Frank, 41 soldiers were killed in the battle and three others were killed during a patrol in the vicinity.
  5. Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, p. 71.
  6. Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, p. 71. According to Smith, 38 soldiers died in the battle and three others were killed while on patrol in the vicinity.
  7. At this point in time there were already about 11,000 Allied soldiers on the island.
  8. ^ Frank O. Hough, Verle E. Ludwig and Henry I. Shaw Junior: Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal. Pp. 235-236.
  9. ^ Samuel Eliot Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 - February 1943. 1958, pp. 14-15.
  10. ^ John L. Zimmerman: The Guadalcanal Campaign. 1949, pp. 49-56.
    Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, pp. 11 and 16.
  11. ^ Henry I. Shaw: First Offensive: The Marine Campaign For Guadalcanal. 1992, p. 13.
    Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, pp. 16-17.
  12. Jump up ↑ John Miller Junior: Guadalcanal: The First Offensive. 1995, p. 96.
  13. Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, p. 88.
    David C. Evans: "The Struggle for Guadalcanal". The Japanese Navy in World War II: In the Words of Former Japanese Naval Officers. 1986, p. 158.
    Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990, pp. 141-143.
  14. The 28th Infantry Regiment was also called Ichiki Regiment after its commander and was part of the 7th Division set up on Hokkaido. The 4th Infantry Regiment was also called Aoba Regiment, after Aoba Castle in Sendai , Miyagi Prefecture , from which the majority of its soldiers came. (Gordon L. Rottman: Japanese Army in World War II: The South Pacific and New Guinea, 1942–1943. 2005, p. 52.) Ichiki's regiment was intended for the invasion and occupation of Midway, but after the failure of the latter on the return transport to Japan. Some sources claim that Ichiki's regiment was on Truk, after David C. Evans, who relies on the Japanese Admiral Tanaka Raizo , it was first brought to Guam after the lost Battle of Midway. Even before the order to move to the southern Solomon Islands, the soldiers of the regiment had been embarked to move them; the aim of this relocation was changed to Truk after the Allied landings on Guadalcanal.
  15. ^ Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990, pp. 143-144.
  16. ^ A b David C. Evans: "The Struggle for Guadalcanal". The Japanese Navy in World War II: In the Words of Former Japanese Naval Officers. 1986, p. 161.
  17. ^ Samuel B. Griffith: The Battle for Guadalcanal. 1963, pp. 98-99.
    Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, p. 31.
  18. The landed soldiers belonged mainly to the 1st Battalion of the regiment and mostly came from Asahikawa on Hokkaido. The commander was a Major Kuramoto. At Taivu Point, there was a Japanese outpost set up by naval personnel, whose crew of about 200 men supported Ichiki's unit with the landing.
  19. ^ Samuel B. Griffith: The Battle for Guadalcanal. 1963, pp. 99-100.
    Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, pp. 29, 43-44.
  20. ^ Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990, p. 148.
  21. a b Stanley Coleman Jersey: Hell's Island: The Untold Story of Guadalcanal. 2008, p. 205.
  22. ^ A b John L. Zimmerman: The Guadalcanal Campaign. 1949, p. 62.
  23. ^ Samuel B. Griffith: The Battle for Guadalcanal. 1963, p. 100.
    Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, p. 47.
  24. The fallen and wounded in this short battle are included in the total losses. One of the Japanese later succumbed to his injuries at Taivu Point. The Allied patrol was under the command of Captain Charles H. Brush, the Japanese was led by Captain Shibuya Yoshimi.
  25. ^ Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990, p. 149.
  26. ^ Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990, p. 150.
  27. ^ A b Eric Hammel: Carrier Clash: The Invasion of Guadalcanal & The Battle of the Eastern Solomons August 1942. 1999, p. 135.
  28. ^ John L. Zimmerman: The Guadalcanal Campaign. 1949, p. 67.
  29. ^ Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990, p. 151.
  30. ^ Samuel B. Griffith: The Battle for Guadalcanal. 1963, p. 102.
  31. ^ Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990, pp. 149 and 151.
    Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, p. 48.
  32. Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, p. 58.
  33. ^ Samuel B. Griffith: The Battle for Guadalcanal. 1963, p. 102.
    Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, pp. 58-59.
  34. ^ A b c Frank O. Hough, Verle E. Ludwig and Henry I. Shaw Junior: Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal. Pp. 290-291.
  35. Eric Hammel: Carrier Clash: The Invasion of Guadalcanal & The Battle of the Eastern Solomons August 1942. 1999, p. 137.
    Stanley Coleman Jersey: Hell's Island: The Untold Story of Guadalcanal. 2008, p. 210.
  36. ^ A b Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990, p. 153.
  37. ^ John L. Zimmerman: The Guadalcanal Campaign. 1949, p. 68.
  38. Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, pp. 62-63.
  39. ^ Samuel B. Griffith: The Battle for Guadalcanal. 1963, p. 103.
  40. Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, p. 63.
  41. ^ Samuel B. Griffith: The Battle for Guadalcanal. 1963, pp. 103-104.
    Eric Hammel: Carrier Clash: The Invasion of Guadalcanal & The Battle of the Eastern Solomons August 1942. 1999, p. 141.
  42. ^ A b John L. Zimmerman: The Guadalcanal Campaign. 1949, p. 69.
  43. ^ Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990, p. 154.
  44. ^ A b Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, p. 66.
  45. ^ Oscar E. Gilbert: Marine Tank Battles in the Pacific. 2001, pp. 42-43.
    Samuel B. Griffith: The Battle for Guadalcanal. 1963, p. 106.
    Stanley Coleman Jersey: Hell's Island: The Untold Story of Guadalcanal. 2008, p. 212.
  46. Some sources state that only four tanks were involved in the attack.
  47. Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, pp. 71-72.
    According to Smith, most of these prisoners of war later claimed that Colonel Ichiki died during the battle and did not commit suicide. After the battle, a wounded Japanese officer pretended to be dead and shot a nearby Marine with a pistol, seriously wounding him. Another Marine named Andy Poliny then shot this officer. Poliny later stated that he was convinced that this officer was Colonel Ichiki.
  48. ^ Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990, p. 156.
    According to Frank, in the official Japanese history of World War II, the Senshi Sōsho reports that Colonel Ichiki committed ritual suicide. However, a Japanese survivor testified that he last saw Ichiki attacking the Allied positions.
  49. Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. 2000, pp. 43 and 73.
  50. ^ Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990, p. 157.
  51. ^ Samuel B. Griffith: The Battle for Guadalcanal. 1963, p. 107.
  52. ^ Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. 1990, p. 158.
  53. Mark Dilonno: HBO series illuminates NJ experience Marine's book on World War II. February 21, 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2012.

literature

  • David C. Evans: "The Struggle for Guadalcanal". The Japanese Navy in World War II: In the Words of Former Japanese Naval Officers. 2nd edition, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1986, ISBN 0-87021-316-4 .
  • Richard Frank: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. Random House, New York 1990, ISBN 0-394-58875-4 .
  • Oscar E. Gilbert: Marine Tank Battles in the Pacific. Da Capo Press, 2001, ISBN 1-58097-050-8 .
  • Samuel B. Griffith: The Battle for Guadalcanal. University of Illinois Press, Champaign, Illinois 1963, ISBN 0-252-06891-2 .
  • Eric Hammel: Carrier Clash: The Invasion of Guadalcanal & The Battle of the Eastern Solomons August 1942. Zenith Press, St. Paul, Minnesota 1999, ISBN 0-7603-2052-7 .
  • Stanley Coleman Jersey: Hell's Island: The Untold Story of Guadalcanal. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Texas 2008, ISBN 1-58544-616-5 .
  • Samuel Eliot Morison : The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 - February 1943. Volume 5 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1958, ISBN 0-316-58305-7 .
  • Gordon L. Rottman : Japanese Army in World War II: The South Pacific and New Guinea, 1942–1943. Osprey Publishing, Oxford and New York 2005, ISBN 1-84176-870-7 .
  • Michael S. Smith: Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. Presido Press, New York 2000, ISBN 0-7434-6321-8 .

Web links

Coordinates: 9 ° 25 ′ 19.8 ″  S , 160 ° 4 ′ 0.5 ″  E