Pacifica Military History Sample Chapters 1
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Pacifica Military History Sample Chapters 1 WELCOME TO Pacifica Military History FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS *** The 28 sample chapters in this free document are drawn from books written or co-written by noted military historian Eric Hammel. All of the books are featured on the Pacifca Military History website http://www.PacificaMilitary.com where the books are for sale direct to the public. Each sample chapter in this file is preceded by a line or two of information about the book's current status and availability. Most are available in print and all the books represented in this collection are available in Kindle editions. Eric Hammel has also written and compiled a number of chilling combat pictorials, which are not featured here due to space restrictions. For more information and links to the pictorials, please visit his personal website, Eric Hammel’s Books. All of Eric Hammel's books that are currently available can be found at http://www.EricHammelBooks.com with direct links to Amazon.com purchase options, This html document comes in its own executable (exe) file. You may keep it as long as you like, but you may not print or copy its contents. You may, however, pass copies of the original exe file along to as many people as you want, and they may pass it along too. The sample chapters in this free document are all available for free viewing at Eric Hammel's Books. *** Copyright © 2009 by Eric Hammel All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be mailed to: Permissions, Pacifica Military History, 1149 Grand Teton Drive, Pacifica, California 94044 *** Note: The following article is excerpted from the book 76 HOURS: The Invasion of Tarawa, which is available only in an Amazon.com Kindle edition. Pacifica Military History Sample Chapters 2 THE THIRD DAY ON RED-3 by Eric Hammel & John E. Lane Copyright © 1985 by Eric M. Hammel and John E. Lane. Tarawa, November 22, 1943. The situation on Beach Red-3, the 2d Marine Division's left flank on Betio's northern shore, had remained unaltered for a day-and-a-half. Major Henry "Jim" Crowe's 2d Battalion, 8th Marines, had been pulverized in the initial landing and subsequent stalemate. Company F, which was holding a ten-yard-deep perimeter along the coconut-log seawall, on the battalion left flank, could barely muster enough able bodies to man a platoon. Every one of its officers had been wounded. Company G had been largely broken up to fill gaps and plug holes in the thin battle line. Company E had fared best. It had advanced on D-day to a limit of seventy-five yards inland. Casualties had been heavy, but Company E was still an organization. Major Robert Ruud's 3d Battalion, 8th, had also landed on D-day to reinforce Crowe's mauled battalion, but it had been blasted apart even before reaching the beach. Scores of Ruud's Marines had been killed or wounded wading to Red-3 through the fire-swept water, and the remainder of the battalion was still sorting itself out, still forming and reforming into pick-up squads and platoons wherever a lieutenant or sergeant or private could persuade enough Marines to sit still long enough to get together. No gains had been made on Red-3 throughout November 21, the second day on Betio. Crowe's Marines had plugged away at the incredible defenses in depth on Red-3, had probably killed scores or even hundreds of Japanese. But the major uncommitted Japanese combat units were to Crowe's left, safely out of the battle and therefore a huge reserve that could be fed into the battle at will against the Marines struggling to expand the tenuous perimeter on Red-3. No matter how many of the enemy they killed, the Marines on Red-3 had to constantly face relatively fresh reinforcements. It was all the Marines could do to hold their meager gains. Between 0700 and 0720 on D+3, U.S. Navy battleships standing well off Betio fired their 14- and 16-inch guns at targets ranging from the eastern end of the island to within five hundred yards of Crowe's lines on Red-3. Next, U.S. Navy carrier aircraft pummeled the area for thirty minutes. Between 0830 and 0850, the battleships fired again. Then there was another air strike. The battleships fired again from 0930 to 0950, and then there was yet another air strike. And then the battleships fired one last time between 1030 to 1050. The goal was to destroy the Japanese reserve manpower pool and resources in the eastern half of Betio. * Early on D+2, Maj Jim Crowe issued general orders calling for an all-out assault against the defensive complex on his left flank below the Burns-Philp wharf. The complex, consisting primarily of the large covered bombproof and two supporting pillboxes, had stymied F and K companies for nearly forty-eight hours and had barred the way to the wharf and the entire eastern end of Betio. After spending nearly all of D+1 preparing the way, the two badly understrength rifle companies and assorted mixed units under Maj Bill Chamberlin were ready to go. The remnant of F Company drew the steel pillbox covering the wharf and the northeast corner of the bombproof. G Company was in support. A short distance to the south, K Company, supported by two 37mm antitank guns and its own 60mm mortars, was to hit the coconut-log pillbox guarding the south and southeast portions of the bombproof. Assault teams from the most Pacifica Military History Sample Chapters 3 successful unit would take on the bombproof itself. There were no plans for further advances by any of the units on Red-3; they would be issued when the bombproof fell. If the bombproof fell. Preparations for the assault began at about 0930, when most of the machine guns along the front, particularly those supporting F Company, were shifted to what was hoped would be better advantage. At the same time, Marines began cleaning their rifles and automatic weapons in relays; the crud of the two days of battle had fouled many weapons to the point of unreliability. Also at 0930, the 60mm mortars supporting K Company were unleashed against the coconut-log emplacement and the area around it. No fire was directed against the covered bunker as that would have been a waste of precious ammunition. One round from a K Company mortar hit an uncharted ammunition dump, which blew with a loud bang. The dump, to the amazement of all, had been in the very emplacement that held up the advance for two full days. Machine-gun fire from this quarter ceased to be a problem. While the infantry’s preparations continued, Colorado, the lone surviving medium tank of 1stLt Lou Largey’s platoon, slowly advanced through the riflemen huddled along the beach to a position behind the easternmost extremity of F Company’s seawall line. Largey directed his 75mm gun against the steel pillbox, and a quick succession of direct hits flattened the position, giving F Company free reign over the area. At 1000, moments after Colorado destroyed the steel pillbox, the assault on the bombproof was canceled. Rather, F Company was to assault eastward to outflank the defensive keypoint. Then the main event would commence. The haggard remnants of F Company had only thirty yards to take, the same thirty yards they had conceded the day before to consolidate their position on the beach. A lot had happened to weaken and demoralize F Company in two days of battle, so it took Capt Martin Barrett several hours just to get his troops into position. F Company struck at 1300 and immediately met with ferocious defensive fire from infantry positions along the beach and just across the seawall. Although small gains were achieved, it was decided that the assault on the bombproof would have to be made without the added benefit of flank control. * As the covered bunker was the main objective in his sector of Red-3, Maj Bill Chamberlin was more or less left with the task of organizing the proceedings. With F Company bogged down at the seawall and K Company engaged on the bombproof’s western flank, it was impossible to draw upon any organic infantry formations for the assault. Chamberlin began scrounging. One of the first men nabbed in the major’s roundup was TSgt Norm Hatch, the only combat movie cameramen on Red-3 (and the only one on Betio through D-day and D+1). Using his rank and considerable bulk to bolster his native talents for organization, Hatch helped Major Chamberlin gather a mixed group of stray riflemen and specialists. Once organized, the group huddled below the seawall for a quick briefing. Chamberlin pointed to the crest of the bombproof and told the men, “When I yell ‘Follow me!’ you follow me up that bombproof.” Hunched up against the wall with Technical Sergeant Hatch, Chamberlin watched and waited for a few moments. The fire did not slacken, and the scene changed not one jot. The major shrugged and, without looking back, rose to his feet and yelled “Follow me!” Norm Hatch raced with him to the top. At the crest of the mound, the major and the cameraman—who was carrying his movie camera—stared in amazement as a squad of Japanese broke into the open and spotted them Pacifica Military History Sample Chapters 4 silhouetted against the smokey skyline.