Up the Slot:Marines in the Central Solomonsby Major Charles D. Melson, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret)

peration Watchtowerwas the codename as-signed by the JointChiefs of Staff for thereduction of the Japan-

ese stronghold at Rabaul, on theeasternmost tip of New Britain Is-land in the Bismarck Archipelago.The plan called for the South PacificArea forces of Vice Admiral RobertL. Ghormley (relieved in November1942 by Vice Admiral William F.Halsey) to move up the chain of theSolomon Islands toward Rabaul,beginning with the Guadalcanallandings on 7 August 1942. In De-cember that year, patrol flights tak-ing off from Henderson Field onGuadalcanal and from the decks ofU.S. fleet carriers in the watersaround the Solomon Islands discov-ered the Japanese hard at work on awell-camouflaged airfield at Mundaon the northern end of New Geor-gia. This new field posed a definite

On the Cover:The approach to Rendova Harbor as seenfrom the deck of an LST carrying Marinesashore. It sails through the narrow RenardEntrance with Rendova Peak in the back-ground and the Lever Brothers' landing atthe right just around the bend. (MarineCorps Historical Collection)

At left: The objective of the CentralSolomons campaign was the Japanese airfieldon Munda Point, which, in friendly hands,would be a stepping-stone in the conquest ofthe Solomon Islands chain. The airfield runswest to east and a taxi-way snakes throughboth sides of the field. Kokengolo Hill is onifs north side. This photograph records theresults of a Marine dive-bomber attack,which resulted in a hit on a gas or ammuni-tion dump in the center of the picture. (De-partment of Defense Photo [USMCI 55454)

threat to the Allies still fighting towrest Guadalcanal from the enemy.It had to be taken, or at the veryleast, neutralized. U.S. pilots alsoreported another field being com-pleted on Kolombangara across theKula Gulf from New Georgia.

In response to these potentialthreats, Operation Toenails, land-ings in the New Georgia Islands inthe Central Solomons with the cap-ture of Munda as the primary objec-tive, were planned, scheduled, andmounted. The first step leading tothe invasion of New Georgia wasthe occupation of the Russell Is-lands, 65 miles northwest ofGuadalcanal, which would serve asa forward base on which airfieldswould be constructed. OperationCleanslate on 21 February 1943 sawthe Marine 3d Raider Battalion(Lieutenant Colonel Harry B. Liv-ersedge) land on Pavuvu, and the43d Infantry Division (less a regi-mental combat team) invade Banika.Both landings were unopposed. The11th Defense Battalion landed onBanika the same day and had itsguns in place by noon. By 15 April,Allied aircraft began operating fromthe first of two new airstrips theSeabees constructed on Banika.

The primary objective of Opera-tion Toenails was the capture of theairfield on Munda in the New Geor-gia group. Preliminary landings tosupport the main effort were to bemade at Wickham Anchorage onVangunu Island, Viru Harbor, andthe Bairoko Harbor areas of NewGeorgia. Rendova Island andsmaller islands nearby, acrossBlanche Channel to the south ofNew Georgia, were to be occupied

next and used as supply bases andalso as artillery positions for deliv-ering supporting fire for the mainattack on Munda. The plan calledfor ground forces then to drive theJapanese into the Munda Pointarea and once they were there, Al-lied air, artillery, and tanks couldsupport the main landing. Theenemy "would be annihilated orforced into a costly withdrawal,"according to the Allied concept ofthe operation.

For Toenails, Rear Admiral Rich-mond Kelly Turner, AmphibiousForce Commander, divided his as-signed forces into two task groups:Western Force, which he would per-sonally command, was to seize Ren-dova, Munda, and Bairoko. TheEastern Force, under Rear AdmiralGeorge H. Fort, also an experiencedamphibious force commander, wasdirected to capture Wickham An-chorage, Segi Point, and Viru Har-bor. Turner's ground commanderwas Army Major General John H.Hester, who headed the New Geor-gia Occupation Force (43d InfantryDivision; Marine 9th Defense Bat-talion; the 136th Field Artillery Bat-talion from the 37th Infantry Divi-sion; the 24th Naval ConstructionBattalion (Seabees); Company 0 ofthe 4th Marine Raider Battalion; the1st Commando, Fiji Guerrillas; andassigned service troops). Fort'sEastern Force included ArmyColonel Daniel H. Hundley's Army103d Regimental Combat Team(RCT), less a battalion with Hester;Companies N, P. and Q of the 4thRaider Battalion; elements of the70th Coast Artillery (Antiaircraft)Battalion; parts of the 20th Seabees;

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and service units. Colonel Harry B.Liversedge's 1st Marine RaiderRegiment (less the 2d, 3d, and 4thBattalions) was designated readyreserve for the operation, while theArmy's 37th Infantry Division (lessthe 129th RCT and most of the148th RCT) was held in general re-serve on Guadalcanal ready tomove on five days' notice.

Hester's corps headquarters wasformed by taking half of the 43d Di-vision staff, the rest remaining withthe Assistant Division Commander,Brigadier General Leonard F. Wing,USA. Over 30,000 men were in theunits assigned to the New GeorgiaOccupation Force, the majority ofwhich were Army troops, Marineand Seabee units, patrol-torpedo(PT) boat squadrons, and naval

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base personnel. Marines from the10th and 11th Defense battalionswere in reserve as reinforcements.

Defending the New Georgia Is-land Group were the Southeast De-tachment of Major General NoboruSasaki and the 8th Combined SpecialNaval Landing Force under Rear Ad-miral Minoru Ota (later to die ascommander of Japanese navalforces at Okinawa); subordinateunits included the 13th Infantry Reg-iment, 229th Infantry Regiment, Kure6th Special Naval Landing Force, andthe Yokosuka 7th Special Naval Land-ing Force. New Georgia and Kolom-bangara, and enemy outposts onRendova, Santa Isabel, Choiseul,and Vella Lavella, were strongly de-fended. The number of Japanese oc-cupying the outlying islands was

Col Harry B. Liversedge commanded the1st Marine Raider Regiment and the XIVCorps Northern Landing Group. His mixedArmy and Marine command was used asinfantry rather than in the special opera-tions role for which the raiders had beentrained and equipped. Isolated from themain attack on Munda, he had to commithis forces to supporting operations.

Marine Corps Historical Collection

LtCol William J. Scheyer, third from the left, was the 9th De-fense Battalion commander. He is shown at his New Georgiacommand post with Col John W. Thomason, Jr., second from the

Marine Corps Historical Collection

left, from Admiral Nimitz' CinCPac headquarters at Pearl Har-bor, and Ma] Zedford W Burriss of the 10th Defense Battalionon the left.

comparatively small. The forces onKolombangara were "estimated" at10,000 troops while those on NewGeorgia were figured to be between4,000 and 5,000.

1st and 2d Marine Aircraft Wingsquadrons based in the Russellsand Guadalcanal under the controlof Brigadier General Francis P.Mulcahy's 2d Marine Aircraft Wingforward echelon staff would pro-vide air support for the operation.The staging areas for the attack onNew Georgia were Guadalcanaland the Russell Islands, where the

Marine 4th Base Depot, com-manded by Colonel George F.Stockes, established a supply dumpfor XIV Corps.

In mid-Spring 1943, reconnais-sance parties from the units slatedto take part in the New Georgiacampaign began patrolling in theareas designated for landings.Solomon Islanders acted as guidesand scouts led by British residentadministrators and Australian navyintelligence personnel, who, asCoastwatchers, hid in the hills inthe enemy rear areas. From here

they radioed information aboutJapanese troop, air, and naval sight-ings and movements to Allied lis-tening stations. With the exceptionof two or three members from eachpatrol party who remained behindto arrange for guides and to givehoming signals to Allied vessels ontheir approach, all patrols returnedto their parent units by 25 June1943. For these individuals, thecampaign was already underway.

The Solomon Islands were someof the least known and underde-veloped areas in the world. John

The Central Solomons campaign was launched by the raiders atViru Harbor before the landings at Rendova and the DragonsPeninsula. A burial detail renders honors to those Marines whowere killed in action. The Marines here are clothed in both the

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familiar sage-green herringbone twill and camouflage utility uni-forms which were worn during the campaign by the raiders. Thefiring squad is armed with Garand M-1 rifles.

Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 57581

Miller, Jr., himself a former Marine, lands had much in common, heveteran of Guadalcanal, and after went on, and "much that is corn-the war an Army historian, consid- mon is unpleasant." The islandsered it "one of the worst possible were mountainous, jungle covered,places" to fight a war. All the is- pest-ridden, and possessed a hot-

Allied landings were met by ground and air defense, as seen in this photograph takenfrom the LISS Algorab (AKA 8) on D-Day, 30 June 1943. Japanese were bombing Ren-dova Harbor in the background while the transport group moves to sea under "ConditionRed." During this raid the flagship USS McCawley (AP 10) was hit, but Allied aircover kept most of the enemy aircraft away.

Marine Corps Historical Collection

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wet tropical climate. There were noroads, major ports, or developedfacilities. New Georgia was all ofthis, and more.

The New Georgia campaignbegan for the 1st Marine RaiderRegiment when Admiral Turner re-ceived a request for support and/orrescue from the resident coast-watcher at Segi Point, Donald G.Kennedy. The Japanese were mov-ing into his base area where the Al-lies planned to build an auxiliaryfighter strip. Responding to the re-quest for help, Turner loaded Lieu-tenant Colonel Michael S. Currin's4th Raider Battalion on high speeddestroyer transports (APDs) andsent it north to Segi Point. CaptainMalcolm N. McCarthy met theraiders in a dugout canoe to guidethe ships in. McCarthy felt certainthat Company P's commander, Cap-tain Anthony Walker, would have

Under The Southern CrossMarine Troop List

I Marine Amphibious Corps** Marine Transport Squadron 253 2d Separate Wire Platoon*Forward Echelon flight Detachment 3d Special Weapons Battalion**Medical Battalion Marine Fighter Squadron 121* 4th Defense Battalion"

Company A Marine Fighter Squadron 122* Headquarters & Service BatteryCompany B Marine Fighter Squadron 123** 155mm Artillery Group

Motor Transport Battalion Marine Fighter Squadron 1 24k" 90mm Antiaircraft GroupCompany A Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 132* Special Weapons Group

Signal Battalion Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 141 *** 9th Defense Battalion*1st Medical Battalion** MarineTorpedo-Bomber Squadron 143'" i-leadquarters & Service Battery

Detachment Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 144* 155mm Artillery Group1st Marine Raider Regiment* Marine Fighter Squadron 214*** 90mm Antiaircraft Group

Headquarters Company Marine Fighter Squadron 215*** Special Weapons Group1st Raider Battalion Marine Fighter Squadron 221 *** Tank Platoon

Headquarters Company Marine Fighter Squadron 222" 10th Defense Battalion*Company A Right Detachment Tank PlatoonCompany B Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 232** 11th Defense Battalion*Company C Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 233*** Battery ECompany D Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 234*** Battery K

4th Raider Battalion Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 235** Marine Scout Bomber Squadron 236**Headquarters Company Flight Detachment Marine Night Fighter Squadron 531*

Tank Platoon Company N 2d Platoon, Battery AMarine Aircraft Group 25*** Company 0 4th Base Depot"

Headquarters Company PMarine Service Squadron 25 Company Q *Nefl. Georgia onlyMarine Transport Squadron 152 2d Marine Aircraft Wing* **Vella Lavella onlyMarine Transport Squadron 153 Forward Echelon ***New Georgia and Vella Lavella

his men's weapons at the ready, and"I kept hollering, 'Hold Your Fire!"

Currin went ashore with part ofhis headquarters and Companies 0and P. followed by Army and Navyforces to begin the airstrip. After

linking up with Kennedy, Currinturned his attention to his initialgoal, the seizure of the protectedanchorage at Viru Harbor. He hadto accomplish this prior to the ar-rival of the invasion force on 30

June, and on the night of 27 June, heand his Marines set out by rubberboats across the mouths of theAkuru and Choi rivers for Viru.

After an eight-mile paddle, theraiders arrived at Regi Village earlyon 28 June. Led by native guides,Currin began the approach marchto Viru Harbor. Fighting a stubborncombination of terrain, weather,and Japanese patrols, the raiderswere short of their objective on 30June. Meanwhile, the landing forcearrived on schedule and stood offthe beach after taking fire fromJapanese coastal defense guns.

The raiders launched their attackat 0900, 1 July, to seize Tetemaraand Tombe Villages. CaptainWalker attacked Tombe with part ofhis company, while the remainderattacked Tetemara with First Lieu-tenant Raymond L. Luckel's Com-pany 0. After six hours of fightingand a Japanese counterattack, theobjectives were captured. SergeantAnthony P. Coulis' Company P ma-chine gun squad finished moppingup and searched for food and

The approach to Rendova Harbor as seen from the deck of an LSD carrying Marinesashore. It sails through the narrow Renard Entrance with Rendova Peak in the backgroundand the Lever Brothers' landing at the right just around the bend.

Marine Corps Historical Collection

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