Battle of the Tenaru
Battle of the Tenaru | |
---|---|
Part of the Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands | |
Result | Allied victory |
28th Infantry Regiment
- Ichiki Detachment
The Battle of the Tenaru, sometimes called the Battle of the Ilu River or the Battle of Alligator Creek, was a land battle between the Imperial Japanese Army and Allied ground forces that took place on 21 August 1942, on the island of Guadalcanal during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The battle was the first major Japanese land offensive during the Guadalcanal campaign.
In the battle, U.S. Marines, under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, repulsed an assault by the "First Element" of the "Ichiki" Regiment, under the command of Japanese Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki. The Marines were defending the Lunga perimeter, which guarded Henderson Field, which had been captured by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August. Ichiki's unit was sent to Guadalcanal, in response to the Allied landings there, with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces off the island.
Underestimating the strength of Allied forces on Guadalcanal, which at the time numbered about 11,000 personnel, Ichiki's unit conducted a nighttime frontal assault on Marine positions at Alligator Creek on the east side of the Lunga perimeter. Jacob Vouza, a Coastwatcher scout, warned the Americans of the impending attack minutes before Ichiki's assault. The Japanese were defeated with heavy losses. The Marines counterattacked Ichiki's surviving troops after daybreak, killing many more. About 800 of the original 917 of the Ichiki Regiment's First Element died.
The battle was the first of three separate major land offensives by the Japanese in the Guadalcanal campaign. The Japanese realized after Tenaru that Allied forces on Guadalcanal were much greater in number than originally estimated and subsequently sent larger forces to the island in their attempts to retake Henderson Field.
Background
During the
Taking the Japanese by surprise, the Allied landing forces accomplished their initial objectives of
The Marines ashore on Guadalcanal initially concentrated on forming a defense perimeter around the airfield, moving the landed supplies within the perimeter, and completing construction of the airfield.
In response to the Allied landings on Guadalcanal, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters assigned the Imperial Japanese Army's 17th Army, a corps-sized command based at Rabaul and under the command of Lieutenant-General Harukichi Hyakutake, with the task of retaking Guadalcanal from Allied forces. The 17th Army, then heavily involved with the Japanese campaign in New Guinea, had only a few units available to send to the southern Solomons area. Of these units, the 35th Infantry Brigade under Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi was at Palau, the 4th (Aoba) Infantry Regiment under Major General Yumio Nasu was in the Philippines, and the 28th (Ichiki) Infantry Regiment, under the command of Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki, was at sea en route to Japan from Guam.[13] The different units began to move towards Guadalcanal immediately, but Ichiki's regiment, being the closest, arrived first.[14]
An aerial reconnaissance of the U.S. Marine positions on Guadalcanal on 12 August by one of the senior Japanese staff officers from Rabaul sighted few U.S. troops in the open and no large ships in the waters nearby, convincing Imperial Headquarters that the Allies had withdrawn the majority of their troops. In fact, none of the Allied troops had been withdrawn.[15] Hyakutake issued orders for an advance unit of 900 troops from Ichiki's regiment to be landed on Guadalcanal by fast warship to immediately attack the Allied position and reoccupy the airfield area at Lunga Point. The remaining personnel in Ichiki's regiment would be delivered to Guadalcanal by slower transport later. At the major Japanese naval base at Truk, which was the staging point for delivery of Ichiki's regiment to Guadalcanal, Colonel Ichiki was briefed that 2,000–10,000 U.S. troops were holding the Guadalcanal beachhead and that he should, "avoid frontal attacks".[16]
Ichiki, together with 916 of his regiment's 2,300 troops, designated the "First Element" and carrying seven days' supply of food, were delivered to Taivu Point, about 35 kilometers (22 mi) east of Lunga Point, by six destroyers at 01:00 on 19 August.
Prelude
Reports from patrols of Solomon Islanders, including retired Sergeant Major Jacob C. Vouza of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Constabulary, under the direction of Martin Clemens, a coastwatcher and officer in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force (BSIPDF), along with Allied intelligence from other sources, indicated that Japanese troops were present east of Lunga Point. To investigate further, on 19 August, a Marine patrol of 60 men and four native scouts, commanded by U.S. Marine Captain Charles H. Brush, marched east from the Lunga perimeter.[22][23]
At the same time, Ichiki sent forward his own patrol of 38 men, led by his communications officer, to reconnoiter Allied troop dispositions and establish a forward communications base. Around 12:00 on 19 August at Koli Point, Brush's patrol sighted and ambushed the Japanese patrol, killing all but five of its members, who escaped back to Taivu. The Marines suffered three dead and three wounded.[24]
Papers discovered on the bodies of some of the Japanese officers in the patrol revealed that they belonged to a much larger unit and showed detailed intelligence of U.S. Marine positions around Lunga Point.[25] The papers did not detail exactly how large the Japanese force was or whether an attack was imminent.[26]
Now anticipating an attack from the east, the U.S. Marine forces, under the direction of Vandegrift, prepared their defenses on the east side of the Lunga perimeter. Several official U.S. military histories identify the location of the eastern defenses of the Lunga perimeter as emplaced on the
Along the west side of Alligator Creek, Colonel
Learning of the annihilation of his patrol, Ichiki quickly sent forward a company to bury the bodies and followed with the rest of his troops, marching throughout the night of 19 August and finally halting at 04:30 on 20 August within a few miles of the U.S. Marine positions on the east side of Lunga Point. At this location, he prepared his troops to attack the Allied positions that night.[32]
Battle
Just after midnight on 21 August, Ichiki's main body of troops arrived at the east bank of Alligator Creek and were surprised to encounter the Marine positions, not having expected to find U.S. forces so far from the airfield.[33] Nearby U.S. Marine listening posts heard "clanking" sounds, human voices, and other noises before withdrawing to the west bank of the creek. At 01:30 Ichiki's force opened fire with machine guns and mortars on the Marine positions on the west bank of the creek, and a first wave of about 100 Imperial soldiers charged across the sandbar towards the Marines.[34]
Marine machine gun fire and canister rounds from the 37 mm cannons killed most of the Japanese soldiers as they crossed the sandbar. A few of the Japanese soldiers reached the Marine positions, engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the defenders, and captured a few of the Marine front-line emplacements. Japanese machine gun and rifle fire from the east side of the creek killed several of the Marine machine-gunners.[35] A company of Marines, held in reserve just behind the front line, attacked and killed most, if not all, of the remaining Japanese soldiers that had breached the front line defenses, ending Ichiki's first assault about an hour after it had begun.[36][37]
At 02:30 a second wave of about 150 to 200 Japanese troops again attacked across the sandbar and was again almost completely wiped out. At least one of the surviving Imperial officers from this attack advised Ichiki to withdraw his remaining forces, but Ichiki declined to do so.[38]
As Ichiki's troops regrouped east of the creek, Japanese mortars bombarded the Marine lines.[39] The Marines answered with 75 mm artillery barrages and mortar fire into the areas east of the creek.[40] At about 05:00, another wave of Japanese troops attacked, this time attempting to flank the Marine positions by wading through the ocean surf and attacking up the beach into the west bank area of the creek bed. The Marines responded with heavy machine gun and artillery fire along the beachfront area, again causing heavy casualties among Ichiki's attacking troops and causing them to abandon their attack and withdraw back to the east bank of the creek.[41][42] For the next couple of hours, the two sides exchanged rifle, machine gun, and artillery fire at close range across the sandbar and creek.[43]
In spite of the heavy losses his force had suffered, Ichiki's troops remained in place on the east bank of the creek, either unable or unwilling to withdraw.[44] At daybreak on 21 August, the commanders of the U.S. Marine units facing Ichiki's troops conferred on how best to proceed, and they decided to counterattack.[45] The 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, under Cresswell, crossed Alligator Creek upstream from the battle area, enveloped Ichiki's troops from the south and east, cutting off any avenue for retreat, and began to "compress" Ichiki's troops into a small area in a coconut grove on the east bank of the creek.[43]
Aircraft from Henderson Field
By 17:00 on 21 August, Japanese resistance had ended. Colonel Ichiki was either killed during the final stages of the battle, or performed ritual suicide (seppuku) shortly thereafter, depending on the account. As curious Marines began to walk around looking at the battlefield, some wounded Japanese troops opened fire, killing or wounding several of them. Thereafter, Marines shot and/or bayoneted any Japanese soldier lying on the ground who moved. About 15 injured and unconscious Japanese soldiers were taken prisoner.[47][a] About 30 of the Japanese troops escaped to rejoin their regiment's rear echelon at Taivu Point.[48] Overall, about 800 Japanese soldiers were killed during the fighting.[49][50][51]
Aftermath
For the U.S. and its allies, the victory in the Tenaru battle was psychologically significant in that Allied soldiers, after a series of defeats by Japanese Army units throughout the Pacific and east Asia, now knew that they could defeat the Imperial Armies in a land battle.[52] The battle set another precedent that would continue throughout the war in the Pacific, which was the reluctance of defeated Japanese soldiers to surrender and their efforts to continue killing Allied soldiers, even as the Japanese soldiers lay dying on the battlefield. On this subject Vandegrift remarked, "I have never heard or read of this kind of fighting. These people refuse to surrender. The wounded wait until men come up to examine them [...] and blow themselves and the other fellow to pieces with a hand grenade."[53] Robert Leckie, a Guadalcanal veteran, recalls the aftermath of the battle in his book Helmet for My Pillow, "Our regiment had killed something like nine hundred of them. Most lay in clusters or heaps before the gun pits commanding sandspit, as though they had not died singly but in groups. Moving among them were the souvenir hunters, picking their way delicately as though fearful of booby traps, while stripping the bodies of their possessions."[54]
The battle was psychologically significant in that Imperial soldiers believed in their own invincibility and superior spirit. By 25 August, most of Ichiki's survivors reached Taivu Point and radioed Rabaul to tell 17th Army headquarters that Ichiki's detachment had been "almost annihilated at a point short of the airfield". Reacting with disbelief to the news, Japanese Army headquarters officers proceeded with plans to deliver additional troops to Guadalcanal to reattempt to capture Henderson Field.[55] The next major Japanese attack on the Lunga perimeter occurred at the Battle of Edson's Ridge about three weeks later, employing a significantly larger force than had been employed at Tenaru, and coming much closer to a victory.[56]
Depictions
The Battle of the Tenaru is a key part of the 1945 biographical film about
In 2010, the battle became the climax of the first episode of Steven Spielberg's and Tom Hanks' miniseries, The Pacific.[58]
Notes
- Senshi Sōshō) says that Ichiki performed seppuku, but one Japanese survivor's account states that he was last seen advancing towards the U.S. lines.
References
Citations
- ^ Smith, Bloody Ridge, pp. 14–15; Jersey, Hell's Islands, p. 209. There were approximately 900 Marines in each of the three participating battalions plus additional support troops such as the special weapons unit and the divisional artillery.
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, pp. 147, 681.
- ^ Smith, Bloody Ridge, p. 71. Smith says 38 were killed in the battle in addition to the three killed in the Brush patrol.
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, pp. 156, 681. Frank says 41 were killed in the battle in addition to the three killed in the Brush patrol.
- ^ Smith, Bloody Ridge, p. 73. Smith says 128 of the original 917 total complement of the 1st echelon survived, meaning 774 were killed after subtracting the 15 captured from the total lost in the battle.
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, pp. 156, 681.
- ^ Hogue, Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal, pp. 235–236.
- ^ Morison, Struggle for Guadalcanal, pp. 14–15.
- ^ Zimmerman, The Guadalcanal Campaign, pp. 49–56.
- ^ Smith, Bloody Ridge, pp. 11, 16.
- ^ Shaw, First Offensive, p. 13.
- ^ Smith, Bloody Ridge, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Miller, The First Offensive, p. 96
- Raizo Tanaka, in Evans' book, states that he dropped off Ichiki's regiment at Guam after the Battle of Midway. Ichiki's regiment was subsequently loaded on ships for transport elsewhere but were rerouted to Truk after the Allied landings on Guadalcanal.
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, pp. 143–144.
- ^ Evans, Japanese Navy, p. 161; Griffith, Battle for Guadalcanal, pp. 98–99; Smith, Bloody Ridge, p. 31.
- Asahikawa, Hokkaidō. At Taivu Point was an Imperial outpost with about 200 naval personnel who assisted with the unloading of Ichiki's forces from the destroyers.
- ^ Spector, Eagle Against the Sun, p. 496
- ^ Gilbert, Marine Tank Battles in The Pacific, p. 41
- ^ Griffith, Battle for Guadalcanal, pp. 99–100; Smith, Bloody Ridge, pp. 29, 43–44.
- The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936-1945. New York: Random House. p. 366.
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 148; Jersey, Hell's Islands, p. 205.
- ^ Zimmerman, The Guadalcanal Campaign, p. 62.
- ^ Griffith, Battle for Guadalcanal, p. 100; Jersey, Hell's Islands, p. 205; Smith, Bloody Ridge, p. 47. The U.S. and Japanese soldiers killed in this engagement are included in the total casualty figures for the Tenaru battle. Captain Yoshimi Shibuya was the leader of the Japanese patrol. One of the five Japanese survivors later died of his wounds at Taivu Point.
- ^ Zimmerman, The Guadalcanal Campaign, p. 62
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 149.
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 150.
- ^ a b Hammel, Carrier Clash, p. 135.
- ^ Zimmerman, The Guadalcanal Campaign, p. 67.
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 151
- ^ Griffith, Battle for Guadalcanal, p. 102.
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, pp. 149, 151; Smith, Bloody Ridge, p. 48.
- ^ Smith, Bloody Ridge, p. 58.
- ^ Griffith, Battle for Guadalcanal, p. 102; Hough, Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal, p. 290; Smith, Bloody Ridge, pp. 58–59.
- ^ Jersey, Hell's Islands, p. 210; Hammel, Carrier Clash, p. 137.
- ^ Zimmerman, The Guadalcanal Campaign, p. 68.
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 153.
- ^ Smith, Bloody Ridge, pp. 62–63.
- ^ Griffith, Battle for Guadalcanal, p. 103.
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 153; Smith, Bloody Ridge, p. 63.
- ^ Griffith, Battle for Guadalcanal, pp. 103–104.
- ^ Hammel, Carrier Clash, p. 141.
- ^ a b Zimmerman, The Guadalcanal Campaign, p. 69.
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 154; Smith, Bloody Ridge, p. 66.
- ^ Hough, Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal, p. 290.
- ^ Gilbert, Marine Tank Battles, pp. 42–43; Griffith, Battle for Guadalcanal, p. 106; Jersey, Hell's Islands, p. 212; Smith, Bloody Ridge, p. 66.
- ^ Smith, Bloody Ridge, pp. 71–72. Smith states that most Japanese survivors of the battle insist that Ichiki was killed in action, not by suicide. After the battle, a wounded Japanese officer, apparently feigning death, shot and seriously wounded an inspecting Marine with a small pistol before being killed by another Marine, Andy Poliny. Poliny believes that this was Ichiki.
- ^ Hough, Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal, p. 291; Smith, Bloody Ridge, pp. 43, 73. Since 100 troops were left behind as a rear guard and 128 of the unit survived the battle, that means that about 30 escaped from the engagement back to the rear guard area.
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 681
- ^ Jersey, Hell's Islands, p. 213
- ^ Hornfischer, Neptune's Inferno, p. 111
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 157.
- ^ Griffith, Battle for Guadalcanal, p. 107
- ^ Leckie, Helmet for My Pillow, pp. 84–85
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 158; Smith, Bloody Ridge, p. 74.
- ^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 245
- ^ Mark DiIonno (21 February 2010). "HBO series illuminates N.J. Marine's book on World War II experience". NJ.com. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ Frank, Richard (April 2010). "The Actors' Experience in The Pacific". Naval History Magazine. Vol. 24, no. 2. U.S. Naval Institute. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
Bibliography
- Evans, David C. (1986). "The Struggle for Guadalcanal". The Japanese Navy in World War II: In the Words of Former Japanese Naval Officers (2nd ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-316-4.
- ISBN 0-394-58875-4.
- Gilbert, Oscar E. (2001). Marine Tank Battles in the Pacific. Da Capo. ISBN 1-58097-050-8.
- ISBN 0-252-06891-2.
- ISBN 0-7603-2052-7.
- ISBN 978-0-553-38512-0.
- Hough, Frank O.; Ludwig, Verle E.; Shaw, Henry I. Jr. "Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal". History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II. Archived from the original on 27 June 2006. Retrieved 16 May 2006.
- Jersey, Stanley Coleman (2008). Hell's Islands: The Untold Story of Guadalcanal. ISBN 978-1-58544-616-2.
- ISBN 1-59687-092-3. First-person account of the battle by a member of the 1st Marine Regiment. The Pacificthe HBO miniseries is based in part on Helmet for My Pillow
- Miller, John Jr. (1995) [1949]. Guadalcanal: The First Offensive. United States Army in World War II. United States Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 4 July 2006.
- ISBN 0-316-58305-7.
- ISBN 1-84176-870-7.
- Shaw, Henry I. (1992). "First Offensive: The Marine Campaign For Guadalcanal". Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. Archived from the original on 14 June 2006. Retrieved 25 July 2006.
- Smith, Michael T. (2000). Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. New York: Pocket. ISBN 0-7434-6321-8.
- Zimmerman, John L. (1949). "The Guadalcanal Campaign". Marines in World War II Historical Monograph. Archived from the original on 19 June 2006. Retrieved 4 July 2006.
Further reading
- Bartsch, William H. (2014). Victory Fever on Guadalcanal. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-1-62349-184-0.
- Richter, Don (1992). Where the Sun Stood Still: The Untold Story of Sir Jacob Vouza and the Guadalcanal Campaign. Toucan. ISBN 0-9611696-3-X.
- ISBN 0-679-64023-1.
External links
- Anderson, Charles R. (1993). Guadalcanal. The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II. United States Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 9 July 2006.
- Donahue, James (1942). Guadalcanal as told by PFC James A. Donahue
- Flahavin, Peter (2004). "Guadalcanal Battle Sites, 1942–2004". Retrieved 2 August 2006. – Website with many pictures of Guadalcanal battle sites from 1942 and how they look now.