YTread Logo
YTread Logo

No Other Single Act Saved More Marines During the landings at Cape Torokina

Mar 23, 2024
The situation was critical. What was expected to be a simple amphibious landing operation on Bougainville Island in late 1943 had turned into a lethal trap for the Marines carrying out the invasion. A heavily fortified and camouflaged enemy artillery cannon rained down fire on landing craft desperately trying to reach the beachheads. The Japanese artillery crew had already destroyed four landing ships and severely damaged 10

other

s, causing heavy casualties to the Allied forces. To make matters worse, the artillery post was strategically located so that no ship could approach the islands without being within range of the powerful Type 94 75-millimeter mountain gun.
no other single act saved more marines during the landings at cape torokina
The operation risked collapsing at any moment, but it was then, in its darkest hour, that US Marine Sergeant Robert Allen Owens did the unthinkable. Owens gathered four volunteers and proceeded to charge towards the artillery post in a daring assault. Gunshots rang out across Cape Torokina and the Marines on the beach held their breath as the world seemed to stop. The fate of Operation Cherry Blossom now depended on the actions of Owens and his brave men... LOGO Setting the Stage In 1942, Japanese forces had quickly overwhelmed and captured the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Theater of World War II, seizing the territory from the Australian administration.
no other single act saved more marines during the landings at cape torokina

More Interesting Facts About,

no other single act saved more marines during the landings at cape torokina...

Imperial Japan wanted to control the Solomon Islands and part of New Guinea to cut off maritime communications between Australia and the United States. However, the Pacific Front had taken a drastic turn by the end of 1943, with the Allies now on the offensive driving back the Japanese while Imperial forces were forced into a diminishing defensive position. American forces were coming off a very successful invasion of the island of Guadalcanal and the central territories of the Solomon Islands, and were determined to take Bougainville Island as a base for their eventual incursion into Japanese territory. Bougainville had been chosen as a way to bypass the highly fortified island of Rabaul, from where the Japanese were deploying significant air forces to the surrounding islands.
no other single act saved more marines during the landings at cape torokina
However, American officials considered attacking and securing Rabaul extremely costly, so they opted for an indirect approach in which they would capture the less defended Bougainville rather than use it as a base, thus cutting off supplies to Rabaul and effectively strangling the Japanese base. . The Allies deployed numerous coastwatchers to the island in risky operations where covert agents were inserted via high-speed motorboats to gather intelligence and befriend the local population. Many of these agents were executed or captured by the Japanese; However, they managed to identify specific landing beaches for the invasion. The Allies needed to land on the island, disable enemy airfields and establish their own air base, but the northern and eastern parts of the landmass were heavily reinforced and landing there was out of the question.
no other single act saved more marines during the landings at cape torokina
The best place to land was considered to be Empress Augusta Bay, around Cape Torokina, on the western coast of Bougainville. However, the area around Cape Torokina was covered in swamps and rough terrain, making the construction of an airfield extremely difficult, while the bay was open to the sea and anchoring Allied ships was considered very difficult. Still, the fact could not be overlooked that it was largely isolated from the main Japanese groups around Buka and Buin to the north and south of the island, and that the beach would allow Allied troops to conduct air raids against the airfields. enemies while remaining relatively safe from attack. ground counteroffensive.
American intelligence predicted that it would take the Japanese three months to launch a counterattack against Torokina. And even if they continued forward, the area provided a notable defensive advantage because it was surrounded by two rivers and a mountainous area. Preparations for the invasions called Operation Cherry Blossom were extensive and significant in scale; Allied air forces conducted

more

than 3,200 sorties against Japanese airfields surrounding the landing site and the broader Bougainville area to reduce the Japanese's ability to interfere with the

landings

using their own fighter aircraft. (weapons?) 4:33 Prior to the

landings

at Cape Torokina, New Zealand and US forces launched an assault on the Treasure Islands to secure anchorages around Blanche Harbor and establish a radar station to support operations aerial over Bougainville.
Meanwhile, a fire mission was executed at Shortlands to the south to divert Japanese attention from the area. Simultaneously, a battalion of para

marines

carried out a raid on Choiseul, an important Japanese stronghold and the location where Imperial forces were expected to be the next Allied attack. The diversion was a great success, and the Japanese sent thousands of reinforcements to Choiseul to defend their position, leaving Bougainville unattended and vulnerable to what was to come. Everything seemed to be going according to plan. The Japanese forces had not only been severely weakened by preemptive attacks but also deceived by diversion tactics to reinforce irrelevant locations and leave little protection at Cape Torokina.
The assault was planned from different locations to mislead Japanese intelligence and avoid attracting too much attention. Transportation Division “A” departed from Espiritu Santo, “B” from Guadalcanal and “C” deployed from Efate. Troops boarded transport ships at each location on October 28, 29, and 30. The ships proceeded to take long and complex routes to conceal their true destination from potential Japanese informants. On 31 October, the three divisions met at sea at a predetermined location before beginning their final approach to Bougainville from the southwest of the Solomon Islands. Then, on the day of the landings, Naval Task Force 39, composed of several cruisers and destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Aaron S.
Merrill, bombarded the airfields around Buka and the Bonis Peninsula in a coordinated attack that disabled much of of the air combat capabilities of the Japanese forces in the area. An additional diversion effort was undertaken at the last minute when the convoy suddenly changed direction to feign an invasion of the Shortland Islands and confuse Japanese air forces patrolling the area. At dusk, the ships headed towards their actual destination. Landings The pre-war maps of Bougainville proved very unreliable, and efforts to improve them by aerial reconnaissance failed to provide details of underwater obstructions that resulted in several collisions with uncharted sandbanks during the convoy's approach to Cape Torokina, with one of the ships sailing. aground.
The initial landing took place on 12 pre-designated beaches along an 8,000-yard front northwest of Cape Torokina and Puruata Island (inclusive). As the Marines landed, a force of 31 US Marine aircraft, deployed from Munda, attacked Japanese positions on the landing beaches. Similarly, 40 US Air Force fighters and New Zealand Air Force Roya provided cover for the Marines as they disembarked. The 9th Marines then attacked the northwest beaches while the 3rd Marine Raider Battalion, under Lieutenant Colonel Fred D. Beans, seized Puruata Island against brutal resistance from the Japanese forces. The operation had been designed to ensure a quick and smooth landing and an immediate withdrawal of all ships, as a rapid Japanese air counterattack was expected.
However, rough seas and poor landing conditions complicated the situation, causing the loss of many landing ships as they attempted to withdraw. The Sacrifice of a Man One of the beachheads at Cape Torokina offered strong resistance to invasion during the initial landings on 1 November, and Marines attempting to disembark were stopped while a fortified artillery gun fired on a landing craft. after an

other

. The 75-millimeter Type 94 mountain gun was carefully camouflaged in its surroundings and protected with an imposing fortification made of wooden logs. Located on the side of a cliff, the canyon was impossible to flank and the Americans had not landed sufficient forces to carry out a frontal attack.
The Japanese artillery crew then inflicted heavy casualties on the American invaders, sinking four landing craft and severely damaging ten

more

. American troops fell into disarray as casualties mounted and they realized the impossibility of landing. To make the situation even worse, no ship could approach the beach without passing within 150 meters or less of the gun's muzzle, and the artillery piece was so well positioned that rifle and grenade fire could not reach it. . American officers were considering breaking off the attack when Sergeant Robert Allen Owens decided to take control of the situation. He knew that the only way to neutralize the weapon was to charge it directly from the front.
Owens recruited four volunteers to help him on the dangerous mission. He then positioned the four Marines so that they could suppress enemy fire from nearby bunkers, and when the time was right, the six-foot-three-inch, 232-pound soldier charged directly into the muzzle of the firing gun, bravely penetrating the perimeter. from the only possible place: the fire port. He then began firing left and right, causing panic among the Japanese, who thought they were being overwhelmed. Meanwhile, Owens expelled the artillery team from his position, forcing them to come out into the fire of his men. Unfortunately, as the Japanese abandoned the artillery gun, Sergeant Owens was hit by enemy fire.
Still, his actions changed the course of the battle, as the gun's chamber was loaded and the breach was almost closed when he passed through the firing port. More than 150 high-explosive shells were ready to fire, and the destruction would have been monumental. For the Japanese, losing the weapon was a major obstacle; They would make numerous efforts to recover the piece, but Owen's companions would not allow their sacrifice to be in vain. When asked about Owen's actions, Maj. Gen. Allen H. Turnage, Commanding General of the 3rd Marine Division, said: (QUOTE) "Among many brave acts on the Bougainville beachhead "No other act

saved

the lives of more of his comrades or contributed much to the success of the landings." Owens received the Medal of Honor for his bravery and sacrifice.
Triumph As the Allies had predicted, the Japanese quickly launched an air counteroffensive. Forty-four fighters and nine dive bombers took off from Rabaul with the task of preventing the Marines from taking control of the Cape Torokina beaches. However, the Allied forces were waiting for the movement and the enemy planes were intercepted by fighter planes from New Zealand and the US Navy before reaching Bougainville. The Japanese fighter planes were also met with relentless fire from the US destroyers escorting them, resulting in the annihilation of 26 Japanese aircraft . Meanwhile, unloading operations were halted as Allied fighters repelled the Japanese offensive.
Still, when this was accomplished, the Marines on the ground continued to prepare the new base of operations in the newly captured territory. In the early afternoon, a second Japanese attack with over 100 aircraft was launched from New Britain. An allied force of 34 AirSols fighters under the leadership of the USS Conway was deployed to meet the new threat. Despite being outnumbered, the Allied aircraft offered notable resistance; Only 12 Japanese fighter planes managed to penetrate the AirSols fighter formation and reach the beaches, but they did not cause significant damage to the Marines on the ground and they were soon forced to withdraw.
There were no further counteroffensives that day and, despite numerous obstacles, the landings were declared a great success. The initial force of just over 7,500 Marines took control of the beachheads during November 2 and 3 without encountering any additional significant resistance. These troops ventured inland through small corridors of dry land and began clearing the defenders from the dense jungle. Additionally, the 2nd Marine Raiders Battalion deployed dogs to find Japanese troops hiding in the brush and, by 11:00 a.m., neutralized all remaining organized enemy forces. A few hours later, the entire landing zone was secured. As planned, the Japanese forces on the island were unable to reach the landing area in the daysfollowing, allowing the allies to establish fortifications and begin construction of an air base.
The entire island would fall under Allied control in the coming months, boosting their advance one step closer to the Japanese main island and making Operation Cherry Blossom a success. Thanks for watching! What do you think of Sergeant Owens' actions? Share your   opinion in the comments section below. And for more interesting story-inspired content, be sure to subscribe to all of our Dark Documentary channels, where we never stop posting videos. Stay tuned!

If you have any copyright issue, please Contact