Podcasts about Koga

Bel dim iz Sikstinske kapele je nekaj po 18-i uri in naznanil, da so kardinali izvolili novega vodjo Rimskokatoliške cerkve, ki bo nasledil prejšnji mesec preminulega papeža Frančiška. Koga so izbrali, še ni znano, njegovo ime bo naznail kardinal diakon Dominique Mamberti. Drugi poudarki oddaje: - Kako bo sprejeta namera vlade, da 2 odstotka BDP za obrambo doseže s preopredelitvijo infrastrukturnih projektov? - Evropski zunanji ministri želijo okrepiti pritisk na Rusijo za dosego premirja v Ukrajini. - Ameriški predsednik Trump z Veliko Britanijo dosegel prvi trgovinski dogovor od uvedbe številnih carin.

Zakaj gledamo vsebine, ki nas spravljajo ob živce, in kdo so posamezniki, ki pišejo žaljive, nestrpne in nesramne komentarje pod objave blagovnih znamk, medijev, javnih oseb ali vplivnežev. Koga hejterji največkrat napadajo, zakaj je dobro, da se ne znajdejo pod našimi objavami, in kaj lahko naredimo za lepši svet na spletu?Branka Bizjak Zabukovec je direktorica vsebinskega marketinga na agenciji Futura DDB. Zapiski: Odbit Discord Jezikovni portal Fran pozna besedo hejter, a uporabniki predlagajo slovenske ustreznice Oglasite se lahko na odbita@rtvslo.si  

Letos že več kot 200 primerov borelioze in 1 primer klopnega meningoencefalitisaSpecialisti javnega zdravja, infektologi in zdravniki drugih strok nas vsako leto spodbujajo, naj se zaščitimo proti klopnemu meningoencefalitisu. To lahko storimo na različne načine; zelo učinkovito tudi s cepljenjem. Ob tem se zastavi kar nekaj vprašanj: Kdaj je čas za cepljenje? Za koga je letos brezplačno? Kdaj po poživitveni odmerek? Po podatkih Nacionalnega inštituta za javno zdravje se je sezona klopov in bolezni, ki jih prenašajo, že začela. Kdo se letos proti KME lahko cepi brezplačno (v breme zdravstvenega zavarovanja)? Po 11.00.

In Episode 486 seht ihr den Test eines Koga Colmaro Allroad Silk Red Gravelbikes. Außerdem haben wir die neue Shimano Pulsar Radbrille ausprobiert und ein Gewinnspiel wartet auch auf euch.

Po grožnjah s kazenskimi carinami, pokroviteljskih očitkih na račun demokracije in svobode govora ter izključevanju iz pogovorov o usodi Ukrajine se Evropa sprašuje, ali so Združene države Amerike sploh še zaveznica. Kako pomembno je za Evropo in Slovenijo sodelovanje z ZDA na gospodarskem področju? Kaj pomenijo dodatne carine na jeklo za domača podjetja in načrtovano krepitev evropske vojaške industrije? Koga bodo prizadele tako imenovane recipročne carine proti Evropi, ki jih morajo v Washingtonu pripraviti do pomladi? Kje naj Evropa išče nadomestna zavezništva – tudi na Kitajskem? In nenazadnje: naj začne tudi sama izdatno subvencionirati domača podjetja, da se bo tehnološko, prehransko, energetsko in vojaško osamosvojila? O vsem tem v tokratnem Studiu ob 17.00. Gostje: Bojan Ivanc, glavni ekonomist Gospodarske zbornice Slovenije, Marjan Mačkošek, nekdanji direktor Štore Steel, dr. Jože P. Damijan, profesor ekonomije na Ekonomski fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani.

Today's authors promise to help us unlock our full potential and free ourselves from the shackles of past traumas and societal expectations to find true personal happiness using principles from Adlerian psychology. Join Mike & Cory as they embark on a journey toward lasting happiness and personal fulfillment. Support the Show The Courage to Be […]

2-12 SF Beer Week returns! Lester Koga of Barebottle Brewing joins the fellas with all the details on the week long event!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2-12 SF Beer Week returns! Lester Koga of Barebottle Brewing joins the fellas with all the details on the week long event!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dobrodošli na Zalet Podkast — podkast o dizajnu digitalnih proizvoda!Imamo novog gosta! U ovoj epizodi smo ugostili Nenada Grujičića. Nenad je dizajner proizvoda i kreativni direktor. Trenutno radi kao jedna polovina studia "Pudding". Uživajte u putovanju kroz njegovu živopisnu karijeru.

Slovenci iz Italije bodo dejavno vključeni v otvoritveno slovesnost evropske prestolnice kulture. Sodelovanje v povorki bo velika priložnost za vse njihove kulturne ustanove. Spodbudne novice o vključevanju prihajajo tudi iz ministrstva za kulturo, pravi Janko Malle, nekdanji dolgoletni vodja Slovenske prosvetne zveze iz Celovca. Obiščemo Slovence na avstrijskem Štajerskem in se ustavimo v Porabju, kjer so se spomnili nekdanjega novinarja in pesnika Ernesta Ružiča. V reški Bazovici pa ujamemo kitarista Luko Verbanca.

V turistični oddaji vas vabimo v Prlekijo in Prekmurje. Najprej bomo pokušali čurke – kašnate klobase, značilne za območje Koga in vzhodnega ormoškega območja, nato se bomo posladkali še s prekmursko in prleško gibanico. Čaka nas tudi nova potopisna zgodba – spoznali bomo Štajerko Matejo Toplak in njeno zanimivo potovalno izkušnjo.

Rapoloženje hrvatskih birača u Australiji bitno se razlikuje od rapoloženja birača u Hrvatskoj, kao i od ukupnog rezultata u dijaspori. Izbori su se održali na 4 biračka mjesta - u Sydneyu, Melbourneu, Canberri i Perthu.

Piše Jože Štucin, bereta Ana Bohte in Igor Velše. Željko Kozinc se v osmi pesniški zbirki Uspavanke pod klifom kaže kot pesnik z zanimivo in izrazito metaforično pisavo, ki pogosto prehaja v nekakšno poezijo v prozi. Ob zagonetnih besednih zvezah, kjer se je treba prepustiti asociativnemu občutku za razumevanje, ima veliko njegovih pesmi programske naslove in spominjajo na nekakšne vtise s potovanj. Kot kažejo pesmi, je Kozinc ogromno potoval po svetu, pri tem pa je v verze ujel intimne občutke in uvide na markantnih točkah Odisejevega obroča, kot je naslovil svoj »popotniški« cikel. Knjiga je razdeljena na posamezne enote, ki vsaj približno delijo Kozinčevo poetiko na vsebinske bloke. Poleg omenjenega »popotniškega« niza s petnajstimi pesmimi so tu še Lirika zelene sobe z osmimi pesniškimi enotami, Srobotina s sedmimi pesmimi, Prod lepe Vide s tremi, Vedomec s petimi pesmimi, Rdeči malar je s trinajstimi pesmimi podčrtan predvsem s slikarskim očesom, ki razkriva Kozinčevo likovno ustvarjalnost, sklepni cikel Bizarno dopolnjevanje pa je vsebinsko najširši in poudarjeno pripovedovalski ter blizu prozaičnemu načinu razmišljanja. Cikli so, to je bolj ali manj očitno, večplasten pesnikov prerez pisanja. V temelju ni inovativen, zdi se, da se zgolj prepušča besedi in ko ga ta prevzame, se mu izlije na papir. To seveda ne pomeni, da se prosto razlije po belini, ne, sploh ne, besedje in pomen privreta na plan kot vulkan na Islandiji, a pesnik lavo zna usmeriti v pravo smer. Piroklastični tok pesnjenja je v bistvu – piroklasičen: izliv ognjene sile je galantno ukročen v čistih metaforah, v izklesanih pomenih in zamejen s popolnim redom, ki ga od ustvarjalca terja poetična izkušnja. Ne moremo spregledati, da gre za pisca, ki ima vse pod nadzorom; razen navdiha, seveda, ki butne na plan, ko pač notranje sile dosežejo vrelišče. V tem oziru je Kozinc pesnik takega kova, da je kov absolutno stvar kladiva, vročega železa in ročne spretnosti; nič ni prepuščeno naključju in seveda vse. Pisati pomeni prevajati pretekli čas v prihodnost, se prepuščati občutkom in loviti oprimke na skalah. Takole v pesmi Živali brez zadržkov razkriva svoj »bestialni« interes: »Še eno duplo bom poiskal, / dlje od upanja in brez omotice, / brez suženjskih okovic okoli krempljev, // jaz, črni vran, ki še iščem / gnezdo svojega otroštva, / da bi razkavsal nekaj smeha.« Potem pa se hitro, v svojih vizualnih halucinacijah, pretoči v slike in realistično rezonira: »Vračam se po stari poti, / navkreber se vračam, / v smeri vetra / ki na poljih umira, // z jato arktičnih gosi, / ki mi leti v klinu skozi veke, / nežno, prav v zenico, / da bi se pogrela // v pazduhi mojih gor in morja.« Beg od gub časa. Poezija lahko odpre rano do te mere, da postane univerzalna in spregovori o bizarnem na blaziran način. V sklepnem ciklu je takih sidrišč veliko – pesnik na tej točki beleži, poveličuje vsakdanjost na pesniške prigrizke, ki znajo iz nič narediti testo: »V pritličju stanuje ljubica ministra brez listnice. / Nad njo se je vselila študentka, / ki je prijateljica glavnega urednika privatne televizijske postaje. / Še višje dve sestri blondinki ob torkih sprejemata / znanega poslanca...« Na tej točki se zbirka iz čiste poezije počasi pretoči v prozaičen popis blokovskih stanovalcev. Pomislimo, da bi bil tudi ta del zbirke lahko samostojna enota, podčrtana z drugačnim naslovom, a ko strnem vse misli, je pred nami pesnik Željko Kozinc, ki vsekakor nima ene same perspektive in ki mu blodnjavi pesniški um šviga na vse strani tako iskrivo, da se lahko kar na hitro sprijaznimo z raznorodnimi prikazi njegovega literarnega subjekta, ki je, to pa res skoči v ospredje, njegov goli jaz, razgaljen do obisti. V tretjem delu v pesmi Kužna slika pri sv. Primožu nad Kamnikom iskreno meditira o smislu svojega obstoja: »Koga naj še gledam ob koncu naše kuge, / kaj se iz tvojih oči pretaka v morje? / Od kod moja nemoč v tvojih solzah, dete Jezus? // Padam k tebi kakor ranjen ptič, / izpovej spet svojo stisko, te rotim, / zakaj me prosiš še za svojo kri? // Dve vodi sva, stopljena sva iz oči v oči. / Ti v mojem dnevu. Jaz v tvoji noči, ki še traja. / Izginil bom, ne boš me opazil.«

Avtor v besedilu razmišlja o vplivu naglice in instantne kulture na doživljanje narave, medosebnih odnosov in vzgoje. Vse omenjeno in še marsikaj drugega v življenju terja postopnost in čas. Opominja, da je resničnost kompleksna, zgodovina pa mešanica lepote in bolečine, kar kliče k potrpežljivosti in zavedanju, da na največje stvari v življenju – rojstvo, ljubezen in odrešenje – ne moremo vplivati sami. Adventno pričakovanje ni pasivno čakanje, ampak aktiven proces priprave srca za sprejemanje nečesa globljega in lepšega. Ključno vprašanje tega časa ostaja: Koga pričakujem in ali sem Nanj res pripravljen?

Bluesky, decentralizirana društvena mreži koju je pokrenuo suosnivač Twittera Jack Dorsey, bilježi nevjerojatan rast korisnika. S gotovo 22 milijuna korisnika diljem svijeta, u odnosu na 9 milijuna u rujnu, Bluesky je doživio značajan porast, posebno nakon što je Donald Trump pobijedio, kada je milijun novih korisnika prešlo na ovu platformu.Bluesky se ističe kao alternativa Twitteru jer korisnicima nudi prostor bez dezinformacija, govora mržnje i botova, ali ostaje pitanje radi li se ovdje o prolaznom trendu ili svijet dobiva novu relevantnu aplikaciju.Uz to, Google je proglašen monopolistom na digitalnom tržištu oglašavanja jer je kupovinom adtech tvrtki stekao kontrolu nad cijelim ekosustavom. S dominantnim tržišnim udjelom, Google upravlja i ponudom i potražnjom, određujući cijene na tržištu._______________0:00 Uvod0:35 BlueSky je u dva mjeseca skočio s 9 na 22 milijuna korisnika4:25 Twitter preživljava egzodus korisnika8:20 Ovaj Trumpov čovjek želu ukinuti moderaciju sadržaja12:20 Ima li BlueSky budućnost?15:15 Google proglašen monopolistom na tržištu oglašavanja22:30 Što ovo znači za Google i sve nas?TOP i FLOP31:40 TikTok tuži svojeg pripravnika za 1.1 milijun dolara33:25 Pali smo na lažnu vijest39:35 Gasi se Foursquare41:50 "Neispunjena obećanja o isplati velikodušnih bonusa, danonoćni rad, neisplaćeni prekovremeni sati, veliki pritisci nadređenih i malverzacije u poslovanju..."_______________

Chapter 1:Summary of The Courage to Be Disliked"The Courage to Be Disliked" by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga is a philosophical dialogue that explores themes of individual freedom, self-acceptance, and the nature of happiness. The book is structured as a conversation between a philosopher and a young man, who represents readers' doubts and concerns.Key points include:1. Adlerian Psychology: The book is grounded in the principles of Alfred Adler, an early 20th-century psychologist. It emphasizes the idea that our past experiences do not define us; rather, we have the power to shape our present and future.2. Courage to Be Disliked: It encourages readers to embrace the idea that being disliked by others can be a natural outcome of living authentically. True happiness comes from self-acceptance and pursuing personal goals, rather than seeking approval from others.3. Interpersonal Relationships: The authors stress the importance of relationships and suggest that many of our problems stem from issues in how we relate to others. They argue that the key to healthy relationships is mutual respect and understanding, rather than dependence on external validation.4. Freedom and Responsibility: The book discusses the notion of freedom as an inherent human quality that comes with the responsibility to choose one's own path in life. Each individual is responsible for their own happiness and for the choices they make.5. Living in the Present: The dialogue encourages a focus on the present moment, as dwelling on the past or fearing the future can inhibit personal growth and happiness.Overall, "The Courage to Be Disliked" promotes a message of empowerment, urging readers to confront their fears and societal expectations in order to live more authentic and fulfilling lives. The conversational format makes complex psychological concepts accessible, encouraging readers to reflect on their own beliefs and behaviors.Chapter 2:The Theme of The Courage to Be Disliked"The Courage to Be Disliked" by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga is a philosophical dialogue that explores themes of self-acceptance, interpersonal relationships, and psychological theories primarily based on the teachings of Alfred Adler. Here are some key plot points, character developments, and thematic ideas present in the book: Key Plot Points1. Dialogue Structure: The book is structured as a conversation between a philosopher (the Mentor) and a young man (the Student) who questions the ideas presented. This format allows for a dynamic exploration of complex philosophical concepts.2. Rejection of Past Influences: The Mentor guides the Student to understand that one's past experiences do not determine their future. The emphasis is on the power of choice and how individuals can define themselves irrespective of their upbringing.3. Concept of Separation of Tasks: A significant point is the "separation of tasks," where the Mentor explains how individuals should focus on their own tasks and not interfere with others' responsibilities, fostering healthier relationships.4. Interpersonal Relationships: The conversations shift to the importance of community and social connections. The Mentor illustrates how having a sense of belonging and working toward the common good can enhance one's life.5. Courage and Happiness: The idea that true happiness comes from having the courage to be oneself is a recurrent theme. The Mentor encourages the Student to embrace his individuality, which may involve moving away from societal expectations. Character Development- The Mentor: Represents Adlerian philosophy and serves as a guiding voice throughout the narrative. He embodies wisdom and encourages growth through challenging the Student's preconceived notions.- The Student: Initially skeptical and resistant, the Student...

Can strawberries grown inside a building taste sweeter than those grown in a field? Farming entrepreneur Hiroki Koga explores how his team is combining solar-powered vertical farms with AI, robotics and indoor bee colonies to grow delicious strawberries year-round — and how this practice, if widely adopted, could deliver a harvest of benefits for the future of food. After the talk, Sherrell dives deeper into the impact of vertical farming. 

Kakšne lumparije bo prihodnja štiri leta počel stari oziroma novoizvoljeni ameriški predsednik Donald Trump, verjetno ve le on. Čeprav je bilo že večkrat dokazano, da je težko verjeti njegovim besedam, je vseeno treba njegove govore včasih jemati z vso resnostjo, čeprav niso povsem resni. Med kampanjo je poudarjal, da bo vladal z enostavnim načelom: če sem nekaj obljubil, bom to izpolnil. Eden izmed Trumpovih uspehov je tudi to, da je ljudi prepričal, da se bori proti sistemu, ki zatira navadne, neopazne ljudi z zdravo kmečko pametjo. To so zdaj vrednote, ki štejejo. Demokracija in pravice žensk pa sta že preveč abstraktna pojma. Preveč woke oziroma prebujeno, bi kdo rekel. Slovita umetnica Marina Abramović je v intervjuju pri Marcelu poudarila, da bi bil svet boljši brez Trumpa. Morda res potrebujemo več Gandijev, Mandel, Milanov in Quincijev. Nove junake. Ampak takšni so časi in morale. Toda kljub temu bodo pesmi tudi v takšnih časih. Pesmi o takšnih časih, če parafriziramo Brechta. Trumpova zlata doba bi lahko prinesla tudi svetobolje, ki bo dalo nove junake. Tonska mojstrica: Nina Kač Novinar: Gašper Andrinek, gasper.andrinek@rtvslo.si

Ameriške predsedniške volitve so pred vrati, njihov izid pa ne bo pomembno vplival le na tamkajšnjo notranjo politiko, ampak tudi na položaje na svetovni geopolitični šahovnici. Zato se porajajo vprašanja, kako bi zmaga Donalda Trumpa oziroma Kamale Harris vplivala na bližnjevzhodno krizo, na vojno v Ukrajini, pa tudi na stopnjevanje napetosti v okolici Tajvana. Oziroma, drugače, vprašati se je treba, koga si voditelji Rusije, Kitajske, Izraela, Irana in še katere druge države želijo po volitvah videti v Beli hiši. Odgovor iščemo v torkovem Studiu ob 17.00 na Prvem. Gostje: Miha Lampreht, nekdanji dopisnik RTV Slovenija iz Rusije; dr. Primož Šterbenc, politolog, Fakulteta za management Univerze na Primorskem; dr. Maja Veselič, sinologinja, Filozofska fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani.

Izid predsedniških volitev v Združenih državah ne bo pomembno vplival le na ameriško notranjo politiko, ampak tudi na položaj na svetovni geopolitični šahovniciV Združenih državah so predsedniške volitve pred vrati, njihov izid pa slej ko prej ne bo pomembno vplival le na ameriško notranjo politiko, ampak tudi na položaj na svetovni geopolitični šahovnici. Zato smo se v tokratni Intelekti spraševali, kako bi zmaga Donalda Trumpa oziroma Kamale Harris utegnila vplivati na zapletanje in razpletanje ključnih, strateško najpomembnejših kriznih žarišč našega časa – od vojne v Ukrajini prek konflikta na Bližnjem vzhodu do rastočih napetosti okoli Tajvana. V tem kontekstu nas je prvenstveno zanimalo, kaj voditelji Rusije, Kitajske, Izraela, Irana pa še kakšne države pravzaprav pričakujejo od obeh kandidatov? Koga si, drugače rečeno, po volitvah bolj želijo videti v Beli hiši in, jasno, zakaj? – Odgovore so nam pomagali iskati naš nekdanji dopisnik iz Moskve, Miha Lampreht, pa politolog, predavatelj na Fakulteti za menedžment Univerze na Primorskem, dr. Primož Šterbenc, ter sinologinja, predavateljica na Oddelku za azijske študije ljubljanske Filozofske fakultete, dr. Maja Veselič.   foto: uradna vladna portreta Kamale Harris in Donalda Trumpa (Wikipedija, javna last)

U ovoj epizodi govorim o našem miru koji smo dali nekome drugome svojim neadekvatnim očekivanjima.Pitanja na koja odgovaram:Zašto nekada drugima damo svoj mir?Kako očekivanja kreiraju uznemirenost?Kako da vratimo sebi svoj mir?Možete me pronaći na:Website: https://martinadjokic.com/Instagramu: https://www.instagram.com/martina.djokic/

Can strawberries grown inside a building taste sweeter than those grown in a field? Farming entrepreneur Hiroki Koga explores how his team is combining solar-powered vertical farms with AI, robotics and indoor bee colonies to grow delicious strawberries year-round — and how this practice, if widely adopted, could deliver a harvest of benefits for the future of food.

Can strawberries grown inside a building taste sweeter than those grown in a field? Farming entrepreneur Hiroki Koga explores how his team is combining solar-powered vertical farms with AI, robotics and indoor bee colonies to grow delicious strawberries year-round — and how this practice, if widely adopted, could deliver a harvest of benefits for the future of food.

Can strawberries grown inside a building taste sweeter than those grown in a field? Farming entrepreneur Hiroki Koga explores how his team is combining solar-powered vertical farms with AI, robotics and indoor bee colonies to grow delicious strawberries year-round — and how this practice, if widely adopted, could deliver a harvest of benefits for the future of food.

In this episode, Tara Sands and Steve Yurko interview Stuart Zagnit! Stuart is best known for voicing Professor Oak, Koga and Cedric on Pokémon, Mike on Winx Club, Dr. Dome on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Bodal on Chaotic. Follow Stuart on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/stuzagnit/ https://www.facebook.com/originalprof.oak 4Kids Flashback is a behind the scenes podcast about the 4Kids era of television as told by the people who were actually there. 4Kids is the company that brought Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece and many other anime series to English speaking audiences. Our website is https://www.4kidsflashback.com/ Subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/4KidsFlashback for episodes one week early and ad-free plus bonus content! For merch go to https://4kids-flashback.printify.me/products Leave us a voice message at Speakpipe.com/4KidsFlashback Autographs for Charity available at https://www.ebay.com/usr/flashback4kids Watch videos at https://www.youtube.com/@4KidsFlashback Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert Ward hosts Professor Koga Kei, Associate Professor at Nanyang Technological University, Shiozawa Hideyuki, Senior Program Officer at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and Euan Graham, Senior Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Robert, Kei, Hideyuki and Euan discuss: Japan's strategic approach to the Pacific Island countriesChina's growing influence in the regionAustralia and its allies' strategic objectives in the regionOutlook of Japan and its allies' approach to the region amid US-China rivalry The following books are recommended by our guests to gain a clearer picture of the topics discussed: Euan Graham, Australia's Security in China's Shadow, (Abingdon: Routledge for the IISS, 2023), 232pp.Yamamoto Syūgoro, 日日平安 [Hibi Heian], (Tokyo: Shinchōsha, 1965), 480pp.Yamamoto Tsunetomo, translated by William Scott Wilson, 葉隠 [Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai], (Boulder: Shambhala Publications Inc, 2012), 200pp. The original book was written around 1716.Koga Kei and Katada Saori, Japan as a Liminal Power: Evolving Grand Strategies from Meiji to Reiwa (coming soon). Andrew Oros, Asia's Growing Security Strategies of America's Ageing Allies, Adversaries and Partners (coming soon).We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your podcast platform of choice. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at japanchair@iiss.org. Date recorded: 31 July 2024 Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tolbert & Copes Hour 2: NBA Grab Bag, Lester Koga of Barebottle Brewing Co. joins the show, and revisiting Markkanen trade talksSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tolbert & Copes Hour 2: NBA Grab Bag, Lester Koga of Barebottle Brewing Co. joins the show, and revisiting Markkanen trade talksSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

V letu, ko mineva 100 let od prve zlate olimpijske medalje, ki jo je Leon Štukelj dosegel v mnogoboju, bo na poletne olimpijske igre odpotovalo največ slovenskih športnikov do zdaj. S svojimi uspehi nas razveseljujejo v številnih, tudi ekipnih športih. Slovenci smo ponosni na to, da smo glede na število prebivalcev v samem vrhu osvojenih kolajn, tudi sicer pa smo športno precej aktiven narod. Kje so razlogi za uvrstitve naših športnikov na velika tekmovanja, na zmagovalne odre in olimpijske igre? In zakaj strokovnjaki s Fakultete za šport opozarjajo, da brez sistemskih sprememb na področju športa v šolah čez deset let mogoče ne bomo več imeli veliko vrhunskih športnikov, za katere bi lahko navijali?

Koga smo pobedili u Njujorku? I ko nam svojata zastavu? Da li je Željko Mitrović ispaljivao prave mine? I kako Milica Zavetnica zamišlja školske uniforme u bojama srpske zastave? Ko pravi fantomske liste za lokalne izbore? Kako je Predrag Koluvija započeo naučni projekat sa Državnim Institutom za opštu i fizičku hemiju? Da li izlazite na izbore? Vidimo se sledećeg ponedeljka, 3. juna u Somboru! --- Kripto voleti: Viktor BTC bc1q4estcdlypugcz5hnwd8z0gl64lmh6l2lsy23yt Nenad BTC 1AcKQwLtpnd9CmYD1N26tGtiBZaD8Jtb7M (ostali kada otvore) Od sada nas možete podržite i na YouTubeu: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbYHvSoOkkHfhPTNkz4RmQg/join Budite vi sponzor podkasta na Patreonu: https://www.patreon.com/njuz Kupite NJUZ majice: https://www.dechkotzar.com/sr/tag/njuz/ --- Audio podcasti: Deezer https://www.deezer.com/en/show/1736292 Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/njuz-net Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/njuznet/id1531300158 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/5M6FZXlro5U1bmjgj8xWiN Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zb3VuZGNsb3VkLmNvbS91c2Vycy9zb3VuZGNsb3VkOnVzZXJzOjg3ODUzNDAwNS9zb3VuZHMucnNz Njuzovci na Instagramu: https://www.instagram.com/je.li.savetaa/ https://www.instagram.com/nenad.milosavljevic/ https://www.instagram.com/graforidza/ https://www.instagram.com/viktorxmarkovic/ https://www.instagram.com/marko_drazic/ https://www.instagram.com/vvukovv/ #newyork #srbija #podkast #balkan #zanimljivosti #najnovijevesti #humor #izbori2024 #unitednations

Wir besiegen Koga. Wir machen sehr viel Untergrund Stuff. Wir struggeln daran am ganzen Hebra Untergrund-Gebirge.

Wir chillen weiter im Untergrund. Machen viele Lichtwurzeln machen unseren Bereich cleaner. Gehen zum letzten Koga fight.

Dobili smo novu vladu u kojoj su se našli anonimusi, ministri za blejicu i stari asovi. Ali, najveći utisak ostavila je proslava Uskrsa u organizaciji Jovane Jeremić i TV Pink. Pričali smo i o predsedniku Aleksandru Vučiću i njegovim putovanjima. I izborima. --- Kripto voleti: Viktor BTC bc1q4estcdlypugcz5hnwd8z0gl64lmh6l2lsy23yt Nenad BTC 1AcKQwLtpnd9CmYD1N26tGtiBZaD8Jtb7M (ostali kada otvore) Od sada nas možete podržite i na YouTubeu: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbYHvSoOkkHfhPTNkz4RmQg/join Budite vi sponzor podkasta na Patreonu: https://www.patreon.com/njuz Kupite NJUZ majice: https://www.dechkotzar.com/sr/tag/njuz/ --- Audio podcasti: Deezer https://www.deezer.com/en/show/1736292 Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/njuz-net Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/njuznet/id1531300158 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/5M6FZXlro5U1bmjgj8xWiN Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zb3VuZGNsb3VkLmNvbS91c2Vycy9zb3VuZGNsb3VkOnVzZXJzOjg3ODUzNDAwNS9zb3VuZHMucnNz Njuzovci na Instagramu: https://www.instagram.com/je.li.savetaa/ https://www.instagram.com/nenad.milosavljevic/ https://www.instagram.com/graforidza/ https://www.instagram.com/viktorxmarkovic/ https://www.instagram.com/marko_drazic/ https://www.instagram.com/vvukovv/ #podcast #srbija #srbijacomedy #humor #vesti #najnovije #elita #pink

In this episode of the Trainer Trio's Podcast, we complete our 2 part episode leading up to Koga in Fuchsia City. Listen to this episode to find out who went all out in the safari zone and what new Pokémon the Trainer trio take on as they work their way to acquiring the Soul Badge. ____________________________________________________Here are the results of our Pokémon showdown Kanto battles: Pewter City Battle Record: Sean 2-0 | Chris 0-2 | Dustin 1-1Cerulean City Battle Record: Sean 2-0 | Chris 1-1 | Dustin 0-2Vermillion City Battle Record: Sean 2-0 | Chris 0-2 | Dustin 1-1Celadon City Battle Record: Sean 2-0 | Chris 0-2 | Dustin 1-1 Total Gen 1 Battle Record: Sean 8-0 | Chris 1-7 | Dustin 3-5____________________________________________________ Timecodes:00:00 The Start1:11 Nonlinear Game Talk5:06 Water Route 12, 13, 14, 1514:03 Fuchsia City18:35 Safari Zone32:05 Going back to the Water Route36:45 Fuchsia Gym49:01 Poke Stats____________________________________________________Music:Intro: Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire Littleroot Town Trap Remix [kioku ツ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL1Zch-U0ugOutro: Ending Theme: Mikel, GameChops - Poké & Chillhttps://music.apple.com/us/album/pok%C3%A9-chill/1473484760Transition: AdhesiveWombat - Night Shade ♫ NO COPYRIGHT 8-bit Musichttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRN_T6JkH-c&list=PLwJjxqYuirCLkq42mGw4XKGQlpZSfxsYd&index=1____________________________________________________Contact us @X, the site formerly known as Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheTrainerTrioEmail: TheTrainerTrioPodcast@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Trainer Trio's Podcast, we talk about our experience leading up to Koga in Fuchsia City. We had so much to talk about that we had to split it into 2 parts! Listen to this episode to find out which of the Trainer Trio had trouble with a certain sleeping Pokémon and their encounter with the big bad boss of Kanto as they work their way to acquiring the Soul Badge.____________________________________________________Here are the results of our Pokémon showdown Kanto battles: Pewter City Battle Record: Sean 2-0 | Chris 0-2 | Dustin 1-1Cerulean City Battle Record: Sean 2-0 | Chris 1-1 | Dustin 0-2Vermillion City Battle Record: Sean 2-0 | Chris 0-2 | Dustin 1-1Celadon City Battle Record: Sean 2-0 | Chris 0-2 | Dustin 1-1 Total Gen 1 Battle Record: Sean 8-0 | Chris 1-7 | Dustin 3-5____________________________________________________Timecodes:00:00 The Start00:52 Pokémon Showdown Results03:48 Last Episode Statistics04:41 Episode Overview05:05 After Last Episode Comments08:51 Game Corner12:40 Rocket Hideout17:40 Giovanni23:26 Lavender Town Part 234:38 Pokemon Tower Final Encounters37:10 The Cycling Route46:39 The End____________________________________________________Music:Intro: Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire Littleroot Town Trap Remix [kioku ツ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL1Zch-U0ugOutro: Ending Theme: Mikel, GameChops - Poké & Chillhttps://music.apple.com/us/album/pok%C3%A9-chill/1473484760Transition: AdhesiveWombat - Night Shade ♫ NO COPYRIGHT 8-bit Musichttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRN_T6JkH-c&list=PLwJjxqYuirCLkq42mGw4XKGQlpZSfxsYd&index=1____________________________________________________Contact us @X, the site formerly known as Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheTrainerTrioEmail: TheTrainerTrioPodcast@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last time we spoke about Operation Thursday and the ferocious counteroffensive on Bougainville. The Chindits embarked on their second great raid, this time better equipped, better trained and more numerous than ever. With a literal armada of beasts of burden they marched through Burma, forded the Chindwin and began attacking and establishing strongholds. This was all done in coordination with Slim and Stilwell's forces, trying to break the Japanese and gradually seize back lost territory. Wingate had his work cut out for him as the Chindits were providing real results, yet unfortunately he would not have long to see them. Wingate was killed in a B-25 crash and it felt like the personality of the Chindits left with him. Over on Bougainville the Japanese tossed as much as they could to try and break through the Americans perimeter to hit the airfield, but it was all for naught.  This episode is the Bombing of Hollandia and Palau  Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  Operation Brewer saw General MacArthur tossing cavalrymen against the eastern side of Los Negros. General Swift's 1st Cavalry Division successfully landed on Los Negros and managed to secure Seedler Harbor quickly. After this, General Chase's 1st Brigade was given the task of mopping up the island. By march 11th daily patrols had determined that the entire area from the Mokerang Peninsula to Southeast Point and as far west as Porlaka was generally free of the enemy. The 1st Squadron, 5th Cavalry pushed its perimeter at Momote west and south to the water barriers of Lemondrol Creek and Ihon Lagoon. The 12th Cavalry beachhead at Salami continuously patrolled into the interior and encountered so few Japanese that it was clear the enemy lacked sufficient numbers to harass the troops on the peninsula. West of Lemondrol Creek  was a completely different story. While the troops holding the beachheads from Lombrum to Papitalai waited for supply channels to be established, they probed to locate the center of enemy resistance. The 12th Cavalry was responsible for the beachheads at Papitalai Mission and Lombrum. The 2nd Squadron had captured Papitalai Mission and on the 11th the 1st Squadron took over Lombrum Point, relieving the 7th Cavalry so they could attack Manus Island. The 5th Cavalry held the Papitalai perimeter with Troop F. When that regiment extended its control over the area east of Lemondrol and Porharmenemen Creeks on the 11th, the 2nd Squadron moved into the Porlaka area while the 1st Squadron on the left flank was concentrated near Southeast Point. It was planned that the 12th Cavalry would do most of its fighting in the northern sector moving inland from the coastal positions to cut oil the Japanese hammered at by the 5th Cavalry as it pushed west on both sides of Lemondrol Creek. Since the 8th, every Troop F patrol from Papitalai had run into enemy resistance in the hilly country to the west. Although small patrols of squad size or slightly larger were held up day after day by resistance about 800 yards west of Papitalai, these first encounters did not reveal the full strength of the enemy pocket. When an attack by a platoon of Troop E, reinforced by two tanks, two bazookas, and flamethrowers, was repulsed on the 11th, the strength of the enemy strongpoint became clearer. The enemy was well dug in along the ridge, marked by a series of knobs, running west from Papitalai. The highest point, Hill 260, about 2,500 yards from Papitalai, not to be mistaken for Hill 260 on Bougainville by the way, this was probably the center of the enemies defense. However, on two knobs east of 260, well-defended outposts prevented any movement farther into the interior. The position 800 yards from Papitalai which had repulsed Troop E was defended by a platoon with knee mortars and at least 3 machine guns. The total enemy strength facing the 5th Cavalry was estimated at 150 to 200 Japanese.  Now that was the ongoings of Los Negros, but Brigadier General Verne Mudge's 2nd Brigade was now preparing to invade Manus island. American intelligence was unsure of the disposition of the enemy on Manus. A rough estimate was that 2700 Japanese were concentrated there and would most likely make a stand at Lorengau. The Americans expected the Japanese would put up a last losing fight. But because of the lack of knowledge of their numbers and disposition on the largest island of the Admiralties, this would require careful planning for the invasion. Fighting into the interior where the mountain range would provide defensive positions and through the swampy forests covering the rest of the island would not be easy. There were only 4 roads winding about the island and converging at Lorengau would be suitable for moving vehicles, and long stretches of these red-clay roads would be impassable in rainy weather. Surrounding jungle and swamps would confine any large-scale movement to the roads. Therefore, the plan was to pin the enemy to the coast where it was hoped he had concentrated his main strength. Mudge planned to land Troops A and C of the 8th cavalry regiment at the Yellow beaches of Lugos Mission. When the 8th Cavalry had secured a beachhead, including the Lugos Mission itself, each squadron would advance east, the 1st Squadron along the coast using the Number Three Road, and the 2nd along an inland road known as the Number One Road, to execute a wide sweep toward Lorengau. If a sizeable garrison was concentrated at fortified Lorengau, the inland arm of this attack would prevent the enemy from escaping along the only road leading west to the mountain areas. Prior to the assault, 3 patrols had been sent to Bear Point on Manus and on the islands of Butjo Luo and Hauwei. Mudge planned to deploy artillery at these places to aid in his assault. Bear Point was found to have no enemy, but unfortunately it was not a suitable place for artillery placement. The northern island of Butjo Luo was an excellent site for artillery and was found to be unoccupied. Hauwei would turn out to be another story. The American  patrol moved out from Salami on an LCV and a PT boat, landing without opposition on the western end of the island. Major Carter S. Vaden of the 99th Field Artillery Battalion, threw two grenades into a well camouflaged bunker about 10 yards from the beach and the party progressed inland. Immediately after the grenade explosions, a mortar shell landed on the beach in the rear of the party. From three sides, machine-gun, rifle, and mortar fire opened up. Fortunately, the grenades had evidently sprung a planned ambush prematurely and the party was not cut off from the rear. Using their submachine guns, the men of the patrol were able to hold back the enemy. They were aided by some supporting fire from the PT Boat and the .30-caliber machine gun of the LCV. After 2 and a half hours they managed to withdraw to the water's edge. The PT boat had returned to its tender after the commanding officer was wounded, and the coxswain of the LCV shouted and motioned for the cavalrymen to get on board, but only five of them reached the boat, as the others were engaged with the enemy on shore. The LCV had troubles of its own; enemy mortar and machine-gun fire found its range and wounded all on board except two. Then the LCV grounded on submerged coral and sank 200 yards offshore after receiving a direct hit from a mortar. The wounded men, put into lifejackets, floated about in the water. When the remaining members of the patrol on shore were wading out toward the LCV, 6 Japanese attempted to set up a machine gun on the beach. The men cut them down with their submachine guns. Still under fire, the cavalrymen swam out to the survivors of the LCV, making a group of 18 men out in the water. Failing to attract the notice of the destroyers nearby, the tired men had to stay in the water for 3 hours until a PT boat picked them up. At the same time a destroyer closed in to the island to draw hostile fire and bombard enemy positions on the western end. Hauwei was going to need extra help to be secured. The 2nd Squadron, 7th cavalry departed from Lombrum Point on the 11th and landed on Butjo Luo. The next day, Destroyer gunfire and rockets as well as 105-mm concentrations from the 61st Field Artillery Battalion at Mokerang point battered Hauwei. Then Kittyhawks of the 77th Pursuit Squadron at Momote airfield bombed and strafed the Hauwei. After all of this, the 2nd Squadron landed on Hauwei meeting slight resistance at the beach. They advanced 300 yards further inland where they became pinned down by heavy rifle, machine gun and mortar fire. The Japanese were firing upon them from some bunkers, prompting the 2nd Squadron to dig in and allow the artillery teams to hit them throughout the night. During the night the 61st Field Artillery Battalion from the north end of Mokerang Plantation fired 1,000 rounds to harass the enemy. This fire was directed so accurately and carefully that it was brought down on the enemy within 100 yards of the cavalrymen's positions without any casualties to our troops, and helped minimize enemy activity during the night.  At 10am on the 13th, with the support of a medium tank, the cavalrymen stormed the bunkers along the edges of the island. The Japanese put up a valiant fight, but they lacked anti-tank weaponry. By 12pm, the 2nd Squadron successfully mopped up the enemy, suffering 8 deaths and 46 wounded. They estimated they had killed 43 Japanese who were all naval personnel. Having secured the two islands, now one artillery battalion set up at Butjo Luo and two others upon Hauwei. The next day at 7:00am the 3 artillery battalions opened fire upon the Lorengau Township area. This target was chosen to divert the enemy's attention from the landing beaches around Lugos Mission. Meanwhile 4 destroyers bombarded Lorengau with their 5-inch guns. Then 18 B-25's from  Nadzab bombed and strafed the Lugos Mission and the beach areas until H - 5 minutes. Between 9:07 and 9:25, they dropped 81 500-pound bombs, strafed with more than 44,000 rounds of machine-gun fire, and cleared the target just as the troops were coming ashore.   The 8th cavalry departed Salami, heading for the Yellow Beaches covered by 3 rocket boats. The wave of buffaloes drew up to the beaches, and it appeared that they were going to make it without opposition until an enemy machine gun opened up from east of the landing beaches. Immediately the buffaloes responded with their own machine-gun fire, and two PT boats closed in to support. With 100 rounds from a flak boat added to this fire the machine gun was silenced. Two waves of landing craft followed the buffaloes to the shore in rapid succession and the narrow beaches, backed either by jungle or a high bluff, were soon congested with assault troops. On the eastern beach, Troop A began a vigorous drive toward Lugos Mission and the Number Three Road leading to the Lorengau airdrome. Captain Raymond J. Jennings, led the troops to storm the bluff where Lugos Mission was located and overran the mission before the few Japanese who had survived the bombardment could put up effective opposition. The men worked their way into the mission compound and cleared out the area with grenades. Troop A was soon on its way along Number Three Road leaving behind it, some 20 dead SNLF, without the loss of a single cavalryman. Meanwhile Troop C advanced west 800 yards to a ridge where they stopped and dug in, having accomplished their mission of establishing a defensive perimeter to protect the landing of successive elements. Other waves of the 1st and 2nd Squadrons began landing ashore as the 7th cavalry took up the beachhead. The 2nd squadron advanced over some ridges towards the Number One Road, while Troop A reduced enemy bunkers progressing roughly a mile from the beach. By 11:20am, they came across 3 mutually-supporting bunkers that halted their advance. It took Troop B's support alongside artillery and aerial bombardment to destroy the bunkers to they could advance. Meanwhile the 1st Squadron emerged out of the jungle into a clearing at 5pm, where they occupied a ridge overlooking the southern edge of the airdrome, where they would dig in. The 2nd Squadron reached Number One Road, where they ran into 3 bunkers. The following morning with tank support the squadron overran the bunkers and advanced northeast towards Lorengau. The cavalrymen would destroy 7 bunkers during their trek, before halting 100 yards before Lorengau. To the north, Troop A was clearing a coconut grove north of the airstrip, from which Japanese snipers were harassing them throughout the night. Troop C advanced along the southern edge near the airstip where they came across another pack of bunkers. Since the snipers north of the strip had been cleared out by noon, an attack could be made in the open. Troop B, supported by light tanks on their left advanced down the strip, followed by Troop D and the squadron HQ. Troop A advanced across the strip and then east along the north edge. By 1:00pm Troop C managed to destroy two bunkers using grenades, forcing the Japanese inhabitants to flee out into the open where they were cut down. Troop C then was about to dash across the airstrip when they suddenly became pinned down by friendly fire from Troop B who were trying to disengage the enemy before them. The 1st squadron suffered 9 deaths and 19 wounded during the action. Mudge then ordered them to relieve Troop C, who were holding some high ground south of the airstrip.  On the morning of the 17th after extensive naval and artillery bombardment, Mudge launched a coordinated attack with the 2nd Squadron advancing south of the airstrip and the 1st Squadron assaulting the bunkers that had held up the 8th cavalry's advance. The bombardments had nearly annihilated the bunkers, allowing the 1st squadron to face only slight resistance. They soon attacked a secondary Japanese position further east upon a ridge. This position was also met with artillery and mortar fire and would fall by 11:30am. After this the cavalrymen were able to obliterate the remaining pillboxes and advance across the pulverized airstrip. Meanwhile the 2nd Squadron of the 7th and 8th cavalry regiments linked up along the Number One Road near Lorengau. The 8th Cavalry had encountered little resistance on the road, destroying whatever bunkers were encountered with the aid of fire from medium tanks. The light tank accompanying the squadron had a track blown off by the first Japanese anti tank mine encountered in the operation. By 1pm, all the front-line troops around the airstrip to Number one Road linked up forming a general advance. By this point the backbone of the enemies resistance had been broken, leaving little to resistance them. For the next 1,500 yards to the river, it took them  2 hours because the Japanese had hurriedly put in large quantities of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. They had been emplaced, however, with no prepared plan, and many were poorly camouflaged or left lying completely on the surface. The Japanese had also dug holes and refilled them without emplacing any mines. As the cavalrymen slowly made their way to the river, they suffered a few casualties from the mines. The 7th cavalry reached the Lorengau River by 3pm, from there they dispatched a reconnaissance platoon who quickly came under fire from bunkers atop some hills overlooking Lorengau. Lorengau was sheltered in a valley surrounded by jungle-covered hills rising to 400 feet. The Japanese believed an attack would come from the sea, thus many of their defenses were sited to cover the shoreline. The offshore approaches and the three roads entering the settlement from the east, south, and north were also covered by defensive positions. From the position held by the 2nd Brigade, the only approach to the town was over a sandbar at the mouth of the Lorengau River, a slow-moving stream 20 yards wide and 10 to 20 feet deep, except at the sandbar. The beach area, which the troops would then have to cross, was heavily protected. Naval demolition mines, containing 20 pounds of black powder and detonated by a master switch located in a control bunker up the hillside, covered the beach. About 100 yards inland from the beach a series of rifle pits and gun emplacements were constructed on the side of a dike which paralleled the shore. On the hills surrounding the harbor, beach, and town about a dozen heavy bunkers were used to reinforce the fires of beach defenses and to add depth to the position. As usual these bunkers were carefully camouflaged, although the concentration of naval and artillery fire as well as repeated bombings had disclosed the location of several. Mudge ordered the men to dig in for the night on the west bank of the river and establish a perimeter defense against some expected counterattacks that would not develop in the end. The next morning, after a mortar and artillery bombardment, the 2nd Squadron, 8th Cavalry advanced down from its ridge positions to the mouth of the broad river, with its Reconnaissance Platoon leading. Upon fording the river, the cavalrymen only faced a handful of machine-guns. Facing almost no opposition, the squadron was thus able to secure Lorengau, counting 87 dead Japanese in the remains of the town.  Colonel Ezaki seemed to have disappeared during the battle over Papitalai leaving his men leaderless. The Japanese naval troops in desperation began retreating towards Rossum, with American patrols hot on their trail. There would be a furious fight down the Rossum Road. 1st Lt. James M. Concannon captured an enemy map of the area during his patrol to which he exclaimed, "Well, here goes Concannon to get himself a Purple Heart!" Lt. Concannon's platoon had been ordered to go along Number Two Road which went to Rossum and from there to Kelaua Harbor, through the heart of the Japanese defenses indicated on the captured map. Hardly had the platoon crossed the outpost line still held by Troop E along Number Two Road when it came under fire from a pair of bunkers sited to cover the track. Lieutenant Concannon and one of his men were wounded. The platoon sergeant assumed command and attempted to flank the position. When the attempt was not successful, the sergeant decided to withdraw and report, as his mission was one of reconnaissance. Upon receiving the information that the enemy was in position not 200 yards from the outpost line, Colonel Bradley directed Major Shore to send Troop A back up the track to neutralize the enemy position. The troop was reinforced with machine guns and two 37-mm antitank guns.  Troop A of the 8th cavalry were ordered to deal with the newly discovered enemy bunkers. Corporal Peter J. Armstrong and Armando V. Valencia set their heavy machine-gun in position at a range of 30 yards from one of the bunkers. Having disclosed his position by laying a continuous burst of fire on the bunker, Corporal Armstrong was wounded by sniper fire. Armstrong continued firing until a grenade knocked him unconscious. Although the gun had been hit in several places and was leaking a steady stream from its water jacket, Corporal Valencia took over and continued firing at the bunker slits until the machine-gun froze; then he fired with his submachine-gun until it was knocked out of his hands by an enemy bullet. In the meantime the mortars had obtained four direct hits on the bunkers, and the anti-tank guns had made two. Corporals Armstrong and Valencia were later awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, and for its action during the day Troop A was given a unit citation.  After taking out the stubborn position, Troop A advanced along the road under heavy sniper fire, until they were relieved by Troop C. Troop C immediately was met with a heavy Japanese counterattack shortly after nightfall. The counterattack was launched by 8 Japanese using rifle grenades and small arms. Considering the size of the attacking force, the casualties of the troop were heavy: 2 killed and 10 wounded. All the Japanese were killed, largely due to a quick adjustment by the forward observer of the 61st Field Artillery Battalion followed by four volleys fired for effect. By this point the Americans had achieved all their objectives for the Admiralty Islands campaign, the only thing left to do was mop up the islands. The remaining IJA troops were now withdrawing across the Loniu Passage over to Manus. The 8th cavalry were soon given the task of clearing the eastern end of Manus, while the 7th cavalry would clear out the Rossum Road. Yet that is all for this campaign as we are now heading over to New Guinea. General MacArthur was planning his new Western New Guinea offensive. After the directives given on March 12th, Admiral Nimitz had been instructed to provide support for his Hollandia operation. The Japanese began their occupation of Hollandia  early in April of 1942 but paid little attention to the region for a year. Then  Allied air reconnaissance disclosed that the enemy was constructing airfields on the Lake Sentani Plain. This development progressed slowly until late 1943, by which time successive reverses in the air and on the ground in eastern New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago, together with increasing shipping losses in the same region, began to demonstrate to the Japanese the vulnerability of their air and supply bases east of Hollandia. In late 1943 and early 1944, the Japanese  built 3 airfields on the Lake Sentani Plain and started a fourth at Tami, on the seacoast east of Humboldt Bay. In addition, because of shipping losses east of Hollandia, the Japanese began to develop Humboldt Bay into a major supply base and transshipment point. Large ships would unload at Hollandia, whence cargo would be carried by barge to points southeast along the coast of New Guinea as far as Wewak over 215 miles away. Much of the cargo of the large ships remained at Hollandia to build up the base there. Admiral Nimitz decided to dispatch two fast carrier groups of Admiral Mitscher's Task Force 58 to conduct fighter sweeps against Hollandia and the Wakde-Sarmi area in order to keep their airfields neutralized. MacArthur south for the carries to support the troops for 8 days after the landings. But Nimitz believed this would put the carriers in risk, because the Japanese would be able to launch aircraft from all over the Dutch East Indies or even the Philippines. It was decided Task Force 58 would remain in the Hollandia region for only 3 days after the landings were made. As a result MacArthur opted to supplement using land-based aircraft against Hollandia. To obtain this he would need to capture an airfield in Northern New Guinea, just east of the main objective. He chose an Aitape, it was a lightly guarded area and already partially developed by the Japanese, such as the incomplete airfields around the Tadji Plantation. Once the men landed ashore at Aitape, allied forces could provide flank protection for Haollandia against any westward actions by the Japanese 18th Army. For the assault against Aitape, MacArthur planned to use the 8 escort carriers of Task Force 78 under the command of Rear Admiral Ralph E. Daviso. Now for the amphibious assault, Admiral Kinkaid gave the job to Admiral Barbey's task force 77 who were divided into 3 attack groups. They would bring over General Eichelberger's 1st corp who would perform the Hollandia operation, codenamed Operation Reckless. I think it is a pretty suitable name for a MacArthur operation. For the Hollandia part of the operation, the 19th and 21st regiments of Major General Frederick Irving's 24th division would land at Tanahmerah Bay; the 162nd and 186th regiments of General Fuller's 41st division would land at Humboldt Bay. For the operation against Aitape, codenamed Persecution, the 163rd regiment of the 41st division led by General Doe would perform the initial landings. To soften up the enemy, General Kenny's air forces began bombing Wewak and Hansa in mid March, then in early April they began neutralizing the airfields to try and deceive General Adachi into believing they were the next allied target. Additionally, MacArthur asked Admiral Spruance to perform a carrier raid against the Palau Islands, codenamed Operation Desecrate One, followed by strikes on Yap and Woleai in the eastern Carolines, in order to prevent the Japanese from reinforcing Western New Guinea. Admiral Mitscher's carriers departed Majuro on the 22nd of March and made their way around the Carolines, trying to sneak past Truk undetected. Despite their best efforts, Japanese search planes from Truk managed to spot them on their 3rd day at sea. This prompted Admiral Spruance to advance the day of the raid from April 1st to March 30th. Meanwhile after sighting the allied naval forces, Admiral Koga ordered an evacuation of Palau, seeing a large number of warships and merchant shipping flee the area for Tawi-Tawi. The US submarines Gar, Blackfish, Tang and Archerfish were stationed to operate against the withdrawing ships and as plane guards. On the 23rd, Tunny sank the Japanese submarine I-42 and damaged the 14,850-ton tanker Iro. To the north of Palau, during an attack on the 26th, Tullibee was hit and sunk by her own circling torpedo. Bashaw torpedoed a 4,317-ton freighter escorted by the destroyers Minazuki and Yuzuki. On the 29th, the super battleship Musashi departed Palau under cover of darkness to avoid an expected air raid, and encountered Tunny, which fired six torpedoes at the battleship; five of them missed, but the sixth blew a hole 5.8 meters in diameter near the bow, flooding her with 3000 tonnes of water. The torpedo hit killed 7 crewmen and wounded another 11. After temporary repairs, Musashi sailed for Japan later that night and arrived at Kure Naval Arsenal on April 3.  On the 30th, Task Force 58 reached its assembly point 90 miles south of the Palau Islands. The Task Force was met with a Japanese air strike consisting of mostly Betty's and Oscars who were easily swept aside. Then fast carriers Enterprise, Bunker Hill, Hornet, Yorktown and Lexington launched their first air strikes against Palaus. For the next day and a half, the Americans flew hundreds of sorties over these islands, striking the airfields and shooting down all planes they could find. The attacks saw 40 Japanese ships at Palau and Angaur sunk, another 4 were badly damaged. 93 aerial victories would be won over Palau and Avengers from Lexington, Bunker Hill and Hornet laid extensive mines around the channels and approaches to Palau. This was the first tactical aerial mining of the Pacific War performed by carrier aircraft. In response, Admiral Koga asked for help from neighboring islands. He received 9 B6N torpedo bombers from Yap who attempted a night attack against Task Force 58 on the 31st. Unfortunately for the Japanese, 4 Hellcats from Cabot managed to intercept them, successfully shooting all of them down. Koga certainly had a lot on his plate. Due to the recent attacks against Truk and now Palau, Koga decided to transfer his HQ from the Musashi to Davao on March 31st. Most of his senior staff and cryptographers boarded 3 H8K flying boats enroute to Mindanao from Palau. All 3 of the flying boats ran straight into a typhoon just off of Cebu, two of them got lost. These flying boats were carrying Admiral Koga and Vice Admiral Fukudome Shigeru, his chief of staff. Koga's plan would end up crashing enroute to Davao, killing all aboard. Thus another commander in chief of the IJN forces had met his end to a plane crash. The other plane carrying Fukudome crashed off the coast of Cebu. Fukudome had a harrowing experience, but escaped the aircraft and began swimming to the island. To make matters even worse, while swimming Fukudome was grabbed by Filipino guerillas who brought him over to Lt Colonel James Cushing. Cushing was a former engineer in the Philippines who helped organize a resistance movement. Now captured Fukudome was certainly a large prize, yet a even bigger one came on April 3rd. A Filipino shopkeeper named Pedro Gantuangoko spotted a box floating offshore on the 3rd and picked it up in his fishing boat. The box contained a red leather briefcase carrying the Z plan. Fukudome had assumed the box sank with the aircraft, but in a twist of fate it did not. Now while this was going on, Lt Colonel Seiiti Ohnisi had dispatched troops to search for survivors of the aircraft crash and for the box containing the Z plan. Ohnisi hundreds of Filipino villagers interrogated, tortured and killed, entire Filipino villages were burnt to the ground. Eventually Ohnisi cornered Cushing and they struck a deal. On April 10th, with Japanese forces on Cebu hot on the heels of the guerillas, the American commander, Lt-Colonel Cushing, arranged to return Fukudome and the other prisoners to the Japanese in return for a cessation of the massacre of Filipino civilians. Three days later, the Filipinos who had found the box containing Plan Z and the code book when it washed ashore, turned them over to Cushing. The codebook was recognized for what it was when the guerillas discovered the Japanese were offering a 50000 peso reward for its return. On April 27, Cushing arranged for the items to be picked up by the submarine Crevalle. Traveling mostly on the surface for speed, and diving only when needed, the submarine survived depth charging twice, finally arriving at Darwin on May 19. From there, the documents were flown to Brisbane later that day. Allied codebreakers looked forward with anticipation to the arrival of the codebook, since they had been stymied by changes to the IJN code since the summer of 1942 and had not “read the enemy's mail” in any detail since the week before the Battle of Midway. The documents outlined the new strategy for the defense of the inner perimeter islands around Japan with the intention of drawing the US fleet in for a decisive showdown. The documents were sent to Admiral Nimitz and would prove extremely valuable during the Battle of the Philippines Sea. The documents were so vital, the Americans performed a covert operation sending them back to the Philippines by submarine and placed near the wreckage of the flying boat by American divers. It was one of the greatest intelligence coups of WW2. Thus Admiral Koga was dead, the Z plan fell into allied hands and the IJN was now leaderless. Koga's death would not be announced until May and he was replaced by Admiral Toyoda Soemu. Koga was promoted to Marshal Admiral posthumously and granted a state funeral. According to pilot Nagatsuka Ryuji: “The death of Admiral Koga, successor to Admiral Yamamoto, had been another shock for the Japanese nation. These distressing circumstances had forced the naval and military Chiefs of Staff to resign. They had been replaced by General Tojo and Admiral Shimada.”  Now back to the invasion, on April 1st Rear-Admiral John Reeves' carriers launched  airstrikes against Yap and Ulithi, with the three task groups then attacking Woleai. 25 American aircraft were lost, with 26 out of 44 aircrews rescued thanks to submarine Harder. Meanwhile, the fleet's Hellcats win 111 aerial victories and destroy 46 grounded aircraft on the three atolls. With this, Task Force 58 successfully removed Palau as a threat to the Hollandia-Aitape operation. Alongside this South and Southwest Pacific land-based aircraft from bases in eastern New Guinea and the Admiralties, bombed islands in the eastern Carolines and undertook many long reconnaissance missions. Meanwhile Kenney's air forces were busy neutralizing enemy air bases in Western New Guinea and the eastern islands of the Dutch East Indies. Most of the strategic support missions flown to western New Guinea were undertaken by US 5th Air Force while the Royal Australian Air Forces Command took responsibility for the majority of the strikes against the islands in the eastern Dutch East Indies. The operations were intensified roughly 6 weeks before the landings at Hollandia and Aitape.    On March 30th, Kenney shifted the weight of his attacks from the Wewak area to Hollandia, where the Japanese 6th Air Division had recently retreated from Wewak and received strong reinforcements. The airforces also performed a full aerial reconnaissance taking photos of Hollandia's 3 airdromes on March. Added to this were radio intercepts and intelligence ereports, allowing the allies to estimate the Japanese had around 351 aircraft there. With this information at hand, Kenney launched Liberators armed with small 20 pound fragmentation bombs to perform a concentrated bombing against the enemy airfield. Since the Allies hoped to rehabilitate the Hollandia strips as quickly as possible, hits on the runways with heavy ordnance would be avoided. Fighter cover would be provided by long-range P-38's, which would escort the bombers over the target, and by shorter-range P-47's, which would meet the bombers near Aitape, beat off pursuing fighters, and shepherd them home. Medium and light bombers would continue attacks on the airfields at Wewak to prevent their use by Japanese fighters. The Liberators with their P-38 and P-47 escorts would smash the anti-aircraft defenses while the medium and light bombers would drench the area with bombs. On March 30th, 7 B-24's hit Hollandia dispersals as 75 Liberators of the 43rd bombardment group and 59 P-38s of the 80th, 431st and 432nd Fighter Squadrons swept over Hollandia's airstrips and dropped nearly 6000 bombs. To make matters worse for the Japanese, they suffered from insufficient radar warning, many of their aircraft would be on the ground refueling after some morning patrols. The 5th Air Force found countless enemy aircraft parked wing tip to wing tip along the runways, a lethargic anti-aircraft reaction. 25 or more fighters made "eager" passes against the 65th Bombardment Squadron, whose gunners claimed two destroyed. The 80th Fighter Squadron engaged a reported 35 to 40 hostile fighters, destroying 7 of them. The 431st Fighter Squadron claimed one Tony damaged, but the 432d encountered no enemy fighters. Japanese interception seemed badly disorganized. The planes milled about with little evident formation, and most of the pilots appeared to have little desire for a fight. Over 100 aircraft were destroyed as the Japanese were caught completely unprepared. Japanese prisoners-of-war and captured documents later revealed that the reason the bombing operation was so successful was because the Japanese high command erroneously transported too many airplanes to Hollandia from the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies but did not transport more pilots and maintenance crews with the airplanes. There was no way for them to build appropriate defensive shelters to protect all 400 aircraft and also there were not enough trained pilots who could fly all of those airplanes at the same time so many perfectly operational aircraft were left sitting there with no aircrew to maintain them. The morale at Hollandia airbase was very low during the bombing operation, with many Japanese soldiers and airmen hiding in bunkers instead of manning anti-aircraft artillery and getting airplanes into the air. Most of these Hollandia soldiers and airmen were rear-echelon and not combat-oriented at all because most of the combat-trained divisions from the 18th Army were recently sent further east towards Wewak in anticipation of amphibious landings that would never come thanks to the deception and feints carried out by General Kenney. The P-38s then withdrew to Nadzab as soon as the bombers cleared their targets; and the P-47s, meeting the Liberators near Aitape, convoyed them home without incident. So successful was this first raid that one squadron reported that “Hollandia had really been Wewaked”. The next day, Kenney launched a nearly identical mission, with 7 Liberators and 52 P-38s bombing the dispersal at Hollandia, Cyclops and Sentani airdromes. 153 tons of 100 pound demos, frags and incendiary bombs were dropped. The Japanese anti-aircraft fire was more accurate this time around and 56 Japanese fighters gave the allies a fight. However the pilots were inexperienced and unaggressive. The Americans estimated 14 aircraft were shot down while they suffered the loss of one P-38. After the air strike, the total number of destroyed aircraft on the ground reached 199. At this point the Japanese scrambled to withdraw their remaining serviceable aircraft out of Hollandia. On April 3, Kenney sent his heaviest air attack to date. 66 B-24s escorted by 21 P-38s dropped 492 1000-pound bombs on anti-aircraft defenses. An estimated 30 Japanese Tonys and Oscars attempted without success to break up the bomb runs, and B-24 gunners claimed 2 fighters destroyed, while the 21 escorting P-38's of the 80th Squadron claimed downing ten. Then, 96 A-20s escorted by 17 P-38s strafed and dropped 100-pound para-demolition bombs over grounded aircraft, stores, and other targets of opportunity. The 432nd Squadron, covering the A-20's with 17 P-38's, encountered about 20 Japanese fighters and claimed 12 definitely destroyed, against the loss of one P-38. Finally, 76 B-25s escorted by 36 P-38s swept the strips at noon, scattering parafrags and parademos and strafing everything in sight. Only 3 Japanese fighters were encountered in this last attack, which were all shot down. After the end of the raid, Hollandia was so badly mauled that it could no longer be considered a major air installation. A Japanese seaman after hearing of the Allied mission of April 3rd against Hollandia, although seemingly confused as to imperial folklore, correctly assessed the Allied victory: "Yesterday, the anniversary of the birthday of Emperor Meiji, we received from the enemy, greetings, which amount to the annihilation of our Army Air Force in New Guinea." After April 3rd, the 5th Air Force virtually owned the air over Hollandia. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Admiralty Islands campaign was coming to a swift close, seeing MacArthur secure the valuable islands like Los Negros and Manus. MacArthurs new campaign to hit Western New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, certainly began with a bang as General Kenney's air forces had basically claimed air supremacy, the Japanese were in full panic mode. 

Last time we spoke about the beginning of the Japanese counteroffensive on Bougainville, action on the Burma front and New Guinea. General Hyakutake was under immense pressure to dislodge the Americal force from Bougainville. He unleashed a grand counter offensive trying to break the American defensive lines. Both the Japanese and Americans began suffering heavy casualties, yet neither side wavered in its resolve. Over in the Burma front, the Galahad unit, aka Merrills marauders joined their British, American and Chinese allies in pushing the Japanese back. There were some issues involving friendly fire, but overall the allies were making gains in a theater where the Japanese had dominated for years. Over in New Guinea, the Japanese were continuing to retreat to Madang. Things were going so terribly, units were now being deployed to defend the western part of New Guinea. Japan was simply not winning the war of attrition.  This episode is the Operation Thursday Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  Things have really been heating up on the Burma front. General Mutaguchi basically tricked his own superiors into allowing him to invade India under the guise of Operations HA-GO and U-GO. This saw Japanese units advancing towards Imphal and Kohima. On the other side General Stilwell's forces were advancing upon Myitkyina in the north, as General Slim's 15th corp were clashing with the Japanese in the Arakan region. Americans, British, Indians, Chinese were all performing operations to halt Japanese attacks and push further into Burma, but on top of all of that, we now need to talk about our favorite child born from the onion eating madman Wingate, the Chindits.  All the way back in early February, Operation Thursday was in development. The operation was basically an extended version of the first Chindit raid, this time in two waves, with 3 brigades making long marches across the Chindwin. The first wave would go into the enemy territory, then 2-3 months later the second wave would come in to reinforce them. There were large issues with the operation, namely a lack of aircraft. Aircraft were being used for the Arakan campaign and flying supplies over the Hump. Chiang Kai-shek would not part with any aircraft set to go over the Hump and not even Mountbatten had the authority to touch the issue. Regardless Thursday would be authorized and its goals were as follows; to assist Stilwell's advance; to create favorable conditions for the Y-Force to gord the Salween and to inflict maximum damage to the Japanese in northern Burma. Their principles targets were the Shwebo-Myitkyina railway and the Myitkyina-Bhamo-Indaw road. There would be 4 strongholds to be designated, Piccadilly, Chowringhee, Broadway and Templecombe, the last one later renamed Aberdeen. The US 900th airborne engineer company would clear strips suitable for Dakotas to land. On February 4th Wingate and Stratemeyer, commander of the Eastern Air command issued the essential guidelines for Thursday, stressing this raid would require the wounded being flown out from the strongholds rather than to be abandoned as was the case with the first expedition. Stratemeyer added orders to bomb the stronghold areas prior to their establishment, though Wingate had instead favored diversionary bombings of Rangoon, Mandalay and Bangkok.  On February 5th of 1944, Fergussons 16th brigade kicked off first from Ledo and onlookers would remark they looked more like a mule train than a commando force. There were elephants, 250 bullocks, 547 horses and 31314 mules assigned to the operation. Fergusson's 4000 men took 500 mules, fully laden along with them. They avoided Japanese forces by traversing exceptionally difficult terrain. It would be a full month before all Brigade Battalions crossed the Chindwin river. The main target was Indaw, although two Columns were tasked to attack the town of Lonkin, in the Kachin Hills and 20 miles west of Kamaing. Two gliders, loaded with folding boats, outboard engines, and gasoline, were towed by air to the Chindwin River and softly set down on a sandbar. Not only were the necessities delivered to Fergusson, but also for reuse the pair of C-4As were plucked from the scene by a C-47. Wingate traveled with Fergusson and his men for the first the start of the grueling ascent up the Paktai. They faced mud slides, torrential rain, the usual Burma experiences. It would take them all of February to reach the Chindwin, after that it was another 200 miles to their target of Indaw. Wingate departed after the first few days, but would come back over by aircraft to observe the crossing of the Chindwin. Fergusson had been critical of Wingate in January, describing him as a liar, but he continued to believe in the man. “Wingate was sometimes wrong in small things but never in big.' When Wingate met Fergusson he showed up with an entourage of war correspondents, trying to publicize the Chindits activities. He began talking to them of a new fad he came across, turtle eggs which he declared provided singular nourishment. Like so many of Wingate's eccentric ideas, no one favored it. Turtles' eggs were found to be no more appetizing than those of any other reptile, and in fact many of the Chindits experienced stomach pains and other digestive problems after eating them. Then Fergusson had to tell Wingate they could not possibly reach Indaw earlier than March 20th. The expectation had been March 5th, thus Wingate was pissed. At the same time, the 1st air commando had performed aerial reconnaissance over the 3 selected locations suitable for bringing gliders, Broadway, Piccadilly and Chowringhee. Yet Wingate had issued strict orders banning any further overflights fearing it would give up their intentions to the Japanese. Despite the warning, Colonel Cochram dispatched a B-25 on March 5th to perform a final look over the sites, giving last minute reports that Broadway and Chowinghee were clear, but it looked like teak logs were sprawled over the Piccadilly site. Since the Piccadilly site seemed unsuitable, Brigadier Calvert persuaded Wingate to send the Gliders into Broadway. On the night of March 5th, the gliders carrying the second wave were flown in. The pathfinder gliders, first to touch down, set out flare pots to facilitate succeeding waves of gliders. However, the field proved far less accessible than expected. For many years, the local people had logged teak and during the wet season, slid the huge logs across the ground down to a river. Over time the technique gouged deep ruts that elephant grass covered, making the trenches invisible to aerial photographs or reconnaissance. Co-commander of the 1st air commando group John Richardson Alison recalled "They formed perfect glider traps, and there was no way to avoid them. The gliders arrived overhead in large numbers, and when a glider starts down there is no way to stop it. As each one hit the trenches the landing gears would come off and the gliders would go in a heap. We tried to arrange the lights to spread the gliders all over the field to avoid collisions, but this was impossible. They were coming in too fast to change directions, and glider after glider piled into each other while landing.” The next day the gliders landed successfully on Chowringhee and the airstrip was completed by nightfall. Meanwhile transports began to bring Calverts 77th brigade, followed by Brigadiers Lentaigne's 111th brigade. By the 11th, the fly in was complete, now 9250 Chindits were landed on Broadway and Chowringhee. The Chindits then began their advance east to hit the Lashio-Bahmo-Myitkyina motor supply line. Trekking from Chowringhee, Morris Force Columns headed north-east, to cut the Bhamo-Myitkyina road, as 111 Brigade's British Battalions marched south from Broadway to link up with other elements flown into Chowringhee. Their job was to stop Indaw being reinforced from the south. Thus, 111th Brigade set up ambushes and roadblocks south of Indaw although part of the brigade which landed at Chowringhee was delayed in crossing the Irrawaddy River, before moving west to Pinlebu. Broadway was held with a garrison that included field artillery, anti-aircraft guns and some six Spitfires that would successfully repel a Ki-43 attack on March 13.  Meanwhile Calvert's columns advanced over the railway towards Henu, where they would establish the White City stronghold, roughly 20 miles north of Indaw. Columns were directed to demolish bridges and railroads around the Kadu, Mawhun and Pinwe stations. It was a long and gruesome march over some very tough terrain. For example, it took Column 45, bringing up the Brigade's rear, nine days to cover the first 35 miles, to Hkalak Ga. They set out again on February 22nd. By this time, the men were tiring of K-rations, which gave calories but no bulk. Smoking was confined to lunch and evening bivouacs. The Leicesters were in the lead and reached the Chindwin on February 29th. Meanwhile, 45 Recce's columns, still in the rear, reached the Chindwin during the afternoon of Saturday March 4. It had taken them 21 days to cover some of the wildest, toughest country on earth. After successfully crossing the Chindwin, on March 12th Fergusson received orders to seize Indaw's airfield, destroy supply dumps in the area and establish a new Stronghold, to be known as Aberdeen. The Brigade continued south, moving parallel to and west of the railway. Meanwhile Calvert's 5 columns to 5 days to reach Henu. The South Staffords were the first to arrive and the Japanese reacted before they could dig in – they would have to fight for the Block. were on the alert to resist their incursion. In the afternoon of 16th, Calvert launched a bayonet charge up Pagoda Hill, with the Chindits soon engaging the Japanese engineers, who were charging down, in a vicious hand-to-hand combat. Eventually, with the assistance of the 1st Air Commando's close support, the Japanese were successfully pushed off the hill and the White City stronghold was established. For the loss of 23 dead and 64 wounded, Calvert's Chindits had killed 42 Japanese and had effectively cut the line of communications supporting the 18th Division far to the north. In the ensuing days, the stronghold would be developed into a fortress, with some airstrips becoming operational by March 21st. The time chosen to drop the Chindits near the 18th Division's line of communications was most embarrassing to General Tanaka. On January 10, Headquarters, 15th Army, had suspended movement of supplies to the 18th Division in order to accumulate stocks for the projected attack on Imphal. Shipment was to resume as soon as the Imphal operation was underway. Then the Chindits cut the rail line, and just when the supply movement was to have resumed, the 18th Division had to start living on what was at hand in north Burma. It was aided by the 56th Division, which shipped about ninety tons of vital supplies to Myitkyina via Bhamo, but Tanaka's supply position was fundamentally compromised by the Chindits fighting along the railway to north Burma. On the 18th Calvert's force took a large night drop, including wire and entrenching tools. They slaved away to turn the Block into a fortress. The parachutes festooned across the forest canopy gave the Block its popular name – White City – soon a maze of slit trenches and bunkers roofed with heavy timbers. White City, with its commanding position, became a powerful concentration of force, with Calvert's three Battalions steadily reinforced. The Block grew a heavily wired perimeter and a garrison strong enough to raise a substantial force for mobile action. Calvert regarded White City as “ideally situated around a series of hills about 30ft to 50ft high, with numerous small valleys in between, with water at the north and south. I brought the village of Henu into our defended area, so that we would have a good field of fire across the paddy to the south. I also brought into the perimeter what we called ‘OP Hill', a feature slightly higher than our own little hills, to give us good observation. Our perimeter was now about 1,000 yards long, mostly along the railway, and 800 yards deep.” Calvert now had 2,000 men inside the Block, with mobile “floater” columns operating to north and south, together with a sizeable force protecting Broadway. He called in air strikes to punish a Japanese force at nearby Mawlu. Meanwhile the 15th Army's staff were beginning to panic. Many of the officers were beginning to see the paint on the wall and were calling for the Imphal offensive to be abandoned. General Mutaguchi refused to give up and instead directed some troops to thwart the Chindits. To do this a reserve battalion was taken from the 15th, 18th, 33rd and 56th divisions and redirected to Indaw while Colonel Yanagisawa Hiroshi's 67th regiment moved over to Napin. Major General Hayashi Yoshihide's 24th independent mixed brigade was ordered to advance north along with some units of the 2nd division who would open a new HQ at Indaw by March 25th. Further behind the lines, the 53rd division led by Lieutenant-General Kono Etsujiro were directed to rush north to engage the enemy as fast as possible. All of this was still a diversion from the main effort against Imphal and it basically helped Stilwell's operations. To aid the war effort the IJA air force were also stepping up their game. On march 18th, a KI-43 raid managed to destroy some Spitfires grounded at broadway. William 'Babe' Whitamore and Alan M Peart managed to get airborne, with both shooting down one 'Oscar' each. Whitamore was shot down and killed but Peart survived for over half an hour, holding off over 20 enemy fighters. The remaining Spitfires were destroyed on the ground for the loss of another pilot, Lt Coulter. Peart flew back to Kangla the same day in his damaged Spitfire and reported the action.  The following day, Fergusson's footsore columns finally neared Manhton village and prepared to establish the Aberdeen Stronghold. After an appalling final leg of their terrible march into Burma, with progress reduced at some points to 100 yards per hour, the 16th Brigade elements finally reached Aberdeen clearing, some 60 miles west of Broadway Stronghold. The Aberdeen clearing was at Manhton, just east of the Meza River and 25 miles from the railway supplying the Japanese 18th Division, fighting Stilwell's Chinese troops, and the 56th Division, opposing the Yunnan Chinese. Aberdeen took in three villages: Manhton, Kalat and Naunghmi. Aberdeen's site had a lot of advantages. It was only two days' march from Indaw and 14 miles from the Indaw-Banmauk road. The dominant feature was a hill at the northern end, where the permanent garrison would be quartered. There were, however, some drawbacks – mainly the fact that, as Fergusson himself acknowledged, it was “highly accessible” to the enemy. The 16th brigade were exhausted and needed rest, the planned attack against Indaw would have to be delayed. To the south, on the 21st the Japanese launched a major night attack against White City. The battle was ferocious, Calvert's Chindits managed to successfully repel numerous attacks for over 8 hours until the Japanese finally pulled back. The Japanese suffered an estimated 300 deaths, the Chindits also suffered heavy losses. In the White City perimeter, men took solace from the companionship of the animals sharing their hardships. A pony gave birth to a foal during a Japanese attack and murderous mortar barrage. The foal was named “Minnie” after a nearby mortar post. In another attack, Minnie was kicked in the eye by a panic-stricken mule. They fought to save the eye and Brigadier Mike Calvert ordered regular reports of Minnie's progress to be circulated to all forward positions. When recovered, Minnie took to “doing the rounds” of the mortar positions, on the scrounge for tea – which she drank from a pint pot. Minnie survived White City and further battles and went on to enjoy a distinguished military career as the Lancashire Fusiliers' mascot. Minnie got out to India, traveled to Britain and subsequently joined the Regiment on a tour of duty in Egypt. On the 23rd, leading elements of Brigadier Thomas Brodies 14th brigade began to arrive to Aberdeen with the task of blocking the Indaw-Banmauk road.  At the same time, the 111th Brigade's columns were ordered to stop Japanese movements along the Pinlebu-Pinbon. The advance on Indaw may have been compromised inadvertently by the movements of 111 Brigade. One of its British Battalions, the Cameronian's, moved in a wide sweep west of Indaw, crossed the Banmauk road on the 22nd, with orders to cut the Indaw-Homalu road. They bumped into a Japanese patrol at night and their two wounded were flown out by light aircraft the next day. The men became hardened to the realities of jungle warfare against the Japanese, who fought to the death. Some columns were luckier than others regarding their supply drops. The King's Own columns had a reputation for being unlucky. During the 21-23, three successive attempts to re-supply them failed. Already, the columns were heavily reliant on food purchased in villages.  Wingate then visited Bernard Fergusson at Aberdeen. Fergusson wanted to rest 16 Brigade after its exhausting march in but Wingate told him to press on to Indaw before it could be reinforced. Unfortunately, however, the Japanese had already accomplished this. The 16th brigade departed Aberdeen on the 24th, heading south to Auktaw, drawing closer to the heavily-reinforced Indaw. Between them were strongpoints at Thetkegyin village. This part of the country was quite dry and the Japanese controlled all the water sources, thus the Chindits would be forced to fight to drink. Despite successfully blocking the Indaw-Banmauk road, most of Fergussons columns would get sucked into heavy fighting around Thetkegyin on the 26th. Only the 2nd Leicester's columns 17 and 71 made it to Indaw, holding a toehold grimly until they were ordered to pull back. After 5 intense days of fighting, Fergusson ordered his men to withdraw and regroup at Aberdeen.  Back on the 24th, Wingate flew down to Broadway and White City on a morale-boosting mission to 77 Brigade. After a side trip to Aberdeen, he flew back to Broadway and then on to Imphal. This would be the last time Calvert ever saw him. Wingate flew back to Imphal, landing at 6:23pm before taking off again at 8pm for Hailakandi airfield. Half an hour later the B-25 crashed into the Naga hills due west of Imphal near the village of Thilon. Cochran dispatched a special force to search for the crash and they found it the next day. Everyone inside the B-25 had died instantly. Investigators believed the crash could have occurred from freak weather, engine failure or pilot error. But since it was Wingate, there was an air of reluctance to accept it was just an accident. An official investigation concluded it had been the result of engine failure and that the pilot unsuccessfully tried to return to Imphal. Yet other theories emerged and were tested out. Sabotage was the first, but it was ruled out because the B-25 had been closely guarded at all times and nobody knew Wingates intentions or flight plans. Thunderstorms and turbulence were cited as plausible, but all pilots in the area confirmed no thunderstorms.  General Slim opted for extreme turbulence, even though the pilots' testimony also ruled that out. ‘The wreckage was eventually found on the reverse side of a ridge, so that it was unlikely that the aircraft had flown into the hill. The most probable explanation is that it had suddenly entered one of those local storms of extreme turbulence so frequent in the area. These were difficult to avoid at night, and once in them an aeroplane might be flung out of control, or even have its wings torn off.' Another theory had it that the B-25's cluster bombs had broke loose from the bay's rolled into the fuselage and detonated. Given, well how Wingate was, many in the Indian army rejoiced at his death, some quoted Shakepears Macbeth ‘Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it.' Mountbatten wrote to his wife Edwina ‘I cannot tell you how much I am going to miss Wingate. Not only had we become close personal friends but he was such a fire-eater, and it was such a help to me having a man with a burning desire to fight. He was a pain in the neck to the generals over him, but I loved his wild enthusiasm and it will be difficult for me to try to inculcate it from above.' General Slim had this to write on Wingate “With him, contact had too often been collision, for few could meet so stark a character without being violently attracted or repelled. To most he was either prophet or adventurer. Very few could regard him dispassionately; nor did he care to be so regarded. I once likened him to Peter the Hermit preaching his Crusade. I am sure that many of the knights and princes that Peter so fierily exhorted did not like him very  much – but they went crusading all the same. The trouble was, I think, that Wingate regarded himself as a prophet, and that always leads to a single-centredness that verges on fanaticism, with all his faults. Yet had he not done so, his leadership could not have been so dynamic, nor his personal magnetism so striking.” And so went Wingate, probably one of the most colorful characters of the Pacific War. In light of Wingates death, General Slim promoted Lentaigne to Major-General and appointed him the new commander of the 3rd Division. Slim, had loose operational control over Special Force, selected Brigadier Lentaigne to be Wingate's replacement after conferring with Brigadier Derek Tulloch, Wingate's Chief of Staff. Lentaigne was judged to be the most balanced and experienced commander in the force; he had been an instructor at the Staff College at Quetta, had led a Gurkha battalion with distinction during the grueling retreat from Burma in 1942 and had commanded a Chindit brigade in the field. As an officer of Gurkha troops, he had a similar outlook and background to Slim. The other Chindit brigade commanders were unknown quantities, mostly without staff qualifications, some of whom had never even commanded a battalion-sized unit in combat before 1944, and Wingate's staff officers lacked the necessary combat experience. The force's second-in-command, Major General George Symes, was bypassed by Slim and formally protested and asked to be relieved. In selecting Lentaigne, Slim did not take into account the tensions between those Chindit commanders and staff who were closely associated with Wingate, and Lentaigne, who had a classical "line" officer's background and had been critical of Wingate's methods and techniques. The loss of Wingate caused significant damage to the Chindits, it was as if they lost their persona. The month following Wingate's death, the 14th, 16th and 111th Brigades appeared to lack direction. They stayed around Indaw, ambushing the Japanese but with no major objective. As Slim, noted, "The immediate sense of loss that struck like a blow, even those who had differed most from him—and I was not one of these- was a measure of the impact he had made. He had stirred up everyone with whom he had come in contact. " At Broadway, for instance, after days of aerial attack, the 2nd Battalion, 146th Regiment stormed across the airstrip on March 27th and attacked its lightly defended western perimeter. Thankfully, the attack was repulsed, partly due to superior numbers. Three days of hard fighting at Broadway then ended with counterattacks and concentrated airstrikes finally dislodging the enemy. Though the Japanese regrouped, they were again pushed back by counterattacks supported by airstrikes in the end. Meanwhile, White City's defenses were strengthened. The Dakota brought over four 25 pounders, six Bofors anti-aircraft guns and four two-pounder anti-tank guns. This would allow Calvert to attack Mawlu on the 27th. As a result, the village was successfully taken and burnt out with flamethrowers, with the Chindits then reducing the remaining Japanese strongpoints. By the end of March, however, several major changes were made at the highest level. Much of the air support was diverted to the critical battles of Imphal and Kohima, where troops were cut off and could only be resupplied by air. The 23rd Brigade, yet to fly in, was also dispatched to Kohima. Finally, the Chindits were formally subordinated to General Stilwell, who ordered them to abandon their dispersed operations around Indaw and concentrate on interdicting the supply lines to the Japanese forces opposing his troops. In early April, while the 3rd West African Brigade and the remainder of Brodie's 14th Brigade were being brought in to Aberdeen, Lentaigne ordered the 111th Brigade led by Major John Masters to advance north and build the new Blackpool stronghold, which would block the railway and main road at Hopin. To Calvert's disgust, he was ordered to abandon White City and Broadway and move north to support the new stronghold, as Lentaigne insisted that the Chindit brigades were too far apart to support each other. But that is all for today in the Burma front as we now need to head over to Bougainville. The counterattack on Bougainville shifted on March 15th. General Kanda noticed Iwasa and Muda's Units were struggling to break through in their areas, so he changed the point of attack for the Magata Unit. He withdrew the bulk of the forces from Hills 700 and 260, sending them westward in preparation for a final attempt to break through towards the Piva airfields. The reserve 6th cavalry regiment was sent to reinforce Mugata's rear while the 2nd battalion, 4th South Seas Garrison was brought forward to try and contain the Americans at the Saua river mouth. Thus, there was a five-day break in the major action while the Japanese transferred the 13th and 23rd Regiments to reinforce what was left of Colonel Mugata's 45th Regiment. At this time the Japanese maintained patrols, which sometimes got into firefights with American patrols. A number of Japanese were taken prisoner during these patrol actions. From time to time the Japanese would lob mortar shells into the 129th's sector. During this lull in the fighting, the tired American riflemen and engineers were busy strengthening the defenses. Pillboxes were rebuilt, tactical wire reestablished, illuminating devices installed, communications improved, and the many Japanese dead buried. Information gained from prisoners and reconnaissance led General Beightler to conclude that the Japanese would launch a major assault on March 23rd. It was estimated that General Kanda had approximately 4850 men at his disposal to renew the attack on the 129th's front. Meanwhile the American artillery was smashing the South Knob who were now only being defended by a screening force. On the 18th, General McCulloch launched a final combined assault against the Knob. Companies A and B of the 132nd regiment performed a enveloping maneuver and enjoyed some initial success until they came upon heavy fire from Japanese bunkers. At 2:10pm the next day the attack resumed, this time successfully destroying several pillboxes, but the Americans were halted short of the crest. On the 20th, Company B was reinforced with a platoon from A and they circled the south end of the Knob, reaching the base of the trail going east. There they discovered the Japanese could pour down just as much fire, seeing another failed attack. Because of this failure it was decided to leave the reduction of Hill 260 to artillery and mortars. On the 23rd, the Iwasa and Muda units had completed their movement, now 4850 troops were concentrated on the northern sector ready to perform a major assault. Having been forewarned by the captured documents, the American forces were expecting the attack. The Americans unleashed a heavy artillery bombardment against Magata's assault forces as they were forming up, disrupting their initial advance and causing massive casualties. Late in the evening, Kanda launched his own assault, with General Iwara's 2nd battalion, 23rd regiment and 2nd battalion, 13th regiment through Cox Creek followed by Muda's men. Advancing under darkness, the Japanese surprised the Americans and managed to knock out 3 pillboxes under heavy fire. The area of attack was so narrow, artillery and air strikes could not be performed safely, so General Beightler ordered the 148th regiment to respond with a combined tank-infantry assault. With the support of Sherman's the Americans stormed the Japanese positions at 7:25am successfully reoccupying must of their lost territory within only 20 minutes. The Japanese tossed further attacked but were being gradually pushed from the narrow area by noon.  During the afternoon, General Kreber's corp and divisional artillery began concentrating their fire on a very narrow sector where the bulk of the surviving Japanese were dug in. An infantryman of the 129th recalled: “All these big guns opened fire into this area about 500 yards in front of us, and I remember what they called a million dollar barrage and it's something you never forget–the big guns shooting over your head. It was very frightening because you wondered whether one of these shells would not go far enough. It was all jungle out in front of us and when they got done it was all cleared out. They had knocked everything down. A lot of Japs were killed by this… I can remember the day after the big attack the bulldozers came in and dug these huge trenches and we had to go out and take the Japanese and drag them into these. Because of the warm weather they began to smell pretty bad. Many, many killed!” It was the heaviest artillery concentration seen as of yet during the Pacific War. It completely disrupted the Magata unit, causing tremendous casualties. The 2nd Battalion, 45th Regiment were completely disorganized; the 1st and 3rd Battalions were reduced to 20 men; the 1st Battalion, 81st Regiment were reduced to 40 men; and the 3rd Battalion, 53rd Regiment were down to 100 men. The massive losses forced the Japanese to withdraw. General Hyakutake now realized his counteroffensive was a failure and forced to call it off.  The Japanese were in full retreat by the 28th. The Magata force, with an estimated strength of over fifteen hundred men, utilized the Numa Numa Trail and withdrew toward the northern part of Bougainville. The remnants of the Iwasa and Muda forces, covered by reinforcements from the 4th South Seas Garrison unit and the 6th Cavalry Regiment, moved quickly along a number of trails to the relative safety of southern Bougainville. The units of the 17th Infantry Group returned to northern Bougainville and rejoined its parent unit. On the 28th, the 182nd regiment found the South Knob abandoned and finally secured Hill 260. The three-week battle for the rather insignificant knoll had cost the Americans 98 deaths and 581 wounded, counting 560 dead Japanese on the knob. Total casualties for the final Japanese counteroffensive on Bougainville would be 263 American dead and over 2489 Japanese bodies counted. In reality, Hyakutake's 17th Army lost a total of 3000 killed and 4000 wounded in their March operations, including 2398 killed and 3060 wounded from the 6th Division. General Beightler expressed the feelings of many in stating that the beating administered to the 6th Division was a partial repayment for its role in the rape of Nanking in 1937. Although the Japanese would plan another concentrated assault on Allied positions later down the line, they would never again launch a major attack. For all practical purposes, the battle for the Solomons was now over. Now we need to jump over to the Southwest Pacific.  As a result of the Admiralty Islands being invaded a month ahead of schedule. Yet General MacArthur kept his gaze on the development in the Central Pacific. He needed to pick up the pace if he wanted to win the race, so he planned to carry out the invasion of Kavieng, bypassing the Hansa Bay area with a direct jump to Holland before the end of April. General Sutherland gave the Joint Chiefs an outline calling for the Southwest Pacific forces to move into the Hollandia area with two divisions on April 15, supported by the Pacific Fleet. Air, naval, and logistic bases would be established at Hollandia to support subsequent Southwest Pacific advances northwest to the Geelvink Bay region of Dutch New Guinea. The Southwest Pacific forces would then move to Geelvink Bay about June. In the middle of the next month, according to General Sutherland's presentation, three Southwest Pacific divisions would be sent against the Arafura Sea islands, southwest of Dutch New Guinea. There, air bases would be established from which to cover later advances to the Vogelkop Peninsula and Halmahera, both scheduled for mid-September, when Central Pacific forces might be ready to move to the Palaus. If the Marianas were bypassed, however, the Palaus might then be invaded as early as mid-July. Land-based aircraft of the Southwest Pacific Area could support a July invasion of the Palaus from air bases in the Hollandia and Geelvink Bay regions. If air bases on the Vogelkop, Halmahera, and the Arafura Sea islands proved inadequate to provide left flank protection for the move into the Philippines, then airdrome sites on Ambon Island might also be seized in September or October. The entry into the Philippines would be effected at southeastern Mindanao on 15 November 1944. Yet for all of this, MacArthur needed something he did not have, the Pacific Fleet's aircraft carriers. After concluding the Marshall islands campaign, Admiral Nimitz argued that the next move would be to bypass Truk and invade the southern Marianas and the Palaus islands to further neutralize the Carolines. To seize the Philippines a good fleet base would be required in the western Pacific. Nimitz proposed seizing Ulithi atoll, around midway between the Marianas and Palaus. Nimitz also argued the case for Woleai in the Carolines, 400 miles south of the Marianas. By early March, the Joint Chiefs of Staff thus met at the Washington Planning Conferences with Nimitz and Lieutenant-General Richard Sutherland, to hear about their plans and discuss what the best course of action would be. In the end, on March 12th, they issued a new directive for operations in 1944.  The Joint Chiefs ordered MacArthur to cancel his Kavieng operation and instead to complete the neutralization of Rabaul and Kavieng with minimum forces necessary. The Southwest Pacific's forces were to jump from eastern New Guinea to Hollandia on April 15, thus bypassing Wewak and Hansa Bay, with the mission to develop an air center from which heavy bombers could start striking the Palaus and Japanese air bases in western New Guinea and Halmahera. Once Hollandia was secured, MacArthur was to conduct operations northwest along the northern New Guinea coast in preparation for the invasion of the Palaus and Mindanao.  The target date for the Southwest Pacific's landing on Mindanao in the Philippines was set for November 15. Admiral Nimitz, in turn, was ordered to cancel his Truk operation and to speed the aerial neutralization of Truk, Woleai, and other Japanese bases in the central and eastern Carolines. He was also directed to conduct heavy carrier strikes against the Marianas, the Carolines and the Palaus, and to provide carrier support and amphibious means for the Southwest Pacific's landings in the Hollandia area. The Marianas would be occupied by Central Pacific forces beginning in mid June and Palaus by mid September. The Joint Chiefs, were looking to extend Allied control over the eastern approaches to the Philippines and Formosa and to secure air and naval bases from which to support operations against Mindanao, Formosa, and the China coast. The invasion of the Admiralty and Green Islands led the Americans to seize full control over the South Pacific. This allowed the US Navy to begin sending destroyers to harass the Japanese at Rabaul and Kavieng. Admiral Halsey at Guadalcanal assembled an invasion force to hit Kavieng. When he heard about the decision to cancel the Kavieng invasion, he searched for another task for the boys he got together. He decided to capture the Emirau island, lying halfway between Kavieng and the Admiralties, thinking it could be the last link to strangle Rabaul. For what would be the last operation of Cartwheel, Admiral Wilkinson put Commodore Reifsneider in command of the amphibious operation and assigned Lieutenant-Colonel Alan Shapley's 4th Marines to carry out the landing. As a preliminary, Admiral Griffin's Task Force 36, formed around four battleships and two escort carriers, also bombarded Kavieng and its nearby airfields on March 20th. The bombardment gave Rear-Admiral Tamura Ryukichi the impression that the expected invasion by Allied forces was imminent and he gave the order to kill all the European prisoners in Kavieng. At least 25 of them were executed in the Kavieng Wharf Massacre, which later led to six of the perpetrators being sentenced for war crimes in 1947. Sentenced to death by hanging, Tamura was executed at Stanley Prison on March 16, 1948. Meanwhile Reifsneider's convoy  departed Guadalcanal in two echelons, successfully reached the unoccupied Emirau Island at 6:05am. The Marines of the two assault battalions, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 4th Marines, traveled on nine high speed transports while the remainder of the force were on the dock landing ships, Epping Forest, Gunston Hall and Lindenwald, and the attack transport Callaway. One LSD carried the 66 LVTs for crossing Emirau's fringing reef, one carried three LCTs, two of them loaded with tanks, and the third carried three LCTs with radar sets and anti-aircraft guns. The LVTs were launched, and the assault troops transferred to the amphibious tractors using the APDs' boats, supplemented by those from Callaway while F4U Corsairs of VMF-218 flew overhead to make a last-minute check of the island for any signs of the Japanese. The assault waves touched down on schedule. The reserve 3rd Battalion's boats grounded on the reef soon afterwards, and its marines waded ashore through knee deep water. The only problem encountered was with launching the LCTs carrying the tanks. The LSD's flooding mechanism failed and the LCTs had to be dragged out by a fleet tug. While the detachment sent to occupy Elomusao Island was approaching the beach, some supposed opposition caused the amphibious tractors and then a destroyer to open fire, and a man was wounded by a shell fragment. After all of this…well the Marines were told by the natives the Japanese had left Emirau two months before and only a small detachment remained on Mussau Island. Thus 3727 troops and 844 tons of cargo were ashore by nightfall, when the ships sailed; and within a month, some 18,000 men and 44,000 tons of supplies had been landed and it had become a motor torpedo base that could keep watch on the north coast of New Ireland.  As for the Japanese Admiral Koga was planning to carry out a desperate program of reorganization, including the creation of the Mobile Fleet. Admiral Ozawa's 1st Mobile Fleet was formed by the 2nd and 3rd Fleets; consisting of most of the IJN's warships. This would leave the combined fleet as a mere administrative organization. Land-based forces in the Central Pacific were expanded, their main base was at Tinian; Saipan was fortified and it became the new fleet HQ. Fuel shortages and loss of tankers to submarine attacks had become so severe, Admiral Ozawa's new command would have to remain within the Singapore zone. They would operate close to the Dutch East Indies oilfield and within Japanese waters for training. Koga also prepared a new defensive plan, with the inner perimeter now extending from the Kuriles to the Nanpo Islands,  then the Marianas and the Carolines to the west end of New Guinea. He also drew up plans for the formation of a 3rd Aircraft Carrier Fleet, in three divisions, each composed of three carriers. It looked very impressive on paper, but the reality was that the 3rd division actually consisted of two converted tankers the Zuiho and Chitose and the converted naval auxiliary ship Chiyoda. Furthermore, the carriers lacked any experienced pilots, with most of them having been lost around Rabaul and in the Solomons and Marshalls. Thus, new pilots for the three carrier divisions would have to be trained. Finally, he developed Plan Z, a strike against the American fleet the moment it entered the Philippine Sea.  For this decisive battle, that in his eyes could allow the Japanese to win an “honorable peace”, Koga wanted to be prepared to use 500 planes on the carriers and another 500 on the islands, so he needed to increase the Japanese air force by about 50%, something that would be hard to achieve.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. And with that the South Pacific was liberated from the Japanese Empire. Operation Cartwheel was effectively done. The allies were squeezing the Japanese empire back to the home islands and honestly it was a good time to negotiate a peace on the side of the Japanese. But they would not do so, always on the search for the famed decisive victory. 

鶯歌陶瓷與米其林餐廳、餐飲點心名店聯名合作，開創那些可能？鶯歌陶瓷重鎮裡，為何年輕人變多了？設計力在當中扮演哪些角色？產地見學，可以讓我們看見什麼？如何引進超過200萬人參觀？怎麼讓互相競爭的業者邁向合作？客製、彈性、品質優良，MIT（Made in Taiwan）過去一直讓台灣產業引以為傲，然而要帶動整體產業的發展與轉型則需往BIT（Brand in Taiwan）邁進，也就是發展品牌，這也使得許多地方產業在面臨新世代的挑戰時舉步維艱，甚至逐漸凋零。為了振興地方發展，台灣設計研究院提出「T22設計振興地方產業計畫」，透過深入蹲點挖掘產業痛點，並以精準的設計力為地方產業提出解方。本集特別邀請到T22計畫主持人、台灣設計研究院副院長艾淑婷帶來精采分享。T22計畫由鶯歌出發，如何藉由引進顧問、台日合作、Co-Branding等策略，催化昔日陶瓷重鎮蛻變，將細膩的陶瓷工藝呈現給大眾？鶯歌的成功經驗給我們哪些啟發？歡迎收聽！ 鶯歌陶瓷與米其林指南餐廳大腕燒肉co-branding作品 鶯歌陶瓷與米其林指南餐廳Longtail co-branding作品 鶯歌陶瓷與米其林指南餐廳大三元 co-branding作品 KOGA許家陶器品 主持人與台灣設計研究院艾淑婷副院長合影

Red goes to save Blue, who reveals that his pendant saved his life. Koga uses Articuno to freeze Red and Blue and succeeds. Little does he know that Blue sent a Pokémon, who turns the situation around. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/otakuology/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/otakuology/support

Ever wondered how your personal wellbeing could impact your business success? Are you ready to discover the mindset shift that can transform not only your business, but your entire life? Here’s a thought-provoking book that explores the connection between inner peace and business performance. Join Omar as he delves deep into the insights and takeaways […] The post MBA2431 Must Read: The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga appeared first on The $100 MBA.

Ever wondered how your personal wellbeing could impact your business success? Are you ready to discover the mindset shift that can transform not only your business, but your entire life? Here’s a thought-provoking book that explores the connection between inner peace and business performance. Join Omar as he delves deep into the insights and takeaways […] The post MBA2431 Must Read: The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga appeared first on The $100 MBA.

Ever wondered how your personal wellbeing could impact your business success? Are you ready to discover the mindset shift that can transform not only your business, but your entire life? Here's a thought-provoking book that explores the connection between inner peace and business performance. Join Omar as he delves deep into the insights and takeaways from this incredible book, "The Courage to Be Disliked" by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. Learn how this book can help you achieve inner peace, understand what is truly bothering you, and make a difference in your business. Discover the power of courageous individuality, self-acceptance, and continuous growth as Omar breaks down the key lessons from the book and how you can apply them to your own life and business. Ready to discover the courage to be disliked and unlock the transformative power of this mindset shift? Tune in to today's episode to learn how you can pave the way for personal and professional growth, make clear decisions, and enjoy the journey of entrepreneurship. Don't miss out on this insightful episode; click play and listen now!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake KogaGet the book from Amazon

Iztok in Vesna za pusta zamenjata vlogi … Pripoveduje: Marko Okorn. Napisal: Ivan Sivec. Posneto v studiih Radiotelevizije Ljubljana 1982.

Last time we spoke about the landing at Saidor and the drive against Sio. The Australians were still advancing across Shaggy Ridge when General MacArthur unleashed an amphibious assault against Saidor to cut off the Japanese escape and isolate Sio. Numerous features were seized up the large ridge and the Americans successfully amphibiously assaulted Saidor and seized their airfield. General Adachi placed the 51st and 20th divisions under the command of General Nakano, who was tasked with advancing to Gali to try and secure a new supply point. Meanwhile efforts were made to try and contain the new threat in Saidor while simultaneously holding back the Australians in the south. Over on new britain the airdrome was seized as Colonel Katayama launched a failed counter attack against the Marines. The Marines tossed back the attack and began their own advance further inland. This episode is Ledo Road Offensive Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  The Americans had landed at Cape Gloucester, Saidor and were carrying out massive attacks against Rabaul. As we had seen previously, on November 5th, aided by bad weather, a surprise air raid was made by the USS Saratoga and Princeton, led by Rear-Admiral Frederick Sherman that inflicted heavy damage to 4 cruisers within the harbor; Maya's engine room was smashed by a bomb killing over 70 men; a 500 lb bomb hit Mogami; Takao took 2 500 lb bomb hits while 3 500 lb bombs narrowly missed Atago killing 23 seamen and caused severe damage to the ship's plating. 2 other cruisers and 3 destroyers also suffered light damage. Captain George Chandler flying a P-38 fighter pilot described how “There were B-24 bombers up high and B-25 bombers attacking right down on the deck dropping ‘frag' bombs on the airplanes along the runways … we did our best work at high altitude, but we also took part in combat a thousand feet off the ground.” The devastation caused Admiral Miniechi Koga to withdraw his forces to Truk, thus ending the IJN threat to Bougainville. A Japanese naval officer would later admit that they had given up on Bougainville mainly because of “the serious damage received by several Second Fleet cruisers at Rabaul by carrier attack …” The successful  raid against Rabaul left Halsey ecstatic. “It is real music to me and opens the stops for a funeral dirge for Tojo's Rabaul.” On November 8th, reinforcements led by Rear-admiral Alfred Montgomery task force 38, with the new fleet carriers USS Bunker Hill, Essex and Independence. With the added carrier strength on November 11th, a follow up air raid was made seeing the IJN cruiser Agano torpedoed and badly damaged, while 35 Japanese aircraft out of 120 launched in a counter attack against the carrier force were shot down. Montgomery would not lose a single ship. Admiral Koga's decision to send carrier pilots to bolster Rabaul had quite literally blown up in his face. Koga's air fleet had lost 43 of its 82 Zeros, 38 of its 34 Vals, 34 of its 40 Kates and 6 Judy spotter planes. Over 86 of his 192 experienced pilots and crew had perished, and he had only inflicted minimal damage to Nimitz fleet, it was a disaster. Yet the fantastical reports from Japanese pilots kept pouring in, claiming the air battles over Bougainville were infact won by the IJN air forces. Newspapers in Japan reported victories that added up to the destruction of 5 American battleships, 10 carriers, 19 cruisers and 7 destroyers. The reality was the destruction of 2 cruisers, the USS Birmingham and Denver. By mid november Vice Admiral Kusaka was finding it difficult to sustain attacks against allied convoys feeding supplies to Empress Augusta Bay. On November 12th, Rabaul only had 113 Zero's of which only 59 were operational. Crews were suffering from malaria and other diseases, no one was granted rest as they were limited in personnel and under constant attack. The quality of ground crews and pilots was deteriorating every week.  From November 12 through December 16, the daytime skies over the Gazelle Peninsula remained relatively quiet, as the US carrier forces had departed to support operations in the Central Pacific. AirSols received a new commander on the November 20th, Major General Ralph Mitchell who continued to support operations in Bougainville and General Kenney's Fifth Air Force was supporting preparations for the landings in western New Britain. The lull gave Admiral Kusaka a brief opportunity to recuperate as replacements began to arrive from the Marshalls and Truk. The Imperial Japanese Navy would take six months to replenish its carrier pilots with less well-trained and inexperienced replacements. In the meantime the carrier fleet itself, Japan's most expensive and precious strategic asset, was forced to remain idle in Truk as Nimitz began his island hop through the Central Pacific Meanwhile the Torokina airfield had become crude but operational. The Seabees had created a single 4750 foot by 200 foot strip. It lacked taxiways, hardstands and buildings, but by December 10th it could launch aircraft. Soon the Seabees would carve 2 additional landing trips in the jungle 3 miles further inland. The first would be a mile long, the second 8000 feet or so for bombers. Unlike the Japanese airfields on the Gazelle Peninsula which would take more than a year to complete, both of these American airfields took a month. You often hear, especially from marine veterans of the pacific, praise for the Seabees, such a colossal advantage in logistics paved the way to victory. A massive fighter sweep was launched on December 17 consisting of 32 Corsairs, 24 F6Fs, and 24 RNZAF Kittyhawks from airfields at New Georgia and Vella Lavella who rendezvoused at Torokina, topped off their fuel tanks, and hit  Rabaul. The strike was led by Major Greg “Pappy” Boyington, the commanding officer of Marine Fighter Squadron 214, better known by its nickname, the "Black Sheep Squadron". The three types of aircraft had different flying characteristics and different cruising speeds. The Kittyhawks, slowest of the bunch, took off first. The plan was for them to come in at 15,000ft, and lure out the Japanese. Next came the Hellcats, flying above the Kittyhawks. And the last were the Corsairs, who flew top cover. It was a long flight over open water, calculated to make the pilot of a single-engine aircraft nervous. If the engine failed it was a long swim home. They were intercepted by 35 Zeros, with the Kittyhawks getting the first jump on them. After the Kittyhawks made their first pass, shooting down a Japanese fighter, the advantage switched over to the more agile  Zeros. The Kittyhawk squadron leader's plane was fatally damaged and a second Kittyhawk went down after colliding with a Zero. Remarkably, both pilots survived. Meanwhile the Hellcats and Corsairs, at high altitudes, were coming up empty. The Corsairs circled Lakunai field finding no targets. Pilot Boyington exchanged insults with an English-speaking Japanese officer over the radio, but despite his challenges found no targets in the air. When all aircraft returned to base, the score was even. Two Kittyhawks and two Zeros were lost; one each due to the collision and one shot down by both sides. It was a rather disappointing fighter sweep, but would become just one of many against Rabual over the course of the next 3 weeks. The next raid came two days later seeing 48 B-24s launched, but 32 were forced turned back. The remaining 16 bombers escorted by 51 were intercepted by 94 Japanese fighters, yet they also suffered from the bad weather. Less than half made contact with the enemy. In the resulting fight, 5 Zeros were shot down and 10 allied aircraft were lost, but only two were shot down. The other eight were due to a mid-air collision and landing mishaps, all near home. The weather persisted to be so bad, it was only on the 23rd another sortie could be launched. B-24s escorted by Corsairs and Hellcats bombed Lakunai. Radar gave the Japanese some early warning and nearly 100 Zeros were scrambled. 60 made contact with the bombers after they hit Lakunai. No bombers were lost, but 2 Corsairs were shot down in the ensuing dogfights. Yet the Americans had a twist, they followed up the raid with a fighter sweep of 48 Corsairs. They arrived 15 minutes after the bombers left, surprising the airborne Japanese fighters, most of whom lacked radios. 6 Zeros were shot down, several others damaged and only 2 Corsairs lost.  2 days later, another fighter sweep preceded by bombers was launched claiming 18 aircraft kills, but it was probably closer to 5. In comparison the Japanese pilots would claim 55 kills, a number greater than the american force sent. On the 27 another sweep was launched against Cape Gloucester downing 7 Japanese aircraft for one American. 28 Corsairs returned the next day but this time the Japanese held the advantage, sandwiching the Marines between 2 large groups of Zeros. 3 Corsairs were shot down, but so were 3 Zeros, with 2 others badly damaged. On 30th 36 Liberators escorted by 20 Hellcats and 20 Corsairs, bombed Rabaul. 1 B-24 was lost on the raid, hit by antiaircraft fire. No air combat occurred. On New Years day 15 B-24s and 68 escorting fighters met heavy fighter opposition. 40 Zeros had been sent to Rabaul from Truk, manned by veteran pilots. 1 B-24 was shot down, and two others badly damaged. On January 2 48 US fighters raided and on the 3rd another 44. The two sweeps took out a handful of fighters. The last sweep was on the 5th seeing another 2 zeros downed. Meanwhile back on December 24th, Admiral Sherman's task force 37 raided Kavieng. The operation had two purposes, 1) was to distract attention from the landings at Cape Gloucester and 2) to interdict sea traffic between Truk and Rabaul. The 5000-ton naval transport Tenyru Maru was sunk and several other ships were damaged. After this task force 37 made several raids against Kavieng through January 4th. They managed to shoot down 10 Japanese fighters, damaged IJN cruiser Noshiro and destroyers Fumizuki and Satsuki. On Janaury 6th, the bomber strip at Piva became operational, thus Rabaul was now within range of allied light and medium bombers, basically it was pounding time.   On January 7th, 16 Avengers and 24 Dauntless raided Tobera airfield. From medium altitudes the Avengers dropped 2000lb pounds smashing the paved runways. The Japanese managed to shoot down 3 fighters and one dauntless, but Tobera was temporarily not operational. It was the first time any Rabaul airbase was neutralized from bomb damage. This would be followed up on the 11th by a low level attack against Vunakanau by B-25's, damaging 8 parked aircraft. Then on the 14th, Simpson Harbor was attacked by 16 Avengers , 36 Dauntless and fighter escorts. The Japanese tossed 84 fighters but the allies held such a tight formation it was difficult to get at the bombers. 2 bombers were lost before reaching Lakunai; 1 to a mid-air collision and 1 to antiaircraft fire. When the Allied aircraft finally arrived, clouds shielded Lakunai so the bombers switched to targeting the ships in Simpson Harbor. The Avengers carried 2,000lb bombs, limiting their effectiveness. Regardless, they landed hits on the 15,400-ton-displacement oiler Naruto, and thus ended its goal of becoming the Hokage. . . sorry folks could not resist that one. The destroyer Matsukaze was also damaged alongside 5 other vessels.    AirSols came back to hit simpson harbor and blanche bay 3 days later sinking  the Komaki Maru, Kosei Maru, Yamayuri Maru, Hakkai Maru and Iwate Maru. To take down the combined 30,000 tons of shipping AirSols lost 8 P-38s, 1 Hellcat, 1 F4U, 1 Avenger, and 1 Dauntless. The rest of January saw so many raids, sometimes 2-3 on the same day, thus I can't spend the entire podcast listing their actions, but the losses were brutal. For the Americans they would lose 23 aircraft between January 23rd-30th, for the Japanese it was around 37. By the end of the month, Rabaul was being bled dry of planes, thus the rest was withdrawn to Truk with around 40 pilots. To make up for the withdrawal, Admiral Koga brought over the air groups of carriers Junyo, Hiyo and Ryuho on the 25th adding 62 zeros, 18 vals and 18 kates to Admiral Kusakas dwindling forces. Does that not sound like performing the exact same action that saw such devastating losses in late december to early january? Yes, yes it does.    Moving over to New Britain, General Shepherd had just smashed the Japanese positions along Suicide Creek. While seizing Suicide Creek some Americans captured a Japanese dispatch saying “It is essential that we conceal the intention that we are maintaining positions on Aogiri Ridge. Concerning the occupation of this position, it is necessary that Aogiri Yama is maintained.” While making arrangements for the Japanese assault against Target Hill one, Lieutenant Abe had occasion sent field dispatches to Warrant Officer Kiyoshi Yamaguchi, one of his platoon leaders. The dispatch mentioned command post locations, hour of attack, and other orders. Yamaguchi, with that seemingly incredible indifference to basic security which the Japanese so often demonstrated, simply stuck the dispatch in his pocket and carried it with him to the assault. Marines found it on his body the following morning, thereby gaining their first inkling of the existence of a terrain feature which appeared as such on none of their maps but upon which the Japanese appeared to place great importance, for reasons not yet clear. Aoigiri Ridge was not in the American maps and it was currently held by the 2nd battalion, 53rd regiment and 2nd battalion, 141st regiment. Behind the ridge was a wide trail leading to Magairapua, connecting Matsuda's HQ with Borgen Bay. The trail was heavily used and concealed extremely well from American aircraft. Back over at the American lines, by January 5th, the 3rd battalion, 7th marines had pulled back into the reserve, allowing the weapons company, 7th marines to occupy the extreme left along the shore to prepare for Shepherds offensive against Hill 150. The new formation launched their attack at 11am on the 6th. Tanks surged forward to smash a roadblock held by the 2nd battalion, 141st regiment on the left trail. Artillery was deployed on a nearby hill hitting the Japanese lines as A company tried to break through but was quickly pinned down by the roadblock. The tanks eventually burst through the roadblock sending the Japanese packing.   The americans advanced through the increasingly swampy terrain, facing weaker resistance. B company crossed a small stream and stormed Hill 150 during the afternoon, securing it. Further right, C company and the 3rd battalion, 5th marines were surprised to be held up by extremely heavy fire from the until then unknown feature, Aogiri ridge. The men had no other choice than to pull back to a safe distance to dig in as they reported back the presence of the heavily fortified position. The Japanese would unleash carnage upon the men for 2 days whenever they tried to press forward. On the 7th the commanding officer of the 3rd battalion, 5th Marines, was wounded and replaced by Lt Colonel Lewis Walt. The next day, Walk's men were cautiously inching forward under heavy enemy fire through dense jungle, when they first encountered the ground rising in steepness. At this point Walt realized the feature had to be Aogiri Ridge.    On the 9th, the assault battalions resumed their attacks, this time with heavy artillery support against Aogiri ridge. Walt was reinforced with Companies K and L from the 7th marines, but the advance was extremely slow and painful. Two Japanese bunkers were knocked out with white phosphorus grenades, but that ended the limited gains. Walt personally began pushing a 37mm gun excruciating foot by foot up Aogiri ridge, firing a volley of canisters every few feet. Somehow he managed to get the gun up the steep slope into a decent position to sweep the ridge, allowing the gain of a foothold on the crest of Aogiri. The loss of the ridge was a huge threat to Matsuda and Katayama's positions, so the latter decided to throw his reserves in a desperate but ferocious counterattack.   At 1:15am on the 10th, Katayama sent his recently arrived 3rd battalion to attack the reverse slope. However the Marines held firm and would end up repelling 5 consecutive banzai charges with a fury and persistence unparalleled in the campaign. On the 4th try a Japanese major and two company officers succeeded in knifing through the Marine cordon almost to Colonel Walt's fox hole, 50 yards behind the front line. At that instant one of two short rounds in a 60-round artillery barrage burst in a tall tree almost directly overhead, and the major died there, sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. The 5th charge was blunted by artillery and the Japanese finally cut their losses and pulled back. The Japanese had suffered immense casualties, seeing all 3 of their battalions depleted, forcing Katayama to pull off Aogiri ridge that very night. The morning of the 10th saw Walk's men securing the feature and then discovering the vital Magairapua trail. The marines went to work mopping up the area until January 12th, whereupon Shepherd planned to seize Hill 660. The feature was guarded by the 6th company, 141st regiment supported by a number of guns of the 30th machine cannon company. The fresh 3rd battalion, 7th marines, led by lt colonel Henry Buse Jr were to perform the main assault, with the 1st battalion extending the perimeter behind them. To help the effort, the weapons company,7th marines of Captain Buckley would begin constructing a roadblock between the eastern base of Hill 660 to the shore of Borgen Bay, hoping to cut off the defenders escape route.   At 08:00am on the 13th, after artillery, mortars and the 5th Air Force performed a bombardment of the area, the last Marine offensive commenced. A intricate system of small arms and automatic weapon positions going up the summit unleashed fire upon the marines, quickly pinning down I company. L Company attempted swinging to the right, but were also pinned down. Engineers worked a light tank forward far enough to place fire across a gorge demolishing the more troublesome enemy weapons. By late afternoon, together with artillery supporting fire, the pinned-down companies were rescued and withdrawn for the night. Meanwhile the Weapons company worked with their bulldozer, by 1030 they had skirted the eastern base of the hill and set up an all-around perimeter. There they dug in clearing fields of fire for about 60 yards to both north and south, placing their half-tracks and tanks in supporting positions. The only opposition they encountered during the advance was by two Japanese machine guns and emplaced near the summit of the hill. With all said and done they successfully cut off the Japanese line of retreat.  On the morning of the 14th, the 3rd battalion resumed their assault, with their leading companies advancing to the right working their way up. One unit nearly got atop the crest before coming under fire from heavy machine guns. They got to a position where they could bring 60mm mortars to bear, and went to work neutralizing the machine gun positions before a final surge carried them across the summit. The Japanese fled down the crest heading east, coming straight into the line of fire of the Weapons company below. The result was a terrible rout, seeing many escape to the safety of the swamps to the hills southeast. By the end of the 14th, the marines had seized Hill 660 and were performing mop up operations through the following day. At 5:30am on the 16th, Katayama ordered the 6th and 11th companies, 141st regiment to counter attack Hill 660. Soon the marines were face to face with a large banzai charge, seeing the fighting getting up close and personal. But small arms, rifles, 60mm mortars and 81mm artillery broke the Japanese. Over 110 Japanese bodies would be found after the fight. This ended Shepherds offensive, as the remnants of Colonel Sumiya's forces began to arrive to the Borgen Bay area. Over the next few days, the exhausted 7th marines were relieved by the 5th marines and 2nd battalion, 1st marines who had recently been recalled after completing their mission at Green Beach.  After suffering the defeated in Borgen Bay, General Sakai decided to order the 1st battalion, 54th regiment to reinforce Talasea and for Matsuda to launch a last ditch effort, a suicidal one at that, to obliterate the enemy. But the men were in no condition for such an offensive, thus Katayama elected to postpone it for now. Since every man was needed for the defense of Borgen Bay, Colonel Sato took the remainder of his commander and departed Rooke Island to join the main body. Now that Hill 660 was secured, the Americans began a new method of patrolling; this time their patrols would specifically seek out and destroy what was presumed to be exhausted Japanese units, before the division would attack the defensive line at Borgen Bay-Itni river. Yet that is it for new Britian, as we are going to be traveling over to the CBI theater. Between November 22 to December the 1st, two conference were held between the Allied leaders. The first was the Cairo or “sextant” conference on November 22-26th, between President FDR, Sir Winston Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek. The second was held in Tehran on November 28-December 1st between FDR, Churchill and Joseph Stalin. You might be asking, why did they all not meet up together. The crux of it was the Soviet-Japanese neutrality Pact and to a lesser extent, though probably not in Chiang Kai-Shek's mind, Stalin was aiding the CCP. Because the Soviets had not declared war on the Japanese, it would not look to good if they met with the leader of China, likewise Chiang Kai-shek was not too forthcoming to meet with Stalin. The easy fix was to just have two different conferences. Overall the conferences did not really touch too much upon the Pacific war. But Stalin did promise to declare war on Japan within ninety days after the end of the European War. In return he demanded military and logistical concessions in Manchuria, maintenance of Outer Mongolia under Soviet control as well as sovereignty over the Kuril Islands that stretched from north of Japan to Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. When Chiang Kai-shek heard about this he had suspicious and noted “The influence of this conference on China will be great. I hope Roosevelt isn't plotting with Churchill and Stalin against me.” Soon his suspicion would turn to anger when he discovered there were secret protocols relating to Manchuria.  Stalin had made some assurances to Mao Zedong that once the Soviets were in the war against Japan, they would have forces to bear down into China to help tip the scale for the CCP against the NRA. Yet after the war, it would seem promises made by Joseph Stalin were not always kept.  Another important aspect of the conferences was the British decision to cancel Operation Buccaneer, the invasion of the Andaman Islands, because Admiral Mountbatten's landing crafts were required for landings in southern france. The Joint chiefs of staff were livid at this, because it came at the same time the Japanese were reinforcing Burma. FDR overruled them and agreed to the British decision and this in turn greatly pissed off Chiang Kai-Shek. Yet at the same time, the Cairo declaration had lifted up the morale for the Chinese army and people to continue their war against the Japanese. The declarations made by the Tehran conference implied publicly that the CBI theater was all but abandoned to the mercy of Japan's air and land forces. Thus it would be no coincidence the Japanese thought it ripe to launch an all-out offensive against China.  In the meantime, the rather aggressive Admiral Mountbatten was trying to salvage what he could of the situation. To try and please Chiang Kai-Shek, he proposed Operation Pigstick. The operation was something Mountbatten had wargamed a bit, it was to be a landing on the southern Mayu peninsula aimed at hitting Akyab. He began assigning landing craft for the amphibious operation, only to be immediately slapped down by Alanbrooke and told to return 3 fast tank landing crafts that were direly needed for operations against Italy. Mountbatten hoped to retain 2 slower tank landing craft, but Cunningham requested them. Pigstick was to be 2 divisions plus 2 brigades who would be used in a southward advance down the peninsula and 1 division in an amphibious assault aimed at surrounding and destroying not less than 20,000 Japanese. An additional landing similar to PIGSTICK, could perhaps be launched in the Ramree-Cheduba area, could take staging areas that would put 15 Corps within reach of Rangoon. Speaking of Ramree, if any of you have heard this kind of myth about over 1000 Japanese being eaten by crocodiles on that island, over on my personal channel the pacific war channel I did a full investigation into the so called “ramree island massacre” story. A little sad about its performance not going to lie. Dramatically improved my lackluster animation skills for it, came out really well and I did a silly impersonation at the beginning, anyways check it out its a fun one! Alongside Pigstick, Mountbatten changed the Tarzan operation into Operation Gripfast, calling for an offensive on north and central Burma with an airborne landing at Indaw to sever the Japanese line of communications to Myitkyina. But now Chiang Kai-Shek was very wary of anything British, so he rejected the plans on December 19th. Alongside pissing off Chiang Kai-Shek, his estranged wife, Joseph Stilwell was also again angry with the British, particularly Mountbatten. At one point Mountbatten proposed moving certain American units into the Hukawng valley to help the offensive there and Stillwell burst out ‘I should like it placed on record that I am responsible for the training of all American forces in this theatre and I am the person to decide when they are adequately trained and can move forward.' Mountbatten replied: ‘I accept that in principle, but would remind you that these troops are being trained under British officers. I am responsible for operations and will decide when units move into the fighting lines. In other words, general, I should like to place on record that I am Supreme Commander out here and what I say goes.' Stilwell took it good-humouredly and laughed. ‘We none of us dispute that,'”. That day Stilwell wrote a letter to his wife, referring scathingly to Mountbatten as ‘the glamour boy. He doesn't wear well and I begin to wonder if he knows his stuff. Enormous staff, endless walla-walla but damn little fighting . . . And of course the Peanut is unchanged. The jungle is a refuge from them both.' The men would all share some screaming matches against another, until Stilwell would shock everyone by exclaiming “I am prepared to come under General Slim's operational control until I get to Kamaing.” It was a truly bizarre idea, Mountbatten asked how such a thing would work, and both Slim and Stilwell asked to discuss the matter amongst themselves. The two men would agree on tactical essentials such as getting more Chinese divisions for the Ledo force and to use the Chindits to assist in hitting Myitkyina. Slim and Stilwell shook hands and Stilwell said to him ‘I would fight under a corporal as long as he would let me fight.' Slim would later reflecte ‘In practice this illogical command set-up worked surprisingly well. My method with Stilwell was based on what I had learnt of him in the Retreat – to send him the minimum of written instructions, but, whenever I wanted anything, to fly over and discuss it with him, alone. Stilwell, talking things over quietly with no one else present, was a much easier and more likeable person than Vinegar Joe with an audience. Alone, I never found him unreasonable or obstructive. I think I told him to do something he did not approve of on only two or three occasions, and on each he conformed, I will not say willingly, but with good grace.' In the end Operation Pigstick never became a reality, because the landing crafts were needed for the Italian campaign and thus the hope of meeting Chiang Kai-sheks continued demand for an amphibious operation was gone. It was almost like the British never intended to go through with such a thing in the first place, woops that is just my opinion. Meanwhile the British-Indian command elected to start a new operation in Arakan. The brutal hard-won lessons of 1st Arakan battle had been absorbed in India Command, with senior British officers determined to avoid similar mistakes. The new operation was the subject of meticulous reconnaissance, planning, and rehearsals. A series of lectures, war games, models of the grounds and syndicate discussions were held for commanders, staff and regimental officers whom carefully considered countering Japanese offensive tactics and assaulting prepared defensive positions like those witnessed at Donbaik. A carefully planned programme of continuous, progressive and intensive training was put in hand for all corps and divisional fighting, support and administrative troops to practice necessary skills, including using brigade boxes, aerial resupply and the infiltration and envelop- ment of enemy positions. This comprehensive training programme culminated in intensive rehearsals and combined arms training with artillery, tanks and close support aircraft carried out near Lohardaga, over ground resembling Arakan, simulating attacks on mock Japanese defensive positions on jungle-clad hills. General Auchinleck assigned the 15th corps, reconstituted at Ranchi with the 3 best trained divisions available: Major-General Harold Briggs' 5th Indian Division; Major-General Frank Messervy's 7th Indian Division and Major-General Christopher Woolner's 81st West African Division.The 26th Indian Division formed the corps reserve. Command of the 15th corps would be given to Lt General Philip Christison. The plan called for the 5th and 7th Indian divisions to advance along the summit of the Mayu range towards Maungdaw and Buthidaung while the 5th and 6th west african brigades would provide flanking protection. On November 1st, the 2 Indian divisions began their advance and by mid november would make contact with a Japanese outpost.As the 7th Indian division advanced astride the Kalapanzin River they ran into stiff resistance. Efforts to dislodge Japanese defenders near Awlanbyin and Letwedet, showcased the formidable difficulties that attacking Japanese defensive bunker positions presented. Most were built on razor-back ridges, through which were burrowed fire positions, affording a limited approach, while the reverse slopes protected troops from view and bombardment. With the precipitous Goppe Pass initially only suitable for porters, pack transport and pack artillery, 7th Indian Division quickly devised other methods to overcome enemy defenses, since normal stereotyped, set-piece attacks stood little chance of success without supporting field artillery. Aircraft proved an ineffective substitute, moreover, with dive-bombing having only a transitory effect since the broken terrain and dense jungle absorbed blast leaving defenses and morale largely intact unless a lucky direct hit was made. The Indian forces began to infiltrate and bypass the well-entrenched Japanese defenses, giving the impression they would soon unleash a frontal attack upon them at any moment. General Messervy's would say of the action  “'We will undoubtedly have a Neapolitan sandwich of British - Japs - British, but it will be one made by ourselves, and with the initiative in our hands it will soon be transformed to British - British - Jap.” They were gaining ground and with it valuable combat experience. On the night of November 30th, the 15th Indian Corps commenced large-scale operations to drive in the Japanese outpost line astride the Mayu Range. A series of brisk skirmishes were fought by 33rd Indian Infantry Brigade on the jungle-cloaked ridges south of Awlanbyin quickly evicting small determined parties of Japanese infantry from carefully prepared platoon and company defensive localities. This was by no means an easy task since most heavily camouflaged positions were built atop steep hillsides overlooking paddy fields that provided an open field of five and difficult going for advancing troops. Earlier directions about infiltration paid off in practice. An attack on Awlanbyin west redoubt from the rear through thick jungle achieved complete surprise. Although a neighboring Japanese position initially held out, its garrison withdrew on 2nd December after being cut off. The 33rd Brigade columns  crossed the Ngakyedauk Chaung and occupied the area from Ngakyedauk village to the ridge about 1.5 miles north-west of Sinohbyin village. By December3rd, they extended the area of operation to the hills overlooking Maungyithaung and Sinohbyin. The 89th Brigade, meanwhile, pushed forward down Tatmin Chaung and established forward positions on the hills south of the chaung, one mile west of Tatmingyaungywa. By mid-month, 7th Indian Division had reached the main enemy positions covering the Tunnels and Buthidaung, and the opening of the Ngakyedauk Pass to wheeled traffic in late December considerably eased resupply and allowed the divisional artillery to join the formation. However, both the Indian divisions were under orders not to get engaged in serious fighting with the Japanese, so the advance stopped there. It is also important to note, in November 1943,  Spitfires were deployed in Bengal for the first time. The 615th and 617th squadrons were based in Chittagong to protect the vital port and also to cover the Arakan. Within one month, the Spitfires destroyed four Japanese photographic reconnaissance aircraft. Previously, the Dinah's range, speed and height had enabled them to fly with impunity over the Allied forward bases and the Hurricanes were unable to catch them. The Japanese reacted by sending out fighter sweeps in order to test the Spitfires and whittle down Spitfire strength. However, by the end of December, the Japanese lost 22 aircraft, another 33 were damaged, and the Allied loss was only 13 aircraft. The greatest air battle occurred on the last day of 1943. On that day, No. 136 Squadron destroyed 12 and damaged 11 when a mixed force of Japanese fighters and bombers attempted to attack the light naval force along the Arakan Coast. The Japanese carried out one strategic attack when on 5 December 1943, 60 bombers and fighters, including some naval aircraft, in two waves bombed Calcutta. The Japanese lost two aircraft and another five were damaged. The three and a half squadrons of Hurricane fighters, including half a squadron of night fighters which were defending the area lost five aircraft and another six were damaged.  To the west the 5th Indian Division had also encountered stiffening resistance from Japanese outposts as it advanced southwards along the coastal plain towards Maungdaw, through the foothills further north and along the spine of the jungle-clad Mayu Mountains. They soon discovered that overcoming Japanese bunker defenses presented particular difficulties. As the division would report "The great difficulty in attacking Jap "hill top" positions lies in the concealment of the actual bunker or weapon pit' one brigade commander later wrote, and in the practical impossibility of deploying attacking troops in thick jungle, particularly where the approach runs along the top of a razor backed ridge.' In each case, patrols infiltrated between these localities isolated them from supplies and reinforcements with the result that Japanese normally gave up ground without a contest. A newsletter prepared by the HQ of 5th Indian Division reported: 'The only way to deal with the Jap def positions is by INFILTRATION. Recent experience has shown that the Jap has produced nothing new in def tactics... It is almost physically impossible in hilly and thick country to have every post covered by another, the posts can be eliminated piece- meal by infiltration tactics.' After the outline of the main Japanese defenses became apparent this approach was also increasingly applied at brigade level. At the end of December 1943, the 5th Indian Division held the area from the sea to the crest of the Mayu Peninsula and the 7th Indian Division moved into the Kalapanzin Valley. By the end of the month they reached Maungdaw. The advancing 5th Indian Division discovered that frontal assaults could not be completely avoided, however, when Japanese troops were determined to stay put. During this advance, the 161st Brigade moved to the high ground to the northeast of Bakkagona about five miles to the north of Razabil. On 30th December, 161st Indian Infantry Brigade assaulted Point 124, but the 4/7th Rajputs were held up by dense jungle and heavy mortar and machine fire and suffered heavy casualties. For six days assaults continued with the forward infantry regularly reaching the Japanese defenses before being driven off by showers of hand grenades and supporting machine-gun from every other enemy defensive position within range. Only after a 'policy of strangulation, starvation, and attrition was adopted', did its defenders withdraw. The 5th Indian Division immediately began probing the main Razabil defenses, while its 123rd Indian Infantry Brigade patrolled the western foothills of the Mayu Range and northern side of Razabil, particularly two hill positions dubbed Wrencat and Wrenkitten. To do so an indirect approach was again advocated by Major-General Harold Briggs in note on tactical policy issued on 4th January, stressing the importance of patrolling to identify positions held by the Japanese and infiltration to seize vital ground in their flanks or rear that would either provoke Japanese counterattacks or force a withdrawal. Meanwhile Stilwell arrived to Shingbwiyang on December 21st and assumed command of the Chinese forces in India. To relive the trapped battalion of the 112th regiment at Yupbang Ga, Stilwell and General Sun planned to send the entire 114th regiment to break the Japanese center at Yupang Ga to rescue the 112th, then hook north to envelope the northern fragment of the Japanese defensive line. On December 24th, they unleashed artillery and launched the infantry into the Japanese lines. The 114th regiment managed to envelop the Japanese right flank by the afternoon and soon a breakthrough emerged allowing for them to make contact with the 112th. Sun's men then surrounded the Japanese pocket during the night and would wipe them out the next morning. And thus the Chinese had gained their first victory at Yupbang Ha, though the Japanese still held the river crossing, so Stilwell began plans for another assault set after Christmas. On December 28th, Sun ordered 3 battalions to attack the north, while the 1st battalion, 112th regiment would sweep to the right, getting behind the 3 Japanese outer strongpoints. The chinese forces rapidly broke the Japanese outer defenses creating a breach while the 1st battalion, 114th regiment broke through the river defensive line. The Japanese tossed a large counterattack, but it would be repelled by the night time. Now Yupbang Ga was in allied hands as the surviving Japanese companies split into smaller groups trying to hold out for many days. With the fall of Yupbang Ga, the Japanese were forced to withdraw from Sharaw Ga as well, so elements of the 2rd battalion, 113th Regiment were be able to seize it by December 30. In the meantime, as the 22nd Division's 65th Regiment had been sent towards the Taro Plain to try and secure the southern flank, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 114th Regiment had been sent south to cross the Tanai Hka at the Kantau ford in an effort to cut off the enemy withdrawal line. By the end of 1943, with the loss of 315 killed and 429 wounded, Sun's 38th Division had gained complete control of the Tarung Hka.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Things were deteriorating for the Japanese on New Britain as American Marines were seizing features and gradually pushing them into Borgan Bay. Within the CBI theater a ton of drama amongst the high commanders was surprisingly not resulting in disaster, as operations in Burma were kicking off with great results. Perhaps Burma could be saved.

+Ocenite vozače zajedno sa nama.+Dall'igna: Martin zaslužio mesto u fabričkom timu.+Dall'igna: Marquez nema mesto u fabričkom timu.Domaćini: Dejan Potkonjak i Srđan Erceg#lap76#infinitylighthouse#motogp  00:00:00 Početak00:11:30 VESTI00:21:00 Koga pratiti na netu00:29:30 Koga dovodi Yamaha, ko napusta Ducati00:41:00 Jos VESTI01:03:00 MOTO 201:05:45 Akosta - jednostavno siguran - 9.5101:39:30 Arbolino - decko koji ne odustaje - 7.7601:41:30 Aldeger - za zavrsnicu - 8.5001:51:30 Dikson - nategnuto -7.0002:01:00 Lanet - veciti Moto 2 vozac - 7.0002:07:00 Chantra - za osmeh od milion dolara - 6.5002:10:45 Lopez - bez pobede - 5.5002:15:30 Gonzalez - uvek na istom nivou - 6.0002:17:00 Ogura - izvini Ajo - 5.5002:19:00 Vieti - mnogo odustajanja + pobeda - 7.0002:24:00 MOTO 302:26:15 Masia - bitka do kraja - 9.0002:33:30 Sasaki - malo je nedostajalo - 9.0002:38:45 Alonso - bravo za novajliju - 9.2902:45:30 Oncu - jedna od zvezda sampionata - 8.5302:49:15 Holgado - nedosledan - 7.9603:18:00 Utisak godine03:25:00 PATREON------------------------------HUMANITARNI KUTAKPomozimo Filipu!Slanjem SMS poruke: Upišimo 303 i pošaljimo SMS na 3030Slanjem SMS poruke iz Švajcarske: Upišimo human303 i pošaljimo SMS na 455Uplatom na dinarski račun: 160-0000000469669-91Uplatom na devizni račun: 160-0054000021213-90IBAN: RS35160005400002121390SWIFT/BIC: DBDBRSBGUplatom platnim karticama putem linka: E-doniraj (https://www.budihuman.rs/edonate/sr?user_id=1503)Uplatom sa vašeg PayPal naloga putem linka: PayPal (https://www.budihuman.rs/paypal/sr/donate?user_id=1503)-----------------PODRŠKA ZA INFINITY LIGHTHOUSEUkoliko želite da podržite ekipu Infinity Lighthouse i sve što radimo, najbrže je kroz Patreon i YouTube članstvo.Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/infinitylighthouse YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ2D37u3DU1XGxxriq5779Q/join-----------------NAŠA PRODAVNICA - ️https://shop.infinitylighthouse.comSvi koji žele da obogate svoju biblioteku prelepim delima o Formuli 1 i MotoGP-u ili se obuku u naše, zajedničke, boje, tu je naša zvanična prodavnica knjiga, majica i kačketa.PATREON I YOUTUBE MEMBERSHIP ️- www.patreon.com/infinitylighthousePodrška na Patreonu i YouTube-u nam veoma znači i pre svega hvala svim našim pokroviteljima, a ukoliko ste u  mogućnosti i vi da nas podržite, pomoćićete nam da dalje napredujemo i razvija se naša, nadamo se zajednička, priča.NAŠE DRUŠTVENE MREŽE Instagram - https://instagram.com/infinitylighthouse Facebook - https://facebook.com/theinfinitylighthouseTwitter - https://twitter.com/infinitylighthsSPORTSKE VESTI - https://sportsmagazin.rsMusic credit: Envato Elements Item/Cinematic Heroic by StudioKolomnaAutor: Srđan ErcegDatum: 19. decembar 2023.Lokacija: Studio na kraju UniverzumaProdukcija: Infinity Lighthouse https://www.youtube.com/infinitylighthouseWebsite: https://infinitylighthouse.com/Zabranjeno je svako kopiranje i neovlašćeno preuzimanje video i/ili audio snimaka i postavljanje na druge kanale! Nije dozvoljeno koristiti materijal sa ovog kanala, bilo u celosti ili iz segmenata, bez licenciranja / plaćanja kako za komercijalnu, tako i za nekomercijalnu upotrebu.Svaka upotreba bez licenciranja za komercijalnu ili nekomercijalnu / privatnu upotrebu biće procesuirana. Za sve informacije o pravima, za upite o licenciranju i dobijanju dozvole za korišćenje možete nas kontaktirati putem naše zvanične email adrese.Copying, re-uploading and illegally distributing this copyrighted work is strictly prohibited! Label and copyright: Infinity Lighthouse ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

  Last time we spoke about the invasion of the Treasury Islands. The time had come to begin operations against Bougainville, but in order to do so the allies had a few tricks up their sleeves. In order to make sure the landings at Cape Torokina at Empress Augusta Bay went safely, the allies would perform raids against Choiseul and the Treasury islands. It was hoped such actions would work as a diversion and confused the Japanese as to where the real operations were aimed. The landing on Mono saw some New Zealanders and Americans annihilate a 200 strong Japanese garrison. On Choiseul Paratroopers boldly raided a force 6 times larger than them. The raid was a success and thanks to John F Kennedy the Paratroopers were grabbed off the island before the Japanese could obliterate them. In the end the landings at Cape Torokina were a success and now a battle would be unleashed.  This episode is the battle of Empress Augusta Bay Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  So last time we covered the planning behind Operation Cherryblossom, the landings at Cape Torokina. As a means of confusing the enemy, the allies also chose to invade the Treasury islands and raided Choiseul. With Operation Cherryblossom in full swing, so begins the Bougainville campaign which we are going to be diving into now. At the end of October, after successfully invading the Treasury islands and the extremely bold attack upon Choiseul where the Paratroopers were outnumbered 6-1, combined with General Kenny's 5th air force and AirSols neutralizing Rabaul and nearly every airfield on Bougainville, the landings at Cape Torokina were finally launched. In a final act to aid operation cherryblossom, Admiral Sherman's Task force 38 departed Espiritu Santo on October 28th and Admiral Merrills Task Force did the same from Florida island on November 1st. They hoped to rendezvous near the Buka Passage three days later so they could prepare an attack against the Buka and Bonis airfields.  During the morning of November 1st, Admiral Merrill's cruisers arrived to their station and began firing upon the arifields. Then Sherman's carriers arrived off Buka passage to launch two separate air strikes. The first airstrike consisting of eighteen fighters, fifteen dive bombers, and eleven torpedo bombers hit Buka just after daylight. The second consisting of fourteen fighters, twenty-one dive bombers, and eleven torpedo bombers hit Buka again at midmorning. The airstrikes managed to shoot up a number of small ships within the harbor. Meanwhile after firing 2700 5 and 6 inch shells all over Buka and Bonis's airfields, Merrils task force 39 departed the Shortlands to bombard Poporang, Ballalo and Faisi.  On November 2nd, Sherman performed air strikes against Buka and Bonis's fields before departing south for Guadalcanal. Within those two days the Americans estimated they had destroyed around 30 aircraft and several small ships at the cost of 11 aircraft lost. The attacks had rendered the two Japanese airfields closest to Empress Augusta Bay basically unusable for when the landings would be made. The Japanese were now convinced that any invasion of Bougainville would have to be countered with all the aircraft and ships available within the southern theater. Yet they could not concentrate their entire naval and air forces against the Solomons, because the American and Australian forces on New Guinea would most likely be performing a landing on New Britain at any moment. Admiral Koga also expected the Americans to attempt a landing in the Gilbert or Marshalls. Thus the two pronged allied strategy was serving to freeze the Japanese army units within the New Guinea and Solomon areas.  Meanwhile Admiral Wilkinson's task force 31 were making final preparations for transport the 3rd Marine division. The amphibious assault would be facing a landing area defended by roughly 270 men. Once they overcame them, a defense perimeter would have to be hastily made because it was certain the Japanese commander on Bougainville would hammer them hard. General Vandergrift's plan was to land the 3rd and 9th marine regiments of Colonel George McHenry and Colonel Edward Craig and the 2nd raider battalion of Lt Colonel Joseph McCaffery abreast on 11 designated beaches covering a distance of 8000 or so yards. The 3rd raider battalion lt be Lt colonel Fred Beans would land at the same time on Puruata island to overcome an estimated 70 Japanese defenders there. Wilkinson wanted to land the forces abreast as quickly as possible and to have the transport unload the supplies off the bay by nightfall because he expected a rapid Japanese response, similar to what had occurred at Savo island.  On October 28th, General Turnage's men departed the New Hebrides in 20 combat transports and cargo ships commanded by Commodore Lawrence Reifsnider. The convoy proceeded using different routes, hoping to prevent the Japanese from discovering the size of their force, the three transport divisions would rendezvous with Wilkinsons destroyers by October 31st. Once linked up they would approach Bougainville under the cover of naval PBYs and Liberators. During the morning of November 1st, Minesweepers led by the destroyer Wadsworth were sent in to clear mines from the landing areas and to determine how dangerous the shoals were. The minesweepers found no mines, but did find plenty of uncharted shoals. Wadsworth radar confirmed that Cape Torokina's position within their naval charts was misplaced. Wadsworth had a number of tasks ahead of her. In addition to helping with the fire support at a range of around 3000 yards, she was to use her radar to confirm the actual location of Cape Torokina, Puruata island and the landing beaches. The coast of Bougainville had been chartered by the German Admiralty in 1890. The Germans had placed Cape Torokina and Mutupina Point around 9 miles southwest of their actual locations. Thankfully the submarine USS Guardfish reported that the air force and naval charts had misplaced Cape Torokina by around 7 miles and this is why Wadsworth was sent to investigate. Unsexy logistical stuff, but gravely important, as you don't want to waste any time during an amphibious landing searching for a lost beach. Wilkinson decided not the land the men until after daylight when it was possible to detect the offshore shoals. Shortly before sunrise, the minesweepers and destroyers began their bombardment. The Sigourney and Wadsworth fired at ranges of 13,000 yards upon Puruata Island, while the Terry bombarded closer to the shore of Cape Torokina. As each transport passed the cape, they fired 3 inch anti-aircraft guns hoping to hit Japanese positions or at least minimize their artillery. By 6:45am the transports began arriving off the beaches around 3000 yards from the shore. At 7:10am the LCVP's began taking men ashore. Simultaneously Wilkinsons destroyers began systematically bombarding the perimeter while 31 bombers from New Georgia bombed and strafed the landing areas. Within a few minutes around 7500 troops, roughly half of the total force were scrambling ashore and unloading with great speed and smoothness. The preliminary bombardment had failed however to smash the well concealed Japanese machine gun nests located on the southern beaches. These machine gun nests unleashed their lead upon the landing craft. The landing craft bearing a third of the force had immediately come under fire from Puruata island and some pillboxes on Cape Torokina. The 3rd raiders in particular were hit by machine gun fire from Puruata. Around 4 land craft were sunk from this, 10 others were badly damaged, over 70 men would be lost in the process.  The 9th marines landed themselves on 5 beaches to the north and were lucky to find little resistance from the Japanese. Once ashore they sorted themselves out quickly and began to move inland to discover the terrain was a nightmare. The beaches where they were led straight into some impassable swamp land. Nevertheless where there is a will there is a way, the marines began using fallen logs and debris to traverse the swamp until they came across some solid ground. By midmorning they would establish a narrow perimeter and began patrolling the greater area. They would establish a strong outpost on the Laruma River by 1pm. The boat crews were experienced a lot of issues with the high surf, combined with a lock of experience amongst them. Some of the LCVPS found themselves smashing into another, some dropped their men in deep water, some did not lower their ramps properly and the marines were forced to toss themselves over the sides into waist deep water. More than 30 landing craft were wrecked during the initial phase of the operation. Around 64 LCVPS and 22 LCMS were beached, many with damage beyond repair.  The 3rd marines and 2nd raiders would have a hell of a time landing. The 3rd marines landing south of the Koromokina river, they had no issues with shoals, nor the high surf, but they had landed directly in front of the main Japanese defenses. There was roughly 300 Japanese, but they did not have permanent defenses along the beaches of Yellow 2, Blue 2, and Blue 3. As the 3rd marines landed they began fighting with some Japanese killing many and sending them fleeing into the Jungle. Patrols were quickly organized who worked alongside the 2nd raiders patrols to fan out. The raiders upon landing found tougher resistance in the form of a reinforced platoon operating out of two bunkers and trenches located 30 yards inland. Once the raiders had blasted out the bunkers, the remaining Japanese began to retreat into the jungle. Like the 9th marines they would find swamp lands ahead of Yellow 1 making it difficult to advance. By midmorning the raiders reached the Buretoni Mission Trail. The main Japanese resistance hit the men who landed at Blue 1, just adjacent to Cape Torokina. There the Japanese had constructed 25 large and small log and earthen pillboxes around the perimeter of the cape. There were trenches connecting the pillboxes, some of the larger pillboxes measuring 6 feet by 6 feet, containing 75mm field guns. Each pillbox was covered by earth and camouflaged using jungle plants. Only 3 pillboxes had been hit by the naval and aerial bombardments prior to the landings. When the Americans hit the beaches in the area they immediately were forced to charge into the enemy bunkers. The Japanese 75 mm gun at Cape Torokina caused havoc upon the attackers. It was a well placed log and sand bunker and its approaches were protected by two smaller bunkers with a series of trenches manned by numerous Japanese. Sergeant Robert Owens of A company, 3rd marines grabbed 4 marines and charged the two small bunkers directly upon the mouths of some machine guns. The marines entered an emplacement through a fire port and drove the gun crew out. The surrounded trenches concentrated their fire on the brave marines, Sergeant Owns would be found later dead riddled with bullets. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for the action. Lt Colonel Joseph McCaffery was immediately mortally struck four times in the chest as he led the marines forward, he was replaced temporarily by Major Alan Shapley for the 2nd raiders. Despite the horrible losses the Americans cleared the Japanese positions and pushed further inland to pursue and kill the fleeing defenders. It is worthy to mention over 24 Doberman Pinschers, the official dog of the USMC between 1943-1945 from the 1st marine dog platoon proved invaluable during this point of the battle. The dogs were able to point out hidden snipers concealed in underbrushed. 549 War dogs would return from the war with only 4 not being able to return to civilian life, all very good boys. The 3rd raiders landing at Puruta had nearly all their boats shot at, but it was mostly small machine gun fire and did little to no damage. The Japanese had 3 or 4 deep well sandbagged emplacement on the seaward side where their machine guns nests fired upon the raiders. It took the raiders two hours upon landing to secure their beachhead around125 yards inland. Beans committed his reserves early in the afternoon, supported by some 75mm guns borrowed from the 9th marines, they moved halfway across the island, encountering sporadic Japanese sniper fire. The Japanese were outnumbered, by 3:30pm their resistance all but ended. The marines suffered 5 deaths and 32 wounded, around 29 dead Japanese would be found. They estimated another 70 Japanese escaped to Bougainville.  Soon after all the landing craft began to pull out, the Japanese began launching air strikes. For around two hours the transports and supply ships were zigzagging for their lives to evade dive bombers and fighters coming from Rabaul. The first air strike consisted of 9 Vals and 44 Zeros, they hit at around 7:35am almost immediately after the landings were made. General Twinning's 8 Kittyhawks and 8 P-38s managed to fight them off, downing 7 Japanese aircraft. The Wedsworth received a near miss during the battle. 10 minutes later, AirSols beat off another attack taking down another 8 Japanese aircraft. During the last attack, roughly 70 Japanese aircraft came in around 1pm and were met by 34 AirSols fighters. After all three attacked, the Japanese has used around 120 aircraft and lost 26, inflicting no serious damage to allied ships nor the marines ashore. But the air attacks did result in major delays for the unloading of supplies for some hours. To try and speed up the unloading process, Wilkinson stripped some men from the assault units to help unload cargo ashore. Additionally Wilkinson employed a method of light combat loading. It would take some days for the beaches to be fully sorted out, while the naval forces departed Empress Augusta Bay before nightfall to return to Guadalcanal. Thus 14,000 men and 6200 tons of supplies had been successfully placed ashore in 8 hours. By the end of the first day the marines had contested a ⅓ sector and reached their initial objectives, digging in uncomfortably for the night under torrential rain. The divisional perimeter was established by forward landing teams, who had very little to work with for maps. To the extreme left of the perimeter would be Company G of the 9th marines, who were in a vulnerable spot along the Lrauma river. Lucky for them the Japanese were quite disorganized and many were located southeast of Cape Torokina. At dusk there was only sporadic sniper fire directed at the ⅓ in the vicinity of the cape plantation and later an attack was made against the 2nd raiders at a roadblock they established along Mission Trail. General Turnage was now the official owner of a new lodgement on Bougainville. Generals Imamura and Hyakutake were quite slow to react to the landings. They sent the Iwasa detachment led by Major General Iwasa Shun, commanding the 6th infantry group. Backing him up would be the 1st and 3rd battalions of the 23rd regiment. Their first task was to hit the new enemy beachhead. As predicted by the allies, Admirals Kusaka and Samejima mustered every naval and aerial strength they had to try and smash the invaders. As part of Operation RO, Admiral Koga had sent over 250 aircraft from the 5 carriers of Admiral Ozawa's air fleet. Koga specifically stated the bulk of these were only going to be loaned for a short time, obviously they would have to return to the main fleet. Well the invasion of Bougainville certainly upset the plans, the planes would not be coming back on schedule. As Admiral Fukudome SHigeri, Koga's Chief of staff would later note “although the planes were not originally to be used in such offensive operations, we could not just stand by and not employ them." By midday on October the 31st, the Japanese had discovered the American task force that had departed Guadalcanal en route for Bougainville. The IJN were determined to interrupt the operation. Kusaka sent a cruiser-destroyer task force led by Vice admiral Omori Sentaro. Departing Rabual Omori had the two heavy cruisers, Myoko and Haguro; two light cruisers, Sendai and Nagara; and two destroyers. Now Omori was the commander of Cruiser division 5 of the Combined fleet, not of the 8th fleet. He just happened to be at Rabaul covering the movement of the 17th division at the time, he was given command of his division and the main strength of the 8th fleet. Omori sailed out at 3pm in the direction of the Shortland islands believing that to be the allied target. Poor weather hindered his force and his search planes failed to locate any allied ships. Thus by 9am on November the 1st he was on his way back to Rabaul. Yet right as his ships were turning around, suddenly they received reports that the Americans had hit the beaches of Cape Torokina. Omori was quickly reinforced with a destroyer squadron and a destroyer transport group consisting of the Amagiri, Fumizuki, Uzuki, Yunagi and Minazuki each carrying 200 troops of a 1000 special trained raider group of the 17th division. This was the 2nd mobile raiding units from the 2nd battalion, 54th regiment led by Major Miwa Mitsuhiro. They were going to perform a counter landing against the marines at Mutupino point near the village of Toroko, due south of the marine beachhead. Within 6 hours, Omoro departed once again to hit the enemy fleet, but he lacked a real battle plan. At 6:30pm Omori rendezvoused with the transports at the St. George channel and together they proceeded towards Bougainville. At 7:20 the convoy was spotted by an american bomber who dropped a bomb nearly hitting the Sendai. Based on this Omori knew the Americans knew he was coming so he concluded a counterlanding was far too dangerous. Instead he decided to send the slower destroyer transports back to Rabaul. Omori believed the enemy transports were still in Empress Augusta Bay, thus if he could sneak in and destroy them, the marines would be stuck on the island without much of their supplies and without hope of quick rescue.  Meanwhile Merrills task force 39 had retired to the vicinity of Vella Lavella, but soon received news of Omori's incoming convoy. Halsey had to order his only naval force in the area to go out once again to protect the beachhead and intercept the enemy. Merrills crews had been at it for more than 24 hours by this point and were quite exhausted. Now Merrill's force went in very cautiously, because they were aware the Japanese would be outgunning them and of course the IJN held the dreaded long lance torpedoes. Thus Merrill chose to detach his destroyers who would go out in front to see if they could intercept Omori's forces before the long lances could be put to use. He intended to take the fight to the west of Empress Augusta Bay where he could block the enemy from the beachhead. He had his leading destroyers 3 miles ahead and deployed his forces along a north-south axis with the cruisers in the center, maintaining a range of 19,000 yards or more from the deadly IJN destroyers and their feared long lances. His plan was to exploit the offensive capabilities of his destroyers by letting them unleash their attacks before he would have his cruisers unleash their 6 inch guns. He hoped his destroyers would be able to sneak into range and hit the Japanese destroyers before they could launch their torpedo salvos. Omori was at a disadvantage intelligence wise, he had no idea about Merrills forces whereabouts. Moreover he had to rely on spotter planes because he was forewarned their radar would give away their location to the enemy if used. As Omori would later tell interrogators  “We had some modified aircraft radar sets in action but they were unreliable. I do not know whether the sets or operators were poor, but I did not have confidence in them.” Thus he had no idea of the position or size of the American flotilla, still he believed the enemy transports were in the bay, though in reality they would be nearly 40 miles south. Omori still lacking any real battle plan arrayed his force in three columns with his two heavy cruisers Myoko and Haguro in the center; Ijuins screen of light cruiser Sendai; and destroyers Shiratsuyu, Samidare and Shigure to the left and rear admiral Osugi Morikazu's screen of light cruiser Agano; and destroyers Wakatsuki, Hatsukaze and Naganami. As the Japanese approached the area, task force 39 were sailing 20 miles west of the beachhead. Merrills flagship Montpelier was the first to make radar contact with the enemy at 2:30 on November 2nd. Omori's fleet was 35,900 yards out. Merrill's changed his course to head due north then reversed south with his cruisers to find a favorable position to try and cross Omori's T. Merrill sent Commander Bernard Austins destroyed out to hit the Japanese southern flank while Captain Burke was ordered to take an intercept course that would force the Japanese to be in a vulnerable position for the destroyers to launch torpedoes into their left flank. At 2:45am a Japanese aircraft finally spotted the Americans and began dropping flares over them to allowed the light cruiser Sendai to lead the northern column over. However by this point it was all but too late for the Japanese. Burke had closed in on their left flank and launched 25 torpedoes at Ijuin's column. After launching the torpedoes Burke had his ships separate and it would be an hour before they could all be gathered again to form a full circle and return to their firing positions. The battle would be very chaotic, the US destroyers experienced a hard time trying to maintain contact with each other and several times would fire upon each other by accident. All 25 torpedoes would miss, because Omori ordered his ships to make a hard right turn. At 2:50 the Samidare launched a full salvo of 8 torpedoes which missed their main targets but a single torpedo managed to hit the destroyer USS Foote blowing up a large part of her stern. Cruiser Cleveland and destroyer Spence would accidentally run into each other doing light damage trying to avoid the damaged Foote. Merrill could no longer wait for the results of the destroyer attacks and ordered his cruisers to open fire at 2:50am. Merrills cruisers would unleash a continuous fire using their 6 inch guns while maintaining a coordinated figure 8 pattern to confuse the enemy and avoid torpedoes. The tactic had been very well rehearsed and the commanders were perfectly in tune with another. James Fahey, a sailor aboard Merrill's flagship Montpelier, described the long night illuminated by lightning, flares, star shells, and muzzle flashes. “The big eight inch salvos, throwing up great geysers of water, were hitting very close to us. Our force fired star shells in front of the Jap warships so that our destroyers could attack with torpedoes. It was like putting a bright light in front of your eyes in the dark. It was impossible to see. The noise from our guns was deafening.” The Sendai was the first to be hit taking a 6 inch shell to her rudder before it exploded near her boiler rooms. Sendai experienced a series of explosions and quickly sank. The destroyers Samidare and Shiratsuyu behind the Sendai collided with another trying to evade the naval gunfire and would end up taking positions around the stricken Sendai already sinking by this point. Merrill then shifted the focus to the other two Japanese columns forcing Osugi's column to head west running across Omori's cruisers. The Hatsukaze tried to move between two heavy cruisers and collided with the Omori's flagship Myoko at 3:07. Hatsukaze was so crippled by the collision she was much easier to hit as a result was found by Burkes reformed 45th destroyer division by 5:30am and 5 of the destroyers proceeded to batter her with shells until she sank at 5:40am. The Myoko meanwhile was hit by 6 shells, but fortunately for her 4 of them were duds, not causing enough damage to slow down the flagship. Next the USS Spence and Thatcher ran into another, but were able to carry on the fight. Both sides were having trouble running into each other, Merrills cruisers performing the 8 pattern at high speed allowed them to evade most gunfire. At 3:20 Omori opened fire with his heavy armament, both torpedoes and naval gunfire from his cruisers. The torpedoes missed, but 3 dud shells hit Denver into her forward section, causing water to slow the ship down. The other cruisers were forced to slow their speed to match her. Light cruisers Columbia received a 8 inch shell hit, luckily it also failed to explode. The Japanese fire was becoming heavier and more accurate forcing Merrill to respond with a smoke screen in front of his cruisers. Merrill made sure to keep his distance from the Japanese. When their range closed in on 13,000 yards at 326 am he ordered a 180 degree turn to the north. The radical maneuvering by Merrills cruisers made it extremely difficult to accurately fire upon them, but also for Merrills cruisers to hit Omori's. At 3:30am Omori decided to retire in the mistaken belief that his Long Lances had sunk or heavily damaged Merrill's cruisers. Omori had received a false report claiming “one torpedo hit on leading US cruiser, two torpedo hits on second US cruiser, two torpedo hits on third US cruiser. Shell fire also reported on US Force.” In the meantime Burkes destroyers had re-entered the fray of battle and began firing upon the doomed Sendai. After they pursued the Shiratsuyu and Samidare but both destroyers got extremely lucky when Commander Austin confused Burke into believing that the ship he saw turning northwards was actually the Spence. By 4:00am the Sendai was sinking taking with her 185 crew. Ijuin and 311 other survivors would later be rescued on November 3rd by Submarine RO-104. The Hatsukaze would be the last to sink at 5:40am. As dawn was breaking, Merrill urgently called for all available fighters to come to his aid as he expected the Japanese to toss the kitchen sink of air forces at him. Just before 8am a formation of 80 Zeros and 18 dive bombers arrived and began attacking his cruisers desperately performing anti-aircraft maneuvers. The allied aircraft were delayed by bad weather resulting in only 8 Hellcats, 1 marine corsair, 3 P-38s and 4 New Zealander P40s showing up. The allied pilots would claim to down 16 Japanese aircraft, though in reality it would only be 8. Merrills forces performing a defensive circular cordon would claim to down 17 further Japanese aircraft. The Japanese managed two hits, one causing minor damage to the USS Montpelier. The Japanese had lost their chance to stop the invasion of Bougainville. Merrills handling of the battle, particularly his figure 8 maneuver, had negated the dreaded super weapon of the enemy, the Type 93 long lance torpedo. It was to be the last major surface engagement of the Solomons area. Halsey would later reflect on the Japanese attempt to hit the landing forces at Cape Torokina  “was the most desperate emergency that confronted me in my entire term as COMSOPAC (Commander South Pacific).” Commodore Reifsnider was ordered to bring his transports back to Cape Torokina to resume the unloading. The unloading of the cargo would be completed by 3pm. Vice admiral Omori's force withdrew back to Rabaul. It was soon joined by four more cruisers and a number of destroyers from Truk. The reluctant Admiral Koga according to Admiral Fukudome decided to commit some of the very best units from the undamaged 2nd fleet “to cooperate with the carrier-based planes which had been sent from Vice-Admiral Ozawa's fleet in order to check the [US] Bougainville operations.” 7 heavy cruisers, the Takao, Maya, Atago, Suzuya, Mogami, Chikuma, and Chokai; a light cruiser, the Noshiro; four destroyers; and a number of service ships would depart Truk on November 3. The once dominant IJN fleet so surely footed in the early days of the war now was hesitant and indecisive. Nevertheless, Koga would unleash another attack against Empress Augusta Bay. Koga placed the new naval force under Admiral Kurita who would attempt to intercept futher American forces enroute to Bougainville. On November 4th, Wilkinson would be bringing the 21st marines aboard 8 destroyer transports and 8 LSTs. 3548 men led by Colonel Evans Ames, alongside 5000 tons of supplies and equipment escorted by destroyers Waller, Saufley, Philip, Renshaw, Eaton and Sigourney.  Halsey received word of the new Japanese force and realized the situation was critical. If Halsey did not turn back the incoming threat, his forces on Bougainville would not receive their planned reinforcements. Halsey was thus ready to take a risk, he was going to send carriers. As Halsey would later write “perhaps the success of the South Pacific War, hung on it being stopped.”. Against conventional wisdom, that carriers should not be exposed to land-based aircraft attacks, he ordered Rear Admiral Sherman's task force built around the USS Saratoga and Princeton to face a force of possibly 200 Japanese aircraft. The risks for Hasley were personal as well as professional “I sincerely expected both air groups to be cut to pieces and both carriers stricken, if not lost. (I tried not to remember my son Bill was aboard one of them), but we could not let the men at Tokorina be wiped out while we stood by and wrung our hands.” Halsey's Chief of Staff, Admiral Carney, recalled that before making the decision to attack with his carriers, his commander “suddenly looked 150 years old.” Shermans task for now designated Task Group 50.4 consisted of carrier Saratoga; light carrier Princeton; and destroyers Stack, Sterett, Wilson, Izard, Conner, Bell, Charrette, Boyd, Bradford and Cowell. He would be supported by General Twinings AirSols in any way possible. Halsey also requested MacArthur allow Kenney's 5th air force to join in on the battle. On November 5th, aided by some bad weather, a surprise air raid was performed against Rabaul. Sherman's carrier force was 230 miles away from Rabaul near Cape Torokina when they began launching aircraft at 9am. The Saratoga launched 16 Avengers and 22 Dauntless. Princeton launched 7 Avengers. The carrier aircraft were escorted by 52 hellcats making a formation of 97 aircraft in all. This was their entire payload . The aircraft flew at a low level as they approached Rabaul anti-aircraft defenses by 10:20. They kept a tight formation, flying right through the flak which prevented the 70 Zeros from intercepting them properly. As we have seen during this series, the Japanese anti-aircraft guns were honestly pretty terrible. Added to this, the American aircraft enjoyed much better armor than their Japanese counterparts, particularly the Zero fighter. Commander Henry Caldwell led the bombers towards Blanche Bay where they peeled off at 14,500 feet. The Dauntless dive bombed the targets before them as the Avengers time their approaches to hit the same targets at the same time. Within just 30 minutes the attack absolutely devastated the Japanese plans. Heavy cruiser Maya was trying to leave the harbor during the attack but took a 500 lb bomb hit to her catapult area which set off a series of explosions, blowing up her engine rooms and causing heavy casualties. As Maya was left fully disabled, the Mogami managed to clear the harbor but took a torpedo hit. Her number 1 and 2 turrets were flooded, forcing her crews to scramble to put out fires.  The Atago suffered three very near misses, which damaged her hull, armament, and machinery.  The Takao took a bomb to her starboard side, damaging her hull and machinery. TheChikuma received only slight damage and was able to depart for Truk at 20:38. The Suzuya, which was just preparing for refueling, tried to evade and was only slightly damaged. Aside from this the other light cruisers and destroyers did not receive any damage. 70 sailors died aboard the Maya, 23  died aboard the Mogami, Takao and Atago. Captain George Chandler, a P-38 fighter pilot described how “There were B-24 bombers up high and B-25 bombers attacking right down on the deck dropping ‘frag' bombs on the airplanes along the runways … we did our best work at high altitude, but we also took part in combat a thousand feet off the ground.” Taking advantage of Hasleys daring attack, General Kenney sent 27 B-24's and 67 P-38s to bomb the warehouse area on the western side of the harbor. They were challenged by only 15 Zero's who would lose two in the process. The Japanese facilities were wrecked by the attack. The Americans lost 5 bombers and 5 fighters while taking down 11 Zeros. The cautious Admiral Mineichi Koga withdrew his forces back to Truk. The Japanese Naval threat to the invasion of Bougainville was ended. A Japanese naval officer later admitted that they had given up on Bougainville mainly because of “the serious damage received by several Second Fleet cruisers at Rabaul by carrier attack …” The success of the raid on Rabaul left Halsey ecstatic. “It is real music to me and opens the stops for a funeral dirge for Tojo's Rabaul.” Sherman grabbed all of his returning places expecting a Japanese counterstrike. A Japanese scout plane discovered Sherman's task force around midafternoon and Kusaka immediately dispatched eighteen torpedo bombers after the Americans. At around dusk the Japanese discovered what they believed to be the task force and attacked. Although they later claimed a great air victory, in reality they hit at an LCI and a PT boat escorting an LCT back from Cape Torokina. A torpedo lodged in the engine room of the LCI and killed one man. That was the extent of the damage to the "task force." In return, the Japanese lost one plane. It was hardly an even exchange, and no compensation at all for the havoc wreaked earlier upon the 2nd Fleet. Halsey yet again showed what a formidable and aggressive commander he could be, his gamble paid off greatly. The Americans had secured their naval superiority in the South Pacific and it would remain that way for the rest of the war. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Admiral Merrill performed an excellent battle against a larger IJN force. Admiral Hasley lived up to his reputation, he performed a bold gamble and it paid off big time. Now the Americans would dominate the South Pacific for the rest of the Pacific War.  

Last time we spoke about the naval battle of Empress Augusta Bay. Operation Cherry Blossom kicked off taking the Japanese by complete surprise. All of the diversionary actions had managed to confused the Japanese into thinking the Shortland Islands were the real target. Wilkinsons flotilla managed to land 14,000 men and 6200 tons of supplies at Cape Torokina. When the Japanese finally received news of the landings they tossed massive air attacks and prepared a counter landing force. The air attacks were not nearly enough to put a dent on the unloading process. Vice admiral Omori set out to intercept the Americans, but was caught off guard by Admiral Merrills figure 8 maneuver that saw two Japanese warships sunk, many heavily damaged and hundreds of Japanese killed. The Japanese tried a second time to hit the Americans, but Admiral Halsey unleashed his carriers to quell the action. This episode is the Counterattack on Bougainville  Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  Things were looking bad for the Japanese at the start of the Bougainville campaign. Many Japanese lay dead on the island from the futile attempt to counter the landings. In the depths of Empress Augusta bay lay other bodies and warships. Rabaul was being pulverized systematically. The Japanese needed to dislodge the enemy from the island lest it become another Guadalcanal. General Turnage's marines had successfully made their landings and now they would expand their perimeter. The naval battle of Empress Augusta Bay combined with Admiral Sherman's carrier raid against Rabaul's harbor had delivered a crippling blow the IJN's power in the region. Admiral Kusaka's air force at Rabaul had been reduced to 270 aircraft including the last minute 100 aircraft he was loaned from the IJN carriers. To make matters worse, on November the 5th, Admiral Halsey received a new task group led by Rear Admiral Alfred Montgomery. Task Group 50.3 consisted of carriers Essex and Bunker Hill; light carrier Independence and destroyers Edwards, Murray, McKee, Kidd, Chauncey and Bullard. On November 8, the destroyers Stack, Sterett and Wilson were also given to this group, though they would be withdrawn by November 14. These new carriers were packing heat. Essex carried 36 Hellcats, 36 SBDs and 19 TBFs; Bunker Hill 24 Hellcats, 33 SB2C Helldivers and 18 TBFs, plus 24 Corsairs ran CAP for her from Ondoanga and Segi Point; Light Carrier Independence carried 24 Hellcats and 9 TBFs, plus  12 Hellcats (CAP from Ondoanga and Segi Point). With all of that Halsey had an additional 45 torpedo bombers, 69 dive bombers and 120 fighters to continue putting the hurt on Rabaul. The only catch for all of this was Halsey lacked an adequate destroyer screen to protect these super weapons, thus he would be unable to fully utilize them until a bit later on.Halsey was also reinforced with Rear-Admiral Laurance DuBose's Cruiser Division 13 consisting of light cruisers Santa Fe, Birmingham, Mobile and Biloxi; and destroyers Harrison, John Rodgers, McKee and Murray. Admiral Merrill's exhausted task force was given some much needed R&R beginning on November 7th.  Back over at the beachhead, General Vandegrift was so certain the operation was 100% successful he handed the keys to the car to Turnage and returned with Admiral Wilkinson to Guadalcanal, of course he was about to receive a promotion and would soon be on his way to Washington. Turnage now sought to expand the beachhead further inland to give the marines more defense in depth, as it was expected the Japanese would launch major attacks to dislodge them. He shifted the 3rd Marines, whose units had suffered the most casualties thus far to the left sector of the beachhead. He then moved the more fresh 9th marines to the right where he believed was the most likely area the Japanese would hit the hardest. Still meeting no enemy resistance, these shuffling actions were accomplished by November 4th. Simultaneously many units also extended the perimeter. By the end of November 3rd, the 2nd raider battalion extended their part of the perimeter 1500 yards or so. The only real action anyone saw for awhile was patrol skirmishes and some fighting over roadblocks. The 2nd Raiders were under the temporary command of Major Alan Shapley who took responsibility for a few roadblocks; companies rotated out of their positions every couple of days. The key roadblock positions were found along the Piva and Mission trails. The 3rd raiders were working out ways to lure out a small group of Japanese holding out on Torokina island. On November 3rd, 3rd defense battalion and a 105 mm battery of the 12th marines fired upon the small island for 15 minutes. The 3rd raiders followed this up to storm the suspected Japanese position to find nothing but corpses. An outpost was established by M company of the 9th marines far to the left of the main perimeter which was hoped to guard against surprise attacks coming over the Laruma river. Turnages patrols at this point became a daily chore for all units on Bougainville. These patrols would go on for 20 grueling months. The thick undergrowth and lack of well defined trails made it extremely easy for the Japanese to set up ambushes at their leisure. Thus to combat this, the marines had to turn to some very good boys, K9 companies. The war dogs used their superior senses to hunt and track down the enemy during patrols. During the early stages of the Bougainville campaign the dogs were able to locate a number of small groups of Japanese. The Bougainville campaign despite being a warzone would not see as brutal fighting as say places like Peleliu. On Peleliu many of the war dogs literally were driven mad, but for Bougainville the dogs had a less intensive time. The patrols scouted as far north as Laruma and south to the Torokina River finding no meaningful resistance. By the 5th of November, the perimeter was extended inland a further 3 miles. Now 5 battalions were manning a 10,000 yard front, with the bulk of the raider battalions located on Puruata island and at cape Torokina in the reserves. Wilkinson's convoy would bring over another 3548 troops of the 21st marines and 5080 tons of supplies on November 6th. Because the beaches were already so cluttered up with supplies everything and they still lacked developed facilities, the incoming LST's had to land their cargo on Puruata island where there was open beaches. There was still no shore party to organize the unloading and a supply jam would hit the smaller island just like it was on Bougainville. Turnage now had nearly 20,000 men to man a pretty small beachhead. On the other side, the Japanese were under the belief, no more than 5000 Americans hand landed on Bougainville, getting those guadalcanal vibes aren't we? Admiral Kusaka still sought to send over the specially trained amphibious 2nd mobile raiding unit of Major Miwa Mitsuhiro, 1000 men strong. He hoped to perform a counter landing north of the American beachhead. If the special unit could disrupt the marines enough perhaps the Iwasa detachment could march overland to join up and together they would dislodge the Americans. On the 6th the destroyers Amagiri, Uzuki Yunagi and Fumizuki departed Rabual carrying 475 of the special unit with 375 support troops. The small convoy was escorted by Admiral Osugi's destroyer squadron consisting of Urakaze, Kazagumo, Wakatsuki, Makinami, Naganami, Onami and Hayanami. Fortunately for them, the naval force managed to sneak past a PT Boat guard force of 8 PT boats operating out of Puruata Island. On November 7th and 4am the IJN destroyers doubled back and unloaded the troops onto 21 landing barges to make a run for the beach. The 8 PT boats operating patrols in the area had established a new base on Puruata island, but not a single one of the discovered the Japanese landing force. Sailors aboard one of the PT boats reported seeing a strange craft, which might have been one of the barges and consequently a PT boat did check out the report. Yet before it arrived the Japanese were already landed ashore and about to charge into the left flank of the perimeter. The landing craft was seen by a Marine anti-tank platoon along the beach, but they did not fire upon it, thinking it to be American. Thus in the end the amphibious assault was a complete surprise to the Americans. The small Japanese force had landed on the beaches between the Laruma and Koromokina rivers. Not only were the Americans surprised, the Japanese were also surprised to find out the American perimeter extended further west than expected, as a result they would be unable to assemble into a unitary force before a firefight broke out. The Japanese had landed so close to the marine beachhead, the 5th company, 54th regiment were cut off from the Laruma outpost at 6am and were forced to attack the left flank of the perimeter. The Japanese raiders came ashore scattered along two miles of beach on either side of the Laruma River. Major Miwa Mitsuhiro gathered the men he could and sought to take advantage of the element of surprise they held. At 6:30am a skirmish broke out against Company K's 3rd platoon. The platoon had been out patrolling inland towards the Laruma river right at the same time as the landing. The platoon ran right into the force killing some japanese before the platoon leader disengaged realizing the size of the enemy. He took his men into the swamps going eastward, it would turn into a 30 hour grueling adventure. Company K of the 9th marines then were attacked by company 5 of the 54th regiment in a 5 hour long firefight. The guns of the 12th marines and the 90 mm anti-aircraft weapons of the 3rd defense battalion managed to fire upon the invaders who were forced to pull back to some captured foxholes. Company K then launched a counterattack. They found the Japanese dug in 150 yards west of the Laruma river. Fierce fighting broke out, but Company K could not dislodge them. At 1:15pm companies B and C of the 1st battalion, 3rd Marines came in to relieve the exhausted defenders and launched an attack through Company K's position. Major John Brady's men attacked the Japanese in the entrenchments. Company C hit the right flank as B hit the left. Both ran into heavy machine gun fire. The men requested tank support and soon the tanks 37mm were firing upon the Japanese at point blank range causing tremendous casualties. Meanwhile the 1st battalion of the 21st marine led by Lt Colonel Ernest Fry had just landed on Puruata island and they were given orders to spearhead a new assault upon the Japanese. Two LCPRS were sent to evacuate the Laruma outpost and by the night time the marines and Japanese were having shouting matches as they fired upon another. The Japanese yelled "Moline you die" and the Marines made earthy references to Premier Tojo's diet. Marine Captain Gordon Warner was fluent in Japanese, so he could quickly reply to the Japanese, apparently he even yelled believable orders prompting a bayonet charge. He would receive the Navy Cross for destroying machine gun nests with a helmet full of hand grenades, but lost a leg in the battle. Sergeant Herbert Thomas, would give his life near the Koromokina. His platoon was forced prone by machine-gun fire, and Thomas threw a grenade to silence the weapon. The grenade rebounded from jungle vines and the young West Virginian smothered it with his body. He posthumously was awarded the Medal of Honor. The attack would come to a halt, to allow a strong bombardment to hit the Japanese positions provided by the 12th marines. The following morning saw another bombardment by 5 batteries of the 12th marines before Lt Colonel Fry led two companies through the 3rd marines position to attack. They crashed into a concentrated area around 300 yards wide and 600 deep. Light tanks supported the attack. However they would only find slight resistance alongside over 250 dead Japanese. Major Miwa had pulled the men out heading further inland to try and join up with Major General Iwasa Shun's soon to be counteroffensive. The battle cost the marines 17 dead and 30 wounded, but took a hell of a toll on the Japanese. After this action the defensive line behind the Koromokina Lagoon was strengthened. On november 9th, allied dive bombers hit the area to clear it of possible Japanese infiltrators. Patrols in the area would find more Japanese dead and the Marines would ultimately claim over 377 dead Japanese. Over on the Japanese side, the Iwasa Detachment were marching towards the Mission and Numa Numa Trails. These two positions would allow them to thwart a lot of the possible American advance, which they still believed were smaller than they actually were.  Back on November 5th the E company of the 2nd raiders had skirmished with some Japanese at the Piva Trail roadblock. The actions alerted Colonel Edward Craig and he ordered most of the raiders to head north to support the position. On November 7th, Colonel Hamanoue Toshiaki led the 1st battalion to hit part of the roadblock managed by H company. This would be occurring simultaneously with the amphibious assault on the Koromokina. H company supported by some mortars from the 9th marines were able to beat off the attack, giving Major Alan Shapley's G company enough time to come and reinforce the position. By the afternoon, the raiders were forcing the Japanese to retreat over to Piva village where they dug in. Hamanoues men then began to use their new position to fire mortars and artillery into the marine perimeter. The next day, General Iwasa ordered two battalions to attack the position supported by a mortar barrage. However the swamp land on either side of the trail prevented proper flanking maneuvers so the Japanese were forced into a frontal attack. Companies E and F easily repelled the attack receiving aid from the 3rd raiders. The Americans formed a horseshoe defensive formation connecting the roadblock to the main perimeter. The new position was reinforced with mortars from the 9th marines and some light tanks of the 3rd tank battalion. The Japanese suffered heavy casualties for their efforts. E and F company then attempted flanking maneuvers through the treacherous swamps and did manage to hit the Japanese. The heavy fighting eventually resulted in a stalemate and both sides pulled back. The marines had 8 deaths and 27 wounded while it is estimated the Japanese had 125 deaths. On November 9th Major General Roy Geiger arrived at Bougainville to take command of the 1st Marine amphibious corps. Turnage now turned his attention to clearing the Piva Trail as it could threaten the building of the planned airstrips. He ordered the 2nd battalion, 9th marines led by Lt Colonel Roert Cushman into a support position and two raider battalions to clear the trail. Beginning at 7:30am on the 9th, artillery of the 12th marines began to pound the area as the Raiders advanced forward through the narrow trail between the two swamps. Some Japanese had survived the artillery bombardment and began moving 25 yards within the marines position. The raiders ran directly into them beginning a firefight. The action saw a series of thrusts and counter thrusts at point blank range. The Japanese were trying to breakthrough the marine defenses just as the raiders were coming up to smash them. It was fierce fighting and Private 1st Class Henry Gurke of the 3rd raiders was maning one of the tow man foxholes in the forefront that met the attack. To protect his partner Private 1st class Donald Probst firing with a BAR, Gurke pushed Prost aside and tossed himself over a grenade that was thrown into their foxhole. Gurke was killed, saving his friend. Probst would receive a Silver Star Medal and Gurke posthumously received the Medal of Honor. As the brawl raged on Colonel Craig sent in his reserves to check a flanking maneuver right of the roadblock. The marines gradually overcome Iwasa's men causing them to pull back again to Piva village. By midafternoon, the Marines reached the junction of the Piva and Numa Numa trails and would dig in for the night. The marines suffered 12 dead and 30 wounded, while patrols would counter over 140 dead Japanese bodies. If accurate this meant the Japanese had suffered 500 casualties during this four-day combined counteroffensive. To strengthen their new position, bombers from Munda began bombing the 50 yard area on either side of the Piva trail going as far north as Piva village. Afterwards the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 9th marines settled into new defensive position along the Numa-Numa trail and began tossing patrols forward. Meanwhile Turnage and Geiger were seeing the arrival of the first echelon of General Beightlers 37th division. Wilkinsons transports landed the 148th regiment, 5715 troops and 3160 tons of supplies. In response Kusaka tossed 15 Kates and 60 zeros to try and hit the transports during the afternoon. They managed to land a hit on the transport Fuller, killing 5 men and wounding 20, but ultimately it did nothing much. The beach situation had improved a bit, so the 129th and 145th regiments, some 10,277 men were beginning to land alongside 8500 tons of supplies between november 11th and 12th. Im sure by hearing these numbers for the landings you are already realizing how dramatically things had shifted for the allies in the Pacific. There was no way for Japan to challenge such landings at this point, the Americans were simply out producing them in every imaginable way.  Admiral Halsey now sought to smash Rabaul again on the 11th. He planned to launch a three pronged air raid. Sherman's and Montgomery's carriers from the south and General Kenney's bombers from New Guinea. Yet terrible weather hit New Guinea as it typically dose, preventing Kenney's aircraft from participating. Thus the carriers would go it alone. Sherman launched his aircraft in the vicinity of Green island 225 miles from Rabaul. Shermans aircraft ran into 68 Zeros over the harbor. The bombers tried to hit the already damaged heavy cruisers Chokai and Maya, but missed. However within the inner harbor was the light cruisers Agano, and single torpedo landed a critical hit, blowing off a large portion of her stern, flooding her engine room. Montgomery launched his aircraft 160 miles southeast of Rabaul. Essex and Bunker Hill tossed 80 aircraft each, Independence tossed 25 and 24 additional Corsairs came to provide CAP. Lt Commander James Vose led 33 Curtiss SB2C Helldivers, the new dive bomber replacing the Dauntless throughout the fleet. The Naganami was hit by a torpedo and forced to be towed into the harbor. The Suzunami was hit by a dive bomb attack and would sink near the entrance to Rabauls harbor. Strafing from the fighters and bombers inflicted additional damage against light cruiser Yubari; and destroyers Urakaze and Umikaze. 6 zeros were also shot down. While Shermans pilots had managed to withdraw from their raid using rain squalls, Montgomery's group would not be so lucky. Admiral Kusaka responded to the raids by launching one of the largest anti-carrier strikes of the War. The wave consisted of 11 G4M bombers, 27 D3A dive bombers, 14 B5N torpedo bombers and 67 Zeros. Despite radar alerts of the incoming air strike, Montgomery decided to get his aircraft aloft and perhaps carry out another strike. Montgomery was confident in his CAP and his task force was operating a new carrier formation. The carriers were grouped together rather than separated, forming a triangle in a 2000 yard circle with 9 destroyers spaced around evenly around 4000 yards. They would also be utilizing new anti-aircraft fuses. The Japanese pounced on the task force in a battle that would last 45 minutes. The CAP engaged the zeros while the Japanese bombers tried to hit the carriers. Bunker Hill suffered 5 near misses, one one puncturing the hull of the Essec in a number of places. Independence received 4 near misses. It was minor damage and it came at the cost of 2 zeros, 14 kates and 24 vals, absolutely terrible for the Japanese. The action did however stop Montgomery from launching a second strike. In just a week Kusaka had lost 43 zeros out of 82; 38 vals out of 45; 34 kates out of 40; 6 D4Y Susui “comets” out of 6 and 86 pilots out of 192. Such losses were absolutely crushing. Admiral Koga would be forced into a terrible situation later with the invasion of the Gilberts due to a shortage of aircraft. Koga was forced to pull out his surviving carrier planes from Rabaul and replace them with inferior planes and pilots from the Marshalls. But that's it for Bougainville for we are now traveling back to the China theater.  At dusk on November 2nd, General Yokoyam began his offensive into the Changde area. His 39th division advanced southwest of Yidu, followed by the 13th division headed to Nanmu; the 3rd division with the Sasaki detachment headed for Wanjiachangzhen; and the 68th and 116th divisions plus the Toda Detachment attacked the Anxiang. After routing some smaller forces out of the way, the 13th and 3rd divisions attacked the 79th army along the Nanmu-Wangjiachangzhen line on november 5th, while the 116th and 68th divisions hit the 44th army near Anxiang. Commander of the 10th army group, Lt General Wang Jingjiu assembled the 66th army at Niajiahezhen and ordered Major General Wang Jiaben to resist the enemy at all costs. The Chinese were absolutely crushed by the two Japanese divisions and were forced to retreat towards Moshi with the Japanese in hot pursuit.  Meanwhile the 116th and 68th divisions hit both flanks of Anxiang breaking General Wang Zuanxu's lines held by the 29th army. Zuanxu had to order a withdrawal and from that point the 116th pursued the 44th army towards Jinshi where they annihilated a small part of the unit. To the north on November the 9th the Miyawaki Detachment was advancing to Nanmu and the Sasaki detachment to Xinguanzhen, white the 3rd and 13th divisions were catching up to the 79th army in the Moshi area. The 13th division attacked Moshi while the 3rd division attacked Xinmin. During this battle the 79th army was effectively destroyed as a fighting force. After this, Yokoyama ordered the 3rd division and Sasaki detachment to attack Shimen where the 73rd army was defending. Yokoyama also ordered the 116th division to attack Chongyang and for the 68th division to advance by river towards Hanshou. This was all done in preparation for the upcoming attack against Changde, being defended by Major General Wang Yaowu's 74th and 100th armies. On November 14th, the Japanese offensive hit Shiman, seeing the defeat of the 73rd army in just two days. On the 19th, the second phase of the offensive began with the 3rd division joining up with the 116th to attack Chongyang. Simultaneously, the 13th division and Sasaki detachment began an occupation of Tzuli. On the 21st the assault of Chongyang began seeing the 51st and 58th divisions of the 74th army crushed. From Chongyang the Japanese forces immediately began an advance towards Changde. The 13th division met tough resistance from the remnants of the 29th army group led by Wang Zuangxu. The Chinese were able to utilize the mountainous terrain to their benefit hitting the Japanese with artillery. The 68th division defeated the 100th army at Hanshou and then annihilated its remaining survivors around Junshanpuzhen. This left only Major General Yu Chengwan's 57th division defending Changde.  Unbeknownst to Yokoyama, General Xue Yue had dispatched reinforcements led by Lt Generals Li Yutang and Ou Zhen to try and halt the Japanese offensive. By November 23rd, Yokoyama's assault on Changde began. The 3rd, 68th and 116th divisions surrounded the city. Two days later the 30,000 Japanese began attacking Yu Chengwan's brave 8300 defenders. The defenders were hit with artillery and aerial bombardment. With each attack the Chinese were pushed back little by little until they only held 300 meters around their main command post. Yu Chengwan's only hope was to hold on until the reinforcements arrived to try and make a breakthrough, but by December the 1st the 3rd and 68th divisions performed a pincer attack defeating them. On December 2nd, Yu Chengwan was forced to evacuate the city. Changde fell on the 3rd of December and Yokoyama celebrated the success by ordering chemical and biological units to attack cities in the region. Whenever the Japanese found too much resistance they had Unit 516 deploy chemical weapons in liquid or gas forms including mustard gas, lewisite, cyanic acid gas and phosgene. Some of the weaponry was still in experimental stages. Artillery was used to launch shells filled with the gas into cities inflicting massive civilian casualties. Most of the artillery shells contained mustard gas and lewisite. The effect of the chemical weapons caused massive panic to both humans and livestock. Its alleged bubonic plague was also deployed and spread within a 36 km radius of Changde city. It is estimated 300,000 civilians would be killed in Changde alone, alongside 50,000 soldiers. The Japanese began to withdraw on December 9th, but by this time Ou Zhen launched a counteroffensive and managed to reclaim the city. By December 24th, the 11th Army returned to their original positions, for the Japanese it was another hit and run offensive, aimed to cause massive death. The Japanese suffered 1274 deaths and 2977 wounded, though these are their claims and they most likely lost more. The Chinese estimated 14,000 had died with 10,000 being captured.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Japanese counteroffensive against the Marine beachhead on Bougainville was not going according to plan. Admiral Halsey gave Rabaul another crushing air raid and now the Japanese air power in the pacific was dwindling dangerously. Within China the horror of Japan and their chemical and biological units continued. 

Yoeri Havik and Jan-Willem Van Schip won the Madison World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland this year in fine fashion. To watch the race you would have seen a master class in how to race a Madison from start to finish.  This interview took place in the middle of the Copenhagen 3 Day. Havik is riding his new white Koga with his signature bars. He looks cool.  We literally went through the Madison they won discussing tactics, their patience for moves, and keeping a cool head while under pressure. We discussed the Copenhagen race, his preps for the European Championships on the track coming up in January in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, and the Olympics to follow in Paris. Havik is in the full swing of the six day season. 

Last time we spoke about the defense of Finschhafen. Finschhafen was a enormous staging camp for the allies now. The Japanese could not sit idly by allowing such a strategic location to be in allied hands. General Katagiri launched a major counter offensive, kicked off with signal fires from Sattelberg. He sent a force of raiders to try and neutralise some heavy allied artillery, but it ended in failure. Having not neutralised their big guns, the rest of the counter offensive fell to pieces.  The Japanese would officially report 422 killed, 662 wounded. For the Australians they had 228 casualties of which 49 were dead. With the counter offensive done with, the allies now would go back on the offensive. The next large target was going to be the stronghold of sattelberg, but the Japanese were not going to make it easy on the allies. But today we are going to be jumping into some new places. This episode is the invasion of the treasury islands Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  For quite some time now we have been focusing on the New Guinea campaign, such as the offensives against Finschhafen and the Ramu valley. Today we are going to enter a new phase of the Pacific War. With the incoming invasions of the Gilbert and Marshall islands, the Northern Solomons and Western New Britain, General Douglas MacArthur and Admirals Hasley and Nimitz were going to turn up the heat. Admiral Halsey had just seized Vila, Barakoma, Munda and Rendova, gaining their valuable airfields for the forces of General Twinings AirSols to utilise. Within the central Solomons, Bougainville was finally within range of allied land-based aircraft. Lae, Salamaua and Finschhafen were taken, thus Operation Cartwheel would begin a new phase. Back in July, plans were formed for General Vandegrifts 1st Marine Amphibious corps to seize airfields sites at Buin and Kahili, the important Japanese anchorage at Tonolei Harbor, and the Faisi and Ballale islands in the neighboring Shortlands. That same month, the 43rd and 37th divisions were involved in the New Georgia campaign. Of the 5 divisions remaining under his control, Admiral Halsey planned to use the fresh and unblooded 3rd Marine division and the Army's 25th division for the invasion. He sought to keep the 2nd marine division and 3rd new zealand division in training for the conquest of Rabaul. Yet things had changed. Because of the intense resistance on New Georgia, the 25th division had to be committed. Then the decision to strike Makin and Tarawa in the Gilbert islands removed the 2nd marine division from Hasley's south pacific area. These changes ultimately dictated he would need a substitution, and it was to be the 37th division, whom had suffered 1100 casualties on New Georgia already. Nevertheless the 37th was in better condition than the 25th. The 3rd marine divisions task went unchanged. Major General Allen Turnage's 3rd Marine division was going to spearhead the invasion of Bougainville, with a launch date set for September. On top of this Halsey had received some reports indicating the Japanese were heavily reinforcing the Shortland Islands. He decided to bypass them and hit the Treasury island and Choiseul. It is also possible Halsey sought to perform these actions hoping to lure out the Japanese fleet into a major engagement. The treasury islands and Choiseul were lightly garrisoned, but held airfields that could be turned against Bougainville. Meanwhile , General MacArthur was planning the next stepping stone towards the Philippines. His overall plan was to break the Bismarcks Barrier through a series of aggressive leaps along the New Guinea-Mindanao axis. New Guinea as we are all quite familiar with by now, is a logistical nightmare. Lush jungles, raging rivers, cold mountains, every time of geographical nightmare was present. Thus to traverse the western landmass of it only on land was not exactly desired. What MacArthur's logistical team sought was to secure the 50 mile expanse of sea lying between New Guinea and New Britain. With that in hand Admiral Barbey's 7th Amphibious force would be able to transport troops along the coast, a significantly easier method than having the poor boys battle through the jungle. Rooke Island split the sea into the Vitiaz Strait and the narrower Dampier Strait. General Wootten's 9th Australian division were currently fighting for control of Vitiaz, but there had been no effort to date to hit the Dampier. MacArthur decided to capture Kavieng and the Admiralty Islands, because they represented enemy aerial threats against his westwards push through New Guinea. Closing in on the end of the year he also planned to amphibious assault Cape Gloucester, the northwestern point of New Britain which commanded the Dampier Strait. In hindsight the wisdom of landing at Cape Gloucester seems rather dubious. It was not necessary to seize the point in order to make use of the Vitiaz or Dampier strait. The Japanese did not have big artillery on the western end of New Britain to command the channel, the islands infrastructure was largely undeveloped. The only way the Japanese could interfere with the allied use of either strait was by torpedo boats, something they did not have many of. There of course was aircraft based on New Britain as well, but that would be neutralised by Kenney's AirSols.  MacArthur planned to have the AirSols hit Rabaul continuously; to seize the Green Islands, the Admiralty Islands and Kavieng. The Western New Britain operation was codenamed Operation Dexterity which would be sub divided into Operations Lazaretto and Backhander. There would be a staggered attack first hitting Gasmata performed by the 2nd battalion, 228th regiment. They would establish an air base in the southern coast of the island, this was operation Lazaretto. Operation Backhander would be the invasion of Cape Gloucester. Some of the landings could be carried out in November, but MacArthur chose to wait until the new airfields were established in the Markham and Ramu valleys as they would provide close air support for the amphibious operations.  On September the 10th, Admiral Hasley sent staff to present his plan for the invasion to Bougainville to MacArthur's staff. Halsey would be surprised to find MacArthur opposed using all their aircraft to strike Rabaul before the invasion of western New Britain. MacArthur proposed instead to continue heavy airstrikes against all Japanese airfields on Bougainville throughout October. Then in late October, Halsey's forces could occupy the Treasury islands and possibly northern Choiseul. Northern Choiseul could provide radar coverage and PT boat bases. On the 1st of November, Halsey's forces could then begin landing on Bougainville to form a beachhead before constructing a new airfield to host the AirSols so they could hit Rabaul just in time to take some pressure off MacArthur's troops advancing in New Guinea and New Britain. Thus MacArthur was determined to make the main goal of the operation not the securance over the entirety of Bougainville, but just a portion of it where an aerodrome could be established then used to batter Rabaul. Halsey was presented two options for his landing site: there was Kieta Harbor sitting on the northeast coast and Empress Augusta Bay on the southwest coast. Kieta seemed the better location from which to launch air strikes against Rabaul. Kieta also held a protected harbor, requiring Halsey's forces to move up the longer outside passage to secure Choiseul first. Empress Augusta Bay was on an exposed side of the island during an approaching monsoon season. It was closer to Rabaul and would only require the securing of the Treasury islands first. After further reconnaissance there was indications airfields could be constructed midway up the west coast of Bougainville at Cape Torokina on Empress Augusta Bay. Halsey chose it for the landing site stating on September 22nd “it's Torokina. Now get on your horses!”  The operation against Cape Torokina was codenamed Cherryblossom and its task was handed to the hero of Guadalcanal, General Vandegrift who formed the plans but it would not be he who lead the operation. Vandegrit was promoted to commandant of the Marines, the first serving marine to become a four star general, he had to depart for Washington. His replacement was Major General Charles Barrett the former commander of the 3rd Marine division. Barret was given command of the 1st Marine Amphibious corps and the responsibility over operation Cherryblossom. His mission statement read “land in the vicinity of Cape Torokina, seize and occupy and defend a beachhead including Torata Island and adjacent island— 3,750 yards west of Cape Torokina—allowing approximately 2,250 yards inland from the beach and 3,600 yards east of Cape Torokina. To prepare and continue the attack in coordination with the 37th Infantry on arrival.” However the mission statement was to be his last major contribution to the war.  On October 8th Barrett accidentally fell from the third floor of the officers quarters at Noumea and suffered a cerebral haemorrhage. He soon died afterwards and was recorded as an accidental death, but there was heavy speculation it was in fact a suicide. Thus the job fell to Major General Roy Geiger, the director of the marine aviation corp in washington. For the naval aspect of the mission Hasley had to do with what he had on hand. He would not be receiving any significant naval reinforcements, because Admiral Nimitz feared that any vessels lent to the 3rd fleet would not be able to come back in time to help with the invasion of the Gilberts. What Halsey could count on was task force 38 commanded by Rear Admiral Frederick Sherman built around carrier Saratoga and later joined by the Princeton; Admiral Merrills task for 39 comprised of cruiser division 12 and destroyer division 23; and Task force 31 commanded by Admiral Wilkinson consisting of three destroyer squadrons, transports and covering ships. It would be Admiral Wilkinson who would bring over the 3rd marine division, the 1st brigade and 3rd New Zealand division to invade the Treasury islands. Rear Admiral George Fort would take the reigns of the first offensive and Wilkinson would looked over the Torokina landings. Wilkinson would have 12 Attack transports and Amphibious cargo ships for the landings, just enough to get every echelon with their equipment over. The 3rd Marine division was reinforced with the 3rd marine defence battalion, the 198th coast artillery, the 2nd provisional marine raider regiment and the 1st marine parachute regiment. After landing at Cape Torokina they would later be reinforced by General Beightlers 37th division. The 29th, 34th and 36th New Zealander battalions of the 8th brigade group led by Brigadier Robert Row would hit the Treasury islands and help establish long range radar stations and a landing craft staging area. There was a final last minute change to the overall plan made by Halsey. They decided not to attempt seizing northern Choiseul but to instead send a marine raiding party around 656-725 men of the US 2nd Parachute battalion led by Lt Colonel Victor Krulak there to persuade the Japanese to divert forces to Choiseul from southern Bougainville.   To support the operation General Kenny's 5th air force would smash the airfields in Rabaul while the AirSols 489 aircraft would hit airfields in and around Bougainville. General Twinning tactics were to harass the Japanese every day, so he launched a total of 158 flights in October, comprising 3259 sorties and land and naval targets in Hahili, Kara, Ballale, Buka, Bonis and Choiseul. The result of this incredible air campaign was 5 Japanese airfields pulverized, 136 enemy aircraft claimed destroyed at the cost of 26 allied aircraft shot down. Meanwhile on October 12th, Kenney launched a raid using 349 aircraft smashing airstrips, shipping and supply dumps. The 6000-ton IJN transport Keisho Maru was sunk alongside two smaller craft. On the 18th 54 B-25's took off from Dobodura, but only caused minor damage. On October the 23rd, 24th and 25th daylight raids consisting of 45 B-242's, 62 B-25's and 61 B-24's respectively managed to shoot down 9 enemy planes, destroyed 25 aircraft on the ground and damaged another 27. On October 29th, he tossed a raid at Vunakanau's airdrome using 41 liberators covered by 75 P-38's and managed to destroy around 10 aircraft. The enemies attention was certainly diverted away from Rabaul. Now the Japanese knew an invasion of Bougainville was coming. They believed the main target of such an offensive would be first against the Shortlands or Kahili. General Kanda's 6th division was deployed to reinforce these places. His 1st battalion, 45th regiment was placed at Kieta, the rd battalion and 4th south sea garrison was sent to reinforce Bougainville while the rest were sent to the Shortland islands. Bougainville was given north/south/east/west sectors garrisoned by numerous forces under Kanda. Admiral Koga also launched Operation RO, a plan devised to strengthen Rabaul. Koga's intelligence indicated the Pacific Fleet was on a warpath, so he decided to take the entire combined fleet from Truk to Eniwetok, which Koga considered a good advance position where he could sortie and annihilate the enemy in a decisive naval battle. The combined fleet stayed a week in the uncomfortable and lonely lagoon until they departed having not found the allied pacific fleet. By October 24th the combined fleet travelled back to Truk while the aircrews of carriers Zuikaku, Shokaku and Zuiho reinforced Rabaul.  82 Zeros, 45 D3As, 40 B5Ns and 6 Yokosuka D4Y reconnaissance planes. 192 trained air crews in total would be in Rabaul by November 1st. They were just in time to intercept one of Kenney's raids consisting of 75 b-25's and 80 p-38s. The Japanese airmen claimed to have downed 9 B-25s, 10 P-38s at the cost of 20 aircraft and 3 small vessels. Koga alerted the 12th air fleet who were in Japan to prepare to head over to Rabaul, but instead of also sending the 8th fleet, he kept them back, still thinking a decisive naval battle would be on the menu soon in the central pacific.  General Sakai's 17th division were transported to New Britain in late september. Their first echelon comprising of the 53rd regiment arrived on october 5th and immediately began to move west to reinforce Cape Gloucester and the 3rd battalion went to northern Bougainville. The remainder of the 17th division would arrive between November 5th and 12th, though the auxiliary cruiser Kurita Maru caring the 1st battalion, 81st regiment was sunk by the USS Grayson. 1087 men, most of the battalion, were lost.  The invasion of the Treasuries codenamed Operation Goodtime. They would establish a staging area, an advanced naval base at Blanche Harbor and a radar station on the north coast of Mono Island. It was hoped the assault on the Treasuries would confused the Japanese as to where the major effort would actually be. At this time there was a short supply of assault forces throughout the Pacific and the Bougainville invasion was mere days away. Thus it was difficult to comprehend why an entire brigade would be used to subdue a tiny enemy garrison on one small island. It has been theorised that Halsey and Vandegrift were reluctant to use some untried New Zealand troops in the more ambitious undertaking, but were also under pressure from their Anzac allies to see some action. For whatever reason the Treasury island operation would be one of the few examples of Allied overkill during the mid Pacific War.  The 8th Brigade had limited shipping available to them. They would have eight destroyer transports, eight LCIs, two LSTs, eight LCMs, three LCTs and two APCs, under the command of Admiral Fort who was using the USS Raton as his flagship. The 34th battalion was going to land on the north side of Stirling Island to secure a nearby airfield; the 29th and 36th battalions would land abreast near Falami Point on southern Mono and Major George Logan D company of the 34th, designated Logan force would land at the mouth of the Soanotalu River to establish a radar station with the help of 20 seabees. The USS Pringle and Philip would perform a bombardment to help. The operation was set into motion on October 27th when the convoy departed guadalcanal and the Russells. George Fort's destroyers approached Blanche Harbor during a storm and began their bombardment. The assault waves raced through the harbor in two columns. As was suspected the 34th met zero resistance, they immediately went to work sending out patrols to make certain if there were any Japanese on the island they would not get to surprise them. Mortars were set up on the nearby Watson island, cool theres an island bearing my name to support the landings on Mono. The landings on Mono met very little resistance, basically just a bunch of surprised Japanese naval troops who offered some half hearted gunfire before withdrawing. The New Zealanders went to work establishing a perimeter as the Japanese began opening fire using mortars which managed to knock out two LST's killing 2 and wounding 30 men. Interesting to note this was the first amphibious assault launched by Kiwi's since the horrible Gallipoli campaign of 1916 and it was the second combat operation undertaken by Kiwi's during the Pacific War. The real resistance would come in the form of a air raid consisting of 25 vals who bombed the beachhead and support ships. The destroyers Cony  took two hits; eight crewmen were killed and ten wounded. An allied fighter patrol managed to shoot down 12 vals during the raid. To their north, the Logan force faced no difficult landing at the mouth of the Soanotalu river. They quickly formed a 150 yard perimeter and began working on the radar station. By the end of the day, all but one LST had successfully unloaded and cleared Blanche harbor, however during the night the New Zealanders tossed back numerous counter attacks, particular around the Saveke river. By the 28th the Japanese survivors were retreating north in the hope of escaping to Bougainville, but along the way they ran into the Logan Force. On October 29th during the late afternoon, 20 Japanese attacked the western part of the Logan Forces perimeter. They were easily beaten off with mortars and rifle fire, leaving 5 dead Japanese behind. The next day saw some intermittent firing against concealed Japanese. Scouts eventually figured out there was a larger number of Japanese to the west of the perimeter, but the area between Soanotalu and Malasi was clear of the enemy.  November began with the rest of the brigade coming over. The radar station was already up and running and the Logan Force had built themselves a small blockhouse near the landing barge. That said blockhouse immediately became the objective of the Japanese, since it represented the only hope of them escaping the island. As Brigadier Row's men began to occupy the central and northern parts of Mono, the Japanese began to infiltrate the Logan Forces perimeter. On the night of November 1st, the main breech was made across the News Zealanders line. A ton of Japanese had infiltrated the lines and managed to cut telephone wires from the blockhouse to the company HQ. Soon after this was accomplished a concerted attack was made against the blockhouse. 6 New Zealanders and 3 Americans defended it. They had automatic weapons, some 50 and 30 cal machine guns, but they were soon put out of action by the attacking Japanese who could have numbered between 70-100 men. The fight for the blockhouse would continue until dawn, with the surviving defenders beating off numerous attacks, mainly by tossing grenades. Captain Kirk, Sergeant DD Hannafin were both killed during the fight. Command of the blockhouse then fell to a cook of D Company, Private J.E Smith. By daybreak the Japanese finally were beaten off as the 3 remaining survivors were all wounded. 26 Japanese had been killed trying to overrun the blockhouse and seize the landing craft. Elsewhere across the perimeter the Japanese attacked throughout the night seeing another 15 dead Japanese in the western section and 9 in the east. It was to be there best chance at taking the blockhouse, for the next few days their attacks were much smaller and by November 4th, New Zealander patrols were fanning out and killing or capturing stragglers. The last significant action on Mono would be on November 6th when a dozen Japanese were routed from a cave during a two hour firefight east of Soanatalu. Operation Goodtime resulted in the annihilation of a Japanese garrison roughly 200 men strong, but it came at a cost. 40 New Zealanders and 12 Americans were killed with 174 wounded. The allies got their supply bases and radar station. Over on Choiseul, Operation Blissful was about to kick off. In an attempt to make the Japanese believe the Shortland islands were the target for their offensive, General Vandegrift tossed Lt Colonel Victor Krulaks 2nd Parachute battalion, roughly 656 men at a beach near the village of Voza. On October 27th the men and their equipment were loaded onto 8 LCMS and during the night the paratroopers were transferred over to four destroyer transports, the Kilty, Ward, Crosby and McKean, the same ships that had just been used to transport the New Zealanders for Operation Goodtime. Forts destroyers provided escort as the Paramarine landed at Voza shortly after midnight without any resistance. During the morning of the 28th they began unloading supplies from landing crafts that had been concealed on a smaller island offshore. Once landed they carried them up a narrow trail leading from the beach a mile northwest of Voza upon some high ground which would be their first base camp. Nearly a hundred friendly natives helped the marines carry the equipment up the beach and they also helped guide the men. Allied radio broadcasting finally alerted the Japanese to the imminent danger to southern Bougainville as Krulaks men began establishing their perimeter. The morning of the 29th brought an enemy strafing attack upon them and the native guides reported to Krulak that there was a barge staging base at Sangigai, the main Japanese position on Choiseul bay, garrisoned by around 150 men. Krulak decided that was to be the first objective, he sent out patrols going north and south. In the north Lt Averill with the help of native guides discover considerable evidence of the Japanese presence, abandoned equipment and rations, but no Japanese. In the south two patrols scouted the Japanese base near Sangigai. Krulak led one of the patrols personally and managed to surprise some Japanese who were unloading a barge. They killed 7 Japanese and sunk the barge before pulling out. The other patrol group ran into a Japanese platoon and got into a skirmish seeing another 7 dead Japanese. Thus Krulak got his confirmation there indeed was a Japanese base at Sangigai.  Early on the 30th, Krulak requested an air strike at it arrived at 6am. 12 Avengers with 26 fighter escorts hit Sangigai. Unfortunately some of the planes mistook the marines at Voza for the enemy and strafed them as well. No marines were killed but one of their boats was sunk, that Krulak had planned to use. As a result of the boat getting sunk, Companies E and 5 departed Voza overland to hit Sangigai. A Japanese outpost along the Vagara river opened fire on the paratroopers, but was easily overwhelmed. Krulak then divided his forces to perform a two pronged assault. Company E led by Captain Robert Manchester would advance along the coastline to hit the Japanese from the north, while Krulak with Company F would move inland to hit them from the rear.  Company E quickly advanced along the coast and began shelling the town with mortars and rockets during the afternoon, only to find out it was abandoned. The Japanese had taken up a new position on some high grounder in the interior. So the paramarines began destroying and looting the village. Meanwhile company F were advancing through rough terrain to try and secure some high ground near Sangigai where the retreating Japanese were just passing through. The Japanese literally walked right into F company and a hour long fight broke out. The Japanese outnumbered F company and as Krulak would later report “the outcome appeared to be in question, until the Japs destroyed their chances by an uncoordinated banzai charge which was badly cut up by our machine guns. Seventy-two Japs were killed and an undetermined number wounded. Marine losses were 6 killed, 1 missing and 12 wounded." The marines had 6 deaths, 12 wounded and one man missing. Krulak was wounded as well as F companies commander Spencer Pratt. The Japanese suffered a devastating 72 casualties Back over at E company after plundering the village they came across some documents  and Krulak reported "The one that fascinated me, it was a chart that portrayed the minefields around southern Bougainville. When I reported this, the night after the Sangigai attack, I saw my first flash message. I had never seen one before. It came back and said, "Transmit at once the coordinates of the limits of the minefields and all channels as shown going through it." So we laboriously encoded the critical locations and sent them off. To an armada going into that area this is not incidental information. This is necessary information. Halsey in true Halsey fashion was not satisfied to know where the minefields were; he, before the Torokina landings, sent in a minelayer there and dropped mines in the entrance ways to those channels and they got two Japanese ships.” E company then retired to the Vagara river and was later evacuated by boat back to the Voza area. F company followed suite but was delayed by the heavy engagement they had. The men stayed to bury their dead. The friendly natives reported a Japanese concentration to the north near the Warrior River, so Krulak sent a strong patrol up by boat to check it out. On November 1, the large patrol of 87 paratroopers from Company G,  led by Major Warner Bigger, headed north by landing craft towards Nukiki with orders "destroy the southern outposts of CHOISEUL BAY, and if possible to shell the Jap supply depot on GUPPY ISLAND." Major Bigger began an overland march along the eastern bank of the river and after crossing the warrior, their native guides became lost so they all had to bivouac for the night. In the early morning of November 2nd, Biggers men found themselves surrounded by Japanese who began infiltrating their perimeter from the rear. Bigger had the men continue north along the beach where the surprise attacked a small enemy outpost of 4 men. They managed to kill 3 of 4, but the last man ran away, thus the element of surprise was gone. Bigger knew the jig was up he could not hope to attack the main objective so instead he ordered the men to go shell Guppy island.  G Company setup some 60mm mortars in the water and fired 143 rounds at the island setting up two large fires, one looked to have hit a fuel dump. The Japanese were taken by surprise there and only offered resistance in the form of some poorly directed machine gun bursts. On the way back G company had to fight their way through because of the infiltrators. Krulak was notified of the situation and alerted a PT boat base at Vella Lavella. Lt Arthur Berndtson had 5 PT boats under his command there, 2 were already assigned to other missions, another was under repair. PT 59 only had ⅓ tanks worth of fuel, but her commander, Lt John F Kennedy, yes he is back in action, agreed to rescue the boys. Kennedy believed he had enough fuel to get to Choiseul and another boat could tow them back to base. Despite overheating the engines, at around 9:30 PT 59 escorted a small convoy to Voza and Bigger's men were off loaded. The PT-59 ran out of fuel on the return trip down the slot and was towed back to Lambu Lambu Cove. By this point the landings at Cape Torokina had been carried out, so a diversion was not really needed anymore. Furthermore the Japanese were moving in on the base camp from all directions. On the night of November 3rd, just in the nick of time, 3 LCIs from Vella Lavella arrived to successfully load Krulaks paratroopers and got them out of there before dawn of the 4th. The Paratroopers had been outnumbered 6-1. They managed to kill an estimated 143 Japanese, destroyed a major staging base at Sangigai, sunk two barges and destroyed a considerable amount of enemy fuel and supplies on Guppy island. The cost was 13 dead and 13 wounded. Krulaks after action report mentioned evidence that the Japanese had sent reinforcements from the Shortland islands to counter the Choiseul operation. On November 1st, the day of the Cape Torokina landings, the Japanese had sent a large bomer force south to Choiseul hunting a reported Task Force. The Japanese found nothing, and by the time they diverted back to Empress Augusta Bay, the landings were done, American fighters were ready to deal with them. It seems the Japanese had been greatly confused from all the activity around Bougainville, particularly from many intercepted messages. Its hard to say how successful the Choiseul raid actually was. It's possible the Japanese fell for the diversion, but no one really knows. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The diversionary raids may or may not have had an effect on the landings at Cape Torokina. Regardless the multiple operations were all successful and the Japanese seemed none the wiser. Now the stranglehold over Bougainville would begin.