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Last time we spoke about the invasion of the Palau Islands. General Rupertus's 1st Marine Division was tasked with attacking Peleliu, while General Mueller's 81st Division would land on Angaur. Prior to the landings, extensive neutralization of Japanese airfields was carried out by Allied forces. On September 6, carrier-based aircraft attacked the Palaus, significantly damaging enemy targets but encountering minimal resistance. The invasion fleet, led by Admiral Fort, began landing operations on September 15. Despite strong Japanese defenses, especially around Peleliu's rugged coral ridges, the Marines made some progress but faced intense resistance. Notable figures such as Eugene Sledge, author of “With the Old Breed,” provided personal insights into the brutal conditions faced. The landing saw heavy casualties and challenges, including ineffective pre-landing bombardments and fierce counterattacks, but the Marines managed to secure key positions by the end of the first day. The 81st Division then proceeded with landings on Angaur on September 17, facing lighter resistance but difficult terrain. This episode is the Battles of Peleliu and Angaur 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.  Last time we left off, Peleliu and Anguar had just been amphibiously assaulted by US Marines. While the landings on Angaur were underway, General Rupertus pressed on with the Peleliu offensive on September 17. In the southern sector, Colonel Hanneken's 7th Marines made headway against the isolated Japanese defenders. The 3rd Battalion cleared a minefield and captured the southeast promontory, while the 1st Battalion took on the southwestern promontory but only managed to secure half of it due to fierce enemy resistance. To the north, the 1st and 5th Marines advanced further, encountering the Umurbrogol Mountains for the first time, where Colonel Nakagawa had fortified his defenses. On the left flank, Colonel Puller's 1st and 3rd Battalions encountered minimal opposition as they moved along the relatively flat coastal plain but had to halt their advance when the 1st Battalion was impeded by a reinforced concrete blockhouse. On the right, Colonel Harris' 2nd Battalion progressed well while staying hidden from Japanese artillery and mortar fire. However, despite reaching their objectives by mid-morning, Harris' 1st Battalion faced difficulty when Puller's 2nd Battalion, after making initial gains, was halted by the Umurbrogol defenses. They fought hard to secure Hill 200 but were immediately met with fire from the next ridge. Additionally, Harris' 3rd Battalion was pinned down by heavy flanking fire from the left. That night, additional armor was sent to the 7th Marines to support the ongoing operations in the south. The next morning, Hanneken's 3rd Battalion launched a final assault. During the night of D+2, additional armor (tanks and 75mm gun-mounted halftracks) was brought up and at 10:00 on September 18 the advance was resumed. Again progress was painfully slow with many reserve elements being attacked by Japanese from bypassed caves and underground emplacements. At 13:44 elements of Companies A and C reached the southern shores, though the area being assaulted by Company B was still heavily defended. Tank support had withdrawn to re-arm and before Company B was in a position to resume the attack, a bulldozer was needed to extricate the gun-mounted half-tracks, which had become bogged down. At that time, several explosions were heard from the Japanese defenses and it was found that remaining Japanese defenders had finished the job for the Marines. The final handful leaped from the cliff tops into the sea in an effort to escape, only to be picked off by Marine riflemen. With the taking of the two promontories, the southern part of Peleliu was secured. 1/7 and 3/7 squared themselves away for a well-earned rest, while headquarters reported "1520 hours D+3, 7th Marines mission on Peleliu completed." Unfortunately, this was not quite the case. Despite the slow progress and intense Japanese resistance, the Marines managed to secure the southern portion of Peleliu by the end of September 18. At the same time, the 1st and 5th Marines continued their fierce and costly push north. On the right flank, Colonel Harris's 2nd Battalion faced only sporadic resistance as it cut through the dense jungle. The Americans eventually reached a causeway leading east to Peleliu's northeastern peninsula, a potentially dangerous obstacle to their advance. After a successful patrol, Harris opted to call in an airstrike before crossing, but the strike missed its target and hit the area while the Marines were crossing. Despite this, the bridgehead was established, though further casualties were incurred due to friendly artillery and mortar fire. With this new foothold, Harris redirected his 3rd Battalion eastward across the causeway to support the 2nd Battalion's advance. On the left flank, the 1st Marines, having sustained 1,236 casualties, were urged by Rupertus to "maintain the momentum." This led Colonel Puller to commit all available reserves, including engineers, support personnel, and Hanneken's reserve 2nd Battalion. The 1st Marines suffered about 240 casualties during the 17th and in Japanese counterattacks the ensuing night; the 3rd Battalion was reduced to about one third of its original strength; and two companies of the 1st Battalion were practically finished as fighting units. On the other hand, there was some reason for optimism. Progress on the 17th had been measured in hundreds of yards in the rough, high ground at the southern end of the central ridges and strong Japanese resistance had been overcome. Whatever optimism may have existed was not to last too long. On the 18th, in what the Marine Corps' history of the operation characterizes as "savage and costly fighting," elements of the 1st and 7th Marines managed to advance more than 500 yards in the center, principally along the ridge lines and hills oriented north and south. But the advance during the day was held up at a group of peaks which seemed at first to form a continuous ridge line that was oriented more east and west than the rest of the Peleliu ridges. Soon, the name Five Sisters came to be applied to a cluster of peaks forming the western side of the terrain feature. A towering hill at its eastern extremity, separated from Five Sisters by a saddle, was designated Hill 300, or Old Baldy. With the 7th Marines held up in the center, at Five Sisters, the units on both sides of the central ridges halted so as not to create exposed flanks. Puller's 3rd Battalion made progress along the coastal plains but had to pause to stay in contact with other units. Meanwhile, the 2nd Battalion struggled against the Umurbrogol Mountains, capturing Hill 210 before being forced to withdraw due to a fierce Japanese counterattack on Hill 200 behind them. At Anguar, following a three-hour artillery bombardment supported by aircraft, General Mueller's 321st and 322nd Regiments resumed their advance north and west with tank support. After linking their advances, Colonel Venable pushed west and reached the high ground where Major Goto had established his main defenses, while Colonel Dark made significant progress south until his forces encountered the formidable defenses at Green Beach. The night of 18-19 September was noisy and nerve-racking all along the front and few troops got much sleep. Minor Japanese attacks harassed the exposed salient held by the 3d Battalion, 322d Infantry, while bats and large land crabs helped the Japanese to create distraction and started troops firing on nonexistent enemy infiltrators. Apparently no casualties resulted either from Japanese action or indiscriminate small arms fire. Friendly artillery fire did, however, cause some casualties. About 2030, four or five 105-mm. shells from the 316th Field Artillery Battalion hit the lines of the 2d Battalion, 321st Infantry, killing 4 men and wounding 15 others. The artillery fire was stopped before further damage could be done. On September 19, following a night of numerous Japanese infiltrations and small-scale counterattacks, the 322nd Regiment swiftly secured Saipan Town and advanced to the north shore of Garangaoi Cove. Meanwhile, the 321st Regiment successfully attacked and captured the Green Beach fortifications from their vulnerable side. To manage the exposed Japanese forces on the beaches, Dark's 2nd Battalion, supported by tanks, maneuvered left and progressed down the southwest of the island, halting just short of the shoreline by nightfall. At Peleliu, Harris' Marines made headway towards the Ngardololok area, overcoming light resistance and quickly dispatching the few enemy stragglers they encountered, reaching Purple Beach by day's end. However, in front of the O-3 line, Puller's weary troops, having endured a grueling night of Japanese counterattacks, resumed their assault on the Umurbrogol Mountains.  Despite some local advances, by evening on 20 September the 1st Marines had been stopped and, ". . . as an assault unit on the regimental level, had ceased temporarily to exist," having suffered almost 1,750 casualties, well over half its strength. Relief was absolutely necessary, not only because casualties were heavy but also because the survivors were physically exhausted from heat, lack of water, and continuous combat. Elements of the 7th Marines therefore relieved all 1st Marines units except those along West Road. While the 7th Marines took over from the exhausted 1st Marines on the right, the 5th Marines continued their advance through western Peleliu, securing its two peninsulas, including Island A and Ngabad Island, by September 21. General Mueller, concerned lest the Japanese reported on the south break through gaps or weak points in the forward lines, had special defenses in depth set up at RED and BLUE Beaches, utilizing Shore Party and antiaircraft troops. All units were alerted to expect Japanese attacks during the night. The division expected (and perhaps hoped) that the Japanese still believed to be located in southern Angaur might launch a suicidal desperation charge during the night or at dawn on the 20th. The night proved very quiet until, toward morning, some small, scattered Japanese parties infiltrated through the lines of both regiments. There was no banzai effort--rather, these Japanese troops were apparently attempting to escape to the northwest hill mass from positions in the mangrove swamp and GREEN Beach 3 areas. Action at dawn was limited to a mopping-up operation directed against four Japanese discovered in the headquarters area of the 2d Battalion, 321st Infantry. By 11:00 on September 20, Mueller reported to General Geiger that all organized resistance on Angaur had ended and that the island was secure. General Mueller's statement was probably prompted by his realization that the remaining Japanese were compressed into the northwest hills and by the reports that about 850 of the enemy had been killed through the 20th. This casualty figure was an overestimation. Probably fewer than 600 Japanese had been killed through the 20th, and Major Goto still had possibly 750 men with which to conduct an organized defense in the northwest. On orders from General Inoue, Goto planned no final banzai attack which would decimate his forces. Instead he withdrew over half his force to rugged terrain and emplaced them in natural or prepared fortifications. His lines of defense in the northwest were well conceived; many of his positions were mutually supporting; the amphitheater configuration of the bowl provided him with defensive areas whence heavy cross fires could be directed at attackers; the broken coral, with its crevices, fissures, caves, and ridgelets, gave him defensive advantages at least as good as those at the Ibdi Pocket on Biak; and he had available a number of artillery and anti-tank weapons, heavy and light mortars, and heavy and light machine-guns, most of them so emplaced as to give maximum support to his riflemen. In addition, he could still exercise effective control over the men he had gathered in the Lake Salome bowl. For whatever it was worth, Goto was ready to conduct a protracted defense, though the best he could hope for was to tie down the 322nd Regiment. Nevertheless, the real issue at Angaur--securing the prospective airfield area--had already been decided. To the north, while southern Angaur was being secured, Venable's men were probing the enemy's northwestern defenses with a series of company-sized attacks. These attacks allowed the Americans to gather crucial information about Goto's remaining positions, centered around the Lake Salome bowl. Venable discovered that organized resistance was still strong, prompting him to rearrange his units for a final push. Following a heavy artillery and air bombardment, the 322nd Regiment attacked the bowl with tank support, initially making some gains but soon encountering obstacles due to the terrain and enemy fire. By the end of September 21, Venable deemed the newly gained positions too exposed and decided to withdraw to the previous night's defenses. Meanwhile, the 1st and 7th Marines continued to face heavy casualties as they fought through the Umurbrogol Mountains, with the latter advancing less than 175 yards after two days of intense combat. Nakagawa's fierce defenders managed to halt the 1st Marine Division on the rough and well-defended terrain, resulting in a total of 4,000 casualties by this time. After visiting the front, Geiger decided to replace the battered 1st Marines with Dark's 321st Regiment, which had suffered minimal casualties and had completed its mission at Angaur. The 1st Marines by this time reported 1749 casualties. One Marine later described the fighting in the Umurbrogol, which attests to the level to which the 1st Marines had deteriorated: "I picked up the rifle of a dead Marine and I went up the hill; I remember no more than a few yards of scarred hillside, I didn't worry about death anymore, I had resigned from the human race. I crawled and scrambled forward and lay still without any feeling towards any human thing. In the next foxhole was a rifleman. He peered at me through red and painful eyes. I didn't care about him and he didn't care about me. As a fighting unit, the 1st Marines was finished. We were no longer human beings, I fired at anything that moved in front of me, friend or foe. I had no friends, I just wanted to kill." OnSeptember 19, he also dispatched Colonel Arthur Watson's reserve 323rd Regiment to secure Ulithi Atoll. After a successful reconnaissance mission, the infantrymen landed on September 22, discovering that the atoll's airfield and seaplane base had been abandoned by the Japanese. The Americans later established a major advanced fleet anchorage, a Marine airbase, and a Navy seaplane base there. Ulithi Atoll contained a 300-berth anchorage and a seaplane base. Occupation of these Western Caroline islands provided still another base from which future operations against the enemy could be supported. The construction of an airstrip on Ameliorate Island made possible fighter plane protection for the anchorage and afforded a base from which US aircraft could continue neutralization of the nearby Japanese bases on Yap. Together with Angaur and Peleliu Islands to the southwest and Guam, Tinian, and Saipan to the northeast, the capture of Ulithi Atoll completed a line of American bases that isolated Japanese holdings in the Central and South Pacific. The occupation of Ulithi Atoll further denied it to the enemy as a fleet anchorage, weather and radio station, and possible air and submarine base, in addition to precluding its use by the enemy to observe and report the activities of American forces in the sector. By September 25 the unloading of all the support ships had been completed and Vice Admiral John H. Hoover, Commander, Forward Areas Western Pacific, took over the task of developing Ulithi Atoll into an advanced fleet base. Within a month after its capture, more than 100 Navy craft from self-propelled types to lighters, floating drydocks, barges, landing craft, and seaplane wrecking derricks were en route to the island. During subsequent operations in the Philippines, the Pacific Fleet found Ulithi to be an extremely valuable base. Prior to the invasion of Okinawa, the island served as a staging area for fleet and amphibious forces. The atoll thus fulfilled a vital strategic role in the final phase of the Pacific War. On that day, Venable resumed his assault on the Lake Salome bowl. The coastal offensive faced little resistance, but the attack through the southern defile encountered heavy enemy fire. Despite this, the troops reached the shores of Lake Salome. However, Venable was severely wounded during the action and had to be evacuated, with his troops retreating to more defensible positions by nightfall. The main strength of the attack was placed on the right (southeast) section of the bowl, and tanks fired along the eastern rim about 200 yards in front of the leading elements. The mediums had been undisturbed by enemy fire all morning, but, apparently attracted by an incautious grouping of officers and men near the lead tanks and defile exit, a Japanese anti-tank gun opened fire from a hidden emplacement along the east rim. Three officers (including Colonel Venable, who was in the forward area to observe the new attack) and one enlisted man were severely wounded and had to be evacuated. During the retirement on the 22nd, one of the three forward tanks was so badly damaged by a mine or buried shell that it could not be moved through the defile. This tank blocked the defile's northern entrance and prevented the withdrawal of another medium, which had to be destroyed to keep it from falling into Japanese hands. In four days of fruitless effort to push into the bowl from the south, three tanks and two 75-mm SPM's had been lost. Heavier infantry losses also began to be sustained now that the Japanese, cornered, were fighting to the death. On that day, for instance, the 2nd Battalion lost 2 men killed and about 35 wounded. At 0730 on the morning of the 23d, the 2d Battalion, with Companies B, C, and E attached, continued the attack into the bowl from the south. Companies B and C worked up the east shore of Lake Salome. Companies I and G pushed toward the southwest and western shores, while Company F paid particular attention to caves along the southwest rim of the bowl. During the first part of the attack all companies moved forward rapidly, and Company I reached the northwest corner of the lake without much trouble. But Company B, pushing forward against increasingly heavy Japanese fire from the north, was pinned down by this fire when it reached the northeast corner of the lake. Company C was sent north on B's right to try to outflank the enemy machine gun and mortar positions from which the fire on Company B originated. The intention was to flush the Japanese from their positions and push them southwest and south against the main body of the 2d Battalion. But Company C could make little progress toward the northern section of the bowl, and its own position became precarious as Japanese mortar and machine gun fire increased and the 1st Battalion's own 81-mm. mortar ammunition ran out, making further mortar support impossible. Japanese fire continued to increase and the positions of all forward companies became untenable. A general withdrawal to the defile entrance was ordered. The withdrawal was painfully slow; companies were broken up; all units suffered more casualties. One small group of Company I, separated from its parent unit, worked over the cliffs and ridges at the bowl's western rim to the coast at BLACK Beach. Company B, retreating in small segments, lost men as it withdrew from the northeast corner of the lake. All told, the 2d Battalion and attached companies lost 18 men killed and over 75 wounded during the day. Concurrently, as the 1st and 7th Marines continued to struggle with the formidable Umurbrogol Mountains, Harris' Company G successfully secured the undefended Carlson Island, finally completing the 5th Marines' original mission. Despite concerns about a potential enemy attack on Koror and Babelthuap after the Peleliu operation, General Inoue decided to reinforce Nakagawa's beleaguered garrison. By 21 September effective Japanese infantry strength in the central ridges was down to 1,300 men. That, of course, does not paint a true picture of the situation in the central pocket. A trained soldier, well armed, can be tenacious on the defense in such terrain as the central ridges of Peleliu whether or not he be trained for infantry service. There were probably 4,000 Japanese troops (including the 1,300 infantrymen) still firmly ensconced in the central pocket as of 21 September, and there were at least 1,000 more troops in the Amiangal Mountain area at northern Peleliu. Nevertheless, Colonel Nakagawa, commanding the Peleliu Sector Unit, clearly needed reinforcements if he was to hold out much longer. There were perhaps 30,000 Japanese troops in the northern Palaus to draw from, including two battalions of the 59th Infantry, two battalions of the 15th Infantry, and four or five recently organized infantry battalions of the 53d Independent Mixed Brigade. The Japanese were not to reach their destination undetected. At 0535, the destroyer H.L. Edwards spotted seven enemy barges about 1,000 yards northeast of Akarakoro Point at the northern tip of Peleliu, obviously headed for the island. The destroyer opened fire, sinking one barge before the remainder reached the beach. A combination of bombing and strafing, naval gunfire, and artillery hit the barges on the beach, and by 0845 the cruiser Louisville reported all barges destroyed. The enemy version of this incident agrees only in part with the American account, adding that "despite receiving severe enemy air and artillery fire at a point two kilometers off the coast, they made a successful landing at 0520 hours under the command of 1st Lieutenant Murahori". Knowing that some Japanese forces had reached Peleliu, Rupertus decided to deploy his own reinforcements between the central ridges and the western shore, targeting the enemy's weak spot for an offensive up the western coast. The 7th Marines supported the Army by attacking enemy positions from the south and center, with Hanneken's 3rd Battalion advancing along the high ground to the right rear of the 321st. After relieving the 1st Marines, Dark sent patrols up the coastal flat to Garekoru, encountering little opposition initially. However, Dark's 2nd Battalion faced heavier resistance in the afternoon and had to retreat, postponing the northward advance until the next day. During the night, Inoue sent the remainder of the 2nd Battalion, 15th Regiment, and despite being shelled, most reinforcements reached Peleliu. By September 23, the Americans had secured important footholds on Peleliu and Angaur. However, intense fighting remained, with the 321st Regiment relieving the 1st Marines against Nakagawa's fortified positions, while the 322nd Regiment continued to attack Goto's defenses on the northwest hills. Yet that is it for the Palau's as we now need to turn to Mortai. General Persons' troops quickly secured and expanded the island perimeter, successfully repelling the enemy's night raids with little difficulty. An example of these raids is the September 18 attack. This is the Japanese report: “On 18 September the main body of the 2nd Provisional Raiding Unit, which had moved into position along the upper Tjao, launched a strong night infiltration attack with the objective of disrupting the enemy's rear area in the vicinity of Doroeba and Gotalalmo. Although deep penetration of the enemy lines was achieved and considerable casualties inflicted, the attack failed to reduce the beachhead or to interfere with the enemy's rapid preparation of Doroeba airfield.” In truth, the Americans easily repelled this attack, suffering very few casualties. These raids would continue throughout September and October. American engineers were busy constructing a new fighter strip at the Pitoe Drome area. This strip was scheduled to be ready for use by September 29 but was eventually abandoned and downgraded to an emergency field. A number of factors influenced the decision to abandon the site, which was renamed Pitoe Crash Strip. Japanese air reaction had been so ineffectual that the need for a fighter base on Morotai was not as urgent as had been expected. Aircraft based on escort carriers, some of which remained in the Morotai area for weeks, were able to keep away most of the Japanese planes, and their efforts were supplemented by long-range land-based fighters from Sansapor. Moreover, the line of approach which planes had to use to land on Pitoe Crash Strip interfered with that of the more important bomber base at Wama Drome. Finally, the terrain at the crash strip was by no means as well drained as that at other locations on the Doroeba Plain, and it was necessary to expend much engineer effort to keep the strip operational. The new field, which acquired the designation Pitoe Drome, was located about 1,200 yards north of Wama Drome. Construction proceeded slowly at Pitoe Drome because so much engineer effort had to be devoted to the completion of Wama Drome. By 4 October almost 7,000 feet at the new site had been cleared, but it was not until the 17th, D plus 32, that even one runway was surfaced, let alone taxiways and dispersal lanes. Meanwhile, the construction of a new bomber field at Wama Drome faced significant delays due to heavy rainstorms and a shortage of suitable surfacing material. Despite almost constant struggles with soggy ground and tropical downpours, engineers managed to make 4,000 feet of Wama Drome operational by October 4. However, the overall progress on building Morotai's new airbase, intended for the upcoming invasion of the Philippines, was slower than anticipated. Nevertheless, the Tradewind Task Force was disbanded on September 25, as the island was considered secure enough. General Hall then assumed command of the Morotai base as the commander of the 11th Corps. However, unbeknownst to the Americans, who believed the only possible Japanese response to the invasion was the ineffective air raids already carried out against them, troops in Halmahera were preparing to embark on a dangerous mission to reinforce Morotai and contest control of this key island. In the meantime, after the successful invasion of the Palaus, new developments were unfolding on the Philippines front following Admiral Mitscher's Task Force 38's recent successful strikes. These strikes had revealed an unexpected vulnerability in the enemy's air defenses, prompting Admirals Halsey and Nimitz to cancel the Yap operation, thereby freeing up many resources for the Philippines Campaign. Approximately 500 aircraft, or about 57% of the 884 believed to be in the Philippines, were rendered nonoperational or destroyed during these air attacks. Consequently, General MacArthur decided to cancel the preliminary Mindanao operations and instead make a direct jump from the Palaus-Morotai line to Leyte on October 20. Shortly after this change in schedule, MacArthur informed the Joint Chiefs that he could advance from Leyte to Luzon by December 20, two months earlier than planned. Meanwhile, the carrier raids on Mindanao and the Visayas strengthened the Southern Army command's belief that the Allies were preparing for an early invasion of the Philippines. As a result, Marshal Terauchi recommended accelerating the reinforcement of the Philippines, activating Operation Sho-Go, and authorizing the 4th Air Army to employ its main strength against enemy carrier task forces. This was in contrast to the current policy of not committing available air strength against enemy raiders, which was failing to conserve Japanese air power for a decisive battle. However, Tokyo denied these last two requests while also receiving concerning reports about General Kuroda's neglect of his duties as field army commander. In the middle of September, IGHQ decided to replace General Kuroda with General Yamashita. Not only did General Kuroda have a concept of the Philippine operations that differed from that of his superiors, but he was charged with neglecting his duty as field army commander. Lt. Col. Yoshie Seiichi of the Personnel Bureau of the War Ministry, who had been sent to the Philippines to investigate personnel matters in the Southern Army, said of the incident: “Stories reached the War Ministry that Lt. Gen. Kuroda was devoting more time to his golf, reading and personal matters than to the execution of his official duties. It appeared that his control over staff officers and troops was not sufficiently strong and that there was a good deal of unfavorable criticism of his conduct among the troops. There were also indications that discipline was becoming very lax. On September 4, I left Tokyo under orders . . . to investigate. As a result I obtained many statements substantiating the unfavorable stories in regard to Lt. Gen. Kuroda. The recommendations of all the staff was that Lt. Gen. Kuroda be relieved as soon as possible, and be replaced by Gen. Yamashita . . . who was a superb tactician and excellent leader.” Random note, for those interested, over on my personal podcast at the Pacific War Channel I did a single episode covering how Yamashita became the Tiger of Malaya and plan to do more pieces on him as I find him to be one of the more interesting generals of the Pacific War. Before an effective change in command could take place, the Japanese were about to experience a more dramatic display of Allied offensive power that they would soon encounter in the Philippines. On September 18, Mitscher's Task Force 38 was ordered to head back toward the islands for a major strike against Luzon, the heart of Japanese control in the Philippines. The American carriers achieved complete surprise and successfully attacked Luzon three days later. Despite the fierce defense by approximately 42 Zeros, between 09:30 and 18:00 on September 21, four waves of over 400 aircraft targeted the harbor area and airfields around Manila with bombs and strafing runs. The assault on the harbor and shipping along the west coast resulted in the sinking or severe damage of 34 vessels totaling over 100,000 gross tons, while the raids on the airfields inflicted significant damage on grounded aircraft. At 0610 the following day, 22 September, search planes discovered the enemy carrier groups still lurking off the coast of Luzon, and at 0730 a hit-and-run attack was carried out by 27 Japanese aircraft, with reported bomb hits on two carriers and one cruiser. Naval air units at Legaspi attempted to carry out a second attack on the enemy carriers during the late afternoon, but the attack force of 19 planes failed to locate the carrier groups. Following the failed Japanese hit-and-run counterattack, Mitscher continued his assaults on Manila, destroying an estimated 110 aircraft in the air and 95 on the ground, and sinking or damaging 44 vessels. After the apparent withdrawal of enemy carriers, the Japanese decided to relocate their remaining ships in Manila Bay to other anchorages, many of which were directed to the secure docks of Coron Bay. However, Mitscher's carriers returned on September 24 to launch further strikes against Luzon, including a raid by about 96 Hellcats and 24 Helldivers on Coron Bay, which resulted in the sinking or damaging of 10 more vessels. Additional attacks on other targets led to the sinking or damaging of 12 more ships. Despite the ongoing air attacks, the Imperial Japanese Navy still deemed it premature to fully activate Operation Sho-Go, believing the decisive battle would take place in or after late October. Meanwhile, the Imperial Japanese Army accelerated its preparations to defend the Philippines. The reserve 1st Division was ordered to move to the islands immediately, and plans were made to assign ten surface raiding regiments to the area. On September 26, as plans for air reinforcement to the Philippines were being approved, General Yamashita was confirmed as the new commander of the 14th Area Army. He arrived in the Philippines on October 6 and found the situation "unsatisfactory," with poor planning for the Leyte campaign and many of his staff unfamiliar with the conditions in the Philippines. Lt. Gen. Makino Shiro, now commanding the 16th Division, which was the major force on Leyte, had directed his efforts since April 1944 toward the construction of defensive positions on the island. The first line of defense, which was on the east coast in the Dulag area, was practically completed by the middle of October. The third defensive line was in the middle of Leyte Valley in the vicinity of Dagami. The second line of defense was between the two others, while the bulk of supplies was assembled in the central mountain range at Jaro. The distribution of the other troops at the time of the American landings was as follows: one battalion of the 9th Infantry Regiment in the Catmon Hill and Tanauan district, and the main strength of the 33d Infantry Regiment in the Palo and Tacloban area. The larger part of the 33d Infantry Regiment, which was less adequately trained than the other regiments, had arrived on Leyte in mid-September from Luzon. Its officers were unfamiliar with the terrain and did not fortify their positions. However, the supply situation was favorable, with Manila serving as the main Japanese depot in the region. Following established plans, he instructed his subordinates that the Area Army would "seek decisive battle on Luzon" while in the central and southern Philippines, the focus would be to delay the enemy's advance and prevent them from securing naval and air bases. However, the September air strikes had led to a noticeable increase in guerrilla activity and civil disorder due to widespread destruction and panic. Small Japanese garrisons were attacked, pro-Japanese Filipinos molested and intimidated, and communications disrupted. In central Luzon there were indications that some guerrilla units were planning a move to the Lamon Bay area in order to be the first to cooperate with an American landing force, and on Negros and Panay guerrilla raids on Japanese airfields became boldly persistent. The Fourteenth Area Army feared that, as soon as enemy forces landed, the guerrillas would not only give them direct assistance as scouts and guides, but seriously hamper Japanese operations by attacking rear communication lines. Consequently, martial law was declared across the archipelago in anticipation of enemy landings. 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. Despite fierce and costly combat, American forces made significant advances in the Palaus, securing critical islands and establishing bases. The battle for Peleliu was marked by high casualties and intense fighting, with heavy losses on both sides. The successful capture of strategic locations like Ulithi Atoll and the subsequent strikes on Luzon further demonstrated Allied dominance and strategic planning in the Pacific Theater.

Last time we spoke about the end of Operation Dan. In Yunnan, by late July, General Wei's Y Force worked to eliminate Japanese garrisons at Tengchong, Mount Song, Pingda, and Longling. The 33rd Army prepared for Operation Dan, anticipating resistance from General Honda's garrisons until September. The fall of Myitkyina prompted Honda to expedite his plans. Reinforcements were expected in Mandalay by September. General Matsuyama's forces, cut off and surrounded, provided support only through radio messages. At Tengchong, Colonel Kurashige vowed to defend against relentless attacks. Chinese forces, after intense fighting and bombing raids, breached the city's defenses. Despite heavy casualties, the Japanese resisted fiercely. Major Kanemitsu's garrison defended Moung Song with dwindling supplies. The Chinese forces employed siege tactics and underground mines to break Japanese strongholds. The Chinese launched coordinated attacks, capturing key positions and ultimately compelling Japanese retreats.  This episode is the Invasion of Morotai 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.  After the Marianas fell and Sansapor was captured, the Allies set their sights on their next objectives: the Palaus and Halmahera, slated for simultaneous invasion by mid-September. The Japanese had stationed the 14th Division at Palau and the 32nd Division at Halmahera as their primary defenses. The Halmahera-Morotai area had not assumed much importance to the Japanese until early 1944, when they began to develop Halmahera as a focal point for the defense of the southern approaches to the Philippines. In addition to the 32d Division, the Japanese had on Halmahera innumerable service organizations, and they completed or had under construction nine airfields on the island, most of them in northern Halmahera. On that island they concentrated nearly 30,000 men, including at least 11,000 combat troops.  On Halmahera, General Ishii commanded approximately 11,000 troops to safeguard nine airfields, despite having already lost most of their air power. Meanwhile, Morotai Island was defended by around 500 Formosans of the 2nd Raiding Unit, led by Major Kawashima Takenobu. General Ishii planned to counterattack from Halmahera if the Allies landed on Morotai, but soon realized Allied air and naval superiority would foil these efforts. Following their defeat in the Marianas, Tokyo reassigned the Bonin Area Group directly under its command and placed the Palau Area Group under the Southern Army, leaving General Mugikura's 31st Army to defend Truk and other isolated outposts. General Inoue fortified Palau with elaborate defenses along the coast and inland, manned by 21,000 Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) troops, 7,000 Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) personnel, and 10,000 laborers.  The IJN had by 1944 constructed numerous reinforced concrete blockhouses and bunkers plus dug an extensive tunnel system near the end of the northeast peninsula as well as taking full advantage of Peleliu's natural caves. This elaborate, multi-level tunnel system could shelter 1000 troops. These defenses, tunnels, the airfield, and the many support facilities were built by the 204th, 214th, and 235th Construction Battalions, mostly manned by Koreans and Okinawans. Detachments of the guard forces manned eight 120mm dual-purpose, and about three 200mm coast defense guns. There was no ammunition for the 200mm short guns nor did any ships report being fired on by coast defense guns. The 114th and 126th Anti-aircraft Units manned single and twin-barreled 25mm automatic guns (estimated at 30) and 13.2mm machine guns. A dozen 20mm cannons, removed from destroyed aircraft, were set up on makeshift mounts, mostly around the airfield. His strategy emphasized prolonged attrition over suicidal charges, aiming to exhaust the American forces. In preparation for the intense pre-landing bombardment, Inoue instructed his troops to utilize natural terrain features like coral caves and sinkholes, tactics that proved effective against the advancing Allies.Based in Koror, the Japanese commander stationed Colonel Nakagawa Kunio's 2nd Regiment on Peleliu, the reinforced 1st Battalion of the 59th Regiment on Angaur, and deployed the 15th and 59th Regiments across Babelthuap and other islands. Major-General Yamaguchi Takeo's 53rd Independent Mixed Brigade defended the central islands, complemented by 4,000 personnel from the Imperial Japanese Navy on Peleliu.  Prior to General Inoue's arrival in the Palaus, the defense of the Palaus had been under the command of Vice-Admiral Ito Yoshioka. Upon his arrival on Koror, where he established his headquarters, Inoue appointed Colonel Nakagawa Kunio as Peleliu's new commander, with his 2nd Regiment (Reinforced). Nakagawa was a most able commander, possibly one of Japan's finest defensive tacticians, in the same league as General Kuribayashi on Iwo Jima. Nakagawa would make full use of all his defenses and troops on Peleliu, making the Americans pay dearly for every inch, as he had been ordered to do. Although a very capable commander, the appointment of an Army colonel over a Navy vice-admiral caused a great rift between the Army and Navy on Peleliu, which deteriorated into farce. To resolve matters and calm the Navy down somewhat, Inoue sent Major-General Murai Kenjiro from his headquarters on Koror Island to Peleliu to provide the Army with sufficient rank to satisfy the vice-admiral's honor, although the defense of Peleliu seems, to practical purposes, to have remained in the hands of Nakagawa. It appears that Murai, after inspecting Nakagawa's defensive works and battle plans for the defense of Peleliu, was content to let Nakagawa continue without interference from himself, lending only the weight of his rank to acquire the required cooperation of the Navy elements on Peleliu. Nakagawa, divided the island into four defense sectors, each manned by an infantry battalion. His 1st Battalion, alongside the 14th Division Tank Unit and Engineer Company, served as a mobile reserve for counterattacks against potential landings. Meanwhile, Admirals Nimitz and Halsey had been planning Operation Stalemate, targeting Palau since May 29. Originally slated for September 8, General Geiger's 3rd Amphibious Corps would assault Peleliu and Angaur, with General Hodge's 24th Corps landing on Babelthuap.  Intelligence was gathered by aerial reconnaissance photographs. Also, in June 1944 the submarine USS Seawolf (SS-197) carried out photographic reconnaissance of the invasion landing beaches. A further reconnaissance was carried out by the submarine USS Burrfish (SS-312) on Peleliu and Yap beaches. An 11-man reconnaissance group of underwater demolition team (UDT) frogmen landed on the Peleliu beaches from the Burrfish for closer investigation relating to water depth, location of potholes and sandbars, and obstacles. With thousands of Japanese on the island they understandably did not reconnoiter inland, and the rugged terrain of the interior would come as an unpleasant surprise to the Marines. A similar operation was carried out on the Yap invasion beaches, but this time only two of a five-man reconnaissance team made it back to the pick-up point. After several unsuccessful attempts to locate their missing comrades the remaining two men returned to the Burrfish. After this incident, Admiral Nimitz banned any further missions of this type. Given delays in the Guam operation, Operation Stalemate was canceled on July 7, replaced by Stalemate II.  An unusual staff arrangement was established to plan Stalemate II. IIIAC was committed to take Guam under General Geiger. The IIIAC staff would thus be unable to plan the Palaus operation, which it was to execute. Consequently, Major General Julian Smith, designated to command the Expeditionary Troops, was tasked to plan the operation using his own small staff augmented by some IIIAC staff officers. This temporary planning staff was designated X-Ray Provisional Amphibious Corps. It would plan the operation and IIIAC would execute it – an awkward arrangement, but necessary in order to maintain the increasing tempo of operations. As Commander, Expeditionary Troops, Smith was also to be in control of all ground action in the western Carolines; a position roughly analogous to that of General Krueger of ALAMO Force in the Southwest Pacific. X-Ray was finally dissolved on August 15, 1944. This revised plan scheduled Geiger's forces to land on Peleliu with the 1st Marine Division and on Angaur with the 81st Division on September 15, while the 77th Division remained in floating reserve and the 5th Marine Division in area reserve. Then, on October 8th, the 24th Corps planned to launch an assault on the islands of Yap and Ulithi in the western Carolines. This was aimed at securing an additional airfield and fully neutralizing Truk and the remaining islands in the group. For this operation, Halsey divided his 3rd Fleet into two main echelons: his Task Force 30, which included covering forces such as Admiral Mitscher's Fast Carrier Task Force (now Task Force 38), and Admiral Wilkinson's Task Force 31, the Joint Expeditionary Force. At Peleliu, General Rupertus' 1st Marine Division was to land with five battalions advancing over the White and Orange Beaches on the southwest coast. The 1st Marines were to land on the left, pushing up the western shore to clear Japanese forces from ridges overlooking the airfield; the 5th Marines would land in the center to secure the airfield; and the 7th Marines on the right to capture the southern end of the island. Meanwhile, at Angaur, Major-General Paul Mueller's 81st Division planned a two-pronged amphibious assault. The 322nd Regiment was to land on Red Beach on the northeast coast, while the 321st Regiment would land on Blue Beach about 2000 yards to the southeast. Both forces would then push inland to secure a first phase line approximately 300 yards from the beaches, before continuing their advance west and south. The reserve 323rd Regiment was tasked with a feint landing at Beach Black on the northwest coast, with potential deployment to Ulithi if the Palau operations proved successful. Meanwhile, General MacArthur aimed to establish an airbase in the Halmahera area, strategically positioned between the Vogelkop and Mindanao. This location would provide crucial flank protection against Japanese forces in the Dutch East Indies and support land-based operations for the upcoming invasion of Mindanao. Optimistically, in mid-June, MacArthur had tentatively scheduled the invasion of Mindanao for October 25. Nimitz, however, believed that MacArthur's hope of reaching Mindanao by October 25 was too optimistic. During conferences at Pearl Harbor in July, called at the suggestion of Nimitz to coordinate Southwest and Central Pacific plans for the Morotai, Palau, and Mindanao operations, Southwest Pacific planners learned that less amphibious craft and assault shipping could be made available to them than had previously been anticipated. Moreover, restudy of range and weather factors made it appear somewhat risky to depend upon the ability of Morotai-based aircraft to provide air support for Southwest Pacific forces on Mindanao after carriers had to leave the latter area and before airdromes could be developed there. To obtain adequate land-based air support for the Mindanao invasion force, MacArthur returned to discarded plans to seize air-base sites on the Talaud Islands, about equidistant from Morotai and Sarangani Bay, Mindanao, where the first landings in the Philippines were then scheduled to take place. The employment of amphibious means for the Talaud operation would delay preparations for Mindanao, as would the development of airdromes on the Talauds. Finally, to have the invasion of Mindanao take place much before the middle of November would involve a conflict in timing with anticipated employment of assault shipping and carrier support by Admiral Nimitz for the occupation of Yap and Ulithi in the western Carolines, an operation scheduled for the first week in October. MacArthur therefore revised his program to call for the invasion of Morotai on September 15, the Talauds on October 15, and Mindanao on November 15. As Allied carriers were engaged in the Palau operation, MacArthur needed a target within range of fighters and medium bombers stationed at Sansapor. Thus, Morotai Island was chosen for Operation Tradewind due to its perceived light defenses and ample space for airfield and light naval base facilities. General Krueger selected the 31st Division and the 126th Regiment, totaling approximately 28,000 troops under the overall command of General Hall's 11th Corps, for this operation. Admiral Barbey's Task Force 77, comprising 12 destroyers, 2 APAs, 5 APDs, 1 LSD, 39 LCIs, 12 LSTs, and 12 LCTs, along with a covering force led by Admiral Berkey and an escort carrier force under Rear-Admiral Thomas Sprague, facilitated the amphibious movement. Additionally, Vice-Admiral John McCain's fast carrier group provided support. Anticipating minimal resistance, the landings were planned near prospective airfield sites on the Doroeba Plain in southwest Morotai. General Hall's strategy involved the 155th and 167th Regiments landing on Red Beach on the southwestern coast to swiftly capture the abandoned Pitoe Drome and secure the new Pitoe Airfield site. Meanwhile, the 124th Regiment landed at White Beach, about 1500 yards to the south, to secure the Gila Peninsula and the Wama Airfield site. The reserve 126th Regiment was scheduled to land the following day, with its 1st Battalion initially supporting the 124th Regiment's operations at the beachhead. Both the Palau and Morotai operations were supported by a coordinated strategic air support program. Admiral Hoover's land-based aircraft were tasked with neutralizing Japanese airfields at various islands including Yap, Woleai, Truk, Ponape, Pagan, Bonin, and Marcus Islands. Concurrently, General Kenney's Allied Air Forces reinforced these efforts and targeted enemy air centers in Palau, Mindanao, western Dutch New Guinea, Halmahera, the Talaud Islands, the Moluccas, the Celebes, and the Arafura Sea islands. Additionally, Mitscher's fast carriers embarked on an ambitious campaign, launching strikes from the Bonin and Volcano Islands to the Palaus and Mindanao between late August and the start of the invasions.  This strike had a twofold objective: the temporary neutralization of Japanese airfields on those island groups and, more important, the creation of a diversion on the north preceding stronger attacks against targets in the Philippines and western Carolines. Carrier action in the latter area was to begin on 6 September, with strikes on the Palaus, Yap, and Ulithi. The bulk of the carrier forces was to leave the western Carolines on the afternoon of the 8th to take up positions off Mindanao. Japanese airfields on Mindanao presented difficult targets because they were scattered over that large island, but it was believed that the cluster of airfields and associated installations in the Davao area would provide profitable targets for carrier-based aircraft attacks. The Davao and Sarangani Bay areas, as well as Japanese shipping routes from Davao to Zamboanga and thence north toward Manila, were also expected to provide profitable targets. Strikes against airdromes and shipping in the Mindanao area were to be carried out on 9 and 10 September, while on the 10th and 11th part of the carrier force was to hit the Palaus and Yap-Ulithi again. Rear-Admiral Ralph Davison's carrier-launched aircraft struck Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima from August 31 to September 2. The Fast Carrier Task Force continued with strikes on Yap and the Palaus from September 6 to 8, and on Mindanao from September 9 to 10. Enemy air resistance was surprisingly weak throughout these operations, prompting Halsey to redirect plans for a follow-up attack on Mindanao to the Central Philippines. While the Japanese forces in the Philippines hastened to complete preparations against anticipated Allied invasion, enemy carrier-borne aircraft served sudden warning on September 9 that the date of this invasion was fast drawing near. In the first large-scale air operation by the Allies against the Philippines, an estimated 400 carrier planes staged a devastating ten-hour offensive against southern Mindanao, concentrating their attacks on Davao, Sarangani, Cagayan and Digos. Since Japanese air patrols had failed to discover the enemy task force, the attacks achieved complete surprise and inflicted widespread and severe damage to ground installations, airfields, anchorages, and lines of communication. Reconnaissance units of the 1st Air Fleet immediately flew off search missions, which revealed that the attacks originated from three enemy naval task groups boldly maneuvering in the waters southeast of Mindanao. As per the Sho-Go directives, however, the 1st Air Fleet withheld retaliatory action pending further developments. Ground and naval units in the Davao area were nevertheless ordered on the alert to meet the possible contingency that an invasion attempt would follow the air strikes, and the Japanese armed forces throughout southern Mindanao became tense with expectancy. A feeling of nervousness gripped the weak local forces at Davao and rapidly spread to the large Japanese civilian colony. A wave of wild rumors swept the city. On September 10, a second series of heavy enemy raids aggravated this state of alarm. The city and harbor were reduced to a shambles and communications paralyzed. Panic and civil disorder broke out.  Less than 48 hours after the termination of the raids on Mindanao, the enemy struck again; this time in the central Philippines. On the morning of 12 September, a navy radar picket station on Suluan Island, in Leyte Gulf, broadcast over the general air-warning net that a vast formation of enemy carrier planes was heading westward toward the Visayas. Since the Suluan Island lookout was only about twenty minutes' flying time from Cebu, the air forces there could not be alerted quickly enough to put up an effective defense. By 0920 the enemy planes were already swarming over the Cebu airfields, where the main fighter strength of the First Air Fleet was based following its transfer from Davao. Although the attacks extended over the entire Visayan area and later took in Tawitawi, in the Sulu Archipelago, the Cebu fields appeared to be the principal objective. In the three days over which this air offensive continued, the First Air Fleet suffered damage to 50 Zero fighters on Cebu alone, while in other areas 30 additional aircraft of all types were rendered non-operational. Flight personnel suffered numerous casualties, and training was disrupted. Heavy damage was also sustained by Army air units. The 13th Air Brigade, made up of Type I fighters, was so hard hit that it had to be ordered back to Japan for regrouping, while the 45th Fighter­bomber Regiment was reduced to half strength. In addition, 11 transports totalling 27,000 gross tons and 13 naval combat vessels were sent to the bottom of Cebu harbor.The unexpected weakness in enemy air defenses led Nimitz to reconsider bypassing Yap and Mindanao, instead focusing forces on an early invasion of Leyte. McCain's group continued with attacks on Zamboanga, the Talauds, and Menado en route to Morotai. Meanwhile, between September 1 and 14, Kenney's aircraft conducted heavy raids on Japanese air bases within range of Morotai, effectively isolating the island. Targeted locations included Halmahera, the northern Celebes, Ceram, western New Guinea, and Mindanao. After rehearsals and preparations were completed, Barbey's convoy departed Aitape on September 9. Two days later, they rendezvoused at Maffin Bay with the majority of General Persons' 31st Division. The entire convoy departed the area on September 12, joined the next day by the covering force and escort carriers. The voyage proceeded smoothly, and Barbey successfully reached Morotai on the morning of September 15. Meanwhile, McCain's carrier aircraft conducted a bombing and strafing mission over Japanese air bases in the Manado area, destroying 28 enemy aircraft. Kenney's bombers also struck Japanese air installations on Batjan Island, while Berkey's cruisers and destroyers shelled enemy positions along Galela Bay. Barbey's surface warships conducted a bombardment of the landing area. During the naval and air bombardment, assault ships moved into their assigned positions west of the landing beaches efficiently and without confusion. The initial waves formed quickly and landed the 155th and 167th Regiments on Red Beach at 08:30, followed by the 124th Regiment on White Beach one minute later. Encountering no opposition, the troops swiftly reorganized on shore and advanced toward their objectives inland. By 13:00, the 167th Regiment had secured Pitoe Drome, and by 15:00, Colonel Starr's 1st Battalion had secured Gila Peninsula. Other units also advanced inland, establishing the 2000-yard beachhead line. Although there were some minor skirmishes, the Japanese could not mount significant resistance against the overwhelming Allied force and retreated into Morotai's rugged interior. The day's action resulted in seven wounded among the 124th Regiment and the loss of twelve Japanese soldiers, with one captured. Beach conditions, however, proved unexpectedly poor, severely hindering the unloading efforts. Consequently, starting on September 16, all the LSTs, along with numerous LCTs and LCMs, had to be unloaded at Blue Beach, a favorable landing spot on Pitoe Bay's shores. Simultaneously, as the reserve 126th Regiment was disembarking, Persons resumed advancing inland against minimal opposition. Swiftly, they secured a perimeter around the Pitoe Drome area, spanning over 7000 yards wide and approximately 5000 yards deep. Following this, American patrols were dispatched to eliminate small Japanese groups, radar stations and observation posts were established on various offshore islands and Morotai's coastline, and efforts were made to expand the perimeter to the Sabatai River to accommodate additional bivouacs and supply installations.  Leaving Morotai behind, attention shifts to Burma to explore the aftermath of Operation U-Go. Following the decisive victories at Imphal-Kohima, General Slim opted to pursue retreating Japanese forces toward the Chindwin River, despite the need for rest among his weary British-Indian divisions. Consequently, the 23rd Division spearheaded the pursuit to Tamu, at the head of the Kabaw Valley, where Major-General Charles Fowkes' 11th East African Division took over in early August. Meanwhile, to the south, General Evans' 5th Division pressed toward Tiddim, encountering stubborn resistance from General Tanaka's 33rd Division. Slim's strategy aimed for both divisions to eliminate remaining Japanese forces west of the Chindwin and converge at Kalemyo. Subsequently, the Tiddim road would be abandoned as a supply route in favor of the Kabaw Valley and aerial resupply drops. As a result, the 31st Division, now led by Lieutenant-General Kawata Tsuchitaro, successfully reached Sittaung. Their mission was to cover the withdrawal of other units in the region. Meanwhile, the 33rd Division faced challenges as it conducted delaying actions along the Tiddim road, with the added threat of East African forces potentially cutting off their withdrawal route towards Yazagyo. Japanese delaying tactics were always the same, and the means of dealing with them was also always the same. A crater would be found beyond which the lead infantry would come under fire and would have to be filled or covered using a Valentine bridgelayer, while air strikes would break up the blocking position to allow tanks from 3rd Carabiniers forward to support them. To disrupt Tanaka's communications south of the road, an ad hoc light unit, the Lushai Brigade, was deployed. By mid-August, General Mutaguchi ordered his forces to commence withdrawal towards the Zibyu Range. The 15th and 31st Divisions were directed to cross the Chindwin River by August 25, despite shortages of small boats. At the beginning of the crossing operation, a serious setback was experienced. It had been planned to bring small boats upstream to the crossing area with supplies for the Army and to utilize the same boats to evacuate casualties and heavy weapons south to Kalewa. Because of the enemy air activity over the Chindwin River, it was impossible to bring the boats to the crossing points. As a result, approximately 3000 sick and wounded were forced to cross the river and continue to the rear on foot with increasingly heavy death losses. By August 31, they were expected to reach the eastern bank of the Chindwin, with the 15th Division consolidating along the Pinbon-Pinlebu line by the end of September and the 31st Division reaching Shwebo by mid-October. By the end of August, key command changes occurred following the setbacks of Operation U-Go. Lieutenant-General Katamura Shihachi replaced General Mutaguchi as commander of the 15th Army, while Lieutenant-General Kimura Heitaro took over from General Kawabe as commander of the Burma Area Army. Kimura Heitaro, noted for his strategic flexibility and acumen, subsequently directed the 33rd Army to secure a defensive line from Lashio to Mandalay, safeguarding the right flank of the 15th Army. The 15th Army, in turn, was tasked with holding the Irrawaddy River from Mandalay to Pakkoku, while the 28th Army was assigned to defend the Yenangyaung oilfields, the Arakan coast, and the Rangoon delta. Meanwhile, on September 12, the 33rd Division crossed the Manipur River and proceeded with their retreat towards the Kabaw valley. They left the 215th Regiment to guard the rear at Tonzang, while units of the 5th Division infiltrated the area between Tonzang and Kalemyo to disrupt Tanaka's withdrawal and mount significant attacks against the 215th. By September 20, the Japanese forces were forced back to Tiddim, where the 214th Regiment covered the retreat of the rest of the division. Simultaneously, the 26th King's African Rifles moved east from Tamu to Sittang, crossing the Chindwin River on September 8 to assess enemy strength across the river and prepare bridgeheads for a broader crossing. Encountering unexpectedly strong resistance, they were compelled to retreat back across the river. Under persistent pressure, the Japanese evacuated Tiddim on the night of October 6. Tanaka consolidated his division in the Kalemyo-Kalewa area by the end of October, while pursuing forces captured Fort White and Kennedy Peak. On October 10, the 4th King's African Rifles launched an assault on Leik Ridge, suffering significant casualties but ultimately securing the main hill twelve days later. Meanwhile, after withdrawing from Mogaung, the 53rd Division regrouped at Mawhun by September 10, where they successfully defended against enemy units until the end of the month. They then retreated towards Pinwe and came under the command of the 15th Army on October 5. Following the Quebec conference in September, a strategic overview of Burma emerged: the Combined Chiefs of Staff approved two plans. The first, codenamed Dracula, proposed an amphibious assault on Rangoon with a target date of March 15, 1945. The second plan, Capital, aimed at the conquest of north and central Burma, with General Slim suggesting an overland capture of Rangoon as part of the operation. Initially skeptical, the Americans reluctantly agreed to Dracula, contingent on ensuring that northern Burma received adequate resources. However, due to Allied setbacks at Arnhem and during the Battle of the Bulge, it became clear that reinforcements from the European theater could not be spared for the Rangoon offensive. Consequently, it was announced that the operation would need to be postponed until after the 1945 monsoon season. 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. After intense Allied operations in the Pacific, including the capture of the Marianas and Sansapor, attention turned to the Palaus and Halmahera. Japanese defenses were formidable, with significant troop concentrations and elaborate fortifications. Despite setbacks, Allied forces meticulously planned and executed operations, paving the way for further strategic advances in the region.

The Reserve Bank makes an official cash rate announcement today, Wednesday. We get the latest update on when things might change from Infometric's Brad Olsen. Dog owners are being urged to take control of their animals after the deaths of 8 Little Blue penguins, or Kororā, in Wellington. Plus, will the new social media app NoPlace survive?

We look at how soaring food and fuel prices are affecting the tiny island nation in the western Pacific Ocean.Like much of the world, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have led to supply chain issues, and rising costs.And with limited opportunities, young people are facing the question, should they stay or leave and chase careers elsewhere?Produced and presented by Frey Lindsay(Image: People gathered under the Japan-Palau Friendship bridge in Koror, Palau. Credit: Frey Lindsay/BBC)

Hear about travel to the country Palau as the Amateur Traveler talks to Randy Rohrer about his recent kayak and scuba safari to this tropical paradise.  Why should you go to Palau? Randy says, "I think people should go to Palau if you want to experience incredible diverse underwater marine life colorful corals, clear warm water. It's an unspoiled underwater paradise with beautiful sandy beaches, and it also has World War II history. When we were there, we saw colorful corals, fish of all species and sizes, jellyfish, turtles, sharks, squid, manta rays, dolphins, giant clams, and all kinds of exotic plants." Embarking on a kayak and snorkel safari in Palau in the Western Pacific, Randy Roar from Maryland shares his exhilarating experience, revealing why this remote archipelago is a paradise for adventure and nature lovers. Arrival and Stay in Koror Travelers typically fly into Koror, the bustling hub of Palau, via Hawaii and Guam. Randy suggests taking an extra day to acclimate and recover from jet lag upon arrival. In Koror, visitors can explore the Epperson Museum and the Palau Aquarium to gain insights into the local culture and marine biodiversity. ... https://amateurtraveler.com/travel-to-palau/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Raidījumā Diplomātiskās pusdienas stāsts par Palau Republiku. Tā atrodama Okeānijā, konkrēti Mikronēzijā. Šī Klusajā okeānā atrodamā valsts sastāv no apmēram 340 salām un saliņām. Un Palau šobrīd dzīvo nepilni 22 tūkstoši cilvēku. Respektīvi tikpat daudz cilvēku, cik Zolitūdē. Vienā pašā Purvciemā ir trīs reizes vairāk iedzīvotāju nekā visā Palau valstī. Un vienlaicīgi Palau nav mazākā valsts pasaulē. Tā pat nav mazāko valstu desmitniekā. Toties tās galvaspilsēta Ngerulmude gan ir rekordiste ar to, ka ir vismazāk apdzīvotā galvaspilsēta pasaulē. Tajā pat netiek uzskaitīti cilvēki, jo pirms dažiem gadiem, kad to izdarīja, sanāca apaļa nulle iedzīvotāju. Interesanti, ka tulkojumā no palau valodas Ngerulmude nozīmē “vieta, kur dzīvo fermentētas enģeļzivis”. Palau, starp citu, uzstāda vēl vienu politisko rekordu. Tā skaitās pasaulē visvairāk pārvaldītā vieta. Proti, valsts atrodas uz neliela arhipelāga, bet tā ir iedalīta sešpadsmit administratīvajos reģionos un katrai no šīm pašvaldībām ir savs parlaments un arī cilšu vecāko padomes. Ja pieskaita valsts līmeņa institūcijas tad skaitlis ar valsts amatpersonām krasi pieaug uz kopējo iedzīvotāju skaitu. Palau parlaments – Nacionālais Kongress sastāv no divām palātām, kurā ir pārstāvēti bezpartejiski deputāti. Senātā ir 13 cilvēki un Delegātu palātā ir 16. Bet Palau galvaspilsētas vidū ir atrodams cietums. Ne tikai tas ir vienīgais cietums valstī. Tas pats par sevi ir tūristu apskates objekts. Koror cietuma ieslodzītie cietuma veikaliņā tirgo pašu darinātus koka suvenīrus. Pirms dažiem gadiem cietumā par dažādiem noziegumiem sēdējā 79 cilvēki, no kuriem trīs bija sievietes. Tropiskajā Palau pamatiedzīvotāji ienāca vairāk nekā pirms divarpus tūkstošiem gadu no relatīvi netālu esošās Indonēzijas. Pirmatnējie Palau iedzīvotāji esot izveidojuši visnotaļ sarežģītas pārvaldības sistēmas, kā arī attīstījuši zvejniecības un lauksaimniecības prasmes. Pirmais eiropietis, kurš nonāca Palau, bija angļu kapteinis Henrijs Vilsons, kura kuģis cieta katastrofu 1783. gadā un viņš tika izmests uz salas vētras laikā. 19. gadsimta beigās salas kolonizēja spāņi, kuri pēc tam tās pārdeva vāciešiem. Palau kļuva par daļu no Vācijas Jaunās Gvinejas un vācieši aktīvi ekspluatēja vietējos iedzīvotājus un resursus gan fosfātu ieguvei, gan kokosriekstu plantācijās. Sākoties Pirmajam pasaules karam, salas vāciešiem atņēma japāņi, kas tās paturēja līdz pat 1944. gadam, kad tās atkaroja amerikāņi. Amerikāņi bieži sev arī pārmet, ka Palau salās mira disproporcionāli daudz karavīru, ja rēķina uz to, cik Palau ir relatīvi stratēģiski nenozīmīgas. No 1947. gada Palau ar ANO mandātu pārvaldīja ASV. Valsts ieguva neatkarību no Amerikas Savienotajām Valstīm tikai 1994. gadā, kad parakstīja vienošanos ar Vašingtonu par finansiālās un tehniskās palīdzības saņemšanu apmaiņā pret ASV militāro bāzu atrašanos Palau teritorijā. Tajā pašā gadā Palau arī tika uzņemta ANO. Palau ir viena no tām nedaudzajām pasaules valstīm, kurai nav pašai savas armijas. Toties 2022. gadā tā piekrita izvietot savā teritorijā papildus vēl 100 miljonus eiro vērtu, modernu gaisa aizsardzības radaru sistēmu, kas spēj redzēt tālāk par horizontu. Pašai Palau ir tikai apmēram 30 cilvēku neliels krasta apsardzības dienests. Atgriežoties atpakaļ pie pirmatnējiem cilvēkiem, kuri dzīvoja Palau, ir vērts pieminēt, ka sarežģītās pārvaldības sistēmas centrā bija sievietes. Proti, Palau faktiski pastāvēja matriarhāts. Vēl mūsdienās Palau sabiedrības un politiskās dzīves centrā ir matrilineāra sistēma. Sievietes ir lēmumu pieņēmējas sabiedrībā un mātes līnija prevalē mantojuma, laulību, bēru un citās civiltiesiskajās attiecībās. Talibanam Afganistānā Palau noteikti šķiet kā elle zemes virs;u. Turklāt lielākā daļa Palau iedzīvotāju ir kristieši. Vietējās izcelsmes Modek-n-gei reliģijai pieder vien pieci procenti iedzīvotāju. Palau klasificējās kā valsts ar augstu ienākumu līmeni un tā skaitās augsti attīstīta valsts. Neskatoties uz to, ka Latvijas IKP uz vienu iedzīvotāju pēc pirktspējas paritātes ir apmēram 2,5 reizes lielāks nekā Palau. Cilvēku procentuālais skaits, kuri dzīvo zem nabadzības sliekšņa līmeņa, abās valstīs ir ļoti līdzīgs – apmēram ceturtā daļa cilvēku. Šo sociālekonomisko rādītāju esam bieži pieminējuši raidījumos, bet, veidojot stāstu par Palau, sapratām, ka nekad neesam šo detalizētāk izskaidrojuši. Tāpēc palūdzām to skaidrot Vitautam Kuokštim, Viļņas Universitātes asociētajam profesoram.

One of the main advocates behind a proposal to restore the original Māori name to the Bay of Islands town of Russell is confident it has the support needed. Submissions to restore the name Kororāreka closed yesterday, and a result is due back later this year. Ashleigh McCaull reports.

Forest & Bird is taking the Department of Conservation to court over their treatment of Kororā penguins at Kennedy Point on Waiheke Island.   It argues the department shouldn't have issued authority for the Kennedy Point Marina Development Ltd to capture, handle and release the Kororā to make way for a marina.   Footage and photos captured at the construction site, as well as eyewitness accounts, show they've been disturbing the resident little penguins, which are classified as  an 'At Risk' and declining species. Forest and Bird chief executive Nicola Toki spoke to Kim Hill.    

Tangata Whenua on Auckland's Waiheke Island are furious developers at Kennedy Point Marina are allowed to relocate the little blue penguins living there. The Department of Conservation has granted two employees permission to move the kororā to safety, during construction on the breakwater where they nest.   It says waiting for the kororā to move poses a greater risk than handling them - a claim protesters are disputing. Protect Pūtiki and environmental group Mauri o te Moana spokesperson Bianca Ranson spoke to Susie Ferguson. 

School na ipdi erukanum...... Koror sense maari oru teacher erukanum --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/anime-psychoo/support

Chris è svizzero-italiano, vive in NZ da quindici anni e ci parla da Russell dove sta organizzando il primo Festival Italiano in questa una bellissima cittadina, a tre ore da Auckland. Ci parla del programma e delle proposte culinarie e culturali: ci sarà musica dal vivo, un mercatino con produttori specializzati in prodotti italiani, varie degustazioni, un quiz divertente su temi italiani, una competizione fantasia su“ come vestirti per sentirti il più italiano possibile” e anche un club della Vespa e un club di auto d’epoca italiane, che arriveranno da Auckland a fare il weekend a Russell. L’iniziativa è nata dal fatto che attualmente ci sono parecchi italiani che risiedo e lavorano nel turismo nella Bay of Islands, la bellissima regione attorno a Russell, Kerikeri, Paihia; quindi, un minifestival per aggregare ed estendere ai Kiwi l’atmosfera italiana. Russell è una cittadina con parecchia storia, infatti è stata la prima capitale della NZ quando si chiamava Kororāreka ed era popolata da balenieri, pirati e, a buona distanza, pionieri e missionari. Oggi Russell si presenta con una veste molto diversa e romantica, frequentato da una comunità internazionale di navigatori e appassionati delle possibilità nautiche che questa regione con 144 isole può offrire. Ondazzurra è in diretta ogni domenica alle 11.20 su 104.6 FM  

This story is about a young woman who turned into a Dugong. She and her mother lived in Kerdeu in Ngerielb, a hamlet in Koror and they were very poor; way back then in Palau it was very taboo for an unmarried woman to become pregnant or have a child out of wedlock but somehow the young woman fell pregnant. Her mother was so sad upon learning about her daughter's pregnancy because they were already very poor as it is, and so she reminded her daughter that she had to take very good care of her health and pregnancy because there would be no one to take care of them or help them if they ever got sick. So the young woman obeyed her mother's advice and had a healthy pregnancy and delivery; she gave birth to a baby girl. After she gave birth her mother warned her not to eat "keam" (Tahitian Chestnut) because it was not good for a woman who had just given birth as it causes bloating but "keam" was one of her favorites. Still, she obeyed her mother's advice until one day when her mother went out to the taro patches to get taro for their family and her daughter just could not contain her cravings anymore and so she figured that she would just eat one and her mother won't know about it. She took a "keam" and she cut it in half and as she started to eat it she was startled by her mother, and upon seeing her mother she immediately put her down he daughter and just walked out of the house leaving both her mother and her daughter. The mother then picked up the baby and started to follow her daughter trying to call her name and trying to get her to stop and go back home but the daughter just kept on going not stopping, and when she reached the dock she jumped straight into the water. Her mother stood at the dock cradling the baby and saying to her daughter, "My daughter, you never listened to what I said, and now you're leaving. Do you not have pity on us?" When the daughter surfaced she had turned into a Dugong and so the mother said her final words to her, " You won't listen to what I say and now you're leaving so now you will be bought for a dollar which will be a marriage payment to a wife's family." Way back then Palauans used to hunt Dugongs not only because they were good food but because their vertebrae were used to be made into a bracelet for the children of the royal family. So when you hunt a Dugong and talk about killing them in their face they would cry and shed tears and so Palauan back they believed that Dugongs were human once that is why they feel emotions and shed tears. The moral of the story is that we should always listen to our parents because they know what they're talking about, they have been in our shoes at some point in their lives. They remind and teach us because they care about us and they love us so they don't want us to get hurt or get in trouble. Most of the time when we want something so much we are blinded by our wants and desires that we don't realize that we could hurt ourselves as well as others. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adria680/support

There are two important historical dates in NZ, these are 1835 and 1840. With Captain Cook’s arrival in 1769 he put New Zealand firmly on the world map. This then started a chain of events that to this day have yet to be satisfactorily understood or resolved by the elected representatives of this country. King William the Fourth, 1765 to 1837 - the King of the British Empire, on learning that New Zealand  was possibly the last hidden land to be found and that it was the only country he knew of that did not have snakes, wanted to give it special status. In doing so he wanted to be the first Monarch to give a land that had been recently found its own independence and in doing so they would have his protection. This was a world first. No other Monarch had ever offered the indigenous people of any land their independent nationhood. That during 1835, thirty four Maori Chiefs in the North of New Zealand came together and with King William’s support, created a new flag and this was important, because the world of that era had certain Laws that were based around the ‘raising of flags.’ That if a flag was raised on a landmass - that (from an Imperialist viewpoint) signified that, this land was now under the control of the country raising the flag. With NZ’s presence now on seafarers charts, they began arriving in the early 1800’s as whalers, missionaries, traders for flax, wooden spars, as well as ex-convicts released from the penal colony of Australia, including adventurers from other nations. This brought about a calamitous impact on the resident Maori population who were here. Resulting in exposure to, alcohol, sex and disease, also dishonesty including firearms, and new technologies that basically devastated the tribal system that had been in place for centuries. This was a time of upheaval for Maori. Missionaries had also arrived to convert them to Christianity The French, Dutch, and the British all had an interest to colonise New Zealand. The race was on. These seafarers from the Northern hemisphere continued to arrive and began violating rights in unaccountable, uncontrollable ways including violence such as the raping of native woman as no jurisdiction existed over them to control their actions. NZ was becoming a lawless land. One such statement was that a particular port Kororāreka was called the “hellhole of the Pacific”. However, King William lV back in Great Britain, as the reigning Monarch wanted to control his subjects from criminal actions in a land where he had no jurisdiction at the time. This resulted in King William lV commissioning James Busby, a British resident in New Zealand to draw up a Declaration of Independence, so that the native resident population could establish their own laws and govern themselves and this land independently. He also had learned that NZ had no snakes and this impressed upon him that this was a special country. He gave the native chiefs three flag designs to choose from to initiate their ‘nation hood’ - and the Maori Chiefs chose their National flag. Called the United Tribes Flag. The reason for the ‘Flag’ was that even in those days, International Law at the time stated that a country had to have ‘a flag’ to identify a Nation. The Declaration of Independence was duly signed by up to 34 Maori chiefs on the 28th October 1835, at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands and a ‘new independent nation was born’ upon the raising of the chiefs chosen, King William lV royally proclaimed flag. There are differing versions of this. (In March 1834, HMS Alligator, was on hand (and fired the 13-gun salute) at the first hoisting of the first national flag of New Zealand, at Waitangi, Bay of Islands. This flag became known as the United Tribes Flag). * The only flag of this land that has ever been ‘royally proclaimed.’ The new independent nations flag (which determines the jurisdiction of the land ) the Waka putunga Nu Terreni had a black primbrae around the saint George cross in the left top quadrant, signifying the British monarchs protection on the land, (a white primbrae, signifying the British monarchs protection upon the seas, admiralty law.) This founding document,(the D.O.I) is the only document which has an associated flag that has never been lowered to change jurisdiction The birth of our nation of New Zealand is 28th of October 1835. Therefore the contention is that the Treaty of Waitangi ( TOW ) is not the founding document. However, King William IV died in 1837 and thus was not alive to pursue the ideal of seeing NZ retain its independence as per the signing of 1835. The Con Dan in his research contends that Colonial house which is the East India Company, and the New South Wales Government of the time was/is a franchise. That it is an extension of the ‘City of London’ # and they wanted to colonise New Zealand in order to sell land to migrants. Captain Hobson with his many cannoned ship, was commissioned to sail to New Zealand, to have a formal Treaty signed. Which he duly carried out on the 6th of February 1840. For what reason did the Maori sign a treaty even though they already had independence? Evidently this way, the British Crown# could establish colonial authority over an independent nation. Yet Maori signed the Treaty. Note that Colonial House knew they could not lower the true jurisdictional Flag as it was the Kings ‘royally proclaimed flag.’ So a counterfeit flag was created that was similar to the DOI flag, but had 5 pointed stars not eight pointed, as in the blueprint of the chosen royally proclaimed flag,( the DOI) the Declaration of Independence. The ‘counterfeit flag’ was lowered and the Union Jack was raised on the 6th February, 1840 that is now known as Waitangi Day. Dan states it may as well have been a flag of Donald Duck, (because it wasn’t the United Tribes Flag). He asks, what ‘lawful basis’ can the lowering of a counterfeit flag end the jurisdiction of the ‘founding flag?’ This is the reason for the Petition for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the flag referendum. (listen to the interview). New Zealand is still supposed to be an ‘Independent’ country, going back to the signing of that 1835 document. Dan maintains that ‘We’ were, and right up until this moment are, under the lawful jurisdiction of the Declaration of Independence. We never legally lost it. The question then is, was the 1840 Waitangi Treaty jurisdiction lawfully executed ? If not then, then they didn’t and never have had any jurisdictional right or legal entitlement over this land. Dan* encourages you all to do your own research and when you listen to the interview - it gives cause for more questioning and research - however he does mention that there are some recent law cases here in NZ that have completely validated his statement - that these court cases will become more common knowledge over the coming weeks and months. Watch this space, but first, listen to this whole interview.   Dr Manuka Henare describes the events around 1835 and on to 1840. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzpUfKu-7PI&feature=emb_logo  https://www.maorirangersecuritydivision.com/                                                 **** Other references in this interview include two well known Maori spiritual leaders in 1870 and 1916 who when wanting to practice living together in a very large tribal family were arrested by the NZ authorities for wishing to live peacefully on the land of their birth. Te Whiti-o-Rongomai III and his life and peaceful stand at Parihaka in Taranaki https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2t34/te-whiti-o-rongomai-iii-erueti https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Whiti_o_Rongomai Rua Kenana Hepetipa in Tūhoe Country, Te Urewera National Park. https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3r32/rua-kenana-hepetipa  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rua_Kenana_Hepetipa    Next Week’s Interview Is going to be a repeat, due to a 2nd Covid Lockdown, preventing me from travelling to the radio station. Am planning on doing them from home in the near future.

Spencer McIntyre is a Kororā/Little Penguin scientist and seabird ecologist. In this episode we talk about all things Kororā conservation.

Hello Again, Listener Feedback Both Bill and Enzo sent us their picks for this week along with some observations on how the show is shaping up. Bill's pick last week was particularly astute in that he accurately predicted the fall of the mighty Stephenie. Enzo's feedback said to watch for Greg to be voted off soon. He also highlighted what appeared to be an overt, extreme manipulation by Jeff Probst of Janu last week in Tribal Council. Several of the TV journalists agreed with Enzo and were quite vocal in calling foul on Probst. It's getting down to the wire. There will only be three more shows before this season is done. What do you think we should focus on when Survivor's over? Who's your pick for the next person to get voted off the island? To leave an audio comment, call 206-350-JASS(5277). Or you can always add a text comment to this page by clicking the comments link or send us an email at: joannandstacyshow@gmail.com. Show Notes 00:00 Date for iPod Shuffle Users 00:04 Intro Music 00:27 Episode 11 Introductions 00:48 What Should We Do After Survivor? 01:36 Listener Feedback from Bill 03:42 Listener Feedback from Enzo 07:50 Tom on Damage Control 08:29 Women Are Always Stirring Things Up 10:15 Don't Hate Me Because I'm a Winner 11:19 Reward Challenge 14:10 What Happened to Fiery Caryn? 15:53 Greg's Goofy Plans 17:17 Strategy Assessments 18:10 Sucker for Misdirection 19:10 Immunity Challenge 21:02 What if Ian Gave the Immunity Necklace to... 22:36 Why Did Caryn Turn TattleTale? 23:59 Next Week on Survivor 25:10 What Other Strategies Are There? 25:55 Celebrate Super Stephenie 27:40 Predictions for Next Week 31:58 Requesting Listener Picks 32:00 Outro Music Here's our picks for next week. Jo Ann thinks that Caryn will be next and follow the order that Tom called out this week with her as number six. I think we'll finally see a puzzle challenge for immunity next week which means Tom will not win it. Since it's all Koror now, Greg and Jen will finally be able to execute their plan to start eliminating the stronger players. Contact Info: Voicemail: 206-350-JASS(5277) Email: joannandstacyshow@gmail.com Enjoy, Jo Ann and Stacy

Greetings Survivor Fans! It's Thursday night and time for our our fifth show. First, we're both thrilled that Ulong finally did something as a team and gave Kim the boot! How do lazy people like that get cast to be on the show? I guess she fooled quite a few people along the way and really knew how to say just the right things to be selected. I bet she put more effort into getting chosen for the show than she did while she was there on the island. We came across a really interesting Survivor site this past week that we wanted to share with you. If you've ever thought you might want to be a contestant on the show you'll want to check it out. It's called Pygmy Island. The tag line is, "Out Write, Out Tape, Out Cast". It's dedicated to helping you prepare the best audition tape and interview to get you on the show. People who have applied for the show share their experiences. There was one really detailed account that we both enjoyed reading that described the trials and tribulations of a woman that almost made it to the final cut. It was very insightful and you'll enjoy it if you like behind the scenes information or just want some suggestions for when it's time to apply for season 12. :) We know Ulong is adrift as a team now with little hope of recovering. But it was interesting to get a little more insight into how Koror is shaping up this week too. Sounds like the lines are being drawn. The majority is Tom, Ian, Katie, Greg, and Jen on one side. The Koror minority is Coby, Caryn, Janu, and Willard. Unfortunately, it's not clear at this point that they'll ever be tested. I think Ulong now holds the record for a team with the most consecutive losses in any season of the show. From the previews for next week, it looks like things won't be getting any better for them either. Here's our picks for who'll go next. If it's Ulong, then we're going to say that James will go next. He really annoyed the ladies this week and they won't forget it. If a miracle happens and Koror ends up at tribal council, then we think it will be Caryn instead of Willard now. She's proven herself to be equally weak and she's definitely a lot more annoying. Who do you think would have won in an island sumo match between Janu and Angie, or how about a battle of weaklings with Kim vs. Caryn? Who's your pick for the next to leave, and who's going to win it all? The quickest and easiest way to participate is our new voicemail number. Leave us a message at 206-350-JASS(5277). Or you can always add a comment to this show or send us an email at: joannandstacyshow@gmail.com. Enjoy, Jo Ann and Stacy

Hello Survivor Fans! We're back again with our fourth show focusing on episode 3 of Survivor Palau. This was a classic episode in that one of the characters that we both wanted to get the boot survived, and a strong but injured player left the game too early. That appears to happen all too often in this game. There was a small improvement in the editing of the show this week thanks to a short reward challenge. We actually get to hear Ibrehem talk this time. It was nice to see a few more interactions back in camp. Did anyone else think there was a chance that Tom or Ian could kill a shark with a sharp stick? :) Speaking of Koror, there's some obvious problems brewing there between Cayrn and Katie, but they managed to avoid having to thin the tribe again due to their strong overall teamwork. I bet they will not have any problems deciding who leaves if they ever do end up at tribal council. Did anyone else think that was a particularly crappy reward for this week's reward challenge? How is sewing gear and some materials going to get you excited in those conditions. How about some food or materials to improve camp like a tarp? That looked more like a desperation reward. As in, "if we don't get them clothes soon, they're all going to end up naked". :) If you are not aware of it, CBS has a nice additional show that airs on the Internet on Fridays called Survivor Live. They interview the most recently ejected contestant and get to ask some more in depth questions. You can call in and ask questions too if you're one of the lucky ones that gets through. Occasionaly, you get some good background stories that explain why the previous episode was edited strangely or just some extra details that they can't cover in the 1 hour show. If you're a fan of the show, you'll probably enjoy Survivor Live too. Here's our picks for who'll go next. If it's Ulong, then we're going with the safe bet and say that Kim will go next. She adds no value. Maybe they'll actually come together as a team and get rid of her. If there's an upset and Koror ends up at tribal council, then we think it will be Willard. Who's your pick for the next to leave? Do you like Palau so far? How does it compare to previous seasons? Leave us a comment or shoot us an email at: joannandstacyshow@gmail.com. Enjoy, Jo Ann and Stacy