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Last time we spoke about the ongoing operations around Finschhafen. The Japanese had technically lost Finschhafen in a rather quick fashion when the allies landed, but they had not given it up. General Katagiri was preparing a massive counter offensive against the allies while a large defensive effort was made at Sattelberg. Meanwhile the Australians and Americans had underestimated what it would take to secure the region and required time to reinforce themselves. Some ground was still gained and much patrolling was done, but the real battle for Finschhafen was just about to be let loose. We also spoke about the terrible situation in Bengal where a man made famine was not only hurting the people of Bengal but also bolstering the Free India Movement, led by Subhas Chandra Bose. Today we are going to continue these stories and more! This episode is the defense of Finschhafen  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.    Episode 100, oh my god how time flies by! Just wanted to say a huge thanks from myself and KNG for continuing to listen to me ramble on, you guys are awesome. We are going back to Finschhafen, which was described by Australian Historian Garth Pratten "to be one of the largest bases in the Southwest Pacific Area". Its certainly a true statement, Finschhafen would act as an enormous staging camp with a divisional capacity, a wharf for LSTs, several airfields and fuel dumps. General Wootten's 9th division had finally arrived to help bolster Brigadier Windeyer's 20th Brigade, just in time to meet the increasing Japanese attacks. Simultaneously General Katagiri managed to bring the bulk of his 20th division to Sattelberg and was now ready to unleash his strong counteroffensive. Katagiri's officials orders read "After dusk on X Oct, the main strength of 79th Infantry Regiment will attack the enemy in Arndt Point area from the north side. The assault boat Butai will penetrate through the north coast of Arndt Point on the night of X-day. Instructions to this "Boat Penetration Tai" were that "ammunition dumps, artillery positions, tanks, enemy H.Q., moored boats, barracks, etc. should be selected as objectives". "X-day," will be decided on X-minus-1-day at 2200 hrs and a fire will be seen for 20 minutes on the Sattelberg heights. When the fire is seen answer back at a suitable spot (by fires)."  Katagiri's plan was for the Yamada detachment to perform a surprise attack against Jivevaneng while the 79th regiment led by Colonel Hayashida Kaneki would attack in the direction of Katika with three companies of the 2nd battalion and another company of the 3rd battalion kept in reserve, while the rest attacked Scarlet beach in the northern part of Arndt Point. Additionally the 2nd battalion, 26th field artillery regiment and two companies of the 1st battalion, 79th regiment would perform a diversionary attack north of the Song river against Bonga, and the 10th company of the 79th regiment would join a detachment of engineers with explosive and demolition charges to make a seaborne attack against Scarlet Beach.  This unit was called the "Boat Penetration Force", under Lieutenant Sugino, the commander of 10 Company. The counteroffensive was set to kick off on October 16th with the signal being a large fire lit at sattelberg. Now Wootten was aware there was something big coming, but he was unsure the direction of the offensive. Australian intelligence believed the enemy would counterattack towards Finschhafen airfield, Langemak bay or perhaps both. So Windeyer was ordered to coordinate the defense of Langemak Bay while Brigadier Evans would command the defenses of scarlet beach. On October 15th, a patrol of the 2/28th managed to capture a Japanese officer's satchel in the wareo-Gusika area, containing a copy of Katagiri's operation order for the offensive. The document was readily translated and reported back to Wootten. The Australian eyes were thus all turned west towards Sattelberg. Wootten instructed everyone "All units whose location permits will establish lookouts to report immediately… the lighting of any fires at night on Sattelberg heights and any answering fires.” Wotten believed that October 16th had to be X day and wondered why there was no sign yet of the diversion attack from the north. Wootten reaffirmed his orders to Evans to hold the site at Wareo at all costs as he believed the enemy would be advancing through there. Unbeknownst to Wootten, the bulk of the 79th regiment had already begun infiltrating the Katika track and the Yamada detachment were in position to hit Jivevaneng. Just before dawn on the 16th, the Japanese counteroffensive kicked off, as 3 companies of the 3rd battalion, 80th regiment launched their attack against the 2/17th battalions positions. The 2/17th were taken completely by surprise as many Japanese had crawled within 20 yards of their battalions HQ sitting on the eastern edge of Jivevaneng. Most of the attacks wre beaten back by components of Major Maclarns HQ company as well as the battalion HQ staff. For 2 hours after 7:30am the main track and positions occupied by a platoon of machine gunners and one mortar crew were subjected to sever shelling from a 70mm and 75 mm gun. The day would see 4 major attacks against the defensive positions, but all would be repulsed. At 3:15pm the battalion HQ was heavily damaged by mortar fire and grenades from cup dischargers. They suffered 19 casualties including 5 deaths. Yamada had also sent a small decoy unit of 150 men who raised cooking smoke in front of Kumawa trying to ruse the enemy over and prevent reinforcements going to Jivevaneng. Meanwhile the 79th regiment infiltrated the widely dispersed companies of the 2/3rd Pioneer battalion and the 155 man Boat Penetration force of Lt Sugino departed Nambariwa at dusk in four barges, successfully repulsing the interference of enemy PT boats on the way. General Adachu wrote of these actions in great detail  "The above units, having received orders to prepare to attack the enemy's rear by boat in connection with the division's operations to annihilate the force which has landed north of Finschhafen, undertook intensive training for about 20 days under command of company commander 1st-Lieutenant Sugino at Nambariwa base. The men all awaited the appointed day firm in their belief of certain victory. On 16th October 1943, at the time of the attack by the division's main strength to annihilate the enemy north of Katika, the unit received orders to penetrate the shore south of the mouth of the Song River. After drinking the sake graciously presented to the divisional commander by the Emperor, the unit vowed anew its determination to do or die and departed from the base boldly at dusk on the same day. Repulsing the interference of enemy PT boats on the way, the unit arrived at the designated point at 0230 hours on the 17th.” As night time came, so did torrential rain. The Australians anxiously watched sattelberg for the signal fire to emerge. It seemed impossible for a large fire to be lit with such rain, but a company of the 22nd battalion over at Logaweng reported seeing a large fire emerge on Sattelberg's crest at around 8:30pm. Unfortunately this report failed to reach the divisional HQ. None the less the Australians expected a seaborne attack at any minute. At 3:15 am on October 17th a heavy Japanese bombing raid hit Heldsbach and Arndt point. 66 bombs were dropped over the course of two hours, producing little damage and few casualties. At 3:55am Australian coastwatcher Captain D. C Siekmann at Gusika reported seeing 4 Japanese barges heading south. Nearly an hour later another 3 barges hiding in rain squalls approached Scarlet beach. Evans prepared his 2/43rd and 2/28th battalions for battle. At 4:10am the barges were approaching the north end of Scarlet Beach as companies A and D of the 2/28th, Captain Harris's 10th light anti-aircraft battery, a detachment of the 2/28th anti-tank platoon and a detachment of the 532nd EBSR were sitting on Bofor guns, two pounders, 37mm and Browning .50 caliber waiting for them. When the barge were 50 yards from the shore the Bofors were the first to light them up followed by the rest. However the Bofors were aimed to high to effectively fire on the barges allowing 2 barges to hit the beach. The 37mm, small arms and .50 Brownings fired upon the Sugino's raiders. Meanwhile Private Nahan Van Noy withheld two flamethrower units to wait for the enemy to approach. The Japanese came surging out of their barges tossing grenades and as they closed in, Van Noys flamethrowers jumped up and fired upon them. The flamethrowers stopped the Japanese charge in its tracks as the Brownings cut them to pieces. Van Noy's legs were nearly blown off by multiple grenade hits. Sugino's raiders were pinned downed in the mayhem but they continued to lob grenades in the cover of darkness. The grenade onslaught destroyed 3 anti aircraft guns, 4 fields guns, two ammunition deports, two machine guns and two pom-pom automatic cannons and numerous small arms. As light began to emerge the Japanese were becoming more and more exposed so Sugino ordered the men to crawl north along the split across the Song. 40 Japanese dead littered the beaches out of an estimated 100 who landed. 60 managed to escape north, but 24 of them would be killed by hunters of the 2/43rd battalion later. The raiders had not been able to disable the allied guns, but much akin to how pilots exaggerate their kills, so to did the raiders. General Adachi wrote in his report  “Defying fierce artillery crossfire, the troops landed from the boats immediately. Taking up positions indicated beforehand the three platoons advanced in columns in different directions. The infantry and engineers advanced as one body creeping through the jungle. They annihilated the panic-stricken enemy everywhere, and achieved glorious and distinguished success. They killed more than 430 of the enemy, destroyed seven AA guns, five machine-cannons and MG's and five ammunition and supply dumps. Moreover they blew up the enemy headquarters and bivouac tents, thus destroying the center of command [these were in fact the tents of the casualty clearing station]. Raiding the area at will and with raging fury, they surprised and overwhelmed the enemy. By disrupting his command organization they established the foundation for the victory of the division's main strength. With the company commander as the nucleus, the entire group put forth a united effort and demonstrated the unique and peerless spiritual superiority of the Imperial Army… All those who fell severely wounded committed suicide by using hand grenades, and, of the total of 186 men, all except 58 became guardian spirits of their country.”   By the late morning, the Japanese had assembled around one mile west of Katika just behind the three Pioneer battalions, finally unleashing their attack directed at Lt Colonel Alfred Gallasch's HQ. The Australians fought like lions, repelling 3 consecutive attacks before the enemy managed to capture a steep hill overlooking their entire position by nightfall. In the end the Pioneers HQ laden with the bulk of reserve ammunition and rations had to withdraw back towards Katika proper, leaving its dispersed companies behind enemy lines without a secure supply route. But Gallasch's men's determined efforts had gained valuable time for Brigadier Evans to redispose his forces and for General Morshead to call in the urgent movement of the 26th brigade to Finschhafen. Evans was forced to abandon the Bonga area so he could reinforce the Song river mouths area. Meanwhile Admiral barbey provided 14 LCI's and 6 LST's to carry the urgent reinforcements. Colonel Norman's 2/28th were ordered to recapture the Pioneer HQ position in order to re-establish communications and a supply route to the now isolated companies.  The next morning, the Australians prepared their counterattack, but they were met with an attack against Katika and around the Siki creek. The Australians managed to repel the initial assaults thanks to artillery of the 2/12th regiment which Katagiri had no answer for as the Sugino raiders were supposed to have taken them out. However the Japanese soon gained momentum as Evans tried to strengthen Scarlet Beachs defenses by arranged a semicircle of infantry companies between the Song and Siki. By midday an Australian platoon led by Lt Wedgewood gained a position north of the Katika track who reported killing 33 Japanese and suffering 11 casualties in the process. Norman ordered Wedgewood to get his men out of there, but the platoon commander asked permission hold the position which he thought was critical. It seems Wedgewood was correct in his assessment, as his platoons little position on the track caused Hayashida to pause his attack. Meanwhile Katagiri launched his diversionary attack north of the Song at 3:30pm. This effectively held up the 2/43rd battalion over at North Hill. Simultaneously Hayashia ordered some troops to advance south of Siki Creek to try and outflank the 2/28th's position and they remarkably made it all the way to Siki Cove doing so. This breakthrough threatened the entire Australian defensive position, effectively creating a wedge between the 24th and 20th brigades. Wootten ordered Evans to hold his lines at all cost, including at North Hill and between Scarlet beach to Siki Creek. The Japanese now threaten Scarlet beach from both the west and south, forcing Evans to order a withdrawal of the 2/28th from Katika. It was a controversial decision that would anger Wootten. Norman bitterly pulled out of his dominating position at Katika and likewise the gallant Wedgewood platoon were forced to depart their isolated forward position to maintain a tighter defensive perimeter around scarlet beach. Wootten then ordered half of the 2/13th to defend Heldsbach plantation and protect the supply area at Launch Jetty. To make sure to contain the threat, Wootten placed this unit directly under Windeyer and ordered him to move into the south bank of the Siki. Hayashida's men found Katika abandoned by dusk and proceeded south of it to hit Heldsbach and then Finschhafen. Yet just in the nick of time, Windeyeres troops arrived to prevent the 79th regiment from crossing the creek during the night. Meanwhile the 80th regiment continued their assault against Jivevaneng. The assault was that of a static fight along the Sattelberg road and Kumawa track. Some infantrymen who fought there wrote this in their diaries "I eat potatoes and live in a hole, and cannot speak in a loud voice. I live the life of a mud rat or some similar creature.” Another diary read “What shall I eat to live? What has happened to the general attack… the enemy patrol is always wandering around day and night." A third diary read "Heard that [79th Regiment] has forced the enemy in the sector of Arndt Point to retreat. This is the first good news I have heard since I left for the front." The 2/17th were completely surrounded, the 80th regiment had effectively raised a siege of Jivevaneng. On the 18th the 2/17th's diarist wrote this "this morning revealed that the enemy had cut the main Sattelberg Road to our east and was sitting astride the track". Japanese sniper rounds, mortars and grenades from cup discharges reigned hell upon the trapped defenders. With the enemy advancing along the Sattelberg road, Windeyer ordered the isolated Pioneer companies to hold the road in front of Zag. With so many allied units isolated behind enemy lines, emergency air drops of ammunition were flown by pilots of the No. 4 Squadron. On October 19th after repelling an enemy attack against Scarlet Beach, Colonel Norman moved in to hit back at Katika surprising the Japanese. aT 3:50pm Coppocks company of the 2/28th followed by two platoons charged Katika under artillery support. The Japanese defender were taken by complete surprise when the Australians hit them from the north, so quickly after losing the position. The battalion diaristwrote "Enemy… appear slightly peeved and evidently had not appreciated the possibility of our reoccupation of these positions.” The Japanese bitterly gave up the vital area and this was couple with a sudden unexpected Australian presence south of Siki. Hayashia in response had to reorganise his units. By nightfall Brigadier Whitehead's 26th brigade reinforce with a tank squadron landed at Langemak Bay by midnight thanks to admiral barbey. The next morning, Norman ordered a company to dislodge the Japanese at Siki cove. At 8:38 am on the 20th, two platoons charged the cove and were met with japanese fire from a razorback to the south. By 9:26am the platoons became pinned down. Lt Wedgewoods platoon attempted an encirclement maneuver but was also pinned down. The Australians took too many casualties forcing Norman to withdraw them. Although the assault on Siki cove was unsuccessful, the Japanese machine gun positions were now located, so at 2:30pm some Vickers were placed forward to hit the cove. The 2/28th diaries wrote "This caused considerable retaliation by the enemy, and terrific fire-fight ensued causing mild panic amongst beach defense personnel who thought enemy were breaking through." Eventually the Japanese machine-guns were silenced, mainly by 3-inch mortar fire. Throughout the rest of the day the Australians repulsed a number of attacks on Katika and the Sattelberg road. After days of resisting tooth and nail, the isolated Pioneer companies along the Katika Track were forced to pull back towards the beach. At 9:15am a Boomerang dropped a message on the Pioneers stating "You will rejoin main body North Hill, Scarlet Beach or Zag. Suggest route crossing Song River moving along it to North Hill." Nearly an hour later another plan dropped 3 canister of ammunition, though the men had hoped for rations. The men buried their surplus ammunition and began marching single file north. The Pioneers had borne the brunt of the main attack, and their mere presence had caused concern for the advancing enemy. The Japanese counter attack halted just when Wootten received his 3rd brigade. He therefor believed the time was ripe to steal the initiative and issued orders to Whitehead and Evans to drive the enemy from Siki Creek, while the entire 2/13th would advance up the Sattelberg road to support the 2/17th. On October 21st, Hayashida's battered forces prepared to abandon Siki cove retreating westwards. The 79th regiment had sustained huge losses, the men were exhausted, food was running low leaving many to live on a few potatoes. On the 22nd, reports came in that the Japanese could be seen withdrawing, prompting Norman to push further west of Katika while one of his other companies hit Siki Cove. During the afternoon, the Japanese launched a surprising counter attack against Katika, but were repulsed. Despite fighting them off, the Australians would be unable to advance further for the day. Katagiri then decided to reinforce Hayashia with two companies of the 1st battalion, 79th regiment trying to break the allies hold over Katika. On October 23rd, Evans men finally got some breathing space so they could reorganise the forces. The 2/43rd were ordered to hold the area from the coast through north Hill to the Song river while the 2/28th would hold the area from the Song going south 1000 yards and the 2/32nd would hold the Katika and Siki areas At this point the 79th regiment had suffered so many losses, Katagiri began to seriously consider calling off the counteroffensive. On the Katika front, the Australians reported numerous piles of Japanese dead, the 2/28th estimated 308 corpses were on the north side of the track alone. Hayashida continued his resolve and ordered attacks during the night, but none held any significant success. Morshead preparing to bring the 4th brigade over to Finschhafen and the American 808th engineer battalion would also land at Langemak bay. A constant stream of American units, vehicles and stores began to pour unto Dreger Harbour to construct new airfields. On the 24th, the Japanese would launch their last attacks west of Katika. While the Australians continue their advance. Wootten and Morshead visited the 24th brigade HQ and began lambasting Evans for his decision to abandon Katika. Evans was sure had had done the right thing pulling back to the perimeter around Scarlet Beach, but Wootten and Morsehead felt he had sacrifice vital ground for no reason. They argued the enemy had concentrated most of its attack on a continuous line which did not include Katika. Evans had neglected to keep up an adequate reserve, which could have been used to punch any Japanese force breaking through around Scarlet Beach. In the end it was Woottens prerogative as divisional commander to determine tactical objects and Evans duty to conform. It was not the first time Evans used his own judgement. For this Evans would be sacked by November 1st and replaced by Brigadier Selwyn Porter. Finally on October 25th, Katagiri ordered his battered men to concentrate at Sattelberg and reorganise for future counter offensive. For the next three days, the 24th and 26th brigades pushed forward their defensive perimeters, giving a depth of over 1200 yard inland from Scarlet beach and Katika. The Sattelberg road situation remained unchanged, with each side exerting pressure, but unable to shift the other. Katagiri's counteroffensive had failed. The Australians estimated 679 Japanese had died, with many more killed by artillery and mortar fire. Wootten's staff estimated the overall casualties for the Japanese to be around 1500. The Japanese would officially report 422 killed, 662 wounded. For the Australians they had 228 casualties of which 49 were dead. On October 28th, Wootten received the 4th brigade at Finschhafen and prepared a offensive against Sattelberg and Wareo yet again. This time Windeyers forces would regain full control over the Sattelberg road up to Jiveveaneng. The 2/13th advanced to Coconut Grove by October 29th in an effort to support the 2/17th as they attacked east of Jivevaneng. For the next few days the Australians pressed upon Jivevaneng with a series of assaults, but Yamada's men held on tenaciously. By the end of the month, the 2/17th were suffering from sniping attacks, sickness and a precarious supply line. The battalions diarist wrote this “The battalion at present is rather uncomfortable owing to the almost incessant rain over the past 48 hours. This afternoon mist obscured the whole area and seriously hampered vision. Everyone presents rather sorry spectacle as we are now reduced to one set of clothing. A relief will be welcome when it arrives. The main Sattelberg Road has been cut now for 13 days but it is hoped that this situation will be rectified in the very near future.” On November 1st, the 2/17th and 2/13th resumed their attacks against the Japanese pocket, but were repelled each time suffering terrible casualties. On November 2nd, pandemonium broke out when the 2/13th fired all of their weapons for 15 minutes in a grand diversionary demonstration as the 2/17th successfully launched an attack taking a position north of the road, around 150 yards from the 2/13th. The enemy was now firmly wedged between them.  Also on November 2nd, it was expected the 20th and 26th brigades plus their tank squadron would relieve them. Wootten ordered WIndeyere to reopen the Sattelberg road so another fierce attack could occur. Just as this was about to happen, the Japanese were preparing to evacuate their pocket. Finally on November 3rd, after abandoning their positions, the road was opened and the vanguard of the 26th began to arrive and Windeyers battered men began to pull back. Meanwhile Whitehead assembled his forces along the Sattelberg road preparing for the new offensive. Wootten's intention was for the 26th brigade to capture the high ground of Sattelberg-Palanko and to subsequently advance to the Gusika-Wareo line. He had 18 tanks to toss up the Sattelberg road and he stressed to all his men to conceal them until the attack occurred. He also sent advance patrols who discovered a number of the enemy had posts west of Jivevaneng, such as a prominent feature called Steeple Tree Hill. Brigadier Porter's 24th brigade patrols would also find Japanese defending Bonga and Pino Hill. General Adachi visited the frontlines in late October where he found most of Katagiri's units had been reduced to below half strength and the division was suffering from supply difficulties. Despite this, Katagiri was confident his men could pull through and planned to gradually annihilate the enemy via a series of smaller limited attacks. Thus the 80th regiment would secure Sattelberg heights and the 79th would secure Nongora just in front of Wareo. Adachi also visited Kirai where the 51st division had just arrived. There he ordered Nakano to deploy his forces along the coast between Madang and Sio. The Japanese were going to make the road to sattelberg a road to hell. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Australian and Americans managed to thwart General Katagiri's large counteroffensive against Finschhafen. It was some brutal fighting that greatly hurt the Japanese, now they were again on the defensive and the road to sattelberg would soon be covered in more blood.   

Last time we spoke about the end to the battle over Vella Lavella, the continued offensive against Finschhafen and some special operations. The Naval battle of Vella Lavella saw the last fight over the island and another successful evacuation. Over on New Guinea the fight for the Finschhafen area continued to rage on, but ultimately was crashing to a bit of a halt for the allies as they moved cautiously and awaited further reinforcements before taking the the fight to places like sattelberg. Then we spoke about some special operations to explode mines against enemy ships at Singapore harbor, a new network of coastwatchers 2.0 and the Japanese finally cracking down on poor little Portuguese held Macau. Some ships were blown up, some unfortunate souls were captured in Aitape and the Japanese basically made Macau a protectorate.  This episode is on to Shaggy Ridge Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.    The Japanese had once entered the Southwest Pacific as conquerors, rapidly grabbed forward bases in places like New Britain, New Guinea and the Southern Solomon Islands. Yet now in 1943, they were being pushed back, their resources were shrinking and their troops morale was crashing. With the allies becoming stronger with each passing day, General Imamura and Admiral Kusaka had very little hope of emerging victorious in the coming battles. All either man could do was prepare the best possible defenses they could and hope for a miracle to delay the allied advance. General Nakai's forces prepared to make a stand on the Finisterre range and General Katagiri prepared a counterattack against Finschhafen.  Over in New Guinea, General Vasey's men were continuing their fight against Nakai in the Finisterre Range. Since their advance on October 9th, Colonel Bishop's 2/27th battalion had dug in on Trevor's ridge and John's Knoll. Just after dawn on October 10th, a small enemy force charged up Trevor's ridge. The small attack was beaten back, the battalions diarist wrote of the action “Tojo startled the early morning air with his usual heathen chorus, known to so many as a prelude to an attack; however, 13 Platoon showed him the error of his ways by killing two and wounding one of the six noisy intruders.” Meanwhile the bulk of the 2nd battalion, 78th regiment had pulled back to a place known as Shaggy Ridge which dominated the area around it. Shaggy Ridge stood 5600 feet tall with only a single track going along its ridge line. Lachlan Grant would describe the track "had places. . . only wide enough for one man to pass with sheer drops on either side". The Japanese had concentrated along the Faria river area seeking to unleash another counter attack. They just received reinforcements in the form of the 1st battalion, 78th regiment. Company 3 were sent to Gurumbu, Company 4 to Boganon, Companies 1 and 2 went to help out the 2nd battalion while one company began to attack Australian supply lines at Pallier's hill. During the afternoon two Japanese artillery pieces began to open fire from the Faria river area at very close range. The first shell passed close to the top of Trevor's Ridge, causing native carriers to freak out and disperse while the shell exploded thousands of yards father on. By 2pm Bombardier Leggo acting as F.O.O noticed the gun flash and launched a counter battery against it using a 25 pounder at a range of around 8000 yards. He successfully silence the mountains guns for awhile. The Japanese guns would fire later that afternoon at nearly point blank range, hitting the battalions area causing 8 casualties, but Leggo once again silence the guns. Meanwhile, Brigadier Dougherty ordered his 2/14th to hold a position at Kumbarum to support Bishop's advance while Brigadier Eather ordered his 2/33rd battalion to mop up the Japanese out of the Boganon mountain area. The 2/3rd quickly advanced up a track going 4100 feet high into the Boganon mountains. At 5pm Kittyhawks strafed the Japanese positions at the crest of a ridge and a Boomerang dropped a message on the advancing men that told them the Japanese were in foxholes and trenches immediately over looking them. During the aerial attacks the Japanese tried to fire back using machine gun and rifles, but doing so apparently they did not see a forward company of the 2/33rd closing in on them. The 2/33rd crept up the ridge under the cover of darkness as the Japanese were unaware too busy during daylight hours focusing on the Kittyhawks. During the night the Australians surprise attacked the Japanese sending them into a flight, man men at first ran then got themselves together trying to fight but by that time the momentum was on the side of the Australians who soon seized the ridge. On October 10th, Vasey ordered his forces to patrol extensively. The 2/7th was patrolling the Kesawai area; the 2/2nd concentrating in the Faita area; the 2/16th went west of Bebei and the 2/27th patrolled around Trevor's ridge towards the faria river. The 2/27th skirmished with the enemy who were defending their artillery positions. To the east of the Faria and Uria Rivers the 2/33rd were patrolling past the feature they just captured. Their patrols ran into ambushes and were forced to pull back. On October 11th, Japanese raiding parties attacked a supply line going between the 2/14th and 2/27th battalions forcing the former to send a platoon to seize Palliers Hill. A platoon of the 2/14th led by Lt Pallier. The were only able to advance up the hill in a single fill as most of it was to steep. At around 5 pm men atop the nearby Kings Hill supported them with artillery, mortars and machine guns. The support was so strong, Palliers platoon made it up the first mound without opposition. Upon the mound Pallier deployed a Bren gun and 2 inch mortars. Palliers men were surprised at the lack of enemy fire and rapidly made their way up Pallier's Hill. As they got closer to the summit artillery stopped, leaving just mortars and machine gun fire support. The hill began even steeper and when they got within 20 yards of the Japanese their support fire ceased. The Japanese were about a company in strength and began firing everything they had. During the mayhem at a critical moment many Japanese raised their heads from their weapon pits and rolled grenades down on the Australians 20 feet below. Most of them rolled too far down doing no damage. The Australians began tossing their own grenades as they charged forward driving the enemy out. Lt Palliers platoon had attacked a Japanese company well entrenched in a seemingly impregnable position routing them it was outstanding. Despite the heavy support getting up the hill, the Japanese should have easily held their positions. Pallier lost 3 men dead and 5 wounded including himself while they killed an estimated 30 Japanese and captured vital ground to keep their supply line running. The capture of Palliers hill was of a great relief to Dougherty who watched the thing personally. Had the supply line been cut longer the 2/27th may have run out of ammunition and rations. Back over in the Finschhafen area, Brigadier Windeyer now realized he needed to seize Sattelberg in order to secure his gains. General Yamada continued his attacks against the most forward Australian position at Jivevaneng. At 6:15am on October the first the Japanese cut the telephone lines to the Australians forward positions and began probing their lines with attacks. The Japanese were driven off with 2 and 3 inch mortars while the Australians cautiously made their way up the Sattelberg road. They were about at quarter mile from their objective when the leading platoons leader, Lt Dost was shot dead. Lt Richardson took another platoon forward to investigate and was wounded by gunfire. By this point the defensive lines had repulsed numerous attacks. Both sides were taking heavy casualties, but the Japanese were failing to stop the advance. Still the 2/43rd were forced to dig in around 400 yards from their besieged company.  After the technical fall of Finschhafen, Windeyer assigned most of his brigade to defend the southern portion of it while the 2/17th advance north to capture Kumawa. Windeyer was realizing the dual tasks were simply too much for his meager forces but luckily for him, Generals Herring and Wootten held a meeting at Lae on September 30th, where they decided to reinforce him with General Heavy's brigade. General Heavy's men would secure Finschhafen and then perform an offensive against Sio. On October 1st General Blamey decided the time had come to give Herring a rest, he appointed Lt General Leslie Morseheads 2nd corps to take over the New Guinea offensives. On October 7th, Morshead arrived at Dobodura, Herring departed for Port Moresby and then Australia, he would never return to the front lines. It was supposed to be General Iven Mackay that would relieve Herring, but he ran into squabbles with General douglas macarthur over reinforcements for Finschhafen. The junior officers felt Mackay should have forced the issue and enlisted Blamey for help, but ultimately both were set aside for Lt General Sir Leslie Morshead. Prior, Mackay had convinced Blamey, that Herring was becoming increasingly difficult to work with as a result of stress and fatigue which led to Herrings relief. Blamey maintained his faith in Herring who would retain command of the 1st corps on the Atherton Tableland, where he could train his men in amphibious warfare for the next operation, but Herring's period of active service was over. Herring had given able service in a high appointment through a year of fierce campaigning, he quite simply could use the rest. Herring assumed he would come back to relieve Morshead, but in February of 1944 he would be appointed Chief justice of the supreme court of Victoria instead. Back over at the front, the Australian commanders decided it was necessary to capture the Tami islands. The 2/32nd battalion departed Lae on October 2nd arriving off Wonam island. Major Mollard took command of the battalion and received another company called the “Denness Force” consisting of a rader detachment, pioneers, mortars, signals and a section of 6 .50 caliber machine guns, 2 LCMS and 14 LCV's from the 52nd EBSR. When the men landed on Wonam island, they were greeted by 4 friendly natives waving their arms. An interpreter spoke to the natives who told him there were no Japanese on the islands. Then the natives took a few of the men with some paddling canoes around Kalal and Wonam islands showing them no Japanese. The natives were then rounded up, 74 in all and asked to help establish a radar station on Kalal. The natives had very little food because of the terror of bombers and strafers in the area, they had actually been living in some caves and dug out coral instead of their huts. Apparently they were treated very well and helped the work effort. It's not said that often, but native populations made a huge difference in the pacific war. You keep hearing me say “native carriers” and such, war was literally thrust onto these people, most of whom were just going about their peaceful lives. The Japanese often showed brutality, its not as if it was 100%, but statistically the Americans or Australians in the Pacific were much more known to be favored by the natives, particularly in New Guinea.  Now the following day, the 2/17th departed Kolem on a extremely difficult route ironically named Easy Street, haha thinking of Negan from walking dead. Easy street went towards Kiasawa and then Kumawa. David Dexter described it as  "It was so steep and muddy that, on one occasion, two tractors were attached to one jeep but all were bogged." The Australians were surprised to see no enemy attacks against Jivevaneng at this time. The 2/43rd attempted an attack at 5:45 pm led by Lt Combe's company. The Australians tried desperately to attack well-dug in enemy positions along a route the enemy knew better than them. Soon the company became pinned down and casualties were mounting. Combe was wounded when his Owen was shot out of his hand, he assessed the situation, 17 casualties with 6 deaths, so he ordered the men to pull back. The 2/43rd by this point had a total of 47 casualties, with 14 deaths and 5 missing. The 2/43rd had failed to break again, thus the decision was made to have their forces evacuated.   To the north, the 2nd battalion, 80th regiment had burst into the scene, advancing through Wareo and Gurika. Fearing the Japanese threat to Scarlet Beach, the 2/3rd pioneers and 2/2nd machine gun companies were sent to contain the threat. By this time the 2/17th battalion had just reached Easy Street junction. Windeyer wanted them to hit Kumawa as it seemed one of the most likely places the Japanese would have retreated to from Finschhafen. However he also knew the new threat required additional forces so he divided the 2/17th into two groups. Two companies led by Major Pike and Captain Sheldon detached and formed a separate HQ under Major Maclarn to stop the Japanese from attacking Scarlet Beach, while Colonel Simpson led the remainder to Kumawa. On October 4th, suddenly the enemy eased up on both fronts. The surrounded company of the 2/43rd took the opportunity to break out to the east. Patrols began reporting that the Japanese had also withdrawn, so the bulk of the 2/43rd gradually moved to reoccupy Jivevaneng.  Meanwhile Maclarn's 2/17th detachment attempted their first attack against the enemy. Maclarn sent two platoons north of the Song River who quickly found themselves in a firefight with the enemy. They were forced to withdraw, then at 11:30am an LCV came over the Song drawing fire from the Japanese, allowing Maclarn to pinpoint exactly where the enemy was. At 2:15 Maclarn sent a platoon to make contact with the Japanese again, followed up at 5pm with Pike's company. The Japanese were hit with an artillery bombardment as Pike's company single file advanced to an assembly position around North Hill. The next day North Hill's area was seized and just as the Australians had managed to encircle the enemy's position, scouts reported they had abandoned it. It seemed to the Australians that the Japanese had withdrawn into the mountains again. In truth General Yamada was preparing a counterattack. As for General Katagiri by late September he had ordered his 2nd battalion, 79th regiment to advance through a native inland path avoiding the coastal roads over some western hills that led to Sattelberg. The battalion arrived at Boringboneng by October 7th, while the rest of the division got to Sattelberg by October 11th. With the reinforcements on hand, Katagiri planned a major counterattack aimed at Arndt point, due for mid October.    Meanwhile on October 5th, the 2/17th successfully seized Kumawa after fighting a small engagement against an enemy post in the village. The 2/15th were quickly directed to relieve them at Kumawa, as the 2/17th began to see continuous counterattacks. Simpsons 2/17th were being hit from northeast, west and south. His position was too thin leading to a large danger of encirclement. The Japanese performed numerous infiltrating attacks, trying to break his lines of communications and to add to Simpsons misery, the supply of ammunition and rations being carried by natives along a track were being delayed heavily by torrential rain. The native carriers were likewise in danger of enemy fire, it seemed evident the Japanese were quite alarmed at losing Kumawa.   On October the 6th, Yamada's 3rd battalion, 80th regiment successfully severed the communications between the company and her HQ by taking a position on a track between them. For 3 hours the Japanese made several assaults on Kumawa, until 1pm when the track was reopened and a telephone line was quickly relaid. The Japanese continued their harassment, but then the 2/15th arrived turned the tide against them. The men were low on supplies as the heavy rain made it impossible for jeeps to advance up the track to Kamawa. Since the 5th of october the 2/17th had been eating meager amounts, by the 8th they had nothing left. Windeyer felt because of the lack of supplies he had to halt the advance of the 2/17th and 2/15th.  The 2/17th Battalion diarist, describing the defense of Kumawa, wrote: "The enemy caused us no trouble… but our stomachs did." Colonel Grace likewise turned down an offer by Windeyer to arrange an air drop because he believed that the Japanese did not yet know of his men's presence in Kumawa. This would lose him the chance of intercepting any belated parties moving towards Sattelberg along the track from Tirimoro.    On October 9th, Maclarn decided to capture a vital feature in front of Jiveveneng known as the “knoll”, to improve his tactical position, I guess they just ran out of names or something.  Maclarn opened up the attack with artillery, as Sheldon's company performing an encirclement maneuver led by Papuan scouts to sneak platoons 10 yards from the Japanese positions. Suddenly at 11:10am the forward platoons unleashed fire on the Japanese and charged their outposts. As the men charged the Knoll itself, only a single Japanese would be seen as countless had fled, leaving 9 dead. By 1pm Sheldon's company were digging in on the knoll where they had found 60 Japanese foxholes. The Japanese launched a counter attack, began with a bugle call and the usual screams as the charged within 5 yards of the Australians new defensive positions. Grenades were rolled down the knoll and automatic fire kept them at bay until the Japanese finally backed off. At 6:45 the Japanese attempted a second counter attack, this time as a full company, but they were likewise repulsed. The next day saw more Japanese counter attacks against the Knoll, the defending Australians reported hearing them scream “ya”, to which they screamed it back at them. Apparently they also screamed Ho, so the Australians screamed Ho back. The Japanese were also sending many patrols to search for viable approaches for the upcoming counteroffensive while they awaited reinforcements and supplies. The Australians noted the considerable enemy movement, believing a large number of Japanese reinforcements were due to arrive from the north.    Back over at Lae, General Wootten's HQ and the 24th brigade had finally begun their departure for Finschhafen. When Wootten landed, he decided to reorganize his forces to gain control of the approaches to Wareo and Sattelberg, hoping to also provide an opening to launch an offensive against Sio. He divided the Finschhafen area into 3 sectors of responsibility. The 24th brigade would defend the Scarlet beach area; the 20th brigade would perform an offensive against Sattelberg and the 22nd battalion would defend the Dreger Harbor area. On October 11th, the 2/17th finally re-secured Jivevaneng and on the 12th, Wootten sent Captain Gore with C Company of the Papuan battalion to perform a large scale deep patrol looking into the Wareo-Sattelberg-Mararuo area. On the 13th, the 2/15th hit back at the Japanese west of Kumawa. At 9am they began a fire fight about 150 yards apart using machine guns mostly. Casualties were high for both sides, but Sergeant Else kept the forward platoons advancing, refusing to allow his forces t obe pinned down. The Japanese had 39 deaths before they began fleeing, the Australians suffered 5 deaths and 30 casualties. For the next two days things seemed to be relatively quiet, but it was to be the calm before the storm, as Katagiri earmarked October 16th for his counteroffensive. Wootten knew something was on its way and was greatly relieved to see the arrival of the 2/28th and 2/32nd battalions on October 15th. However he was also quite bitter about the lack of cooperation between the Australians and Americans which he believed prevented them from quickly reinforcing Finschhafen. By the 15th, Wootten had 2/rd of his division in the area and a signal from Morshead informed him that General HQ had ordered the 26th brigade from Lae to Finschhafen at 30 hours notice. It was heartening news, but it also contrasted strongly with the protracted negotiations allowing for the 2/43rd to go to Scarlet Beach by the end of September. It was also indicative of the gravity of the situation; various commanders had learnt brutal lessons. The Japanese were given a chance to seize the initiative. General Mackay would write to Blamey on October the 20th  “Through not being able to reinforce quickly the enemy has been given time to recover and we have not been able to exploit our original success. Through the piecemeal arrival of reinforcements the momentum of the attack has not been maintained. As was proved in the Lae operations the provision of adequate forces at the right place and time is both the quickest and most economical course.” Windeyer received orders to coordinate the defense of the Langemak bay and "hold important ground at all costs". He was to perform a defense in depth, maintain a mobile reserve, organize coastwatching stations and beach defenses. Wootten went to work ordered forces to put up positions on track junctions in the Bonga area, North Hill, all of the high ground going two miles west of Scarlet Beach through Jivevaneng, Kumawa, Tirimoro, Butaweng, Logaweng and for the 532nd EBSR base at Dreger Harbour. The allies were preparing for a major storm. Over at the Finisterres, on October 11th, General Morshead had just flown in for the first time to Dumpu where he told Vasey that because of “administrative limitation” there could be no further advance into the mountains for the time being. The day morning, Colonel Bishop's 2/27th over at Trevors ridge were hit by Japanese mountain guns. At 10:45 the 2nd battalion, 78th regiment launched an assault against their position. The attack was supported by 5 Woodpeckers, those are being the Japanese type 92 heavy machine gun, alongside two mountain guns, mortars and light machine guns. Trevor's ridge and Johns knoll got the full bombardment treatment, then the Japanese charged tossing grenades with fixed bayonets overrunning the Australian positions on the lower early slope. However this lower slope could be hit hard from the crest above, so the Japanese soon found themselves in a mayhem of fire and were dislodged quickly. After the vicious attack, Bishop sent reinforcements to John's Knoll allowing the lost positions to be regained. 4 more attacks would be launched during the early afternoon at a great cost to the Japanese. Bishops men repulsed them all, but he began to worry about his ammunition situation. In the forward areas, he had only two Vickers guns and a 3 inch mortar. The Vickers were being used to counter the Japanese heavy machine gun fire, and the mortar only had 18 bombs left, placed up on Johns knoll. When the enemy had reached within 20 yards of the Australians positions during the first assault, Sergeant Eddy rushed forward to direct 12 mortar bombs upon the enemy causing absolute havoc, winning the day. With ammunition running low and no sign of an supply train coming, Bishop wondered if the next attack would beat them off their high ground. Bishops men went to work searching the dead Japanese. Teams were collecting ammunition from the dead enemy, from the HQ and from units of Trevor's ridge, rushing it all to Johns knoll. The positions on John's knoll was obviously dangerous and the men all knew they likely would have to pull out if no supply train came. To relieve the pressure on John's Knoll, Bishop sent two platoons to launch a counter attack against the enemys right and left flanks. Lt Paine's platoon took the right and Lt Trenerry the left. Paines men were climbing 20 yards up a razor back when the saw the enemy and began firing. Paine recalled "things got a bit sticky so we withdrew down the hill a little then made our way back to the end of the razor-back'. Pains men withdrew a bit, but continued to harass the enemy, who greeted them by rolling grenades down the razorback. To the left, Trennerys men cautiously moved around the rear of the Japanese forward troops attacking Johns Knoll and launched a 16 grenade attack killing many. In the confusion and terror the Japanese dispersed running straight into Australian gunfire. With just 5 men Trenerry had cleared a track to Johns koll while 5 other of his men cleared another track in the opposite direction. Trenerry would report   "Both groups clearing the track ran backwards and forwards shooting at opportune targets,". Private Blacker had killed 5 Japanese shooting his Bren from the hip; Private May killed 4 Japanese before taking a hit himself and most of the men on average killed two Japanese each. Trennerry's men would come back to Johns knoll estimating they had killed 24 Japanese with small arms and a bunch with grenades.   During the late afternoon, a company of the 2/27th also advanced northeast of John's Knolls who could hear the platoon counter attacks. At 5:30 upon hearing heavy fire from some high ground east of Johns knoll they launched an attack and quickly overran a woodpecker position. Lt Cook leading the company would write “I met Mac and he gave me all he knew so I pushed forward to contact the enemy. I handed 5 Platoon over to Sergeant Underwood, commonly known as "Underpants". The laps were expecting us for they opened up with their Woodpecker and did they whistle but the boys kept pushing on. I sent Sergeant Yandell round on the right flank while a section from B Company and Corporal Fitzgerald's went around on the left; well, Lum's [Yandell's] section on the right did a wonderful job and made it possible to wipe out the Woodpecker. The boys must have killed 20 or more Japs on the first knoll and by the way they bawled you would think they were killing a hundred of them. We continued on along the ridge for another 100 yards when 3 LMGs opened up on us and inflicted our first casualties, 2 killed, 4 wounded. One of the killed was Dean who had done a fine job killing several Japs while firing his Bren from the hip as he advanced. At about this time I found [a young soldier] of B Company alongside me so asked him what would win the Goodwood whereupon he told me not to be so bloody silly, it was no time to talk about races. Well, we had to shift these gunners so Lum kept moving his section forward on the right flank and two of the gunners got out while the other covered them. Then Lum volunteered to go over the top after the remaining one himself so I slipped up behind him to give him covering fire, but as Lum went over the top the Japs cleared off into the kunai”. By nightfall the enemy attacks ceased, the allies had not yielded an inch of ground.   A supply train came at midnight to the great relief of the defenders. Hunkering down the way he did, Bishop had won a notable battle. The 2/27th lost 7 men dead and 28 wounded, but estimated they had killed 190 Japanese. More importantly the Australians refused to be pushed from their vantage points. The Japanese would continue their attacks on Trevor's ridge with their Woodpecker from a new position just above the plateau across the Faria. Thus the defenders hard work was not over, Brigadier Dougherty decided to relieve the exhausted 2/27th with the 2/16th. After the fierce fight at John's Knoll, the Japanese had pulled back to the Shaggy ridge line, that ran in front of the Kankirei saddle. It was here General Nakai was determined to make his last stand. Additionally, back on October the 9th, the first echelon of Admiral Mori's forces had at last reached Kiari. Men who performed the march recalled  “the track deteriorated and was ‘only passable on bare feet without any heavy packs' and some simple scaffolding had been set up by the engineers to help the troops pass. The cold increased as the group climbed higher and the ‘Precipitous cliffs continued, one after another.' More men began to die from the cold and from losing their footing. This was at the head of the Sanem River valley where there was a sheer drop on one side of the track and a sheer rock face about 90 meters high on the other. The final climb to the summit was made over a muddy one-man track where the line came to a stop and the men sat with their legs dangling over the edge of the track”. The men took 4 days of rest before they would march onwards for Sio.   For 10 days, General Nakano's forces continued their retreat to Kiari. Local natives had been enlisted to help carry the food and medical supplies that landed at Kairi up to the troops moving down the coast. Originally 20 landing craft were supposed to help move the food from Madang, but they were being used for troops transport following the Australian landing at Finschhafen. The Japanese began setting up a series of food caches in villages seeing tonnes of rice carried and placed in key positions. The 4th echelon reached Kiari on October 18th, 33 days after they had departed Lae. From the original 6600 IJA and 2050 IJN forces that left Lae, a total of 6544 men, 5001 IJA and 1543 IJN had survived the retreat across the Saruwaged range, arriving safely to the coast. It was clear, General Blamey's earlier assessment that “a few of the enemy remnants will escape the hardship of the mountain tracks” was very wrong. Now thats all we have for Green hell today, for we are going to be jumping back over to the CBI theater next.   Now there had been considerable developments in the global war for the allies. The Japanese were gradually being pushed back in the southwest pacific; The Kingdom of Italy signed the armistice of Cassibile, as allied forces were occupying Sicily soon to hit Italy proper and Germany was about to lose Ukraine. The tide had distinctly turned against the Axis. In the China theater, the 7th war area of General Sun Lianzhong had dispersed into the fertile plains of Hunan province. The commander of the China expeditionary army, General Hta Shunroku deemed it necessary to perform a crushing blow against him. He ordered General Yokoyama to advance upon the Changde area, where Sun had his HQ.Yokoyama concentrated his 5 divisions, the 39th, 58th, 3rd, 116th and 68th divisions of the 11th army, along the Yangtze river area between Yichang and Yueyang by late October. Once his forces had concentrated enough on the left bank of the Yangtze, Yokoyama planned out an offensive set to launch on November 2nd. Defending the Changde area was  the 6th war zones 10th, 26th, 29th, 33rd army groups as well as some riverine units and two other corps, making a total of 14 corps in all. It was going to be a brutal offensive aimed not at actually capturing the city of Chande, but rather tying up the NRA to reduce its combat ability in the immediate region and to thwart it from reinforcing the Burma theater.   Over in Indie the horrible Bengal famine of 1943 had kicked off. Back in March of 1942, after the Japanese began their occupation of Rangoon, a major consequence was the severing of routine exports, such as Burmese rice to India and Ceylon. In June the Bengal government established price controls for rice and on July 1st fixed prices were at a level considerably lower than the prevailing market price. The fixed low prices thus made sellers reluctant to sell leading to stocks disappearing, getting stored or being sold on the black market. In mid October, south-west Bengal was hit by a series of natural disasters that destabilized the price more, causing another rushed scramble for rice, boosting the Calcutta black market. On March 11th, the provincial government rescinded its price controls, resulting in dramatic rises in the price of rice, due partly to speculations. This caused a massive period of inflation between March and May of 1943. May saw the first reports of death by starvation in Bengal. The government tried to re-establish public confidence by insisting that the crisis was all being caused by speculation and hoarding, but their propaganda failed to dispel the public's belief there was in fact a shortage of rice. The Bengal government never formally declared a state of famine, even though the “Famine Code” would have mandated a sizable increase in aid. The unrest gave fuel to the Free India Movement, led by Subhas Chandra Bose and many troops would have to be diverted from Burma to help maintain the order. Bose made his famous proclamation “give me blood! I will give you freedom!” as he assumed leadership over the reformed INA on July 4th of 1943. The new INA 1st division under Major General Mohammed Zaman Kiani had drawn many Indian POW's who had previously joined Mohan Singh's first INA. They also drew POW's who had not joined in 1942. Their new force consisted of the 2nd Guerrilla regiment known as “the Gandhi brigade” which consisted of two battalions under Colonel Inayat Kiani; the 3rd Guerrilla regiment known as “the Azad brigade” consisting of three battalions under Colonel Gulzara Singh and the 4th Guerrillas known as the “Nehru Brigade” lead by Lt Colonel Gurubaksh Singh Dhillon. The 1st Guerrilla regiment “Subhas brigade” was led by Colonel Shah Nawaz Khan and was an independent unit consisting of 3 infantry battalions. Special operations group “Bahadur group” were operating behind enemy lines. There was also a separate all female unit created under Captain Lakshmi Swaminathan. This unit was intended to have combat commitments. They were named Rani of Jhansi regiment after the legendary rebel Queen Lakshmibai of the 1857 rebellion. Their member swerve drawn from female civilian populations from Malaya and Burma.   The reformed INA were reinvigorated and causing a lot of mayhem. The Indian government responded with a scorched earth policy to deny foodstuffs to the Japanese and Free Indian army who might try to invade India. They established a Foodstuffs scheme to manage the distribution of good, ensuring that those in high priority roles such as civil servants, police and the armed forces received top priority. A second “boat denial policy” was also implemented. Under this policy the army confiscated approximately 45,000 rural boats, severely disrupting riverbourne movement of labor, supplies and food. This cost the livelihoods of boatmen and fishermen.  Leonard G. Pinnell, a British civil servant who headed the Bengal government's Department of Civil Supplies, told the Famine Commission that the policy "completely broke the economy of the fishing class". Transport was generally unavailable to carry seed and equipment to distant fields or rice to the market hubs. Artisans and other groups who relied on boat transport to carry goods to market were offered no recompense; neither were rice growers nor the network of migratory laborers. The large-scale removal or destruction of rural boats caused a near-complete breakdown of the existing transport and administration infrastructure and market system for movement of rice paddy. No steps were taken to provide for the maintenance or repair of the confiscated boats, and many fishermen were unable to return to their trade. The Army took no steps to distribute food rations to make up for the interruption of supplies.   Meanwhile military build ups cause massive displacement of Bengalis from their homes and farmlands which were used to construct airstrips and camps. Nearly the entire output of India's cloth, leather, silk and wool industries were sold off to the military, leaving the rural population to suffer through a “cloth famine”.  President of the Ramakrishna Mission in Bombay July 1943 would report  "The robbing of graveyards for clothes, disrobing of men and women in out of way places for clothes ... and minor riotings here and there have been reported. Stray news has also come that women have committed suicide for want of cloth ... Thousands of men and women ... cannot go out to attend their usual work outside for want of a piece of cloth to wrap round their loins"   The Bengali population suffered tremendously. With the arrival of 500,000 or more Burmese refugees, bringing hungry mouths, and diseases like dysentery, malaria, smallpox, cholera, needing food, clothes, medical aid and other resources, this stressed Bengali past its max. Despite all of this, Bengal continued to export rice to Ceylon for months, even after the famine was apparent. To make matters worse, local rice crops were becoming infected with brown spot disease and on October 16th, Bengal was hit by a massive cyclone. This resulted in the deaths of 14,500 and 190,000 cattle. The cyclone unleashed 3 Tsunami's which overwhelmed the sea walls and flooded 450 square miles adding more misery to 2.5 million people.  Bose went to work exploiting the crisis, backed enthusiastically by the Japanese to established the Azad Hind Provisional Government of Free India at Singapore in October. The first INA was roughly 40,000 troops strong, the reformed 2nd INA would begin with 12,000 troops, and as a result of Boses dynamic appeal would peak to around 100,000 volunteers and combatants at around 50,000. Bose would say "Local civilians joined the INA, doubling its strength. They included barristers, traders and plantation workers, as well as Khudabadi Sindhi Swarankars who were working as shop keepers; many had no military experience." It is also estimated, 20,000 Malayan Indians and another 20,000 ex-Indian army member volunteered for the INA. In the end, an estimated 2.1-3.8 Bengalis died out of a population of 60.2 million. They died of starvation, malaria and diseases brought on from malnutrition, population displacement and lack of health care. In the man-made famines aftermath, millions would be left impoverished and the social fabric had been torn to shreds. Nearly 1.6 million families disintegrated, men sold their farms and left home to work or join the Indian army. Women and children became homeless, traveling to larger cities in search of relief. It was a vicious cycle of death that would help bolster the Indian independence movement. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The battle for Sattelberg was about to begin and so was the battle for Changde. Within India a horrible man made famine led to tremendous devastation and in turn this helped bolster Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army. Japan was given a rare chance to obtain a powerful ally.  

Last time we spoke about the conclusion to the Lae-Salamaua campaign. Operation postern was unleashed with a bang. The Japanese were taken by complete surprise when the allies landed in the Lae Area. General Nakano frantically withdrew the forces from Salamaua over to Lae having been duped by the allied deception. Despite their fighting withdrawal, the Japanese not only lost Lae to the surprise attack, but ironically lost Salamaua at the same time. It was a race for the allied divisions to see who would seize both objectives. As the allies marched into Salamaua they realized it was so desolated, it probably would not be of use as a forward base, but Lae would prove extremely beneficial. Ultimately Nakano managed to get 8000 or more men out of the mayhem, now marching north for salvation, but the allies were not done yet. This episode is Huon Peninsula Offensive Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.    Before we venture back to the boys on Green Hell, there had been some developments in the Solomons. On September 18th, Admiral Wilkinson brought over the first units of General Barrowcloughs 3rd division, the 35th and 37th battalions of the 14th brigade. They were brought over to Les Gill's plantation located at Joroveto north of Barakoma and they landed without any conflicts. Unbeknownst to them however, Admiral Sakamaki had launched an airstrike of 12 vals and 48 zeros. Luckily the allies tossed an interception in the form of 17 F4U Corsairs, 6 Hellcats and 4 P-40's which ran into them just over Baga island as Admiral Wilkinsons escorts force of 7 destroyers were making their escape. The air battle spread towards the east where the landing area was, but no shipping was damaged as the allies claimed to have knocked out 15 enemy aircraft at the cost of 3 Corsairs. Once he got ashore, Barrowclough assumed command of the Northern Landing force and set up his HQ on the eastern coast of Vella Lavella. In response, Wilkinson spread his fighter cover more thinly and scattered his LSTs away from Barakoma's anti-aircraft guns. On September 25th a large convoy carrying the 30th battalion, 14th brigade and some marines and Seabee units arrived at Ruravai. They began establishing an advance Marine base for an upcoming operation against Bougainville. This prompted Sakamaki to launch another air strike, this time of 8 vals and 40 zeros. Brigadier General James Moore had roughly 20 fighters to cover the convoy, but some of the vals managed to slip past them. At 11:13, 12 Hellcats intercepted the enemy, leading to dogfights with the Zeros, but two minutes later the Vals had come out from hiding in front of the sun. The vals were targeting the IMAC landing site at Ruravai where the 77th seabees had been clearing a beach area. The marines had some 40mm guns already set up when the Vals struck. Two bombs hit LST-167 forcing it vessel to beach itself while the rest of the bombs scattered across the beach killing 32 men and wounding 58. Sakamaki followed this up with another air strike on October 1st consisting of 8 vals and a dozen zeros again against Ruravai. The 1st marine parachute battalion was landing at the time, as Sakamaki's bombers successfully evaded allied rader and fighter patrols to hit the LSTs. LST-334 took a hit and near miss causing damage but no casualties. LST-448 was hit twice leaving her bursting into flames, killing 52 men with many more wounded. LAST-448 was hit again leading to her sinking while under tow. It was some pretty devastating air strikes, but it was also to be the last as the Japanese were in the midst of evacuating their troops from New Georgia and the 26th air flotilla was withdrawing from Buin. To the northwest, Fijina commandos ha discovered the Horaniu defense force were now scattered in an area between Tambala Bay and Marquana Bay. Barrowclough decided to order Bridagider Leslie Potter's 14th brigade to take out the enemy there. Potter planned to take the 35th battalion and his HQ up the western coast to Matu Soroto Bay while the 37th battalion would land at Doveli cover on the northern coast, hoping to trap the Japanese between both forces. On September 21st, Captain Tsuruya Yoshio had just arrived from Buin to take command of the rather disorganized Vella Lavella forces and began concentrating at Marquana Bay establishing a defensive perimeter. Potter's forces successfully landed at the designated points by september 24th and prepared their advance for the next day. Meanwhile Admiral Samejima and Kusaka were planning the evacuation of Kolombangara. To help them General Imamura was tossing over Major General Yoshimura Masayoshi's 2nd shipping detachment alongside 30 barges. Plans were quickly formed back in early september for Yoshimura to carrying out the evacuation in two stages beginning on September 28th and October 20th via the Choiseul route. Admiral Ijuin proposed using the 8th fleet destroyers for both transport and cover. Kusaka approved the plans and granted an additional 6 destroyers for Ijuins task, taken from the combined fleet, while also arranging some air cover from Sakamaki over Choiseul. The operation designated Se-gō, was mostly complete. Yoshimure assumed command over the Barges designated the 17th army sea battle unit, while under command of Samejima. He would have ultimately at his disposal 70 barges. Yoshimura had armed the barges usually with heavy machine guns and trained the crews to expect attacks from American destroyers and PT boats. He also outfitted them with repair tools. One of the largest problems he faced was how to move 70 barges and 9 small naval vedettes to the forward bases while keeping them hidden from enemy aircraft. The NGAF would confirm this problem on September 20th, when 8 Corsairs were patrolling and came across some barges. They managed to destroy 5 out of the 8 they found. Yoshimura recalled “it was an inauspicious start to the operation”. But he carried on none the less. Leaving buin on september 23rd, they arrived at Sumbe Head by the 25th where the 8th fleet sent a detachment of the Kure 7th to establish a base of operations. Kusaka flew into Vila to meet with General Sasaki and Admiral ota, landing in the midst of exploding shells. To prepare for the withdrawal Sakai had established 3 boarding points along Kolombangara; Jack harbor, Tuki point and Hambare harbor. At the same time he tried to conceal his intentions by increasing patrols and firing off the Yokosuka 7th guns against the enemy. Alongside this he had demolition teams blowing up all the airfield installations, which was mingling with General Barker's artillery. Construction units were beginning to cut trails to the boarding points. Against them was Admiral Halsey who held intelligence indicated the Japanese were planning to either reinforce or evacuate Kolombangara. Halsey send Admiral Merrills task force 39 to move up the Slot while Admiral Wilkinsons destroyers would swing south up Vella Gulf with the objective of catching the enemy between them. Halsey called it a “mouse trap”. On september 25th however, both the USS Columbia and Clevland reported sighting torpedo wakes, indicating a possible submarine force prompting Halsey to pull back the cruisers before the mousetrap was sprung, leaving only Wilkinsons destroyers to pounce on the evacuating Japanese. But thats all for the solomon's for now as we are jumping back to Green Hell. Salamaua and Lae had fallen. General Adachi was now determined to hold the Finisterre range, the Ramu Valley and the Huon Peninsula. He ordered Nakai detachment consisting of the 78th regiment less one company and a battalion of the 26th field artillery regiment led by Major General Nakai Masutaro to take up a position at Kaiapit. Masutaro's boys were to try and help halt the enemy pursuing General Nakano's fleeing 51st division. To make matters worse, although the original orders were for the fleeing men to carry their weapons, the Japanese progressively began to abandon their equipment as they fled. Rifle ammunition was the first to go, followed by helmets, then rifles. Kitamoto Masamichi ordered his engineers to gather as many of the abandoned rifles as they could and use their files to erase the chrysanthemum insignia off them. For those of you who don't know, the chrysanthemum is the symbol of the emperor, so they were going to literally waste time and resources to mitigate what they thought was a disgrace. Men also dropped rice, personal belongings, clothes, whatever they had to in order to survive. The logical thing to do is survive, not take time to file off the symbol of your emperor off the rifles. Major Shintani's 1st battalion of the 80th regiment apparently carried all their weapons across the Saruwaged, including 4 heavy machine guns. Shintani had told his men “the soldier who abandons his arms will be shot to death”. Shintani actually died during the crossing of the Saruwaged, but his men carried on his orders. Some of you might know already, but I am a Dad Carlin fanboy and he said it quite right in his piece on the pacific war about the Japanese. They did everything to the extreme. You just don't see the same radical behavior from the other belligerents of WW2. I find we often mock the Japanese naivety about believing their spirit would overcome the material difference, but by hell come high water they tried. They marched north via the Markham valley while General Katagiri's 20th division was sent to help defend Finschhafen. The Japanese had to shuffle their strategic plans at this point. Thus far they had not regarded the losses of Guadalcanal and Buna-Gona as irretrievable, always believing a decisive victory could be obtained allowing for their recapture. Now after losing Lae-Salamaua, the central solomons and the Aluetians, a brutal realization had dawned on them. With a new thrust into the central pacific, they now saw their perimeter was overextended and they needed to withdraw it. This created what became known as the absolute zone of national defense also called the absolute defense line. Tokyo drew the new perimeter line from western New Guinea through the Carolines to the Marianas, leaving most of the southeast area on the outpost line. The main goal was to build strong fortifications along the perimeter while General Imamura and Admiral Kusaka held the enemy at bay as long as possible.  General Imamura kept his 38th division to defend Rabaul and dispatched the 65th independent mixed brigade to Tuluvu. The 65th were ordered to develop a shipping point there and to maintain its airfield. Back on September 5th, Imamura sent Major General Matsuda Iwao to assume command of all the forces at Tuluvu which at that time consisted of the 65th brigade and the 4th shipping detachment, thus together they would be designated the Matsuda detachment. They were going to defend the coasts of western New Britain. Lt general Sakai Yasuchi's 17th division were dispatched from Shanghai to Rabaul to reinforce New Britain while Lt General Kanda Masatane's 6th division were sent to Bougainville to defend it at all dost. The 2nd battalion, 238th regiment would defend gasmata and the 51st transport regiment were deployed at Lorengau in the Admiralties. Now back over with the allies, when Lae was captured with such ease, this caused General Douglas MacArthur's HQ to revise the Cartwheel schedule. Originally it was planned to hit Finschhafen, the primary Japanese base for barge traffic. This was supposed to occur around 6 weeks after the fall of Lae. But like I said, because of Lae's quick capture, combined with some intelligence indicating the Japanese were heavily reinforcing Finschhafen and the Ramu Valley, MacArthur decided to order and immediate operation to secure the villages of Kaiaput and Dumpu in the Markham and Ramu valleys and to construct airfields for Kenney. Allied intelligence indicated the number of Japanese defending the immediate area of Finschhafen was roughly 350 men, providing MacArthur and his staff some optimism. It would be later discovered General Adachi had 5000 available men there. On September 17th MacArthur ordered Admiral Brabey to begin amphibious attack plans for Finschhafen to commence as soon as possible. The Markham and Ramu valleys were like a giant corridor some 115 miles long running from southeast and northwest, separating the Huon Peninsula from the rest of New Guinea. From end to end of the river corridor were large mountains rising on the north and south. The valley itself was flat kunai grass land, very suitable for airfields.  General Vasey's 7th division were earmarked to advance along the Markham and Ramu valleys as far as Dumpu. Dumpu would provide General Kenney with airfields required to isolate the Huon Peninsula. From there Kenney could hit Japanese supply convoys moving between Madang, Wewak and Hansa Bay. Meanwhile General Wootten's 9th division were given the task of amphibiously assaulting Finschhafen before exploiting along the coast to Sio and Saidor. Yet before any major operations could be unleashed there was still work to be done at Lae. General Milford's 5th division was given the task of cleaning up Lae so it could become a major forward base of operations. On September 22nd Milford moved his HQ to Lae. The western boundary between the new Lae Fortress and 7th division would be a line running north and south through Nadzab. The southern boundary would go as far as Nassau bay. Milford had the 15th, 29th and 4th brigade at his disposal. Milfords men immediately set to work clearing the interior approaches to the town of Lae against any possible Japanese counterattack while simultaneously aiding in the pursuit of the fleeing Japanese. The successful evacuation by the Japanese of Salamaua and then Lae had shocked the Australian commanders despite the fact they had been informed as early as May of intense Japanese patrol activities along the interior trails. A young Australian officer had earlier reported that the Japanese were surveying interior trails for a possible retreat across the mountains. On September 8th they acquired a order of evacuation document leaving no doubt how the Japanese were going to withdraw north. Mildfords HQ deduced the line of retreat was going to be from the Melambi river, Boana, Melasapipi, Iloka and Ulap. However this would prove to be deception on the part of General Nakano who changed the direction of the march to a steep trail along the east side of the Atzera range towards Sio.  Going back to the Quadrant Conference held in Quebec city between August 17th and August 24th, the allies had decided to make some major changes to Operation cartwheel. The main focus was now shifting to the Central Pacific and the Joint chiefs of staff planned to employ the 1st and 2nd marine divisions. For the southwest and south pacific areas this meant the central thrust was going to take a bunch of warships, transport ships and cargo ships. MacArthur was livid at the idea two marine divisions would basically prevent him from his objective of Rabaul. Thus in Quebec, it was decided to neutralize Rabaul rather than capture it. MacArthur also brought up the question of invading the southern philippines, but received no answer. He feared that even if the idea was approved, it might be handed over to Admiral Nimitz. Thus to bypass Rabaul, MacArthur's forces would seize Kavieng and the Admiralties. MacArthur would also have to neutralize Wewak and liberate the valuable Vogelkop Peninsula along New Guinea's northern coast.  Back over in New Guinea, General Nakano's men were continuing their withdrawal with the Australians in hot pursuit. On September 17th, th 2/14th battalion crossed the Atzera Range to capture Boana. The Japanese 30th independent engineer regiment and 51st engineer regiment were constructing a small bridge across the busu river using jungle wood. General Nakano had rejoined his HQ with the second echelon of men and he had such a rough time marched he had to be carried by four soldiers. On September 18th the 2/24th battalion reached Musom and Gawam. The Japanese defending Markham point had been completely cut off as of september 14th, receiving no supplies from Lae nor any information about the fact Lae and Salamaua had fallen into enemy hands. On the night of september 16th, 100 men of the 2nd battalion 328th regiment evacuated from Markham point, retreating towards to coast trying to get to Salamaua or Finschhafen. On the 18th, Captain Proctors company of the 15ht battalion were at Labu when they saw a group of 30 armed Japanese trying to escape in folding boats across the Labu lagoon. His company fired upon them forcing the Japanese to quickly row away and flee into the jungle. At 5:10am the next day the Japanese returned to attack Proctors company, trying to break out of what had become an encirclement. Three consecutive attacks were made, with the third reaching the edge of Proctors defensive perimeter when the fighting fell into hand to hand combat. The Japanese were driven off after they had 13 deaths, including their commanding officer. The rest of the Japanese would disperse into the jungle or die to future mop up operations. The next day Boana was taken and now the 2/14th were being held up by a Japanese rearguard on the upper reaches of the Busu. On September 20th, Nakano's first echelon finally crossed the Busu river and by the 22nd the other 3 echelons did likewise. In pursuit, a platoon of the 2/24th began to hit the Japanese at Kwapsanek, but Wootten's forces ultimately failed to catch the Japanese rearguard. In the end the Australians prepared to launch a new offensive against the Ramu valley and Finschhafen, the pursuit units were gradually called back allowing Naknao's men to reach the north coast almost unmolested. General Blamey predicted the remnants of the enemy would need “to escape the hardship of the mountain tracks”. I believe he was quite right on that one. The men of Colonel Watanabe's 14th field artillery regiment continued their march going up the range carrying their single mountain gun towards Lumbaip and then Kemen. Kane Yoshihara noted the officers and men “clung on to the rocks with truly formidable spirit”. General Nakano recalled “I was deeply stirred by their sense of responsibility but could not overlook their suffering”. Nakano ordered the last of the regiments guns to be abandoned. He recalled “the gunners with tears in their eyes, bade a formal farewell as they did so”. Colonel Watanabe would survive the trek alongside 280 of his men. There was a saying amongst the Japanese armed forces that “Java is heaven, Burma is Hell, but you never come back alive from New Guinea”. An American soldier once referred to New Guinea as ‘a green hell on earth”. The conditions were so horrible a veteran of the 32nd division went on the record to say “If I owned New Guinea and I owned hell, I would live in hell and rent out New Guinea”. Vasey and Blamey decided the next objective would be Kaiapit as they believed Naknao was retreating through the Markham and Ramy valleys. They earmarked Captain Gordon King's 2/6th independent company to quickly capture the village before the Japanese could get there. On september 17th, King's company flew over from Port Moresby landed at Sangan on the western bank of the Leron River. Two platoons from Captain John Chalf's Papuan infantry battalion company also reached the western bank of the leron that day coming overland from Chivasing. They would act as a screen ahead of King's men. Kings men began their march for Kaiapit and against them would be Major General Nakai Masutaro who had departed from Bogadjim with the 78th regiment on september 7th. He dispatched the 3rd battalion and Morisada company towards Kaiapit while the bulk of his forces advanced towards Nadzab where they planned to hit its airfield. The Takano Platoon, a reconnaissance unit were the only ones able to reach Kaiapit by September 19th just as the Australians were approaching. King have strict orders to the men that no movement was to be on the track to the village itself as it was believed the enemy would be covering such an approach. Instead the men came through kunai patches, bringing their 2 inch mortars close in to hit the enemy. The mortars began to smash the enemy forward positions sending Japanese fleeing or dying at their posts. The Australians then began to pin down the defenders using grenades and rushed their positions. Japanese treetop snipers unleashed hell, but soon the Australians began firing upon the treelines and village huts where they were hiding. The storming of the village was intense and fast seeing 30 dead Japanese and the rest fleeing. King lost 3 men dead with 7 wounded for the assault. The Australians quickly went to work creating a defensive perimeter placing booby traps everywhere they could. Vasey's decision to swiftly hit the village had paid off big time. The following morning, 300 men led by Major Yonekura Tsuneo arrived to Kaiapit, under the belief it was still in Japanese hands. Just before dawn of September 20th, the Australian commando's saw the incoming Japanese column and immediately opened fire upon them. The Japanese erupted into pure chaos as men of all ranks bunched up and milled about in confusion. Some of the men could be heard screaming in Japanese “we are Japanese let us through!”. Others soon realized Kaiapit was in Australian hands. Thousand of rounds were fired back at the Australians, but their positions were well concealed. King watched as the confused enemy did exactly what he taught his men not to do, shooting at shadows, wasting ammunition and firing high “In all that enormous activity of firing, nobody got hit nobody got hurt at all”. The situation came as a shock to King as well, because the sheer volume of return fire indicated it was a considerably large force. Some of  King's men wanted to advance, but he advised caution. Platoon leader Watson waited for King's signal for when he could advance and King recalled “each second seeming like a minute as the Japanese gathered in the half light. Watson was standing up there, looking back to me waiting”. When King dropped his arm, Watson blew his whistle and his men charged. Lt Bob Scott of section 7 recalled “we killed over a hundred Japanese in the first 100 yards”. Scotts group had cut down Yonekura and his command group in the first wave of Australian fire. Lt Bob Balderstone of section 9 sent his men into the right flank as Lt Jack Elsworthy's section 9 took up the left flank. The Australians had seized the moment and inflicted hellish pain on the Japanese. Watson's platoon lost 8 men killed, 14 wounded. King tossed another platoon through the right flank to grab Mission Hill which dominated the battlefield. As the men advanced, they drove off Japanese in their path and would seize the deserted hill. Once it was captured the Australians had a bird's eye view that allowed them to better direct their forces. Seeing the hill secured, Watson judged the time was ripe to continue the advance so he ordered Balderstone and Elsworthy's sections forward. Balderstone was hiding behind a coconut palm when a bullet nicked his right arm prompting him to scream out “who did that!”. It was not a serious wound, but he was fired up and he yelled to his men to surge forward. Balderstone personally tackled a Japanese machinegunner afterwards. After clearing some machinegun positions below mission hill, the enemy was becoming surrounded. The casualties had become so severe the Japanese began to rout in disorder towards Antiragen and Narawapum. It was an incredible victory for King, they buried 214 Japanese and believed many more were dying or wounded. General Vasey arrived around midday and walked over the corpse strewn battlefield to Mission hill stating ‘My God, my God, my God,'. The scale of the carnage and size of the force against a single Australian company was incredible. Gordon King was resting a wounded leg on a shady spot atop the hill when Vasey approached him. King struggled to get to his feet and Vasey said ‘No, no, sit down,' But King stood up to talk nonetheless. Vasey told him to get the first available aircraft out before adding, ‘Gordon, I promise that you'll never be left out on a limb like this again.' Vasey then returned to his plane, which headed back down the Markham Valley. Some months later, Vasey told King, ‘We were lucky, we were very lucky.' King replied, ‘Well, if you're inferring that what we did was luck, I don't agree with you, Sir. Because I think we weren't lucky, we were just bloody good.' For this victory King had lost 14 men dead, 23 wounded, it was something out of a Rambo film. Brigadier Dougherty's 21st brigade were beginning to land at Kaiapit on september 21st. Kings victory allowed Vasey to bring a fresh bridge into position to keep the advance going against Markham and Ramu valleys. The Yonekura battalion had nearly been wiped out to a man, thus General Nakai ordered the 1st battalion to rescue the battered force. Most of the Morisada company were unscathed as they did not engage in the battle at Kaiapit, alongside them were some stragglers left behind and around 40 men who managed to escape the carnage. Aided by the rescue battalion they managed to withdrew back towards Marawasa by September 24th. A volunteer unit was formed under Captain Morisada named the Saito unit, which consisted of around 80 men from the 10th company 78th regiment. They would work as a special infiltration unit who would begin raiding operations. Back over at Lae, Generals, Blamey, Herring and Wootten began to plan their offensive against Finschhafen. Towards midnight on the 17th, Herring arrived to Lae by PT boat for a meeting with Wootten. Wootten had warned Blamey and Herring that he might be required to carry out an attack on Finschhafen at short notice, leading Wooten to order Brigadier Windeyer to look at Finschhafen on the map because it might be of interest to him soon. Before Herrings arrival, plans were already being formed. At 9am of the 18th, Windeyer and his staff attended a 9th division conference at the HQ on the Bunga river. There Herring outlined a plan for the capture of the Finschhafen-Langemak Bay-dreger Harbor area with a quick swoop which would gain control over the eastern coast of the Huon peninsula and thereby Vitiaz strait. Windeyers 20th brigade would be join General Heavy's 532nd engineer boat and shore regiment and Admiral Brbey's landing craft armada to perform an amphibious assault against Scarlet Beach. Scarlet beach was on the southern part of the Song River just due north of Finschhafen where it was believed the Japanese would not be expecting a landing. From there it was possible they would be able to cut off the Japanese supply lines. Wootten and Blamey tossed up an additional brigade, but the available crafts: 4 destroyer transports, 15 LCI's and 3 LSTs were only capable of lifting a single brigade. In the end the decision was made that after the landings, the 22nd battalion would advance round the south coast of the Huon Peninsula to try and deceive the Japanese as to where the real direction of the threat was coming from. Windeyer planned to hit the beachhead with two battalions, the 2/17ths on the right and the 2/13th on the left. Once the beachhead was secured, the 2/15th would advance south along the main road towards Finschhafen. Additionally an expedition would be launched from G Beach on the night of September 21sst to also land at Scarlet Beach the following morning. To support the landings a large air armada of both American and Australian planes would protect the convoy during the daylight. General Kenney would be tossing air strikes against Cape Gloucester with Liberators, while the RAAF hit Gasmata with Kittyhawks and Bostons and Mitchells against Finschhafen. All of the key airfields and supply points between Wewak and Finschhafen would get smashed. Barbeys destroyers likewise would bombardment Finschhafen as well. To meet the boys coming to the beaches was Major General Yamada Eizo commanding the 1st shipping detachment, a naval force based around the 85th naval garrison. Around 1200 men were stationed at Finschhafen, many of them however were barge operators and mechanics. But there were some combat units; Major Shigeru Tashiros 2 battalion, 238th regiment had companies 7 and 8 at Finschhafen with company 5 at Tami islands. Additionally there was the bulk of the 80th regiment coming over from Madang via the coastal road that would arrive just in time to meet the Australian offensive. In the end Yamada's combat strength would be roughly 4000 men strong. On September 10th, after the allies landings at Lae and Nadzab, General Katagiri marched the rest of his forces from Madang to Finschhafen in a grueling advance along the coast. The first elements of his 79th regiment assembled at Gali by September 21st. Because of all of this, Madang was left pretty much undefended. The 239th regiment was chosen to reinforce the base, departing Wewak on October 3rd. Over in Finschhafen, Yamada began deploying the bulk of his forces at Logaweng; with 4 companies holding the Mongi river's mouth and two mixed companies of about 50 engineers and 300 naval personnel holding the Bumi river. To the north, Yamada could only deploy company 9th company of the 80th regiment towards the Song River to secure Sattelberg. Looking at it all on paper it seemed the Australians were set to face little resistance. On the afternoon of September 21st, Barbey's force of 8 LCM's and 15 LCV's departed Lae for Scarlet Beach.  Windeyer's landing plan called for two companies of th 2/17th battalion were going to land on the right beach while two companies from the 2/13th would land on the left. While the rest of the brigade landed, the right companies would hit North Hill and the left companies would hit Arndt Point. Barbey's convoy arrived off Scarlett Beach at 4:45am and the barges began to lower. After an 11 minute bombardment by destroyers Perkins, Drayton, Smith, Lamson and Flusser the barges began to speed over to the shore. However due to the darkness of the night, the whole wave landed a bit further south than intended and as a result the 4 assaulting companies were landed not only on the wrong beaches but also got mixed with other groups. This caused a fit of confusion as a platoon of the 2/13th drew fire from some machine gun nests near the mouth of the Song River. They quickly engaged the enemy with grenades and small arms, gradually silencing the two enemy posts. When the 2/17th battalion began to become organized in the area the platoon moved further south to rejoin its company. This all resulted in a failure to secure Scarlet Beach, forcing the second wave to veer further left and beach near Siki Cove under heavy enemy fire. But the LCI's of the 2nd and 3rd waves responded to the heavy fire with their 20 mm guns sending the Japanese fleeing. After that Scarlet beach was secured. Funny enough, if it was not for the misstep landing further south, the operation would have seen more casualties amongst the Australians, as the Japanese machine guns proved to be sited in a deadly position to hit Scarlet Beach. As the remaining waves disembarked, Lt Gibb's platoon of the 2/17th advanced inland and were soon met by some machine gun nests. Within half an hour of combat, the platoon killed 7 Japanese and sent the rest fleeing. Other platoons of the 2/17th began to advance up the Song River fighting only limited skirmishes. The 2/13th meanwhile were sending two companies towards Siki Cove where they had to clear a few pillboxes taking some Japanese prisoners. Windeyers forces then launched an attack against Katika. Makes me think of the show Vikings haha (do a Floki thing). A company led by Lt Pike passed through Katika at 6:45am, heading for some high ground beyond. There Pike's men ran into some strong resistance. Another platoon led by Lt Birmingham ran into a Japanese position who tossed a ton of well directed grenades their way killing 3 men and wounding 7. Pike's platoon stormed some huts seeing the Japanese begin a encirclement maneuver against him. Luckily the encirclement was thwarted with the help of another platoon led by Lt Cribb. Companies of the 2/17th and 2/13th were led by Pike and Cribb respectively and both found themselves close against one another. Cribb informed Pike he would launch a bombardment upon the enemy holding some high grounds allowing Pikes men to make a hook maneuver to hit the enemy. Under the cover of 15 3 inch mortars they hit the Japanese, ultimately taking the village at the cost of many men.  While Scarlet Beaches defensive perimeter was being consolidated, the 2/13th advanced south towards Heldsbac and Tareko as Barbey's destroyers were attacked by an air strike. 20 bombers, 10 torpedo bombs and 40 fighters had come over from Rabaul to hit the landing beach. Three American fighter squadrons were waiting to intercept them, successfully shooting down 10 bombers and 29 fighters, while losing 3 lightnings. Likewise the destroyers anti aircraft fire managed to take down 9 torpedo bombers, without receiving any significant hits back. Scarlet Beach was now in allied hands. 5300 troops, 180 vehicles, 32 guns and 180 tons of supplies had been landed successfully. The cost amounted to 20 dead australians, 65 wounded and 9 men missing. For the Americans 8 engineers were killed with 42 wounded. Yet again the rapid pace of the allies had caught the Japanese off guard upsetting their plans to reinforce Finschhafen. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The landing at Scarlet beach was a large success. The Japanese had planned to reinforce Finschhafen with 5000 troops, but now they had been caught completely off guard and would only have a fraction of the troops they wanted to support the area. In New Guinea, when it rains it pours.   

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Roman Tomakiv is originally from Ukraine and is now a proud Austinite! Roman is the owner & General Manager of Casago North Hill Country, a full service vacation rentals & property management company servicing the Texas Hill Country. With 10+ years of real estate investing experience, Roman's portfolio includes STR & multifamily properties and more! For more on Roman: https://casago.com/texas-hill-country-north/property-management/ www.linkedin.com/in/roman-tomkiv-58381610 roman_hospitality_expert The Moorhead Team is excited to bring you information about investing in real estate in the Central Texas area! More information can be found at our website at www.themoorheadteam.com and our YouTube page The Moorhead Team. We're always aiming to bring you great free content about investing in real estate in Austin, TX! Make sure to sign up for our email list for off market properties and market updates!

The vote Monday means another Akron neighborhood, North Hill, will have to wait for a building replacement.

I had the honor of sitting with my dear friend and restaurant owner, Mr. David Hayes, owner, and operator of North Hill on Garland Restaurant. I asked him some tough questions about where he started, his leadership philosophies, and how he leads his team in a very competitive and sometimes unforgiving industry. David was candid, gentlemanly, and shared some very intimate portions of his life that shed some light on traditional leadership traits that, if used correctly, never waiver and are still value-added today!  www.northhillongarland.com

In 2006, Sam Hughes was found beaten to death in his home in Akron's North Hill neighborhood. Hughes was a small-time drug dealer who mostly sold marijuana to friends, but his new addiction to cocaine might have let new and dangerous people into his life. He left behind family and friends who had been trying to help Sam get his life back in order. Our UNRESOLVED series is in partnership with the Akron Beacon Journal. Stories on this case are also available at beaconjournal.com. ohiomysteries.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's show: The province wants in on arena deal talks in Calgary. It's liaison, Ric McIver, and Minister of Municipal Affairs, Rebecca Schulz, join us; and we hear about a bike train that's running in Calgary's North Hill neighbourhood.

Fireworks Displays in AkronJust a quick update as we weren't sure what the deal is with holiday firework displays.The downtown fireworks display will be set off at the conclusion of the RubberDucks baseball game Monday night.The city's other firework displays will be launched from Patterson Park Sports Complex in North Hill and the Akron Executive Airport at 9:45 p.m. in East Akron.The Akron RubberDucks said Friday that Monday's scheduled 7:05 p.m. game against the Altoona Curve is also still on.The ball club is also still planning to host a showing of "Space Jam: A New Legacy" on the ballpark's giant video screen on Sunday night.Fans can watch the movie from the seats or on a blanket in the outfield and stay behind to watch a fireworks display afterwards.Tickets are $10 at the gate to help raise money for the Summa Health Foundation.Gates open at 6 p.m. and the movie starts around 7 p.m.For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://www.milb.com/akron.UPDATE: These were later cancelledFull Listing of Fireworks in Northeast OhioThe Beacon has a great list HERECourtesy of the Beacon JournalSupport the ShowIf you found this information valuable, please consider supporting the show at www.akronpodcast.com/valueSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/akron-podcast/donations

Cherie Leeden, President and CEO of Gold Bull Resources (TSX.V:GBRC – OTCQB:GBRCF) joins us to recap yesterday’s drill results from the Sandman Project that expanded...

In 2004, 29-year-old DeShawn Brown, a minor celebrity in Akron where he had once been the city's greatest high school football talent, was shot through the window of his North Hill apartment. Police struggled to find a motive, and soon learned it was possible Brown was never the intended target at all. Ohio Mysteries: http://www.ohiomysteries.com Akron Beacon Journal: http://www.beaconjournal.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to ElecSoul, This recording was taken on location from the of outstanding beauty, Malvern UK, I used Denon Prime Go https://www.denondj.com/prime-go & my trusty Mevo https://www.mevo.com/pages/mevo-camera Start video camera, camera to see if this magical location would inspire my music selection. About Malvern: 

 Great Malvern is an area of the spa town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and is the historic centre of Malvern and includes its town centre. Sir Edward Elgar, British composer and Master of the King's Music, lived much of his life around Malvern and is buried in Little Malvern Roman Catholic churchyard. I hope you enjoy the show as much as I did recording it. Message me if you'd like to connect or collaborate on future music projects. Tracklist: Aggayu - (U)nity feat Pedrito Martinez & Lauren Desberg https://enniostyles.bandcamp.com/track/aggayu I Can't Stand the Rain - Akua Allrich feat Nicholas Payton https://enniostyles.bandcamp.com/track/i-cant-stand-the-rain Heaven's Here - Robert Glasper https://robertglasper.bandcamp.com Falling (feat. Anti Lilly) - Awon, Phoniks https://awonandphoniks.com/track/falling-ft-anti-lilly Summertime (Can't Wait For It) - John Parm, Loveni, Nancy Khadra https://johnparm.bandcamp.com/track/summertime-cant-wait-for-it Freckles (Bluestaeb remix) - Modha, Bluestaeb, James Chatburn https://modha.bandcamp.com/track/freckles-feat-james-chatburn-2 Thank You Master (For My Soul) - Sons of James, Rob Milton, DJ Harrison https://freshselects.bandcamp.com/album/everlasting I been - Def Sound https://defsound.bandcamp.com/track/i-been Power (Kaidi Tatham Power-Up remix) - Yoru, Kaidi Tatham https://shop.rudimentaryrecords.com/track/power-kaidi-tatham-power-up-remix Silver (Who Stole The groove?) - Marc Moulin https://www.discogs.com/release/348827-Marc-Moulin-Silver la la la that's how it goes (Jordan Rakei Remix) - Honne https://soundcloud.com/hellohonne/la-la-la-thats-how-it-goes-2?utm_source=clipboard&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Fhellohonne%252Fla-la-la-thats-how-it-goes-2

Today we tried a pizza we've never had before, Scustie's Super Pizza on the North Hill in New Castle! Spoiler alert: we love pizza

Adapted by Julie Hoverson from a story by Phillips Barbee (pseudonym of Robert Sheckley) Published in Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1952   Classic era science fiction about a very odd visitor from outer space.   Cast List Professor Michaels - Grant Baciocco (Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd) Frank Connors - Bryan Hendrickson Mrs. Jones - Kimberly Poole (Warp'd Space) Sheriff Flynn - Glen Hallstrom General O'Donnell - Chuck Burke Allenson, scientist - Cary Ayers Moriarty, physicist - Eleiece Krawiec Brigadier-General - H. Keith Lyons Driver - Cary Ayers Soldier1 - John Carroll Soldier2 - Lothar Tuppan Pilot - Mark Olson The Leech - Suzanne Dunn, Will Watt, James Sedgwick, Julie Hoverson Many thanks to Project Gutenberg and Librivox for curating these classic stories. [Link to The Leech in short sci fi collection 24 at Librivox] Music by  misterscott99 [Thanx to Steve Guy for suggesting searching YouTube for a Theramin artist!!] Editing and Sound:   Julie Hoverson Cover Design:  Brett Coulstock   "What kind of a place is it? Why it's a cabin in upstate New York, can't you tell?" ************************************************ The Leech By Phillips Barbee (Robert Sheckley), Galaxy Science Fiction December 1952 Cast: [Opening credits - Olivia] The Leech Frank Connors, assistant Professor Michaels, anthropologist Mrs. Jones, housekeeper Sheriff Flynn / Jerry General O'Donnell / driver Allenson, scientist Moriarty, atomic physicist [bring in the leech voice, subtle, under the opening credits] LEECH A LEECH    hungry.  Empty.  hungry.  Empty. hungry.  hungry.  Empty [repeats under] OLIVIA     Did you have any trouble finding it?  What do you mean, what kind of a place is it?  Why, it's a professor's rural retreat, circa 1952, can't you tell?  LEECH    falling falling falling heat impact FOOD!  ...eat. MUSIC STING   1_BIG NEWS AMBIANCE    OUTDOORS, BREEZE, CREAK OF HAMMOCK SOUND    [OFF A BIT]  KNOCK ON DOOR, SCREEN DOOR OPENS MRS. JONES    What? FRANK     Where's the prof?  I have to talk to him! MRS. JONES    You can give me his mail, young man. FRANK    But this is big news! MRS. JONES    If it's school business-- FRANK    It's not! MRS. JONES    It can still wait.  This is Professor Michaels' resting week, and you know it.  SOUND    SCREEN DOOR SLAMS MRS. JONES    [fading out] Bad enough those army convoys have to drive by at all hours of the day and night. FRANK    Wait!  Oh, heck. SOUND    A COUPLE OF STEPS ON WOOD PROF    [sigh] [calling]  Conners?  What the devil are you on about? SOUND    FOOTSTEPS ON GRAVEL FRANK     Oh!  Professor!  Say - I'm awfully sorry to disturb you, but there's something damn funny out in the ditch. PROF    Ditch? SOUND    DOOR OPENS MRS. JONES    Oh, you!  I told him to go, professor! PROF    It's all right, Mrs. Jones.  I'll handle this. MRS. JONES    Dinner in half an hour!  You know how you get when you don't eat. SOUND    DOOR SHUTS FRANK     So, the ditch.  Didja hear me?  There's something weird. PROF    Of course I heard you.  [sigh]  You found a pixie.  Feed him some milk, and go away. FRANK     No sir, I think it's a... a rock. PROF    A rock.  In the road.  How quaint.  FRANK    But sir-- PROF    [annoyed, but languid]  What is your job, Frank? FRANK    Sir? PROF    If you don't know, then perhaps I should hire someone else. FRANK    I'm to keep everyone off you while you relax.  See to the mail, the shopping. PROF    And does any of that involve spotting "rocks"? FRANK    No. PROF    Warning me of rocks? FRANK    No. PROF    Protecting me from rocks? FRANK    No, but-- PROF    So move the rock and get on with your-- FRANK    But sir, I tried!  See? SOUND    SHOVEL MOVEMENT PROF    [sigh] what?  [sharper] What? SOUND    DOOR SLAMS OPEN MRS. JONES    What on god's green earth did you do to my shovel, young man? FRANK    I didn't do anything.  The rock thing did! MUSIC   LEECH B SOUND    [UNDER] FEET ON GRAVEL LEECH    food dull food warm light FOOD cold dark food slow food sloooooow... MUSIC   2_THE LEECH AMBIANCE    OUTDOORS SOUND    WALKING QUICKLY FRANK    [a bit breathless] I really wouldn't have bothered you for just nothing, but look! SOUND    DOINK ON METAL FRANK    Two inches!  It melted two inches right off! SOUND    FEET HALT PROF    [incredulous] That?  FRANK    That!  You can see it better from up close. PROF    Shh!  SOUND    SLOWER FOOTSTEPS PROF    [whispered] Do you hear anything? FRANK    [whispered] No.  I mean, not beyond birds and things. PROF    [grim] Neither do I. FRANK    So? PROF    [brighter]  Well, it's indicative of something, isn't it? SOUND    BRISKER FOOTSTEPS PROF    You have a notebook on you?  FRANK    No. PROF    Anything to write on? FRANK    Uh, no.  Just - just your mail. PROF    Here.  SOUND    SHUFFLE ENVELOPES PROF    No... no... no... Ah.  Here.  They won't notice if I don't respond. SOUND    SLAPS PAPER INTO HAND FRANK    Okay. PROF    We have what appears to be a round item of a stone-like appearance.  Greyish-black and striated. SOUND    JUGGLE SHOVEL, WRITING NOISES FRANK    Gotcha. PROF    [dictating] Sitting in the ditch.  Nearest edge, say, three feet off the road. FRANK    It's a bit farther than that, isn't it? PROF    I wouldn't say so. FRANK    [acquiescing] Okay. PROF    About the size of a truck tire. FRANK    No, really now, I think you have your proportions mixed up... SOUND    WALKS FORWARD FRANK    [dismayed] Oh. PROF    What?  Think I'm getting senile or something? FRANK    No, just... PROF    "Just" is not quantifiable.  Just spit it out. FRANK    It was smaller.  Before. PROF    How much smaller? FRANK    I dunno - an inch maybe.  But definitely smaller. PROF    Find me a stick. FRANK    A... stick? PROF    Here. [give me that] SOUND    TAKES SHOVEL FRANK    Don't touch it! PROF    I'm not planning to.  Not yet. SOUND    A COUPLE OF STEPS, DRAGGING SOUND PROF    As you observe, I am drawing a line approximately three inches beyond the edge of the thing. FRANK    [noting] Three inches.  Got it. PROF    Now, we'll have something to measure by in case it grows again. FRANK    Right. PROF    Now.  Let's see what happens. SOUND    METAL ON STONE - SORT OF SOUND    SIZZLING NOISE PROF    It's not unyielding - the shovel seems to sink in-- FRANK    Oh no it's not! SOUND    SCRAPE PROF    What?  Aha!  You're right.  It's not sinking in, it's being melted away.  Gives the same impression.  Odd how the mind interprets things.... FRANK    I think it just got bigger. PROF    Really? FRANK    I was watching, and I think it swelled a little. PROF    Could be heat waves.  I suspect something like this would reflect like asphalt.  But let's test it.  The shovel's not good for much any more anyway. SOUND    METAL ON STONE GRATE, SIZZLING FRANK    Don't touch it! PROF    My hand is nowhere near touching it.  I merely want to see... FRANK    Look!  It's getting larger!  I can see it! SOUND    WOOD ON STONE PROF    [impressed] Well!  [clinical] But it generates no appreciable heat.  Odd.  I would assume some sort of acidic chemical reaction, which would almost invariably generate heat.  FRANK    And it grew!  Just a fraction of an inch-- PROF    I was paying attention to other things.  [sigh] SOUND    WOOD LANDS ON STONE, SIZZLING FRANK    D'you see it swelling? PROF    I doubt there was enough left of that handle to do much.  What else--? FRANK    Rocks? PROF    Sound thinking. SOUND    PICK UP SOME ROCKS, DROP THEM, SIZZLE FRANK    Isn't that just about the damnedest thing you ever saw, Professor?  What do you think it is? PROF    It's no stone...  I'm going to phone the college and ask a physics man about it.  Or a biologist. I'd like to get rid of that thing before it spoils my lawn. MUSIC   LEECH C LEECH    food sharp food fall food lie food move moist food dry food grow food air grow bigger grow.... wake! MUSIC   3_BACON AMBIANCE    IN PROF'S HOUSE SOUND    DISTANT POUNDING ON DOOR MRS. JONES    What is it?  SOUND    BUSTLING THROUGH HOUSE SOUND    DOOR YANKED OPEN MRS. JONES    You better have a brilliant explanation for this-- FRANK    Absolutely vital.  Professor Michaels knows‑‑ PROF    I'm coming.  It had better be particularly important to drag me away from Mrs. Jones' bacon. MRS. JONES    [amused annoyance] And Mrs. Jones better leave you boys to your business and see to her bacon before it all burns away. SOUND    BUSTLES OFF FRANK    It's nearly eighteen feet across! PROF    The thing? FRANK    Yup!  PROF    I was trying some acids on it yesterday, and nothing seemed to even ruffle it. FRANK    None of them? PROF    Nope.  I'll finagle a bacon sandwich or two and we'll head out presently. MUSIC   LEECH D LEECH    so small.  how is one so small.  one was large.  one was grand.  Miniscule now.  Hungry.  sooooo hungry.  food is slow. Dull.  Eat... MUSIC   4_SHERIFF AMBIANCE    OUTDOORS, AT THE SITE FRANK    See what I mean? PROF    Seems the larger it gets, the faster it grows.  Not surprising, if what I suspect is happening is true. FRANK    What's that?  PROF    Say it absorbs whatever it touches.  The more surface area, the more it can touch, the more it can absorb. FRANK    That's not good.  It's like some kind of... of leech. PROF    I don't know that I would characterize it so narrowly just yet, Frank-- SOUND    CAR DRIVES UP, STOPS FRANK    Morning Sheriff! SHERIFF    Morning.  What the devil is this? PROF    Don't know.  Just showed up. SHERIFF    Ha. Ha.  We gotta get it out of the road!  Something like this, you can't let it block the road.  The Army's gotta use this road. FRANK    We didn't-- PROF    Shh.  [up, dry] Terribly sorry.  Go right ahead and move it, Sheriff. But be careful. It's hot. FRANK    [quiet] Hot? PROF    [quiet] Close enough. SHERIFF    Should just be able to-- SOUND    OPENS TRUNK SHERIFF    Where is the--? FRANK    [quiet] Shouldn't we warn him? PROF    [quiet] We'll stop him if he goes to touch it.  But if he doesn't see for himself, he'll never buy it. FRANK    Oh. MUSIC   LEECH E SOUND    [UNDER] METAL HITTING STONE, GUNSHOTS SHERIFF    [frustrated noise] LEECH    slow food.  fast!  energy impact.  ahhhhhh.  more.   more hit.  more energy.  give! MUSIC   5_MONKEY'S UNCLE AMBIANCE    OUTDOORS, AT THE SITE SHERIFF    Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. PROF    [quiet] That would make deputy Jerry, there, "cheetah".   FRANK    [snickers] PROF    Ready to listen yet, sheriff? SOUND    ARMY CONVOY APPROACHING SHERIFF    What?  Hey look!  NOW we'll get some action! PROF    [quiet] That's rather what I'm afraid of. MUSIC   LEECH F SOUND     [UNDER]     CONVOY STOPS, IDLES, DOORS OPEN, ETC. LEECH    more energy.  more food.  need.  senses very dim.  Thoughts very dim.  grow.  waken more.  food. MUSIC   6_ARMY AMBIANCE    OUTDOORS, AT THE SITE O'DONNELL    You can't block this road.  Clear that away. PROF    Sorry.  It's not ours.  And we can't seem to do anything with it. O'DONNELL    What in sam hill is it? FRANK    A leech. SHERIFF    A what? PROF    [annoyed but covering] Simply a name to refer to it by - we have no real idea what it is. O'DONNELL    But you've tried moving it? PROF    Every way we could think of. O'DONNELL    Crowbar? FRANK    Didn't help. O'DONNELL    Blowtorch? PROF    More or less.  No effect. O'DONNELL    Gunshot? SHERIFF    Sad to say... O'DONNELL    [calling orders] Driver?  Ride over that thing. FRANK    But sir! PROF    Shh. SOUND    JEEP STARTS INTO GEAR FRANK    [to prof] We have to stop him! PROF    You thought the sheriff was bad, having to see it first?  This is the military. FRANK    Oh. SOUND    JEEP ROLLS FORWARD SLOWLY, TAKES A BUMP, THEN HALTS, SIZZLING SNEAKS IN, UNDER. O'DONNELL    [bellowing] I didn't tell you to stop! DRIVER    I didn't stop it, sir! O'DONNELL    Get moving! DRIVER    It's stalled out sir! PROF    General?  Pardon me, but if you look closely, you'll see that the tires are melting down. SOUND    POP, HISS OF TIRE FRANK    Yikes! O'DONNELL    Criminee!  [orders] Driver!  Jump clear!  Don't touch any of that grey stuff! MUSIC   LEECH G SOUND     [UNDER] DRIVER CLIMBS ONTO HOOD OF CAR AND JUMPS LEECH    large food.  energy.  much movement.  nice.  hungry.  more large?  Need food.  waking waking... more self, more hungry.  need food MUSIC   7_JEEP AMBIANCE    OUTDOORS, AT THE SITE SOUND    CAR SLOWLY SINKING INTO THE THING, MUCH SIZZLING DRIVER    It's up to the chassis already! O'DONNELL    How fast can it eat? PROF    [quiet] you are keeping track aren't you? FRANK    Sure thing, professor!  It's been about three minutes, give or take a few. PROF    Make a note - Frank needs a stopwatch. FRANK    Oh.  Ok.  Right. SOUND    SCRIBBLING O'DONNELL    You called this thing a leech, professor? PROF    As I said, it is nothing but a name to refer to it by. O'DONNELL    But it is leeching, far as I can tell - eating anything that gets near it. PROF    Which bodes rather ill for the underside. O'DONNELL    Whazzat? PROF    You're only thinking about things that get near it on the top - who knows how far below this thing may have eaten away the dirt, or even the bedrock. FRANK    Dirt and stones do seem to digest a bit slower. O'DONNELL    You've been experimenting with it, eh?  Did you by any chance MAKE this thing with one of your experiments, professor? PROF    [sigh]  First, general, I am not that type of scientist.  I am a professor of anthropology.  I do, however, understand scientific method and felt that if we established some parameters up front, such as rate of growth, speed of dissolution, etc., we might be able to more easily convince some of my hard science colleagues to come and have a look. O'DONNELL    [after a pause] So you say. SOUND    MARCHES OFF FRANK    You did that on purpose, didn't you?  PROF    [over innocent] did what? FRANK    Oh, no - don't play innocent!  I've seen you lecture someone til their eyes glazed over, before this! PROF    [chuckle] DRIVER    [background]  There goes the aerial! SOUND    SIZZLING OUT O'DONNELL    [commands, off] You!  DRIVER    Sir!  Yes sir! O'DONNELL    [commands, off] Go back and have some men bring up hand grenades and dynamite! DRIVER    Yes sir! FRANK    That will get it! PROF    I am not so sure. O'DONNELL    [from off, yelling to prof] I don't know what you've got here, but it's not going to stop a U.S. Army convoy! PROF    I pray he's right. MUSIC   LEECH H SOUND UNDER    EXPLOSIONS - HAND GRENADES AND DYNAMITE LEECH    waking more.  thinking more.  sensing more.  hungry. [boom] food!  yes yes food! [boom]  Ahhhhh eat and grow.  [bullets] mass and movement.  energy.  more.  yes.  please!  [huge explosion]  yesssssss! MUSIC   8_EVACUATE AMBIANCE    OUTDOORS, NEAR PROF'S HOUSE SOUND    WOOD CRACKING THROUGHOUT UNDER MRS. JONES    Well, I never. PROF    Did you get everything moved out all right? MRS. JONES    Well, yes, but I've cooked for you in that very house for nearly ten years now.  Where am I supposed to feel at home?  Where are you? [supposed to feel at home] PROF    [muttered] That may not be a problem for long. SOUND    HUGE CRACK, SHATTER OF GLASS MRS. JONES    There goes the front porch!  Who would have thought such a terrible thing could spread so darn far? PROF    The government surely didn't. MRS. JONES    It looks like one of them - what's the word?  Blasted heath.  Yes.  That's exactly what a blasted heath would look like. PROF    [musing] Or a cooled lava flow.  [snapping out] Either way, it's pretty darn blasted. MRS. JONES    Blasted leech. SOUND    FEET ARRIVING PROF    I do wish people would stop calling it that. SOLDIER    Pardon me, sir?  General O'Donnell would like to see you at the command post. PROF    Right.  I already know the end to this little melodrama.  [to soldier] See to it Mrs. Jones gets back to the city, will you? SOLDIER    Sir, I'm supposed to escort you-- PROF    But I know where I'm going.  She does not. SOLDIER    Yes, sir! MUSIC   LEECH I SOUND    CRUSHING HOUSE UNDER LEECH    slow food.  want fast food.  more awake now.  why no more fast come.  good energy.  big food.  hungry.  more food make more pieces.  more pieces make more hungry.  more hungry wants more food.  MUSIC   9_PERIMETER AMBIANCE    OUTDOORS, AT THE EDGE OF THE LARGER SITE SOUND    CROWD NOISE, FADING IN PROF    What's that over there? SOLDIER2    Perimeter.  Barbed wire.  Half mile out. PROF    I doubt the barbed wire is making all that noise. SOLDIER2    Oh, them.  Reporters.  Rubberneckers. FRANK    [calling from off] Professor! PROF    Assistants. SOLDIER2    You need assistance? PROF    Just my assistant.  Let him in would you? SOLDIER2    I don't have any orders-- PROF    Well, he takes all my notes, so I guess I'll have to stay within earshot.  Which ends about here. SOLDIER2    But the general-- PROF    Will it be easier to move the general, or my assistant, do you think? SOLDIER2    Um... MUSIC   10_HQ AMBIANCE    INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT SOUND    TENT FLAP SWOOP, PROF AND FRANK ENTER TENT O'DONNELL    I've been put in charge of operation leech.  Ah, professor... and...? PROF    My assistant.  He is also the one who found this thing in the first place.  Absolutely indispensable. FRANK    Hi. O'DONNELL    Is he trustworthy? PROF    Think of him as my right arm. FRANK    The one he writes with. O'DONNELL    You're a professor, right? PROF    Yes. Anthropology. O'DONNELL    Good.  I'd like you to stay around in an advisory capacity.  I'd appreciate your observations on the... enemy. PROF    I think this is more in the line of a physicist or a biochemist. O'DONNELL    I don't want this place cluttered up with scientists.  FRANK    But he isn't-- O'DONNELL    Don't get me wrong. I have the greatest appreciation for science. I am, if I do say so, a scientific soldier. I'm always interested in the latest weapons. You can't fight any kind of a war any more without science. PROF    Of course not. O'DONNELL    But I can't have a team of longhairs poking around this thing for the next month, holding me up. My job is to destroy it, by any means in my power, and at once. I am going to do just that. PROF    I don't think it will be that easy. O'DONNELL    That's what you're here for.  Tell me what the problem is, and I'll figure out how to solve it. FRANK    [muttered] Usually a scientist's job. PROF    Very well.  As far as I can figure out, this thing-- O'DONNELL    The leech. PROF    It isn't really-- O'DONNELL    It's the codename. FRANK    [muttered] I'm the one who called it that in the first place. PROF    The "leech" appears to be an organic mass-energy converter, and a frighteningly efficient one.  I'm guessing here, and keep in mind that this is really not my-- O'DONNELL    Get on with it. PROF    It appears to convert external mass into energy, then back into its own internal mass.  Energy is directly converted into the body mass.  How this takes place, I do not know.  The leech is not protoplasmic.  It may not even be cellular-- O'DONNELL    So we need something big against it.  That's all right, then.  I've got plenty of big stuff here. FRANK    Oh boy! PROF    I don't think you understand me.  Let me rephrase.  [intense] The leech eats energy!  It will consume any energy weapon you use against it. O'DONNELL    [considering]  And what happens if it keeps on eating? PROF    I think it will only be limited by its food source. O'DONNELL    So when it runs out, we'll all be safe? PROF    When it runs out, we'll all be gone. MUSIC   LEECH J LEECH    senses growing.  Feel moving food.  Sitting food.  Food near.  Food far.  Waiting for food to come near.  Hungrrrrry. MUSIC   11_NEED HELP AMBIANCE    INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT PROF    I insist you contact some physicists.  Biologists and chemists too.  Give them a chance to figure out how to nullify it.  I can give you some names. O'DONNELL    I don't have time to wait while a passel of scientists wrangle!  I have this axiom - Muster enough force, and anything will give.  Anything. FRANK    [muttered] Military thinking. O'DONNELL    [pleased] Thanks. PROF    [sigh] But I am not that kind of-- O'DONNELL    Don't sell yourself short, Prof!  And don't underestimate the army.  We have, massed under North Hill - right over there - the greatest accumulation of energy and radioactive weapons ever assembled in one spot.  I bet even this leech won't withstand the full force of all that. FRANK    [worried] Professor? PROF    [doubtful] I suppose it could be possible to overload the thing.  O'DONNELL    [smug] I'll go and give some orders.  We're gonna crack that leech in half! SOUND    HE LEAVES FRANK    Did he listen to a single thing you said? PROF    [sigh] He is the military. FRANK    Then why are you - we - even here? PROF    I fear the general wants to be able to say he consulted a scientist.  I'm convenient since I can't possibly have a relevant opinion. MUSIC   LEECH K SOUND    [UNDER] RAY GUNS, EXPLOSIONS, ETC. LEECH    Fooooood!  Rich food!  Needing more!  Ray food, energy food, liquid food!  Needing more!  More food makes more hungry!!!!  Sensing.  Sensing for food.  Ahhhh.  THERE. MUSIC   12_STOCKPILE AMBIANCE    INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT O'DONNELL    [incredulous and furious] It did what?  SOUND    NANA OF VOICE ON WALKIE-TALKIE. FRANK    It flew! PROF    It might be better described as a type of hovering. O'DONNELL    Shh!  Over and out. SOUND    WALKIE SQUAWK - OFF PROF    [resigned] Where did it go? O'DONNELL    The damned fools!  Why'd they have to panic?  You'd think they'd never been trained! FRANK    They couldn't exactly expect that! PROF    [urgent] Where? O'DONNELL    North Hill.  [angry sigh]  Our armory. FRANK    But that's a whole mile away! PROF    At least.  O'DONNELL    Sixty-seven men died!  And the leech just - just jumped there! PROF    I still say it hovered.  It definitely moved with some sort of self-propulsion. FRANK    I'll write that down. PROF    The way it looked, it floated across the sky, blacking out the sun, and then, when it reached its goal, it simply dropped. O'DONNELL    [snarling] How can you be so clinical about this? FRANK    I - I- PROF    It's OUR job to take notes for the scientists you will eventually have to call in. MUSIC   LEECH L LEECH    So good!  So nice!  Rich food.  Much energy.  Growwww.  Yessss.  Ahhhh.  More cells.  Now, more hungry. MUSIC   13_EXPERTS AMBIANCE    INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT SOUND    PACING O'DONNELL    Haven't those eggheads made up their minds yet? We've had to evacuate six nearby farms. FRANK    It's not like choosing a tie. O'DONNELL    But they're the experts! PROF    No one's an expert on this.  It's never happened before.  The physicists consider it a biological matter, and the biologists seem to think the chemists should have the answer.  We can't even agree on whose problem it is! O'DONNELL    It's the military's problem!  I don't give a hang what the thing is!  I just want to know how to destroy it!  [offhand] They better give me permission to use the bomb. SOUND    STRIDES OFF FRANK    Will that work? PROF    Well, I have a theory. FRANK    Yes? PROF    Which I hope will remain a theory. FRANK    How can I make notes if you don't tell me? PROF    The Bomb might overload it.  MIGHT destroy it.  Or give it what it needs to grow big enough to devour the entire continent.  Sooner.  SOUND    FEET STRIDE BACK O'DONNELL    Still talking!  Gah!  I've been pushing for the Bomb for a week now!  And I'll get it, but not til they run out of doubletalk! FRANK    Could be a while. O'DONNELL    [intense] I am going to destroy that leech.  I am going to SMASH it, if it's the last thing I do!  It's gone beyond national security now.  THIS is personal. SOUND    STRIDES OFF PROF    I knew you shouldn't have named it. FRANK    Why? PROF    Once you name something, you get to thinking you KNOW it.  And no matter how much you think you won't, you start applying traits to it.  Anthropomorphizing it.  Attaching motives and feelings to it. FRANK    Who says it doesn't feel? PROF    It does. O'DONNELL    [from off] Here come the bright boys now! MUSIC   LEECH M LEECH    So big.  Big now.  Big makes hungry.  So much to fill.  So much to feed.  Need more.  More good rich food. MUSIC   14_SCIENTISTS AMBIANCE    INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT O'DONNELL    Well, have you figured out what it is yet? ALLENSON    [weary sarcasm] Just a minute - I'll hack off a sample.  Hah. O'DONNELL    [exasperated] Have you figured out some scientific way of killing it? MORIARTY    [dry, offhand] Oh, that wasn't difficult at all.  FRANK    Really? MORIARTY    Wrap it in a perfect vacuum.  That'll do the trick.  Or blow it off the earth with anti-gravity. FRANK    Can they really? PROF    Don't be silly. ALLENSON    Failing that, we suggest you use your atomic bombs and use them fast. O'DONNELL    Yes!  [vainly trying to curb his enthusiasm]  Is that the opinion of the entire think tank? MORIARTY    [sigh]  Yes. SOUND    GENERAL HURRIES OFF ALLENSON    He should have called us in immediately!  There's no time to consider anything but force now. PROF    Have you come to any conclusions about the nature of this thing? MORIARTY    Only general ones.  Very much in line with your notes and conclusions.  ALLENSON    As you mentioned, it's a perfect converter--it can transform mass into energy, and any energy into mass. MORIARTY     Naturally that's impossible and I have figures to prove it.  We're positing that this thing was in some dormant spore-stage until it was pulled in by the earth's gravity. ALLENSON    Incidentally, we should be damned grateful that it didn't land in the ocean.  We'd have been eaten out of house and home-- FRANK    Literally. ALLENSON    --before we even knew what we were looking for. PROF    [musing] I wonder how long it will take him to get permission to use the bomb. MUSIC   LEECH N LEECH    slow grow.  Hungry.  No grow.  Dull food not enough.  Want more.  Want grow.  Want be big again. MUSIC   15_BOMBS AMBIANCE    INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT O'DONNELL    Brigadier-General, with all due respect sir, how many MORE scientists can there be?  We've been waiting for-- BRIG-GENERAL    [on phone] Washington had to explore every alternative before detonating an atomic bomb in the middle of New York! O'DONNELL    So now I can use the bomb? BRIG-GENERAL    We need some time to evacuate people in an orderly fashion. O'DONNELL    Sir!  This leech is still growing!  We have to stop it before it gets out of hand! FRANK    Bit late for that. PROF    Shh.  He's doing the best he can. BRIG-GENERAL    We've signed you out five bombs.  Use them well.  But not until the order comes through. MUSIC   LEECH O LEECH    slowing.  Drowsing.  Waiting.  Cells starving.  Too much need food.  Tired... SOUND    EXPLOSION LEECH    YESSSS!  Foooooood!  Much!  Too much!  Holding!  Choking!  No!  straining....  straining!  More cells.  Need more cells!  Building!  Feeeeeeeeding!  Choking?  [beat] No.  SOUND    BOMB LEECH    Enough cells now.  Rich food.  More.  Grow.  Build.  JOY. MUSIC   16_SIXTY MILES AMBIANCE    INSIDE NEW HEADQUARTERS TENT O'DONNELL    Sixty miles across. PROF    There was no way to know. O'DONNELL    This was supposed to KILL it. FRANK    At least there was no fallout. PROF    I'm sure it ate THAT too. O'DONNELL    I have to KILL IT!  Do you hear me!  The blasted thing has spread all the way to the Adirondacks! FRANK    What's next?  More bombs? PROF    I don't think it's advisable.  If we throw enough at it to crack it, we might crack open the earth's crust. O'DONNELL    The leech has to be blown up quick.  What are the bright boys hedging for? PROF    They don't know what will happen.  The concentration of bombs it would require-- O'DONNELL    Perhaps they'd like me to order a bayonet attack. FRANK    They've got to do something. PROF    It's frustrating.  I keep feeling like I should be doing more, but this simply isn't my area of expertise!  That thing thrives on force - and the scientists don't have time to consider any alternatives. FRANK    Fight fire with fire. PROF    But it's not fire.  Fire is fickle.  Fire is Loki.  Fire is a trickster.  This thing is...  is... O'DONNELL    Where the heck are the scientists? SOUND    TENT FLAP ALLENSON    [coming in] We've finished the calculations. O'DONNELL    Good.  I'll call in the strike. MORIARTY    There's a damned good chance of splitting the earth wide open with that much power! O'DONNELL    You have to take chances in war.  FRANK    He doesn't even care! PROF    He cares.  He just doesn't care about that.  Hercules himself couldn't turn the general from his course. ALLENSON    Hear us out! O'DONNELL    Your own calculations show that the leech is now growing at twenty feet per hour.  So how much time is that before it reaches this post? FRANK    He's got a point. PROF    [musing]  Hercules....  Something... ALLENSON    And speeding up.  But this can't be done in haste-- PROF    Aha!  O'DONNELL    What? PROF    I may have a counter-offer. O'DONNELL    Does it involve me blowing up the leech? PROF    It's a very dim chance, but...  [trails off] O'DONNELL    Yes? PROF    have you ever heard of Antaeus? MUSIC   LEECH P LEECH    more large.  more thought.  More memory.  Large rock and dirt and stone food.  Devoured.  Joy.  Huge mass of combustibles - light and heat and energy!  Food.  True joy!  SOUND    MEMORY SOUNDS LEECH    then all devoured.  Dark.  Cold.  Empty.  Cells Shrinking, dying, self-devouring self.  Moving.  Seeking.  Food. MUSIC   17_DRONE SHIP AMB    OUTSIDE SOUND    SMALL PLANE PASSES OVERHEAD FRANK    So that's what a drone looks like. PROF    Pretty much like any other rocket ship.  The pilot just happens to be over there in the tent. O'DONNELL    I hope you're right about this, professor. MORIARTY    The calculations all validate the hypothesis.  If what you said about the creature's motivational capability is accurate-- FRANK    There it goes! O'DONNELL    Straight up!  Son of a biscuit! PROF    It's - it's - enormous! MUSIC   LEECH Q SOUND    FIGHTER PLANE BUZZES PAST LEECH    Food!  Rich food!  Above!  Out of reach!  Why not fall?  Come to me?  Food!  ... seek. SOUND    BUZZ OF FIGHTER PLANE MOVING AWAY LEECH    heat!  Small food.  Cold!  Nothing.  Ah, little flying food, come to - oh.  Oh, yes.  Far.  There.  Huge bright glowing mass of combustibles.  Food. MUSIC   18_ANTAEUS AMBIANCE    OUTDOORS FRANK    Wow.  Now, that's a crater. PROF    You can look at it later.  I keep worrying that I've missed something. FRANK    But the leech is gone, professor!  Right up and out of the atmosphere. PROF    There's no way to be sure it won't come back. FRANK    Everybody's going to be watching for the leech. PROF    Please don't call it that. FRANK    What then?  Antaeus?  Who's that anyway? PROF    Greek Mythology.  Son of Gaea and Poseidon - the earth goddess and sea god.  He was an invincible wrestler, drawing his strength from the earth itself. FRANK    His mom.  Apron strings, even in mythology. PROF    [chuckles]  Well, Hercules had to wrestle him, and every time Hercules threw him to the ground, he rose refreshed.  FRANK    Didn't Hercules know about the earth? PROF    He figured it out.  After that, he just held Antaeus up in the air until he gave up. O'DONNELL    [off slightly] Come on, join me in some champagne.  Even you brainy folks can use a little celebration! MORIARTY    [happily] Maybe just a sip! ALLENSON    I don't mind if I do. FRANK    Be there in a minute!  [to prof] So the fighter rocketship they sent up will just keep leading it around in space til it gets tired and drops dead? O'DONNELL    Better.  It's going to take it right into the sun.  Big or not, the damn thing can't eat THAT. PROF    Lord, I hope not.  O'DONNELL    [to pilot] How's the ship, pilot? PILOT    Just reached the orbit of Mercury, sir. O'DONNELL    Fine!  Fine.  I swore to destroy that thing.  Not the way I wanted to do it - too far out to see it go up with my own eyes - If I had a choice, it would be more personal.  But the important thing is the destruction.  Destruction is at times a sacred mission.  Man, I feel wonderful! MORIARTY    [panicky]  Turn the rocket!!!!  TURN IT! O'DONNELL    What the devil? MORIARTY    Considering rate of growth, energy consumption capacity, and speed versus projected energy retention, figuring in the energy it will receive from the sun as it approaches-- O'DONNELL    Speak English! MORIARTY    [dire warning] It's gonna devour the sun. MUSIC   LEECH R LEECH    closer!  Closer!  More heat!  More light!  All!  Must have all!  Small rich food moving away.  Choice.  Nearby small food?  Far big food?  Hungry NOW.  Close first.  Catch quick, feed enough to move to big food.   Yes! MUSIC   19_TURN AWAY AMBIANCE    INSIDE HEADQUARTERS TENT PILOT    It's turning, sir! ALL    [general sounds of relief] ALLENSON    Take it out at right angles to the plane of the solar system. SOUND    RADAR [start much earlier] FRANK    So the blob is the leech and the dot is the ship? PROF    Yes.  O'DONNELL    What portion of the sky would the leech be in just now? MORIARTY    Somewhere out in that section - just over that tree. O'DONNELL    Fine.  [calling order back over shoulder]  Soldier!  Carry out your orders! ALL    [surprised concern - "what?" "huh"  "what are you up to?" etc.] FRANK    [calling] The dot is slowing down!  The blob is catching up! PROF    What are you up to, general? O'DONNELL    [grim satisfaction] I told you this was a personal matter.  I swore to destroy that leech.  We can never have any security while it is alive.  [chuckles triumphantly] I had that ship especially built. PROF    To do... what... precisely? O'DONNELL    Shall we look at the sky? SOUND    FEET, TENT FLAP, ETC. as they leave. O'DONNELL    Soldier? PILOT    Three seconds, sir! O'DONNELL    Push the button. PILOT    Yes, sir! FRANK     is something supposed to--  Whoah! MORIARTY    Not a good idea to look directly at the explosion! PROF    What... did... you... do? O'DONNELL    [smug]  That rocket was built around a hydrogen bomb.  I set it off at the contact moment. FRANK    How come there's no sound?  Thought there'd be a loud bang or something.  Is it like thunder? ALLENSON    Sound doesn't travel in a vacuum. PROF    [explaining] We're anthropologists.  O'DONNELL    [calling to pilot] Anything on the radar? PILOT    [from within] Nope!  Not a speck, sir. O'DONNELL    Men - and scientists - I have met the enemy and he is MINE.  Let's have some more of that champagne. PROF    I wish I was that sure. MUSIC   LEECH S LEECH    Catching food.  Slowing.  Tiring.  Catch.  Massive surge!  Too much!  Holding!  Holding!  Absorbing!  Building!  No!  No!  overload!  Too much!  Breaking!  Come apart!  Losing thought!  Losing cohesion!  Breaking.  Broken.  Shattered. SOUND    [long moment of silence, then in squeaky little voices:] LEECHETTE1    Hungry LEECHETTE2    Hungry LEECHETTE3    Hungry LEECHETTE4    cold.  hungry LEECHETTE5    Hungry [more and more leechettes until they populate the entire soundscape] LEECH    [MANY VOICES] hungry.  Empty.  hungry.  Empty. hungry.  hungry.  Empty [repeats under] MUSIC END CREDITS

A 15-year-old Minneapolis student who was shot Wednesday has died. Deshaun Hill, who played on the football team at North High School, passed away Thursday. This is an MPR News Evening update for February 11, 2022. Hosted by Hannah Yang. Our theme music is by Gary Meister. 

North Hill

Lord William Waldegrave of North Hill is the Provost of Eton College, a post he has held since 2009. He is a Distinguished Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and an Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Lord Waldegrave served as a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1979 to 1997 (representing the Bristol West constituency) including 16 years service as a Minister, of which seven years were as a Cabinet Minister. Educated at Oxford University and Harvard (a Kennedy Scholar), before entering Parliament he worked in the Cabinet Office in Whitehall; as Political Secretary to Prime Minister Edward Heath; and for GEC Ltd. From 1998-2008 he worked in the City, first at Deutsche Kleinwort Benson and then UBS. Lord Waldegrave was appointed Chairman of Coutts in January 2014 and is the Director of a number of companies. He is Chairman of the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, former Chairman of the Rhodes Trust, a Founder Trustee of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, a former Trustee and Chairman of the National Museum of Science and Industry and a Trustee of Cumberland Lodge.

In this episode of the Mile End Institute podcast, Co-Director, Dr Robert Saunders, is joined by Professor Christina von Hodenberg and William Waldegrave, Lord Waldegrave of North Hill, to discuss the thirtieth anniversary of German reunification. The panel discusses the historical context of a divided (and subsequently reunited) Germany, the 1989-90 revolution, the response of the British Government, and legacies of reunification.

Doritos, cake and ice cream make the essential shopping list, Featured home; 2403 W Mallon Ave, remodeled on a double lot, 3BR/1BA. Community highlight: North Hill, filled with mom and pop shops, restaurants, and 'funkiness', check out the historic Garland Theatre and The Milk Bottle Diner, enjoy three parks, tour homes made up of mid-priced ranchers, bungalows, and craftsman architecture. Matt reveals seven steps to combat Identity fraud; determine if you are a victim, file a fraud claim, file a police report with crime check (get a report number), go to credit bureau's and check your activity (consider freezing your credit), file a report with the FTC, record the steps you are taking to resolve, sign up for a credit monitoring service. Market update; downward inventory trend continues, overall sales volume is down, sales prices trend up, the market is extra hot for sellers. Follow us on the socials by searching the tag @EvoReal or visit us online at www.EvoReal.com

Comment nos origines raisonnent dans le streetwear actuel et la mode au sens large ? Quels ponts peut-on construire entre les artisans Africains et les créateurs de la diaspora ? On en parle avec Michael Friggit, co-fondateur de la marque Parisienne North Hill. Intro en musique : Wavy the Creator - 3 [Feat. Flohio] Y a koi : Samuel : -Lakeith Stanfield a pété les plomb -Hommage aux Riddims Cheetah : -Les 50 ans de Jay Z et toute sa discographie qui arrive sur les plateformes de streaming -Karabo Poppy qui collabore avec Jordan Interlude musical : Lucky Daye - Karma Crush Musical : Cheetah : -Lucky Daye - Karma -Nafasi - Ça finit pas Samuel : -Wavy the Creator - 3 -Zebra Katz - IN IN IN Interlude musical : Zebra Katz - IN IN IN Débat : Interview Michael Friggit, co-fondateur de North Hill Interlude musical : Nafasi - Ça finit pas Recommandations : Samuel : -Documentaire sur Diana Ross -La collaboration Dior avec 7 photographes africaines Cheetah : -Goût d'Afrique, le livre de cuisine de chef Anto -Chill Africa & Trap Africa - Afro New Year Interlude : Jux - Sugua [Feat. Diamond Platnumz] Dj set by Cheetah

Jodi and Rodney Matthews are founders and directors of Urban Vision. Urban Vision is a major ministry partner of Grace Church that focuses its efforts on the people of the North Hill and Elizabeth Park neighborhoods of Akron.

:29 - Ray’s first podcast began with a light conversation about reality TV shows, with Survivor entering its 37th season. Ray, Tony, Jeanne, and Steffany all talked about which reality shows they could and could not be a part of. 13:45 - Don Padgett III talked about next year’s Senior Players Championship as well as the Ryder Cup. 21:10 - Tim Tyrrell’s Hoban Knights football team is 5-0 and among the best in the state. Coach Tyrrell talked about his big matchup vs. Benedictine. 26:02 - Ray began his conversation with Senator Sherrod Brown on the Indians propelling towards next week’s playoffs, as well as his meeting with the United Mine Workers of America. 31:20 - Madhu Sharma is the acting executive director at the International Institute of Akron, and she joined Ray in studio to talk about their move to Summa St. Thomas in North Hill.

It’s been a busy summer so far for the Spoils crew, but we finally have a chance to catch up. Cody has a cool new job, Shane is starting another powerful visual storytelling project, this time in North Hill, and Ryan talks about his aspirations of being a roller-skating ref. From outdoor Zumba downtown, to duck derbies and roller skating parties, the fearless hosts count the many ways Akron is as much a cool summer spot as any vacation destination, especially during August.

This week we welcome Amber Cullen, organizer of “Until Name Becomes Prayer,” which takes place Monday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m. at Summit Artspace and will feature award-winning Samoan poet and educator William Alfred Nu’utupu Giles, who will stop through Akron as part of his national poetry tour. We also speak with Pumpkin, a Native-American artist, writer and speaker, whose pottery demonstrations will join a number of other local artists at the "Until Name Becomes Prayer" event, including Himalayan Music Academy (music/dance), Gum-Dip Theatre (theatre), Hula Fusion (dance), Akron BMe Community (poetry) and Poetry is Life Publishing (poetry). Pumpkin, who moved to the Akron area from the Southwest, shares an indigenous perspective to being an American and talks about how Giles’ visit will help raise native voices through creativity, meaningful discussion, arts and other avenues. Giles’ visit also will include writing workshops and open mics, like an "open mic response" Tuesday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m. at The Exchange House (760 Elma St., on North Hill). Visit the “Until Name Becomes Prayer” event page for info.

In this episode of Walk a Mile with Akron Leaders, Hillary Stewart, Senior Analyst in Performance Improvement at FirstEnergy and President of Torchbearers, joins Mark Scheffler, President of Leadership Akron, as they walk a mile through the North Hill Neighborhood that Hillary calls home. When Hillary and her husband were searching for their first home, staying local to Akron was their only stipulation—but when they looked at North Hill, the rich culture and endless opportunities sold the two. As Hillary looks forward to the year ahead as Torchbearers President, she also reflects on the collaborative partnership between Leadership Akron and Torchbearers. A Torchbearer since 2013, Hillary Stewart has been prepped and primed for her role as President. In this episode, Hillary sheds light on the trajectory that led her where she is today. Her love of Akron is only matched by her drive to provide emerging leaders with opportunities to connect and develop as she did through her Torchbearers experience. Full show notes here.

Gum-Dip Theatre Founder Katie Beck has been using the arts to transform communities in Akron. Her projects combine community organizing with social empowerment, and her participants are able to tell their stories using theatre as their medium. Katie sits down with Shane and Chris to talk about "Nepali Applause: An Open Air Market/Performance Festival," a two-day event at North Hill’s Exchange House May 27 and 28, which features art, music, dance and the debut of an original play devised by six Bhutanese refugees based on their personal experiences. Among her many projects, she works with teen girls in the South Street neighborhood, along with collaborating with Firestone Park residents to help tell the story of Akron’s rubber industry heyday. Katie also talks about her ideal one-woman play and teaches Shane and Chris how to swear in Nepali. Find out more info at http://www.gumdiptheatre.com/.

Thatcher Bell is a venture partner @ Gotham Ventures and Thatcher has spent more than a dozen years in the startup community as a venture capitalist and operator. Prior to joining Gotham Ventures, Thatcher was a Senior Analyst at North Hill Ventures, the venture capital affiliate of Capital One Financial. Before joining North Hill, Thatcher held business and corporate development roles at OpenPages (acquired by IBM) and SharkTank. If you love the show with Thatcher today and want to hear more, head over to syndicateroom.com where you can find more articles, podcasts and resources. In Today’s Show We Discuss: How did Thatcher make his way into the angel ecosystem? What were Thatcher’s biggest takeaways from his operational experience? How does that lend to his investment role? Do all investors need to have operational experience? What is required to make the transition from operator to angel? How does Thatcher look to split his time between portfolio companies? Where does he spend the majority of his time? When an investment is not working, how does Thatcher convey that to the entrepreneur? What does the feedback process look like? Learn more about SyndicateRoom: www.syndicateroom.com

In this week’s show I get some great encouragement, and support from the instructors and members of my new gliding club. I get a surprise gift in the post from the Glider Show’s very own Australian Ambassador, Mr. Pat Pulis of Adelaide Soaring Club. He very kindly sent me a signed hardback copy of Bernard Eckey’s ‘Advanced Soaring Made Easy’, a wonderful gift. Pat had told me he was sending it – the surprise was how long it took to arrive from Australia: 2 months. Not bad for a £30 postage charge! I also learn how to run the launch log on a busy day at North Hill airfield and watch a Devon and Somerset Gliding Club member go solo - aged just 14! And best of all, I silence my bloody annoying inner critic to win back some confidence.

In this weeks show I join Devon and Somerset Gliding Club at North Hill in East Devon and get my first taste of aerotowing, my first flight in the well-respected fibreglass ASK-21 training glider and I get a whiff of competition gliding at the curiously-named 'Competition Enterprise'. And I also find myself in my first busy thermal with 5 or 6 other gliders. And this week, prompted by a question from a listener and a comment from my instructor at the airfield, I think it's time to make sense of keeping my weight under control to avoid the embarrassing risk of being grounded.