Best Two Out of Three

[John B.]

An Oral History The Great Asia Pacific War Vol. IV: So Pac Chessboard (Harper Publishing & Co. 1965)

After they got the airfield straightened out we knew we would be in for a tough go of it. And, we were. Fighter sweeps would fly out of Shortlands and then us heavy bomber boys would go in for the runways and hangers. Sometimes, the fighter jockeys would not show up and then we'd have to press on regardless. Lucky for us the good Jap pilots and more advanced fighters were off in Burma but we still took heavy losses. Still, the IJA kept Rabaul airfield packed with planes so we were making headway in whittling them down. And, supplies were pouring in for us but we had Rabaul pretty much on lockdown. Our search pilots had not seen a convoy in weeks. It was part of the strategy, keep hitting Japanese aircraft where ever we could find them.


Col. Eubank Commander 22nd Bomber Group Port Moresby

[John B.]

Rabaul illustration

[John B.]

An Oral History The Great Asia Pacific War Vol. II Burma Battles (Harper Publishing & Co. 1965)

We finally made it into Moulmein by late October 1943 and ran into a buzz saw. The IJA had been fortifying the place for almost a year and it was full of concrete pillboxes, pre-sighted gun emplacements, mine fields, you name it. On a scale of 0-9 with Singapore being a 9 I would rate the fort level at Moulmein as a 7 when we started. Although we had the road back to Rangoon open, IJA interdiction seemed to keep the supply flow down so we had to resort to the expedient of landing supplies on the beach. We brought in combat engineers and the IJA brought in tank divisions and would feed new units in as they could. Daily air raids, nightly shore bombardments, it must have been hell on the defenders but they hung on as we ground them down. By late November we had the forts down to a 3 but it would totally disorganize our boys when they would attack and we would take 4-5 days off between assaults just to rest and reorganize.

On the Chang Mai flank, we knocked around two RTA divisions but the series of river crossings were daunting. And, we managed to hold in Tavoy. Once they figured out they could not push the commandos out of there, the Japanese seemed to lose interest.


-- Author's interview of MGen Bernard Fitzsimmons Liaison to Allied Supreme Command Burma Theater.

[John B.]

An Oral History The Great Asia Pacific War Vol. II Burma Battles (Harper Publishing & Co. 1965)

By late November 1943 the Allies had amassed a huge airforce in Burma with major airbases at Rangoon and Pegu. We counted 400-500 fighters, 100+ heavy bombers and 150+ medium bombers. Every day they rained death down on Moulmein. But, we had not been idle. In Central Thailand we had amassed 350+ fighters of our own and these were getting better each day. In fact, some days we would best the Allies in the skies. But, they adopted a tactic of sweeps plus bomber raids which meant that we would take more losses on the ground. Still, we knew that Japan was just getting started in churning out planes and there would be more nasty surprises. And, our AA over Moulmein was so intense that the Allies had to fly at very high altitudes which diminished their effectiveness.

Flight leader Raziki Mikimuma (Ret).

[John B.]

An Oral History The Great Asia Pacific War Vol. II Burma Battles (Harper Publishing & Co. 1965)

Last night the bombardment forces were intercepted by a large Japanese TF comprising of at least four CA units and numerous destroyers. The CA Astoria was sunk after numerous "long lance" hits and preliminary analysis demonstrates that the Tone was sunk by a British torpedo. The forces then lost contact after damage was inflicted on another IJN CA and numerous allied ships. At about 0235 a second allied bombardment TF ran into an IJN TF of two CAs escorting a damaged CA and headed in a south easterly direction. The two TFs exchanged gunfire for about 5 minutes and in that time frame magazine explosions were reported on all three IJN CAs and the ships disappeared from the radar screens. No survivors were spotted and the Allied TF left the area and resumed their bombardment mission.

Captain Walker U.S.S. CL Phoenix (After action report).

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Rabaul illustration

What is that allied unit doing off in the boondocks WNW of Lae? A few survivors from the initial Japanese onslaught?

[John B.]

OH that was a paratroop battalion that was chasing the IJA Buna garrison all over New guinea to try to wipe it out. I killed a bunch of squads but they made it back alive. The paratroopers actually disband in a month or so.

[John B.]

An Oral History The Great Asia Pacific War Vol. II Burma Battles (Harper Publishing & Co. 1965)

We were all so focused on Moulmein that we neglected the signs of nationalist tension brewing in Burma. Then, in late November 1943 a number of cities erupted into riots. The overall effect on the war was not great, but we suddenly had to scramble to move troops around to provide small garrisons in a number of towns. We even had to fly a base force into Mitkyana out in the jungle just to keep the nationalists at bay. It did not really hinder the war effort except for a minor political black eye, but we knew it meant trouble after the war was over. The Japs had really stirred the fires of nationalism with their occupation of Burma and India.

-- Author's interview of MGen Bernard Fitzsimmons Liaison to Allied Supreme Command Burma Theater.

[John B.]

An Oral History The Great Asia Pacific War Vol. I: Chinese Quagmire (Harper Publishing & Co. 1965)

By late 1943 we finally started getting a few new planes. Not the modern stuff, the yanks and brits hogged that for themselves but at least we got some p-40Ns. Japan still had nearly total air superiority over our country but if we did it right and bided our time we could pull off an ambush. Like the time we caught a group of bombers near Kwalein without escorts. I think we got nearly 50 that day and I got my 13th confirmed kill. Then, we had to run and hide and leave our comrades on the ground to be pounded again day after day. But at least we got some of the bastards!

Capt. Liu (one of China's leading aces) in letter to author.

[John B.]

An Oral History The Great Asia Pacific War Vol. II Burma Battles (Harper Publishing & Co. 1965)

Hi Ma, It seems like I've lived my whole life here in front of Moulmein. At first I felt sorry for the Nips and the bombs and nightly shelling they were undergoing. But, too many of my mates are gone now for me to feel much of anything but numb. Word is the Japs are starting to crack. We've finally taken the last of their fortified line and pushed them back into the trees. We're not taking a lot of prisoners, even though more of them are trying to give up, but we're advancing faster and the few blokes we do take look worn and haggard. Still, I'm bloody tired myself. After Jones got it they put me in charge of the squad. There's extra pay I can send home to you and Pa but otherwise it just means I have to stick my neck out more. The Captain just said we're going back at them tomorrow and we're supposed to [redacted by military censors under the Imperial War Powers Act]. Anyway, hugs to all of you. I'm so tired of bully beef I'd eat raw Joey when I got home.

Vinny

Last letter home from Lance Corporal Vince Carmicheal (KIA December 9, 1943, Military Cross Posthumous)

[John B.]

An Oral History The Great Asia Pacific War Vol. IV: So Pac Chessboard (Harper Publishing & Co. 1965)

The allies just kept coming. Every day they kept coming. The p-40Ks were outclassed and we bagged a number of them but then the Thunderbolts and Spitfires would pick up the slack. We really hated the Cousairs. You just could not shoot the bastards down! Nevertheless, we knew we were buying time for Japan to get her industry in gear. The US might have been an industrial giant, but they had not dealt with 100 million people united. The longer we held on, the more planes and pilots would appear to fill the growing gaps in our ranks.

Toshi Sakura. Quoted in "Why we fought for Japan" Time Magazine September 26, 1955. OF-4 IJA (Retired)

[John B.]

An Oral History The Great Asia Pacific War Vol. V: Duds and Depth Charges (Harper Publishing & Co. 1965)

"Pressure hull breached. Am engaging two IJN DD. Unknown class. Men at posts and fir. . . "

Final Signal of the U.S.S Crevalle. Received CINCPAC December 6, 1943. Inscription on Memorial located at USS Bowfin Submarine Memorial Pearl Harbor.

[John B.]

An Oral History The Great Asia Pacific War Vol. II Burma Battles (Harper Publishing & Co. 1965)

Bob Hope: "Bing, how come you always get the girl in our movies?"

Bing Crosby: "You mean besides the fact that I'm better looking and can sing?"

Bob Hope: "Boy, you really know how to hurt a . . ."

"We interrupt this program for a special bulletin from the War Department. Moulmein has fallen. I repeat that Moulmain has fallen. Allied High Command has issued a bulletin stating that allied troops broke through earlier this morning and that large numbers of Japanese forces were seen streaming south along the coastal highway after suffering very heavy casualties. Significant air attacks are targeting the Japanese troops as they flee. Allies losses reported to be minor. And now back to our regularly scheduled program which we join in progress"

Transcript of the Texaco Hour of Comedy December 12, 1943.

[John B.]

Moulmein illustration.

[John B.]

An Oral History The Great Asia Pacific War Vol. III Central Pacific Ablaze (Harper Publishing & Co. 1965)

You always worry whether or not the other guy is reading your mail. We had the carriers and amphib forces heading towards Anathan to set up a base in an deserted island prior to our invasion of Saipan and then Guam. So, you can imagine how we all went "tilt" when radio detection bases reported very heavy traffic at Babeldaob. We did not know if that was the major Jap base but it was a pretty big port and centrally located so it made sense. Were they sending carriers to supplement land based air? We just didn't know!

Cheif Petty Officer Merigold USN Ret.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Moulmein illustration.

Wow - that is a lot of casualties! Go get 'em, tiger!

BTW, that sand texture on your reports combined with my old eyes makes them very hard to read!

[John B.]

BBFanboy, The quality of the pictures goes down when I save them in the gif format on microsoft paint. Happy to save them elsewhere if you have any suggestions.

[BBfanboy]

I save mine in JPEG format and there is no problem with the picture quality. But I am using Paint.NET.
I know that GIF is a very large file format and sometimes you need to decrease quality to get the board to take the file size, while JPEG is a compressed format that takes less space for nearly 100% quality, so hopefully just changing saved format would work.

[John B.]

Here is a test using Jpg. Let's see how it looks.

[John B.]

Or to compare apples to apples. If the Jpg is better I'll use it in the future. Just let me know!