At dawn we slept...in the cab on the way back from Olongapo

[Cap Mandrake]

This is humorous. A Hudson group at Kai-elanden had duty over Noemfor. No report.You would think that Maj Trayhorn of 55th Brigade Drum and Fife Coy might have alerted someone as well.

[Cap Mandrake]

********With King's Own Fife and Drum Coy, Noemfor*******

Maj. Trayhorn, standing on a coconut palm stump: Listen up lads! I want the 1st piccolo platoon to attack the intro on the second bar with more bravado please. Right! Ready?

Sgt. Arpeggio: <raises hand> Sir! You might want to look behind you sir.

Maj. Trayhorn, standing on a coconut palm stump: Sgt! I want you to take one of the native canoes and get over to Manowaki straight away and let Maj. Ross know. Right! Now, again, from the first bar...and one and two and three and...

[Cap Mandrake]

..

[Cap Mandrake]

***********14:35, Jan 20, 1943(e), aboard Toowoomba Belle, 32nd Sdn, RAAF, Angels 10, 80nm NNW Kaimama, New Guinea*******

Voice over intercom: Skipper, it's Pvt. Disenterry again. He says he has to use the dunny, really bad.

WO Kershaw: Damnit lads! Can't he use a bucket or something?

Voice over intercom: Well, skipper, you do remember what happened last time?

WO Kershaw: Damnit! I told you guys not to eat the meat at Madame Wang's. SPARKS! Raise Kaimama, tell them we will be approaching from the North and not to shoot us down. <begins slow bank to SW>

[T Rav]

Musicians! Should be Corps level or above and they're attached to Patton, McArthur or Montgomery.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: T Rav

Musicians! Should be Corps level or above and they're attached to Patton, McArthur or Montgomery.

What about Mountbottom?

What is he, chopped liver?

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

***********14:35, Jan 20, 1943(e), aboard Toowoomba Belle, 32nd Sdn, RAAF, Angels 10, 80nm NNW Kaimama, New Guinea*******

Voice over intercom: Skipper, it's Pvt. Disenterry again. He says he has to use the dunny, really bad.

WO Kershaw: Damnit lads! Can't he use a bucket or something?

Voice over intercom: Well, skipper, you do remember what happened last time?

WO Kershaw: Damnit! I told you guys not to eat the meat at Madame Wang's. SPARKS! Raise Kaimama, tell them we will be approaching from the North and not to shoot us down. <begins slow bank to SW>

Pvt. Disenterry should drop his 'payload' on the Japs.

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

********With King's Own Fife and Drum Coy, Noemfor*******

Maj. Trayhorn, standing on a coconut palm stump: Listen up lads! I want the 1st piccolo platoon to attack the intro on the second bar with more bravado please. Right! Ready?

Sgt. Arpeggio: <raises hand> Sir! You might want to look behind you sir.

Maj. Trayhorn, standing on a coconut palm stump: Sgt! I want you to take one of the native canoes and get over to Manowaki straight away and let Maj. Ross know. Right! Now, again, from the first bar...and one and two and three and...

They need a slightly better conductor.

[T Rav]

You're right Mountbottom needed one too, but I would stop there for fear of... well, for fear of too many musicians.

[RangerJoe]

Vinegar Joe could use a few bands to hopefully improve his acid disposition. [;)]

[Cap Mandrake]

***********<Sign on a small thatch hut reads Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger,GVT-5>, 07:30, January 21, Manowaki, New Guinea********

Sgt.-Flautist Arpeggio: <salutes, evidently fatigued from the 40 mile paddle by native canoe> Sgt-Flautist Arpeggio, King's Own Fife and Drum Company with an enemy ship sighting report, sir.

2nd Lt. H.V.B. Burgerhout: <looks up from paperwork and retrieves form from desk> Location, estimated speed and heading of sighting?

Sgt.-Flautist Arpeggio: 8-10 miles NNE Noemfor, speed 15 kts estimated, heading 150.

2nd Lt. H.V.B. Burgerhout: Time of sighting?

Sgt.-Flautist Arpeggio: 17:30 yesterday, sir.

2nd Lt. H.V.B. Burgerhout: Yesterday? Why on earth did you not report it yesterday?

Sgt.-Flautist Arpeggio: Canoe sir, I came by canoe

2nd Lt. H.V.B. Burgerhout: Hmmm. Very well. Description of vessels?

Sgt.-Flautist Arpeggio: Yes, we estimate 7 carriers, 11 cruisers/destroyers and one Nagato class BB.

[Cap Mandrake]

220 fighters and 260 bombers. Not very good raid coordination I would say. [:D] I would say the IJN paid dearly for the near shore carrier operations penalty which I DID read about in the manual.

[Cap Mandrake]

Pretty good smackdown particularly by VF-8 which generated 3-4 new aces.

USS Indiana has only 3% flooding and only one "major" flooding pt. She is making 27 kts. She can be repaired without dry dock.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Pretty good smackdown particularly by VF-8 which generated 3-4 new aces.

USS Indiana has only 3% flooding and only one "major" flooding pt. She is making 27 kts. She can be repaired without dry dock.

You're covering up the bloody map with your table. What happened? Where? Give us the blow-by-blow account! Inquiring minds and all that.

[Cap Mandrake]

[:)] Probably Dobo is going to nuked. Maybe evacuate Dobo AF and put some bait shipping at Taberfane and draw the IJN into a fighter nest. Indiana pulls back out of range and join up with USS Washington coming up from the Torres St. I don't think we have a realistic chance of breaking through the CAP so the bombers will pull back. I don't think they will risk the KB in the Ceram/NG gap after what happened to the US carrier there.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

[:)] Probably Dobo is going to nuked. Maybe evacuate Dobo AF and put some bait shipping at Taberfane and draw the IJN into a fighter nest.

Why on Earth would you pull out 73 front line fighters from Dobo? Use them in place to shred his incoming KB strike.

Best case scenario: the KB strikes are unescorted / poorly escorted. You'll shred wave after wave of his Imperial Majesty's naval best and neuter the KB for a long time.

Worst case scenario: KB strikes are adequately escorted and fly into your Dobo buzzsaw. You trade 1 of yours for every two of his. The best trade versus KB that you're going to get from land-based naval aviation.

Set 90% CAP, range=1 (so they'll bleed over to CAP Taberfane too) and keep your fingers crossed that he wantonly attacks into prepared defenses. Move out your torpedo bombers if you're concerned about a bunch of KB bombers getting through. I'd not initiate a naval attack without fighter escort-it looks like you'll be keeping those fighters overhead, so save the TBs for another time.

[Cap Mandrake]

Yes, I was thinking along those lines but with the buzzsaw flying out of Taberfane instead. After the fighting yesterday, there are 20 disabled F4F's and 14 disabled Sea Hurris at Dobo. I think perhaps move 125 good fighters to Taberfane and get the cripples out by AK's waiting at Dobo for this purpose. Then leave an AP or some DD's at Taberfane and try to bait in an anti-shipping attack at Taberfane.

There are 50-ish hot-shot Zekes pilots at Ternate than can sweep over Dobo but not Taberfane (which is one hex to far).

[Cap Mandrake]

Also, they always stage coordinated attacks. There are also quite possibly some surface task forces closing on the Sundas that are so far unspotted. No BB's seen at Kendari on mouse-over intel.

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

***********<Sign on a small thatch hut reads Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger,GVT-5>, 07:30, January 21, Manowaki, New Guinea********

Sgt.-Flautist Arpeggio: <salutes, evidently fatigued from the 40 mile paddle by native canoe> Sgt-Flautist Arpeggio, King's Own Fife and Drum Company with an enemy ship sighting report, sir.

2nd Lt. H.V.B. Burgerhout: <looks up from paperwork and retrieves form from desk> Location, estimated speed and heading of sighting?

Sgt.-Flautist Arpeggio: 8-10 miles NNE Noemfor, speed 15 kts estimated, heading 150.

2nd Lt. H.V.B. Burgerhout: Time of sighting?

Sgt.-Flautist Arpeggio: 17:30 yesterday, sir.

2nd Lt. H.V.B. Burgerhout: Yesterday? Why on earth did you not report it yesterday?

Sgt.-Flautist Arpeggio: Canoe sir, I came by canoe

2nd Lt. H.V.B. Burgerhout: Hmmm. Very well. Description of vessels?

Sgt.-Flautist Arpeggio: Yes, we estimate 7 carriers, 11 cruisers/destroyers and one Nagato class BB.

Queue 'Ride of the Valkyries' from Apocalypse Now.

[RangerJoe]

The message should have been carved on a coconut . . .