PBEM - Historical Limits: Thayne (allied) vs. SeaWolF K (Japan)

[Thayne]

[font="Courier New"]Monday, March 2, 1942

Henry

I mentioned to Nimitz, Macarthur, and Pownall that I was interested in ways to harm the enemy.

I did not want to become one of those fighters who, when made angry, suddenly charged out with full force in a foolhardy attack, only to be caught off balance by a skilled opponent who simply uses my anger against me. So, I told them to be smart. Sailing all of our carriers to Japan for a direct attack on Tokyo was not an option.

I want to hit Japan where they do not expect to be hit.

We came up with a few plans.

”Horseshoe”

Of course, “Horseshoe” counts. CV Enterprise left Dutch Harbor today heading for a point about 250 miles northeast of the Aleutian island of Kiska. CV Hornet will be pulling into Dutch Harbor in two days. The planned attack on Paramushiro Jima fit the requirements that I have in mind.

”Syringe”

General Pownall, commander of the forces in Southeast Asia, tells me that he thinks he can hit the port of Sabang, on the western tip of Sumatra. A force of cruisers, he said, can hit the town and be far enough away by morning that Japan’s Betty bombers, even if he had some in the area, would not be able to strike back.

General Pownall says that the operation can be ready to sail in 3 days.

”Robin”

Halsey’s bombardment of the Japanese at Nanomea Atoll two days ago proved to be a success. The ships sailed in, fired on the defenders, and escaped without taking a loss or even being spotted by Japanese forces. Halsey has made a request to do this again. This time, he wants the cruiser force to retreat before dawn, but stay close enough to Nanomea that they can return the next day. Two days of shelling should be devastating to the defenders on the island.

At the same time, he is arguing for a force to strike Baker Island as well. As I mentioned in an earlier report, there is reason to believe that Japan took Baker Island merely as a buffer – as a way of preventing us from infringing on his efforts to defend the Gilbert Islands such as Tarawa. If this theory is correct, then an attack on Baker Island would be as effective as an attack on Nanomea Atoll.

However, Halsey is opposed to postponing “Robin” while we gather an attack force to use against Baker Island.


General Operations

In addition, I discussed two operations that are more general in nature and that which lack the precision that would warrant giving them a name.

Burma

Several options are available to him. His staff is considering options such as using parachute drop to isolate and capture a field behind enemy lines – perhaps even as far back as Luang Prabang in northwestern French Indochina. Other options include aiming for a Burmese airfield such as Lashio or Taung Gyi. He is also looking at a straight-out overland assault on Myitkyina for the purpose of opening up the Ledo Road, and an amphibious landing in southern Burma as soon as the Japanese airforce has been eliminated.

Whatever option is selected, the ground phase is at least a year off. In the mean time, Pownall has said that he will focus on weaking the Japanese forces in Burma in preparation for our counter-attack.

Pownall is ordering his soldiers to get the 7th Bomber Group back in operation as quickly as possible. We wish to show Japan that they accomplished very little with their attack. Maybe they will give up.

Submarine

Our war against the Japanese submarines is the second bright spot that we have had in the war to date. We have sunk 8 submarines so far. I think that this is hurting them, and I wish to hurt them some more.

Therefore, I have ordered the creation of a force specifically devoted to finding all information relating to Japanese submarines. Wherever we find a Japanese sub, we will attack. Every rumor will be investigated, every lead will be followed.

This policy follows from the principle that the most valuable weapon in any war is information. Japan gets its best information about what we are doing from its submarines. No submarines means no information, giving us greater freedom of movement and better surprise when we attack, and giving them more uncertainty about the areas they will be attacking.


Japan to Attack New Caledonia

I consider the evidence we received today of a planned Japanese attack on New Caledonia to be irrefutable. The plans that washed up on our shores (presumably from a submarine sunk near New Caledonia over a month ago) specifically identifies the South Seas Detachment as planning to attack Noumea, New Caledonia. This is not some Manchuria unit getting false orders. This is a front-line unit that has always spearheaded the Japanese advance in this region. I am certain the information is correct.

The Americal Division is still three days’ travel northeast of Christmas Island. It will take at least a couple of weeks for this unit to get to New Caledonia.

I am negotiating with Australia for permission to bring some of its units over to New Caledonia. However, I do not expect those negotiations to go well. They are still upset about Port Moresby, and my orders to evacuate the city.

Concerning Port Moresby, Japan landed forces at Milne Bay on the eastern tip of New Guinea, as well as Kiriwina Island north of Milne Bay. This, I believe, is a move to secure bases around the tip of New Guinea before moving to take Port Moresby and Thursday Island. Intelligence believes that these landings are occurring under the watchful eye of the Japanese carrier fleet, so there will be no attempt to interfere.

I believe we have at least until the Port Moresby operation is over before Japan begins to move on New Caledonia. That may be enough time to get some units to the island.


Japan Tightens its Grip on the Philippines

Kure 1st SNLF occupied Roxas, in the central Philippines, while additional units prepared to march in and take control of Tacloban to the southeast. We believe that Japan has begun an operation to systematically replace local leaders with those hand picked for their loyalty to the Japanese empire. Since the fall of the Philippines, we have continued to have dealings with local leaders that were loyal to the allied cause. That was a dangerous position to take, and I think that those who did so are about to start paying for that decision.

Similarly, Japanese forces are moving into Jesseltown in northwestern Borneo, and are landing at Maumere, west of Timor in the Dutch East Indies. They are also occupying Biak, another island just off of the northwest coast of New Guinea. All of this appears to be a part of a systematic effort to make sure that the region is fully under their control.

Once this is finished, it may be expected that Japan will release the units involved in these operations for use against the allies. Another realm of Japanese expansion may well follow.


Resistance

I see five likely targets of Japanese expansion after they have secured these areas.

(1) An attack to take the Santa Cruz Islands, New Hebrides, and New Caledonia is almost certain. Whatever else Japan does, they will do this.

(2) Against New Zealand. After taking New Caledonia, Japan may move against New Zealand as a way of making sure that Australia is completely blocked off from fetting allied war materials.

(3) The South Sea Islands. From Fiji to Canton Island and perhaps the Line Islands, Japan may seek to take this region. It would be difficult to attack and recapture this area, given that allied land-based bombers or reconnaissance planes will not reach these islands.

(4) Ceylon. The capture of this island will seal off northeastern India, and strangle the fledgling airlift of supplies to China.

(5) North Australia. To secure its resources in the Dutch East Indies. Japan may move into the ports on the north edge of Australia, from Darwin to Broome. I believe that if Japan pursues this option, I will not challenge them. It would be too expensive with little gain, for now. Besides, northern Australia is too far away from decent supplies for a major fight, and I do not want to pull important military units off of the more important regions in eastern and southeastern Australia. These defenses will stay put.


Conclusions

It’s sleeping time tonight.

It does feel better to be doing something, and shaking off this sense that I could do nothing but sit back and get hit by Japan time and time again. We may not be able to stand up against Japan toe to toe. However, every major campaign that Japan launches ties up units that cannot be available to defend some other place or time.

Thayne [/font]

[Alikchi2]

Congratulations on your 200th post in this AAR, excellent work and an amazing read. I hope Mr. Lynde will see it through!

[Speedysteve]

Agreed. Even more so since SeaWolF K isn't updating his. So we have no idea what he is planning!

[aztez]

Good luck.. tough times ahead but I think you can pull it off [:)]

[Thayne]

[font="Courier New"]Tuesday, March 3, 1942

Greetings, Henry

Japanese Fleet Spotted Near Near Milne Bay

My predictions that Japan was on its way to Port Moresby were confirmed today. In addition to taking control of Milne Bay and Kiriwina Island, two task forces were spotted sailing around the tip of New Guinea. One is a carrier task force, which launched a strike consisting of 30 bombers escorted by 15 fighters. The other has landing ships, and it is too far south to be targeting anything other than Port Moresby.

Most of the 112 RAN Base Force has been evacuated from Port Moresby and is now at Cooktown.

It looks as if there will be no opportunity to evacuate the Port Moresby Defense Brigade before the Japanese show up. It will resist the Japanese landing as well as possible, then retreat into the jungle, hopefully to be extracted later.

If I am correct, Japan will follow its model, it will land an army at Port Moresby that will be more than adequate to quickly overrun the defenses.


Air Operations Against Burma

The air campaign against Burma hit multiple targets today.

• An evening attack against the airfields at Mandalay.
• An attack on the airfield and defenses of Myitkyina
• An assault on the strategic resources of Taung Gyi

None of the attacks did significant damage. However, they performed the task of putting pressure on Japan. We destroyed a few Nates at Mandalay, and did some damage to the airfield there and at Myitkyina. We lost nothing.

Again, it was minor.

This is going to be a long and protracted campaign – this air war over India and Burma. There are going to be a lot of moves and counter-moves here.

Japan has delivered a blow, taking out the 7th Bomber Group. We are looking for our opportunity to strike back, and strike back hard.

Recall, we have an objective at India to rebuild the 7th Bomber Group as quickly as possible. If we can launch a full bombardment attack from this group before the end of the week, we hope that this will have a demoralizing effect on the Japanese. Perhaps, Japan will judge it worthless to attack our air groups considering the cost and how quickly we can recover.

We are looking at an opportunity to catch the Japanese at Akyab. Japan sent a squadron of Nates there, but they found nothing of value to attack. If Japan does this again, they will meet 232 Squadron and 605 Squadrons, which General Pownall has recently ordered to this base.


Japan Continues to Consolidate Holdings

The areas that came under control of the Japanese today, as far as the reports that crossed my desk, include:

• Milne Bay under the control of Maizuro 1st Special Naval Landing Force

• Kiriwina Island occupied by the 31st Naval Landing Force

• Maumere (midway between Java and Timor) by the 15th Naval Guards

• 28th Naval Landing Force at Tacloban in the southeastern corner of the Philippines


”Horseshoe”

CV Enterprise is nearing the rendezvous point for the attack northeast of Kiska Island near the tip of the Aleutian Islands. AO Guadalupe will arrive in a couple of days.

CV Hornet is near Dutch Harbor, where it will take on fuel and head out to meet Enterprise.


”Syringe”

TF1235 has formed at Columbo consisting of the cruisers Dorshire, Cornwall, Exeter, Enterprise, Mauritius, and Glasgow, as well as a screening squadron of destroyers.

Their target is Sabang, on the western coast of Sumatra.


”Robin”

Cruisers Louisville, Pensacola, and Concord, with screening destroyers, left American Samoa last night and is on its way to Nanoumea Atoll and should be there in a couple of days.


Comments

Let's see what happens with these operations. If they are successful, this will help to foster further plans. If they are not successful, I guess we will need to try something else. If successful, we will look at something a little stronger next time. First, let us find out what we can do.

The plans have the characteristics that I like. We are not challenging the Japanese head on with odds that will result in our distruction. The raids will be made against places where Japan probably does not expect them. The three raids -- eastern Sumatra, Nanoumea Atoll, and Paramushiro Jima, are in three widely scattered locations, impressing on the Japanese the fact that it cannot defend everywhere, and that someday one of the places that it cannot defend will fall into allied hands.

More news tomorrow.

Thayne

[/font]

[Thayne]

[font="Courier New"]Wednesday, March 4, 1942

Henry

Japan Claims Santa Cruz Islands

Japanese forces landed at Utupau, in the heart of the Santa Cruz Islands, today. This is a stepping stone to New Caledonia. Espritu Santo lies to the south, along with Efate. These areas have no garrison yet,

I presented the news to the Australians that Japan plans to take New Caledonia. Of course, they are aware of the emanate fall of Port Moresby to a Japanese invasion as well. Needless to say, the Australians are in a state of panic. With the Japanese on their doorstep and the possibility of supplies being cut off, they fear that an invasion is imminent.

I have been arguing with them that the best thing they can do to defend their country is to make sure that they can get supplies from the United States and England. As I have argued in the past, this requires holding New Caledonia. With evidence of the South Seas Detachment planning for an attack there and the landings on the Santa Cruz Islands, I have convinced them to take steps to defend New Caledonia.

They have volunteered the 2nd Australian Cavalry Division, presently at Newcastle, to the job, and the Australian 7th Infantry Division as soon as it becomes available. The 30th Australian Brigade, and the 26th USA Field Artillery Brigade are on their way south to Brisbane, to be loaded onto boats and added to the defenses at New Caledonia.

For our part, our Americal Division sailed past Christmas Island last night, so they are still some distance away. For that matter, the Australian units are some distance away as well.

Now, I look at the landings that Japan made at Bali – 45,000 troops in 1 day – and wonder what it will actually take to hold New Caledonia. It is a very large island, and we cannot defend the whole shore. This means that Japan has the opportunity here, unlike at other islands, to land in a place where it can then gather its strength before marching on the main city of Noumea. Coastal guns at the port are as useless as the guns of Singapore.

Japanese carriers will certainly be able to control the air and water around New Caledonia, giving their troops the advantage of air and naval support, while our troops will not even have the luxury of being able to ship out the wounded.

I just know that Halsey hates me for worrying about such things.


Japan Occupies Pamakasan

The Dutch defenders at Pamaksan, an island northeast of Sarabaja on the island of Java, gave up the fight today. Japan landed the 21st Division to occupy this island.

Repeated Japanese naval bombardment managed to destroy all of the islands supplies, so they had nothing to fight with. In fact, they had nothing to eat, other than what they could catch from the sea. So, their surprise is no great mystery.

Japan suffered some in their attack. One of their transports hit a mine. There were Japanese casualties. The exact number is not known.

Dutch coastal guns fired a few remaining rounds of ammunition as well. They inflicted a few casualties among the Japanese forces coming ashore, but not enough to have any real effect on the outcome.


Japan Draws Blood in the Burma Air War

This round in the Burma-India Air War went to Japan. Over 60 Japanese Zeros struck at Dacca today. They caught 7 Hurricanes. The Hurricanes shot down no Japanese airplanes.

We do not have many Hurricane fighters to spare. If the British keep this up, the Hurricane will join the P-40 and P-39 on our list of airplane types where we do not even have enough to keep our existing squadrons at their listed capacity.

What is it with these British pilots? They are truly worthless.

Don’t tell Churchill I said that, but I have been encouraging Pownall to simply ground his fighters as much as possible and refuse to challenge the Japanese. Whenever they do get into a fight, the results are like these – several British planes and pilots dead and the results of their sacrifice is that Japanese pilots get acquire a bit more practice in the art of air-to-air combat.

Japanese F2/Tianan Daitai and F3/Tianan Chaitai participated in the attack, according to military analysts.

The allies, in the mean time, continued their attacks on Japanese targets. Again, Mandalay was attacked at night, and daylight attacks were made against the airfields at Myitkyina and strategic targets at Taung Gyi. Minor damage was inflicted on the enemy, but it is another day with another round of damage.

Our mission to get the 7th Bomber Group back in the war quickly is going better than I expected. The group has put together over half of the airplanes that the group needs to reach full strength, mainly by mixing and matching pieces of the planes that have been otherwise damaged.

The ambush set for Akyab did not work out. Japan did not send in the Nates. In addition, he did send scouts who now know that there are Hurricane fighters stationed at Akyab. I fear that his next step will be destroy these fighter squadrons the way Japan decimated the fighter squadrons at Dacca today.


”Horseshoe”

CV Enterprise is 250 nautical miles northeast of Kiska Island. AO Guadalupe will show up at the same spot tomorrow. CV Hornet pulled into Dutch Harbor and fueled. There is still no sign that the Japanese are aware of our mission. MSW Oriole, which is scouting the waters east and southeast of Kiska Island at the end of the Aleutian chain was unable to find any sign of Japanese activity in the area. Radio traffic shows no change in dispositions.

One item of particular concern is the range of Japanese airplanes and the bases they may operate from. Military intelligence is keeping particularly close attention to the level of air activity in this region. It remains very limited. MSW Oriole remains unspotted. All of this looks promising.

”Syringe”

TF1235 left Columbo and sailed past the southern coast of Ceylon on its way to the western tip of Sumatra. The task force contains only six cruisers and should arrive at its destination in a few days.

”Robin”

The cruisers of TF1367 sailed past Wallis Island today. Tomorrow it will get into position to launch a bombardment attack that they will execute tomorrow night. It will be in my report two days from now.

That is all for today. Another report comes tomorrow.

Thayne [/font]

[Thayne]

[font="Courier New"]Thursday, March 5, 1942

Henry

Burma-India Air War

General Pownall has informed me that he is shifting his focus in the Burma Air War on Myitkyina.

Ultimately, I believe it is his objective to reopen the Burma Road. As I mentioned before, Japan had lost most of its manufacturing capability even before Pearl Harbor. Since that date, a Japanese offensive has cut the capabilities of the Chinese even more.

Roosevelt has made it clear that he wants China to stay in the war. This means getting supplies to China. An all-out effort to open a road from northeastern India to China is the best way to accomplish this objective. This means retaking Myitkyina.

This also means hindering the ability of the Japanese to fortify and build up the town. Towards that end, a serious effort to keep the Japanese troops at Myitkyina under constant pressure from air bombardment – keeping them busy building and rebuilding bridges, railroads, roads, warehouses, airports, and even places for their troops to stay – is a top priority.

Today’s strikes on Myitkyina, however, were meager. Over the course of the day, we launched 31 sorties at the city – Blenheim I and IV and Hudson bombers. Photo reconnaissance shows some damage, but not enough to keep the base down. Tomorrow, Pownall says, we will see a serious effort.

The Japanese, by the way, did not engage in any air activity today. They did not intercept our bombers. They did not launch any sorties into India. I am grateful, but I do not anticipate that it will last.

Our efforts to get the 7th Bomber Group back into the fight are moving along at an extraordinary pace. The group now has 36 bombers operational, out of a standard allotment of 48. At this rate, I expect that we can launch the bomber group back into the fight sometime this weekend.


”Horseshoe”

Intelligence provided us with some disturbing news today. With our task forces assembling northeast of Kiska Island, the Japanese have declared a new airfield at our target, Paramushiro Jima, operational.

Nimitz and I had a long conversation once we heard of this. The airbase is not large enough for bombers to be a threat. However, a flock of Zero fighters could tear an attacking air force apart.

I must admit, for a moment I entertained cutting off the mission. However, it did not even last long enough for me to mention it to Nimitz. We agreed to give a warning to the captains of the two carriers, but to order them to proceed. We have too much invested in this mission to turn back now.

CV Enterprise is at the rendezvous point northeast of Kiska with the AO Guadalupe, drawing fuel. CV Hornet has left Dutch Harbor and will be with Enterprise in a day or two. The two task forces will then sail towards their target.

Even though the airfield has been built, there is no evidence that Japan has assigned any air squadrons to the place.


”Syringe”

TD1235, which left Columbo, Ceyon, a couple of days ago with, has approached to within 600 miles east of Sabang, on the west tip of Sumatra, so far without any sign that it had been spotted. Tomorrow, it should get into position. Then, in two days, I should be reporting to you on a successful bombardment mission of the facilities.

Remnants of the 2nd NS Garrison Battalion happen to be on the island near Sabang. They will be scouting the town and radioing information to the task force on what to hit.


”Robin”

TF1367, operating out of American Samoa in the southeastern Philippines, should be hitting Nanomea Atoll tonight. I will be reporting on its progress tomorrow. While I am writing this, in fact, the task force is moving ahead at full speed towards the island. Halsey has given the task force orders to rake the island at dawn. The shelling is expected to last at least an hour in the dawn light. Then, the task force has been ordered to retreat before Japanese air units get there.

The surprise is that the task force has been ordered to do the same thing tomorrow. If its retreat goes unspotted. The task force has been ordered to reverse course and attack Nanomea again, for a second morning in a row. If the Japanese force thinks of this as a hit-and-run raid, they may let down their guard, thinking that we have fired our load and they are safe, at least for a few days. Also, the task force can use reconnaissance that they collected on the first bombardment, which should still be fresh.


Sub Hunting

Our mission to sink Japanese subs found a target. Spotter planes out of Johnson Island found a submarine between that island and French Frigate Shoals to the north. The submarine was heading east at the time it was spotted.

Military intelligence has identified a spot south of Pearl Harbor where we think that Japanese submarines like to hang out. The islands curve around this spot, so it is a nice location for the submarines to use when launching their seaplanes. They can easily reach any island in the Hawaiian chain.

Military intelligence has plotted a course from the location of this sighting to their “sweet spot” south of Pearl Harbor. A destroyer squadron consisting of 6 destroyers at Pearl Harbor have been hastily organized into a sub-hunting squadron and sent out to patrol the length of that course.


Port Moresby

The Japanese task forces are getting ever closer to Port Moresby. The submarine KVIII found itself in the thick of them today. According to the report from the skipper. “I lifted my periscope and founded Japanese ships as far as the eye could see in every direction.”

Like I said, if Japan makes a move, it moves with its whole might, making it difficult to put up any type of resistance.

The disposition of their forces seems to have changed from earlier plans. We still spotted a carrier force, a bombardment force, and a landing force. However, we found a fourth task force in the set. KVIII reported that it held an additional carrier, as well as bombardment groups. Perhaps this task force is assigned to accompany the landing force to provide both combat air patrol over the base and protection from any allied raid.

We have added this to our notes for further consideration.

Anyway, it will be tomorrow at the earliest before we discover what Japan has planned, if anything, for Port Moresby.

Summary

It appears as if I will be having a lot to report over the next few days. Landings at Port Moresby. Allied attacks on Paramushiro Jima, Nanomea Atoll, and Sabang, Sumatra. There is sub hunting, and the return of the 7th Bomber Group to the war in a few days. Even if we cannot defeat Japan so quickly, I am curious as to whether we can make it appear that we are not entirely impotent.

Until tomorrow.

Thayne[/font]

[Thayne]

[font="Courier New"]Friday, March 6, 1942

Henry

Sub Sunk at Hawaii

It is so nice when something works.

Yesterday I reported that PBYs flying out of Johnson Island spotted a Japanese submarine north of the island moving east. Course and speed were plotted and we dispatched a destroyer squadron to deal with the threat.

This morning, they sank the sub. They found it about 175 miles east of its last recorded location, on the predicted course, and sank it. The sinking has been confirmed. The size of the oil slick created by the attack suggests that the submarine had just started its patrol and was moving into position.


Burma War: Further Destruction on Myitkyina

The Burma air war went our way today with another round of unopposed bombings of Myitkyina. Japan launched no counter-strikes. Six separate missions were flown against Myitkyina today, focusing on airfields, known anti-aircraft sits, supply depots, and construction equipment.

Those who assessed the results of the bombing were, again, pleased with the results. The attacks are hardly knocking Myitkyina out of the war. However, they are making it difficult for Japan to turn the city into a major forward base, or to set up defenses against the inevitable push to retake the town and establish a road for supplies to reach China.


”Robin”

TF1367 attacked Nanomea Atoll today. The atoll, recall, is south of the Gilbert islands of Makin, Tarawa, and Apamama.

If Commender Lowe followed the plans that he had laid out at the start of the mission, then he attacked at dawn, with the sun coming up behind him (blinding the gunners on the island). The cruisers formed a line, with CL Concord in the lead and CA Pensacola and CA Louisville behind on a course that would take them to within 9,000 feet of the island. The destroyers formed a second line that sailed towards the island at a distance of 5,000 feet.

There had been some discussion about keeping some distance from the island and not using the destroyers. This has been a standard Japanese tactic in the war so far. They have almost never approached very close to shore when they have bombarded allied facilities. As a result, we have been able to inflict little harm against them, even though we have taken considerable damage from their guns.

However, to be honest, I was in the mood to do some damage here if it were possible, and was willing to take risk. Nimitz and Halsey were both eager to support me on this, and Lowe was ordered to use all of the military assets at his disposal.

As they sailed by, they looked specifically for gun positions with the intention of targeting and destroying them. However, through the course of the bombardment, the Japanese did not fire a single shot at the ships. So, the task force focused on anything that looked like it might be a worthwhile target – concentrations of tents and other structures and fortifications.

They made one pass on the island, then moved out to open sea.

His further instructions were to wait for signs that the Japanese were organizing an air assault against his task force. If no attack appeared imminent, he was to do the same thing again tomorrow.


”Syringe”

TF1235 is in position west of Sabang, on the western tip of Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies, for its attack on the beach.

Its attack was aided by the actions of the 2nd NS Garrison Battalion. They had been forced into the jungle when Japan captured the coastal towns. However, at the request of General Pownall, they moved into Sasabo for the purpose of engaging the Japanese and getting information about the location of key locations in the town. They then transmitted that information to RF1235.

They have reported, among other things, that only the 16th Naval Guards is holding Sabang. There is no sign of a coastal defense unit. This confirms the decision to use all of the ships, including the destroyers, in the attack.

TF1235 will be examining the information all night tonight while the task force gets into position. At dawn, when the ship hit their targets, is going over the maps and targeting information in preparation.

Commander Ager also has instructions to use all of the military assets at his disposal to inflict maximum damage on this assault.

I will be reporting on the results of this attack tomorrow (along with the results of “Robin II”).


”Horseshoe”

CV Enterprise and CV Hornet met today in the waters northeast of Kiska Island on the western tip of the Aleutians, with AO Guadalupe. They spent the day taking on fuel and, tonight, they start sailing west to attack the Japanese island of Paramushiro Jima.

It will still take 3 days for them to get within range of their target, so do not expect me be able to report the results before then.

Military intelligence reports no shift in the Japanese defenses. The Kurile Islands are reported to have very little air defense. MSW Oriole continues to sail into Japanese waters south of Paramushiro Jima without encountering any sign of air or surface forces. Japan truly seems to have left this door wide open.

In preparation for the attack, we are reviewing all of our military intelligence to date concerning the island. We have confirmed that there is little or no air cover in all of northern Japan.

Military units stationed there include North Chishima Fortress and Kitachishima Fortress. This probably means a heavy compliment of coastal guns. Consequently, if the attack force decides to send in the surface fleet for a shore bombardment, these units will keep their distance, and use only the larger guns on the cruisers.


Japan Targets Aru Island

Japan launched an attack of its own today, striking Aru Island with the firepower of 8 capital ships, including 1 battleship.

Consistent with Japanese tactics to date, they stayed too far away for their destroyers or our coastal guns to have any effect.

From the results of this and previous attacks, I can say that the Japanese seem to be better at us than we are. We are still counting casualties, but it appears that we have suffered over 700 casualties. Port facilities were demolished. Several ammunition and fuel caches were hit, sending huge columns of smoke into the air by morning. Several artillery batteries were knocked out as well.

This has followed a pattered whereby Japanese naval bombardments have been extremely destructive. I cannot honestly say that our attack at Nanomea Atoll had anywhere near this destructive effect.

Perhaps we should practice more.


Port Moresby

There is no sign of Japanese activity here. They are likely getting into position and trying to figure out what we may be up to – which is, nothing.

We have no solid evidence of this, but we believe that there is a Japanese minesweeper squadron off the coast sneaking in to remove mines under the cover of darkness.

Tomorrow, they attack. I am certain of that. It is merely an academic question whether they will be in control of Port Moresby tomorrow, or the day after. However, I am interested in seeing how they execute this mission. I am expecting to see over 10,000 Japanese troops hit the beech in one huge wave.


Elsewhere

• Military Intelligence reports that the Japanese landed the 14th Naval Landing Force on the Santa Cruz Islands (off of the southeastern tip of the Solomon Islands) yesterday. Though we knew of the landings yesterday, this is the first information we had on exactly which units were involved.

• North of Rangoon, remnants of the 103rd Royal Navy Base Force, which the Japanese pushed out of Rangoon and into the swamps west of town, attempted to ambush some Japanese units on the road heading north toward Mandalay. They struck the 34th Railroad Battalion and the 119th Naval Air Force Base Force traveling up the rail into central Burma. The attack, however, favored the Japanese who stood up to the ambush and counter-attacked, driving the allied forces back into the swamp.

• Japan is landing at Iloilo, one of the islands in the center of the Philippines, and one of the few ports with an allied garrison. A Philippine Army division and base force occupy the island. A squadron of float planes also stationed on the island was transferred to India today to keep it out of the hands of the Japanese. Japan is using its 3rd Engineering Regiment and 48th Division in the assault.


Summary

I must confess, it is nice to be doing something. It is comforting to see our units inflict damage on Japanese installations. Granted, it is not a lot of damage, and there are those who laugh at the thought of us congratulating ourselves for doing so little.

Still, Japan is unchecked. Japan wants Port Moresby, so Japan will get Port Moresby. Japan wants to neutralize Aru Island, so Japan neutralizes Aru Island. Japan wants the Santa Cruz Islands, so Japan lands on the Santa Cruz islands, with no opposition.

Accepting all of this, it appears as if the Allied army is starting to get its act together, pick up its weapons, and fight. These meager and inconsequential missions provide experience, which will be used to plan larger and more consequential missions in the future.

Thayne[/font]

[Thayne]

[font="Courier New"]Saturday, March 7, 1942

Henry

This was a bloody day.

• Japan launches its invasion of Port Moresby
• Heavy air-to-air fighting over Myitkyina favors the Japanese
• Japan takes Iloilo in the Philippines, one of the last garrisoned bases
• Allied operations “Syringe” and “Robin: Round II” hit the enemy.


Invasion of Port Moresby Begins

I had written earlier that I expected Japan to hit Port Moresby with a significant force. Sources report evidence of the following units:

• Kure 3rd, 5th, and 6th SNLF
• Sasebo 5th SNLF
• Maizuro 4th SNLF
• 6th Naval Guard
• 127th IJN Base Force
• 129th IJNAF Base Force
• 129th IJA Base Force

Combined, we count 16,000 troops. More important than the troops, however, is what Japan can offer in support.

This is actually not as big a force as I had expected.

There certainly was not enough soldiers to defend the whole beach. The Japanese selected sections of the coast where they could easily land and where defenses were light. The bulk of their forces landed about five miles south of Port Moresby itself. Defenses were not able to hit any of the Japanese ships, though they were able to put a fairly heavily barrage down on the landing beaches as the Japanese tried to organize themselves for the march on Port Moresby.


Japanese Iloilo, Philippines

Japan landed 10,000 troops from the 49th Division and 3rd Engineering Regiment at Iloilo yesterday. They actually landed their forces a few miles southwest of Iloilo, at the town of Dao, on the point. The Philippine Army had a couple of guns there. Japan raked the shore with a few PG boats. Reports are that they put a shell or two in one of the boats,, but there were no reports of serious damage. The Japanese consolidated their forces and began the march up the road to the main city.

Japan already controlled the north half of the island, having landed there yesterday, so the division had to keep some of its troops along the northern front. It established a line against the Japanese. However, as soon, the Japanese had cleared out the city, they followed up with another 15,000 soldiers. While the soldiers moved up along the coastal road, Japanese PG boats followed along the flank to shell the Philippine positions. The reports are that the artillery struck a couple of the PG boats. One of the batteries got the bearings on a ship and was pummeling it heavily, until the Japanese navy locked on the battery and took it out.

Just a little while ago, Japan charged into the city itself. They simply had the Philippine army outnumbered – 5 to 1 odds. They quickly overran the Philippine Army and forced the surrender of another 6,000 allied soldiers.


Air War: Burma – Japan Defends Myitkyina

The allied bombings of Myitkyina met opposition today from a Daitai of Zeros. They managed to shoot down 9 of our bombers. However, the B-17s took down an amazing 5x Zeros. The 4-engine bombers have been our best weapons against the Japanese Zero pilots.

In spite of the fighters, bomb assessment analysis shows that our attacks were more successful today than yesterday, even though we used the same squadrons, who are growing fatigued by the constant fighting.

I am not unhappy with the results.

Military intelligence informs me that the 7th Bomber Group is once again ready to fly. Furthermore, military intelligence reports that the 24th and 50th Fighter Sentais, consisting of Nates, are standing guard over Mandalay. Nates are not the highest quality of Japanese airplanes. One more fact to consider is that the American Volunteer Group has moved to Yunan, China, to protect the base from Japanese attempts to interdict the supply planes flying in from India.

The AVG are the Nate killers. Recall that they destroyed a full squadron of Nates at Wuhan in central China.

We have sent out orders for them to do it again.

Tomorrow, the Japanese stronghold at Mandalay will suffer attacks from two directions. LB-30 will fly out of Dacca at full force, and the AVG will fly from Yuhan in the north. They will both target the Nate Sentais at Mandalay and, hopefully, get their revenge for what the Japanese did to the 7th Bomber Group one week ago.


”Robin: Round II”

The return to Nanomea Atoll were not as successful as the day before. It may because there were fewer targets to hit. Still, we took no damage, so we cannot consider it a loss.


”Syringe”

The bombardment of Sabang, on the western point of Sumatra went very well. As I mentioned yesterday, we had gotten intelligence reports from Dutch units forced from the city not long ago. So, the cruisers and destroyers knew where to attack.

The bombardment was rewarded with several secondary explosions. One building near the port that we had been told was an ammunition storage dump disintegrated in an explosion that sent flames at least 3,000 feet into the air. The bombardment destroyed two key buildings at the airport which held machine shops for the maintenance of airplanes. We also targeted peers and machinery on the ports. Buildings said to be barracks were also hit.

In short, the bombardment was immensely successful.


Japanese Air Attack on Darwin

Japan launched a significant air attack on Darwin, Australia today.

70 bombers from G2/Takao Daitai, G2/Kisarazo Daitai, and G1/Mihoro Daitai hit the city. They targeted the airfield and inflicted damage on the airbase, but not enough to bring the base down. They also hit several airplanes on the runway, but these were transports and seaplanes. The damage to the infrastructure was actually repaired by morning.

For all practical purposes, the attack accomplished nothing for the Japanese.


”Horseshow”

I am pleased to report that there is nothing to report concerning “Horseshoe”. Once again, I can report that there is no sign that the Japanese are ready for the attack.

CV Enterprise and CV Hornet are sailing in two separate task forces. They are just west of Attu Island now, at the tip of the Aleutians. They are ready to charge across a stretch of 600 miles of open ocean to get to their target. Two days of sailing.

It would be ironic if, at the last moment, the weather failed us, and our whole effort ends up snuffed out by a blanket of snow or rain while we sit, bobbing in the water. 100 miles from our destination.


Reinforcements

I almost forgot – it is Saturday, and the day for reporting the units that will be released to my control next week.

I am certain, of these reinforcements, Prime Minister Curtin will be happy to see his 7th Australian Division land at Sydney on Tuesday. Also, the 2nd UK Division lands at Karachi next Saturday. It is looking as if we may actually get the Chinese and Burmese armies into India, we can spare the 2nd UK Division to reinforce Ceylon. That is my hope.

Sunday, March 8, 1942

• DD Griffin at Karachi
• AS Griffin at San Diego
• MSW Bayfield at Vancouver

Monday, March 9, 1942

• No. 33 RAAF Squadron (16x Empire) at Townsville
• SS S-43 at San Diego
• AK Empire Purcell at Karachi

Tuesday, March 10, 1942

• VMP-111 (24x F4F-3) at Los Angeles
• AK Empire Heywood at Karachi
• 7th Australian Division at Sydney

Wednesday, March 11, 1942

• None Provided

Thursday, March 12, 1942

• 31st Naval Base Force at San Francisco

Friday, March 13, 1942

• None Provided

Saturday, March 14, 1942

• 2nd UK Division at Karachi
• 101st Australian AT Regiment at Sydney


Thayne


[/font]

[Thayne]

[font="Courier New"]Sunday, March 8, 1942

WEELLY SUMMARY

Henry

My weekly summary will follow. However, I want to report a special success in the Burma Air War.

The attack on Mandalay went particularly well.

Recall, yesterday I wrote that Intelligence reported two Nate Sentais – the 24th and 50th were defending Mandalay. The AVG – the Nate Killers of Central China – had been moved to Yunan, which is within range of Mandalay. Furthermore, the 7th Bomber group was ready to return to the fight. Therefore, General Pownall gave orders for both units to attack Mandalay.

Well, things did not go as well as they did in central China. For one thing, the AVG is down to half strength, and we are finding it impossible to find additional planes for them. But, they went well enough.

We had an extraordinary stroke of luck. The P-40 Tomahawks of the AVG arrived only minutes ahead of the bombers. As soon as the AVG arrived, they challenged the Nate Sentais engaging them in a fierce dogfight where they shot down 12 of the fighters. By the time the bombers showed up, the Japanese CAP was out of ammunition and fuel and was rearming on the ground.

This gave the bombers a clear run of the airbase, and they plastered it. Bomb assessment reports show extensive damage to the airfield facilities, and the destruction of several airplanes on the ground – including at least two Zero fighters.

If I would have known that the two air groups would have arrived at the target at the same time, I would have had the heavy bombers arrive at a lower altitude for greater precision.

At the same time, we flew our regular missions against Myitkyina. It was not our best day. There is evidence that the pilots are getting tired. However, I can only speculate that the Japanese forces at Myitkyina are suffering the effects of these daily bombing missions as well.


Port Moresby Captured

This fact also deserves a mention before I get into my weekly report. The Japanese force of 17,000 soldiers marched northwest from their landing beaches and into Port Moresby, forcing the garrison there to surrender. There were only 3,500 allied soldiers to resist the Japanese invasion. They were heavily outnumbered.

Ships of the Japanese navy provided artillery support for the advance, laying off shore and directing their fire to anyplace showing active allied resistance. The guns from the cruisers that participated in these attacks proved quite effective, allowing the ships to keep enough distance to prevent any counter-battery fire from the defenders.

So, Port Moresby is now in Japanese hands.


Overall

I am in a bit better mood than I was last week. We made a decision to start fighting back against Japan, and that decision has paid off. In the past week we have:

(1) Bombarded Nanomea Atoll twice
(2) Struck at Sapang on the eastern tip of Sumatra for good effect
(3) Organized an attack on the 24th and 50th Fighter Sentais in Burma to good effect
(4) Employed our intelligence capabilities to track down and destroy a Jap submarine
(5) Maintained air supremacy over the Japanese base of Myitkyina in northern Burma.

Of course, at the same time, we

(1) Lost Port Moresby
(2) Lost the Santa Cruz Islands

These are in addition to the expected losses of additional bases along the northern coast of New Guinea, in the Dutch East Indies between Bali and Timor, and in the central part of the Philippines.

Anyway, it is time for the update.


Losses

Naval Losses: 35 Ships (1 ships lost in the last week)

• BC Repulse
• CAs: Houston, New Orleans
• CLs: Du Ruyter, Danae, Tromp
• DDs: Panther, Flusser, Lawrence
• PGs: Isabel, Asheville
• SSs: S-38, KXV
• ASs: Otus, Canopus
• DMS Southard
• MSW Penguin, Turkey
• PTs: PT-21, PT-31, PT-32, PT-34, TM-13, TM-14, TM-15
• AP President Madison, Hugh L. Scott*
• AKs, Large: Steel Voyager, Mormacdove
• AKs, Small: Taurus, Empire Elk; Governor Wright; Idaho
• TKs: Gertrude Kellogg, Manataway

* Newly sunk ship


Air Losses: 1434 Planes - 69 in the last week

• 688 planes shot down (+18)
• 455 planes destroyed on the ground (+7)
• 38 planes destroyed by flak (+4)
• 253 planes lost due to accident and wear (+40)


Top 20 Air Losses by Type

• 155x P-40B Tomahawk (+1)
• 120x Hurricane (+7)
• 102x Buffalo
• 89x Whirraway
• 87x Hudson (+10)
• 84x P-40E Warhawk (+2)
• 78x Brewster 339D
• 51x PBY Catalina (+4)
• 43x B-17 Flying Fortress (+6)
• 42x Martin 139
• 38x SB-2c
• 32x Blenheim IV (+3)
• 31x P-39D Airacobra (+4)
• 29x Blenheim I (+4)
• 28x CW-21B Demon
• 27x P-36A Mohawk
• 27x C-47 Dakota (+3)
• 25x F4F-3
• 25x LB-30 Liberator (+2)
• 25x Catalena I (new addition)

The heavy loss due to wear and tear are due to the heavy use of airplanes in Burma on combat missions. The types of planes suffering these losses -- B-17s, C-47s, Hudsons, Blenheims -- are all plane types being heavily used in the India/Burma campaign. The only method we have available for reducing these losses is to quit using these airplanes. That seems like a less than ideal way to win a war.


Airplane Shortages

I have mentioned before the airplanes that we have shortages in. I thought, this time, I would tell you how great our shortages are -- how many airplanes I need just to bring existing squadrons up to full strength.

In this report, I will give this week's number before the airplane type, showing last week's number in parentheses after the aircraft type.

• 11x Brewster 339D (16)
• 19x Buffalo I (24)
• 51x Catalina I (48)
• 12x Martin 139 (14)
• 07x P-26A (10)
• 66x P-36A (66)
• 25x P-39D Airacobra (21)
• 87x P-40B Tomahawk (92)
• 33x P-40E Tomahawk (40)

The situation has somewhat improved since my previous correspondence. However, at this rate, it will still be a very long time before we have all of the fighters that I was originally promised to this theater.


Damage Inflicted

Military intelligence estimates the losses suffered by the Japanese to be the following

Enemy Naval Losses: 15 ships

This includes 1 enemy submarine sunk in the past week.

• 1x Destroyer
• 9x Submarines

• 1x Minelayer
• 2x Minesweeper
• 1x Cargo ship
• 1x Troop transport

Enemy Air Losses:

These, of course, are approximations.

Air to air combat: less than 200+
Flak: 120
Destroyed on the field: 40+

The successful attack on the Nate squadrons at Mandalay today was the major contributor to the increase in Japanese losses due to air-to-air combat and on the ground.


Summary By Region

North Pacific

"Horseshoe"

CV Enterprise and CV Hornet are on the last day of their journey to Paramushiro Jima. Tomorrow, I will be reporting the effects of their attack -- provided that the weather allows them to have an attack.

• Kiska: Near the tip of the Aleutian Islands, MSW Oriole has just returned from its most recent mission to the Kurile Island, where it once again reported that it was possible to get to the Kuriles without being spotted by air. The island is also mined.

• Amchikita: 250 miles east of Kiska, AVD Gilles and VP-41 (12x PBY) to patrol the approaches to Alaska.

• Dutch Harbor: 400 miles east of Amchikita, 26,000 troops + 1200 combat infantry. 24x obsolete fighters. 32x Bombers.

• Kodiak: 350 miles northeast of Dutch Harbor; 20,000 troops + 2300 combat infantry.

• Anchorage: 4600 troops. Canada has leant the 13th Canadian Brigade to help in the defense of Anchorage. However, the unit is traveling over land from Canada and has several weeks to go.

• Nome: 6000 troops + over 1100 combat infantry.


Central Pacific

Japan holds Guam, Wake, and Baker Islands. Nothing else that started in Allied control (with the exception of Pearl Harbor on December 7th) has even been subject to attack.

Engineers have built a crude port and airstrip at French Frigate Shoals and on Laysan Island (400 miles southeast of Midway). These airstrips will allow us to ferry shorter-range aircraft from Hawaii to Midway.

There are about 96,000 troops on the Hawiian Islands themselves (from Big Island to Lihu), with garrisons at Pearl, Hilo, Kona, and Lahina and Lihu. The 27th USA Infantry Division is on Big Island. The 102nd USA Regimental Combat Team now occupies Lihu, 100 miles west of Pearl Harbor. These units will prevent Japan from easily landing on these islands and threatening Pearl Harbor.

Palmyra: 16,500 troops, 24x fighters, 56x bombers, 12x Patrol planes, 1100+ mines

Christmas Island: 24,000 troops plus 1900 combat infantry. 16x bombers. 12x Patrol planes. 500 mines.

Nimitz has made the decision to occupy Jarvis Island, a small island about 250 miles southwest of Chrismas Island. Its purpose is to give a little more protection across the gap from Christmas Island to Canton Island or to Pago Pago (if Canton Island should fall to the Japanese). Its purpose is to add one more headache to any Japanese attempt to capture the Line Islands -- the chain that includes Palmyra and Christmas Islands.

Johnson Island: 4,700 troops. This island is also at risk. With a fairly well developed airfield, it would be useful for Japan to keep Hawaii in check. It needs reinforcements.


South Pacific

Japan occupies Nanomea Atoll and the Santa Cruz Islands (or, at least, Utupau at the center of the Santa Cruz Islands)

Nanomea is a small island sits about 600 miles south of Apamama and Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. In the past week, Halsey sent a small collection of cruisers to Nanomea twice to disrupt Japanese activities there. The damage was minor though, hopefully, it will have an effect on the morale of the Japanese high command, and make them more hesitant.

• Canton Island: 15,000 troops, 30x fighters, 40x bombers, 12x patrol planes. Transport ships are again visiting this island without any hindrance from Japan. Supplies are plentiful as a result.

Military intelligence has been giving some thought to how Japan would move to take possession of the South Sea Islands. A likely line of attack would be to take Canton Island, thus cutting off the rest of the islands (forcing supplies to go around and preventing allied ships from having direct access to a major base).

For this reason, orders have gone out to help Canton Island fortify itself. TF1337 was just 400 miles away from Pago Pago when the 19th USA Engineering Regiment when our discussions ended. Halsey ordered the engineers to Canton Island to help that island prepare its defenses.

Canton island cannot hold many more soldiers. However, at least none that are there will find it easy to actually use those facilities.

• Samoa (Pago Pago): 24,500 troops split between American Samoa (14,500) and British Samoa (10,000). Also, holds the fighter, bomber, and torpedo squadrons of CV Saratoga while that carrier undergoes repairs for a torpedo hit at Pearl Harbor. Added to this, the islands have 12x Patrol Planes, 21x Fighter, and 16x Bomber.

Pago Pago has fewer soldiers than it had on the last report because of a decision to occupy Wallis Island to the northwest about 400 miles. Units of the 2nd USMC Division left Pago Pago to occupy this island. Pago Pago has the 102nd Regimental Combat Team to protect it.

• Tongatapu: 3,800 troops, plus 60x bombers flying ASW missions along the route from Samoa to Fiji, and 12x patrol planes carrying out reconnaissance.

• Wallis Island, northeast of American Samoa. 2000 troops belonging to the 2nd USMC Division.

• Fiji: 13,800 troops (New Zealand), 70x bombers. 30x patrol planes.

The strength defending this island has decreased because of the threat to New Caledonia discovered over a week ago.

I was looking over the South Sea Islands and started to look at the map under the assumption that Japan occupied the New Hebrides Islands as well as New Caledonia. I asked myself to consider the best line of advance, and discovered that Efate was the best place for an additional island. It is the only island in this chain that would be within the range of bombers flying from an allied base.

I mentioned to Nimitz the idea that the first base we would land on should be the last base we are driven out of. We should move our resources to Efate.

Another argument for defending Efate was that New Caledonia is large. It is not possible to protect the whole coastline. As a result, Japan can land without opposition, rest, and move on the capital over land. On Efate, Japan cannot get to the shore without facing defensive guns.

As a result, Halsey has ordered the transfer of Hobart Coastal Artillery Regiment from new Caledonia to Efate, by air and by sea (whichever is the most practical). In addition, the First New Zealand Cavalry Brigade is being listed from Suva in Fiji to Efate before the Japanese can get there.

• New Caledonia: 4,000 troops, 1 squadron of Hudson bombers. Reinforcements for the island, which is calling itself the Americal Division, is about 600 miles northeast of American Samoa on its way to New Caledonia. If they can arrive on time, they can go to work fortifying New Caledonia. However, we do not know how much time the Japanese are going to give us.


Southwest Pacific

Japan has taken all of the Solomon Islands and all of New Guinea including Port Moresby, except for a small number of scattered bases that will fall under Japanese influence quickly enough.

Port Moresby fell to the Japanese today.

• 7th Australian Division: The 7th Australian Division will arrive this week (on Thursday, if I remember correctly). It can be immediately transferred to ships in the local theater and sent to help defend New Caledonia.

• Australian Navy: North Coast. CL Boise is the only allied surface ship left in the waters north of Australia. It was only here because it was too badly damaged to go anywhere. Many of those damages have been patched, and Boise will soon take its poor battered body to Perth.

• Supplies: A steady stream of supplies and reinforcements is nearing Australia. Even if it is cut off by the Japanese occupation of New Caledonia, Australia will have a healthy stockpile of supplies. It will be able to execute a war against the Japanese, if they invaded, without much risk that they will run out of supplies. In the mean time, the British continue to supply Australia from the west through the Indian Ocean.

• Air Power: The Ships from the United States have also brought four fighter groups; three with P-39D Airacobras and 1 with P-40s. It also imported the 24th Fighter Squadron from the Philippines, as well as the Dutch air force. This gives Japan a sizable air force to deal with in case of an invasion.


ABDA Command

Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Sulawesi, all are occupied by Japan. The Allies have Timor and a few smaller islands.

• Timor Timor has been largely abandoned, except for a token force at Koepang, on the western tip, and a small garrison of 10 fighters and a like number of bombers. Koepang is significantly short of supplies. There is no expectation of holding the island. As soon as the Japanese show up in force, the defenders will, as much as possible, retreat to the mainland.

• Aru Island: As mentioned above, this has proved to be a bad idea. Japan moved on Bali with a force of 45,000 soldiers, all landing in 1 day. If they do the same to Aru Island, it will quickly fall. Rather than risk the loss of another group of soldiers trapped, we are withdrawing units from this island. Soldiers are being moved off by seaplane to Port Moresby.


Burma

Japan occupies all of Burma.

Allied units, including nine Chinese "Divisions" and the whole of the British army in Burma minus one air force sergeant, are marching out of the jungle to India.

This has turned the battle in Burma into an air war. We are flying regular missions against the Japanese forces at Myitkyina to good effect. Strategic bombing has left the region around Pagan a near wasteland of no practical use to Japan. It has taken similar action against potentially useful resources around Taung Gyi, to somewhat less effect.

The Indian air force is making no attempt to tackle the Japanese Zero. Thus, the area around Rangoon remains safe. Allied bombing missions are focusing instead on northern and central Burma.


Ceylon

The British have over 40,000 troops on Ceylon -- including the 18th UK Division -- to resist any Japanese invasion of this island. They also have 10x fighters and 70x bombers, and 12x patrol planes stationed on the island, with 20x more fighters at nearby Madras.

As is being done elsewhere, engineers are focusing on fortifying their positions rather than building infrastructure. Once the fortifications are in place, the infrastructure will be built up behind them.

There are troops stationed at every port on the east shore of India -- including (from south to north) 7,000 at Mannargudi, 3,500 at Madras, and 2,500 at Yanam.


China

Japanese forces finished their project of clearing the Shanghai-Hanoi railroad a couple of weeks ago. It then moved its main army north, and launched a campaign that drove through Homan and took the town of Sian.

In doing so, Japan has captured approximately half of the Chinese war factories that China had available on December 7th. The only source of complex manufactured war material will have to be flown in from India.

The AVG and the bulk of the Chinese air force has moved to Yunan to protect the airfields there from Japanese assaults. Those airfields will be used to receive supplies from India.


Closing Comments

These weekly reports leave me exhausted. If you should find a group of strange letters in the middle of one of these reports, it is because I fell asleep and my head hit the keys. But, I hope you find it useful. At least you know that you never have to go far to catch up with what has happened.

Tomorrow, "Horseshoe" launches. The forecast is for rain. Hopefully, there will not be so much rain that we cannot launch our planes against the island. I am going to be camped at the radio tomorrow waiting for the results.


Thayne[/font]

[Thayne]

[font="Courier New"]Monday, March 9, 1942

Henry

”Horseshoe”

The attack worked.

At dawn, 72x SBD Dive Bombers, the full compliment available to CVs Enterprise and Hornet, attacked Paramushimo Jima at a range of 100 miles. The Japanese did not even see us coming. There were no signs of Japanese reconnaissance aircraft before the attack. We are quite sure that the first hint that Japan had that there were allied carriers in the area was when a flock of SBD Dive Bombers struck.

The TBDs stayed behind looking for ships. With no ships in sight, they launched an afternoon attack against the island, inflicting a slight bit more damage.

The mission cost us two dive bombers.

I would call the attack only moderately successful. We inflicted some damage. However, it would be a gross exaggeration to say that we destroyed the base (though that is the version that will likely make it into the press).

Our goal, however, was not destruction. It was to force the Japanese to recognize a particular vulnerability, to pull units north away from the battle zones in the South Pacific, Timor, Burma/India, and China. If Japan does not recognize a particular vulnerability, we will remind them again.

The plan calls for sticking around for a day and attacking them tomorrow, then releasing the cruisers to shell the island while the carriers make their way back home. Since we know that there are coastal guns at Paramushiro Jima, we are not going to close enough to use the destroyers. We will keep our distance. However, the photographs from two days’ of aerial attacks should help us to ensure that those shells land with effect.

So, three days’ worth of attacks are planned. The first day is done.


Japan Occupies Luganville

Japan is moving closer to New Caledonia, taking the port of Luganville on the island of Espritu Santo, today. This puts New Caledonia under the Japanese air umbrella. Task forces carrying reinforcements for the island can now be subject to Japanese air attack, and they have a base from which they can launch surface attacks against any ships in the area.

This means that reinforcing our own base will now be a serious operation requiring naval-air and surface fleets in support.

It appears that New Caledonia is lost to the Japan.

As I wrote in my weekly report yesterday, I have asked the question, “If Japan takes these islands, and we were to move to retake them, then where would we attack first?” The answer is not New Caledonia, but Efete, northeast of New Caledonia and the only area fit for air and naval operations within range of land-based bombers at Fiji.

Halsey is moving the Hobart Coastal Artillery Regiment from New Caledonia to Efete before the Japanese can get fully organized at Luganville. We have also loaded most of the 1st New Zealand Cavalry Brigade onto destroyers and sending them to Efete. B-17 bombers at Suva, on the Fiji Islands, can provide Efete with supplies.

Another argument for moving to Efete is a phrase that keeps ringing through my head. “Be where they do not expect you.” Japan expects to find us at New Caledonia and is, no doubt, investing a great deal of time and effort planning to fight us there. It likes the idea of fighting us there because it would be easy to get on shore, and our coastal batteries will have no effect. It is also further away from any air support.

The Japanese leadership will likely be surprised to find us on Efete. In that surprise, they are likely to make a mistake. Plus, they will not start making plans to dislodge us until they discover the ugly truth that we are present.

This will buy us time and, perhaps, opportunity.

With the possibility of New Caledonia in Japanese hands, we have to consider the possibility of Australia being cut off from supplies. It is better to start dealing with this issue sooner rather than later.

The British are gathering all of the equipment that they can spare in India and sending it to Australia through Perth. The extra supplies, arriving sooner rather than later, will not hurt.

On the American side, all convoys that have reached the waters around New Zealand are to continue on to Sydney. All convoys between New Zealand and American Samoa are to divert south to Wellington. All convoys between American Samoa and the US West Coast are to divert to Pearl Harbor and unload there. Later, when we have oilers available, we will organize a large convoy of tankers and cargo ships to sail a long southerly route to Australia.

There are still a large number of supplies heading for Australia. Focus had been on sending as much supply there as quickly as possible in light of the possibility that it would be cut off. Individual ships have been sailing from India to Australia since January with full cargo loads. Japan has only cost us 6 transports and 2 tankers since the war began, so we are not hurting for shipping.

This is not a crisis, regardless of what the Australians may think.


The Burma Air War

We continue to send raids against Japanese assets around Myitkyina, in northern Burma.

There is still no resistance.

I am beginning to wonder if the Japanese fighters are stretched a bit too thin, that it does not have the strength to cover all of our potential targets. We have been attacking Myitkyina for days. A Zero squadron showed up once, took some damage, and left again. The Nate squadron we mauled at Mandalay yesterday retreated to Rangoon.

If the weather favors us, Hanoi, in the northern part of French Indochina, is within range of the LB-30 bombers. There is no evidence that it has any fighter cover. If we threaten strategic targets in Hanoi, I am wondering if Japan will have the air squadrons to cover that.

Plus, there is Bangkok, Thailand. This is another potential target.

Japan has not yet put up any fighters in defense of Baker Island in the South Pacific. Is it because they have no fighter squadrons to use?

As I said, what would happen if we force the Japanese to spread their fighters out?

I am trying to make sure that Japan recognizes that Rangoon and Mandalay are under threat. In addition to Myitkyina, B-17 bombers out of India attacked strategic targets around Taung Gyi again. They were met by a dozen Zeros flying out of Mandalay. Five crew members were killed or wounded, and the bombers missed their target. However, they did deliver the message that Japan cannot focus its fighters on Myitkyina alone. We will attack elsewhere.

One place that I would like to attack near Rangoon. However, it is very well defended.


Central Philippines Almost Entirely in Jap Hands

After capturing Iloilo, the Japanese 3rd Engineer Regiment and 48th Infantry Division moved south to Cebu Island today. This is the last island that has any sizable defense. Japan is also moving forces to occupy the other ports in the central Philippines, and should have uncontested control of the whole region by the end of the week – other than whatever guerilla organizations we can organize and supply.

Submarines will continue to be used to deliver explosives, guns, and ammunition to guerilla bands that are resisting the Japanese. However, there will be no more organized military resistance after this week, I fear.


Future Operations

Now that “Robin” and “Syringe” have ended “Paramushiro” is nearing its end, we are looking for the next operation.

Halsey wants to retake either Baker or Nanoumea Atoll. He thinks that the Japanese are using these islands only as a buffer against the Gilberts, and that they do not even have a plan to hold the islands against a determined attack. They only seek to make us hesitate, while they fortify the Gilbert Islands without fear of attack.

I do not like basing decisions on a mere guess. I want to find out what Japan is doing – what their plans are. One of my fears is that we will put soldiers on Baker Island, Japan will put up a tenacious fight, and we will be stuck there providing support while the Japanese military comes down on us like a hammer on an acorn.

Though, the details have yet to be worked out, we are looking into an operation that will be named “Vortex”. It will involve 4 carriers carrying the air units of all 5 carriers while the fifth undergoes refit at Pearl Harbor. It will include a bombardment force, a minesweeping force, and even a mock landing force – a task force of empty troop transports. We will use these to launch a mock invasion of Baker Island in April, and we will see how Japan reacts.

One of the objectives of this mission will be to reduce Baker Island to rubble. We will subject it to the full weight of our carrier air force. We will bombard the island with at least two battleships and a half-dozen cruisers. We will treat this like a real invasion, which means getting close enough to use the destroyers and even bringing the troop transports up close to the island.

However, instead of landing troops, I hope to salt the ocean around Baker Island with hundreds of mines, making further relief from the Japanese navy a bit more difficult.

After 2 or 3 days, we will withdraw, leaving a pile of ash where Baker Island once was, and collect information on which Japanese ships and planes moved where, from where, to respond to the attack.

There is even hope that the attack will cause Japan to cancel existing plans and begin new ones, disrupting their time table.

As I said, the details are not yet fixed. Halsey is arguing that we should bypass Baker and turn Tarawa into our pile of ash, and see how the Japanese would react to that. After all, Japan has no real assets on Baker Island.

I am not ruling this out.

I am also not ruling out the possibility that Japan would have made a move to capture Canton Island by the time “Vortex” is ready, and Canton Island may have to be our target island.

There are a lot of details to work out. In the mean time, the only thing that is definite is that we have ordered all of the carriers except Saratoga into the South Pacific for the operation. We have until the carriers arrive to work out the details.


Until later

Thayne

[/font]

[Gen.Hoepner]

Just to lines to express my feelings.

This is one of the best readings i've ever seen about war.
It's a masterpiece of war litterature, it's not an AAR.
I wish i could write as you do.

Keep on feeding our mind Thayne, please.

[Thayne]

Sorry for the delay. My computer got sick and required a transplant. It seems relatively healthy now. The AAR shall continue.

And, Gen.Hoepner: I am most grateful for your comment.

Thayne

[Speedysteve]

We are waiting Thayne [8D]

[Thayne]

[font="Courier New"]Tuesday, March 10, 1942

Henry

I had an image of our progress in this war, of a child throwing a rock in a raging river, and boasting that he had constructed a dam. Such is our effort to stop the Japanese.

They were busy today. I received reports of a number of areas falling under Japanese control. For the most part, these were not minor and insignificant bases behind enemy lines that needed to be cleaned up. These were strategically important areas.

• On Cebu Island in the Philippines, the last organized military unit surrendered to the 3rd Engineer Regiment and the 48th Division.

• The 91st Naval Guards occupied Taytay on the eastern side of the Philippine Islands.

• In the Dutch East Indies, Morotai was captured by the 9th Naval Landing Force.

• The Japanese expansion now has moved into Timor. Today, the Yokosuka 2nd SNLF moved into Dili, in the central part of the island.

• A large number of ships are heading towards Kupang. The forces we spotted make up a typical Japanese attack force; an air attack group, a surface attack group, and a landing force.

• Thursday Island, just above the northeastern tip of Australia, fell to the Kure 3rd Naval Landing Force today.

• Luganville, at Espritu Santo, came under the control of the 24th and 32nd Naval Landing Force


”Horseshoe”

The weather in the North Pacific turned rotten yesterday, with an ice storm hitting both carrier task forces. A coating of ice kept most of the crew off the decks. This prevented them from launching a second day of attacks against the Japanese base at Paramushiro Jima.

According to one message, the decks of the carriers were pitching so badly they were considering putting the planes on the deck, revving up the engines, and allowing the waves to throw them up into the air.

Intelligence reports also indicate that the main objective of the mission has been achieved. Japan is moving a number of air units into the north Pacific – units that would have otherwise been available to its efforts further south.

Unfortunately, this means that our carriers are at risk if we leave them there another day.

Tonight, the cruisers Honolulu, St. Louis, Detroit, Raleigh, and Minneapolis will close with the island and shell it the planned third phase of the operations, while the carriers withdraw to Pearl Harbor.

On the way south, the carrier forces will test the defenses of Marcus Island and Wake. They will attempt to approach the islands. If they can get close enough, they will attack. However, if there are signs that they are spotted, they will withdraw.

North Pacific Pickets Established

Admiral Nimitz has proposed, and I have agreed to, a set of pickets to patrol the north Pacific. The pickets will consist of a half-dozen small patrol boats (minesweepers or gunboats) sailing from Midway to Kiska Island and back again. Spaced some distance apart, the boats should be able to provide some warning against a possible Japanese carrier attack through the gap between these islands. The open ocean from Midway to the Aleutians have no islands that we can use to base land-based patrol planes.


The Burma Air War

Today’s body count in the Burma air war consists of 3x LB-30 bombers over Taung Gyi in central Burma, while shooting down 2x Japanese Zeros. The bomber raid targeted food processing plants in the city. Bomb damage assessment showed slight damage to some of the buildings. However, the targeted facilities remained substantially intact. Future raids are planned.

The heavy bombers continue to be the best anti-fighter weapon we have in this war.

We also continued our series of unopposed raids on Myitkyina. We continue to send raids against Japanese assets around Myitkyina, in northern Burma. Minor damage was inflicted to the airbase as well as anti-aircraft facilities near bridges south of the town.

All things considered, we inflicted more damage than we took. However, at the start of this report, I mentioned the analogy to a boy throwing a rock in a river. I wonder if the small bits of damage we inflict on these raids even matter – or whether we are throwing innocent lives away and getting too little back in return for our efforts.


Japanese Submarines Patrol India-Australia Shipping Route

While Japanese forces attempt to block the flow of supplies to Australia on the east with the capture of Espritu Santo and, eventually, New Caledonia, Japanese submarines attempt to block the western route.

Allied intelligence estimates at least three Japanese submarines are operating in these waters – all of them too far away from land for land-based anti-submarine efforts to have any effect.

As a result, General Pownall has ordered a destroyer squadron into these waters to try to eliminate some of the submarines.

Recall that we have decided to make a concentrated effort against the Japanese submarine force. This has been one of the few bright spots of the war. We have already sunk 9 Japanese submarines which, to the best of our ability to determine, is a significant portion of their submarine force. The complete collapse of the Japanese submarine force will allow our ships to move behind the lines at will, and prevent the Japanese from gaining information about our movements.


More of the same tomorrow. I will let you know how the bombardment of Paramushiro Jima turns out, of course.

Thayne[/font]

[Thayne]

[font="Courier New"]Wednesday, March 11, 1942

Henry

I have some good news, and some bad news.

”Horseshoe”

The good news isn’t all that good, but it has some measure of satisfaction about it.

Using information from aerial photographs from the one successful air attack against Paramushiro Jima, the northernmost island on the chain extending northeast out of the main Japanese islands, a set of cruisers approached the island at night.

The cruisers Honolulu, St. Louis, Detroit, Raleigh, and Minneapolis all participated.

Each cruiser was given a set of targets. The first targets were places suspected of holding large quantities of troops – barracks and mess halls. The idea was to hit these places, and disrupt the defenders on the island, before an alarm was sounded that allowed them to reach safety or their guns.

The guns scored immediate and direct hits. There is every reason to believe that they inflicted heavy casualties.

They then focused on the guns. Aerial reconnaissance had reported a number of batteries. The cruisers systematically targeted each of them with a few rounds. Military intelligence reports that over 20 guns were destroyed.

One of the smaller caliber shore defenses managed to get the range on CL St. Louis. She was hit twice in the side, just below the waterline. The captain reported some scratched paint, but nothing more serious than this.

Finally, the cruisers turned their guns on the island’s infrastructure. Secondary explosions and huge columns of smoke suggest that several shells hit ammunition stockpiles. There was one explosion in the region of the airport that lit up half the island and sent a ball of flame at least 1500 feet into the sky. The cruisers also targeted a refueling station at the port, hitting at least one fuel storage tank, given the huge column of black smoke and orange fire crawling up into the night sky.

After consultation with Nimitz, we gave the order for TF1050 to return to the island. The destruction of the airfield and the lack of damage sustained on the first attack suggests that this will be safe. Besides, we have ships in the area. It is a lot more efficient to hit the island twice than to leave and come back later.

Hopefully, this will make up for the lost second air strike.

The carriers, CV Enterprise and CV Hornet, are heading toward Midway Island now. They will test to see how close they can get to Marcus Island and Wake Island along the way.


The Burma Air War

This is the bad news. Allied air squadrons ran into 2 Japanese Daitai flying cover over Myitkyina in northern Burma today: F2/Tainan Daitai and F1/Yamada Daitai.

We lost 20x fighters and 14x bombers to the Japanese.

Japan lost 2x Zeros.

That is another 17:1 kill ratio against our airplanes.

The lost fighter hurts. Remember that new entry in the weekly status report where I describe how understrength our air units are. Well, with 20 fighters being destroyed, the shortage of fighters for our air squadrons just got that much worse.

Now, the presence of F1/Yamada Daitai represents something of a curiosity. This is the same unit that had been last seen practicing in northern Philippines. This suggests that these pilots are relatively green. We are going to watch these units and see if we can get them in some sort of trap.

Mostly, we need to spread the fighters out so that we are not tackling all of them at one place. Therefore, tomorrow’s missions will aim for scattered targets. We are looking to attack Lashio, Myitkyina, Taung Gyi, as well as a night attack on Mandalay.

We are looking at the possibility of an attack on Hanoi and/or Hyphong Harbor in northern Indochina using the LB-30 bombers. Hopefully, this will draw Japanese fighters back away from the Burma to defend these vital areas.

After scattering the fighters apart, we hope to isolate F1/Yamada Daitai, and then hit it with the best fighters we have available.


The Anti-Submarine Campaign

We have three Japanese submarines targeted; two in the Indian Ocean and one in the Pacific off of San Francisco.

Recall, I have spoken with all commands about a concentrated effort against Japanese submarine force. The most useful weapon in any war is information. Depriving Japan of a submarine fleet will mean depriving it of information. It will also mean that we can maneuver units behind our lines in relative safety.

One of the Indian Ocean submarines is west of Ceylon. A walrus flying out of Ceylon reported sighting a Japanese ship. Pownall ordered all ships in the region equipped with the necessary armament to hunt down this submarine.

The other Indian Ocean submarine is about 1000 miles southeast of Ceylon, far out of range lf land-based bombers. A merchant ship reported a Japanese submarine in these waters, though it did not attack. The destroyers are heading for those waters without any aerial protection to use. TF1029, with six destroyers, has been sent to investigate this sighting.

The third Japanese submarine that has been spotted is northwest of San Francisco. It has almost certainly been the source of the airplanes that regularly scout San Francisco. TF1366 has been dispatched to take care of this threat.


Attack on New Caledonia Underway

Coastwatchers spotted Japanese troop transports heading through the central portion of the Solomon Islands. I strongly suspect that this is the force that has been given the task of taking New Caledonia. Meanwhile, the Japanese carrier force is almost certainly sitting in the waters south of the Southern New Caledonia islands. They are waiting to pick up the invasion force, I wager.

Nimitz is busy transferring as many troops to Efete as possible. The Hobart Coastal Artillery Regiment is setting up its guns. Tonight, the 1st New Zealand Cavalry Brigade will be dropped off. This will turn Efete into a fairly well defended island.

New Caledonia, on the other hand, is being depleted of troops. There is no way to defend this island effectively without having a huge body of troops. The problem is that Japan can land anywhere she wants, unload her troops, and then rest before starting their march to the capital. They cannot do that at Efete.

New Caledonia is lost to the Japanese. I would be surprised if we can hold Efete. However, Japan cannot take it from us as easily.


Timor

Japan is making a move to capture all of Timor. After taking control of the central part of the island yesterday, they landed today on the west and east points on the island. The landings at Lautem are under the protection of a naval attack force and air attack force, that seem to be doing to damage. They are just sitting there.


Okay. That’s all for today’s report. Good news and bad news, like I said.

We are still getting more bad news than good. However, Myitkyina in Burma, and Paramushiro Jima west of the Aleutians, are indications that we are now capable of fighting back a little bit.

Thayne[/font]

[Thayne]

[font="Courier New"]Thursday, March 12, 1942

Henry

It is nice to be fighting a war, rather than running from it.

Horseshoe ended today as a complete success. We scored another Japanese sub in the sub war, and our operations in the Burma air war were moderately successful.

We have not demolished the Japanese army in any of these operations, but things are heading in the right direction.

I think back, less than two weeks ago, I took that flight out of Canton Island feeling utter despair. I cam back, wanting to do some damage to the Japanese, and things have not gone too badly.

The one bad thing . . . Japan keeps gobbling up land. Can we stop this?


”Horseshow”

The last element of “Horseshoe” completed today with moderate success.

The cruisers Honolulu, St. Louis, Detroit, Raleigh, and Minneapolis hit the island again today, with moderate success.

Part of the reason that this mission was less destructive than earlier attacks is that there simply were not as many targets to hit. However, one area too lightly hit in the previous attacks was the naval fuel station. This time, the cruisers brought the fuel station under sustained bombardment, triggering a large fire with several secondary explosions. Other port facilities were also hit.

By this time, we expect that Japan will be taking steps to counter our assaults by moving additional ships and planes into the region. Therefore, we have ordered the withdraw of all ships.

All things considered, I believe we have to consider the attack to be a success. We lost 2x Dauntless dive bombers in the operation. In exchange, we subjected the island to four days of attacks that destroyed many of its facilities. We have no estimate of enemy casualties, but we have reason to suspect that they were more significant than we originally thought we could inflict.

Most importantly, allied military intelligence is reporting the redeployment of Japanese air units into this region. These are air units that might have otherwise been used in the South Pacific, against Australia, against China, or against British forces in India.

This is what we were aiming for. I am very pleased with the results.


The Sub War

We scored another victory in the sub war. Yesterday, I mentioned a submarine spotted west of Columbo, Ceylon. Today, the destroyer Jupiter, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Thew, found the destroyer. It was a part of a task force, TF1260, one of three task forces sent into the waters where the sub had been spotted.

Apparently, it was an easy hit. The destroyers were performing a sweep, when a sonar operator on Jupiter reported a contact. The ship was lucky, they seemed to be sailing straight for the enemy. The contact grew louder. The ship was called to battle stations and depth charges were prepared. When the sonar operator said that they were over the contact, they fired.

Jupiter is reporting a definite kill.

We are targeting two more submarines. One is off of San Francisco. TF1366 is chasing that contact. Another is 1000 miles southeast of Ceylon. It was last reported yesterday by a cargo ship. TF1029 with six destroyers will arrive there shortly.

Intelligence has news of a fourth submarine now, 300 miles east of Canton Island. We have organized TF1382, consisting of four minesweepers, to investigate this threat.

This submarine is particularly troublesome, because we now have two operations in this area. One is “Vortex”, the plan to turn Baker Island (or, perhaps, Tarawa Island) into a pile of ash. There will be nothing for Japan to see of this operation for two weeks at least.

The other is underway. Nimitz had arranged to replace one cruiser squadron in the South Pacific with another that had been guarding Hawaii. In a last minute addition to the plans, Nimitz is ordering both squadrons to pay a visit to Baker Island. Operation “Cheers” is already underway, with both task forces near Canton Island and at risk of being spotted (and struck) by this submarine.

One of our submarines took a hit today as well. SS Triton, patrolling the shipping routes from Japan to Kwajalein, was hit by two depth charges. The flooding was so severe that it was last reported to be sitting with just the top third of its control tower above sea level. It is making its way to Midway with all available speed.


Burma Air War

Losses were light today. We lost 2x LB-30 bombers and a Beaufort. Military intelligence confirms the loss of two Japanese Zeros.

Our bombing targets today included an area at Taung Gyi where a large amount of farm machinery had been parked in a common area. The Japanese probably did not consider this to be a military target. However, General Pownall figured that it would weaken the Japanese war effort if this machinery was destroyed and Japan was forced to harvest food and other crops grown in the area by hand. Bomb assessment showed several wrecked vehicles.

Another target was the airstrip at Lashio, in northeastern Burma. The reason for attacking Lashio was to spread out the Japanese defenses across several targets. The strike inflicted light damage against the airfield.

We also sent another bombing mission back to Myitkyina, because we did not want the Japanese to think that they had scared us away from this city, and to make our bombing missions less predictable. We were surprised to discover that there were no enemy airplanes there. Our mission went through without opposition, inflicting minor damage on the airbase, including the destruction of one building that we think was not only a repair shop but a barracks.

In another phase of the mission, we sent LB-30s out with cameras instead of bombs to take a look at Tavoy, in the southern tip of Burma south of Rangoon; and to Hanoi. One of the purposes of this mission was to see if allied planes could carry a bomb load as far as these targets. These scouting missions were fully successful. Tomorrow, we will be striking at these towns, further straining Japanese air defenses.

As I mentioned, Japan seems to have pulled its air units out of Myitkyina, in northern Burma. In today’s debriefing, we learned that F1/Yamada Daitai, the green unit, retreated to Mandalay, in central Burma. F2/Tainan Daitai disappeared entirely.

We do have reports of a flight of zeros south of Diamond Harbor today. According to radar operators at Diamond Harbor, a flight approached the coast south of Diamond Harbor, turned south, flew for about 30 miles, than returned home. We think that the pilots may have been looking for Diamond Harbor, got lost, and went back home.

This might have been what happened to F2/Tainan Daitai.


Canton Island Defense

Nimitz is focusing his efforts now on the defense of Canton Island and Fiji. We fully expect that Japan will take Canton Island, to try to cut off the rest of the South Pacific islands, before capturing them as well. Canton Island is a cornerstone.

The attack on Baker Island is expected to contribute to the defense of Canton Island by restricting Japan’s ability to build a bomber-capable base on the island. They may decide to delay any attack, with any delay working on our favor.

To further defend Canton Island:

• The 19th USA Engineering Regiment is still unloading at Canton Island. They will put their heavy equipment to work fortifying the island.

• Minelayers are being organized to for a trip to Canton Island to lay the area with mines.

• Nine submarines are moving into the region to interfere with any Japanese landing attempt.

He also has two battleships in the area; BB New Mexico nearing Canton Island, and BB Colorado at American Samoa.

Also, allied troops are starting to occupy Jarvis Island, southwest of Christmas Island where work will begin on constructing a base there.

One thing that we very much need, that we have a shortage of, is aircraft support troops. The South Pacific is woefully short of these types of troops. Anything you can offer is fine with me. If I need to, I will order Nimitz to redeploy the units at Ulithi.


The Fall of Timor

Japanese forces overran the Dutch defenders at Kupang today. Intelligence reports that the 81st Naval Guard and Kainan Guard SNLF were involved in the assault. This leaves only the eastern portion of the island in allied control. However, the Japanese have landed there as well and are organizing their forces to take control of the area.


Japan moves on Ichang, China

It is obvious now that Japan is making a major push to capture Ichang, in central China. I believe that it has moved the bulk of the army he used to take Sian south for this operation. It appears to be between 100,000 and 200,000 troops strong.

Again, Chang Kai Shek is showing no real interest in fighting off the Japanese. On the other hand, Mao Tse Tung shows a real interest in fighting, but we seem to be unable to convince the government of the United States to offer them support.

At this point, I would give my left arm for permission to move one of the AVG squadrons and several flights of bombers into northern China. Japan has some tempting targets up here. We should be hitting them, and worry about the politics of helping Mao Tse Tung after the Japanese have been driven out.[/font]

[Thayne]

[font="Courier New"]Friday, March 13, 1942

Henry

It's another Friday the 13th.

We had one of these last month. That one did not turn out so bad. This one didn't either. It was not the best of days. It was not the worst of days.


The Submarine War

The Sub War went slightly against us today. PG Charleston, part of TF1366 investigating submarine sightings off of the cost of San Francisco, took two torpedoes in the early hours this morning. The first hit the ship in the bow. The second hit midship. According to the report, after the two hits you could see nothing but the propellers churning away in the water. There was nothing else left.

We did not score any other hits. However, we are still chasing contacts.

• TF1029 reached the site where a cargo ship reported sighting a sub earlier in the war. The task force reported a brief sonar contact, strong enough to indicate that there was a Japanese submarine there. However, it evaded the task force. The search continues.

• TF1382 continues to look for a Japanese sub in the waters southwest of Canton Island. A submarine was originally spotted west of Canton island yesterday. Today, there was another sighting southwest of Canton Island. Intelligence believes that this is the same submarine. Attempts are being made to vector TF1382 to where the Japanese submarine is at.


The Burma Air War

We lost 7x bombers today, Henry. We don’t think that the Japanese lost much of anything in the air. Nor did they lose much on the ground.

However, there is more to consider than just what was destroyed in the past 24 hours.

One important development was the bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong. Pownall sent a squadron of LB-30 bombers against each target. They were being defended by the 24th Fighter Sentai – Nate fighters. This, and the proximity of the city to China, makes me think that it might be time to send the Nate Killers of the AVG to Hanoi in the near future.

At Haiphong, we targeted a steel mill, inflicting minor structural damage. At Haiphong, the squadron bombed the port, hoping to inflict some damage against Japanese shipping. The Haiphong bomb assessment also showed light damage against port facilities, and no hits on any militarily significant ships.

However, this should suggest to the Japanese that they have more places that they need to defend than just the airfields in Burma.

One of the problems with attacking north Indochina is the range. Even moderate damage against a bomber means that it will not likely return home. However, we do have the option of turning the damaged bombers north and landing in China, which means that these missions are not as dangerous as they would be if the bombers had to come all the way back to India.

We are going to see how Japan responds to these hits against these new targets. If they make no attempt to defend Hanoi or Haiphong, we can hit them again later.

The next time, the Nate Killers of the AVG will lead the way.

Our bombers also struck Taung Gui, Pagan, and Lashio in central Burma, and Myitkyina in northern Burma, again forcing the Japanese to spread themselves out to cover all of their bases. The bomb damage assessments were disappointing this time. We hardly hit anything worthy of the loss of these airplanes and pilots.

Tomorrow, we will focus again on targets closer to India – again, while we assess what effect the Hanoi mission had on Japanese deployment.


”Cheers”

TF1279 -- a cruiser task force leaving the South Pacific for maintenance and repair-- and TF1374 – a cruiser task force newly arrived to the South Pacific to replace TF1279 – are getting into position for attacks on Baker Island, northwest of Canton Island in the South-Central Pacific.

We had some fear of the task forces being spotted by a Japanese submarine seen near Canton Island, which is hosting the attack. However, intelligence indicates that this sub is heading south towards Samoa. They are on the wrong side of Canton island to see the task forces moving into position.

These missions, unlike earlier missions, are not going to involve the destroyers.

I have decided that I was a little reckless in ordering the destroyers to be included in earlier bombardments. I could have lost a lot of ships. Naval officers at Pearl Harbor ran a war game simulating a bombardment of Nanomea Atoll similar to those that I had authorized when I wanted to hurt Japan. In their games, four cruisers hit mines. These are not the types of results I am looking for.

Therefore, our cruisers in both TF1279 and TF1374 will keep their distance.

TF1279 has cruisers Louisville, Pensacola, and Concord.

TF1374 is made up of cruisers Salt Lake City and San Francisco.


Timor is in Japanese Hands

The whole of the island of Timor is in Japanese hands now. Kure 2nd Special Naval Landing Force, 11th Naval Landing Force, and 21st Naval Landing Force occupied all significant population centers on the eastern third of the island, completing the occupation.

The Australians are taking steps to reinforce the northern part of the island. They had been working on defenses for quite some time, but recent events have caused them to hasten their efforts. In particular, they are moving extra bombers into position to strike Japanese shipping north of the coast. Unfortunately, north Australia suffers from a serious weakness – all airstrips constructed in this region are within reach of Japanese ships at sea. The Australians are worried that their air bases may end up being demolished due to naval bombardment.


Japanese Drive to Cut Off Australia

Japanese carriers were spotted 350 miles north of New Caledonia. A second, landing task force was also spotted. Given Japanese tactics, there is a third bombardment task force nearby.

This will mean the fall of New Caledonia.

With the carriers in these waters, it would be foolish to try to land troops at New Caledonia. The soldiers would simply drown.

Therefore, the 2nd Australian Cavalry Division will stop short of its destination, and occupy Norfolk Island instead. Norfolk Island is an isolated island 700 miles southwest of New Caledonia, and will serve to protect ships making the trip from New Zealand to Australia – if we can get the ships to New Zealand.

The Americal Division, which was organized specifically to defend New Caledonia, is 100 miles east of Fiji. There is nothing more we could have done here. We had the ships ready the instant the troops reached San Francisco. We loaded them as quickly as we could and sailed them with all due haste to the South Pacific. We could not have gotten the fleet even one nautical mile closer to New Caledonia than this.

The division is going to stop at Fiji and change its assignment to the defense of that island. However, we have opted not to change the name to the Ameriji Division.

Also on Fiji, for the record, TF1338 just arrived today carrying the 47th USA Engineer Regiment. It’s assignment is to improve the defenses on the western side of the island.

Between the reinforcement of Fiji, and the establishment of a stronger defense of Canton Island, it is our intention to make it very difficult for Japan to occupy any more of the South Pacific islands than it already has.

Meanwhile, if you recall, we adopted a plan in the region around New Caledonia to “be where Japan does not expect us.” Last night, a destroyer squadron sailed up to Efete and deposited elements of the First New Zealand Cavalry Brigade onto the island. If the Japanese are not expecting this island to be defended, they may just sail an occupation force right into our den. The Japanese were seen scouting Efete intensively a week or so ago, but they have not looked at the island recently.

What also might surprise them is the fact that we managed to ship two 6” CD guns onto the island as well. They have been carefully placed and concealed on the west side of the island near good landing beaches, near the largest port.


Japanese Form Up to Take Ichang, China

Military intelligence has given me an estimate of 120,000 Japanese troops moving on Ichang, China. They are taking their time, and keeping good formation. The Chinese know that they are coming, but are unable to get reinforcements to the city in time.

Chang Kai Shek would not do this anyway. He is still trying to save his precious army for his future battle with Mao Tse Tung. However, his country is disappearing from underneath him, and it is quite possible that the Japanese may go after him next. Even if he only thinks about his own skin, after Ichang, he had better start deciding to fight.

Though, I don’t know what he will fight with.

On that regard, I can announce that the 16th TCS (16x C-47) has reached Ceylon. The 18th TCS (16x C-47) is 1200 miles southeast of Ceylon. However, these are the waters where a Japanese submarine had been spotted. We have a destroyer squadron here hunting the Japanese submarine. However, the Japanese submarine has a chance of ending the delivery of this transportation squadron. Success or failure of our attempts to deliver this unit to India determines whether China will or will not get about 80 tons of supplies per day.


Okay, until tomorrow. I hope you have a good day.

Thayne
[/font]

[Thayne]

[font="Courier New"]Saturday, March 14, 1942

Henry

The Submarine War

My opinion is that the reports we get from the battle in the south Indian Ocean should be given to some Hollywood script writers. It is certainly a movie that would keep an audience on the edge of its seat.

TF1029, consisting of the British destroyers Decoy, Foxhound, and Isis, and the Australian destroyers Napier, Nizam and Norman were hunting for a Japanese submarine last seen in these waters, 1000 miles southeast of Ceylon.

Among their other concerns, AK Ravnaas was sailing through these waters transporting the 18th TCS to Ceylon. This air squadron, with its 16x C-47s, is destined to help provide China with the supplies it needs to carry on the war.

Another task force, TF1390, was also sailing through on its way to Perth. With the threat that Australia would be cut off from the east growing ever stronger, the British loaded 10 large cargo ships full of war materials to send to Australia while the opportunity still existed.

I received my first report at 3:32 AM. HMAS Napier, an N class destroyer, had taken a torpedo. According to the report, the sun was just setting. A lookout on the ship saw the torpedo incoming out of the sun, but there was no time to give a warning. The torpedo hit just forward of midship and inflicted significant damage. Napier stopped, and her sister ship Nizam pulled up along side to render aid. Napier was quickly taking on water and the crew worked frantically to try to stop it.

Their work carried them through most of the night. Fires caused by the torpedo – particularly the burning oil that spread around the ship – made it an easy target for the Japanese submarine. However, the remaining four destroyers set up a picket around the stricken ship. There were several reported soundings, but nothing definite and nothing that could be tracked for long.

Dawn came, and Napier was still in trouble. Lieutenant Commander Green ordered the wounded and all nonessential personnel transferred to HMAS Nizam while crews continued to fight for the ship. They were starting to get the fires under control, but the bow of the ship had settled ten feet into the water.

There were a half dozen alerts throughout the day – supposed sightings or soundings of a Japanese submarine. However, shortly before noon, HMS Isis sent out the message, “We have her!” The submarine was barely moving on the edge of the ring of protection thrown around the wounded Napier. They might have sailed away during the night, recharged their batteries and been returning to inflict more damage. They were sitting right below a thermal layer, but not low enough to prevent a faint ping from echoing off of its hull.

HMS Isis made a pass over the contact site. Sonar operators reported that the depth charges were on target. Then, came the explosions. The noise caused by the underwater demolitions obscured the target. By the time the sounds had cleared, they had lost the contact.

They looked for signs of debris, and found none.

It was a sharp-eyed sailor on HMAS Norman that spotted the trail of diesel. The trail showed itself to be leaving the site where HMS Isis had attacked the submarine, heading northeast. The captain ordered a change in course and started to pursue. HMS Foxhound started to pursue as well, while HMS Isis and Decoy stayed behind.

The Japanese submarine surfaced to periscope depth. The crew of HMAS Normal could see the wake from the periscope. It was moving directly away from them. Commander Blackwell knew what this meant. He ordered the ship hard to port, but the Submarine had sent a wide spread of torpedoes out its stern tubes. One of them caught HMAS Normal in the bow.

However, this gave HMS Foxhound a bead on the Japanese submarine. The submarine was diving after its attack. Commander Peters ordered his destroyer to full speed to catch up to the submarine before it could sink before a thermal layer. Above the noise of the propellers, the sonar operators had a hard time picking out a clear signal. However, they fed a course and distance to the commander.

Commander Peters slowed down as his ship approached the target area. Sonar operators gave him a position, and he raked the Japanese submarine from stem to stern. They left the area, established a clear contact again, and returned to rake the ship again. In the end, sonar operators reported hearing the ship breaking apart as it sank.

They reported a definite kill.

The saga is not yet over. The ships are 1000 miles from the nearest port. Napier and Noonan are both settling by the bow. It is very likely that either ship will make it all the way home. If they are lost, it would mean the destruction of two destroyers for one Japanese submarine.

However, this is the eleventh Japanese submarine to be sunk. The enemy has to be noticing these losses.

We have solid reports of two more Japanese submarines that we have sent hunters out for. TF1266 is leaving Pearl Harbor to investigate waters midway between Pearl Harbor and San Francisco. TK Manvantara is insisting that there is a Japanese submarine there. Our campaign to focus heavy attention on the Japanese submarines requires that we check this out.

TF1382 is still hunting for a Japanese submarine now expected to be somewhere northeast of American Samoa.


Allied Submarine Scores Kill

S-47, commanded by Commander Hayle, surprised us by reporting the sinking of a Japanese minelayer in the waters about 50 miles east of Tarawa. We do not know if the ship was traveling to or returning from Baker Island.

From the best I can determine, the submarine was submerged when they heard the sound of Japanese propellers. However, the heard no pinging to indicate that the Japanese had anti-submarine capability. They surfaced and found the Japanese minelayer moving away from them. They fired a torpedo straight up the stern of the ship, and watched it disintegrate. While they watched, the bow of the ship went up into the air, then slipped back-end first into the ocean.


”Cheers”

TF1279 and TF1334 are ready to hit Baker Island tonight. I am waiting for news as I write this. However, this report is going to go out before I hear anything.

TF1279 will bombard the island first, near the middle of the night, than retire to the northeast. They are heading home for a few weeks of rest while their ships get a new coat of paint and, if I heard correctly, some new anti-aircraft guns.

The new cruiser, TF1334, force will hit the island after dawn. Hopefully, the Japanese will be tired and just getting back to sleep after having their night disturbed. This task force will then retire to Canton Island.


Burma Air War

In the air, the score was 9:1 in favor of the Japanese.

Five of our losses were LB-30 bombers over Pagan where they encountered the Zero pilots of F1/Tainan Daitai. In addition to getting a mauling from the Zeros, without killing any of them, they were unable to score any hits against their target, making the mission a total bust.

The one kill was scored against F1/Yamada Daitai, the green unit protecting Myitkyina. A B-17 gunner shot it down in the only bombing mission (out of 5 missions sent to various targets in north and central Burma) to inflict more than superficial damage. It inflicted moderate damage to the airfields at Myitkyina.

However, we are not doing enough damage to Myitkyina to prevent the Japanese from building up the infrastructure. Our bombing campaign seems to be accomplishing very little, at least today.


Land Units in India and Ceylon

The 2nd UK Division landed in Karachi today.

In the northeastern part of India, three Chinese “divisions” have marched out of the jungle to Ledo and are on their way to Dacca. It appears that they and the entire Burma army are going to retreat in good order. Because of this news, General Pownall has decided to deploy the new division in the defense of Trincomalee, on the island of Ceylon. It will be embarking back onto transports for the last leg of their trip in the near future.


Japan Marches on Ichang

Japanese troops, 120,000 strong, are on the gates of Ichang tonight. A small number of Chinese have decided to make a determined stand to hold the city. I have no hope that they will succeed. They are too small in number against a foe that has shown an ability to dislodge far larger armies from far better defenses. I did not want to disenhearten him, however. I wish them the best of luck.


Japan Inches Closer to New Caledonia

Japanese naval forces are estimated to be 250 miles north of the capital of New Caledonia, and 350 miles west of Efate. However, we have no solid evidence to go on. They have not launched a carrier-based attack that we have the capacity to track.

Their course is taking them to New Caledonia, so I suspect that, and not Efate, is their target. Halsey has ordered the last of the air force off of New Caledonia. The island will probably face the Japanese tomorrow.


Reinforcements

I almost forgot to list the new units that will be released to me next week. (Which reminds me that I have to do that long weekly report tomorrow for all people who might not have been keeping up with events out here.)

Anyway: New units released to me next week:


Sunday, March 15, 1942

• AO Cimarron at San Francisco


Monday, March 16, 1942

• 413 Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force (12x Catalina I) at Karachi


Tuesday, March 17, 1942

• 30 Squadron (16x Hurricane II) at Columbo


Wednesday, March 18, 1942

• No. 76 Royal Australian Air Force Squadron (16x Kittyhawk) at Melbourne
• 45 Squadron (12x Blenheim IV) at Madras


Thursday, March 19, 1942

• CV Formidable at Karachi
• VP-43 (12x PBY Catalina) at Kodiak


Friday, March 20, 1942

• 132 Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force (16x Kittyhawk) at Prince Rupert
• 2nd USMC Raider Battalion at San Francisco


Saturday, March 21, 1942

• MSW Castlemaine at Sydney
• MSW Courtenay at Prince Rupert


Okay, I’ll spend all day tomorrow working on your weekly report. I hope you have a good day.

Thayne[/font]

[aztez]

Is this AAR still alive??? [&:]