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*******B Troop, No. 112 Recce Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Division, 80 SW of Cooktown, 12:20, January 4, 1943*********


Lt. Aston sits in the command cupola of his Humber which is idling quietly on the road to Cairns. He gazes at a map with a quizzical look on his face. To the NW, a gravel and dirt track heads off into the bush. The track appears rutted by the passage of heavy lorries. He looks again to the NE and says quietly, "that is the road to Cooktown...we just came down there". He traces the road on the map. He keys his radio mike:

"OK, who knows where this trail to the NW goes."

*********Prince of Wales Island, near Cape York, Australia, 12:32, January 4, 1943*********


Fletcher Christian VII stands atop a small hill and surveys the work of his crew to the SE. A causeway of crushed coral leads to ESE some 5 miles across shallow water to Cape York. He is pleased with the progress made to date but the weather is miserable compared to Pitcarin and the winterized Quonset huts don't help anything. The project is audacious in its scope, but the June '43 contract date might even be achievable.

..

That's odd.

Sabotaged maps again........................[:D]

Good use of the recon photos there Mandrake.
My boys love fighting on a 1 company wide front, dontcha know....
Some Shermans are due to show up tomorrow; hope they can turn the tide in our favor.
I am getting tired of this coral spit of an island......

Mitchell
General Officer Commanding
I Amphib Corps

<note to self> Do NOT use Army Divisions in landings on Atolls; they just purely s**k....
oh, and waiting for LST/LCI is not a bad idea either....and CVEs in massive amounts....and Corsairs......ok, we can do it without Corsairs....

At least they're masters at camouflage. They look just like the shadows under the clouds in that aerial recon photo! [&o]

***********Landing Beach Amber 2, 37th ID, Canton Island, 07:40, January 3, 1943***********


Official SPCA Observer in silly Captain's hat and khaki trousers, a blue golf shirt covers his man boobs: YOU THERE! Careful with that DUKW! Stay inside the yellow ribbons! That is pristine brain coral........damn neanderthals.

<when the DUKW stops it nearly disappears...the camouflage pattern is astounding. The soldiers and Marines have the same pattern. Only the occaissional, non-regualtion white athletic sock gives them away>

Wait a minute[:D] That situation map says January 5, 1942[X(] Are we in another time warp[:D]

Think we're in a "typo-warp", Bruce...[:D]

Nah, it's the counter-Intel folks at work!

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

***********Landing Beach Amber 2, 37th ID, Canton Island, 07:40, January 5, 1943***********


Official SPCA Observer in silly Captain's hat and khaki trousers, a blue golf shirt covers his man boobs: YOU THERE! Careful with that DUKW! Stay inside the yellow ribbons! That is pristine brain coral........damn neanderthals.

<when the DUKW stops it nearly disappears...the camouflage pattern is astounding. The soldiers and Marines have the same pattern. Only the occaissional, non-regualtion white athletic sock gives them away>

Socks with stripes? That's a no-no. [:-]

&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Hey, those are really snazzy!&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Do they make them in mens's sizes, too?&nbsp;

*********Small sandbag and timber bunker 200 yds from the Big Palm Stump, Canton Island, 08:59, January 4, 1943**********

A USN forward naval fire observer looks at his watch while holding the radio handset in his other hand. There isn't much to observe as most of the Japs have burrowed underground and his fellow countrymen to his front are all but invisibile thanks to their fiendishly clever brain coral camos. 6000 yds offshore, the grey shapes of 3 fast USN battleships, South Dakota, Washington and North Carolina, cruise slowly from E to W.

FNO: 30 seconds till the Booby window closes boys! Take a good look. There won't be much to see after the battlewagons get done! ....20 seconds now.....10!

SPCA Observer: HOLD IT! <shouted while holding binoculars to his eyes> THERE'S A MATING PAIR IN THE TARGET AREA! ...

FNO: ...6...5...3...

SPCA Observer: No! No! <grabs unsuccessfully for the mic>

FNO: ....2....1....FIRE FIRE FIRE! <within seconds yellow flashes ripple from all 3 of the big ships>

SPCA Observer: God save Pelicanoformes...Oh the humanity!

After 15 minutes of bombardment and several hundreds rounds of main gun ammo, the fast BB's move away to the NW. Behind them, 4 prewar battleships with their distinctive top-heavy masts slowly move into place. Hundreds of tons of pulverized brain coral dust begin to dissipate in a 15 kt wind. As the air clears, even the veterans in the observer's bunker have to turn away. There are parts of Boobys strewn about all over the target area. The portly fellow in the silly Captain's hat, who is normally irrepressibly happy, leans against the back wall of the bunker sobbing heavily, apparently without shame.

**********Observer's Bunker, Canton Is., 09:50, January 4, 1943*************


After the battleships Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Maryland have further pulverized the target area with fourteen inch HE rounds and the 105's and 155's from at least 5 artillery regiments have ceased fire, there is again a brief lull. The pitiable cry of what must be a very beautiful, firm fleshed young Booby is heard lamenting the almost certain destruction of it's parents. The joy has gone out of it for all those in the bunker. Mercifully, the drone of several squadrons of SBD's rolling into their dives provides a distraction.

The horror...[X(][X(][X(][:D][:D][:D]

[X(]

Heads will roll for this!!!!!!!!!!

Don't tell the Audobon Society[:D]

"The pitiable cry of what must be a very beautiful, firm fleshed young Booby is heard lamenting the almost certain destruction of it's parents. The joy has gone out of it for all those in the bunker. Mercifully, the drone of several squadrons of SBD's rolling into their dives provides a distraction."[:-]

I suspect that nearby that grief-struck bunker, a old Gunny Sergeant from Chicago listens to the SPCA/PETA rep's wailing, and tells his troops, in the legendary words of one Alphonse Capone, "I'll send flowers. Now, once those zoomies drop on those SOBs, move out, you maggots!"