From A Dress-Circle Seat

Gold-miner's Lively Impression of Coral Sea and Guadalcanal Battles

r THE turning-point in the South Pacific War came in the week between July 31 and August 7, 1942. The Japanese , thrusting down the two prongs of the devil’s fork that was based on Rabaul, had reached two points—Milne Bay, in Eastern Papua, dangerously close to Aus tralia, and the Tulagi-Guadalcanal area of the Solomons, dangerously close to New Caledonia and New Zealand.

Australians trapped and exterminated the Japanese expedition in Milne Bay in a brilliant little action, on July 31; and, on August 6, the United States Navy struck in the Solomons, and the United States Marines inaugurated a push which did not cease until 15 months later, when the Japs were finally thrown out of the British Solomon Islands.

The two outstanding actions in the Solomons area were the Battle of the Coral Sea (May 4-8, 1942) and the First Battle of Guadalcanal ( August, 1942). A well-known planter and gold-miner, Mr.

A. M. Andresen, of Guadalcanal, saw both battles from the top of the ranges in the centre of Guadalcanal. He claims to have had “a dress-circle seat at the turn ing-point in the Pacific War.” He joined up in August, 1942, and he is now a sub lieutenant of the Royal Australian Naval Reserve. He told the following remark able story when in Sydney, recently, on leave.

IWAS one of a little party of gold miners, working an area in the mountains of Guadalcanal. We had a teleradio set; and on April 28, 1942, we learned that a convoy of 22 Japanese ships were 180 miles west, and proceed ing towards Tulagi. On the 29th, the convoy anchored in Thousand Ships Bay, at the southern end of Santa Isabel, and directly facing Indispensable Strait, between Malaita and Guadalcanal, in which the smaller islands of Gela, Tulagi and Savo are situated.

On May 1, from our hilltops, we saw those 22 ships come out of the north and go towards Tulagi Harbour. There were heavy and light cruisers, destroyers and transports.

ON May 4, we saw the start of the Coral Sea Battle. About 8.30, between 60 and 70 planes began to roar over us —they were heading straight for Tulagi. We learned afterwards that American warships were on the south side of Guadalcanal, and those planes were from the carrier “Lexington.”

Those Japs were caught like rats in a trap. The planes sank two ships in Tulagi Harbour, and two others failed to get away. But 18 came out in a tre mendous hurry, with their ack-ack guns blazing like mad. There, sitting on our hilltop, we saw one of the great spec tacles of history—between 9 and 11.30 o’clock we saw 14 of those enemy ships sunk before they could get out beyond Savo Island. The attack of those Ameri can planes was absolutely deadly—ship after ship was sunk, or was blown to pieces.

“We saw 14 ships destroyed; so that, with the two sunk in Tulagi Harbour, and two sunk out of bur sight, on the north ern side of Savo, 18 ships were sent to the bottom that morning.

We were on the verandah of Mr. E.

G. Theodore’s house —his Fiji-Australian interests had launched a gold-mining enterprise in Guadalcanal just before war came. There were four of us— Lieutenant McFarlane (since decorated by the Americans for special services), Ken Hay, F. M. Campbell and myself.

The Coral Sea Battle moved away north, and other Japanese fleets and convoys took similar punishment, during the next few days; but that was all we saw of it. The carrier “Lexington” was sunk —but she did a magnificent job.

THE Japs had landed a lot of men and equipment at Tulagi, and although their ships were sunk and driven away, they occupied the place strongly.

They were on Tulagi, Makambo, Tanam boga and Gavutu islets and they remained there for two months. They only came across to Guadalcanal when they wanted fresh meat —they raided the Lever plan tations, where there were cattle. We were pretty close to the enemy—but they did not come up into our hills, so we carried on with our gold-mining.

On July 6, we realised that there were a lot of Japanese patrols ashore on Guadalcanal. There was something brew ing—so we decided to move back into the mountains.

The Japanese actually started to build the Henderson Airfield, on Guadalcanal, at the end of June. It was on the fiat country between Lunga Point and the Tenaru River, and is usually called Lunga, The Japs used a lot of forced labour—some that they brought with them, and some that they grabbed locally—and they pushed on rapidly with the job during July. But they were not fast enough.

We were camping back in the moun tains, on the Sutakama River, and we did not like the outlook, much. The Japs seemed to have it all their own way.

BUT on August 6, a number of planes came from somewhere and began to bomb the Japs at the Henderson Field, as well as those over in Tulagi.

That night, we had a feeling th#t big things were afoot.

We were up early in the morning of

that glorious August 7; and, from our mountain, when the haze lifted, we counted no less than 64 of our warships and other vessels, to say nothing of smaller fry, lying between Koli Point and Savo Island, and dealing with the Japs in the Tulagi area, to the north, and the Guadalcanal shore, to the south. .It was a picture that looked good to us.

The Japs got an awful hammering from the warships. We learned that one can see a 14-inch shell flying through the air, from the gun to the target—and we saw plenty. When the Marines came ashore, they met little opposition, until they got to the forts.

But those who went the other way, to attack Tulagi. Gavutu, and Tanamboga, had a more difficult job, and the fighting there was tough. Even nine days after they landed, the Marines found Japs still fighting back, ha If-buried in their fox holes. on those little islands.

The main strength of the Japs was on Tulagi. Tanamboga, Gavutu, and Gua dalcanal. They had very few men over on the Gela shore, and only one patrol on the Malaita coast, at Cape Astrolabe.

Within a few days, the Japs had been driven from all their positions, except Guadalcanal: but they made a terrific effort to hang on there.

T7IARLY in September, there occurred JL the Battle of Tenaru, which really decided the fate of Guadalcanal.

The Tenaru River is the eastern boun dary of the Lever plantation at Lunga, on the north coast of Guadalcanal..

Aoout 10,000 Japanese reinforcements were landed to the eastward of this place —most of them at Tasimboka, near the middle of the island. They then crossed the Berande River and started to march westwards along ' the coast, towards Lunga, and the Henderson Airfield, now held by the Americans. Up on our moun tain, we were keeping a close watch on them.

Next day, they crossed the Balasuna River; by the third day, they were at the Medapona River; and on the fourth day after landing they crossed the Nalimbui River. By this time, we were worried.

The Japs had met little opposition, they were in great force, and we couldn’t imagine what the Yanks were doing.

But it came on the fifth day. The Japanese forces arrived at the Tenaru

River, where the Americans were wait ing behind carefully constructed defences.

At the same time, a force of American five-men tanks, which had worked through the country and around the flank of the Japanese forces, waded in.

The Japanese were caught between the charging tank forces, the Americans along the Tenaru stockades, and the sea.

It was just a massacre. The Americans literally mowed them down—they killed thousands. Large numbers of the Japs ran out into the sea, trying to escape— and they were killed there.

I believe that practically the whole of those 10,000 Japanese were wiped out.

The Marines were employed for days burying thousands of dead men.

The Japs made many more attacks on Guadalcanal after that, and the Ameri cans had some very hard fighting. But by this time the Yanks had got the mea sure of the little jokers from the north, and I don’t think they ever had any doubt about the outcome.

People here in Australia do not seem to realise the very heavy casualties inflicted on the Japs in the Solomons.

I told you about the Coral Sea Battle, where many transports were sunk and great numbers drowned; and about the Battle of Tenaru, where about 10,000 were wiped out; and it is reckoned that anything from 20,000 to 40,000 of them were drowned a few weeks later, when practically all the transports of a large convoy were sunk in the Stewart Island Battle.

Anyway, we ceased to be miners and spectators, when the Yanks arrived, and we all got into the fight, in some way or other. It’s been a great year.