![]() ![]() Fallen coconut trees and destroyed buildings littered the landscape as the two tanks advanced. Smoke and haze drifted across the beachhead, the result of naval gunfire. Squads of infantrymen advanced behind the two tanks as they rumbled forward toward the enemy. When Item Company and Sweeney’s tanks made their amphibious assault on the beachhead, they came under heavy enemy fire from caves and machinegun pillboxes on Hill 121. Buchanan hit the Japanese with a naval bombardment, setting many of the small structures on fire and knocking down hundreds of coconut trees. Just before landing on the island, the U.S.S. The Japanese had established a seaplane and naval base on the islands and had constructed a complex of fortified caves and machinegun bunkers, which they had zeroed in on the beachhead. The 1st Parachute Battalion was engaged in deadly combat with more than 500 Japanese troops of the Yokohama Air Group, 3rd Kure Special Naval Landing Force and 14th Construction Unit on Gavutu and Tanambogo islands. 8, 1942, Sweeney was ordered to support Company I, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines (I/3/2), for an amphibious landing to reinforce 1st Parachute Battalion. armored force to assault Japanese territory during Operation Watchtower, the Allied offensive in the Solomon Islands. His small element of two M3A1 light tanks was the first U.S. Sweeney landed part of his 3rd Tank Platoon on Tanambogo Island in the opening stages of the Guadalcanal campaign, he probably had no idea he was making Marine Corps history.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |