MARINE HEROES

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24369, 3 September 1942, Page 3

MARINE HEROES

I BRAVERY IN SOLOMONS ENEMY NESTS BLOWN UP WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 It is revealed by the United States Navy that Colonel Leroy Hunt, commander of the first Marines to land on Guadalcanar Island at the opening of the Solomons offensive, told his men: "We are meeting a tough, wily opponent, but he is 'not sufficiently tough and wily to overcome us, because we are Marines. Our country expects nothing but victory, and shall have just that. The word failure shall never be considered in our vocabulary." The Navy has also released an account of the battle by Lieutenant H. L. Merillat, who says the attack was made by the largest force of Marines ever to engage in landing operations. "To the Japanese on Guadalcanar and Tnlagi," he says, "it must have seemed that hell had broken loose." He adds that the Japanese losses were certainly enormous. Naval Commanders A Navy Department communique issued at the week-end includes the I statement that the transport force I under Vice-Admiral R. L. Ghormley's ' command was commanded by Rear-Ad- • miral R. K. Turner, and the supportj ing ships were under the command of ! Viee-Admiral F. J. Fletcher, who comi rnanded task forces at both the Coral ! Sea and Midway Island battles. In a despatch from Guadalcanar Island dated August S, Robert Miller, United Press correspondent, states that, when 1200 Japanese retreated to caves and dugouts on Gavutu Island, where they died righting, a Japanese naval ofheer whom an American interi preter invited to cease useless resist- '■ ance, answered by hurling a grenade 1 from the cave. Three Japanese were trapped in a dugout. One killed the two others, and then himself. Blazing Petrol Torches When Tanambogo Island was stormed } by the Marines, two tanks which were t beached were swamped under hordes of i Japanese, who rushed from dugouts I with blazing petrol torches. The tank i commander, however, opened the cover | of his vehicle and swept, the Japanese ! with machine-gun fire, killing L'.'3 and j enabling the combat team to reach the I shore and repulse the enemy. Heroes among the .Marines, says Mr. | Miller, were "a dime a dozen." For example. Major Chambers, with both | wrists broken, continued fighting all j day. He was then taken to a field hos- | piial, but left his bed to direct further 1 combat. Major Kenneth Bailey's company was • held up by a Japanese machine-gun I nest. Bailey climbed on to the roof of I the dug-out. kicked a hole in it, and \ threw in a grenade, thus enabling his ! men to liquidate the nest. Earlier, Bailev had killed 35 Japanese by brav- \ ing the cross-fire of two machine-guns j to ram dynamite down a cave.