Word: jap
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...When Jap planes bombed Humboldt Bay last week, a three-star admiral and a two-star general were caught offshore in a small powerboat. The admiral bawled an order to get away from the beach; the general shouted to get back to shore...
They swarmed across Lake Sentani in amphibious landing craft, quickly captured the three Hollandia airfields. Except for scattered sniping, the only Jap opposition was an ineffectual 14-plane torpedo attack on a U.S. destroyer in Hollandia Bay and a single plane bombing of the Jap supply dump, which exploded like a string of firecrackers down two miles of beach...
Landing. The surprise achieved by MacArthur was complete. The large force had feinted toward Palau, then reversed itself at night to steam southward into Hollandia. Other feints had been made toward Madang and Wewak, Jap-held bases in Australian New Guinea, where enemy forces had been concentrated, perhaps in expectation of the attack...
There was little opposition as U.S. and Australian troops, veterans of Salamaua and Buna-Gona, hit the beaches. Jap soldiers at Hollandia, evidently numbering considerably fewer than the 10,000 expected there, dashed into the jungle, leaving uneaten breakfasts. Beachheads were secured as easily at the other two points...
General MacArthur watched the landings from a light cruiser, then went ashore in a landing boat. The Jap's fate was certain, he said, but "his invested garrisons can be expected to strike desperately to free themselves and time and combat will be required to accomplish their annihilation...