Episode 632-Battle of Savo Island

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All information is in the app and on shop-apotheca.com. Hello, and thank you for listening to the history of World War II podcast, episode 632, Battle of Savo Island. Last time, the Marines were able to get a firm hold on Gavuto and Tanaboko.

As for the larger two luggage to the west, the Marines had that mostly wrapped up. Mostly. There was still the southeast bottom that remained defiant. Their commander Masaka Suzuki and his 84th Guard unit were hoping to reclaim the island,

but their bonsai charges thus far had only resulted in heavy losses for the Japanese. The larger battle moved on. Colonel Edson pronounced Touloghi secure on August 8th, though not entirely enemy-free. That would come two days later after more dynamite and grenades were used against the

Cays. As for the bodies of the enemy troops, they were either burned after being pushed into a shallow crater or shoved into small shacks. It only added to the horrendous smell of death on the island.

But back to the airfield and securing Guadalcanal to one day march up the Solomon Island chain, the Marines had done well to take the airfield on day two. However, it must be said, given their logistical mix-ups, lacking supporting fire, imperfect communications, and the cut short training that accompanied their landing, had there been a strong

enemy force closer to the beach, this part of the war's history could have been very different in a painful way. But what was done was done. The Japanese may have been defeated, mostly, But these young Marines heard strange sounds that night. Their imaginations ran wild with whatever could be out there making those sounds. But what was real enough was the mosquitoes that

could be carrying malaria. As for the larger operation, the Marines were happy to hear that the airfield that they had fought over was practically complete. The Japanese plan had been to base the 26th Air Flotilla here with its 27 fighters and 27 bombers. And right away they would have been employed to hit the Americans to the south on the New

Hebrides Islands, but more importantly the shipping route between the American west coast and Australia. Instead, this air base would now be used by the Americans as a basis to go at the enemy.

It was too soon to tell, of course, but this could be a turning point in the war. What the Marines had captured was a 3,600 foot runway, with only a small section of it still needed to be graded. There were also six hangers, almost complete, and blastpens.

A medical clinic, a refrigeration plant, a power plant with two generators, wooden barracks, machine and repair shops, a few sundry facilities, and a headquarters that the Marines quickly labeled the pagoda. The main reason the airstrip and the facilities

were almost done is that the 11th construction corps of about 1,600 workers had been laboring hard, all under the command of Major Kanai Kodome. But what he had not found time to do

was set up the two 75 millimeter mountain guns, a triple 25 millimeter cannon mount, and two AA guns that were with him. There were also radar sets that had yet to be activated.

One must wonder at Kadome's priorities or his arrogance or his naivete. When the Marines had reached the airstrip, they found tent camps on the side.

The Americans searched through them and saw signs of a hasty departure. But it wasn't the Marines' appearance at the airfield that caused this retreat.

No, that had been done by the bombs before the Marines arrived. two Japanese bodies far from serene attested to that. But that wasn't the only indication

of the former owner's rapid retreat. They had left everything behind. Nothing was destroyed. There hadn't been time.

The higher ups would want a report of all this, of course, so someone got to listing the articles found. The man ended up with four typed pages. The first part of his list made the officers happy.

The second, the grunts ecstatic and drunk. Here's some of what they found. Six road rollers, four tractors, three cement mixers, 41 usable cars and trucks, 40 new bicycles,

a multitude of tools, 150,000 gallons of gasoline, 80 gallons of lubricating oil, 600 tons of cement, a large amount of building supplies, a fully equipped operational radio station, and 10 days worth of food for the Japanese garrison.

That included canned peaches and pineapple goulash and shredded fish, salmon, and crab meat. Then there was the workers' personal effects, half gallon bottles of sake and beer, canned grapefruit juice, pepsin and toothpaste, and more alcohol.

The grunts reported the equipment and started consuming the rest. It took them a full week to drink everything alcoholic, but then the officers came and confiscated the remaining food. As the future writer Robert Lecky wrote, what a wonderful week it was.

With the airship taken on August 8th, the battalions of the 1st and 5th Marines made a battle line along the Lunga River to the west end of the runway. Having secured it thusly, the prisoners were brought up. The Marines were not impressed.

Most of the Americans towered over their captives. International News Service correspondent Richard Trigascus wrote that they were a measly lot, none of them more than five feet tall, and they were puny. No, the Marines did not think much of these naval construction workers, but those weren't

the Japanese the Marines needed to worry about. Those would come later. As touched upon previously, neither Vice Admiral Robert Lee Gormley nor MacArthur was excited about Operation Watchtower for their own reasons.

But by the time they composed a message together saying this should be postponed, Admiral King, C&C US Fleet, and General George Marshall, US Army Chief of Staff had decided to green light it