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Bill Calhoun
"On the afternoon of the 16th, before we'd
undertaken any action, some troopers had found a supply of alcohol stored in one
of the houses along Senior Officers Row. Lampman recalled it was Bacardi Rum.
When Bailey got wind of the find, he broke every bottle which some of the more
thoughtful had not hidden. Now at Smith, the 1st squad was making sure that this
was kept secret. Actually, the 1st squad were not drinkers, but it was well
known that there wasn't anything better to trade, and they liked bread. In this
instance, they ended up with bread, and Major General Marquat ended up 'without
bread.'
We occupied Battery Smith at about 1500
hours.
As I was deploying the platoon into a defensive position, a 50 caliber
machine gun opened up on us from a wood covered knoll about 100 yards west on
Sunset Ridge. Each time the gun
fired, an area of vegetation would shake.
It was very obvious where the fire was coming from.
Pfc. Benedict Schilli, 3rd squad BAR gunner, went down into a prone
position right out there on the bare concrete pad with neither cover nor
concealment and fired back. I was in the act of yelling for him to get back with
us when the 50 caliber fire ceased, it became quiet, and the vegetation ceased
moving.
Two days later on patrol we reached
this position and found an abandoned 50-caliber machine gun which had been
disabled by a bullet striking the receiver. A camouflage net laced with
vegetation had been strung up vertically in front of the gun.
The gun actually fired through the net, which was tied to stakes in the
ground at the bottom and tree branches at the top.
Whoever prepared this position had little or no knowledge of camouflage
techniques. There was also dried blood on the leaves on the ground.
The dominant feature was the hill built
over Battery Smith's magazine.
It could easily be defended because of its steep sides.
I was preparing to move the platoon up on the hill and assign the squads
their defensive sectors. After
setting up our defensive positions I intended to search the tunnel and the rooms
under the magazine. This could have
been disaster if part of the Japanese force was occupying these large spaces,
waiting in position to make the assault that night.
Later developments would reveal that a
force of some size had been in the tunnel and the magazine rooms at some time.
If the large Japanese force was there in position to make the attack that night
they would hardly have tipped their hand to attack a small force such as ours.
Of course, had we entered their hideout and discovered their presence,
they would very likely have wiped us out with their superior force.
As we rested in our defensive position atop this great unknown, we were
all uneasy, feeling so alone and far from home,
way out near the sea, and out of sight and radio contact with our forces.
Our apprehensions ended when a messenger
arrived from Lieutenant Bailey instructing me to withdraw to the battery to our
east.
We would receive reinforcements.
I was to set up my force on the bald hill, Battery Hearn magazine, and defend it
and the immediate area. This was
about 1700 hours. I immediately
moved the platoon out for the bald hill, glad to be moving back among friends.
I have often wondered if Battery Hearn was
our objective,
rather than its brother, Battery Smith.
I did not know at the time that the Company was slated to defend Way
Hill, too. Regardless, we got the grand tour,
killed a few Japs and destroyed a 50-caliber enemy machine gun.
Our route back to the bald hill above the
magazine of Battery Hearn was along the crest of the ridge.
We walked across the concrete pad and climbed the concrete stairs to the top of
the hill. The reinforcements were just arriving, and were substantial: two rifle
squads from the 2nd platoon, the two conventional gun squads from the mortar
platoon, a light machine gun section from the 3rd platoon of our battalion
headquarters company, and a bazooka team.
We already had a flame thrower team who had accompanied us that afternoon
attached to my platoon. 1st
Lieutenant Dan Lee had been assigned to our company that day and led the
reinforcements over from the other half of the company set up on Way Hill, about
250 yards to the northeast. Battalion sent 2nd Lieutenant John Mara, on loan for
the night, to help out. I never
understood why he was not transferred to F Company.
Even with the addition of Lee, F Company
still only had three officers. Both
D and E Companies still had six officers at this time. The two F Company forces
numbered about seventy men in each for including all reinforcements. The RCT S-3 overlay shows F Company defending an area
extending about a mile from the bottom of Cheney Ravine to the south-west, on
northeast to the western slopes of James Ravine: and northwest of Battery Way.
A force of one hundred and forty men could not physically occupy such a
distance in a perimeter defense, nor did this appear to be the intention of
Lieutenant Brown, because he told Lieutenant Bailey that he wanted him to defend
Way Hill and Battery Hearn magazine hill.
The two forces were barely adequate for this task, if indeed they were adequate.
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