Need info on Japanese OOB during the battle for Guadacanal

[Kingfish]

Yeah, I know, a bit far from my usual stomping grounds around Florence and St. Malo, but I decided to branch out a bit and head east...

So, would anyone have any info on the OOB for the Japanese garrison of Tulagi, Gavutu and Tanambogo at the time of the American landings?

To date the best online source I've found is here:

Enemy Land Forces. However, this is based on intelligence that proved overly optimistic.

Also, what would be the typical TO&E of a Japanese infantry, Engineer and Naval Infantry battalion of the time? Would the squad include LMG and SMGs, or were they strictly a rifle unit with heavier weapons in seperate formations? Any Mortars, guns?

Thanks!

Edit: found this page which answers some of my questions.

Edit II: Also found this

So now the next question is, would a Guards unit be considered a land or naval infantry formation?

[ June 24, 2007, 05:10 AM: Message edited by: Kingfish ]

[stoat]

I'm not sure if this information is included in the links you posted, and I can't be bothered to check.

Guadalcanal

11th Construction Unit 1350 men under Cpt Kanae Monzen

13th Construction Unit 1221 men under Cdr Tokunaga Okuma

Kure 3rd SNLF (part of) 247 men under Lt Yoshio Endo

Tulagi

3rd Kure SNLF (part of) 350 men under Cdr Masaaki Suzuki

Gavutu-Tanambogo (not sure how these were dispersed between the sites)

Yokohama Air Group 342 men under Cpt Shigetoshi Miyazaki

14 Construction Unit 144 men under ?

3rd Kure SNLF (platoon) 50 men under ?

Your Guards unit is SNLF, not ALF. For example, the Kure 3rd was once designated 84th Guard Unit.

If'n you need, I can provide you with the strength of the 2nd and 38th divisions, the 35th Brigade, 17th Army HQ and Transportation units, Ship Units, and Naval units when they came ashore, including numbers of MGs and field guns and tanks, and the resultant strength on Nov 20.

Or of you need figures on support aircraft, or the commander of No. 9 Bomber Squadron, RNZAF, I'm more than willing to show off my groggy knowledge.

[Kingfish]

Thanks Stoat. The AHF site shows the same info on troop distribution, with the exception of the 14th construction unit which it list at Tulagi.

Any chance you might know what ordnance they may have had? So far I've determined that a mix of 25mm and 75mm flak guns dispersed throughout Guadacanal, Tulagi and the smaller islands, but I've also seen reference to coast defense guns.

[stoat]

Not sure off the top of my head, but I'll take a look. I can tell you that the landing forces on Guadalcanal came ashore with two "old howitzers" (perhaps mountain guns) and three HMGs, while the other portions of the 3rd Kure SNLF were not likewise equipped.

[Kingfish]

The two old howitzers were no doubt the type 92 70mm infantry guns:

Each battalion included a gun platoon comprising two weapons.

[stoat]

I'm very skeptical about the flak guns you mention. None of the aforementioned units would have necessarily packed along AA guns, and flak, if present, was not much of an issue among the attacking planes. I'm guessing the two Rufes the YAG maintained were the main air defence.

I would say dedicated flak guns would not have showed up until the 38th, 45th, and 1st Battery of the 47th AA Battalions showed up as part of the 35th Brigade's support units.

There were a few coast guns on the island, but I'm not sure that they were ever used. They were big (120-170mm), but they were old, and I have no clue when they were brought ashore.

[Michael Dorosh]

ASL published a campaign game for Gavutu-Tanambogo that has some detailed OB stuff - if you need that, I can dig it out.

[John Kettler]

Kingfish,

Did you check the relevant Pacific War volumes in the Army Green series? Would check my hard copies, but years ago, I passed them to brother Ed to support his Command at Sea wargame dev work. I recall that the maps in those books were phenomenal. For example, every coastal gun on Betio was shown, together its particulars. Would think there'd be plenty there. Also, the Coggins GUADALCANAL CAMPAIGN book, which is full of groggy goodness, to include weapon data, unit composition diagrams, fortification layouts, etc., should be of considerable help. I believe the HANDBOOK ON JAPANESE FORCES is available online. Am brain fried, but if the Marines were there, then those volumes should also be available online. I mention this following a peek at the Tanambogo base pic on the AHF.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Kingfish]

Originally posted by stoat:

I'm very skeptical about the flak guns you mention. None of the aforementioned units would have necessarily packed along AA guns, and flak, if present, was not much of an issue among the attacking planes. I'm guessing the two Rufes the YAG maintained were the main air defence.

I would say dedicated flak guns would not have showed up until the 38th, 45th, and 1st Battery of the 47th AA Battalions showed up as part of the 35th Brigade's support units.

There were a few coast guns on the island, but I'm not sure that they were ever used. They were big (120-170mm), but they were old, and I have no clue when they were brought ashore.

Here are a few pics of Tulagi during the invasion:

You can see one circular AA position just to the right of the lone house in the center of the photo. A smaller firing pit is located at about the 5 o'clock position from the first, and right at the edge of the ridge.

In my copy of "Guadacanal: The First Offensive" by John Miller (which has a much clearer copy of the second pic above) it lists the captured Japanese weapons as two 13mm and one 3" AA gun. I would assume the larger pit nearer the house would be for the 3".

Unfortunately, I don't have any pics showing any AA guns on either Gavutu or Tanambogo. I do have this map:

Which shows suspected and confirmed AA positions on both islands.

[stoat]

Yes, I was indeed very foolish in my skepticism. When the Marines overran the airstrip, they captured one 13mm MG, one 25mm cannon (triple mount), and twelve 75mm flak guns on naval mounts in a traingular setup, 4500 yards to a side. Three inch gun might be the same as the 75mm, considering the navality (new word) of the pieces. I'm guessing that there would have indeed been other emplacements around the islands, but they would have been these types of weapons.

[Kingfish]

Where did you get the info on the flak guns on Guadacanal? My source states only one each of the 13mm and 3" at Kukum, plus another 2 each of 70mm and 75mm at the strip.

[stoat]

I saw it in a hard source that I may or may not find again, but this has the same info and some illustrations of the weapon types.

linky

[John Kettler]

stoat,

Hard to argue with that! Great find!

This is also pretty credible. Japanese veteran with Ichiki! Detailed OOB for Ichiki-****ai.

http://www.gnt.net/~jrube/Genjirou/genjirou.htm

47mm AT vs Stuarts; note also ATMM in Japanese inventory.

http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt07/japanese-action-tanks.html

Japanese tactics on Guadalcanal

http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt07/japanese-tactics-guadalcanal.html

Japanese AA Regiment TO&E

http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt/japanese_aa_regiment-flak.html

Japanese weapon characteristics

http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt/japanese-weapons-artillery.html

Japanese defense of Coral Island (Hypothetical)

http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt/japanese-defense-coral-island.html

Japanese 20mm AT cannon

http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt/20mm-aircraft-weapons-machine-gun.html

SNLF

http://www.geocities.com/dutcheastindies/SNLF.html

The landings

http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=9

Henderson Field (period photos plus Google Earth)

http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/solomons/henderson/index.html

Regards,

John Kettler

[ July 10, 2007, 10:56 PM: Message edited by: John Kettler ]

[Gpig]

Interesting stuff, fellas. Thank you.

Sorry to hijack this post for my "may as well ask" question, but . . . what about Japanese infantry/army tactics in general?

More specifically, my question is "did the japanese have an army/infantry tactics manual/theory equivalent to the allies/germans?

I've read a lot about combined arms and integrated defensive/offensive operations at the tactical level, when reading AARs for Allied and Axis forces (excluding the japanese). But I've yet to read a document describing Japanese offensive tactics that showed much depth or creativitiy. (I admit, I've hardly begun to dig.)

My question arises after having watched Letters from Iwo Jima, and seeing a fairly simple representation of tactics. Also, having read a very small amount of history on the Pacific battles, it seems there was not much of a combined arms effort evident in japanese tactics. At least to the extent I have been reading over the years, evident in the European/Russian/African theater.

Having read about only a small amount about Japanese Infantry offensives (mainly the overrunning of Hong Kong vs. Canadians), my impression is that there was not much of a premium placed on army tactics.

Am I incorrect in that assumption? Can anyone point me to some documents describing tactics used by the Japanese army that fly in the face of the "human wave" tactic?

Thanks,

Gpig

[PLM2]

Talonsoft's Rising Sun game had decent information on Japanese units in teh Guadalcanal campaigns. It had good descriptions of unit makeups too.

[John Kettler]

Gpig and Kingfish,

Maybe this will help.

http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781846030697

Japanese tanks and armored tactics

http://www.lonesentry.com/manuals/japanese-tanks/tank-tactics.html

Japanese Tactics in Burma

http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/jp-tactics-burma/index.html

A bunch of pertinent stuff in the Nafziger collection

http://home.fuse.net/nafziger/CAT.HTM

There apparently was a bayonet fighting manual.

http://www.quikmaneuvers.com/quick_thrust.html

Soldier's Guide to the Japanese Army (tactics in last few chapters)

http://www.diggerhistory3.info/japan/index.htm

Japanese TO&E cards (I think)

http://www.helion.co.uk/prodtype.asp?strParents=61,148&CAT_ID=199&numRecordPosition=1

Osprey book on Japanese Army

http://www.wo2shop.nl/shop/product.asp?l1=0&l2=0∏=4102

Fighting Techniques of a Japanese Infantryman

http://www.amazon.ca/Fighting-Techniques-Japanese-Infantryman-1940/dp/0760311455

Regards,

John Kettler