In the Coconut Grove

Seeking to expand the beachhead around Cape Torokina, Marines and navy construction units were ambushed when moving into a coconut grove. The next morning, units of the 21st Marines and 3rd Tank Battalion barged into the grove. Once the fighting …

1943-11-14

P09

Seeking to expand the beachhead around Cape Torokina, Marines and navy construction units were ambushed when moving into a coconut grove. The next morning, units of the 21st Marines and 3rd Tank Battalion barged into the grove. Once the fighting started, things became confused with the Stuart tanks firing on their fellow Marines at different times. It was going to be a hell of a day.

Bougainville Island, New Guinea

The Landings at Cape Torokina, also known as Operation Cherryblossom, took place at the beginning of the Bougainville campaign in World War II. The amphibious landings were carried out by elements of the United States Marine Corps in November 1943 on Bougainville Island in the South Pacific, as part of Allied efforts to advance towards the main Japanese base around Rabaul under Operation Cartwheel. Coming in the wake of Allied successes at Guadalcanal and in the central Solomons, the landings were intended to secure a beachhead with the purpose of establishing several bases from which to project air and naval power closer towards Rabaul, in an effort to neutralize the large Japanese force that had been established there.

Wikipedia: Landings at Cape Torokina

Japanese

American