Fortress Rabaul Read Online Free PDF Page B

in the Imperial Navy.
    On New Year’s Day, 1942, the squadron finally enjoyed some success. Ordnance personnel armed four Hudsons with bombs fused for eleven-seconddelays, allowing the crews to attack “Kap” Atoll at a low altitude without blowing their own tails off. Of the eight bombs dropped, five were direct hits on shore facilities. One was scored by John Murphy, whose copilot, Flg. Off. Alfred S. Hermes, climbed from his seat to observe the results of their attack on a large building. Unfortunately, the delayed-action fuses worked too well. When Murphy released his first bomb, Hermes chimed, “It’s in the front door,” followed a few heartbeats later by, “It’s out the back door.” Murphy laughed it off, happy with the knowledge that he could at least hit a target.
    GEORGE JOHNSTON’S rhetorical question about Rabaul would have interested the Japanese. For more than three decades, going back as far as the rule of Emperor Meiji, they had been quietly preparing for war against the West—specifically the United States. Having defeated Russia’s fleet in 1905, the Imperial Navy developed a “fundamental strategy” of one day drawing the U.S. Pacific Fleet into an ambush. Steven Bullard, historian and translator of Japanese military documents for the Australian War Memorial, explained the development of the policy: “The waters near the Japanese mainland were initially chosen as the site of this decisive battle. However, advances in military technology and the changing strategic situation resulted in a re-evaluation in 1936 that moved the site to the seas west of the Marianas (with a reconnaissance line in the Marshall Islands). By 1940, the seas to the east of the Marianas and to the north of the Marshall Islands were the planned location.”
    Because of that shift in location, the Imperial Navy developed a forward base for the Combined Fleet at Truk Atoll in the Caroline Islands. Formerly a possession of Germany, the Carolines (along with the Marshalls and Marianas) were occupied by Japan during World War I. The right to govern them was later granted by the League of Nations, but Japan withdrew from the League in 1933, thus freeing herself from treaty restrictions that forbade the fortification of mandated territories. The Imperial Navy began to construct several bases among the islands, and by 1940 Truk had become a formidable bastion, nicknamed the “Gibraltar of the Pacific” by the press. Despite the moniker, the Japanese were concerned about the base’s vulnerability to air attack. The perceived threat was Rabaul, slightly less than seven hundred miles to the south. Never mind that its two airdromes were primitive grass strips without permanent facilities;never mind that the RAAF did not possess any long-range bombers. The new American B-17 Flying Fortresses could reach Truk from Rabaul, and that was enough to cause worry.
    During the tumultuous summer of 1941, the increasingly militant Japanese began to actively formulate a plan for war. Imperial General Headquarters laid the groundwork for a massive operation called the Southern Offensive, a multi-pronged invasion designed to swiftly overwhelm territories held by Great Britain, the United States, and the Netherlands East Indies. The main component, the Southern Army, would invade the Philippines, Malaya, and other important territories, while a smaller organization called the Nankai Shitai (South Seas Force) captured Guam and the Bismarck Archipelago.
    During a briefing on the Southern Offensive presented to Emperor Hirohito on November 3, the occupation of Rabaul was identified as one of the primary goals—a testament to its vital importance in Tokyo’s strategy. Three days later, Imperial General Headquarters issued orders to the army and navy to mobilize their forces for war.
    As an independent unit under the direct command of Imperial General Headquarters, the South Seas Force was created to establish a strong defensive perimeter of island