Port Labor Task a Drag: Enemy Tests 33rd in Combat

FINSCHHAFEN - May 19, 1944 - Finschhafen was not a city, town, village or hamlet but was a small native settlement on the tip of the Huon Peninsula. At the time of landing many of the guys figured combat wouldn't be too far off. The inability of the port company to deal with a deluge of supplies, however, was a factor that delayed the 33rd's first contact with the enemy.

Rain was the first element that had to be dealt with - clothes would mildew, weapons would rust and the company streets were calf-deep bogs of mud.

While troops of the 33rd began to accept the rain as a matter of course, the assignment in the month of June to augment port company manpower in the unloading of supplies was rugged and unwelcome. This involved the entire Division for the first three months. Although troops of the 33rd had had no previous experience in this type of work they soon got it down to a system. (Many of us will remember a repeat of this assignment for a few days at Base M at San Fernando on Luzon in mid-July of 1945.)

The resourcefulness of the "port company infantryman" soon became evident when frozen fowl replaced bully beef at meals and generators miraculously turned up to provide almost every company with electric lighting.

Alternating with port duty was the amphibious training. Elements of the 123rd RCT, operating by battalions, were the first to undergo these exercises. Most of the exercise went reasonably well until the Australian APA the "Kanimbla" went aground with 130 RCT troops. No one was injured, however, and the vessel later was repaired. Most galling, was as the vessel drifted the troops aboard could hear laughter of those being entertained at the Division theatre on shore where Jack Benny, Carole Landis, Larry Adler and Martha Tilton were providing a bright spot in the GI's existence.

In between shifts on the docks troops resumed the tests for Expert Infantryman which were begun in Hawaii several months earlier. Muddy terrain and typical New Guinea weather made requirements for the badge doubly difficult. Aside from getting one's butt shot off, some who went through it later said it was tough as any combat.

Shortly after the Division was transferred from Sixth to Eighth Army control, word came dawn in mid-August that the 33rd was being tapped as a special task force. The force was to be of regimental combat team size and was to go in at Maffin Bay about 600 miles westward from Finschhafen on 1 September. The 31st Division which had occupied the sector was being pulled out for an invasion of Morotai and the replacement chore fell upon the 123rd Infantry.

Mission of the combat team was to ensure operation of the Wakde Airdrome and to maintain its security; to defend the perimeter and to provide security for supply, dump and water areas.

The 123rd had the near impossible task of garrisoning a perimeter formerly held by an entire division. Arrival of the 2nd Battalion of the 136th Infantry at Maffin Bay on 4 September did not materially resolve this problem.

At the time the 123rd landed at Maffin Bay there were an estimated 2,000 Japanese in the sector with 1,400 believed to be combat troops. As soon as the perimeter was realigned, active patrolling began.

Baker Company of the 123rd and a detachment from Reconnaissance Troop platoon attached to the combat team were the first units to see combat. Both outfits had five days in which to complete their patrols, beginning on the morning of 11 September. Each was supported by forward observers from the 122nd Field Artillery and native scouts.

The first couple days the patrol encountered but sporadic contact with the enemy. However, on 13 September B Company was ambushed by Japanese machine gunners as it reached the barren bank of Sawar Creek. The lead platoon, commanded by Lt. Walter B. Roper, Jr., received the brunt of this fire. Roper was killed instantly and was the first man in the 33rd to lose his life in World War II.

S/Sgt. Winfield R. Green, a Weapons Platoon section leader, braved enemy fire to retrieve the lieutenant's body. He gained a Silver Star for this act and was the first in the Golden Cross to be decorated for gallantry in action. He later received a field commission in the Philippines.

Charley Company, led by Capt. Martin L. Marchant, Jr., fought the enemy for three days of its five-day patrol. The intense action this unit encountered accounted for 26 enemy dead before it boarded DUKWs for the trip back to Maffin Bay.

Headquarters wanted to take one of the enemy alive and this task fell to the 33rd Division Scout Team which had been trained under the famous Alamo Scouts, the Sixth Army's private infiltration force. Initially setting up an ambush at the Woske River they were unable to spring the trap. Abandoning that tack, Lt. John L. Durant advanced toward the Sawar Drone where his troops were caught in an enemy ambush instead. He was killed by a mortar fragment while 11 members of the force were wounded.¹

King Company of the 123rd, had the last five-day patrol on 11 December. While it achieved its objective this was done at the cost of two men killed and ten wounded.

From 12 September until 4 January, there were 10 men killed and 55 wounded of the 123rd.

On To Morotai

Morotai was a small island of the Moluccas group that was 1,500 miles northwest of Finschhafen. Corps G2 had learned that the Japanese had planned to recapture Morotai by sweeping out of the jungle to wrest the Gila Peninsula from American possession. At the time this was MacArthur's principal Pacific airbase.

On 21 December, Division troops streamed ashore on the humid peninsula. Establishing its base there our troops were subjected to their first air raid. Enemy bombers from Halmahera and Borneo made regular passes over the small isle.

Lt. Colonel Kuhns and the 108th Quartermaster Company got the Christmas dinner up to the combat units. Those scheduled to enter the line on Christmas morning got their holiday meal on the evening of the 24th, while others ate turkey for breakfast on the morning of the 25th.

From 12 October on, under the leadership of a colonel, the enemy had been reinforcing its troops from Halmahera. By December, most of the Japanese 211th Infantry Regiment had made it to shore.

Initially, the island had been taken on 15 September when its force of 1,000 Japanese was quickly dispersed.

Now, the enemy was ready to attack our airstrips in force. Our mission was to seek and destroy. The 136th Infantry was selected to do the job.

Lyle "Cub" Powers, Fort Wayne, Indiana, of the 136th recently recalled for us "the march down the jungle trail was tough. And while the underbrush was difficult to penetrate, it was a snap compared to the heat."

Cub tells about a special buddy nicknamed "Snarky" who sprawled across a hand grenade to save those around him, saying "that's real heroism." He said that it was easy to see then why the Expert Infantry Badge was a requirement and that the daily trip past the bloated body of a Japanese also "taught us all the true meaning of stench."

Cub added how "comforting it was" to hear our howitzers speak their own "special language" to all encroachers while his outfit was resting after an extended patrol. While the story detailing the action in the area of Hill 40 is chronicled in the book, The Golden Cross, certain events are easily recalled.

Because of the closeness of the terrain heavy MGs and mortars were virtually useless. This resulted in the heavy-weapons companies being withdrawn from combat where they became responsible for receiving airdrops, re-supply of front line troops and evacuation.

Between Christmas and the New Year, the 3rd Battalion of the 136th had really tough going. The number of enemy killed and found buried along the trail indicated a heavy loss had been inflicted. Actually, as learned later, its counterpart battalion of the Japanese 211th had been destroyed as a military force.

On the morning of January 5th, Baker Company, commanded by Captain C. Charles Kissel, now living in Louisville, KY, was the target of a Banzai attack on its extreme right flank. At Hill 40, the enemy officer leading the attack was stopped, literally dead in his tracks, by a burst from a BAR. His last act was to throw his Samurai sword into the position.

Lt. John Weatherwax, who now lives in Lawrence, Kansas, was commanding Company G later that morning when a Japanese machine gun started firing. At the same time Company B lost most of a squad to another MG of the enemy.

Quickly taking out this enemy MG, Weatherwax's troops accounted for the last of any organized defense.

The first and second battalions rushed the remaining Japanese riflemen and mopped up the position.

The campaign ended on January 14, 1945, 20 days after it began. During that time 870 Japanese had been killed and ten captured. The 33rd lost 46 killed in action, 104 wounded and 23 injured in action. This ended what was strictly a 136th infantry show.

Field artillery performed magnificently on Morotai. When the 136th and the enemy were locked in the Hill 40 stalemate it was the howitzers of the 123rd and 210th Field Artillery Battalions that shifted the balance of the battle.

Singled out for special commendation was the medical detachment of the 2nd Battalion, 136th Infantry, commanded by Captain Harold Tannenbaum. Private Marion Urban typified the work of the detachment as he repeatedly dragged a casualty back to safety. He gave his life trying to rescue a Fox Company squad leader and posthumously received the Silver Star, the first man of the 136th to be decorated for gallantry in WWII.

Space will not allow us to name all those who were cited for heroism on Morotai, but it was on this island just 400 miles from the Philippines that men of the 33rd proved that there was no better or more gallant fighting force in the Pacific.

Ironically, no public announcement of the 33rd's entry into combat was made by General MacArthur. Since the Japanese intelligence at that time had not learned that it was the 33rd Division they were facing it was decided to defer news of the Second Battle for Morotai until later.

While there are photos of the 33rd in New Guinea in the book "The Golden Cross" we could find no photos of the 33rd recently when researching the archives.

1. Received via email from John Thomas: " On 20 October 1944 four others were KIA with Lt. John L. Durant. My uncle PFC Orbon Thomas (123^rd Infantry Regiment, Co F) was included, killed by mortar fragments. The HMAS Glenelg (Australian Navy Minesweeper) came to  rescue of the ill fated patrol providing assistance and fire support. The names of those killed were Lt John L Durant, SN1295351, from New Jersey received the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. TSgt Clarence C. Fletcher, SN36026457, from Illinois received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. PFC Orbon Thomas Jr. SN35725333, from Kentucky received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. PFC Sherwood Robinson, SN36551363, from Michigan received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Pvt F B Orrell, SN38280372, from Texas received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. None of the bodies were ever recovered. Reference the American Battle Monuments Commission web site."

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