THE SOUTH PACIFIC
SECURITY IN THE JUNGLE
In Bivouac Report of Commanding General, 43d Division, New Georgia Campaign: “Security in bivouac was a big problem in this New Georgia operation. The Japs conducted harassing raids against our bivouac areas with some success for a period of about a week. Our initial plan had been adopted on the advice of other units experienced in jungle warfare. It called for complete immobility at night, with grenades and bayonets as the only defense weapons. Gun crews were directed to fire only in the event of a major attack. However, we found that small parties of Japs were able to filter into the battle areas and cause some casualties without being seriously opposed.
“This situation was effectively corrected by using a close perimeter defense. Men occupying these perimeter lines were ordered to fire at known targets. Machine guns were so laid that final protective lines covered the perimeter. The nature of the terrain and the type of night tactics employed by the Japanese made the establishment of outposts for security purposes inadvisable as visibility was limited to a few feet from any given outpost. Two men occupied each foxhole, one remaining awake and alert to all activity in his vicinity. Within the perimeter, machetes were used from the foxholes against any enemy raiders who were able to penetrate. This system effectively discouraged night raids.
On the March “March security adhered to established doctrine except that distances between the elements of the column were greatly reduced. Extremely limited visibility and the difficulty of moving through the jungle off the trails nearly always prevented close-in security detachments.”
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JUNGLE NOTES
Aggressive Action, Flexible Plans Report of 43d Division, New Georgia: “Aggressive action is necessary. Never relax the pressure. Maneuver of small units at the risk of temporary loss of communications is important. Plans and orders must be so flexible as to permit prompt maneuver change.
Feeding the Troops “The serving of any hot meals in jungle fighting is often impracticable. A hot drink or hot soup serves the same purpose and is much more within the realm of possibility.
“An issue of two canteens per man relieves the water problem a lot in jungle operations.”
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Counterintelligence First Marine Division, Guadalcanal: “Due to the amount of vital information we had taken from captured Japanese message centers we decided at once that we wouldn’t make the same mistake. Command post installations were usually in the foxhole of the unit commander. Papers of possible value to the enemy were destroyed or sent to the rear.”