The Green Island Group in WWII
Two Atolls: Nissan, Barahun, Sirot,
Hon --- Pinipel and Sau
It never caught the public
imagination like Midway or Iwo Jima. But the tiny Green Island atoll just
below the equator in the South Pacific was a busy crossroads of WWII. Its
bases and guestbooks boasted such names as Lindbergh, Nixon, Hope, Bush,
Kennedy, Benny. Most of its residents, however, were Toms, Dicks, and Harrys
- with a couple of Janes.
The capture of the Green Islands (OPERATION
SQUAREPEG) was carried out largely by New Zealand Infantry troops on
February 15, 1944. US Navy Seabees rapidly plowed essential roads and
leveled two airstrips on the main island: Nissan. US and NZ Marine and Navy
fighter and bomber squadrons began moving in. Across the lagoon where
Catalina "Black Cats" were bobbing around their tender ship, PT squadrons
set up camp on Barahun Island. The US Army and New Zealanders manned
anti-aircraft stations at the northern and southern ends of Nissan. Within
weeks, the atoll’s narrow perimeter was home to 17,000 New Zealand and US
troops.
Supplying the needs of this hungry,
gas-guzzling, construction and fighting boom was a stream of troop and
supply ships; the Cassiopeia, Harper, Talbot, Unicoi and others who often
rendezvoused with smaller transports to convey their wares through the
shallow channel and across the lagoon to the unloading beaches.
The occupation of this fragile atoll boasted
a major strategic difference from its more famous landmarks. Enormous
Japanese garrisons of planes and boats, including Rabaul, occupied
neighboring islands. Capturing them would cost untold lives and time. Could
Allied air and sea power just shut down supply lines and disable this
Japanese war machine? The main force of the war could then by-pass and press
northward to liberate the Philippines. The strategy was successful and
spared tens of thousands of Japanese and Allied lives. Thus the 93rd Seabees
paved a road for saving lives and speeding the end of the war.
The Diary of Bob Conner of the 93rd
Seabees, the original basis for this website, is a daily chronicle of his
life on Nissan. His letters and footnotes, illustrations and photos, and the
few memoirs and photos we have of his comrades add to the picture. It is a
rare picture, because Seabees rarely considered their creation of roads,
airports, docks, hospitals, and living quarters for thousands exceptional.
Many were veterans of the massive WPA and skyscraper building projects of
the 1920s and 30s. They came home at war’s end to their children and
grandchildren and to continue their demanding construction work, creating
the vast post war metropolitan areas.
So most of the stories of the Green Islands
are told by those who launched their boats and planes for combat from the
Seabees’ air strips and ports. They returned to eat and sleep in tent cities
and Quonset huts the Seabees erected, and relaxed at Seabee-developed
ballfields and theatres. And perhaps somewhere in their photos or cruise
book is a signature photo of the Owl Drugstore at Hollywood and Vine; a
route sign indicates [ U.S. 93 n.c.b.].
They lived in the city the Seabees built.
The 93rd Seabees welcome all our fellow
travelers; their stories are our story. We especially hail our New Zealand
comrades; their strategic and fighting skills earned them our lasting
respect. Their leadership and collaboration were exemplary. We are honored
to have a number of personal accounts of the war and post war years that
originate on our site. They are highlighted with photos.
~ ~ ~
On the periphery of the Green Island
military activity huddled the native population with centuries of history
and traditions. When the Allies landed, most of the natives were evacuated
to Guadalcanal for medical care. They were repatriated at the war’s end. The
lives of all, however, were changed forever by their contact with the Allied
troops and by the air strips, ammunition, and fuel abandoned at the end of
the war. The Seabees’ airport still serves them under the International code
IIS. The ammunition fueled a war of their own. Their story continues today,
with new lessons in nation building and peacemaking.
WWII in the
Green Islands
I. In Memoriam
II. Strategy, Reconnaissance, Capture,
Maps, and overviews
III. New Zealand Administration, 2nd and
3rd Divisions
IV. United States Administrative units,
Navy, Marines, Army
MAPS
93rd
NCB
Map of
Green Islands Base: April 1944
|
Extrardinarily detailed map of east Nissan,
provided by Carol Marsh, Seabee Historian, Huemene, and displayed
for us on his NZ 3rd Division website by New Zealand historian Warwick
Hughes |
MAPS and ARIAL VIEWS:
from Bob Conner, 93rd Seabees, CBMU 553, VMSB 341, VMBs 423 and 433, AAF-13
Code map and letters: Bob
Conner, 93rd Seabees |
|
Overviews
Hyperwar is a growing collection of original and official accounts
of WWII, organised by country and branch of service. Specific islands,
outfits, and campaigns are best located through external search engines.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/
A wealth of Navy, PBY, and Green Island
lore; site has good search engine
http://www.vpnavy.org
Official History of New Zealand in the Second
World War: NZ Electronic Text
Centre. p.168-200
http://www.nzetc.org/etexts/WH2Paci/index.html
SW Pacific World War II Timeline
1941-1944
www.au.geocities.com/third_div/time.html
OPERATION SQUAREPEG:
CAPTURE OF THE GREEN ISLANDS
PRELIMINARY
RECONNAISSANCE mission: jan.10-11: pt 176, pt 184
Reconnaissance Mission: Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 1944;
Landing Day: Feb. 15, 1944
PT Preliminary Reconnaissance: January 10-11
Determines depth of channel for later reconnaissance and location for PT
base away from general landing
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/CloseQuarters/PT-3.html
New Zealand accounts of the Green
Islands reconnaissance and landing
Warwick Hughes' Website for the 3rd NZ Division
http://au.geocities.com/third_div/
Extraordinary detailed account of the reconnoitering, landing, and work
in the Green Islands
http://www.nzetc.org/etexts/WH2Paci/index.html
www.mcghiegen.orcon.net.nz/time_41-44.htm
www.paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Feb.44.html
United States accounts of the
Green Islands reconnaissance and landing
History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations
in World War II, Volume II: Isolation of Rabaul
by Henry I. Shaw, Jr. and Major Douglas T. Kane, USMC. Historical Branch,
G-3 Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps 1963: Seizure of the Green
Island
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/II/ __
TOP OF THE LADDER: Marine Operations in the
Northern Solomons (Epilogue) by Captain John C. Chapin, USMCR
(Ret) (notes 93rd NCB)
http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003141-00/sec11.htm
Mission and Organization of Naval
Aviation
www.multied.com/navy/Reports/Naval%20Aviation%20WWII/ OffensiveDef5.html
US Navy: Offensive-Defensive: Guadalcanal
to Bougainville
www.wrc.chinalake.navy.mil/warfighter_enc/History/
BattlesacWWII/Summarys/guadboug.htm
US Coast Guard
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USCG/VI-Pacific/USCG-VI-9.html
PATHFINDER: NABU-11 to
reconnoiter and survey Green Islands.
www.history.noaa.gov/storiespathfinder.html
NEW ZEALAND
FORCES based in the Green Islands
Jungle Highway, D L Chambers, NZ 3rd Division
|
D.L. Chambers of the NZ Third Division was a
friend of Bob Conner and painted this watercolor Jungle Highway
for him. We hope he and his family will see this. |
|
Warwick Hughes' website for the 3rd NZ Division: His
father fought while the Seabees built; and, half a world away, he has
repeatedly assisted the construction of this site.
http://au.geocities.com/third_div/ |
Official History of New Zealand in the
Second World War: NZ
Electronic Text Centre. p. 168-200
http://www.nzetc.org/etexts/WH2Paci/index.html
www.nzetc.org/etexts/WH2Paci/a8.html
U.S. account of New
Zealanders on Green Island
www.army.mil/usamhi/Bibliographies/ReferenceBibliographies/
WorldWarIIac/swpa/solomons.doc -
First Army Tank Brigade
First NZ Army Tank Brigade (Rampant
Dragon) Nissan Island in February
www.pmms.webace.com.au/reviews/books/rd.htm
Second Division Air Force:
Royal New Zealand Air
Force (RNZAF)
NZ Air Force
www.airforce.mil.nz/about/squadrons/3sqn.htm
www.homepages.globe.net.nz/nzgunnie/messages.htm
www.altus.af.mil/history/combat/combatfeb44.htm
Green Island Attack: Nov. 1943 (Venturas)
www.altus.af.mil/history/combat/combatnov43.htm
Green Island Landing Day: Feb. 15, 1944 (Venturas)
http://www.nzetc.org/etexts/WH2Paci/index.html
www.paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Feb.44.html
Green Island Air
Base 1944-45: (Corsairs and Mitchells)
http://www.nzfpm.co.nz/fragments/fot_isle.htm
New Zealand Third Division
Warwick Hughes: The Third
Division: articles, timeline, photos and maps
http://au.geocities.com/third_div/
Official History (Electronic text): Chapters on Green Island and
Third Division
http://www.nzetc.org/etexts/WH2Paci/index.html
Book by Ray Munroe:
3rd NZ
Division, 2 NZEFIP 1940-44, 120 p. illustrated self
published book
3rd NZ Division
Tank Squadron
http://kiwisinarmour.hobbyvista.com/
kiwisinarmour.hobbyvista.com/tshist.htm
usembassy-australia.state.gov/anzus/1939-1946.html
Battle of Tanaheran: Feb. 20, 1944
http://au.geocities.com/third_div/herald3_44.html
mcghiegen.orcon.net.nz/nzh_44.htm
mcghiegen.orcon.net.nz/troop_move.htm
UNITED
STATES
FORCES BASED IN THE GREEN ISLANDS
Administrative Units
NABU-11 (Naval Advance Base Unit 11)
(Create Naval base as combat troops land)
www.history.noaa.gov/storiesathfinder.html
First Plane to land on Green Island after it was
taken from the Japs 3-7-44: crew: Cdr John B Anderson,
Col (Allen C.) Koonce,(USMC) CO of
SCAT, Lt. Col O'Neil, radio man, and
navigator and Flight engineer." Photo
courtesy of Anne Leyden, Jacksonville, FL who is seeking the men or
their families. (landings actually began 3-4)
|
|
U.S. NAVY
Naval
Construction Battalions (Seabees)
List of WWII Full Battalions and brief history of each
www.nbvc.navy.mil/museum/SeabeeHistory/battalions.html
History of the WWII island bases and
contributions of each Battalion to development
www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Building_Bases/bases-25.html
p. 242 and 274
CDs of official cruise books of all Seabee Battalions ($30)
www.seabeehf.org (search: "CD" or Battalion Number") or by phone
805-982-5168
15th Seabees
33rd Seabees: PT Base, etc. Don Brown interview: Arr Banika Jan
44 and joined 33rd for Green
http://www.news-star.com/archive/x297242254/World-War-II-vet-recalls-service
http://www.news-star.com/archive/x303485140/After-service-vet-returns-to-school
37th Seabees
PBY "Black Cats" Catalina Flying
Boats
Navy, PBY, and Green Island lore, logbooks and
links; site has good search engine
www.VPNavy.org
Logbooks and other information about units including VP 44 and 53
www.pbycia.org/Logbooks.nsf/WebPages/PBYCIA
Creed,
Roscoe, PBY: The Catalina Flying Boat, Naval Institute Press,
Annapolis, 1985
Bogart, Gerald, Capt., "The Black Cats of Green Island." Foundation
(Naval Aviation Museum Foundation) March 1982
VP24/VP12, PATSU 1-1, VP 81: Earl "Chicken" Rhoden. Stories and
descriptions of tender ships, Marsden matting, Washing Machine Charlie,
crabs, PATSU, SCAT.
http://members.aol.com/famjustin/Rhoden1.html
VPB-44
www.daveswarbirds.com/blackcat/hist-44.htm
VPB-54:
Letters & Commentary: Elliot Morison: History of the US Naval
Operations in WWII
www.fortunecity.com/millenium/redwood/372art7.htm; newsphoto;
VPB-54 Logo
VPB-91
www.daveswarbirds.com/blackcat/hist-91.htm
VP-115
www.vpnavy.com/vp115_shipmates.html
PBY TENDER SHIPS
USS Chincoteague (AVP-24): arrived 6/16/44 to replace Coos Bay, also
ferried freight, mail and troops
http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/auxil/avp24.htm
USS Coos Bay (AVP-25):
http://www.vpnavy.com
Patrol-Torpedo (PT) Boat Squadrons
Museum and Association of PT Squadrons
www.PTBoats.org
www.history.navy.mil/avh-vol2/chap4-7.pdf
PT Boats at War; WWII to Vietnam, by Norman Polmar and Samuel Loring
www.petertare.org/books.htm
photo: elevated shower
www.pacificwrecks.com/historytbases/morobe/morobe-wwII-men.jpg
PT RON 5: Feb. and March: Jack H. Duncan, PT 62, 103
http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/ngmap01.jpg
http://members.cox.net/jduncan161/feni.htm
http://members.cox.net/jduncan161/fishing.htm
http://members.cox.net/jduncan161/rabaul.htm
PT RON 11: Jan. 31 reconnaissance and Landing Day
PT RON 23:
April to November 1944
Samuel Frankel: oral history: war and recent trip
back with wife; Yom Kippur services on Nissan
http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/Interviews/frankel_samuel.html
Navy Communication Unit 39:
Commander Homer Allen Penhollow, USNR
www.penhallow.net/homer.html
Discussions.seniornet.org/ cgi-bin/WebX?230@102.lfEgat70z1M.0@.ee7cc13
Navy Argus- Unit 7
www.worldwar2history.info/forums/Guestbook01/ messages/859956599.html
www.worldwar2history.info/forums/Guestbook01/ messages/476193968.html
www.worldwar2history.info
First SEAL: Roy Boehm
http://www.navysealteams.com/Boehm.htm
Navy Ships
Profile of each ship in
Dictionary of Naval Fighting Ships
http://www.hazegray.org/danfs
USS Anthony (DD-515): Landing Day:supported LSTs and firepower
www.budget.net/~dnolan/uss.html
bobrosssr.tripod.com/515mad.html
USS Bennett (DD-473): Landing Day
www.domeisland.com/fletcherclass/ussbennett/finn.html
USS Bryant ( -09): landing day
www.hazegray.org/danfs/volume_b/vol_b_09.htm
USS Wadsworth (DD-516)
USS Dempsey (DE-26):
http://www.ussdempsey.com
supplied Nissan
June 21
web.ics.purdue.edu/~stevec/WWII_Diary/wwii_diary.html
web.ics.purdue.edu/~stevec/Ship_s_History/ ship_s_history.html
USS Fullam (DD-474): Flagship of reconaissance group p.174
http://www.nzetc.org/etexts/WH2Paci/index.htm
www.destroyers.org/nl-histories/dd474-nl.htm
USS Guest (DD-472): Landing Day
USS Halford (DD-480): Landing Day Flagship carrying Adm.
Wilkinson, Cmdr. Burroughclough
www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h1/halford.htm
www.bobrosssr.tripod.com/480hist.html
www.specwarnet.com/USSWard/history.htm
USS Hudson (DD-475): patrolling between Buka, New Ireland and Green
Island, January 1944
bobrosssr.tripod.com/contrib.html
USS Montclair_
Pacific War Diary, James C. Flahey. USN, Covers Green
Islands Invasion
http://www.historicwaltham.org/essays/curtin_essay_hm.php
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/27/arts/james-j-fahey-a-garbage-man-and-published-author-dies-at-73.html
USS Middlemas: freighter: boarded equipment and a few men of 93rd
Seabees for removal to Leyte
USS Pathfinder (AGS1): Oceanic Survey Data Collection: Surveyed
Russel Islands and provided detachment to NABU-11 to reconnoiter and survey
Green Islands.
www.history.noaa.gov/storiespathfinder.html
USS Rochamborn:
Micky Flynn
transferred from Cassiopeia (AK-75) (left) |
|
USS St. Louis: Only direct hit
on landing Day (NZ 180)
http://www.probsolve.com/ussstlouis/
USS Talbot II (DD-114): 30th NZ reconnaissance and Landing Day
http://www.multied.com/navy/destroyer/ dest2/TalbotIIdd114.html
http://www.geocities.com/Heartlandlains/5850/amburgey.html
USS Tappahanock (AO-43): Tanker, delivered fuel
USS Taylor:
www.domeisland.com/fletcherclass/usstaylor/text2.html
USS Uncoi: supply shi : Uncoi
was trapped in Barahun passage
William
Johnson:
Nothing Else Like It in the Navy:
www.gtalumni.org/StayInformed/techtopics/spr95/ww2.html
USS Vanuna (AGP-5): tender for PT Boats
USS Wadsworth DD-516
USS Waller
usswaller.com
web.mountain.net/~tedallen/ww2hist.html
web.mountain.net/~tedallen/warrecord.html
USS Ward (DD-139/APD-16):
www.destroyers.org/nl-histories/dd474-nl.htm
www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd139txt.htm
http://www.rpadden.comearl/ussward.htm
http://www.history.navy.milhotos/sh-usn/usnsh-w/dd139.htm
www.multied.com/navy/destroyer/dest2/Warddd139.html
www.specwarnet.com/USSWard/history.htm
Destroyer Squadron (DesRon 23):
"Little Beavers"
www.domeisland.com/desron23/
Landing Craft Infantry
LCI(L)LCI(L)-357
www.navsource.org/archives/10/150357.htm
LCI(L)-358
www.navsource.org/archives/10/150358.htm
LCI (G)-560
www.usslci.com/html/lcimessages3.html
LCI Ships Stores: Videotape #4 includes Green Islands landing.
http://www.usslci.com/html_L2/stories/lcimovies.html
LST Photo: LST unloads at Green Island
http://www.yauctions.com/y/search?q=Army
LST-220:
First echelon of 93rd NCB on Landing Day
http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/16/160220.htm
http://www.historycentral.com/Navy/patrol/15.html (includes history of
all LSTs)
LST-247: Timeline: 20 Feb.1944 - Invasion of Green Island. Beach
32
www.dalebroux.com/lst/Bigalkarvid.as
www.dalebroux.com/lst/Timeline.as
LST-466: damaged on Landing Day NZ p. 180
LST-486
US Naval Warships camouflage: Modifications in camouflage after
Green Island invasion
www.shipcamouflage.com/5_2.htm
www.shipcamouflage.com/5_3.htm
U.S. Marines
History of U.S. Marine
Corps Operations in World War II, Volume II: Isolation of Rabaul by
Henry I. Shaw, Jr. and Major Douglas T. Kane, USMC.Historical Branch, G-3
Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps 1963.
Seizure of the Green Island,
Showing Landing Plan at Nissan, 15 February 1944
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/II/
Marine Dive Bombing
Squadrons
Marine Bomber Squadrons
Marine
Fighter Squadrons
VMF-223: (Bulldog) squadron
www.2maw.usmc.mil/cherrypoint/VMA223/VMA223History.as
Charles Lindbergh
http://www.acepilots.com/lindbergh.html
VMF-218 (Wildcats) F4U Corsairs
http://www.pacificwrecks.comeople/veterans/morris.html
VMF-211
"Black Sheep"
www.acepilots.com/usmc_magee.html
Ba Ba Black Sheep By Gregory (Pappy) Boyington : Stories
from Corsair pilots by legendary "Black Sheep"
Bye Bye Black Sheep By Masajiro Kawato Japanese Ace who shot
down Pappy Boyington
http://www.expage.com/bentwings
Fred "Crash" Blechman
VMTB-134 (TBFs)
www.history.navy.mil/avh-vol2/Append2.pdf
1st Marine Wing Service Squadron
www.grunt.com/newsletters/march16_2002news.htm
WWII's Kilroy Was Here: Corsairs
www.kilroywashere.org/005-Pages/05-0Miscellany.html
Charles Harold Hayes, USMC, planning and execution of the Green Island
and Leyte, etc.
www.arlingtoncemetery.net/chhayes.htm
VMFA (N)-531: Marine Night Fighter Squadron (Venturas)
http://home.inreach.com/vmfa531/VMFA-531%20History.html
U.S.
ARMY
Army Air Force USAAF Chronology
ftp.rutgers.edu in directory pub/wwii/usaf 2
Heavy Bombardment Groups
307th Bombardment Group (Heavy), B-24s
394th Bombardment Squadron: color film of April 2, 1944 raids
from Green Island
www.5thbomberbarons.com
424th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) B-25s
Army Air Corps: 551 Signal Air Warning Battalion:
Paul Watlington’s Memories
http://web.media.mit.edu/~wad/watlington/online/wwtnnode108.html
US Army Coast Artillery station on Barahun
925 AA AW BN assigned to the Americal Div
967 Anti Aircraft Battalion NZ p. 179
Army Quartermasters: Suppliers in the Pacific During WWII
Coastwatchers
Civilian lookouts on islands
to provide intelligence about enemy activity
http://www.nzetc.org/etexts/WH2Paci/index.html_(Chapter 8)
Peter Dunne's Australia at war: see: Coastwatchers: Paluma
at Nissan
http://www.ozatwar.com
Compilation of research related to history, veterans, and wreckage of
Pacific WWII
http://www.pacificwrecks.com
Nissan plantation
manager and Coastwatcher, disappeared early 1942
www.jje.info/lostlives/exhibotp/rollofhonour2.html
Australian Island
Administration
Lt. F.P. Archer: Former plantation owner on Buka and visitor to Green,
served as Lt. with ANGAU and participated in Jan.30 reconnaissance as
liaison to natives
Green Island in WWII, 6th Edition by Milton Bush, Jr.
http://www.nzetc.org/etexts/WH2Paci/index.html
Approx.
100 Australians in North Village |
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