The two coastal advances went well, but Company C had to fight its way past a series of Japanese defensive positions. When they had cleared the large area, they began to build an earthen mound 45 feet high, a miniature Mount Fujiyama. The Battle of the Driniumor, Phase II: The 18th Army Retreats: 177 : Securing the Afua Area: 177 : Envelopment to the East: 188 : The End of the Aitape Operation: 200: IX. Most mail got as far as the prison camp but never reached the intended recipient. graduate Wakde. The island was 3,000 yards long by 1,000 yards wide and the airfield covered about half of its surface. In an effort to displace U.S. forces, Japanese forces started bombing Wake Island on December 8, just hours after their attack on Pearl Harbor, which had drawn the United States into World War II. In January 1941 the United States began constructing military facilities on Wake Island for use as an advance defensive outpost. There were still a few Japanese snipers hiding on the island, and they had to be cleared out by L Company, 163rd Infantry, between 22-26 May. Devereux recalled: ‘The main objective of the Japanese…was to break our spirit, and on our side was a stubborn determination to keep our self-respect whatever else they took from us…. an emergency airfield. Cautiously, more adventuresome Americans now began to explore the area outside their prison. Devereux insisted on the same military discipline found at a stateside Marine base. Within each section 36 men slept shoulder to shoulder on wooden pallets. On December 4 the USS Enterprise brought 12 F4F Wildcats to the island. The Allies’ drive across the Pacific was nearing Japan, and American warplanes had begun bombing Shanghai. Wake Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean, it was annexed by the US in 1899. Combat Team (7800 men under Doe) After returning his prisoners’ clothes, Kajioka, resplendent in white dress uniform and gleaming samurai sword, read a proclamation to the assembled prisoners. Although Japanese guards looted the packets, enough got through to help the Americans survive. Aircraft based on Wakde carried out attacks on Biak, Noemfoor and the Vogelkop Peninsula in New Guinea, Halmahera and Morotai in the seas to the west, and supported the Central Pacific campaign with attacks on the Palau Islands and the Caroline Islands, as well as supporting the invasion of the Mariana Islands. 17 May and the invasion force was pared down to 163 Regimental The Americans reached the north coast by 13.30, but the Japanese still held on at the eastern end of the airfield at the end of the first days fighting. The attack on Wakde was carried out by four companies from the 163rd Infantry and four Sherman tanks, supported by artillery fire from the mainland and Insomanai. One day a Japanese guard explained to one of the prisoners, ‘Very soon we will all be friends again.’. Some Marine prisoners labored in an iron mine seven days a week, with a daily ration of three small bowls of rice and soybeans or a small teacup of soup made from weeds. The Americans quickly secured their beachhead, but came under heavy fire. The nearest major Japanese base to Hollandia was in the area of Maffin Bay, about 125 miles to the west.