Pacific Alamo by John Wukovits

Author:John Wukovits [Wukovits, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101658185
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2004-07-05T16:00:00+00:00

“We’ll Make Our Stand Here”

“Shells Came Shrieking Like a Thousand Demons”

While Takano’s men swarmed ashore on Wilkes, the other Japanese contingents, among whom was Sub-Lieutenant Ozeki, silently approached Wake. Still unable to locate his shoes in the dark, Ozeki awkwardly tried to keep pace with his fellow soldiers of the Uchida Company as they filed to their embarkation points, but the rubber thongs made walking difficult. Nature proved to be an unreliable ally. A stiff wind created seas so rough that one Japanese officer said the waves were “raging like huge mountains.”1

The two converted destroyers headed toward their landing points, still apparently unobserved by the Americans in the moonless night. Soon the ships would crash onto the beach, giving the soldiers the opportunity to finally close with the enemy and at long last make amends for the December 11 debacle. Five hundred Japanese Special Navy Landing forces waited patiently for the battle to begin.

If the operation unfolded according to plan, the fighting would be over in a short time. Kajioka’s main force was to thrust straight inland to seize the airfield, in the process charging directly across Lieutenant Hanna and his small group of defenders. A second unit would land to the east to swing behind any opposition at the beach and to cut off any help from Peacock Point, while a third company crashed ashore near Camp 1 to eliminate opposition in that sector.

Nerves nearly immobilized each Japanese soldier and stomachs churned as the vessels closed in. The signs so far seemed good—the Americans on Wake had not yet opened fire. Maybe Kajioka had his surprise this time.

Around 2:30 each man’s thoughts suddenly halted when an officer shouted, “Shore ahead!”2 Men fell to the deck to brace themselves against the coming crash, and a shrill crunching sound emitted from below as the ships’ hulls scraped against Wake’s reef in an abrupt halt. Sailors tossed ropes over the side for the infantry to descend into the water, and men grabbed hold and prayed they could reach land before the enemy commenced firing.

The soldiers quickly learned they would have no such luck when an American shell crashed into the ship’s bridge, killing several men and sending tardy soldiers hastening to the ropes. “Out of the darkness in front of us, shells came shrieking like a thousand demons let loose,” remembered one Japanese officer. “Quick! Quick!”3 prodded another in a hasty attempt to move men over the side.

Phosphorescent tracer bullets, used to indicate the direction of fire, so thoroughly filled the air about the ship that they reminded Ozeki and the others on the rope of swarming bees. Bullets slapped men off ropes, then followed others into the water as the Japanese waded toward shore. Ozeki moved through such intense fire that he felt he was walking straight “into the jaws of a hungry beast that made its lair on Wake Island.” At the same time he could not help noticing the beautiful tapestry formed by the enemy’s tracer bullets, which lit

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