January-February - Air Defense Artillery

54 THE COAST ARTILLEHY JOllR~AL ]mlllaTy-Febn
their building of air strips under very difficult conditions a brief twelve-minute Right down the valley a little fun
and with limited equipment. to Gusap. Here \\'e had the defense of another air strip wh
The Japs had been dri\'en out of Lae and Kaiapit, but the Engineers were working on. and this time we reali
patrols and wandering detachments and companies of Jap that we were watching a full-scale operation. This was
raiders still made conditions verv difficult. insofar as security be a huge base, with eleven air strips. As operations gfell
was concerned. Since there \~'ere not enough Australia~ we accumulated many thousands of troops, and after OUr
infantry to defend the strip against sneak patrol raids, we solitary operations of the many months past this pleasant
were again given a dual assignment of protecting the field company and excitement was a welcome change from tht
against air attack. and also of providing our own ground solitary tactical operations in which we had engaged. The~
security and patrols. This placed a great strain on the men. were fighter groups, bomber groups, and miscellaneo
for there was never enough time for adequate rest and re- groups included, and we had a small city springing u
laxation. \ Vhen they were not. on the guns. they were out around us.
on jungle patrols. Our jungle training with the Australians \ Ve learned subsequently that all of this operation"
while we were at 1\ lilne Bay now paid good dividends. for set up to support the Hollandia operation and to k
the men knew what to do. and when to do it. One patrol of \Vewak neutralized. The Japs must have learned of it, t
Aussies captured a Jap alive, and he boastingly told them for we had a steady run of day and night bombings, stra
that a large Jap party was on the way down the valley. and ings, and general harassing raids by Jap Zeros and bombe
that he would soon be back with his own men. Fortunatelv of all types., Several times they caught our transports Ian
we never came face to face with the "large Jap party," al- ing or on the ground, with our fighter cover also landi
though there were frequent infiltrations by the Japs, moving or just about out of gas and ammunition, and neutrali
down the vallev in small numbers. Thev were killed or insofar as defensive operations were concerned. At th
driven off befor~ they became a serious tlH~at. times we had to depend upon our antiaircraft guns flV
One large Jap patrol was sighted moving down the valley, defense of the air strip and aircraft. Against low.lel
but they were not fired on, as we did not wish to give away attacks the battery did a splendid piece of work, althou,
the location of our troops and the air strip being built to a there was little we could do when the high-level bombi
large party, from which there might be survivors to report attacks started except dive for the slit trenches and pra
back. \Ve held our fire, crouched in the jungle within On several of these high-level attacks the bombs literal
shollting distance of the Japs, who finally moved back up straddled our positions, doing some damage, and killi
the valley, having seen nothing of interest. They never one of our men with a direct hit on a position. \Ve we
knew how close they came to joining their ancestors, for always well dug-in and reveted, and this paid off in equi~
none of us liked Japs, and they presented a wonderful ment and men protected from Jap bombs, as it always does.
target. Eventually we left Gusap and retired to Nadzap, whe
For some time, mail had been coming through to us the 709th trained with part of the 11th Airborne Divisio
addressed to the "Commanding Officer, 3d Air Task Force," Here our troops received their first instruction in glid
and I had been holding it, awaiting Further forwarding in- landings and operations. Little by little, our men were beiIl!
structions to this task force, which I assumed was some- return to the United States on rotation, and the familiar'
where near by. \Ve were startled, therefore, to learn that faces of the Mi.lne Bay, Dobodurra and Markham Vallel j
our battery was the "3d Air Task Force"! By this time, campaigns were replaced by men newly arrived from the
however, nothing amazed us for very long, and we adjusted States. I left my battery, and was returned to Finschhafen
ourselves to our new and exalted position. There seemed late in 1944, thence returning to the United States in
to be little difference that we could notice! There was just December.
as much work, just as many difficulties, and just as many For their work throughout the Papuan campaign, the bat.~
Japs. tery was awarded a Presidential citation, which they earned
After the Kaiapit strips were completed we moved again the hard way, and of course, the usual campaign stars fOt
--in the usual "overnight" maneuver. This time we had but participation in the various operations.
To build that new world, we'll need fewer architects
and more bricklayers.- The Slipstream.