US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

CACTUS Bound 289
NH 67107
Rear Admiral Turner with Major Genera! Alexander Vandegrift, USMC,
on the Fiag Bridge of USS McCawley (APA–4), July-August 1942.
Provisional Corps” had been in New Zealand a month when Rear Admiral
Turner arrived. He was tremendously helpful in the necessary orientation,
and in having all ready a “Scheme of Maneuver” quite workable from the
Navy’s point of view.” Transport Division Ten under Captain Reifsnider, at
Auckland since 25 May 1942, had carried out much needed boat training—
while the Marine Corps gear was being unloaded from the transports and
reloaded by the Marines specifically arranged for the WATCHTOWER
combat operation.
The staff log of COMPHIBFORSOPAC, in the handwriting of the Chief
of Staff, notes during this four-day period with monotonous regularity and
marked simplicity:
All ships of Transport Group, South Pacific Force, in company, engaged in
reloading and rearranging cargo on basis of projected operations [and_j in
embarkation of troops. As these processes completed, ships anchored in the
harbor in succession.
n Ibid. A Scheme of Maneuver is the tactical plan to be executed by a force in order to seize
assigned objectives.