US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

Success, Then Cliff Hanging 331
‘“M-O,” the May 1942 Japanese forward movement which had brought on
the Battle of the Coral Sea.
Prior to May 1942, the British controlled the Solomon Islands pro-
tectorate from Government House on the northeast side of Tulagi, and
the Australians provided the minor defense forces and “Ferdinand,” the
highly effective coast watcher’s organization.*’ On 7 August 1942, ‘Ferdin-
and” began paying extra intelligence dividends. Based on their information
and aerial photographs, Vice Admiral Ghormley had estimated in his
Operation Plan No. 1–42, that some 3,100 Japanese were to be reckoned
with at the Marine objectives. Interrogation after the War of senior
Japanese Army oficers directly concerned with the Lower Solomons indi-
cates this estimate was excellent and that there were about 780 Japanese
including labor troops in the Tulagi-Gavutu-Tanambogo area and 2,230
on Guadalcanal. Some 1,700 of the Guadalcanal contingent were labor
troops and the rest largely were Japanese Marines.
Since their initial landings, the Japanese had spread out from Tulagi,
which was only about one-half mile wide and two miles long, to the much
5 Buka and BougainvilleaIslands were part of the Australian Mandated Territory of New Guinea.
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MA NA MBO
‘ ISLAND
Landing Objectives in Tulagi-Gavt&v Area,
NORTH
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