- 54 - Pacific War - Battle of Tassafaronga, November 29 - December 6, 1942

Last time we spoke about the long and bloody patrol of Carlson’s raiders. Shoji and his men were in for a nasty surprise when they disappeared into the jungle for a long march back to the 17th Army, for they were not alone. Carlson’s raiders hunted them down for over a month killing 488 Japanese at the cost of 16 marine lives. Shoji’s main body had been reduced to just 800 men when he finally rejoined the 17th army HQ. Over in the Buna-Gona front, the Australian-American forces fell into a bitter stalemate despite 2 weeks of trying to find weaknesses at either area. The concealed Japanese bunkers were taking a heavy toll on the allies, but ultimately the Japanese were just prolonging the inevitable as they had nowhere to run. Then we finished off with the battle of Brisbane, where some yanks got a bit handsy with some gals, prompting brawls with the aussies. Today we are venturing back to starvation island and Green Hell.