Pincer Unpinched

What the outside world might think of the situation of the U.S. troops on Guadalcanal was irrelevant; so was what they thought of the outside world. They had two jobs to do and they did them.

East is East. For the first time in several weeks, the Japanese were in force to the east of the Henderson Field beachhead, on the wide, open plains of Koli Point. They had slipped troops ashore by night.

To wait and let them get their feet firmly planted on a springboard for assault would be suicidal. There was nothing to do but go out and cut their feet from under them.

The job was assigned to Army troops.

Relatively green but eager to show the Marines (whose refrain "Where the hell is the Army?" had been ringing in their ears for two months at rear bases), the newly arrived Army men peeled back the Japs for nearly seven miles, beyond Koli Point to the Metapono River.

West is West. On the other side of the beachhead, where the Japs had been pressing for a fortnight, the urgency was greater. There were two specific reasons why an attack had to be put on there:

1) The Japs had managed to land 75-mm. artillery pieces and to register their fire on Henderson Field. Artillery fire and dive-bombing could harass the Japs' guns, but there was only one sure way of silencing them: to go out and swipe the guns.

2) All summer long the Marines had got supplies and reinforcements from small boats landed on the beach west of Henderson Field. The prevailing wind had been from the southeast, so that there were no waves pounding on the beach. But now, with the rainy season, the prevailing wind was beginning to haul around to the exact opposite quarter, so that rough water would hamper beach landings. It was imperative to reach out and capture Point Cruz, which sticks out like a miniature Florida into Sealark Channel. Under the lee of Point Cruz landings could be safely made, whatever the wind.

The Marines reached, and at week's end they had captured 15 enemy guns and Point Cruz.

And Never the Twain. . . ? These two offensives showed that the spirit was far from spent on Guadalcanal. The Japs had planned a pincer; they would probably not abandon their plan easily, and early this week they made new landings to try to carry it out. But, far from crunching in on Henderson Field, they had seen the U.S. beachhead expand its width within the jaws of their pincer from eight miles to 16 miles.

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