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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- Bloody Bougainville: Photographing a Battle
With Matt LeMasters
Part of Pacific Week on WW2TV
• The Pacific
More WW2TV content about New Guinea and the Solomon Islands
• New Guinea and the Sol...
"Bloody Bougainville: Photographing a Battle" examines the history and individuals behind numerous sets of photographs taken of the Army’s 37th Infantry Division and 754th Tank Battalion by the 161st Signal Photo Company during the Second Battle of Bougainville in March 1944.
Drawing upon the National Archives collection of Signal Corps photographs, Morning Reports, After Action Reports, and veteran recollections, this presentation seeks to bring a full-circle visual account of an often overlooked battle that produced some of the most famous imagery to come out of the Pacific War.
Researching at the National Archives in St. Louis since 2015, Matt LeMasters is an expert in uncovering the stories behind American veterans and units during World War II. He has previously collaborated with friend and fellow researcher Tom Kelly to debunk the story of Frank Irgang's "Etched in Purple,” which can be found here: tomharperkelly...
Matt's previous appearance on WW2TV
Hell in the Solomons: The 37th Infantry Division at New Georgia, July-August 1943
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Thank you for this information, in early 2000 I was sent to Bougainville to assist the UN ambassador Noel Sinclair facilitate the peace process between PNG and Bougainville. Lived there for two years in Arawa until it was signed successfully. As an Americal Viet Nam vet from 1968, I didn’t know that my former unit had operated in Torokina. Marked forever in my memories there.
Howdy folks. Great illustrated talk about an Army regiment in the fight for Bougainville in 1944. Matt uses incredible photos by a Signal Corps photo detachment in the infantry and tank action to tell the story.
Incedible the knowledge known of ww2. Well done dudes.
Interesting program today! I have personal interest in the 37th since my uncle served in the Division. Interesting pictures; I wish I could have read more on the morning reports. Thanks for your hard work Matt. Another good one Woody, as usual!!!!
Rest in peace, PFC Arthur Conforti. I agree with the speaker, that is the first picture I can recall seeing of an American KIA from WW2 showing their face.
I interviewed Lefty from f co. He was a calm gentleman. Never acted like a hero but he was. Only three combat effective in his squad at the end of the day
@stewartorr1939 which regiment?
145 or 148 the re-alighned. It is my understanding that f co 145 was the bowling green ohio unit. It became bravo 148 @@mattlemasters3927
@@mattlemasters3927 2/148
My father was in the 37th I believe. During the big firefights they had him bring up 50 cal anti aircraft guns as the 2nd or 3rd line. I remember so many stories starting at pearl harbor to Bougainvillea. The Kaps had a artillary piece in a cave that the Philippine soldiers actually went, overtook and brought the gun back.
The presentation is first class, but the photos steal the show and I do love the linking of the photographs with the personal stories. Exceedingly well done.
I have a couple pictures of my Dad on Bouganville late 43' and 44". He writes on them that he was there for a year. He received 3 purple hearts in a month while there. The 37th were an Ohio NG unit. The Buckeye Div. were called "the flaming A-holes" due to their shoulder patch, by other units. I remember many of the photos shown here from a book my Dad had about the Div. in WW2....I wish I knew more about his time there.
3 purple hearts sitting around on a beach sipping on Coke and Eating Ice cream
Outstanding presentation by Matt. The photos were incredible. I wish the Morning Reports for my Uncle's unit were as clear as the ones from the 37th Division.
Thanks!
I'm a bit late to this but someone in chat questioned the caliber of the bullet noted in the report at 36:51. The bullet used in the Japanese 6.5x50mm round as used in the type 38 rifle and other firearms is .25 in inches
Indeed
great presenter in matt excellent photos thanks WW2TV
Glad you enjoyed it
Really well balanced presentation that covered a lot of ground. A+++
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall John C. McManus detailing in his book, "Island Infernos", that Japanese-American soldiers were not looked upon with suspicion but were readily accepted by other American troops. A few went out of their way and crept near enemy encampments to gather intelligence by eavesdropping.
Awesome photos. These guys risking their lives to document action here as well as the ETO. Surely they carried small arms such as a .45?
Thanks Woody and Matt for this episode on Bougainville, which I have just watched some 18 hours after live streaming. Some great photos. I visited this Bougainville (Torokina base) battlesite some years ago. I'm somewhat disappointed that Matt did not mention the crucial intelligence role of two Nisei interpreters (Sgts Uyehata and Matsuda) of the US Army Military Intelligence Service (MIS) who, two weeks before the "Battle of the Perimeter" as it came to be called, discovered from two POWs the Japanese plans for the major three-pronged attack on March 23 on the complacent American base at Torokina. Otherwise, the Americans would have been caught totally unawares as there had been no substantive counterattack on the American base in the four months that they had been on Bougainville. When the Nisei intel was finally believed, the Americans heavily reinforced their fairly weak perimeter and on the eve of the "surprise" attack were able to lay down a massive artillery barrage, including from six offshore destroyers. This caught the approaching Japanese detachments unprepared, causing huge casualties before the Japanese could launch their close-range assaults. The two Nisei soldiers were awarded the Bronze Star "for providing advance warning that saved more than one thousand American lives". As well, there was no mention of the role of 1st Battalion, Fiji Infantry Regiment (811 men), who were attached to the US Army's 129th Regiment. They did long range recce and fighting patrols deep into Japanese territory beyond the American perimeter - both before and after the Japanese launched their attacks in March 1944. My dad served on Bougainville for 10 months in 1945.
Just out of curiosity is it easy or hard to go to Bougainville? I want to go there myself and visit the Torokina Area some day. My grandfather was with the 2nd Raiders at the battle and I’m going to try to visit the places he was at.
It's been several years since I was there. I got there by 4WD from Buka, then a large speedboat down the coast. Two day trip. It is quite complicated and expensive to get to Bougainville - an Autonomous Region of Papua New Guinea. They had a nasty 10-year civil war there (1988-98) between separatists and the central government. Most infrastructure was destroyed.. You have to fly to Buka or Kieta (on the other sides of the island) from Port Moresby. Torokina is in an isolated region even now - it had (has/) a rough grass airstrip and is really impossible to get there by road, no accommodation and there is nothing worth seeing there, a few dirt roads and some bits and pieces of metal. Mining and deforestation have also affected the nearby area. Virtually all traces of the large Allied base have disappeared. It has mostly reverted to thick jungle. Sadly, it would not be worth your time or expense. @@CodytheHun123
@@dennisburns8434 that still honestly sounds kind of fun. I’m just trying to see what these sights look like today. Like the Piva trail where the raiders set up the roadblock. Those hills mentioned in the video sound like they would be tough to navigate. For example the Marines had a really hard time at Hellzapoppin Ridge because of its terrain.
G'day,
One of my parents' friends - who I grew up with, was a bloke named
Clive Egan, MM & Bar.
2nd AIF.
On Bougainville,
There's a place there which they apparently still call
Egan Ridge....;
Where
Clive literally ran uphill,
With an Owen-Gun -
And single-handedly captured a
Japanese
Woodpecker, while killing it's entire
Crew, as he advanced.
To win his
SECOND
Military Medal.
As a kid, in the 1960s & '70s
I grew up watching as
Clive marshalled &
Commanded &
Led the
ANZAC Day Parades,
Every year...;
He was the most
Bemedalled
WW-2 Veteran in
Glen Innes,
NSW...,
Oz.
He died of
Emphysema, in 1996.
LEAST WE FORGET....
Just(ifiably ?) sayin',
Such is life,
Have a good one...
Stay safe.
;-p
Ciao !
Another excellent presentation! Loving the PTO content. Great job Matt.
Dad arrived there end of Nov.44 with the 37th. until they shipped off to Lingayan gulf Luzon arriving Jan 9, 45. Received the bronze star while on Bougainville but have no idea what it was for. Do know he was there when i think it was an ammo dump explosion.
Great photos and research by Matt.
Good show! @Matt, for me it whas a good thing to add the picture of the dead soldier. He was not a number, he whas a person, so you gave him the attention he deserved!
The graphic image meant that the video isn't fully monetised but yes I agree
some photos here i believe have been used as to represent cape glouster in the past
Quite likely
I am kind of a nerd! Based on the photo of the 161 Signal photo men I would say we have the usual suspects camera-wise of Speed Gaphics, which shoot what we would call large format film today but was standard for press photography at the time. You can tell from thedimensions, fidelity of the prints, and the way that dates are scribed into tabs on the negatives that a fair amount of the photography came from these frankly large and cumbersome cameras. One of them looks like he may have a 35mm camera in a case, but I can't say for sure. Although these types (35mm) are what we would consider standard today, anything less than 120 was considered almost miniature at the time and publications tended to prefer the larger negatives (Capa, Taro, and Eugene Smith were real innovators in there use of 35mm.. although to be fair Smith seems to have shot on anything he could get his hands on). From what I understand from an interview I saw with Tony Vacarro, the Speed Graphic was a standard issue for the Signal Corp, and other formats rarer and maybe even private purchases but I have not done eh research to verify that. The film cameras are some type of wind-up 16mm.. my nerdery does not extend far into that field. Also, apologies if this is answered in the video, I started typing soon after the question came up.
Thanks for the details
Matt , i have a pictuce of my father @ Bouganville .
Just a reminder despite these photos and 144,000 US troops it took 30,000 Australians to finish this campaign
Hirohito surrender broadcast on 15 August 1945. Combat operations on Bougainville ended with the surrender of Japanese forces on Bougainville on 21 August 1945.
Very little info on their pacific Campaign after New Guinea .
Agreed. There was a WW2TV show on the Australian actions on Bougainville a couple of years ago. I recommend checking it out.
The dating problem is due to the Americans use backward reading method of the Calendar . The rest of the world use the other way as combined common sense
Agreed, and let's not start on calling football soccer lol
Calenders go in order of month then date. So maybe us Yanks are writing dates the correct way. 😊
The American method is in the same order that I hear most people say the date verbally (M-D-Y). Even that could be an American thing though.