witpqs
Posts: 26087
Joined: 10/4/2004 From: Argleton Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: John Lansford Well, it was a daytime bombardment, so even if the gunners had all been rookies I'd think they could see where 3500+ troops were hiding on Baker, and manage to at least hit the island. For that matter, if 3500 troops were on Baker, they'd almost have to be standing in formation to keep their feet dry, especially when you throw in the base support equipment, supplies, fuel, planes, etc. According to Wikipedia Baker Island is almost 2/3 of a square mile. I once lived in a city that had about 40,000 people living in the 2/3 of a square mile that was residential, and that included houses, streets, parks. I'm not saying that Baker should hold 40,000 (or even close) under combat conditions, but I am saying that standing room only (the way you describe it) gets you way, way more than 3,500. The troops could certainly be missed by bombardment, and as pointed out previously some of the bombardment might be in the surf.
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