tocaff
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Joined: 10/12/2006 From: USA now in Brasil Status: offline
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August 31, 1943 The Outskirts Of Darwin Intel Southern Area Army is located at Singapore. 16th Army is located at Rabaul. 1834 men are based at Hakodate. Nagasaki Fortress is located at Nagasaki. 9th Ind. Brigade is located at Changsha. Combined Fleet is located at Rabaul. 4316 men are based at Kyoto. 50th Construction Battalion is located at Kyoto. 54th Heavy AA Battalion is located at Mutanchiang. 36th Division is located at Sian. 9th AF Construction Battalion is located at Bankha. 16th AA Regiment is located at Koepang. Kaosing Fortress is located at Takao. Recon F-5A Lightning takes recon photos of Andaman Island 49 bombers, 36 aux, 5 LCUs 22000/141/25 PBY Catalina takes recon photos of Russell Islands 1 X AP PBM Mariner takes recon photos of Lunga 3 X SS, 1 X CA, 19 LCUs 95280/914/7 Combat A Japanese sub, 99 miles SW of Ndini, torpedoed the CL Birmingham, setting her on fire. The DDs pounced on the sub and claimed many hits. The Birmingham will have no problem making port, though some yard time will be in order for her. The SS Whale, 83 miles SE of Toyohara made an unsuccessful attack on a pair of MSWs. Later that day the Whale tried again, but failed to execute an attack. Mandalay was swept by 38 X Corsair IV and the Japanese had 23 X Zero, 6 X Zeke, 48 X Jack, 4 X Tojo and 26 X Tony greet them. A wild battle ensued that saw 14 of the Corsairs go down and 5 others get damaged. The Japanese suffered 12 X Zero shot down, 3 X Zeke splashed, 15 X Jack destroyed (another damaged), 4 X Tojo downed and 16 X Tony flamed. Within 15 minutes the CAP of 7 X Zero, 2 X Zeke, 20 X Jack and 6 X Tony faced a raid made up of 94 X Liberator VI, 64 X B-25J, 47 X B-24D and 24 X P-38G. Although facing such a large force the valiant Japanese pilots attacked and destroyed 2 X Liberator VI (6 damaged), 2 Mitchells downed (a pair damaged), a B-24D shot down (4 damaged) and 2 Lightnings destroyed (2 damaged). This was done at a cost of 9 X Zero flamed, 5 X Zeke destroyed, 17 X Jack downed, 14 X Tony destroyed and a Tojo shot down. The bombs found the mark and caused very heavy damage to the base, many resource hits, numerous secondary explosions and heavy losses to the ground troops. Lunga, which was protected by 3 X Zero and 27 X Tony, was hit by 44 X B-17E, 186 X B-24D and 8 snooping PBMs. The Japanese pilots tore into the bomber formations and destroyed a Flying Fortress (19 damaged), 13 X B-24D were shot down (55 damaged) and a pair of the PBMs were shot up. This was done at the cost of a destroyed Zero (2 damaged) and losing 15 X Tony. The base was very heavily damaged by the pounding that it took. There were lots of secondary explosions and very heavy losses to the ground troops. The Japanese pilots were utterly fearless, flying into their own bases' AA fire to attack the Americans. The hapless Yokosuka 2nd SNLF was bombed by 20 Mitchells, who were escorted by 10 X Warhawks. Casualties sustained by the Japanese were light. All of the Chinese planes headed back home safely. The IJA 12th Ind. Brigade, in the road junction region, was pasted by 28 X B-25J and 25 X P-40N. The unit had heavy casualties and the planes departed intact. 14 X B-17E, 15 X B-24D and 5 X Kittyhawk III attacked a Japanese TF about 265 miles SW of Port Moresby, hitting a BB with a bomb. 9 X Zero attacked the Allied planes at the cost of 2 of them getting damaged. 2 of the B-17Es were damaged and a Kittyhawk III was shot down. Then 5 X Zeke and 12 X Zero intercepted another Allied raid of 20 X B-24D and 6 X Kittyhawk III. No ships were struck and 2 of the Allied fighters were shot down while a Zeke was damaged. The Allied TF, 91 miles NE of Cooktown, was pounced on by 33 X Val, 32 X Kate and 35 X Zero, but 53 X P-38G were able to intercept the attackers. The Japanese lost 12 X Val (7 damaged), 10 X Kate splashed (3 damaged) and 24 X Zero destroyed. 10 of the Lightnings went down and 6 more were damaged while the CLAA Van Heemskerck was struck by 4 bombs and a fish, which caused fires and heavy damage leading to the ship's demise. Then another Japanese attack made up of 5 X Val, 21 X Kate and 25 X Zero appeared and they were bounced by 40 X P-38G. 4 X Val were destroyed, 13 X Kate went down and 21 X Zero were splashed while 8 P-38G were downed and 7 others sustained damage. The DD Le Triomphant was devastated by 2 torpedo hits. She has sustained very heavy damage to her systems and the flooding is critical while the fires are light, but she is in doubt of reaching port. Maloelap was attacked by 28 X PB4Y, of which 1 was destroyed and 9 others damaged by the flak. The airfield had light damage as did the ground forces. Bill is in receipt of urgent orders. The CL Helena will sail and replace CL Birmingham as part of TF 1059. He shows the orders to his exec and says, “We'll be sailing with the CVs for a bit.” Within hours they are at sea accompanied by 6 DDs who will escort the damaged CL back to port after a rendezvous with the CVTF. Scouts reported that Darwin looks deserted. Allied troops, with the Aussies in the lead, will advance in the morning at 1st light. Other troops are resting in preparation to advance on Wyndham. In the meantime another force is bearing down on Derby. Where is the IJA? Did they somehow manage to melt away? Pete reads the paper and wonders about the “immanent liberation of Darwin” being at hand. He learned to distrust the brass and governments as he thinks that they're both staffed by egotistical liars. He picks up his cup of tea and sips a little as he flips the page. Aboard the cramped AP Gunny sees to his platoon's needs. He has purposely instructed Slim to put forth a brave and calm demeanor for the sake of the men that haven't seen combat yet. Palawan departed, bound for Noumea, again as a lone vessel. Nerves are taught and an eerie silence clouds the ship. The night is moonless and that little bit of luck is appreciated by Captain Demesa, though he'd like some rain to further hinder prying eyes. Hitler allows von Manstein to make limited withdrawals in the Ukraine. Berlin was bombed by over 600 RAF planes. The IJN sub I-8 reached France from Penang. Victory Points Japanese 24999 Allied 13016
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