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Show EDWIN J. JOHN ON BR R 2002 Signal Company, the 43'd Quartermaster Company, the 43'd Reconnai ance Troop the 43rd Counter Intelligence Detachment, the 743'd Ordnance Company, the 11 '" Engineering Battalion and the 118'" Medical Battalion. Altogether, the division, probably had between 15,000 and 20,000 men. The 43'd was nicknamed the Winged Victory Division, after General Wing, the division's commander. The division 's shoulder patch was a khaki-bordered, red quatrefoil, on which was imposed a black grape leaf The division fought on Guadualcanal, New Guinea, the Northern Solomons and Luzan during World War II, suffering 6,026 killed, wounded, captured and missing during a total of 370 days of combat.] EJJ: Yes, they were there. They had been up in New Georgias-- BB: Yes, here it is. They were overseas since 1942, actually. So in New Caledonia, what came next? How long were you there? EJJ: I was there for four or five days. Then we loaded on a ship and went with a convoy of seven ships and headed for Guadalcanal. [Editor 's note: This must have been around 1 January 1944. Guadalcanal was secure by then though a few half-starved Japanese holdouts were still were hiding in the jungle. The Battle for Guadalcanal had lasted from August 1942 until February 1943. Once secured,Guadalcanal then became a US base for operations in the Northern Solomons.] We went up to Guadalcanal. Talk about being seasick. I happened to be up guarding one of the hatches, making sure nobody came out and allowed light to show. We'd have to make sure if some one came through the hatches, they closed the inside hatch before opening the outside hatch so that light wouldn't show. We were sitting there. The day before that the water had been really rolling. We could just sit and count and about every seventh wave, that ship would 32 |
