The Bougainville Invasion (Part 4): March 1944 – May 1944

With this submission, CINCLAX’s in-depth review of this part of the Solomons campaign is complete. I think you will agree with me that considerable thought and work went into these articles and join me as a hearty “BZ” is passed his way.  On the horizon – inthe next few weeks we will wrap up the…

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The Bougainville Invasion (Part 3): December 1943 – March 1944

We resume the quite comprehensive articles provided by CINCLAX as part of the ongoing Solomon Islands Campaign blog project.  With the exception of some noteworthy battles at sea and on land, the Solomons campaign slogged on in near anonymity, except for those doing the fighting.  We would learn much in the process – about joint…

Postcards from Deployment: Of Midpoints and Ground Hog Day(s)

Milestones.  We live our lives and measure our time while deployed by milestones.  Workups, CQ, “safe-to-deploy,” night qual’d – those are all milestones.  First day underway, first trap of deployment, last night the lights of home are visible on the far horizon. . .  We chop from one fleet to another in our transit; turnover…

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The Bougainville Invasion: November – December 1943 (Part 2)

Today — part 2 of CINCLAX’s articles on the Bougainville Campaign… Battle of Empress Augusta Bay (the “short version”) While the 3rd Marines were settling for their first night ashore, a critical sea battle was brewing offshore. As they had immediately responded in the air, the IJN was quick to counter attack by sea. In…

The Solomons Campaign: The Bougainville Invasion, November – December 1943(Part I)

The next four posts will cover the invasion of Bougainville and are provided via guest author CINCLAX.– SJS The Last Spoke in the Cartwheel Strategic Progress Before the Guadalcanal operation (Watchtower) even began in August 1942, it had been decided to neutralize the Japanese bastion of Rabaul by moving up the Solomons one step at…

Former VFP-62 CO and DFC Recipient, CAPT William Ecker, USN-Ret Passes Away

On Oct. 19, 1962, the Pentagon’s Bureau of Aeronautics contacted Koch while he and Ecker were fishing in Orange Park, Fla. The bureau had a top-security mission in mind. “They called up and said, ‘Can you really take pictures this good?’ ” Ecker recalled. “We said not only ‘yes’ but ‘hell yes.’ ” A few…

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Admin notes

Just a quick note about a new feature – Table of Contents.  On more than one occasion I know I have used a category search to find a particular post, only to have to wade through pages of hits. Well, this nifty new plugin for WP blogs generates a table of contents by Category type…