When 2,500 Lost to 800 Marines - The First Major Defeat of the Japanese Army at Edson's Ridge

[Music] having seized the initiative on the seas of the pacific theater of world war ii the united states pressed its advantage by launching ground campaigns to capture the solomon islands by august of 1942 the americans made their first moves to dislodge the japanese in the south pacific in the battle of guadalcanal after establishing an initial foothold within marine landings the united states quickly found itself on the defensive it would be the first time they faced off against a major japanese army unit lieutenant colonel merritt edson would lead the defense of hill 123 at longer range on guadalcanal from september 12th to the 14th facing three japanese soldiers for every american edson's unit fought valiantly to defend the key strategic location overlooking henderson airfield at nightfall under absolute darkness they stood their ground against incessant waves of japanese soldiers sent by general kawaguchi against all odds the american troops defending the ridge shifted the landscape of the entire war marking the beginning of japan's defeat in the south pacific [Music] allied troops mostly from the united states arrived on guadalcanal tulagi and the nila islands on august 7th 1942 these landings intended to keep the japanese from using the islands as bases that could threaten supply routes between oceania and the united states securing the island would also provide launching points for the campaign against the japanese base at rabal and the allied campaign in new guinea the arrival of the american troops marked the start of the guadalcanal campaign which would go on for six months by the night of august 8th the allies had taken over tulagi and the airfield under construction at lugo point on the north end of guadalcanal this took the japanese completely by surprise general alexander archer vandegrift sent his 11 000 men under the first marine division to the luca point airfield to set up a loose perimeter led by the respected lieutenant colonel merritt edson also known as red mike they cemented their position edson was already becoming a wartime legend earning two navy crosses it had been partially his foresight that led him to establish the perimeter he believed that the japanese were planning to attack lunga ridge while vandegrift believed they would attack from another point edson and colonel gerard thomas convinced the superior that they needed to defend the area the airfield was named henderson field in honor of a marine aviator lost in the battle of midway lofton henderson on august 12th allied planes and pilots operating from the field were then labeled cactus air force due to the allied code name for guadalcanal as a response to the new american position and threat the imperial japanese army assigned the 17th army based at rabdul to retake guadalcanal the military team was under the command of lieutenant general gerokichi hiyakutake the japanese underestimated the strength of the allies in guadalajara a nighttime assault from the front on alligator creek the eastern side of the marine lunga perimeter on august 21st was devastating for japan only 128 of the 917 japanese first element troops returned from the engagement known as the battle of the tanaru the surviving troops traveled back to taivu point to notify headquarters of the result of the battle and await further instructions and hopefully reinforcements [Music] by august 23rd general kiyotaki kawaguchi and his unit had arrived at druk for transport to guadalcanal [Music] due to the allied destruction of a troop convoy in a previous battle the japanese decided to transport the soldiers to rabadool from there they were taken aboard destroyers to the imperial navy's base in the shortland islands the ships could make the trip from there to guadalcanal and back in one night reducing the probability of an allied air attack still the heavy military equipment and supplies could not be transported along with the soldiers and had to be part of separate high-speed destroyer runs that the japanese called rat transportation the allies nicknamed it the tokyo express japanese admiral tanaka who masterminded the tokyo express saw successful undetected and undeterred landings of reinforcements and supplies through the system as the campaign became a war of attrition focused on landing troops and preventing the enemy from landing theirs the united states became rightfully concerned that the successful arrival of general kabaguchi and the 35th infantry through the tokyo express could cause significant trouble [Music] following a string of skirmishes leading up to the battle on the ridge the japanese withdrew into the jungle to gather themselves on september 11th bombs started raining down in the american position by means of betty bombers colonel edson knew that a follow-up attack was imminent and inevitable and at midnight on september 12th 1942 the battle of bloody ridge commenced for the marines this conflict would be known as the battle of edson's ridge between august 21st and september 3rd general alexander archer vandergrift had made intense efforts to improve the defensive capabilities of the lunga perimeter he had relocated three marine battalions from tolago and gavutu to guadalcanal including lieutenant colonel merritt a edson's first raider battalion in total they added 1500 soldiers to the initial 11 000 men protecting henderson field the first parachute battalion heavily reduced in august due to losses at the battle of tulagi and gavitu tanambogo was now under edson's command as well still they were outnumbered and theoretically outmatched by the japanese forces come midnight of september 12th the japanese troops followed an artillery barrage emerging from the jungle to take down the marines fortunately for the americans the japanese attack was a bit disorganized in the first wave engaged before the rest of the units were ready this helped edson keep the perimeter and launched preparations for likely incoming attacks unknown to the marines they were outnumbered by the japanese by more than three to one in the evening on september 12th as nightfall chased the american soldiers edison stepped atop a grenade box and addressed his troops saying quote you men have done a great job so far but i have one more thing to ask of you we have to hold out just one more night i know we have been without sleep a long time but i expect another attack and i believe they will come through here if we hold i have every reason to believe we will be relieved in the morning the japanese emerged from the jungle at nightfall general kawaguchi sent his three thousand soldiers to vanquish edson's 830 during a pitch-black moonless night attack on the right flank kicked the marine readers of company b out of their hilltop position at the same time a different wave pushed back the marine to the first parachute battalion in response to these two events edson ordered his troops to fall back to the command post at the center of the ridge on hill 123. [Music] the next japanese attack hit another company which also pushed them back the situation was increasingly showing in favor of japan the american soldiers were getting scared and falling back till edson came out of the command post with a couple of officers and strongly yelled at his soldiers to keep on fighting [Music] the rest of the raider companies were doing their best to hold their positions the marines made a horseshoe line around hill 123 to defend it a japanese battalion rained down in front of waves of assaults they charged with only minimal fighting from parachute flares dropped by a japanese float plane marines fought back valiantly as the japanese propped up a 75 millimeter regimental gun to hill 80. this gun was intended to completely turn the battle in favor of the japanese and help obliterate the american command post the americans were blessed by the failure of the gun's firing pin wave after wave of japanese soldiers reigned on the marines more than 2 500 japanese soldiers fought the 830 men under edson's command things did not look good while the longer perimeter's left flank had become exposed edson decided to flank it with fixed bayonets that surprised the japanese and drove many of them off the hill [Music] the tide began turning as heavy artillery fire was used by the marines against their enemy the japanese who made it past these defenses were met by armed soldiers if some brave or talented soldier managed to avoid the guns they would be met by american fists several hand-to-hand battles were fought in the darkness each wave of japanese soldiers was taken down marine captain william j mckinnon would later recall quote the japanese attack was almost constant like a rain that subsides for a moment and then pours the harder when one wave was mowed down and amine mowed down another followed it [Music] the two final japanese assaults happened before the break of dawn their remaining positions were subdued by u.s army air corps aracoba fighter aircraft in the morning and the japanese began to pull back the battle of bloody ridge marked a great victory for the marines who caught the conflict the battle of edson's ridge five minutes past one in the morning on september 14th general kawaguchi retreated with his remaining soldiers away from the ridge and into the safety of the jungle there they took care of the wounded and rested for a day he was ordered to further withdraw westward towards the matanikau river valley the soldiers who could walk had to assist in transporting the wounded they traveled hungry and tired having eaten the last of their food supplies the morning before many left their rifles and equipment behind to survive the trek by the time they arrived at kokombona to meet up with another unit only half of them were armed general kawaguchi had lost 830 men during the battle a still unclear number of wounded soldiers were also lost during the trip to marunico the marines calculated taking out around 500 japanese soldiers while losing 80 comrades between the 12th and 14th of september two companies from the first battalion were sent by vandegrift to follow the retreating japanese on september 17th they were ambushed by rear guards and while one marine platoon was lost the rest returned to the lunga perimeter vandergrift denied a request to rescue the missing platoon only a few wounded members of the platoon were heard from again on september 20th a patrol from edson's battalion fought a retreating column of japanese soldiers successfully while the japanese regrouped and planned the americans focused on improving the defenses at lunga vandegrift brought in another battalion from tulagi and an allied naval convoy brought in over 4 000 troops from a provisional marine brigade with the reinforcements the us was able to create an unbroken line of defense around the perimeter [Music] [Music] the imperial japanese army had not suffered such a significant defeat before the battle of edson's ridge in the war after being informed of the failure japanese high command realized that guadalcanal could be a decisive factor in the broader conflict the battle sent waves of repercussions to the japanese strategy throughout the pacific general yakutake needed to defeat the allied forces he would have to withdraw troops and material from new guinea to sufficiently cover the solomon islands campaign he ordered the new guinea troops to withdraw which at the time were only 30 miles away from port moresby their target the japanese never recovered from this decision they were unable to restart their assault in port moresby their defeat in the battle of edson's ridge marked the start of their ultimate demise in the south pacific [Music] you

Channel: Dark Docs

Views: 3,103,338

Keywords: marine, marines, ww2, wwii, us marine, marine corps, us marines, documentary, history channel, guadalcanal, edson's ridge, short documentary, history, japan, usa, america, pacific, world war ii, world war 2, us, battle, documentaries, dw, pacific theater, wwii documentary, battle of guadalcanal, japanese, dark docs, military, analysis

Id: 74rqIWy6kkA

Length: 14min 15sec (855 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 31 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/demec_26]

Read the title as Edson Range at first, I was like damn west coast boot camp was no joke back in the day

[u/itsokayimhandsome]

give em one!

[u/Ok-Presentation-9013]

Tight, but what about Iwo Jima?

[u/mommyicant]

My great uncle was a Marine scout and fought in these battles under Edson.