16-348 Garand Picture of the Day - Cape Torokino
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An Infantry unit of the 37th Infantry Division lands at Cape Torokino on Bougainville, in the Solomon Islands, to relieve the 3rd Marine Division of part of the Torokino perimeter. Looking on are (in pith helmet) Vice-Admiral William "Bull" Halsey, the South Pacific Area Commander, and (in Kahki uniform beside Halsey) Major General Roy Geiger, the IMAC Commanding General.
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1st Battalion, 3rd Marines engaged during the landing at Cape Torokina.
The first wave went ashore along an 8,000-yard front north of and including Cape Torokina at 07:10 hours on 1 November 1943. The 9th Marines assaulted the western beaches while the 3rd Marines took the eastern beaches and the cape itself. The 3rd Marine Raider Battalion captured Puruata Island about 1,000 yards west of the cape.[citation needed]
Because of the possibility of an immediate Japanese counterattack by air units, the initial assault wave landed 7,500 Marines by 07:30 hours. These troops seized the lightly defended area by 11:00 hours, suffering 78 killed in action while virtually annihilating the 270 troops of the Japanese 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment that were defending the area around the beachhead.[citation needed]
Sergeant Robert A. Owens, from Company A, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in eliminating a Japanese 75 mm gun that had been shelling the landing force, after it had destroyed four landing craft and damaged ten others. At the cost of his life, Owens approached the gun emplacement, entered it through the fire port, and drove the crew out the back door
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Medal of Honor action
On November 1, 1943, the Marine amphibious landing at Cape Torokina, Bougainville, was strongly resisted by the sole piece of artillery available to the Japanese defenders, a well-camouflaged 75 millimeter regimental gun. Strategically placed and protected within a coconut log bunker, the gun had already destroyed four landing craft and damaged ten others, seriously threatening the success of the operation. No boats could approach the beach without passing within 150 yards or less from the muzzle. The emplacement was so situated that it could only be attacked from the front and also in a position whereby rifle fire and grenades could not reach the gun crew.
Sizing up the situation, Sgt Owens decided that the only way to neutralize the gun was to charge it directly from the front. Calling on four volunteers to assist him, he positioned them where they could place supporting bunkers under fire. At the moment when he judged he had a fair chance of reaching his objective, the six-feet-three, 232-pound Marine charged right into the very mouth of the still rapidly firing cannon. Entering the emplacement through the fire port, he chased the Japanese out the back where they were cut down by his rifleman. Pursuing them, he in turn was instantly killed.
It was discovered that a round had been placed in the chamber and the breech was almost closed at the moment that Sgt Owens came through the fire port. Over 150 rounds of high-explosive shells were stacked and ready for firing. The enemy had counted heavily on this weapon to stop the Marine landing. They made several determined but fruitless efforts to recapture the piece. Maj Gen Allen H. Turnage, Commanding General of the 3rd Marine Division, said, "Among many brave acts on the beachhead of Bougainville, no other single act saved the lives of more of his comrades or served to contribute so much to the success of the landings
