53 Days on Starvation Island: How The US Marines Fought on Guadalcanal While Completely Surrounded

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2024

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On August 20, 1942, twelve Marine dive-bombers and nineteen Marine fighters landed at Guadalcanal. Their mission: defeat the Japanese navy and prevent it from sending more men and supplies to "Starvation Island," as Guadalcanal was nicknamed. The Japanese were turning the remote, jungle-covered mountain in the south Solomon Islands into an air base from which they could attack the supply lines between the U.S. and Australia. The night after the Marines landed and captured the partially completed airfield, the Imperial Navy launched a surprise night attack on the Allied fleet offshore, resulting in the worst defeat the U.S. Navy suffered in the 20th century, which prompted the abandonment of the Marines on Guadalcanal.

The Marines dug in, and waited for help, as those thirty-one pilots and twelve gunners flew against the Japanese, shooting down eighty-three planes in less than two months, while the dive bombers, carried out over thirty attacks on the Japanese fleet. The attacks were led by such figures as Major John L. Smith, a magnetic leader who became America’s top fighter ace for the time; Captain Marion Carl, the Marine Corps’ first ace, and one of the few survivors of his squadron at the Battle of Midway (he would be shot down and forced to make his way back to base through twenty-five miles of Japanese-held jungle; and Major Richard Mangrum, the lawyer-turned-dive-bomber commander whose inexperienced men wrought havoc on the Japanese Navy.

To discuss these stories is today’s guest, John Bruning, author of Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Scott here with another episode of the History Unplugged Podcast.
0:07.0	On August 20, 1942, 12 marine dive bombers and 19 marine fighters
0:12.0	blamed it at Guado Canal.
0:14.0	Their mission was to defeat the Japanese Navy and prevent it from sending more men and supplies
0:17.6	to Starvation Island as Guadalcanal was nicknamed.
0:20.8	The Japanese were trained the remote jungle-covered mountain and the South Solomon Islands into an air base from which they could attack the supply lines between the US and Australia. The night after the Marines landed and capture the partially completed airfield, the Imperial Navy launched a surprise night
0:34.3	attack on the Allied fleet offshore, resulting in the worst defeat the U.S. Navy suffered in the
0:38.7	20th century, which prompted the abandonment of the Marines on Guadalcanal. The Marines dug in and waited for help as those 31 pilots and 12 gunners flew against the Japanese, shooting down 83 planes on less than two months, while the dive bombers carried out over 30 attacks on the Japanese fleet.
0:54.5	Now it's almost impossible to exaggerate how hard these two months were. Two of the hardest things to do
0:59.2	in the World War II Pacific Theater were to fight behind enemy lines or to supply an airfield on a remote
1:04.4	island and the Marines were trying to do both at the same time.
1:07.7	Plus this was a time when pilots had almost no combat experience.
1:11.6	To look at the story I'm joined by today's guest John Bruny, author of 53 days on Starvation Island.
1:16.4	We look at the stories of Major John L. Smith, a leader became America's top fighter ace for the first
1:21.0	time, Captain Marion Carroll, and Marine Corps First Ace,
1:24.1	one of the few survivors of his squadron at the Battle of Midway,
1:26.6	who was also shot down and forced to make his way back to base
1:29.6	through 25 miles of Japanese-held jungle.
1:32.0	In Major Richard Mangro, the lawyer-turned-Dive bomber commander
1:34.9	whose inexperienced men wrought havoc on the Japanese Navy.
1:38.2	Hope you enjoyed this discussion. And one more thing before we get started with this episode, a quick break for word from our sponsors.
1:47.0	Ah, she's brilliant. Miss, I finally got plans out the group chat.
	...

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