Today in World War II

[RSS Bot]

1939 - British fleet attacks German U-39 boat
1940 - Congress passes 1st peace-time conscription bill (draft law)
1940 - German bomb hits shelter in Chelsea; 100s die
1942 - Battle of Edson's Ridge (Japanese assault) at Guadalcanal
1942 - German troops occupy train station Stalingrad-1
1944 - US 28th Infantry division occupies 1.5 km of Roscheid
1944 - US 4th Ivy League Inf division pushes through Westwall

From Today In World War Two History September 14

[temujin77]

Originally Posted by RSS Bot

1942 - Battle of Edson's Ridge (Japanese assault) at Guadalcanal

Taken from my web page at this URL: WW2DB: Guadalcanal Campaign

[USMC formed its defenses] at the area known as the Ridge 1,500 yards from Henderson Field.... Japanese troops charged the Ridge wave after wave with grenades, rifles, and bayonets.... Throughout the night, the fearless Japanese attackers charged and charged, pushing the Marines to the last knoll of the Ridge. If the Japanese could push the Marines off of the last knoll, then there would be no further natural obstacles defending Henderson Field. The Marines held.... The Marines noted that the Ridge was "littered with Japanese bodies sprawled in the pitiful and repulsive attitudes of death."

Next morning, the Marines reported that 800 out of the 2,000 Japanese attackers were struck down during the night offensive (of which the Ridge was only one of the sites, though it was the main one). 600 of the 800 were killed at the Ridge.