Bushwhackers

ARMY & NAVY

One midnight last week two native boys finished work at Peleliu's naval compound, started home through the jungle. As they swung into the trail through the mangroves, prowlers jumped them. They dived for cover, with bullets zipping overhead. Next day they reported to the commander of Peleliu's tiny naval and Marine detachment that their attackers were Japanese guerrillas.

For weeks the U.S. garrison had seen signs of resurgent Jap activity. A raft loaded with stolen Marine rations was discovered floating in Peleliu's lowland swamps. Then a Marine sentry fired on a band looting a warehouse of captured Japanese weapons, was answered with rifle and grenade fire. The Jap strength was estimated at 50, led by a lieutenant commander, with more coming in daily from nearby Babelthuap. Alarmed by the weakness of his small, lightly armed Marine garrison, worried for the safety of the 35 naval dependents, Peleliu's commander radioed for reinforcements.

By this week 26 more Marines had flown in from Guam, with flame throwers and 60-mm. mortars, to join the hunt. By day they crawled cautiously up Peleliu's tortured Bloody Nose Ridge, where the ist Marine Division had lost over 6,000 casualties just 30 months before. By night they established cossack posts to bushwhack guerrillas who sneaked out in search of food & clothing. There was one change from the first, historic assault landing on Peleliu. This time the Marine reinforcements jumped at the chance to move in "for experience and target practice."