Distinctly Montana Magazine

56 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • FA L L 2 0 2 5 that hit Tidrick three times and Kenneth Paul of Big Fork three times. Using his good right arm, Tidrick half-carried and half- dragged Paul to safety and reported the machine guns' location. Company F moved on, keeping right of Company G as it flanked several raised huts and an open hospital area near A-B. For Company G, the stench at the hospital was unbearable. Bod- ies, swarmed by flies, lay in rows of twelve. Some soldiers were too sick to fight. Others, including orderlies, were clutching grenades. When a "corpse" sat up and started firing, a brutal firefight broke out and grenades held under blankets by some patients exploded. Starting with enemy riflemen and light ma- chine-gunners, 163rd's men shot anything that moved. Mean- while, back at the ravine, Company E's Captain Buckland of Browning and Sgt. Lund of Wolf Point killed the gunners that killed and wounded Company F men. The next night of January 17, more Japanese blundered into Company F to be killed while causing more casualties. THE KILLING GROUND On January 18, Company F patrolled south along the east side of Sanananda Trail to north of U, killing 54 Japanese, while suf- fering one wounded and one killed. On January 19, Corporal Leslie Cameron of Kalispell, covered by riflemen, crawled close to Japanese lines to call indirect fires from his Weapons Platoon, Aussie Field Artillery and the 163rd's 81 MM mortar battery onto a Japanese position 150 yards wide. With fixed bayonets they charged on line into a draw and crossed a small stream but were surprised by heavy enemy fire. Losses from the bayonet charge were seven dead and 14 wounded, one seriously. After U was liquidated four days later, Company F learned they'd as- saulted an almost impregnable position of 19 machine guns in heavily manned log bunkers organized around machine guns bolted to the motor blocks of buried trucks. Company E had re- placed Company F and provided fire support for the successful assault by Companies I and L on January 23. By then Company F suffered 15 killed, 22 wounded, and one seriously injured. Meanwhile, Company A had been attacking enemy position Q in phases, with only their heads and weapons above water to occu- py R's vacated enemy positions, heavy with the stench of dead. Using mortar and artillery fires to clear R, they left a 15-foot-tall stump in its center, equipped it with a ladder of telephone wire and monitored enemy movement across the trail inside Q. 2nd Platoon crossed the trail north of Q muffled by heavy rain. As they crawled with two squads up and one back, they passed three skel- etons wearing dog tags from the U.S. 32nd Infantry Division. They turned south in six-inch-deep water around the east end of a 30- yard open grassland. The platoon leader rolled a grenade down a machine-gun fire lane, signaling both lead squads to begin shoot- ing. The Japanese responded with devastating machine-gun and rifle fire. The platoon retreated with four wounded toward R. On January 15th, Company A, less 3rd Platoon, attacked Q with 2nd Platoon targeting the machine guns and having 1st Platoon pass through them to break through the first line of bunkers. Company A held its ground under heavy fire from deeper in the perimeter while Companies B and C joined the attack. For his actions, Sergeant Paul Ziegele of Jordan earned the Distinguished Service Cross. THE FINAL ASSAULT The next morning, Company A, supported by 15 minutes of battalion mortar and heavy machine-gun fire, attacked at 0900 northeast from FISK across 200 yards of open terrain against unknown enemy strength at S. Companies B and C struck from the west and northwest. Mortar fire fell short and there was in- sufficient coordination between the three companies. Company A lost nine men killed, 17 wounded, with 18 men and two offi- cers heat exhausted from crawling in the sun under clear skies. Company B, serving as reserve to Companies A and C, did not know the attack had failed and almost walked single file into S. Learning Company A was in trouble, 3rd Platoon tried to help and suffered five casualties before escaping in darkness. After two weeks in the jungle, most men had malaria with 103 degree temperatures, yet HUGGINS held. On January 21, a TOYKO ROSE CALLED THEM 'THE BLOODY BUTCHERS OF SANANANDA'

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