Destroyers to Buna

[john whitman]

Good afternoon fontessa:

I have developed this list of destroyers that moved troops and supplies to Buna, New Guinea in November and December 1942.

Do any of the unit histories mention these movements? I would like to get details on how the men were divided between the destroyers, how heavy weapons were carried etc. Can you help?

Departs Rabaul 16 November, lands 17 November, 1,000 men, elements of 3rd Battalion, 229th Infantry, a mountain artillery company, includes 300 replacements for the 144th Infantry
Kagero
Oyashio
Kazagumo
Mikagumo
Yugumo

Departs Rabaul 17 November, lands 18 November, an unknown number of men, elements of 3rd Battalion, 229th Infantry, a mountain artillery company, and replacements
Kawakaze
Umikaze
Asashio

Departs Rabaul 21 November, lands 21-22 November, 800 replacements organized as an infantry battalion
Yugumo
Arashio
Kazagumo
Makigumo

Departs Rabaul 28-29 November, aborted because of air attack, 1st Echelon of 21st Independent Mixed Brigade, 800 men, 1st Battalion, 170th Infantry, elements of the brigade headquarters, and elements of 3rd Battalion, 38th Mountain Artillery
Shiratsuyu
Kazagumo
Mikagumo
Yugumo

Departs Rabaul 30 November, lands 2 December, 800 men, 2nd Echelon of the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade, 3rd Battalion (minus one company), 170th Infantry, elements of the brigade headquarters
Isonami
Arashio
Inazuma
Asashio

Departs Rabaul 7 December, aborted because of air attack, 800 men, 3rd Echelon of the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade, 1st Battalion, 170th Infantry, one company of 3rd Battalion, 170th Infantry, the regimental gun company, and 25th Field Operations Machine Cannon Company
Arashio
Inazuma
Asashio
Yugumo
Kazagumo
Isonami

Departs Rabaul 12 December, lands 14 December, 4th Echelon of the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade, the same units as listed above
Arashio
Inazuma
Yugumo
Kazagumo
Isonami

John

[fontessa]

Good morning John,

Although I checked Senshi Sosho, it didn’t say about the details on how the men were divided between the destroyers, how heavy weapons were carried etc unfortunately.

What I can do is making some additions / correction of your post.

Departs Rabaul 16 November, lands 17 November, 1,000 men, elements of 3rd Battalion, 229th Infantry, a mountain artillery company, includes 300 replacements for the 144th Infantry

a mountain artillery company = 2nd Company of the 38th Mountain Artillery,

Departs Rabaul 17 November, lands 18 November, an unknown number of men, elements of 3rd Battalion, 229th Infantry, a mountain artillery company, and replacements

an unknown number of men = 500 men

Departs Rabaul 21 November, lands 21-22 November, 800 replacements organized as an infantry battalion

First lieutenant Ogi commanded this temporally formed battalion during the transpotation.

Departs Rabaul 28-29 November, aborted because of air attack, 1st Echelon of 21st Independent Mixed Brigade, 800 men, 1st Battalion, 170th Infantry, elements of the brigade headquarters, and elements of 3rd Battalion, 38th Mountain Artillery

“elements of 3rd Battalion, 38th Mountain Artillery” should be “main part of the 1st Battalion 38th Mountain Artillery”.

Departs Rabaul 12 December, lands 14 December, 4th Echelon of the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade, the same units as listed above

This echelon which was commanded by Major General Oda Kensaku (New commander of Nankai Detachment). The below is the units landed.
- The 21st Independent Mixed Brigade HQ: 14 men
- Nankai Detachment HQ: 11 men
- Brigade Signal Unit: 20 men
- 1st Battalion, 170th Infantry: 451 men
- 25th Field Machine Cannon Company (6 machine cannons): 65 men
- Brigade Engineer Unit: 3 men
- Shipping Engineer Unit: 17 men
- Field Hospital: 10 men
Total 591 men (and 51 men were missing)

fontessa

[john whitman]

Good afternoon fontessa:

Thank you for this very nice information. I will post it at combinedfleet.com. It will be a valuable addition to the destroyer TROMs.

You said "shipping engineer unit" for the 12 December departure. Is this an element of the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade, or were these men part of a shipping engineer regiment? And for the "field hospital," were these men from the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade, or were they replacements en route to the 67th Line of Communications Hospital?

My two questions are not very important, so please do not spend too much time on them.

John

[fontessa]

Good afternoon John,

You said "shipping engineer unit" for the 12 December departure. Is this an element of the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade, or were these men part of a shipping engineer regiment? And for the "field hospital," were these men from the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade, or were they replacements en route to the 67th Line of Communications Hospital?

Both “shipping engineer unit” and “field hospital” were attached to the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade (21MBs).
The composition of “Buna Detachment” was as follows. 21MBs lacked Brigade Artillery Unit, Brigade Tank Unit Brigade AAA Unit and Brigade Motor Unit.

Buna Detachment
- Commander: Major general Yamagata Tsuyuo (The commander of 21MBs)
- 21MBs HQ
- 170th Infantry (minus 2nd Battalion) (21MBs)
- Brigade Signal Unit (21MBs)
- 25th Field Machine Cannon Company (Attached)
- Part of 10th Shipping Engineer Regiment (Attached)
- Part of 76th Line of Communications Hospital (Attached)
- Other attached units

fontessa

[john whitman]

Good afternoon fontessa:

Thanks for these details.

John

[kellyfamille]

Where might I find information on the Japanese reinforcement of the Nankai Shitai from Rabaul from July to October?
If indeed there was any during this time.
Thanks for any assistance.
Regards
Matthew

[john whitman]

Hello Matthew:

A good start would be the US Army official history series of WWII in the Pacific, in this case, Samuel Milner, The War in the Pacific, The War in Papua.

Maybe you are beyond this basic source. Checking the TROMs at //www.combinedfleet.com in a great source. They mention travel dates and, in some cases, units carried.

It sort of depends on your level of expertise as to what sources exist. If you mean "replacements" vice reinforcements, that is a very narrowly-focused subject.

John

[kellyfamille]

Thanks John
I will get onto those suggestions quickly.
I may be back with further queries.
Regards
Matthew