Virtual Battlefield Tour : Bloody Ridge National Peace Park
using searchlights . The illumination that night was provided by rocket flares which proceeded each Japanese attack . The General knew that in order to capture Henderson Field , his three battalions would have to overwhelm the Raiders and Parachutists completely . Consequently , he ordered a dozen separate attacks on the Marine positions . Each wave succeeded in driving the Marines back towards the northernmost knoll of the ridge . [ See Images B and D ] From their final positions on Hill 2 , the Marines held back the Japanese onslaught in fierce fighting , much of it at hand grenade-range . [ See Image G ] Edson now realized his men were no longer just fighting to save Henderson Field — they were fighting to save their lives .
The 75mm and 105mm howitzers of the 2nd Battalion , 11th Marines fired continuously throughout the night with murderous results . Flares fired by Kawaguchi ’ s troops served as a signal to attack , but also made an excellent reference point for Marine artillery . As each successive wave pushed the Marines closer and closer to Edson ’ s CP , Red Mike walked the artillery back towards his “ Alamo ” position despite his forward artillery observers ’ safety concerns . Bullets ripped at Edson ’ s clothing as he stood erect directing fire on his field telephone until the lines were cut either by artillery or the infiltrating Japanese . With all communications lost and his command in the final extreme , Edson and Major Kenneth D . Bailey chanted , “ BILL WHALING ! BILL WHALING !” until the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines commander Bill Whaling understood the message and brought his men forward . With 2 / 5 reinforcement and Colonel Pedro de Valle ’ s guns firing direct support at close range , the defending Marines held .
Before dawn on the 14th , Edson sent Bailey to Henderson Field to beg for close air support from Army Captain John A . Thompson ’ s 67th Fighter Squadron . At first light , Thompson led a trio of P-400s in repeated passes over the ridge and nearby jungle clearings . The trio ’ s six wing-mounted . 50-caliber machine and nose-mounted 20mm cannon cut down exposed Japanese like a scythe through a wheat field from their first pass .
With the departure of the Army olive-drab fighters , Kawaguchi knew he was defeated . The majority of his troops lay dead or dying in the jungle or on the slope of the Centipede . Once the victor of Borneo , the rising sun set on the General ’ s career . Kawaguchi was recalled to Rabaul to explain the disastrous campaign , which concluded with the airfield still in Allied hands . Thereafter , he was placed on indefinite inactive status until Japan ’ s imminent invasion in 1945 brought him out of retirement .
Once again , Marine combined arms , individual courage , and inspired leadership overcame Japanese Bushido and unimaginative direction . Had Kawaguchi been able to gather his entire Brigade , it is unlikely Edson could have held the ridge . Or , had the General chosen to attack on a two , rather than a three-battalion front , his reserve battalion could have exploited the significant penetrations made by the II / 124 and
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