Guadalcanal

On January 13, 1943, the US Infantry captures Galloping Horse Ridge, Guadalcanal. From the article:

"Col. William A. McCulloch's 27th Infantry led the assault on Galloping Horse at first light on 10 January. In support, six field artillery battalions tried an innovation Collins hoped would deny the enemy the usual warning given when rounds fired from the nearest battery struck before those of the main concentration, allowing troops in the open to seek cover and move equipment. Called "time on target," the technique depended on careful firing sequencing so that all initial projectiles from whatever direction and distance landed at the same time. Thereafter the batteries would fire into the kill zone continuously but at irregular intervals through an extended period, thirty minutes in this case. The technique seemed to be effective, for soldiers later advancing through such zones found little opposition.

The 1st and 3d Battalions led off the 27th Infantry attack, hitting the Galloping Horse at the forelegs and tail. In the early hours the battalions had more trouble with the steep cliffs, deep ravines, and thick jungle of the island. As they moved up the slopes of objectives they found stiff enemy resistance from hidden bunkers. Expecting fire from rifles, machine guns, and small mortars, the Americans were somewhat surprised that the Japanese had managed to muscle the much heavier 37-mm. and 70-mm. pieces atop the sharp hills. The 1st Battalion made better progress than the 3d, but by the second day both units experienced another problem: a shortage of water. The Americans had expected that the many streams on mountainous Guadalcanal would provide water inland and were surprised to find most stream beds dry. The need to transport water threatened to slow operations seriously.

At the end of the second day the 3d Battalion slumped into a night position more than 800 meters short of the head of Galloping Horse, exhausted by enemy resistance and water shortage. Colonel McCulloch pulled the unit back for a rest and moved the 2d Battalion up to continue the advance along the body of the Horse. Company E soon stalled against a ridgeline between Hills 52 and 53. For the men involved, the battle now evolved into intense struggles between fire teams and individuals in the hot jungle and steep ravines.

Capt. Charles W. Davis saw only one way to end the stalemate. Taking four men and all the grenades they could carry, he led his party


The Galloping Horse, a Major Japanese strongpoint. (DOD photograph)
in a crawl up to the enemy strongpoint. The Japanese threw grenades first, but they failed to explode. Davis and his men threw theirs, then charged before the enemy could recover from the blasts. Firing rifles and pistols into the position, Davis and his men finished off the stub-born enemy, and Company E swept up the ridge. For his initiative Davis was awarded the Medal of Honor.

As if in reward, a heavy rain began shortly after Company E took the ridge. Their thirst relieved, the men of the 27th Infantry prepared to take the rest of the Galloping Horse. After Colonel McCulloch put the fire of three artillery battalions on Hill 53, the head of the Horse, company-size assaults from two directions swept forward through the feeble resistance of starving and sickly Japanese. By the afternoon of 13 January McCulloch's men held the entire Galloping Horse hill mass."