Thursday, September 6, 2012

Day 1103 September 7, 1942

Kokoda Track, Papua. Japanese bombard Australian positions with 6 mountain guns while 3rd Battalion 144th Regiment attacks from the front. Australian 2/27 Battalion takes heavy casualties but replies with two 3-inch mortars and manages to hold out all day and into the night. Japanese are again attacked by US aircraft from Port Moresby. At dusk, Japanese 144th Regiment 2nd Battalion sets off on a standard flanking movement to get behind the Australians.

USS Growler sinks Japanese freighter SS Kashino Taika Maru 25 miles Northwest of Keelung, Formosa /Taiwan.

40 miles South of Iceland, U-617 sinks Faroese trawler Tor II (18 dead and 3 survivors).

In the last act at Milne Bay, Papua, 1 Japanese cruiser and 1 destroyer enter the Bay overnight and bombard Allied positions and the airfield at Gili Gili for 15 minutes causing several casualties. Over the next few days, Australian troops hunt down Japanese stragglers left behind after the evacuation who are attempting to return 180 miles overland to Buna.

At 11 PM in the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, U-517 attacks convoy QS-33 sinking Greek SS Mount Pindus carrying 7566 tons of general cargo and 8 tanks on deck to Britain (2 killed, 35 survivors), Greek SS Mount Taygetus carrying 4440 tons of general cargo and 8 more tanks to Britain (2 killed, 26 survivors) and Canadian collier SS Oakton (3 killed, 17 survivors picked up by Canadian motor launch HMCS Q-083).

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