Curly and the Brigadier PTO (id:#57937)

Heat of Battle (Tropic Thunder! ID: TT 3)   [next]   [previous]

Tarakan Hill, Tarakan, east of Borneo, the Netherlands East Indies 1945-05-04 (5 others)

Overview:

The 2/4th Commandos landed on Tarakan, where they occupied positions vacated by the 2/23rd Battalion in front of the dominating slopes of Tarakan Hill, where until now the Japanese had successfully repelled all attacks. The commandos conducted a reconnaissance in preparation for an attack the next day, but were unable to gather much information on the defenses. Although they knew little about the Japanese positions, they moved off the next morning following a preparatory barrage. The attack went bad right from the start as the lead elements were hammered by machinegun fire and rifle fire, forcing them to seek shelter in concrete buildings and shellholes on the lower slope. After hearing that bayonets and rifles were not enough to overcome the discovered pillboxes, Matildas of C Squadron, 2/9th Armoured Regiment were called in for support.

Defender: Japanese (Elements of 455th Independent Infantry Battalion)  

Errata (source)