Commandos, Not Supermen PTO (id:#57939)

Heat of Battle (Tropic Thunder! ID: TT 5)   [next]   [previous]

Tarakan, east of Borneo, the Netherlands East Indies 1945-05-15 (2 others)

Overview:

By the middle of May, the men of the 2/4th Commando Squadron were beginning to tire. intended as raiders and scouts, and lacking the heavy weaponry of the regular infantry, they objected to being used in that role for sustained periods. To make matters worse, the Squadron was being parceled out as support where needed, by sections and troops, thus decreasing its fighting strength. One disgruntled trooper remarked that someone had obviously confused "commando" with "superman". Never the less, there was a job to do, and for the 2/4th it was clearing Snags Track and the Agnes feature, part of the task of encircling the Japanese stronghold of Fukukaku. On the 15th, B Troop was ordered to take and hold a spur jutting out from Agnes. Occupying it without a fight, the men raced to dig in before the Japanese, who could be heard moving in a gully at the bottom of the hill, counterattacked, , , ,Three Aussie commando squads try to hold off twice their number to hold a hill. Short and sharp, and always comes down to CC in the end.

Defender: Australian (Elements of B Troop, 2/4th Commando Squadron)  

Errata (source)