Yuku free message boards

September 26, 1935. We have encircled the city of Hermosillo and we demanded their surrender. The garrison commander has refused and so we wait for word from division on when to go in. We've made several probing attacks but have met with machine gun and artillery fire and fallen back. My battalion has lost 16 dead and 41 wounded in these attacks. Our Indians have snuck through their lines and brought back some useful intelligence. From their reports, it seems the Mexicans are using the Auscion Cathedral for their artillery spotters. We need to take care of that.



September 29, 1935. The number of refugees passing through the regiment's lines number in the hundreds. We let the old, infirm and young through, we detain men of military age.. We advanced two miles yesterday. Our artillery is pounding the city day and night. The Navy is even helping. The USS Macon brings in 30-40 tons of shells and then heads back for more. Thankfully we have complete air superiority or she would have been shot out of the sky.



October 3, 1935. The boys heard about the Panama Canal and I've had to order the officers to control their men. We can not allow the shooting of men after they have surrendered. I held summary courts martial for 1 corporal and 2 privates yesterday. Rape is a serious crime and must be stopped. I sentenced all 3 men to be executed. Passed them up to division. Hopefully the Division JAG will approve.



October 9, 1935. We have the city.




The planning for Operation Vengeance began in 1930. The plan originally called for attacks on the Atlantic and Pacific coast locks of the Panama Canal. There would be divisionary attacks on the ports of Miami and San Diego in attempts to draw attention away from the Panama Canal. It was a complex plan that would work only if everything went according to plan. And like most plans, this was changed over time. Instead of hitting the port of San Diego, the planners felt that the Wilmington Oil Fields were a better target. And eventually American spies stumbled on part of the plans.

The Mexicans decided that they would need help to pull such a complex operation off and they turned to Captain Konrad Patzig of the German Abwehr for help. After some discussions with his superiors, they agreed to provide training and some support, but no German would actually take part in any of these operations.

Operation Just Cause was the attack on Miami. A company of Marines would land in the port at dusk and wreck as much havoc as possible before re-embarking on the "neutral" freighter that brought them from Mexico. Operation Freedom was the attack on the Gatun Locks on the Atlantic by a company of Marines. Operation Jubilee was the attack on the Miraflores Locks by a company of Marines. Operation Trinity was the attack on the Wilmington Oil Fields.

Of the four operations, only Operation Jubilee was a total success.

So what happened?

The tramp steamer Buenos Aires (flying the Argentine flag) left Vera Cruz one week after the sinking of the USS Austin bound for the Port of Miami with 120 Marines and their weapons. The USS Catherine (a civilian built yacht leased to the navy), manned entirely by Navy Reservists, stopped them two miles off of Miami. The Catherine's crew had not signed up for this. They had wanted battleships and action on the high seas. They were bored and had gotten lazy. The Buenos Aires crew was able to bluff their way past the Catherine, but they were stopped a short time later by an alert Coast Guard cutter. When the Coast Guard insisted on boarding them to inspect and search the ship, they were met with a hail of gunfire. She was intercepted and sunk by the cruiser USS Boston. Her surviving crew were tried and executed as pirates. The Marine survivors were treated as POWS.

The merchant ship SS Radiance (flying the Irish flag) left Cancun hours after the Buenos Aires left port carrying 25 tons of Amatol. The ship had also been designed and built in Germany in 1931 for the Mexican Navy. She bore a passing resemblance to the USS Vestal, a navy repair ship. The Abwehr had come through for the Mexicans. They had managed to bribe a Navy communications petty officer in Washington DC and were able to get regular copies of the Panama Canal's security plans.

The Radiance sailed to the Swan Islands where she was transformed with the use of panels, paint and other materials into a close copy of the USS Vestal. The "Vestal's" officers were all able to pass for American officers from a distance and could speak American English as well as any native American could. The ship was able to pass through the Canal's outer security zone when Operation Jubilee took place. Unfortunately for the Radiance/Vestal's crew, an alert naval officer asked the wrong question. What was the Vestal doing here when she should have been in San Diego? Patrol boats surrounded the ship and ordered the crew to surrender. Instead they chose to fight their way to the Gantun Locks. They never made it and the ship went down with all hands. The timer on the Amatol was a dud and the explosives didn't go off. They were only discovered two days later as the Navy was in the process of trying to raise the ship.

The Pacific Princess (flying the British flag) left the Port of Mazatlan in the early morning hours of September 20 bound for Long Beach. The Princess was a miniature Q ship; she carried 4 machine guns and a 3 in gun. The plan was to lower the Marines into the ship's boats and land them at the Wilmington Oil Field, plant explosives and then leave.

The Mexicans arrived in the early morning hours of September 27, 1935. The ship had just anchored and was met by the USS PE-32. She was also manned by Navy Reservists. They hailed the Pacific Princess and received the reply that she was making engine repairs and would be underway within a day. That answer didn't satisfy the ship's CO, but he was new to the job and didn't want to have his superiors think he wasn't capable of doing his job. He simply ordered his crew to keep a close watch on the "neutral" ship.

Later that night, local resident Mr. Clyde Corrigan was out for a late night walk, noticed boats being lowered from a ship in the harbor. He contacted the Coast Guard, who contacted the nearest ship - the USS PE-32 and the Army. The PE-32 arrived within minutes and ordered the merchant ship to cease all operations and to surrender their ship. The crew of the Pacific Princess, their guns already manned, opened up on the American patrol boat. Their first machine gun rounds hit the bridge scattering the bridge crew. The first shell from the Princess splashed into the waters behind the Americans. The American crew got to work and her gun crew did a better job then the Mexican crew. Her first 3in shot hit the bridge killing the entire bridge crew. Within minutes the Pacific Princess was on fire and her crew was abandoning ship. Those Mexican Marines who had made it to shore were determined to do their jobs. They knew their ride home was gone. 68 Mexican Marines made it to shore, when the remnants surrendered the next morning, 31 were still alive. 18 American troops had died and an additional 90 were wounded. While some of the oil tanks were damaged and some oil was lost, the Marines had failed in their task of destroying the oil field.

The SS Victoire Douce (flying the French flag) left Acapulco just after midnight on Sept 20. She too had been designed and built in Germany; she also resembled an actual US Navy ship - the USS Henderson. When she left Germany, she avoided the Panama Canal and instead went around the southern tip of South America.

She was able to avoid the American blockade and after reaching an isolated spot on Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula, she was converted into a copy of the transport USS Henderson. Once she was ready, she sailed for the Canal and thanks to the corrupt petty officer was able to get passed the outer defenses. (At this particular time, the real USS Henderson was leaving Manila Bay for Hong Kong). She also carried documents (supplied by the Germans) signed by the CNO himself stating that the ship was carrying top secret material and was not to be inspected.

Captain Puleston, head of the ONI, had discounted the threat and did not pass along the President's orders to increase security further at the Canal. Neither the Army nor Navy had taken any special precautions and were taken by surprise.

At 0030 hours, Marines began disembarking onto smaller boats. Their objective was to take out the guard posts along the shore and disrupt any possible land based disruptions. In the meantime, the ship would stop in the locks and be abandoned.. The explosives would go off at 5am. By this time, the survivors would be in Panama City.

The Marines were able to wipe out a third of the guard posts around the locks and seize control of the lock control booth before the alarm was raised. By then, the Victoire Douce was slowly sinking in the locks and her crew was abandoning ship. A stay behind group 20 Marines stayed close to the ship to prevent the Americans from boarding her. Another group of Marines found and destroyed the spare locks nearby.

The alert company of the 226th Infantry Regiment arrived near the locks within 20 minutes of the alarm being raised. They were able to report back to their headquarters that a ship was sinking in the locks and that they were receiving hostile fire from the area around the control booth and needed reinforcements. A US patrol boat approaching the locks from Paraiso came under fire from the shore and were driven off.

By 0200 units from the 226th were approaching the scene, but they were being slowed down by squads of Mexican Marines ambushing the approaching Americans. Unfortunately for the Marines (and the Americans), the Mexicans used a faulty timer, which detonated the explosives earlier then planned. As a result, there were only a handful of Marine survivors and over 400 American dead. The locks were totally destroyed. A new set of locks was in place and operating by mid 1937.

When word reached Washington DC about the attack, President Roosevelt ordered Captain Puleston to the White House. Captain Puleston choose instead to commit suicide. The information that the Germans were involved did not come to light until after the 2nd World War.[/b][/b]









Chapter XI - Operation Iceberg - the Battle of Vera Cruz



Lt. Thatch and his flight took off from the carrier heading for the beaches. Apparently eight hours of bombarding the shores wasn't enough to dislodge the Mexicans from their positions. His flight was to lead the way for the bombers, drawing fire while the bombers went in.



His machine guns spitting hot lead at the enemy who quickly fell down hoping to avoid being killed from the air. Some men shot back, others died where they lay. The pause in the Mexican fire gave the Marines chances to move forward. As he flew over the Mexican lines, he dropped his single 100lb bomb on a howitzer, killing the crew (he hoped). While climbing for altitude, he noticed some of the Marine Parachutists killed the night before still hanging from trees.



Since he still had plenty of ammo, he led his flight down again, hoping that the battlewagons would hold their fire for another 20 more minutes that the CAG said they would for the attack. Down in the dirt again he thought as he fired away. Suddenly there was a thud and his plane started shaking. He had been hit, not sure how bad but he was getting out of there. Climbing higher and away from the beachhead, he noticed several unfamiliar biplanes over the fleet. His radio crackled to life from his wingman, saying they were enemy dive bombers! Thatch gunned his engine (his plane was shaking so badly he thought it would fall apart) and went after them. Thirty seconds later his machine guns were hitting a dive bomber. He was too late, the pilot had dropped his bomb (barely missing the Texas), but the plane was damaged. Unfortunately for Thatch, the enemy rear gunner shredded his engine and Thatch jumped out of his burning plane.





Up until the destruction of the Miraflores Locks, the Americans had had an "good" war. Casualties, while climbing, were not approaching Great War or even 2nd Mexican American War levels. The Mexicans, while putting up a decent fight were losing the war. Then came the terrible first week of October. On October 1st came the destruction of the Miraflores Locks. On October 2 disaster struck at Vera Cruz.



In the early morning hours of October 2, 24 Marine DC-2 transports took off from the captured Tampico airfield bound for Vera Cruz. Read Admiral William Pyle, the Navy's Task Force Commander, opposed the marine airborne drop. Vice Admiral Sellers, Commander-in-Chief, US Atlantic Fleet, over ruled him and the Marines went in.



The Mexicans were in no way fools. They knew that Vera Cruz would be a target and so prepared accordingly. Electrically controlled minefields were laid after the war began (and before the blockading US Navy arrived). The Mexicans had coastal artillery batteries ranging from 75mm cannons up to two 203 mm cannons. The defenders consisted of the 2nd Infantry Division backed up by the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Capital Division.



The Battle of Vera Cruz lasted for 4 days. High winds scattered the Marine paratroopers, large numbers were blown out to sea or into the Mexican defenders. Approaching the coastline to begin their bombardment, the USS Alaska ran into a minefield and had to be towed out of the combat area. After 8 hours of shelling, the US Marines landed. The heretofore-absent Mexican dive-bombers damaged the USS Texas and Arkansas. The first waves suffered 30% casualties before the beach head was secured. Marine Colonel Holland Smith was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions in rallying the Marines on the beach. Vera Cruz was finally secured on October 6 with the surrender of the elite 1st Regiment.



The Army funneled two infantry divisions into Vera Cruz for the march onto Mexico City. The march lasted almost two weeks before the Army was outside of Mexico City., After demanding that his troops fight to the death, President Adolfo de la Huerta attempted to flee the city in his personal transport only to be shot down by his own anti-aircraft gunners defending the field. Mexico City quickly fell to the Americans. Mopping up took less then a month for the rest of the country.



The US installed Oaxaca's Governor Almada as their puppet President of the Provisional Mexican Government. He lasted six months before a De la Huerta loyalist assassinated him. The Americans didn't bother replacing him. The Military Governor of Mexico held all the power anyway.



The US 5th Army assumed all occupation duties and they ruled Mexico with an iron fist. Free and open municipal elections were allowed, as was dissent, up to a point. The killing of a single US soldier was met with the death of 50 Mexicans. While there were protests in the US over these actions, they were few and far between.







Army Air Corps:



The Army Air Corps learned some valuable lessons during the war..



Five times during the campaign, Mexican guerilla fighters managed to penetrate air field security (almost always on newly captured airfields) and disrupt operations. By the end of the war, the Air Corps had formed provisional armored car platoons and used them as security. The Air Corps post war evaluations of this problem recommended that airfield security consist of 1 Armored Car Platoon, a light infantry company and a machinegun/mortar platoon. The air corps instead went with an armored car platoon and 2 platoons of airfield security police and no heavy weapons.



Airfield recovery during the war had mixed results. Some Air Corps commanders "borrowed" passing Engineer units and were able to quickly get captured airfields back into service. Post war, Air Corps planners recommended that Airfield recovery squadrons consist of an EOD unit, a runway repair unit, electrical support (supplying generators, etc) and command and control units.



Aircraft: It is recommended that biplane fighters be replaced with more modern monoplane aircraft and that bombers be longer ranged with greater bomb load.



Army:



The Army learned some very valuable lessons from the war and moved quickly to learn from them.



Armored cars and light tanks. The army discovered that they needed better armed, armored and better quality armored vehicles. Machine guns were excellent anti-personnel weapons, but not good enough for the primary weapon. The armored cars and tanks needed better off road capabilities.



Armored and Mechanized cavalry units needed balance. These units needed infantry support to ensure that enemy infantry units could not overwhelm armored units.



Mountain warfare: The Army needed units trained in and equipped in mountain warfare.



Convoy security: Convoys need better protection in recently liberated areas. The Army needs dedicated military police convoy escorts.



Motor transportation: Better quality vehicles capable of off road travel. Armored transportation of infantry is desirable.



Marines:



The Higgins boats used during the amphibious landings was inadequate for the tasks they were assigned. Marines climbing over the sides of the boats suffered more casualties during opposed landings. The Higgins boats did not offer the capability of transporting or deploying vehicles.



In future wars, the Corps may form multiple divisions. It is recommended that Marine Corps senior officers attend the Army Command and General Staff school and be assigned as observers to Army divisions to learn about division level and higher operations.



Use of Marine parachute units serve no purpose in Marine Corps operations and should be discontinued.



It is recommended that the Marine Corps form Armored battalions.



Naval shore bombardment: It is recommended that when firing in support of Marine landings, that the Navy bombard the enemy positions for at least 24 hours prior to the invasion.



Navy:



The Navy decided that more minesweepers, more training on gunfire support and better aircraft were the primary lessons learnt.