CEDAR COUNTY, NEBRASKA - STAFF SGT CLARENCE KOHLS TELLS HOW JAP PATROLS "WIPED OUT" IN NEW GUINEA ==================================================================== NEGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the NEGenWeb Archives by Kristi Bergman Lam. Permission granted by: Rob Dump, Editor, Cedar County News ====================================================================== STAFF SFT. CLARENCE KOHLS TELLS HOW JAP PATROLS "WIPED OUT" IN NEW GUINEA EDITOR'S NOTE--The following account of fighting in New Guinea was written for The News by Staff Sgt. Clarence Kohls, son of Mrs. Henry Kohls of Wynot. Sgt. Kohls has seen much action and was severly wounded in action about two years. After nine months in hospitals and rest camps in Australia he has again returned to active duty in New Guinea. "No doubt you already know that since the first of the year, the American Infantry has advanced some six hundred miles along the New Guinea Coast. At present I am not permitted to say where I am due to censorship regulations. However, I can say that for the past eleven months I have been in New Guinea. "On one of our combat missions some months ago we encountered a Jap patrol attempting to break through a trap which we had neatly prepared for them. The action occurred at three in the morning (the Japs you know like to fight in the dark--something the American soldier dislikes) with this Jap patrol trying to break through our blockade and join up with another Jap unit some distance beyond. Of course we anticipated this attempted break-through and we were ready for them. At some seventy five yards from us we could hear the crackling of Japanese firearms. Not to give our position away we held our fire until they were directly in front of us. As the Japs drew closer our machine guns opened fire and all hell broke loose. "After a few hours of fighting, day light broke in upon us and to our utter amazement we found a large number of Nips piled in front of us. Patrols were immediately sent out to scout the area and all that we were able to discover was one Nip still attempting to get away. Needless to say we made short work of him. "In all my fighting experiences, I have never witnessed a more mangled bunch of Japs. It was quite apparent that our bullets had met their target. From this point we continued our patrol until we contacted our forces coming from the opposite direction. These incidents brought this campaign to a close. "At present I am located in a rest camp after completing several months of actual combat duty, including living in pill boxes, building defense lines and making our daily patrols. "I remember overhearing one day (what I thought to be a rumor) that our company was to be sent forward on a combat patrol. That day we were wondering who would take this patrol as it was supposed to be a very important mission. Well, that evening I was recalled from an outpost to report to my commanding officer. Upon my arrival, I was told that I was selected as the one to lead this patrol. My next difficiult task was to get volunteers to go with me. In a very short time, I had my quota of the best men in our platoon. We were told to take all our equipment as we could be expected to stay at least a couple of weeks. Did we ever pack the "ammo" and grenades. "The next morning before daybreak we packed our equipment and whatever else we could carry and started out. I had been given orders to report to a forward outpost where I would be given definite instructions. After traveling some distance walking through swamps and rivers, we arrived at the outpost in a very tired condition. It was around noon when I met the office in charge and found that our mission was to set up an ambush and capture a couple of Japs for intelligence purposes. I then related to my men our mission and told them that we were to march to a certain place and wait for the Japs to come along. I was really surprised to see the smile on the faces of these men, because some of them had never seen a Jap, and were most anxious to get a crack at them. As it was rather late in the day, we decided to stay at this putpost for the night, and get an early start the next morning as it was a tough trail ahead. "The next morning we started out and arrived at our destination some four or five hours later. At this time we were informed that the Japs were attacking our front lines some distance ahead of us, and no one knew when they might break through, if at all. "You can well imagine our feelings laying there with a handful of men and with thousands of Nips trying to break through our forward elements. After spending some time there we received the disappointing news that we were to withdaraw because our forces were too small and therefore we lost the opportunity to accomplish our mission. We came away feeling that the Japs were mighty lucky that we had received orders to withdraw. Thus we retired and thus was concluded one of our many combat experiences. "At present, I can't say just when my turn will come to return home. It has almost been two and a half years since I left the shores of the United States. Apparently there is no indication that I shall get home soon. We still have a long way to Tokyo. The road is rough and tough, but the infantry has what it takes to do the job. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1944 CEDAR COUNTY NEWS