September 13, 1942 

Shelling all night from three ships. No casualties except they hit hospital. 105's and 75's fired all night and day. Three air raids. We got 52 planes. Our planes just came in. Fired 40 rounds at beach. 

*On 13 and 14 September, the Japanese attempted to support Kawaguchi's attack on Edson's ridge with thrusts against the flanks of the Marine perimeter. On the east, enemy troops attempting to penetrate the lines of the 3d Battalion, 1st Marines, were caught in the open on a grass plain and smothered by artillery fire; at least 200 died. On the west, the 3d Battalion, 5th Marines, holding ridge positions covering the coastal road, fought off a determined attacking force that reached its front lines. This was the beginning of the Battle for Bloody Ridge. 

 

This was a busy day at Henderson Field. Planes from the USS Wasp, which had been torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, arrived at the base. American destroyers later sank the mortally stricken carrier 

Meanwhile, the U.S. Marines held off a determined Japanese force of two battalions which attempted to take Henderson Field. The Battle for Bloody Ridge was underway. Col. "Red Mike" Edson and his tiny force of 300 Raiders held off the attacks from atop Grassy Knoll, a high ridge just 1,000 yards south of the airfield during night engagements over a three day period. 

September 14, 1942 

Battle started at 10 pm. Askey and I were on watch. Naval battle for an hour. Battle of Raiders' Ridge. I Battery troops pulled out and sent to the front as infantry to reinforce the Raiders. P-39's strafed all morning. Casualties coming up the road by our battery. Went on patrol but gave up as jungle too thick. Dive and high altitude bombers overhead - no damage. 

*Raider's Ridge also became known as Edson's Ridge after Col. 'Red Mike' Edson, who was in command of the Raiders. 

Bloody Ridge, scene of some of the fiercest fighting on Guadalcanal

This was the second day in what would be the major battle for Guadalcanal. Col. Edson's HQ was set up atop the tallest point along the ridge and the main focus of Japanese attacks. From this spot he personally co-ordinated defense of the embattled position. As battle fatigued Marines, wearied from six days of raiding, patrolling and defending the ridge line began to fall back, Col. Edson steeled his men's resolve, pointing toward the fighting and growling, "Listen, the only thing those people have got that you haven't is guts!" The old Marine 'Devil Dog' taunt from World War I, "What do 'ya want to do, live forever?" was heard often. The Ridge held. Heavy fighting left 600 Japanese dead and 143 U.S. Marine casualties. 

Col. 'Red Mike' Edson was awarded the Medal of Honor for his defense of Bloody Ridge. 

The 11th Artillery fire their Howitzers in the background as Marines hurl grenades during the raging Battle of Bloody Ridge

The 11th Marines' 105 mm. Howitzers gave good account of themselves in the battle with the heaviest concentration of artillery fire Guadalcanal had seen so far, dropping well placed barrages into enemy positions just 200 yards from the dug-in Marines.  

When it was over, the Marines' 105 Howitzers had fired 1,992 rounds into the enemy's ranks - the 75's alone had unloaded more than a thousand. The Japanese suffered 1,200 casualties. 

"The way it fell it looked as if the artillery lads were trying to burn out their barrels, so fast and furiously did the shells go over the Raiders. Out of this barrage grew an apocryphal story: a Jap officer is supposed to have asked later, upon his capture, to see the 'automatic artillery' we used that night". 
- The Old Breed 

105 mm Howitzer 

September 15, 1942 

 Firing all night. Corrigan fired a couple of bursts of 50 cal. machine gun. Don't know what he heard. Half the Japs do not have rifles. They try to use grenades and are shot down before they can throw them. One prisoner came out wounded. Another air raid. 

*The Japanese had infiltrated the area around Henderson Field during the Battle for Bloody Ridge. 

 "In our motor section - and anybody who's ever been around an artillery motor section knows they are more or less on their own - they lived off to one side and they were pretty careless about keeping night guards and so on. For some reason, I remember a Japanese slipped in on the motor section. Pfc. Tucker woke up, saw the Japanese, as I recall, lurking around there. He had been sleeping on top of the ground - he hadn't bothered to dig a hole - and the way I understand it, the Japanese threw a hand grenade at him but it didn't go off. I think Tucker shot the guy and finished him. After searching him, we found that he had taken some coffee, some sugar and I think he had taken one of our american rifles and some ammunition. We buried him there in the motor section the next morning. He was probably starving...he was after anything which he could eat. We didn't have much food laying around so he didn't find much." 

 

September 23 , 1942 - Wednesday  

Sgt. Askey shot the rifle out of a Jap's hands who was 20 feet off from my hole. Working party at beach - came back by to see Lex. I had the 10 to 12 watch and reported voices to rear and at 12:30, Askey got his Jap or shot at him. Jap patrol planes all night. 

"We had heard strange voices to the rear in a language we couldn't understand and we reported to Askey, who relieved us on the watch, that there was "strange voices in the woods". Pretty soon after we turned in, a Jap stood up behind us by our mud hole, which was very near. Askey saw him in plain sight in the moonlight and he shot. He hit the rifle in the breech. Apparently, the bullet deflected into the man's shoulder. He got away but was killed two or three days later by Sgt. Sawicki." 

September 24, 1942 

All quiet but for firing to rear. Got up at 4:30 am for working party at beach. Unloaded K-28. The 'Beetlegoose' Went to see Wilcox - at Kokum. 

*The Beetlegeuse was a Marine Transport Ship. 

  September 25, 1942 

Patrol planes and more gunfire to rear. Sgt. Sawicki went to rear about 50 yards and killed a Jap. I helped bring him out. Zig got a watch and bayonet from him. 

"Sgt. Sawicki had gone to the rear of the battery where he found the Japanese Sgt. Askey had shot two or three nights before. The man had worms in the hole in his shoulder and he had a stick stuck in there to keep flys out of it, I guess. Sawicki killed him with a Reising Sub-Machine Gun."