Guadalcanal and Japanese rice?

Just watched a part of the series " Americans at war". There was this part where the US forces invaded Guadalcanal. However, according to the "story" the food supplies were not coming to the troops, but fortunately the Japanese had left lots of rice behind and the mission could be carried out.Just how true is this? Or just nonsense? Thanx for answers.

 

Yes, this is all very true. Refer to Sam Morison's History of United States Naval Operations in WWII - Vol V if you want the details. Several other books regarding the fight for Guadalcanal talk about this also.

It was not easy to get supplies to our troops in the beginning stages of our occupation. The Japanese Army was located in several areas of Guadalcanal and, in addition to land battles, their ships and planes continued to bomb and strafe us constantly. After chasing off the Japanese out of one area, it was discovered that they left behind food supplies and equipment that we found very useful. Lots of rice.

 

The US Marines on Guadalcanal also liberated a warehouse filled with Japanese beer and sake. The first few days after the US invasion became something of party for many of the marines who were lucky enough to have carried off several cases of beer and sake on their ammunition carriers to drink in their foxholes when the Sergeant wasn't looking.

Besides the rice, the Japanese also left behind thousands of cans of tinned crab, beef, fish and other Oriental delicasies that the marines soon were dining on.

 

Thanx guys for your replies.

 

"Captured Japanese Rations May be Eaten" from Intelligence Bulletin, October 1944
Captured Japanese Rations May be Eaten, Intelligence Bulletin, October 1944

 

[60] By September 7, most of Kawaguchi's troops had departed Taivu to begin marching towards Lunga Point along the coastline. About 250 Japanese troops remained behind to guard the brigade's supply base at Taivu.[61]

Meanwhile, native scouts under the direction of Martin Clemens, a coastwatcher, officer in the Solomon Islands Protectorate Defense Force, and the British district officer for Guadalcanal, brought reports to the U.S. Marines of Japanese troops at Taivu, near the village of Tasimboko. Edson planned a raid on the Japanese troop concentration at Taivu.[62] On September 8, after being dropped-off near Taivu by boat, Edson's men captured Tasimboko as the Japanese defenders retreated into the jungle.[63] In Tasimboko, Edson's troops discovered Kawaguchi's main supply depot, including large stockpiles of food, ammunition, medical supplies, and a powerful shortwave radio. After destroying everything in sight, except for some documents and equipment carried back with them, the Marines returned to the Lunga perimeter. The mounds of supplies, along with intelligence gathered from the captured documents, informed the Marines that at least 3,000 Japanese troops were on the island and apparently planning an attack.[64]" taken from wiki.

What this narrative neglects to say is that Edson's men captured all of General Kawaguchi's available food supplies, except what they had carried along with them, while driving off the Japanese security detail that was guarding this priceless food and supply depot. The Japanese short wave radio was quickly destroyed, the breech blocks of all their artillery pieces were removed and dumped well off shore, in deep water, while dozens of marines were detailed with the task of punching a single bayonet hole in all of the Japanese canned foods, to insure that the tropical climate would soon spoil the food inside the cans. The marines destroyed all of the captured tinned foods and burned all of the rice and drygoods, but somehow forgot to destroy all of the beer and sake in the warehouse, carrying a number of bottles back aboard ship for their return voyage back to the Marine Perimeter at Lunga Point.

The last trophy the marines took along with them was General Kawaguchi's dress uniform that he intended to wear at the surrender ceremony, when the Marines finally laid down their arms and surrendered to him. The General's fancy, dress pants were run up the mast head of a destroyer to flap in the stiff breeze all the way back to Lunga Point.

The Japanese soon began referring to Guadalcanal as "Starvation Island".

 

Starvation was a strategic weapon that the US Marines used very effectively against the Japanese, throughout the entire Guadalcanal Campaign. While the Marines were always short of food and subsisted largely on short rations throughout the entire five month campaign, the Japanese were nearly always on the verge of complete starvation from start to finish. US Navy warships and Marine aircraft went to great pains to destroy all of the Japanese supply ships that were deliberately run aground along the Japanese held shore and also the irreplaceable food supply dumps that were piled up along the beach.

Before long, Japanese Navy destroyers were forced to making night-time, re-supply missions to Guadalcanal, dropping off dozens of converted, aviation gas 55 gallon drums now full of rice and foodstuffs off shore, so that the Japanese troops ashore could at least stay alive for another day.