Chapter 362: Lessons learned at Niugini/Niu Gini (New Guinea): Camouflague and Guerrilla warfare
The Green Hell Handbook, a Guide to Burma and Niugini/Niu Gini Warfare
- Himura Kano
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“In our ongoing fights in Burma and New Ginea, we quickly realized that our previous methods were not enough. Enemy air speriority, constant bomb attacks an artillery shelling forced us further underground. What began as simple small bunkers and ambush emplacements soon turned into whole undrground tunnel complexes and bases.”
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“Every of this underground facilities has the need for sleeping places, ammunition and storage rooms for rations, a mini-infimary and a small kitchen, everything needed to supply the soldiers inside outark for as long as possible from this rations, or nearby supply areas.”
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“With the help of bicycle, motorcycles, or small and medium generators, these underground facilities can be equipped with light and even heat. Just like with the kitchen it is nessesary to dig seperate exhaust pipe for the smoke to sape out of the underground complex. To not give away the position of this bases and bastions, it is best to avise that these exhaust pipes should lea far away fom the complex, before returning above ground.”
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“To secure this complexes, false entrences are good to confuse the enemy, while the real entrences can be hidden under wooden plates that look like tree branches, or normal ground. The real entrences can also be hidden under fake trees, or fake rocks, made out of concrete. Some entrences can even be hidden under water in rivers and lakes, only reached trought the water. There should always be at least one guard at any of this entrences. To better secure this hidden entrences further, they can be booby trapped with mines or granades. Additionally behin fake walls, our soldiers can wate and listen in these entrances to shoot enemy intruders, or to kill them silently with his bajonette or a bambo/ woodern spear.”
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“With he help of bait soldiers, who disappear into foxholes, prepared camoflague cover or the entrences to this underground complexes, the enemy can be lured into our ambushes and fireing positions.”
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“Parts of our tunnel system can even be underwater, tricking the enemy into thinking he's at a dead end. Fake walls, floors and roofs could have the same pupose inside these underground complexes, to trick the enemy and to even hide our own forces, even when the tunnels themselves have been taken by the enemy already.”
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“Sometimes, the outer defences of this complexes evn had concrete and steel pilboxes as better fortified bunkers and fireing position.”
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“Many of our grenades, mortar ammunition and even other, regular ammunition can be used for booby traps. Grenade model 23, captured allied grenades (like the British No. 36 and United States MK 2) canbe used similar. They can be attached to entrances, doors window frames, and general items of abandoned equipment and as tip grenades.”
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“Other uses include the so colled stick grenade, the bangalore torpedo, or the explosive cannister from the barrage mortar shell as booby traps, since they that all have pull igniters and accidents have occurred to troops handling them, prove that they are most suitable for such traps. The 3 types of fragmentation grenade models 91, 97, and 99 ("Kiska") grenade were all equipped with percussion ignited fuses. They can be used with a suspension wire device which can be tripped. The grenade is then placed bottom-up inside an improvised tube thus ensuring that the grenade will fall head first so as to detonate the fuse, when a wire is tripped. A piece of bamboo or empty cartridge case is sometimes used in lieu of a tube. This version can be used from a tree branch, or bamboo/ wooden constuction. Sometimes it is ideal to place this sort o traps not in height of enemy soldiers, but above them. That way enemy forces on trucks and tanks kan be hit by the explosion from above.”
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“Another method was to place this grenade under a foot board. If the delay powder train was removed first, the weight of the foot fires the detonator instantaneously. Many of our land mines can been used as this booby traps too and work on the same principle. For example, model 93 being equipped so that it can be activated by pressures from 7 to 200 pounds. Electrically operated booby traps can also be used, but it's bet to keep our traps simple, so that every solder might build them quickly without to many problems and risks. They would operate on a low voltage and were generally attached to equipment such as radios and vehicle ignition switches, mostly of leftover equipment. Booby trap fuzes of more advanced design, will probably appear in the near future nd included in future versions of this handbook.”
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“The grenade models 91 (1931), 97 (1937) and 99 (1939) are good for such purposes. Hovever, the Model 23 Grenade has been designed for use either as a hand grenade or a booby trap. It has a pull type friction igniter fuze with a time delay reported as approximately 5 seconds. Because a pull (from 2 1/2 pounds to 5 pounds) on the fuze cord ignites the time fuze, it could easily be adapted for use as a booby trap by tying the cord to a trip wire. The lugs and rings on the side are convenient for anchoring the grenade in place when so used. It can even be used as a combined booby trap with a high explosive artillery shell tied to it for augmenting the power of the explosion. Sometimes metal plates at one side of these traps can help focus more of the explosion in a certain direction.”
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“Grenade Model 89 filled with white phosphorus is best used in tight spaces, or when the enemy ha to climb up or down inside our tunnel system, to target more enemy soldiers at once.”
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“A grenade, filled with impregnated rubber pellets in a phosphorus carbon disulphide solution, with up to 40 pelets in each grenade can also be used as a triping device, or on top of a bamboo or wood stick with camoflague. This stick grenades can also come in larger and bigger versions. Sometimes it is good to cover them inside of coconutts.”
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“A explosive cocktail can be used with the help of a standart bottle, filled with a mixture of oil and gasoline. The fuze is will ignite when the grenade is thrown no matter in what position the bottle lands, for the impact drives the firing pin down into the detonator which ignites the contents of the bottle.”
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“A botle or flask can also be used as smoke grenade, when filled with a yellowish liquid varying from 100 percent titanium tetrachloride to a mixture of approximately 60 percent titanium tetrachloride and 40 percent silicon tetrachloride. The grenade is then packed in sawdust in a cylindrical sheet metal container.”
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“Hydrocyanic Acid Grenades exist in two types. One is stabilized with copper powder and is packed in a sheet metal outer container, the other is stabilized with arsenic trichloride and packed in a cardboard container. The grenade itself consists of a spherical glass flask about 3 1/2 inches in diameter containing approximately 1 pint of hydrocyanic acid. The flask is packed in a mixture of sawdust and a neutralizing agent. The outer container is approximately 5 1/4 inches high and 5 1/2 inches in diameter, it is painted khaki and banded in brown. Both an be used a booby taps, best in tight tunnels.”
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“The bamboo bangalore torpedo has a pull type delay fuze and is threaded at each end to permit an indefinite number of tubes to be attached end to end. Because of the type of fuze, it an be used in a booby trap, with the igniter string tied to a trip wire easily. Different types can be used dependin on the situation and even be hidden inside other bamboo or wood.
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“Mine Model 93 (1939) is used for anti-personnel or antitank purposes. Fuzes are provided with shear wires of various strengths, so the fuzes may function under pressures of from 20 pounds* to as much as 250 pounds depending on the fuze selected. Additional explosive may be placed beneath the mine to give it greater force against larger enemy numbers orvehicles.”
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“Grenade/ Mine Model 99 (1939) has magnets and can be best use as magnetic antitank bomb or armor piercing grenade. The magnets serve to hold the mine against a metal surface such as a tank (or iron pill box door) until it explodes.”
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“Mine Model 96 (1936) comes in different size and can be adapted for use either on land or under water. It can help our forces secure smaller river crossings or swamp terrain.”
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“Prepared ammunition, gnades and mortar bombs hanging fom trees or rigged aongside roads or pathways can help slow the enemy down, or force them into a certain direction for further traps and ambushes.”
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“It is best to place explosive traps wherever possible, in rice bags, at doors or other entrences, like windows and even on roofs to kill the enemy when he tries to take our facilities.”
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“Trip explosives can also be placed uner trees, branches of trees or alongside roads to kill enemy forces bypassing. This is especially effetive when used behind enemy lines.”
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“One of the most simple and efficient devices is the so called mud grenade trap. It is prepared by burrying a unlocked grenade in a pile of mud. Once a enemy steps upon it, the grenade will explode. This divice is pefect to camoflague in the surrounding terrain and easy to set up.”
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“Tree brenches and trip wire, made out of barb wire snares can help slow down the enemy and secure the own positions easily. Sometimes it can help to set them up in minefields.”
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“Mines and mortar bombs can not only be used to fall on the enemy, on bamboo and wooden sticks, but even as step on bombs. Similary some our own ammunition can be used the same way, when there are to few regular mines.”
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“Wired rifles, enemy or own can be used as trip traps to shoot enemy soldiers out of nowhere. This can even make them falsely believe one of our hidden bunker positions is nearby, luring him in a further trap.”
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“In a similar way the drip rifle can be used with a little water and a few preparations to fake a sniper or bunker position, while our own forces flank the enemy once he concentrates in the wrong direction.”
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“As we face a enemy with overwhelming industrial capabilities and way shorter supply lines coming directly from India (Burma Front) or Australia (Niugini/Niu Gini Front) we have to be smarter and ticky.”
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“Instead of regular traps we can use bamboo or wooden sticks as traps to step or even fall inside. They can either give in when stepped on, or to fall inside. Side closing variations can be used and even ones that rotate the camoflague when fallin inside to cover them backup immediately. The wood or bamboo sticks can be small to only injure foot or leg, or large enough to impale a whole person.”
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“Spiked wooden balls or spiked tree trunks coming swinging from above once a trap is stepped on can additional be used. Few rolling tree trunks, or larger swinging ones can be effective too.”
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"Some of this traps can used spiked tree branches, that snap back and impale a enemy soldier unprepared."
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“Even if not deadly themselves, their efficiency can be boosted, when local poisen, or feces are rubbed onto the top of the spikes, so that even small wounds quickly get infected. For the same reason small animals like fleas or rats infected with one of our biological weapons can be placed in the bottom of such digged traps too.”
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