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Michael Williams, DC3
to remember
Ahlers, Julian Werner, SoM2c.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Cleveland, OH
Last Address Tightwee St Loveland, OH
Casualty Date Sep 14, 1944
Cause Non Hostile- Body Not Recovered
Reason Other Accident
Location Atlantic Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment East Coast Memorial (Tablets of the missing) - Manhattan, New York
Wall/Plot Coordinates Cenotaph
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Treasury-Bougainville Operation/Battle of Empress Augusta Bay
From Month/Year
November / 1943
To Month/Year
November / 1943
Description The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, on 1–2 November 1943—also known as the Battle of Gazelle Bay, Operation Cherry Blossom, and in Japanese sources as the Sea Battle off Bougainville Island was a naval battle fought near the island of Bougainville. The naval battle was a result of Allied landings on nearby Bougainville in the first action in the Bougainville campaign of World War II and may also be seen as part of the Solomons and New Guinea campaigns. The battle was significant as part of a broader Allied strategy—known as Operation Cartwheel—aimed at isolating and surrounding the major Imperial base at Rabaul. The intention was to establish a beachhead on Bougainville, within which an airfield would be built.
On 1 November 1943, the U.S. 3rd Marine Division landed at Cape Torokina in Empress Augusta Bay. The bay had been chosen because it was at the outer limit of Allied fighter plane range, and because the numerically-superior Japanese 17th Army was concentrated at other, more strategic sites in the north and the south. The Marines were backed by Task Force 39, composed of cruisers and destroyers, commanded by Rear Admiral Aaron S. "Tip" Merrill.
