The single telephone line that called fire and bought ten days

A lone telephone line kept an artillery liaison connected to offshore guns at Munda - did they make it in time? The single telephone line that called fire and bought ten days In this episode, we follow a single night on New Georgia when Japanese raiders systematically destroyed communications in the American rear and one unnamed liaison kept a line alive to call artillery. The episode traces the movements, decisions, and stakes that made a single telephone matter - could that connection hold long enough to buy the ten days the Americans needed? Person: Major General John Hester Person: Major General Oscar Griswold Person: Major General Minoru Sasaki Location: Munda Point, New Georgia Date: July 14-17, 1943 - Japanese raiders moved through the rear area with orders to destroy every switchboard and cut every telephone line before a coordinated assault. - Sasaki planned an envelopment: Tomonari’s thirteenth Infantry to circle through mangrove and ridgeline while Hirata’s 229th hit frontally. - By July 17 the American rear was fragmented into isolated pockets after systematic switchboard sabotage, leaving most units unable to call artillery. - An unnamed artillery liaison found one surviving telephone line, picked up the receiver, and began calling in shore-battery barrages within 150 yards of the divisional command post. - Griswold had requested roughly ten days to reorganize and push on Munda; the raiders’ timing aimed to erase that window and force decisive action. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].