Lt. Lewis A. Wakefield: How and Why His Company Dumped 5,800 Mustard-Filled Bombs into Ironbottom Sound

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Lt. Wakefield (O-1039607) was Executive Officer of the 764th Chemical Depot Company (Aviation), based near Carney Field on Guadalcanal from June through November of 1944. Lt. Wakefield also wrote the Company’s monthly Organizational History Reports, reports which remained secret until 2009. During its months on Guadalcanal, the Company was responsible for a depot containing incendiary bombs, smoke munitions (both of which were used) and toxic chemical bombs. The toxic chemical bombs were never used, but they were ready for a quick Allied “response in kind” if Japan had used similar munitions—as it had done earlier in China. The toxic bombs at the 764th depot (or “dump”) were primarily mustard-filled 100-lb M47A2 bombs. These bombs had previously been stored at a US base in Fiji. M47A2 bombs had thin steel casings and were notoriously prone to leaks, particularly when stored in tropical conditions. Unloading the bombs at Guadalcanal had already resulted in at least one major leak.

In late September or early October of 1944, the depot was inspected by Gen. Alden H. Waitt, Assistant Chief for Field Operations for the US Chemical Warfare Service. Gen. Waitt found the bombs then in storage had “deteriorated to such an extent that they cannot be safely handled or shipped.” He ordered their disposal in an “Informal Action Sheet,” dated 6 October 1944 and transmitted via Colonel Sheets.

The 764th responded immediately, organizing and carrying out the disposal with their available resources. Lt. Wakefield carefully described the process in his monthly report. The available vessels were “tank lighters” (LCM-2), landing craft that had been used for months to bring light armored vehicles and other cargo onto the beaches. In seven days, the Company successfully moved 5,800 mustard-filled bombs—many of them leaking mustard agent—from their depot to Koli Beach, onto the tank lighters and two miles out to sea, where they dumped them “into deep water.” Seven soldiers from the 764th received minor mustard burns, but their training and protective clothing prevented serious injury.

Kali Beach on the northern shore of Guadalcanal is near Kali Point. The area is notable for a land battle in November 1942 between US Marines and Japan’s 230th Infantry Regiment. Projecting as it does into “Ironbottom Sound,” Kali Point was also near air-sea battles which continued as late as August 1943 when the USS John Penn was sunk by Japanese torpedo bombers. The Joh Penn was lost shortly after unloading ammunition at nearby Lunga Point. The wreckage of the John Penn remains a popular dive site for those interested in exploring Ironbottom Sound. It lies at a depth of 36-56 meters, deep enough to require advanced diving skills, and in an area that is subject to strong currents.

If mixed well with water, mustard agent becomes far less toxic. There are, however, cases elsewhere in which chemical reactions produced a shell around the mustard even if the metal bomb casings had completely disintegrated. Decades-old mustard bombs can remain hazardous both in the short-term effects for which they were intended and in their longer-term effect as a carcinogen. To our knowledge, there have been no investigations into possible hazards now posed by the mustard bombs which the 764th Chemical Depot Company dumped into Ironbottom Sound.

Sources and Opportunities for Additional Investigation

The entire 516-page set of reports from the 764th Chemical Depot Company (Aviation) is available as part of Microfilm Reel A0189 at the Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Copies. Hoosier Scientist has also posted a pdf of the full set for immediate download without charge or registration at https://www.dropbox.com/s/rrxzmz3o7sbpvh0/764ChemicalDeportCo.pdf?dl=0 Note that some of the material is difficult to read because of issues with alignment of the microfilm camera.

Information about other WWII US chemical sites in Asia and the Pacific is available at A Hoosier Scientist

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Posted: July 18, 2023.