The 9th Defense Battalion’s second echelon arrived on LSTs (Landing Ships Tank) 395 and 354 and disembarked at Rendova on 1 July as Allied fighter cover continued to turn back enemy air attacks. Joseph J. Pratl with Battery A, which came in on LST 354, wrote the ship was “big and slow moving, loaded with ammunition of every description.... Unloading was done quickly, 155mm guns and their tractors soon made mud and made a slime which made walking around difficult to say the least.” By the end of the day, Captain Henry H. Reichner’s Battery A was in firing position. A third battalion echelon arrived in LSTs 342 and 398 and disembarked on 2 July. That morning Captain Walter C. Well’s Battery B was emplaced and Battery A commenced shelling enemy positions in the Munda area. On 3 July, both batteries of “Long Toms” fired for effect on the Munda airfield and enemy artillery positions on Baanga Island. At Munda; a defender wrote, “They must be firing like the dickens. Sometimes they all come at once. I don’t exactly appreciate this shelling.” [Illustration: Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 60590 _Supplies are landed by XIV Corps for ComAir New Georgia. The terrain behind the beach did not allow for rapid movement and for the dispersal of supplies which soon piled up at an unmanageable rate and became extremely vulnerable to Japanese attack._] [Illustration: Marine Corps Historical Collection _Sailors and soldiers make a corduroy road from coconut logs across an exceptionally muddy spot._] [Illustration: _A 155mm Long Tom is dragged through the mud of Rendova en route to a new position from which it could punish Japanese positions and at the same time defend against Japanese counterattacks._ Marine Corps Historical Collection ] The combat experience of the 9th paid dividends, especially during the first week ashore. The Marines knew how to dig in for air attacks and this saved lives. At 1335, 2 July, 18 Mitsubishi G4M Betty bombers and Zeke fighter escorts entered the area from the southwest and pattern-bombed the beachhead, causing considerable damage and many casualties. Zero fighters flew over the beach area at tree-top level, strafing and bombing the beach and landing craft. Gasoline storage tanks and an explosives dump were hit and several fires were started in the area. Battery A’s Pratl recounted, “we saw the bombers, we assumed them to be American B-25s. We hit foxholes and the earth shook like a rubber band as three bombs fell” near his battery. [Illustration: Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 60656 _Capt Henry H. Reichner’s Battery A loads its Long Toms on an LCT to move to Piru Plantation from Tambusolo Island. These moves were staggered to provide continuous artillery support during this phase and were carried out with speed and efficiency._]