John Schettler - 1943

“Go on,” said Paul, his eyes riveted on the history Professor.

“It also turned up in the crew register of another sinking ship—the HMS Rodney . It was Able Seaman Roger Ames, a Stoker working the boiler rooms, so we can add 1942 to that list of dates.”

“So someone by that name keeps turning up at historical sites occupied by the Selene Horse,” said Maeve. “Anywhere else?”

“There was a Roger Ames appearing on the guest register of the ball General Wellington attended prior to the battle of Waterloo. That one seems odd.”

“And what was the other artifact this visitor looked at?”

“Ah, you’ll like this—the Rosetta Stone…. I found a reference to a man in the survey party with Napoleon—one of the intellectual savants that went over when the ‘Little General’ invaded Egypt. He was reported near the site where the stone was discovered. Ring a bell?”

“Good God,” said Maeve. “We were there, Robert, the two of us, right there in 1799 when the stone was discovered!”

“Yes, said Nordhausen. July 19th, 1799. Very suspicious. This one doesn’t seem to relate to the Selene Horse, but someone is certainly skulking about through all this history, and in dates far enough apart to mean it could not be the same person, unless…”

“Unless he was moving in time,” said Paul.

Silence. They all just looked at him.

“My dear Nordhausen…. Did you find out anything more about this fellow who visited the British Museum?”

“That I did. He also held a title in the British Peerage. He is Sir Roger Ames, the Duke of Elvington. Interestingly, I just found out that he had some business dealings involving a certain company—Fairchild Enterprises.”

“The keys,” said Paul. “It wasn’t the Selene Horse he was after, but that damn key hidden inside it! He didn’t get to it on the Rodney , so he went looking elsewhere. Lord almighty, someone get some coffee started. It’s going to be a very long night.”

Lions at Dawn, Book 28 in the Kirov Series , returns to North Africa where Patton and Montgomery face off against a strong defensive front engineered by Kesselring and Von Arnim in Algeria. Meanwhile, Rommel displays flashes of his old brilliance as the British 8th Army continues to push into Tripolitania under General O’Connor. The two dashing armored champions will again meet in a swirling armored duel in the desert.

As the British settle back in to Gibraltar, Admiral Tovey receives a call from a most welcome old friend. Elena Fairchild orders a recon mission to the hidden recesses of St. Michael’s Cave where a discovery of profound importance is made. The Meridian Team also begins the hunt for a mysterious time traveling intruder who seems to be haunting the movement of the Selene Horse in a search for its hidden prize, one of the seven keys that might unlock the mystery discovered by Fairchild’s Argonauts.

Initial Japanese Landing: (Viti Levu)

Sakaguchi Detachment

— Kaneuji Bn

— Matsumoto Bn

— Yamoto Bn

— Ikume Bn

— Engineer Company

Yokosuka Combined Naval Infantry Brigade -V Adm Mikawa

— 1st Yokosuka SNLF Bn - Cmd Minoru Yano (Para)

— 2nd Yokosuka SNLF Bn – Cmd Kenichi

— 3rd Yokosuka SNLF Bn – Cmd Fukumi (Para)

— 4th Yokosuka SNLF Bn – Cmd Kushin

— 5th Yokosuka SNLF Bn – Cmd Yasuda

— 6th Yokosuka SNLF Bn – Cmd Matsuo

Main Landings:

38TH INFANTRY DIVISION: General Tadayoshi Sano

228th Regiment – Colonel Takeo Ito

— I Asano Bn.

— II Kamura Bn

— III Nishimura Bn

229th Regiment – Colonel Ryuzaburo Tanaka

— I Orita Bn

— II Masaru Bn

— III Kehmosu Bn

230th Regiment – Lt. General Toshinari Shoji

— I Egashira Bn.

— II Wakamatsu Bn

— III Kanki Bn

Follow up Landings:

48TH INFANTRY DIVISION – General Yuitsu Tsuchihashi

1st Formosa Regiment – Colonel Irufume Imai

2nd Formosa Regiment – Colonel Tohru Tanaka

47th Oita Regiment – Lt General Koichi Abe

Kitamura Cavalry Regiment – Lt Colonel Kuro Kitamura

Final Landings:

Kawaguchi Detachment – 35th Brigade

124th Regiment – Colonel Akinosuka Oka

— I Koshuko Bn

— II Watanabe Bn

— III Tamura Bn

— IV Kuma Bn (Attached from 4th Div)

— Artillery Bn

— 1 AA Company

— Engineer Company

NOUMEA GARRISON:

Ichiki Detachment

— 1st Bn: Colonel Mizuno

— 2nd Bn: Colonel Kuramoto

— 3rd Bn: Colonel Goto

— Aviation Engineer Company

Opposing Initial Japanese Landings on Fiji: (Viti Levu)

— 8th Fiji Brigade (NZ)

— 12th Fiji Brigade (NZ)

Arriving at Suva Bay, May, 1942

1st US Marine Division – General Vandegrift

— 1st Regiment – Col Cates

— 3rd Regiment – Col Hunt

— 7th Regiment – Col Webb

— 11th Artillery Regiment

Division Withdrawn to Pago Pago Dec 1942 except:

1st Marine Raider Bn – Col Edson (Retained on Viti Levu)

2nd Marine Raider Bn – Col Carlson (Retained on Viti Levu)

23rd “Pacifica” Division – General Patch

— 132nd Regiment

— 164th Regiment

— 182nd Regiment

25th “Tropic Lightning” Division – General Collins

— 27th Regiment

— 34th Regiment

— 35th Regiment

37th Infantry Division – (Vanua Levu) – Maj General Beightler

— 145th Regiment

— 147th Regiment (Attached to 23rd Div)

— 148th Regiment (Attached to 25th Div)

— 62nd Field Art Bde

2nd US Marine Division

— 2nd Marine Regiment (Retained on Viti Levu)

— 6th Marine Regiment (Floating Reserve)

— 8th Marine Regiment (Efate Landing)

— 10th Artillery Regiment

— 1st Marine Para Bn (Attached for Efate Landing)

NOUMEA LANDINGS: Jan 1943

41st Division – General Horace Fuller

— 161st Regiment

— 162nd Regiment

— 163rd Regiment

— Division Artillery & Engineers

A publication of: The Writing Shop Press

1943, Copyright©2016, John A. Schettler