Oral History Interview with William Sloman Page: 26
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(break in audio)
MC: Now, Wilkes was separated from Wake Proper by a channel,
right?
WS: Yes. Actually by two channels.
MC: By two channels. You had to take a ferry across, is that
correct?
WS: You had to ferry across one channel and then what is
normally referred to as the new channel, it was closer to
our gun positions, but it was not yet completed. They had
been digging it from the lagoon side. It was going to be a
wider and deeper channel, to accommodate destroyers and so
forth.
MC: Yeah, yeah, right.
WS: And it had not been cut through to the ocean. They left
enough for trucks to come back and forth, to come on out,
which played a point in the later aspect of the game. But
nevertheless, we got the notifications and Lieutenant
McAlister and Captain Platt told us that Pearl Harbor was
under attack at that present time, by the Japanese.
MC: So until you got there, to your battle stations, you didn'tknow that.
26
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Oral History Interview with William Sloman (Sound)
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Sloman. Sloman joined the Marine Corps in October of 1939. Beginning early in 1940, he served in the 1st Defense Battalion, D Battery. In February of 1941, he deployed to Hawaii. In December, Sloman participated in the Battle of Wake Island. He was captured by the Japanese, survived transport aboard the hell ship Asama Maru and imprisonment in Zentsuji POW Camp in Japan. He was liberated in 1945, and discharged in early 1946.
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Sloman, William. Oral History Interview with William Sloman, text, Date Unknown; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1606153/m1/26/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.