The 32nd Division was among the first of all US divisions to engage in a ground assault against the enemy in World War II. General Harding was nearly killed before the attack began. The first day of the assault, Harding was on board a sixty-two-foot wooden coastal trawler, the Australian civilian crewed "Minnamurra" that was operating as part of the U.S. Army's Small Ships Section, with his headquarters company when it and its convoy carrying important artillery and supplies was attacked by Japanese fighter-bombers. Harding saved himself by diving overboard and swimming to shore. The attack destroyed all five vessels and the supplies Harding was relying on for the upcoming attack. More were sunk over the following days or ran aground. General George Kenney wielded a great deal of influence over MacArthur, and although he had no knowledge of jungle warfare, insisted that tanks had no role in ground action in the jungle, but that the "artillery in this theater flies." Harding reluctantly accepted MacArthur's decision to go ahead with the attack and to rely on direct air support in place of tanks or heavy artillery.