NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN DATE: January 1942 – August 1945 Belligerents Imperial Japan Australia New Guinea United States United Kingdom Netherlands The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. It was one of the longest campaigns of the Second World War. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Australian-administered territories of the New Guinea Mandate (23 January) and Papua (8 March) and overran western New Guinea (beginning 29/30 March), which was a part of the Netherlands East Indies. During the second phase, lasting from late 1942 until the Japanese surrender, the Allies—consisting primarily of Australian and US forces—cleared the Japanese first from Papua, then the Mandate and finally from the Dutch colony. The campaign resulted in a crushing defeat and heavy losses for the Empire of Japan. As in most Pacific War campaigns, disease and starvation claimed more Japanese lives than enemy action. Most Japanese troops never even came into contact with Allied forces, and were instead simply cut off and subjected to an effective blockade by the US Navy. Garrisons were effectively besieged and denied shipments of food and medical supplies, and as a result, some claim that 97% of Japanese deaths in this campaign were from non- combat causes. According to the Australian military historian John Laffin, the New Guinea campaign "was arguably the most arduous fought by any Allied troops during World War 2." 1942 THE RAID ON SALAMAUA: JUNE 28 1942 The Raid on Salamaua was a conducted by Australian commandoes on 28 June 1942. It has been called the first offensive action on land against the Japanese in World War 2. The raid was undertaken by 2/5th Commando Squadron (Australia) under the command of Captain Norman Winning. According to one account, "The raid has been acclaimed as a copybook action for its diligent scouting, meticulous planning and audacious, multi-pronged attack against an enemy force 10 times the attackers' strength. All without loss of life." The Australians obtained a bag of documents from a Japanese pilot who was trying to fly out when he was killed. They contained the plans of the landings at Buna and Milne Bay. These were delivered on foot by Bill Harris to Kanga Force headquarters, enabling Australian divisions to be recalled from leave and rushed to reinforce Milne Bay. The Japanese reinforced the base at Salamaua, tying down troops that might otherwise have been used in the Kokoda Campaign. THE KOKODA TRACK: JULY 21 – NOVEMBER 16 1942 In July 1942, Japanese forces landed on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. Their objective was to make their way overland along the Kokoda track and capture Port Moresby on the southern coast. This would give them control of Papua, and a base from which to attack the Australian mainland and shipping in the Pacific. The Kokoda track cuts through 96 kilometers of dense jungle and over mountains. Much of it can only be travelled on foot, which meant that all supplies and heavy equipment had to be carried. The Kokoda action lasted until November 1942 and is remembered as one of the most difficult operations by Australian troops in World War 2. At first, the Japanese attack was successful. Despite winning some hard-fought battles, Australian troops were forced to retreat towards Port Moresby. Supplies ran short and tropical diseases such as malaria reduced the fighting ability of the men. There were few stretchers to carry the wounded, and even badly wounded men were forced to walk. The indigenous Papuan population had suffered badly at the hands of the Japanese, and many were fiercely loyal to the Australian forces: they cared for the retreating wounded Australian soldiers, who nicknamed them ‘fuzzy-wuzzy angels’. By early September 1942, the Japanese were within 48 kilometers of Port Moresby, and could see the lights of the town. But they were now far from their own supply base on the northern coast, and faced the difficulties of moving supplies and weapons along the narrow, mountainous track. Their men were now suffering from the same hunger and disease that had earlier affected the Australian troops. At the same time, American forces had occupied the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, east of Papua. They could use the island as a base to attack Japanese shipping. In response, the Japanese command decided to concentrate on Guadalcanal and withdrew their forces from Papua, even though they were within sight of their objective in Port Moresby. Australian and American troops followed the retreating Japanese along the track, and fought them when they reached their coastal base at Buna-Gona. They defeated the Japanese, but Allied casualties were extremely high. Overall, more than 600 Australian troops died in fighting throughout the Kokoda operation, and more than 1,600 were wounded. Over 4,000 soldiers suffered from tropical diseases. Estimates of the Japanese dead are uncertain, but are probably even higher than the Allied casualties, because of the Japanese military tradition of committing suicide rather than surrendering. BATTLE OF MILNE BAY: AUGUST 25 – SEPTEMBER 07 1942 On 25 August 1942 elite Japanese naval troops, known as Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai (Special Naval Landing Forces), with two small tanks attacked the Allied airfields at Milne Bay that had been established on the eastern tip of New Guinea. Due to poor intelligence work, the Japanese miscalculated the size of the predominantly Australian garrison and, believing that the airfields were only defended by two or three companies, initially landed a force roughly equivalent in size to one battalion. The Allies, forewarned by intelligence from Ultra, had heavily reinforced the garrison. Despite suffering a significant setback at the outset, when part of their small invasion force had its landing craft destroyed by Allied aircraft as they attempted to land on the coast behind the Australian defenders, the Japanese quickly pushed inland and began their advance towards the airfields. Heavy fighting followed as they encountered the Australian Militia troops that formed the first line of defense. These troops were steadily pushed back, but the Australians brought forward veteran Second Australian Imperial Force units that the Japanese had not expected. Allied air superiority helped tip the balance, providing close support to troops in combat and targeting Japanese logistics. Finding themselves heavily outnumbered, lacking supplies and suffering heavy casualties, the Japanese withdrew their forces, with fighting coming to an end on 7 September 1942. BATTLE OF BUNA-GONA: NOV 16 1942 – JANUARY 22 1944 The Battle of Buna–Gona followed the conclusion of the Kokoda Track campaign in early September 1942. The battle was conducted by Australian and United States forces against the Japanese beachheads at Buna, Sanananda and Gona. From these, the Japanese had launched an overland attack on Port Moresby. In light of developments in the Solomon Islands campaign, Japanese forces approaching Port Moresby were ordered to withdraw to and secure these bases on the northern coast. Australian forces maintained contact as the Japanese conducted a well-ordered rearguard action. The Allied objective was to eject the Japanese forces from these positions and deny them their further use. The Japanese forces were skillful, well prepared and resolute in their defense. They had developed a strong network of well-concealed defences. The resolve and tenacity of the Japanese in defense was unprecedented and had not previously been encountered. It was to mark the desperate nature of fighting that characterized battles for the remainder of the Pacific war. For the Allies, there were a number of valuable but costly lessons in the conduct of jungle warfare. Allied losses in the battle were at a rate higher than that experienced at Guadalcanal. 1943 The New Guinea offensives of 1943–44 were the single largest series of connected operations Australia has ever mounted. While the supreme command was, of course, American and while the campaign depended upon American air and naval support, the New Guinea battles were Australia’s own. They involved tens of thousands of troops, both in combatant units and in the massive logistic infrastructure that jungle warfare demanded. For much of 1943, the ground war in New Guinea was fought in the rugged terrain around Wau and Salamaua. It was a slow, grinding campaign that acted as a magnet, drawing in Japanese troops from nearby Lae. Lae had been an administrative centre for Australia’s Mandated Territory of New Guinea and subsequently became a major Japanese base after its capture in March 1942. The Salamaua magnet worked exceedingly well, substantially weakening the Japanese garrison. BATTLE OF WAU: JAN 29 – FEB 04 1943 Despite Allied air attacks, after successfully disembarking at Lae Japanese troops then advanced overland on Wau, an Australian base that potentially threatened the Japanese positions at Salamaua and Lae. A race developed between the Japanese moving overland, hampered by the terrain, and the Australians, moving by air, hampered by the weather. By the time the Japanese reached the Wau area after a trek over the mountains, the Australian defenders had been greatly reinforced by air. In the battle that followed, despite achieving tactical surprise by approaching from an unexpected direction, the Japanese attackers were unable to capture Wau. For the Allies, Wau became an important jumping off point for the Salamaua-Lae campaign. SALAMAUA-LAE CAMPAIGN: APRIL 22 – SEPT 16 1943 Australian and United States forces sought to capture two major Japanese bases, one in the town of Lae, and another one at Salamaua. The campaign to take the Salamaua and Lae area began after the successful defense of Wau in late January, which was followed up by an Australian advance towards Mubo as the Japanese troops that had attacked Wau withdrew to positions around Mubo.