CHAPTER 1 1 TAKING OVER AT AITAP E HE Wewak campaign was fought in an elongated triangle of countr y T bounded on the north by the sea, on the south by the Sepik River , and in the west more or less by a north-south line through Aitape . Round Aitape the swampy coastal plain extends inland for about eight miles before reaching the foothills of the Torricelli Mountains, but the plain narrows east of Aitape and thereafter the mountains reach down almost to the beach . North from the Torricellis a series of rivers flow rapidly to the sea, all o f them subject to sudden flooding. To the south the streams run into the Sepik, a huge river navigable for some 300 miles by vessels drawing abou t 10 feet of water. Between these south-flowing streams lie a series of stee p heavily-timbered ridges and spurs ; round Maprik, however, they becom e slightly less rugged and there are wide areas of kunai grasslands . Nt,pe ara r gora m e imbunke4RN Wasambu• S~ ghAosap a sep staa Along the narrow coastal plain between the base of the mountains and the shore the tracks ran along the edge of the beach or a little distance inland, and the surface was often either loose sand or muddy quagmire . In heavy rain the rivers flooded swiftly and violently and swept down grea t pieces of driftwood which could break through low-level bridges . Only men on foot could move in the mountains rising abruptly on the southern flank. Often the tops of the spurs leading into these ranges were only a 272 TAKING OVER AT AITAPE 1944 few feet wide and offered a multitude of sites for defensive position s exceedingly difficult for infantry to attack or for artillery to range on to . There were a few miles of motor road in the neighbourhood of Aitap e and Wewak and a motor road between Marui and Maprik, which before the war had been an administrative centre and the site of an airfield . In the coastal area the population was sparse but the fertile hill countr y south of the Torricellis was fairly thickly populated, its many villages bein g connected by a network of foot tracks. In this area in October 1944 was deployed the XVIII Japanese Army , greatly depleted after its defeat by the Australians in the long campaig n in which it was driven westward from Lae and Salamaua in 1943 and earl y 1944, and by the repulse in July 1944 of its attack on the American garrison protecting the airfield and harbour of Aitape . The Australian Intelligenc e staffs believed in October that the XVIII Army had dwindled to about 30,000. (The true figure was about 35,000 .) Lieut-General Adachi's army headquarters were known to be some miles west of Wewak . About 2,000 base troops and infantry were believed to be on Kairiru and Musch u Islands. The 51st Division (Lieut-General Hidemitsu Nakano) was though t to be deployed in the coastal area from the Sepik to about Karawop ; the 20th Division (Lieut-General Masutaro Nakai) about the But and Dagu a airfields and inland to the Maprik area ; the 41st Division (Lieut-Genera l Goro Mano) forward of the Anumb River from the coast to Balif, wher e its headquarters were established . It was believed that some 3,000 bas e troops had been dispersed in small groups in the mountains east of th e 20th Division's area with instructions to live off the country . Broadly speaking the 6th Australian Division considered that it face d three depleted Japanese divisions each reduced to about the strength o f a reinforced brigade group . The Australians knew, however, that they them- selves were far better equipped, particularly with heavy weapons . They were well fed, and had excellent medical services, and would have fairl y strong air support and probably a moderate amount of naval support . The Japanese, on the other hand, were short of food, and many were sick . They had no air or naval forces and there was no hope of any arriving. The 3rd Base Sub-Area, commanded by Lieut-Colonel J . T. Lang, was to provide a base for the 6th Division, and a reconnaissance party fro m this unit arrived at Aitape on 15th September. Transports carrying supplie s and part of the unit arrived between 12th and 15th October, and whe n the 6th Division itself began to arrive the base was ready to serve them .' Because of the shortage of ships and the means of unloading them — a shortage that would hamper the operations for months—the division could be only trickled into Aitape. Three months and a half elapsed between the arrival of the advanced party and the arrival of the las t 1 The 3rd Base Sub-Area at this stage included 36 units and detachments ranging in size from th e 17th Works Company, 484 strong, to a Field Security Detachment of three men . Among the units were : the 2/11th General Hospital, 3rd/14th Field Ambulance, 19th Ordnance Depot , 15th Mobile Laundry, Docks Operating Company, 127th Brigade Workshops, 126th Genera l Transport Company. Aitape-Wewak 274 TAKING OVER AT AITAPE 1939-4 4 fighting units. G.H.Q. allocated ships piecemeal to the task . The first was the Gorgon, which left Brisbane with base troops on 4th October. There- after one ship arrived at Aitape on 19th October, two on 22nd October (with the 2/6th Cavalry (Commando) Regiment and others), one o n 23rd October, one on 5th November, one on the 6th, one on the 11th , two on the 12th . By that time the 19th Brigade and a good part of th e divisional troops had arrived. The whole 19th Brigade had arrived b y 19th November, the 17th Brigade by 7th December and the 16th b y 31st December . The 6th Division—the senior formation of the A .I.F.—had fought in Cyrenaica and Greece in 1940 and 1941 but since then had not been in action as a complete division. In the intervening three years and a hal f most of its units had seen much fighting both in the Middle East an d New Guinea, but some had not been in battle since Crete in May 1941 . Five of its battalions had fought in Crete ; two, and the divisional cavalry , in Syria. For four months in 1942 the division had ceased to exist; part of it was in Ceylon, part in Australia, and its commander and staff wer e controlling Northern Territory Force . Its 16th Brigade fought in Papua in 1942 and its 17th Brigade in the Wau-Salamaua operations in 1943 . The 19th Brigade spent many months as part of Northern Territory Forc e and had not yet fought against Japanese. The divisional commander, Major- General Stevens, and two of the infantry brigadiers—R . King of the 16th and Martin2 of the 19th—had not been in action in New Guinea . Stevens had led a brigade in the Syrian campaign ; King a battalion in Cyrenaica , Greece and Syria ; Martin a battalion at Giarabub and in Tobruk. The third brigade commander, M . J . Moten, however, had led his brigad e during the long and exacting Wau-Salamaua operations of 1943 . In all battalions a substantial number and in some a majority of the officers and a small percentage of the other ranks had served in this division since 1939, and most of Stevens ' general and administrative staff were in that category . His G.S.O .1, Lieut-Colonel J. A. Bishop, had serve d on a brigade staff in North Africa, Greece and Syria, and in 1943 ha d commanded the 2/27th Battalion in the Ramu Valley . Lieut-Colonel Murphy,3 his senior administrative officer, was a former regular soldie r who had retired in 1923, joined the A.I.F. as a lieutenant in 1940 and, in two years, had become a lieut-colonel . He had served in the Middle East and had come to the 6th Division after twelve months as an instructo r at the Senior Staff School .4 2 Brig J . E . G . Martin, CBE, DSO, ED, QX6049 . CO 2/9 Bn 1939-41 ; Comd 19 Bde 1941-45 . Civil engineer ; of Rockhampton, Qld ; b . Brisbane, 17 Apr 1904. 5 Lt-Cot W. C . Murphy, OBE, NX354. 2/2 Fd Regt ; DAQMG I Corps 1941-42 ; AA&QMG 6 Div 1942-45 . Advertising manager ; of Willoughby, NSW; b. Melbourne, 28 Feb 1901 . S The senior principal appointments on the staff of the 6th Division in December 1944 were : GOC Maj-Gen J. E . S . Stevens ; GSOI Lt-Col J . A. Bishop ; GSO2 Maj E . Logan ; Snr LO Maj N. M . Symington ; AA&QMG Lt-Col W. C . Murphy ; DAAG Maj D . S . I. Burrows ; DAQMG Maj C . V. I . Barnden ; Legal Officer Maj J . R. Nosworthy ; ADMS Col H . M . Fisher ; ADO S Lt-Col C. R. Thomson ; CEME Lt-Col W . H . Mence . The CRA was Brig J . Reddish, th e CO Sigs Lt-Col L . N . Tribolet and the COASC Lt-Col J . Talbot. 1944 DIVISION ' S ROLE 275 Air support was to be given by No . 71 Wing, R .A.A.F., commanded by Wing Commander Coopers (but after 27th March by Group Captain Hancock6 ) . It included Nos . 7, 8 and 100 Squadrons, equipped with Beauforts and had been operating in support of the American forces a t Aitape. Tactical reconnaissance was to be performed by one flight of No.