The Battle of Sio, fought between December 1943 and March 1944, was the break-out and pursuit phase of General Douglas MacArthur's Huon Peninsula campaign, part of the New Guinea campaign of World War II. After the defeat of the Japanese in the Battle of Sattelberg, Australian Army forces broke through the Japanese positions around Finschhafen. Constant pressure from US Navy PT boats, Australian land forces and Allied aircraft brought the Japanese logistical system to the brink of collapse, resulting in disease, malnutrition, and privation for the Japanese soldiers. Meanwhile, the Allied supply system grappled with the problems of terrain and climate, particularly inclement weather and rough monsoonal seas that hampered and occasionally prevented delivery of supplies by sea.
Introduction
Battle of Sio
Battle of Sio | Introduction
December 1943. December 1943 December 1943 December 1943
in which country did the battle of sio take place?
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Papua New Guinea.
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on what date did this fight begin?
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Australian and Papuan troops advanced along the coast of the Huon Peninsula, using infantry, tanks, and air strikes against the Japanese positions, which were generally sited at creek crossings in the jungle. The advancing infantry kept strictly within range of the supporting artillery, which was liberally employed in the early stages of the operation. Using tactics that exploited the firepower of Australian artillery and armour, the Australian and Papuan troops inflicted heavy and disproportionate casualties on the Japanese as they advanced, ultimately linking up with the American forces at Saidor. Hundreds of Japanese soldiers were killed; thousands more died from disease, malnutrition, exhaustion and suicide.
Battle of Sio | Introduction
It also still had the support of the 2/12th Field Regiment, 532nd EBSR, and A Company, Papuan Infantry Battalion. The brigade suffered its first casualties on the night of 21/22 January in a friendly fire incident, which was a common occurrence with units inexperienced in jungle warfare. Two Australians were killed and two wounded by their own comrades. On 22 January a native reported seeing seven Japanese in the hills south-west of Sio and a patrol was sent out under Corporal Bengari to investigate. On arriving in the vicinity on 24 January, a local reported that another 22 Japanese had arrived.
Battle of Sio | Saidor
The Battle of Sio, fought between December 1943 and March 1944, was the break-out and pursuit phase of General Douglas MacArthur's Huon Peninsula campaign, part of the New Guinea campaign of World War II. After the defeat of the Japanese in the Battle of Sattelberg, Australian Army forces broke through the Japanese positions around Finschhafen. Constant pressure from US Navy PT boats, Australian land forces and Allied aircraft brought the Japanese logistical system to the brink of collapse, resulting in disease, malnutrition, and privation for the Japanese soldiers. Meanwhile, the Allied supply system grappled with the problems of terrain and climate, particularly inclement weather and rough monsoonal seas that hampered and occasionally prevented delivery of supplies by sea.
Battle of Sio | Introduction
The next morning, Bengari and his five companions ambushed the Japanese and killed them all before they could fire a shot. Wirraway and Boomerang aircraft of No. 4 Squadron RAAF scouted ahead of the advance. Its aerial reconnaissance work let the Australians and Papuans know where opposition could be expected, thereby speeding up the advance. The pilots noted Japanese parachutes, signs that the Japanese were receiving supplies by air. On 4 February, the Australians were also forced onto air supply, as swollen rivers washed out a number of bridges. Each day the Papuans killed 12 to 15 Japanese, but not until 8 February was the Japanese rearguard encountered at Weber Point and a formal attack made.
Battle of Sio | Saidor
General Blamey insisted that Christmas fare be available to all units, and extraordinary efforts were made to carry out his directive. In one instance, a Piper Cub of No. 4 Squadron RAAF dropped Christmas fare to a Papuan Company on a long-range patrol. The advance resumed on 27 December, preceded by air strikes by 18 B-25 Mitchell and 12 Boston bombers. The 2/15th Infantry Battalion and tanks of A Squadron, 1st Tank Battalion took the lead on 31 December; they reached Sialum on 2 January 1944. This had a sheltered beach which served as a maintenance area. That day, the American landing at Saidor placed a large force across the Japanese escape route.
Battle of Sio | Sio
A Lutheran mission station was established at Sio in 1910. The town was occupied by Imperial Japanese forces during World War II and was a major operating base. During the Huon Peninsula campaign the town was wrestled from the defending elements of the Japanese 20th Division by the Australian 9th Division and the Papuan Infantry Battalion, during the Battle of Sio, fought between December 1943 and January 1944.
Sio, Papua New Guinea | History
Wareo was captured by the Australians on 8 December and the last Japanese rearguards left the area on 15 December. Meanwhile, Berryman's coastal advance had commenced on 5 December.
Battle of Sio | Background
The Allies failed to seize the opportunity to completely destroy the Japanese forces.
Battle of Sio | Introduction
Five Japanese were killed. In all, 53 Japanese were killed and four captured that day. Two Australians were wounded. The next day another 61 Japanese were killed and 9 captured, this time without any Australian casualties. On 10 February, the 30th Infantry Battalion encountered two American soldiers at Yagomai, thereby linking up with the American force at Saidor.
Battle of Sio | Saidor
After crossing the Goaling River the Papuans entered the village of Nambariwa, which had been a used previously by the Japanese. Six Japanese were killed, while the bodies of nine more were located in remains of the settlement. On 15 January the 20th Brigade captured Sio, completing the 9th Division's quick sweep up the coast against light Japanese resistance. The 9th Division was then relieved by the Australian 5th Division for the continuing pursuit of the Japanese as they withdrew. A Company Headquarters next moved to Sio, while on 18 January three Japanese were killed by a patrol behind the mission there.
Papuan Infantry Battalion | Saidor–Sio, January – March 1944
The Battle of Wareo (27 November – 8 December 1943) was fought by Australian and Japanese forces in New Guinea during the Huon Peninsula campaign of World War II in the later part of 1943. Coming after the capture of Sattelberg by the Allies, the battle took place amidst the Australian advance north towards Sio. The Australians committed elements from four infantry brigades from the Australian 9th Division with supporting elements including artillery, engineers and tank support, while the Japanese force consisted primarily of two depleted infantry regiments from the 20th Division, with limited artillery support. The Australian advance in this region developed into three drives.
Battle of Wareo | Introduction
In support were the sappers of the 2/7th Field Company and the 24 25-pounders of the 2/6th Field Regiment. In case Edgar got into trouble, the 20th Infantry Brigade was in reserve, on six hours notice. To support the advance, a beach maintenance area was prepared at a beach at the mouth of the Kalueng River, which involved removing underwater and landward obstacles. So that the tanks and jeeps could immediately support the advance, a bridge was required over the Kalueng River. A preliminary operation by the 22nd Infantry Battalion on 3 December 1943 secured a crossing area and a log bridge was constructed.
Battle of Sio | Fortification Point
The main Australian advance was by infantry-tank-engineer teams moving along the coastal tracks. Japanese positions were generally sited at creek crossings in the jungle. The advancing infantry kept strictly within range of the supporting artillery, except for short periods during the latter stages of the operation when Japanese opposition was negligible and the difficulty of moving the artillery forward quickly was too great. A secondary outflanking movement was made inland, over the higher ground, which was usually coral cliffs covered by kunai grass and rising as high as . Since the Japanese intent was to delay rather than fight to the death, a threat to their escape route usually prompted a withdrawal.
Battle of Sio | Tactics and logistics
On the other hand, the new base at Finschhafen was no longer threatened by the Japanese and became an important staging point for the Western New Guinea campaign. The capture of the Japanese ciphers at Sio allowed General MacArthur to carry out Operations Reckless and Persecution with a plan based upon sound intelligence rather than just his own intuition.
Battle of Sio | Aftermath
The operation jumped off on 5 December, with the 29th/46th Infantry Battalion passing through the bridgehead established by the 22nd. It soon came under sporadic enemy fire, and a tank was disabled by a land mine. In the face of mounting opposition, the advance was halted near the lagoon. It resumed the next day, and the Japanese withdrew after an artillery bombardment, their orders being "while avoiding any decisive engagement" to "carry out successful resistance to try to delay the enemy advance". This became the pattern, with the Japanese preferring to withdraw rather than suffer heavy casualties. On 10 December, Edgar brought all three of his battalions into the line and by 14 December they were closing in on Lakona, a key position on the 20th Division's retreat route.
Battle of Sio | Fortification Point
The next day Company Headquarters moved to Sialum by barge. A Company, PIB started moving along the coast, while a four-man patrol from 4 Platoon tasked with probing inland moved in front of a platoon from D Company, 2/24th Battalion. This patrol located the bodies of number of Japanese who had starved to death, while a number of others in ill health were also killed in clashes, being indicative of the acute supply problems the Japanese were now experiencing. On 9 January Company Headquarters moved to Kelanoa Harbour, then coming under command of the 20th Brigade (less 4 Platoon). Moving rapidly, the Papuans supported a company of the 2/17th Battalion, crossing the Kapugara River on 13 January.
Papuan Infantry Battalion | Saidor–Sio, January – March 1944
When this did not occur, the position was reduced by a combination of manoeuvre and tank, mortar, and artillery fire. During the early part of the advance, 4,700 rounds were fired in one day; but during the entire 5th Division advance from Sio to Saidor, only 30 rounds were fired. The advance was made in a series of bounds, the objective of which was usually to secure sheltered beachheads. Allied supply was entirely by sea. Amphibian scouts from the US 532nd Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment (EBSR) of the US 2nd Engineer Special Brigade, wearing Australian uniforms, advanced with the infantry and reconnoitred beaches from the landward side as they were secured.
Battle of Sio | Tactics and logistics
As a result, the surviving elements of the Japanese 20th and 51st Divisions on the Huon Peninsula were compelled to withdraw over the Finisterre Range. Yet the Americans ultimately failed to seize the opportunity to destroy the withdrawing Japanese and despite a heavy toll from disease and starvation they succeeded in reaching Madang, with many Japanese surviving to continue fighting before they were finally cornered by the Australians during the Aitape–Wewak campaign in 1945. Meanwhile, during 4 Platoon's patrol they had been attacked by hostile natives before reaching Karako. On 4 January they clashed with the Japanese north of Walingi, killing four.
Papuan Infantry Battalion | Saidor–Sio, January – March 1944
Early in October 1943, a special staff was established at II Corps Headquarters to study the Japanese supply system. It did not include an officer with experience in maintaining a large force over a native carrier line, and therefore took time to realise that the Japanese force could not be maintained over an inland track, as was first assumed. Operations soon confirmed that the Japanese were dependent on a coastal supply line. During the Battle of Sattelberg, the Allies set out to cut this supply line. A three-pronged approach was taken: By December, the pitiful condition of Japanese prisoners confirmed for the Australians that "the Japanese logistic system was in the final stages of breakdown".
Battle of Sio | Offensive against the Japanese supply system
The 20th Infantry Brigade had lost 3 killed and 13 wounded, but 958 had been evacuated sick, mostly with malaria, and an epidemic of dengue had also taken its toll. Large quantities of Japanese equipment had been captured, including six 75 mm guns, three 37 mm guns and three 20 mm guns.
Battle of Sio | Sio
Before moving over the mountains, the 20th Division headquarters elected to destroy its cryptographic materials rather than carry them. As the wet weather made burning them page by page a slow and difficult process, and a fire might attract the attention of the Allied Air Forces, someone decided to simply bury them in a steel trunk in a stream bed. An Australian sapper checking the stream bed for booby traps with a metal detector discovered it, and it was dug up in the belief that it was a mine. An intelligence officer recognised the contents as code books and soon it was on its way to the Central Bureau in Brisbane.
Battle of Sio | Sio
At 1800 on 20 January 1944, the headquarters of Major General A. H. Ramsay's 5th Division, which had come up from Lae, replaced that of the 9th Division. At the same time the 8th Infantry Brigade replaced the 20th. The 8th Infantry Brigade, which had spent much of the war on garrison duty in Western Australia, began departing Cairns on 10 January. The original intention had been for it to go to Lae to relieve the 29th Infantry Brigade, which had fought in the Salamaua-Lae campaign, but in December it was decided to ship it directly to Finschhafen. The brigade contained three infantry battalions, the 4th, 30th and 35th, all from New South Wales.
Battle of Sio | Saidor
Both sides managed to accomplish their objectives; the Japanese withdrew, while the Australians exacted a terrible toll. The balance of losses was overwhelmingly against the Japanese, both in terms of men and equipment. It seems that only about 4,300 of the 7,000 troops under the command of the Japanese 20th Division who had originally been forward of Sio survived the withdrawal, and many of them were rendered ineffective through wounds, sickness, malnutrition and exhaustion. The opportunity to destroy the Japanese 51st Division was not seized. These troops lived to fight the Americans at the Battle of Driniumor River later in the year, and the Australians in the Aitape–Wewak campaign in 1945.
Battle of Sio | Aftermath
It would have been a formidable position if defended, but it was not. The main body of the battalion followed the next day. The Goaling River was crossed in small boats left behind by the Japanese on 13 January and it entered Nambariwa, where one prisoner was taken, six Japanese were shot, and nine found dead. On 15 January, Sio was taken. The Sio-Nambariwa area was found to have been the principal Japanese supply area, and a large number of fuel, supply, and stores dumps were found. During the advance from Fortification Point to Sio, 303 Japanese had been killed or found dead, and 22 captured.
Battle of Sio | Sio
Wootten designated Brigadier C. R. V. Edgar's 4th Infantry Brigade, a Militia formation, for the initial phase of the coastal advance, reserving his veteran Australian Imperial Force brigades for the Battle of Wareo. The brigade consisted of the 22nd and 29th/46th Infantry Battalions from Victoria and the 37th/52nd Infantry Battalion from Tasmania. Each battalion was allotted a team of advisors from the 9th Division. Under Edgar's command was C Squadron, 1st Tank Battalion, with seven Matilda tanks, 9th Platoon, C Company, Papuan Infantry Battalion, and detachments from the 532nd EBSR, Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit (ANGAU), Australian Army Service Corps (AASC) and Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC).
Battle of Sio | Fortification Point
II Corps made available two trawlers, manned by the 1st Water Transport Group, to deliver rations. The Australian Army also moved supplies by DUKWs.
Battle of Sio | Tactics and logistics
Meanwhile, the same day a patrol from 4 Platoon attached to the 2/48th Battalion killed four unarmed Japanese carrying rice. On 21 January the Papuans came under the command of the 8th Brigade, and continued scouting and patrol tasks. The following day a patrol sent to Lembangando Mission to investigate local reports of Japanese in the area successfully ambushed a group of up to 30 Japanese in the church there, with none believed to have survived. Another patrol pushed up to Vincke Point at the mouth of the Kwama River, before establishing a base upstream. The area was subsequently found to contain a large number of dead Japanese from previous heavy fighting there.
Papuan Infantry Battalion | Saidor–Sio, January – March 1944
On 24 December 3 Platoon left on a three-week patrol inland through Hompua to Zagahemi during which they killed three Japanese. The platoon was then attached to the 2/4th Commando Squadron, patrolling south of the Masaweng River. During this time a patrol from 5 Platoon killed another three Japanese. On 29 December, A Company Headquarters and the remainder of the company not on patrol moved to Anchorage Point by barge, before continuing north to Walingai and Kanomi. Meanwhile, 4 Platoon patrolled inland for four days, returning via the coast to Kanomi. As part of a series of amphibious assaults by US forces beginning at Torokina in Bougainville in early November 1943, Arawe in south-west New Britain in mid-December, and at Cape Gloucester at the western end of New Britain late that same month, on 2 January 1944 the US 126th Regiment landed at Saidor, some in front of the Australian 9th Division which was advancing along the New Guinea coast having been tasked with capturing Finschafen and securing the area north to Sio.
Papuan Infantry Battalion | Saidor–Sio, January – March 1944
Sio is a town on the north coast of Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. It is located in Wasu Rural LLG, Morobe Province.
Sio, Papua New Guinea | Introduction
On 21 December 1943, the 20th Infantry Brigade passed through the 4th Infantry Brigade and initiated the second stage of the pursuit. Generals Blamey, Berryman and Wootten visited the acting brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel N. W. Simpson, and emphasised that the brigade was to minimise casualties where possible by employing artillery and tanks. That afternoon, the lead company of the 2/13th Infantry Battalion reached Hubika. The battalion diarist recorded: A halt was called for Christmas while supplies were brought up. Units had a rest day. Most dined on turkey, ham, roast potatoes and Christmas pudding, and Christmas services were held.
Battle of Sio | Sio
The Battle of Noemfoor was part of the New Guinea campaign of World War II. It took place on the island of Noemfoor, in Dutch New Guinea (now Papua, in Indonesia), between 2 July and 31 August 1944. During the battle, Allied forces landed on the island to capture Japanese bases as part of their advance through the Pacific towards the Philippines. The initial landing was largely unopposed and the Japanese defenders withdrew inland as the US troops came ashore. Sporadic fighting took place over the course of two months as the Allies secured the three airfields on the island and pushed the surviving Japanese troops to the southeastern coast.
Battle of Noemfoor | Introduction
A Company was now the only operational PIB sub-unit, continuing to support the 20th Brigade's pursuit of the Japanese as they withdrew towards Saidor. Initially under the command of Lieutenant Ernest Vickery after Hitchcock went on leave in November, the company was involved in heavy contact with the Japanese retreating from Fortification Point to Sio, and then along the Rai coast to Saidor. Papuan patrols had previously operated in support of Australian forces moving against Fortification Point prior to its capture in late December 1943, and afterwards had supported the continuing pursuit by deep patrolling on the flank to the west.
Papuan Infantry Battalion | Saidor–Sio, January – March 1944
Whenever the Japanese Army attempted to make a stand, Berryman attacked with 25-pounder artillery barrages and Matilda tanks. Berryman was aware that seasonal changes were making the surf rougher and making it ever harder to operate the US Army landing craft (LCMs) and Australian Army amphibious trucks (DUKWs) that he depended on for the logistical support of his troops, but he realised that the Japanese Army's supply difficulties were greater than his own, and he gambled that if he pushed hard enough the Japanese would be unable to regroup and organise a successful defence. In the first phase of the Battle of Sio, the advance from Finschhafen to Sio, 3,099 Japanese dead were counted and 38 prisoners taken, at a cost of 8 Australians killed and 48 wounded.
Frank Berryman | New Guinea
The New Guinea campaign opened with the battles for New Britain and New Ireland in the Territory of New Guinea in 1942. Rabaul, the capital of the Territory, was overwhelmed on 22–23 January and was established as a major Japanese base from where the Japanese landed on mainland New Guinea and advanced towards Port Moresby and Australia. Having had their initial effort to capture Port Moresby by a seaborne invasion disrupted by the U.S. Navy and Australian navy in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese attempted a landward attack from the north via the Kokoda Track. From July 1942, a few Australian reserve battalions, many of them very young and untrained, fought a stubborn rearguard action against the Japanese attack, over the rugged Owen Stanley Ranges.
Territory of Papua | World War II
There, the pages were carefully dried out and photographed. On 4 February 1944, Central Bureau codebreakers decrypted a thirteen-part message that laid out the decisions reached at a conference of high-ranking Japanese officers. Copies of the material were quickly sent to Arlington Hall. In January 1944, Arlington Hall had decrypted 1,846 Japanese army messages. In March 1944, with the Sio codebooks in hand, it decrypted 36,000 messages. On 11 January a platoon of the 2/17th Infantry Battalion replaced a rope ladder, and after climbing it and two wooden ladders reached an area atop a cliff which had once been a Japanese headquarters.
Battle of Sio | Sio
Wasu Rural LLG is a local-level government (LLG) of Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. During World War II, the Battle of Sio took place in the LLG.
Wasu Rural LLG | Introduction
The Battle of Morotai, part of the Pacific War, began on 15 September 1944, and continued until the end of the war in August 1945. The fighting started when United States and Australian forces landed on the southwest corner of Morotai, a small island in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI), which the Allies needed as a base to support the liberation of the Philippines later that year. The invading forces greatly outnumbered the island's Japanese defenders and secured their objectives in two weeks. Japanese reinforcements landed on the island between September and November, but lacked the supplies needed to effectively attack the Allied defensive perimeter.
Battle of Morotai | Introduction
The next phase of the campaign involved the advance of Australian forces along the coast towards Sio, about from Finschhafen. Following the capture of Gusika, the responsibility for the first part of the advance to Sio was taken over by the infantry of the 4th Brigade, under the command of Brigadier Cedric Edgar. They were brought forward from Finschhafen early in December where they had been undertaking garrison duties and on 5 December, the 22nd Infantry Battalion began the advance, crossing the Kalueng River. Lacking the experience that the 2nd AIF units had, the Militia battalions advanced more cautiously than they might otherwise have done so.
Huon Peninsula campaign | Sio
The same night, two barges were also sunk north of Sio Island. When General Berryman saw Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, the commander of the Allied Naval Forces, on 14 December, he made a point of congratulating him on the work his PT boats were doing. Lieutenant General Tsutomu Yoshihara, Chief of Staff of the Japanese Eighteenth Army recalled:
Battle of Sio | Offensive against the Japanese supply system
On 21 July 1942, Japanese forces landed on the northern Papuan coast around Buna and Gona, as part of a plan to capture the strategically important town of Port Moresby via an overland advance along the Kokoda Track, following an unsuccessful seaborne attempt during the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. Two days later, the first engagement of the campaign was fought when a small force of Australian and Papuan soldiers clashed with the advancing Japanese around Awala. They were quickly brushed aside and over the course of late July, August and into September, a series of battles were fought along the Kokoda Track as the Japanese advanced south.
Battle of Ioribaiwa | Background
Flank protection on the left was provided by the 2/4th Commando Squadron and a platoon from the Papuan Infantry Battalion. The search was unsuccessful and after minor clashes occurred, the Australians dispatched two platoons to Fior in an effort to link up with the 2/23rd. Short of Fior, the Japanese had established themselves in strength in well dug-in positions amidst a thick bamboo grove. As the 2/24th's platoons approached, they were fired upon and forced to halt their advance, establishing a night defensive position. During the night the Japanese withdrew silently and moved back across the Song, destroying the suspension bridge that spanned it as they went.
Battle of Wareo | Drive on Kuanko and Wareo
In the Australian 5th Division's advance from Sio to Saidor between 20 January and the end of February, 734 Japanese were killed, 1,793 found dead, and 48 Japanese prisoners were taken. Australian and Papuan casualties came to 3 killed and 5 wounded. The US 32nd Infantry Division at Saidor killed 119 Japanese and captured 18, while losing 40 killed, 11 wounded, 16 missing.
Landing at Saidor | Casualties
The tanks had difficulty keeping up with the advance. One obstacle was mines. On the first day, the 2/7th Field Company lifted fourteen mines but a tractor broke a track running over a mine. On 7 December, two more tanks were damaged by mines, one beyond repair. The sappers then cut a new track which they corduroyed. To support the attack on Lakona, the tanks had to cross a creek with steep coral banks, swollen by a torrential downpour. While efforts were made to bring up a compressor, tanks fired into banks and holes were packed with explosives and detonated.
Battle of Sio | Fortification Point
On the evening of 16 December, the infantry were joined by five Matilda tanks and overran the Japanese positions. They counted 47 Japanese dead; and killed another 17 in mopping-up operations the next day. On 20 December, aided by four Matilda tanks and 750 rounds from the 25-pounders, the 4th Infantry Brigade occupied the Fortification Point area. Between 5 and 20 December, the 4th Infantry Brigade reported 65 killed and 136 wounded. Japanese casualties were 420 killed and 136 found dead, victims of disease, malnutrition, and suicide. Only six Japanese prisoners were taken.
Battle of Sio | Fortification Point
The 2nd Battalion, 238th Infantry Regiment was to act as a rearguard on the coast. Lieutenant General Frank Berryman, the commander of Australian II Corps, now urged Wootten to commence a coastal advance to cut the Japanese supply lines and force Adachi to retreat from the Huon Peninsula if he were not already doing so. Wootten took a more cautious approach. The Battle of Wareo proved that the Japanese intended to defend the area. After a fierce fight, Wootten managed to drive the Japanese from the high ground around Sattelberg and Gusika. In early December, Adachi ordered all his troops to withdraw to Sio.
Battle of Sio | Background
As the advance continued, new beachheads were opened up while rearward ones were closed. The advance was halted on occasion to allow for the guns to be brought forward or sufficient supplies to be accumulated at the forward beachhead. The major problem was the weather. The monsoon caused rough seas that precluded the use of the small Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVPs) and restricted the operations of the larger LCMs. Because of the extremely rough seas—the most difficult that the 532nd EBSR had ever encountered—most supply missions were by night when tidal conditions were most favourable. Wootten insisted that at least seven days' supplies be available in forward areas in case the weather prevented the LCMs from running.
Battle of Sio | Tactics and logistics
The Huon Peninsula campaign was a series of battles fought in north-eastern Papua New Guinea in 1943–1944 during the Second World War. The campaign formed the initial part of an offensive that the Allies launched in the Pacific in late 1943 and resulted in the Japanese being pushed north from Lae to Sio on the northern coast of New Guinea over the course of a four-month period. For the Australians, a significant advantage was gained through the technological edge that Allied industry had achieved over the Japanese by this phase of the war, while the Japanese were hampered by a lack of supplies and reinforcements due to Allied interdiction efforts at sea and in the air.
Huon Peninsula campaign | Introduction
Bitter fighting continued in New Guinea between the Allies and the Japanese 18th Army based in New Guinea until the Japanese surrender in 1945.
Territory of Papua and New Guinea | Colonisation and World Wars
Between 9 and 13 December, PT boats sank 23 barges, most of them south of Sio. On 7 January, the PT boats also attacked a submarine. No less than twelve barges were destroyed on the night of 8 January, one of which was loaded with ammunition and another with around 70 troops. On 9 January, PT boats attacked a group of six barges, which attempted to fight back. One barge was seen to sink. Another patrol engaged eight barges and destroyed two. A third patrol found six barges on a beach and destroyed them. Then on 10 January, three PT boats sank three troop-carrying barges, taking one Japanese prisoner.
Battle of Sio | Offensive against the Japanese supply system
This is a list of wars involving Papua New Guinea, German New Guinea or Territory of New Guinea.
List of wars involving Papua New Guinea | Introduction
She visited Sio for the fourth and final time on 27 December 1943 and early in the morning, just after she began her return voyage to Rabaul, she encountered Allied motor torpedo boats, which depth-charged her. Later that day, Allied aircraft attacked her. She emerged from both attacks unscathed, and on the same day received orders to intercept an Allied convoy. With only two torpedoes aboard, she patrolled in the Dampier Strait from 28 December 1943 to 1 January 1944, but did not find the Allied ships. On 4 January 1944, "I-6" began a new series of supply runs, shuttling between Rabaul and Iboki, New Guinea.
Japanese submarine I-6 | New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago
By March 1943 the area between the Kumusi and Waria Rivers had largely been cleared of Japanese forces, with the only significant fighting being an ambush of 14 Japanese at Mogado near the mouth of the Kumusi. Coming under the command of the US 41st Division that month, the PIB advanced with the Americans. After reaching Morobe, they were ordered to return to Bisiatabu, near Port Moresby, for rest, reorganisation and further training, arriving there on 24 April. At this time elements of the battalion had been in action since July 1942; many had been among the first parties over the Owen Stanley Range in June, while the remainder had been in the group that had come forward in September.
Papuan Infantry Battalion | Northern Papua, July 1942 – April 1943
The 17th Army—heavily involved with the Japanese campaign in New Guinea—had only a few units available to send to the southern Solomons area. Of these units, the 35th Infantry Brigade—under Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi—was at Palau, the 4th (Aoba) Infantry Regiment was in the Philippines and the 28th (Ichiki) Infantry Regiment—under the command of Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki—was embarked on transport ships near Guam. The different units began to move toward Guadalcanal immediately; Ichiki's regiment—the closest—arrived first. The "First Element" of Ichiki's unit—consisting of about 917 soldiers—landed from destroyers at Taivu Point (), about east of the Lunga perimeter, on August 19.
Battle of Edson's Ridge | Guadalcanal campaign
While the fighting had been taking place further along the Kokoda Track, and around Milne Bay and Buna and Gona, small forces of Australians from the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles and commandos from Kanga Force had attempted to maintain contact with the Japanese in the north around Wau, Mubo and Salamaua. Operating in vicinity of the Japanese bases that had been established in the Huon Gulf region, during this time, the Australians limited themselves mainly to reconnaissance and observation operations, although in June 1942 raids were launched against Salamaua and against Heath's Plantation in Lae. In response, the Japanese brought in reinforcements and they subsequently advanced to Mubo and then Guadagasai.
Battle of Mubo | Background
The Battle of Silao took place on 10 August 1860 in the vicinity of Silao in Guanajuato state, Mexico, between elements of the liberal army, under the command of General Jesús González Ortega and Ignacio Zaragoza with a force of 8,000 men and elements of the conservative army commanded General Miguel Miramón by commanding an army of 3,282 during the War of Reform. The battle was a liberal victory. General Miramón was almost captured, but escaped in the disorder caused by the Republican artillery, abandoning artillery, ammunition and weapons.
Battle of Silao | Introduction
The 26th Brigade took over flank protection duties inland. The advance then rolled quickly as Japanese morale broke and organised resistance diminished. Large gains were made against only limited resistance, which often amounted to minor skirmishes against small groups of Japanese. Hubika fell on 22 December with no opposition, and Wandokai two days later. Blucher Point was reached on 28 December, where the 2/13th Infantry Battalion regained contact with the retreating Japanese and fought a sharp contact. Elsewhere, on 26 December US and Australian forces landed on Long Island, while US forces landed further west at Saidor on 28 December.
Huon Peninsula campaign | Sio
Japanese forces first landed on the mainland of New Guinea on 8 March 1942 when they invaded Lae and Salamaua to secure bases for the defence of the important base they were developing at Rabaul. In response, Australian guerrillas from the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles established observation posts around the Japanese beachheads and the 2/5th Independent Company successfully raided Salamaua on 29 June. After the Battle of the Coral Sea frustrated the Japanese plan to capture Port Moresby via an amphibious landing, they attempted to capture the town by landing Major General Tomitarō Horii's South Seas Force at Buna on the north coast of Papua and advancing overland using the Kokoda Track to cross the rugged Owen Stanley Range.
Australian Army during World War II | Papuan campaign
If a beach looked suitable, a second reconnaissance was made from the sea. Once a beach was selected, a shore party was brought in by landing craft to set up an administrative area. Engineers improved the coastal track to enable supplies to units moving along it to be brought up by jeeps but supplies for units moving inland over the high ground had to be brought by native carriers. Artillery guns were brought forward over the tracks or else were moved by Landing Craft Mechanised (LCMs) of the 532nd EBSR. Tanks normally moved along the tracks but used LCMs to bypass obstacles.
Battle of Sio | Tactics and logistics
They were soon reinforced by Australian and Papuan troops that had advanced overland from Wau, and then by the 7th Division's 25th Infantry Brigade, which flew in by air. The 25th Infantry Brigade advanced down the Markham Valley and entered Lae on 16 September. The division then advanced up the Markham Valley and down the Ramu Valley. A series of operations followed. First, commandos of the 2/6th Independent Company seized Kaiapit in the Battle of Kaiapit on 19 September. Vasey flew there on 21 September in a Piper Cub, followed by his 21st Infantry Brigade, under Brigadier Ivan Dougherty. The 21st Infantry Brigade advanced on Gusap and then Dumpu, where Vasey established his headquarters on 10 October.
George Alan Vasey | New Guinea Campaign
In the aftermath, the Australian commander, Brigadier Kenneth Eather, perceiving that the attack could not be held any further and that Ioribaiwa Ridge was unsuited to launching a counter-attack, withdrew his force back to Imita Ridge. The Japanese, however, had reached the limit of their supply line, and strategic factors and reverses elsewhere forced the Japanese commander, Major General Tomitaro Horii, to pursue a more defensive approach in Papua and New Guinea. As a result, in October the Japanese began to withdraw towards their beachheads at Buna–Gona, with the Australians in pursuit.
Battle of Ioribaiwa | Introduction
She called at Sio, New Guinea, on her first two runs on 17 and 25 October 1943. On her third run, she disembarked 30 soldiers of the 85th Guard Unit at Sio on 2 November 1943. She visited Sio again on 9 and 20 November 1943. On 24 November 1943, "I-16" embarked the newly appointed commander of the 9th Fleet, Vice Admiral Yoshikazu Endo, and his staff at Rabaul in addition to cargo for New Guinea. After calling at Sio on 27 November 1943 to unload her cargo, she proceeded to Wewak, New Guinea, where she arrived on 30 November 1943 and Endo and his staff disembarked.
Japanese submarine I-16 | New Guinea campaign
By late April the Australians began their first cross-border reconnaissance patrols. Opposing them were a number of Indonesian units, including elements of the Resimen Para Komando Angkatan Darat (RPKAD) and the Diponegoro Division, normally based in KODAM 7 in central Java. These units were among the best in the TNI. In April 1965 two Indonesian battalion combat teams from the 5th Brigade were deployed in the 3 RAR area of operations, designated 'H' BTP and 'J' BTP, while a third battalion, 'I' BTP, was concentrated further to the east; in total 3,050 men under the overall command of Colonel Sujono.
Battle of Sungei Koemba | Opposing forces
This is an order of battle listing the Australian and German Empire forces during the Australian occupation of German New Guinea between September and November 1914.
Australian occupation of German New Guinea order of battle | Introduction
Rabaul, the capital of the Territory was overwhelmed on 22–23 January and was established as a major Japanese base from whence they landed on mainland New Guinea and advanced towards Port Moresby and Australia. Having had their initial effort to capture Port Moresby by a seaborne invasion disrupted by the U.S. Navy in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese attempted a landward invasion from the north via the Kokoda Trail. From July 1942, a few Australian reserve battalions, many of them very young and untrained, fought a stubborn rearguard action against a Japanese advance along the Kokoda Track, towards Port Moresby, over the rugged Owen Stanley Ranges.
History of Papua New Guinea | World War II
On 21 July 1942, Japanese forces landed on the northern Papuan coast around Buna and Gona, as part of a plan to capture the strategically important town of Port Moresby via an overland advance along the Kokoda Track following the failure of a seaborne assault during the Battle of the Coral Sea in May. During the next three months, the Australians fought a series of delaying actions along the Kokoda Track, as the Japanese had advanced steadily south towards Port Moresby. Following reverses around Milne Bay and Guadalcanal, and a climactic battle around Ioribaiwa, in early September the Japanese reached the limits of their supply line and were ordered to assume a defensive posture until conditions became more favourable for a renewed effort on Port Moresby.
Battle of Oivi–Gorari | Background
Nevertheless, a long period of training followed and the battalion was rebuilt over time and did not see further action until late in the war when the 6th Division was committed to the Aitape–Wewak campaign, in order to release US troops for operations in the Philippines. At the start of the new campaign, Guinn was relieved of his command and appointed commandant of the Land Headquarters Tactical School. In his place, Lieutenant Colonel Philip Parbury took command of the battalion, which deployed aboard the US transport ship "Mexico". Essentially a mopping up operation by the time the Australians arrived, the Aitape–Wewak campaign saw the Australians establish themselves around Tadji airfield at Aitape in late 1944 before conducting a limited offensive through the Torricelli and Prince Alexander Ranges throughout 1944 and 1945.
2/7th Battalion (Australia) | Fighting in New Guinea
In July the New Guinea campaign began when the Japanese landed troops near Buna and began to move inland. In an effort to delay their advance in time for reinforcements to arrive from Australia, elements of 39th Battalion began a series of delaying actions around Kokoda, while the 3rd Battalion remained in Port Moresby to defend the seaport. In early September, as reinforcements began to arrive, the battalion moved up the Kokoda Trail to Ioribaiwa, where they began patrolling operations under the command of the 21st Brigade in order to defend the village against advancing Japanese elements. Alongside the 2/6th Independent Company and the 2/14th and 2/16th Battalions, the 3rd Battalion helped hold the village for four days before falling back to Imita Ridge on 17 September.
3rd Battalion (Australia) | World War II
King ordered him to bring the Papuans up from Sangan with extra ammunition and the No. 11 set. At around 17:30, a native appeared with a message for the Japanese commander. The paper was taken from him and he was shot when he tried to escape. Later, a Japanese patrol returned to Kaiapit, unaware that it was now in Australian hands. They were killed when they stumbled across a Bren gun position. Four more Japanese soldiers returned after midnight. One of them escaped.
Battle of Kaiapit | Battle
The Battle of Kakarong de Sili was fought on January 1, 1897, at Pandi, Bulacan, in the Philippines. The Kakarong Republic, based in the little fort in Pandi, was attacked by a force of Spaniards who massacred the Katipuneros there. At the end of the battle, General Eusebio Roque (also known as Maestrong Sebio and Dimabungo) was captured by the Spaniards. The Kakarong republic was considered the first republic formed in Bulacan and in the Philippines.
Battle of Kakarong de Sili | Introduction
The Battle of Mubo was a series of actions in the Mubo area of the Territory of New Guinea between Australian and Japanese forces which took place between 22 April and 14 July 1943, during World War II. The battle formed part of the wider Salamaua–Lae campaign, and was fought in the early stages of the campaign. The battle followed the successful defence of the airfield around Wau by the Australians in late January 1943, after the Japanese had attempted to infiltrate the Australian positions with two infantry battalions. After the fighting around Wau, the Japanese withdrew to the high ground around Mubo, where they were followed up by elements of the Australian 17th Brigade.
Battle of Mubo | Introduction
On 4 January 1942 the Japanese initiated the invasion of Papua New Guinea with the Battle of Rabaul. The Anglican Bishop of New Guinea (then a diocese of the ecclesiastical Province of Queensland), Philip Strong, instructed Anglican missionaries to remain at their posts. Tapiedi and 10 others, evading the Japanese, came to a village inhabited by the Orokaiva people, and found themselves escorted away by men of that tribe. A man named Hivijapa killed Tapiedi with an axe near a stream by Kurumbo village. The remainder of the group perished soon after; six of them were beheaded by the Japanese on Buna beach.
Lucian Tapiedi | Death
After Wewak fell on 10 May and the Australians began pushing into the Prince Alexander Range in the interior. Further actions were fought around the Wirui Mission in the middle of May, and then around Mount Shiburangu and Mount Tazaki in May and early July, before the fighting came to an end in August 1945. Following the end of hostilities, the process of demobilisation began. There was a large turn over of personnel at this time. Men who were eligible for discharge began returning to Australia in drafts after September, with the first batch departing aboard the SS "Katoomba", bound for Brisbane.
2/4th Battalion (Australia) | Home service and fighting in New Guinea
After landing on 18 May 1945, A Company, under Jesser who was by now a major, moved by barge from Torokina to Soroken Plantation in the northern sector (less 1 and 2 Platoon which remained behind). Attached to the 26th Battalion, the Papuans started patrolling, with 3 and 4 Platoon moving across the narrow peninsula towards Siara, north of Ruri Bay. A number of sharp patrol clashes and ambushes followed during which the Papuans inflicted a large number of casualties on the Japanese. On 3 June, 4 Platoon was patrolling in advance of D Company, 26th Battalion when it was ambushed and its platoon commander killed.
Papuan Infantry Battalion | Bougainville, May – September 1945
Although interrupted by Japanese occupation during the New Guinea campaign (1942–45) in the Second World War, Australian administration over the territory lasted until 1975, when Papua New Guinea gained its independence.
Battle of Bita Paka | Capture of German New Guinea
Meanwhile, the entire Australian Army was engaged in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea in the Dutch East Indies and on various other Pacific islands, so an invasion of Formosa would require much larger ground forces than were available in the Pacific in late 1944 until the defeat of Germany freed the necessary manpower.
Battle of Leyte Gulf | Formosa vs. Philippines as invasion target
On 21/22 July 1942, Major General Tomitaro Horii's Japanese South Seas Detachment landed at Buna–Gona on the northern coast of Papua and subsequently began an advance overland south towards Port Moresby on the southern coast, with a flanking move via the sea towards Milne Bay planned for late August and early September. To counter the Japanese designs on the area, the Allied planners developed a hasty operation dubbed "Maroubra", and under the operational command of Major General Basil Morris' New Guinea Force, an ad hoc force called Maroubra Force was established. Initially, only a small force from the Papuan Infantry Battalion (PIB) and the Militia 39th Infantry Battalion stood in their way, fighting a delaying action on 23 July around Awala before falling back to the village of Kokoda.
Battle of Mission Ridge – Brigade Hill | Background
This initially included B Company of the 39th Battalion, patrols of the Papuan Infantry Battalion (PIB) operating in the area and a small number of the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit (ANGAU) that became attached to the force. The Australians were initially repulsed near Oivi but subsequently regrouped to defend Kokoda in an initial battle there from 28–29 July.
Invasion of Buna–Gona | Introduction
In March 1942, the Japanese landed troops around Lae and Salamaua in the Australian mandated territory of New Guinea. A seaborne assault on Port Moresby was turned back in May at the Battle of the Coral Sea, after which the Japanese established a beachhead at Buna–Gona in late July as plans were made to capture Port Moresby via an overland route from the northern Papuan coast. Subsequently, heavy fighting took place during the Kokoda Track campaign and around Milne Bay. The Japanese advance ended just before their objective and subsequently the Australians went on the offensive, eventually pursuing the withdrawing Japanese back to their beachheads around Buna and Gona where the Australians linked up with US forces and heavy fighting followed against the Japanese between November 1942 and January 1943.
Battle of Mubo | Background
By mid-1943, the fighting in New Guinea was turning in favor of the Allies after a period of hard fighting. The Japanese drive on Port Moresby during mid-1942 and early 1943 had been defeated during the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Kokoda Track campaign, while the Japanese beachhead at Buna–Gona had also been destroyed, albeit with heavy casualties on both sides. Subsequently, the Japanese had been forced to abandon their efforts on Guadalcanal and the Allies had secured the Salamaua region, and began planning their advance towards the main Japanese base around Rabaul. Kiriwina and Woodlark Islands are situated in the Solomon Sea, in a group of islands that lie northeast of the Papuan coast.
Operation Chronicle | Planning and readiness
As a part of this, the battalion's establishment was dropped to just over 800 men and it lost its carrier platoon, receiving in its place a machine gun platoon equipped with four Vickers machine guns. In addition, the anti-aircraft platoon was re-roled as a tank-attack platoon and the transport platoon was reduced to a third, with its complement of 74 vehicles and 14 motorcycles being replaced by 25 jeeps. Following this, an intense period of training was undertaken as the battalion received a batch of around 300 reinforcements to replace its losses in New Guinea; by July it was ready to deploy once again and subsequently returned to New Guinea to join the Salamaua–Lae campaign.
2/33rd Battalion (Australia) | Fighting against the Japanese in New Guinea
They landed at Gona, around the Japanese beachhead, on 21 August 1942. During the battle of Isurava the Yazawa detachment was held in reserve. After the Battle of Brigade Hill was fought further inland, the Yazawa detachment made its way to the mouth of the Girua River (near Buna), where it secured a landing of the supplies and reinforcements, starting from 23 September 1942. On 29 October 1942, the bulk of the Yazawa detachment took up defensive positions inland near Oivi Creek, to cover the retreat of 144th regiment and other units. The Australians attacked with superior forces on 4 November 1942 during the Battle of Oivi-Gorari, mauling and routing the Yazawa detachment.
5th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) | New Guinea campaign
10 Platoon landed on the northern end of Siki Cove with the second wave of the 2/13th and 2/17th Battalions and was unopposed. Moving up the beach quickly to the palm trees they turned towards Katika to the south to attack Japanese positions defending the beach. They then came under fire from both Japanese and Australian troops and sustained several men wounded. 9 Platoon and Company Headquarters then landed with the third wave containing the 2/15th Battalion at Scarlet Beach. Strongly resisted by the Japanese who held their fire until the last moment, the Australian force landed under heavy machine-gun fire.
Papuan Infantry Battalion | Finschhafen, September 1943 – January 1944
The Paraguayan government decided to buy it in 1927 – the first fighter Paraguay had ever bought and its only fighter until the arrival of seven Wibault 73 C.1 aircraft in 1928 – but placed no order for additional S.52s.
SIAI S.52 | Operational history
"I-16" subsequently made her last New Guinea supply run, visiting Sio on 15 December 1943, then suffered damage at Rabaul in an Allied air raid on 25 December 1943. She departed Rabaul that day bound for Truk, then set course for Yokosuka, where she arrived on 1 January 1944 and was drydocked to undergo repairs.
Japanese submarine I-16 | New Guinea campaign
Heavy fighting ensued, but Finschhafen fell to the Australians on 2 October. Following this, the 9th Division was tasked with advancing towards Sio, further around the coast on the northern side of the Huon Peninsula. The Japanese in the area around Finschhafen were growing in strength, however, as a large number of the 4,000 to 5,000 men that had garrisoned Finschhafen had managed to escape inland, while the rest of the 20th Division, under the command of Lieutenant General Shigeru Katagiri, was being moved from Bogadjim, south of Madang, to provide reinforcements. Wootten considered that the threat posed by this force meant that Sattelberg would have to be captured before the 9th Division could undertake its advance towards Sio.
Battle of Sattelberg | Background
In addition, about 5,400 survivors of the Japanese defeat at Buna-Gona were moved into the Lae-Salamaua area. Opposing these forces were the Australian 2/5th, 2/6th and 2/7th Battalions along with Lieutenant Colonel Norman Fleay's Kanga Force. The Australians decisively turned back the Japanese assault in the ensuing 29–31 January 1943 Battle of Wau. "Within a few days, the enemy was retreating from the Wau Valley, where he had suffered a serious defeat, harassed all the way back to Mubo..." About one week later, the Japanese completed their evacuation of Guadalcanal.
New Guinea campaign | Holding Wau
The Battle of Ioribaiwa took place between 14 and 16 September 1942, during the Kokoda Track campaign of the Second World War. Involving forces from Australia, the United States, and Japan, the fighting centred on a high feature known as Ioribaiwa Ridge, south of Ofi Creek on the Kokoda Track, in the Territory of Papua. It was the last of three defensive battles fought by the Australians along the Kokoda Track to halt the Japanese advance from the north coast of Papua towards Port Moresby. Although the Japanese were successful in pushing the Australian defenders back in the centre of their position on the track, heavy fighting on the flanks of the position blunted the Japanese attack, bringing it to a standstill.
Battle of Ioribaiwa | Introduction
After being flown into Wau, where they landed under fire, the 2/7th took part in a series of battles as the Australians advanced on Salamaua, with significant actions being fought around Mubo and Bobdubi. During the campaign, Guinn was hospitalised due to illness and Major Keith Picken temporarily led the battalion between July and December 1943. The 2/7th's casualties during its first jungle campaign amounted to 99 dead from all causes, including 70 killed in action, and 225 wounded. The 2/7th returned to Australia in early October 1943. After a period of leave, the battalion concentrated around Wondecla, on the Atherton Tablelands.
2/7th Battalion (Australia) | Fighting in New Guinea
President Aquino visited injured soldiers in Zamboanga. Fighting lasted until 14 April.
Battle of Tipo-Tipo | Battle
While B Company was fighting in the Markham and Ramu Valley campaign, A and C Companies were involved in the capture of Finschafen and Sattelberg, before pursuing the Japanese along the northern coastline of the Huon Peninsula towards Saidor between September 1943 and January 1944. With the fall of Lae occurring more quickly than expected the 20th Brigade of the 9th Division had been retasked to capture Finschhafen in the next in the series of amphibious operations. From there they would begin the advance towards Sio, further around the coast on the northern side of the Huon Peninsula. C Company, PIB under Leutchford (minus 11 Platoon which remained at Lae until early November) was detailed to be part of the landing at Scarlet Beach.
Papuan Infantry Battalion | Finschhafen, September 1943 – January 1944
Having had their initial effort to capture Port Moresby by a seaborne invasion disrupted by the U.S. Navy in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese attempted a landward invasion from the north via the Kokoda Track. From July 1942, a few Australian reserve battalions, many of them very young and untrained, fought a stubborn rearguard action against a Japanese advance along the Kokoda Track, towards Port Moresby, over the rugged Owen Stanley Ranges. Local Papuans, called Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels by the Australians, assisted and escorted injured Australian troops down the Kokoda track. The militia, worn out and severely depleted by casualties, were relieved in late August by regular troops from the Second Australian Imperial Force, returning from action in the Mediterranean theater.
Territory of New Guinea | World War II
Even within each defensive line, the hilltop forts were not mutually reinforcing one another but were easily bypassed. Vang Pao was more realistic than his advisers; he still realized that guerrillas needed the tactical flexibility to fight or flee as circumstances demanded. At the strategy meeting, he asked his CIA advisers for an extensive list of weaponry, and received more M16 rifles, and both 105mm and 155mm howitzers. He then outlined his plan to place blocking forces at both Xieng Khouangville and the intersection of Routes 7 and 71, with a reserve held at Lima Site 22. The latter was one of the few installations in Laos that had been developed into some approximation of a typical American fire support base in South Vietnam.
Campaign 139 | Phase one: the campaign begins
Further negotiations the week after did not resolve the issue. On 13 October, the sides met again and Kido asserted that the Japanese forces would not transfer further weapons to the Indonesian authorities. Japanese authorities were later informed that the Indonesian side had decided to forcefully acquire the weapons.
Battle of Semarang | Background
Amidst torrential rain and stiff defence, progress was slow as each defensive position had to be dealt with individually. As the water level in the creek rose steadily, the troops came under heavy mortar fire and were attacked with grenades lobbed from the heights above. The supply situation grew desperate too, but by 28 October the 2/3rd Battalion had managed to work its way around the Japanese right flank in preparation for an attack. In the afternoon, the battalion launched its attack, breaking through the Japanese outposts and into the main position. The defenders were overwhelmed and many of them abandoned their weapons as they fled.
2/3rd Battalion (Australia) | Fighting in New Guinea, 1942–1943
After hard fighting in the Pacific throughout 1942, the following year Australian and US forces began to gain momentum against the Japanese, and were contemplating going on the offensive. In New Guinea, the bloody Battle of Buna–Gona had been fought to a conclusion in January, while a Japanese attempt to secure the vital airfield at Wau, near Salamaua, had also been repelled that month. Throughout mid-1943, the Australians had fought a campaign against the Japanese in the Salamaua region, as they had advanced east from Wau towards the Huon Gulf. In September, an amphibious landing near Lae was carried out in conjunction with an airborne assault on Nadzab, aimed at capturing Lae.
Battle of The Pimple | Background
The Battle of Mayoyao Ridge was a battle of the Philippines campaign of 1944–1945 during World War II. From July 26, to August 9, 1945, Filipino soldiers of the 11th Infantry Regiment, United States Army Forces in the Philippines – Northern Luzon, under the command of Donald Blackburn, supported by airstrikes by Army Air Forces, captured the Japanese stronghold of Mayoyao, Ifugao in Northern Luzon.
Battle of Mayoyao Ridge | Introduction
In this vein, a bridge at Wairopi was destroyed by the withdrawing PIB troops who had been reinforced by a platoon of Australians from the 39th Infantry Battalion, with a brief fire-fight on 24 July, before the Japanese began forcing a crossing of the Kumusi River in rubber assault boats supported by mortars and machine gun fire. The following day, a force of around 100 Australians and Papuans ambushed the Japanese around Gorari, killing two Japanese and wounding 13 more before withdrawing towards the higher ground. As the Australians and Papuans began massing in some numbers, with several plane loads being landed at Kokoda on 26 July and moving north, they attempted a stand around Oivi under Captain Sam Templeton, commander of 'B' Company, 39th Infantry Battalion.
Battle of Kokoda | Background
The scouting was later confirmed to be highly accurate. The American advance on Tambu Bay commenced on 18 July, with two companies from the US 3/162nd Battalion moving north along the inland track, and another company moving along the coast; each using guides from the PIB. On 20 July a PIB platoon attacked a Japanese outpost south of Boisi which was holding up the advance of K Company, killing four and allowing the Americans to continue forward. The same day A Company, PIB received reinforcements, including one officer and six NCOs, all European, who arrived from Bisiatabu. With Tambu Bay occupied, the US 2/162nd Battalion began landing there the same evening.
Papuan Infantry Battalion | Salamaua, June – September 1943
At 8:15 am, after 3 hours of tremendous attacks the conservative army fled, completely defeated and abandoned all their artillery, baggage, ammunition and military equipment to the Liberals as well as a large number of prisoners, including several generals. Miramón was pursued by the victors but escaped. "After a hard-fought battle in which ha Mexican blood flowed profusely, D. Miguel Miramón was deafeated by the forces under my command, leaving in my hands an immense train of artillery, weapons, ammunition, flags, bodies and hundreds of prisoners, a few generals and many officers. The battle began at dawn and ended at eight or nine ".
Battle of Silao | The battle
The capture of Biak to control the airfield and nearby Numfor was Phase 3. Hard battles were fought on Biak which was exacerbated by Allied intelligence underestimating the strength of Japanese forces. The fourth and final phase was the push to Japanese airbases on Morotai and towards the Philippines. The Allies also fought for control of Merauke as they feared it could be used as a base for Japanese air attacks against Australia. With local approval, the United States constructed a headquarters for Gen. Douglas MacArthur at Hollandia (now Jayapura) and over twenty US bases and hospitals intended as a staging point for operations taking of the Philippines.
History of Western New Guinea | World War II