Remembering the war in New Guinea
New Guinea north coast, 1942 (Longer text)
Module name: Campaign history (All groups perspective)
This page was contributed by Mr John Moremon (Australian War Memorial)
The north coast of New Guinea had a thriving European economy at the outbreak of war. Townships at Lae, Salamaua and Wau had prospered with the discovery of gold in the Wau-Bulolo Valley. Many Australians and New Guineans worked in and around the townships, and Chinese merchants had set up shop on the outskirts.
Further along the coast was Madang, a plantation town with a weaker local economy due to the collapse of cocoa prices in the 1930s. Several mission stations also existed. Most of the missionaries were Roman Catholics or Lutherans from Germany or the Netherlands (some had been in New Guinea since before 1914) and were staunchly pro-German, or anti-Australian. Australian residents feared that the missionaries’ influence over some villages would result in New Guineans betraying Australians.
When Australia formally assumed control of the former German colony in 1921 under a League of Nations mandate, it had agreed to limit defence activities in the territory. However, in the 1930s, ex-servicemen living in the territory began advocating a local militia force. On 4 September 1939, one day after the outbreak of war against Germany, Army Headquarters in Melbourne authorised the raising of a volunteer unit.
The strength of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles (NGVR) was set at 21 officers and 450 other ranks plus two medical officers and 32 medical troops – all Europeans. However, some men left the territory to enlist for service overseas and the unit’s strength hovered around 350. Their ranks included veterans of the First World War who were getting too old for active service. Platoons were scattered across the north coast and New Britain, training was limited, and few modern weapons were issued.
In 1941 the headquarters of the 8th Military District, based at Port Moresby, assumed control of all units in Papua and New Guinea. Its commander, Brigadier Basil Morris, held little hope of defending the north coast because it was geographically isolated and virtually impossible to reinforce as there was no road to move a force from Port Moresby over the jungle-clad mountains. He had no naval forces to protect shipping and no fighters to escort transport aircraft.
The NGVR was mobilised on 8 December 1941, the day Japan entered the war. A week later, European women and children were ordered to leave. Most were flown to Port Moresby and sailed to Australia. Female missionaries and nurses were allowed to stay.
On 21 January 1942, fighter-bombers from the Japanese 4th Fleet, which was converging on Rabaul and Kavieng, raided Lae, Salamaua and Bulolo. Pilots bombed and strafed the townships and airfields with impunity. At least 21 civilian aircraft and a Hudson bomber were destroyed, and a civilian pilot was killed. Commercial buildings, hangars, workshops and houses were wrecked or damaged. The village of Kela outside Lae, known locally as Chinatown, was also strafed.
Most New Guineans in the area "went bush". Word spread that the Australian administration had folded (an idea reinforced by the hurried evacuation of remaining government officials, including authoritative District Officers) and villagers looted European stores. Many doubted the ability of the NGVR to pay wages and so there was a shortage of men willing to labour and carry supplies. It took several days for authority to be reasserted by the newly raised Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit (ANGAU), which included former District Officers.
European civilians and many Chinese fled. Most trekked to Wau hoping to be flown to Port Moresby, but there was not enough aircraft. Refugee camps were established to hold displaced Europeans, Chinese and New Guineans. Many of the latter were labourers from other areas who had lost their jobs as a result of the bombing. Some Europeans and Chinese decided to trek over the Owen Stanley Range to the south coast of Papua. The followed the little-used Bulldog Track, bringing it to the Army’s notice as a possible supply route.
Platoons at Lae, Salamaua and Madang waited for the expected invasion. Along with ANGAU personnel and six airmen manning a signalling station at Salamaua, they were to observe and report on Japanese landings, destroy buildings and supplies, and withdraw to operate as guerrillas. Troops plotted escape routes and stocked emergency supply dumps.
An invasion fleet under Vice-Admiral INOUE Shigeyoshi sailed from Rabaul on 5 March. After midnight on 8 March, the 2nd Battalion, 144th Infantry Regiment, which had fought at Rabaul, landed at Salamaua. The Maizuru Special Naval Landing Force landed at Lae. No opposition was encountered.
About 1,500 naval engineers were landed to construct bases and airfields for fighter-bombers to participate in air raids on Port Moresby. The army troops were withdrawn on 15 March and the naval command assumed responsibility for the area. The first large patrol out of Salamaua was on 18 March when 60 marines led by four New Guineans marched to Komiatum, destroyed an NGVR supply dump and returned to base.
For many New Guineans, the Japanese were merely another foreign occupier (after the Germans and Australians). Some villages elected to give the Japanese a chance to demonstrate administrative authority – or had no choice if villagers wished to stay in their homes. Some reported murders and rapes, but generally conditions were tolerable. The Japanese employed labourers and carriers, often using as overseers New Guineans educated (and influenced) by Lutheran missionaries.
The guerrillas established observation posts in the mountains overlooking the coast. Most were Australians, however some local Chinese were accepted into the unit. Though potentially dangerous when the Japanese sent out patrols, life in these posts could be tedious as the men watched for signs of activity. New Guineans were employed to carry supplies to the outposts and acted as scouts and spies – pinpointing Japanese positions, supply dumps and anti-aircraft batteries. This information was used in planning air raids.
The first large air raid was on 10 March 1942. American aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Papua launched 104 aircraft that flew across the mountains to bomb targets around Salamaua and Lae. Three ships were sunk and four were damaged; 130 troops were killed and 245 were wounded. Thereafter, Allied aircraft regularly bombed the bases. Often aircraft were shot down, and captured airmen were executed. Although some were betrayed by New Guineans, others were saved by friendly villagers who took extraordinary risks to lead the airmen (often injured) over difficult jungle tracks until they reached guerrilla outposts.
On 23 May the 2/5th Independent Company, which was trained in guerrilla warfare, was airlifted from Port Moresby to Wau. The strengthened force was known as Kanga Force. It had about 700 men, of whom 450 were fit for combat. The new troops went forward to operate alongside militiamen. The Japanese had about 2,000 troops at Lae – mostly base engineers, administrative staff and pilots and ground staff of fighter squadrons. About 250 were based at Salamaua.
The Australians continued observing and harassing the Japanese. On 29 June, they raided Salamaua and a nearby signalling station at Kela, inflicting dozens of casualties in a carefully planned assault. However, the Special Naval Landing Force then began patrolling more aggressively, employing New Guineans to maintain supply lines into the mountains. After several clashes, the guerrillas fell back. They were plagued by supply shortages, and many were now sick or exhausted after months of patrolling. It also became harder to employ New Guineans as carriers, as many began doubting that the Australians could win.
Guerrilla warfare continued for several months but the Japanese pushed the guerrillas out of most of their observation posts. On 30 August, the Australians razed the Japanese base at Wau, believing that they were about to attack in force but the marines merely established a forward line near Mubo. The main attack came in January 1943 when the first echelon of the 51st Division, which had served in China, landed at Lae. Major General OKABE Teru’s 102nd Infantry Regiment began advancing towards Wau