新几内亚战役

The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Territory of New Guinea on 23 January and Territory of Papua on 21 July and overran western New Guinea (part of the Netherlands East Indies) beginning on 29 March. During the second phase, lasting from late 1942 until the Japanese surrender, the Allies—consisting primarily of Australian forces—cleared the Japanese first from Papua, then New Guinea, 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 Allied naval forces. Garrisons were effectively besieged and denied shipments of food and medical supplies, and as a result, some researchers claim that 97% of Japanese deaths in this campaign were from non-combat causes. According to John Laffin, the campaign "was arguably the most arduous fought by any Allied troops during World War II."

1942

Capture of Rabaul

The struggle for New Guinea began with the capture by the Japanese of the city of Rabaul at the northeastern tip of New Britain in January 1942. Rabaul overlooks Simpson Harbour, a considerable natural anchorage and was ideal for the construction of airfields. Over the next year, the Japanese built up the area into a major air and naval base. The Allies responded with multiple bombing raids on Rabaul as well as action off Bougainville.

The Japanese Eighth Area Army, under General Hitoshi Imamura at Rabaul, was responsible for both the New Guinea and Solomon Islands campaigns, while the Japanese 18th Army, under Lieutenant General Hatazō Adachi, was responsible for Japanese ground operations on mainland New Guinea.

The colonial capital of Port Moresby on the south coast of Papua was the strategic key for the Japanese in this area of operations. Capturing it would both neutralize the Allies' principal forward base and serve as a springboard for a possible invasion of Australia. For the same reasons, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander Allied Forces South West Pacific Area, was determined to hold it.……

Seizure of Lae and Salamaua

Due north of Port Moresby, on the northeast coast of Papua, are the Huon Gulf and the Huon Peninsula.……

Attempt on Port Moresby

Operation Mo was the designation given by the Japanese to their initial plan to take possession of Port Moresby.……

1943

Battle of Wau

Wau is a village in the interior of the Papuan Peninsula, approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) southwest of Salamaua. An airfield had been built there during an area gold rush in the 1920s and 1930s. This airfield was of great value to the Australians during the fighting for northeast Papua.

Once the Japanese had decided to give up on Guadalcanal, the capture of Port Moresby loomed even larger in their strategic thinking. Taking the airfield at Wau was a crucial step in this process, and to this end, the 51st Division was transferred from Indochina and placed under Imamura's Eighth Area Army at Rabaul; one regiment arrived at Lae in early January 1943. 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.……

Japanese drive on Wau

General Imamura and his naval counterpart at Rabaul, Admiral Jinichi Kusaka, commander Southeast Area Fleet, resolved to reinforce their ground forces at Lae for one final all-out attempt against Wau.……

1944–1945

Admiralty Islands campaign (1944)

Western New Guinea campaign (1944–1945)

• Landing at Aitape
• Landing at Hollandia
• Take Ichi convoy
• Battle of Wakde

Battle of Lone Tree Hill (1944)

• Battle of Biak
• Battle of Noemfoor
• Battle of Driniumor River
• Battle of Sansapor
• Battle of Morotai
• Aitape–Wewak campaign

Footnotes and citations

• Footnotes
• Citations