New Britain Campaign Oct 44 to July 1945

FIFTH AUSTRALIAN DIVISION IN NEW BRITAIN

No roads existed along either coast and, if the Australians were to maintain contact with the Japs by operating from American bases, the only way would be by water. But there were few vessels available and it was therefore necessary to establish a base closer to the enemy. Jacquinot Bay, a wide deep harbour on the south coast, abandoned by the Japs, was selected as the future base.

The 36th Battalion Group from the 6th Brigade (commanded by Brigadier R. L. Sandover) was sent to relieve the American regiment at Hoskins, landing on the Sth of October 1944. This was the first step of the left foot in an advance which was to move along both sides of the island until we stood astride the entrance to Gazelle Peninsula-one foot in Open Bay on the north coast.

While work on the base progressed, preliminary operations had begun. Patrols were busy  on both sides of the island.  On the north coast a patrol of the Allied Intelligence Bureau moved east to Pandi River and discovered a large number of Japs concentrated on the east bank. Our patrol withdrew after inflicting casualties. Jap activity seemed to be more marked on the north coast than on the south. Submarines were sighted several times in Open .Bay.

On the south coast we continued to move east, still without contacting the enemy. A patrol from the 1st New Guinea Infantry Battalion moved along to Baien, a small native village. Other patrols had gone inland from Jacquinot but all reported "'No movement seen".

By the end of November 1944 advanced headquarters of the Fifth Division under the command of Major-General A. H. Ramsay, had been set up at Jacquinot, and 6th Brigade had handed over the defence of the area to 13th Brigade, recently arrived from the Northern Territory. The 6th Brigade, less the 36th Battalion, which was on the north coast, moved east to Cutarp, the first step in its strike up the coast to Wide Bay.

Air strikes were being carried out against Rabaul and other targets by R.A.A.F. and R.N.Z.A.F. planes based in the Solomons. There was no attempt at interception by the enemy. His known number of serviceable aircraft was thirteen, but reports indicated that near Rabaul he had sixty aircraft which he was feverishly attempting to make airworthy.

Intelligence had established the fact that the Rabaul garrison was the Eighth Area Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Imamura and consisting of about 38,000 troops.

R.A.N. Fairmile launches were patrolling east as far as Wide Bay, but the enemy confined his submarine activity to the north coast.

On the evening of the 27th of December two companies of the 14/32nd Battalion piled into barges at Cutarp in drizzling rain and next morning landed at Sampun. The troops were met ashore by a platoon of the 1st New Guinea Infantry Battalion which had come overland from Baien. Next day "C" Company of the 14/32nd Battalion advanced as far as Gnet River. On New Year's Eve a party from the battalion moved on to Lampun and held our most forward approach to Rabaul.

In the first week of the New Year the Australians' first offensive operation instruction was Issued. Up to that period our forces had been limited to patrols and, because of numerical inferiority, had instructions to avoid heavy clashes. The new Instruction allowed for concentration of the 14/32nd Battalion and a troop of artillery at Sampun in the Wide Bay area, and for patrols to contact the enemy. On the north coast the 3 6th Battalion was to move to Nantambu, with orders to contact the Japs by patrolling.

By the end of January 1945 movement of the whole of the Fifth Division to New Britain was practically complete. The 6th Brigade was at Cutarp, the 13th Brigade (commanded by Brigadier E. G. H. McKenzie) was settled in at Jacquinot, and advanced elements of 4th Brigade (commanded by Brigadier C. R. V. Edgar) had arrived from the mainland after a spell following its part in the 1944 New Guinea campaigns.

On both sides of the island the division pushed forward. The 14/32nd Battalion had  moved from Sampun to Kiep,  and the 19th Battalion was preparing to leave Cutarp to take over the small base which had been established at Sampun. Patrols from the 14/32nd reached Ip River in Wide Bay and on the north coast a company of the 36th Battalion went on from Nantambu to Baia, on the shores of Open Bay.

On the 3rd of February the first notable clash occurred. A platoon from "D" Company of the 1st 'New Guinea Infantry Battalion was moving along the north coast towards Mavelo plantation, about a mile south of Watu Point, when it was attacked by 200 to 300 enemy troops. They came in behind a screen of rebel natives, yelling and shouting in an attempt to demoralize the natives of the New Guinea Infantry Battalion platoon. But their noise had no effect. The platoon killed twenty of the enemy before it withdrew without a casualty.

The next incident of note was on the 9th of February when a platoon from "C" Company of the 36th Battalion and a platoon from "D" Company of the 1st New Guinea Infantry Battalion were attacked by about eighty Japs. The ensuing battle lasted for half an hour until the Australians withdrew to avoid being encircled.

On the morning of the 15th of February R.A.A.F. Beauforts, led in by a Boomerang,  bombed and strafed Jap positions on the north edge of Kalai plantation. They attacked for half an hour and,
as they pulled out and headed home across the bay, our artillery opened up for the first time in the campaign. The 2/14th Field Regiment pumped a thousand rounds into the plantation and, when the 14/32nd Battalion moved in to occupy, the Japs had withdrawn.

From Kalai the battalion moved on and consolidated positions around Kamandram, a peace-time trading station with a fairly good anchorage. They stayed there only two days and then moved inland along the Jap tracks. On the 17th of February, "B" Company of the 1st New Guinea Infantry Battalion, moving along one of these tracks, clashed with an enemy party sixty strong. A running fight developed; we lost two native soldiers but accounted for twenty-five Japs.

On the 18th of February the 14/32nd Battalion, which had been forward battalion since the landing in November, was relieved by the 19th. On the same day the 6th Brigade headquarters were set up in Kamandram.

On the north coast our troops were exploring and patrolling the hundreds of tracks which branched and disappeared in all directions from the main paths. "A" Company of the 36th Battalion had moved forward to the Sai River on the east side of Open Bay and on the i 8th of February repulsed three attacks by a strong enemy party. The rest of the battalion group had moved up from Baia and was concentrating at Watu Point.

The stiffening Japanese resistance gave an indication of his determination to defend the narrow neck between Open and Wide Bays to prevent penetration into Gazelle Peninsula. In view of the comparatively low strength of Australian forces in the area, it became necessary to define the limit to which the advance would proceed. In the Wide Bay area this was fixed as the mouth of Bulus River. It involved first the seizure of Japanese positions in the Waitavalo-Tol plantation area.

On the 5th of March, the Australians attacked the Waitavalo defences. The Jap positions were on a long low narrow mountain ridge running as a natural fortress wall around the area. At 9 a.m. "A" Company of the 19th Battalion made two attempts to cross the Henry Reid River near the mouth. Sustained fire drove them back. Moving upriver about 300 yards, the crossing was made unopposed. The company then moved downstream in an attempt to out-flank the enemy, but he had withdrawn.

In the afternoon the enemy began to use heavy mortars to effect. The Australians, who  had discarded entrenching  tools to lighten their loads for the attack, had to dig fox-holes with their hands and bayonets. There was a lull during the night, but at first light on the 6th our gunners opened up again and the infantry followed for the attack proper. "A" Company of the 19th Battalion passed through "C" Company and, meeting only slight opposition, advanced towards the first objective, a feature known as Cake Hill. At 11a.m. the company met its first serious opposition. 

From positions on a companion feature in the south known as Lone Tree Hill the enemy pinned the company down with machine-gun and rifle fire. The advance was halted for an hour there; then the troops began moving forward again. The enemy had evidently fallen back to further prepared defences and "A" Company occupied Cake Hill. "C" Company of the 19th then came up and consolidated the area while "A" Company moved into a less exposed position. Throughout the day the enemy had concentrated on battalion headquarters with mortars, and Australian guns were still trying to silence them.

During the next three days the Australians continued to attack but they met only slight opposition. They were, however, suffering casualties from Jap mortars and their artillery was constantly engaged in harassing tasks.

On the north coast the lull was broken early on the morning of the 8th of March, when a party of seventy Japs attacked a platoon of "C" Company of the 3 6th Battalion on Mavelo River.

The attack was repulsed and the enemy dug in fifty yards outside our perimeter. Shortly after 7 a.m. they attacked again, this time supported by a 70-mm. gun. When they withdrew they left fifteen dead.

On the south coast, moving on from Lone Tree Hill our troops occupied a higher feature above the Waitavalo ridge known as Moose Hill. There they came under harassing fire from enemy mortars, and suffered casualties. 

Rain now set in. On the north coast operations were at a standstill, and in the Wide Bay area there was a lull while  the troops were regrouped and supply lines were organized. This was no easy task. Heavy rain had made the steep tracks to the tops of ridges as treacherous as ice, and the tracks themselves were subject to mortar fire. On the flat jeep tracks were mud streams, and the bridge over Mavelo River had been washed away. During this period the 19th Battalion was relieved by the 14/32nd Battalion.

On the morning of the 16th of March the Australians attacked again. R.A.A.F. Beauforts went in on low-level bombing runs and as they drew out, artillery began shelling the Jap positions. As the artillery closed down "B" Company of the 14/32nd Battalion, which had relieved a forward company of the 19th Battalion, advanced northwards to the high ground of Bacon's Hill. Two platoons were held up by machine-gun and mortar fire, so a third platoon moved around the left flank and took up a position only fifty yards from the Jap perimeter. 

The Jap was well dug in, and his cross-fire was well planned. Next day the attack was renewed. During the night, however, the Jap had moved out, though his mortars still plugged away, this time from new positions. It was during this attack only that he made use of planes against our ground troops. Two came in over the bridge crossing the Walwut River, dropped two heavy bombs and a number of anti-personnel bombs. They caused a few casualties.

From then on the enemy began to withdraw and Waitavalo was occupied without further opposition. Down in Tol plantation - scene of the massacre in 1942 - three skeletons and remnants of Australian equipment were found. During the next month a further seventy-three skeletons were discovered.

The first task had been completed. The Australians were firmly planted on each side of the Island, straddling the neck of the peninsula, and patrols were going inland from both coasts trying to find a potential track across the neck.

On the 4th of April, Major-General H. C. H. Robertson took over command of the Fifth Division from Major-General Ramsay who transferred to the Eleventh Division.

The situation was generally quiet throughout June. The battalions established their perimeters at Wide and Open Bays, and engineers widened and surfaced the roads around Tol and Waitavalo. The relief Of 36th Battalion from Open Bay, which had been going on since the 10th of May, was completed on the 6th of June after the 37/52nd Battalion had marched across Gazelle Peninsula. The 36th had been at Open Bay for eight and a half months.

On the 5th of June, the 2/2nd Commando Squadron arrived at Wide Bay and established headquarters at Lamarien near Henry Reid River. This squadron had previously fought in Timor and the Ramu Valley.

By this time a section of the R.N.Z.A.F. was established at Jacquinot Bay. It consisted of two squadrons o Corsairs and one of Venturas.

The main advance party of headquarters of the Eleventh Division, which was to relieve the Fifth of command in New Britain, arrived by flying boat from Cairns on the 23rd of June. The following day the plane returned to Australia with the advance party of the Fifth, which was to establish a camp on the Atherton Tableland.

In the last week of June, monsoonal rains began. During the last two days of the month about twenty inches of rain fell. The sea was too rough for barge traffic and planes could not find their way in or out of the bay.

Despite the weather, forward battalions continued patrolling, although most of their work was reconnaissance. On the Open Bay side of the island the 1st New Guinea Infantry Battalion patrolled forward to the north-cast side of Cooper's Clearing.

The R.N.Z.A.F. was most active. On every fine day the New Zealanders bombed and strafed enemy positions on each coast. Towards the end of the month land patrols became more active, but there was still no attempt to contact the enemy in strength. Our forces were pinning the Japs down and that was the task which they had been allotted.

Refugee natives, coming in from the top of the island, moved into Wide and Open Bays where they were recruited into A.N.G.A.U. camps for work.

On the 10th of July the Japs made a halfhearted harassing attack for the first time in the month. They were forced to withdraw when our artillery pin-pointed them on the Moondei River.

Back at Jacquinot Bay Major-General K. W. Eather (promoted from the command of 25th Brigade, Seventh Division) had arrived to take over the division from Major-General H.C.H. Robertson who had been given command of the Sixth Division on the New Guinea mainland. Another important administrative change was also in progress -the change- over of the headquarters staff from Fifth Division to Eleventh Division. The greater part of the Eleventh's staff had arrived from Australia on the 11th of August, a few days before the enemy surrendered.

"NX15943"