Landing at Nadzab

The Landing at Nadzab was an airborne landing on 5 September 1943 during the New Guinea campaign of World War II. The parachute drop was carried out by the US Army’s 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment and elements of the Australian Army’s 24th Field Regiment. It was observed by General Douglas MacArthur, who was circling overhead in a B-17. Private Richard Kelliher won the Victoria Cross, Australia’s highest award for gallantry.

About Landing at Nadzab in brief

The Landing at Nadzab was an airborne landing on 5 September 1943 during the New Guinea campaign of World War II in conjunction with the landing at Lae. The parachute drop was carried out by the US Army’s 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment and elements of the Australian Army’s 24th Field Regiment. It was observed by General Douglas MacArthur, who was circling overhead in a B-17. The 25th Infantry Brigade commenced its advance on Lae and engaged the Japanese soldiers at Jensen’s Plantation. Private Richard Kelliher won the Victoria Cross, Australia’s highest award for gallantry. The Japanese Army elected not to fight for Lae, preferring instead to withdraw over the Saruwaged Range. In July 1942, the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff approved a series of operations against the Japanese bastion at Rabaul, which blocked any Allied advance along the northern coast of New Guinea toward the Philippines or north toward the main Japanese naval base at Truk. After strenuous efforts in the face of wet weather, the road was opened on 15 December 1943. NadzAb then became the major Allied air base in New Guinea. In March 1943, General MacArthur’s plans were reviewed by the Pacific Military Conference in Washington, D.C. The plans were unable to be scaled back, so the capture of Rabaul was postponed to 1944. The second part of Task Two was assigned to General Sir Thomas Blamey’s New Guinea Force. As a result, any military offensive in 1943 would have to be carried out mainly by the Australian army, which cooperated with the higher authorities at higher levels.

This meant that any offensive against Rabaul would have been carried out just as during the bitter bitter campaigns of 1942 and 1943. In the end, the Japanese Army managed to withdraw its forces from Salamaua and Lae,. though with extensive losses from exposure and starvation during the retreat. The Japanese reaction to Task One, the seizure of the southern part of the Solomon Islands, was more violent than anticipated and some months passed before the Guadalcanal Campaign was brought to a successful conclusion. Meanwhile, General. MacArthur’s forces fought off a number of Japanese offensives in Papua in the Kokoda Track campaign, Battle of Milne Bay and Battle of Buna–Gona. The Battle of Wau and the Battle of the Bismarck Sea also took place in 1943 and 1944. After these victories, the initiative in the South West Pacific passed to the Allies and General. Douglas MacArthur pressed ahead with his plans for Task Two. He was the supreme commander of the Allied forces in the area. The South WestPacific Area, which included Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, came under General MacArthur as supreme commander. Most of the remainder, known as the Pacific Ocean Areas came under Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. In March 1942 the Pacific theatre was divided into two separate commands, each with its own commander-in-chief. There was no authority capable of resolving competing claims for resources, setting priorities, or shifting resources from one command to the other.

Related posts:

Battle of Kaiapit Battle of the Bismarck Sea Battle of Arawe Douglas MacArthur’s escape from the Philippines