 A small 25-man force of naval reservists was subsequently landed at Kabakaul Bay and continued inland to capture the radio station believed to be in operation at Bita Paka, to the south.The Australians were resisted by a mixed force of German reservists and Melanesian native police, who forced them to fight their way to the radio station.By nightfall, the radio station was reached and it was found to have been abandoned, the mast dropped but its instruments and machinery intact.