Amphibious landing of World War II
The Landing at Lae was an amphibious landing to the east of Lae and then the subsequent advance on the town during the Salamaua–Lae campaign of World War II. Part of Operation Postern, which was undertaken to capture the Japanese base at Lae, the landing was undertaken between 4 and 6 September 1943 by Australian troops from the 9th Division, supported by US naval forces from the VII Amphibious Force. The first major amphibious operation undertaken by the Australian Army since the failed Gallipoli Campaign, the Australians invested a significant amount of effort into planning the operation.
The initial landing saw one brigade and supporting elements being landed at two beaches about east of Lae. Once this brigade had secured the beachhead, a second brigade was landed to follow them up and help expand the beachhead. In the days following the landing the division's third and final brigade was brought ashore. The landing was carried out in conjunction with the airborne landing at Nadzab, and was followed by a drive on Lae by the 7th Division from Nadzab and the 9th from the landing beaches, which advanced with two brigades while one held the landing beach. Hampered by bad weather, logistical difficulties, and stiff resistance by the Japanese defenders, the 9th Division's advance stalled and ultimately troops from the 7th Division entered Lae first, entering the town on 16 September, the day before the 9th.
Strategy.
Allied.
In July 1942, the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff approved a series of operations (collectively called Operation Cartwheel) by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander, South West Pacific Area (SWPA), 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. In keeping with the overall Allied grand strategy of defeating Nazi Germany first, the immediate aim of these operations was not the defeat of Japan but merely the reduction of the threat posed by Japanese base at Rabaul to air and sea communications between the United States and Australia.
In 1942 and early 1943, MacArthur's forces fought off a series of Japanese offensives in Papua in the Kokoda Track campaign, Battle of Milne Bay, Battle of Buna–Gona, the Battle of Wau and the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Following these victories, the initiative passed to the Allies. At the Pacific Military Conference in Washington, D.C., in March 1943, MacArthur's plans were reviewed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The chiefs were unable to supply all the requested resources, so the plans had to be scaled back, with the capture of Rabaul postponed to 1944. On 6 May 1943, MacArthur's General Headquarters (GHQ) in Brisbane officially informed subordinate commands of the next phase of operations, which were to:
The second part was assigned to General Sir Thomas Blamey's New Guinea Force, which was a mainly Australian formation. As a result, "it became obvious that any military offensive in 1943 would have to be carried out mainly by the Australian Army, just as during the bitter campaigns of 1942."
Japanese.
In early 1942, the Japanese began making plans for the capture of the Salamaua–Lae area, which according to Kengoro Tanaka they desired as part of plans "to control the sea area to the east and north of Australia" due to the airfields located in the region. Lae was subsequently secured by a battalion of naval troops in February–March 1942. Lae was then developed into a significant forward base for Japanese aircraft, while Salamaua was invested with a naval garrison. In December that year, the Japanese began reinforcing Lae as they sought to shore up their southern flanks after the failure of operations to capture Port Moresby. By January 1943, the total strength of Japanese forces around Salamaua–Lae was around 6,500. Its strategic position, adjacent to the Solomon Sea, meant that it was the main Japanese base in the region, and throughout 1943 plans were made to hold both Lae and Salamaua.
By 1943, the Japanese maintained separate army and navy headquarters at Rabaul which cooperated with each other but were responsible to different higher authorities. Naval forces came under the Southeast Area Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Jinichi Kusaka. Army forces came under General Hitoshi Imamura's Eighth Area Army, consisting of the XVII Army in the Solomon Islands, Lieutenant General Hatazō Adachi's XVIII Army in New Guinea, and the 6th Air Division, based at Rabaul. As a result of the destruction of a convoy carrying reinforcements in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, the Japanese decided not send any more convoys to Lae, but instead to land troops at Hansa Bay and Wewak and move them forward to Lae by barge or submarine. In the long run they hoped to complete a road over the Finisterre Range and thence to Lae through the Ramu and Markham Valleys.
Imamura ordered Adachi to capture the Allied bases at Wau, Bena Bena and Mount Hagen. To support these operations, Imperial General Headquarters transferred the 7th Air Division to New Guinea. On 27 July 1943, Lieutenant General Kumaichi Teramoto's Fourth Air Army was assigned to Imamura's command to control the 6th and 7th Air Divisions, the 14th Air Brigade and some miscellaneous squadrons. By June, Adachi had three divisions in New Guinea: the 41st Division at Wewak and the 20th Division around Madang, both recently arrived from Palau, and the 51st Division in the Salamaua area, a total of about 80,000 men. Of these only the 51st Division was in contact with the enemy. Like Blamey, Adachi faced formidable difficulties of transportation and supply just to bring his troops into battle.
Geography.
Lae lies on the western base of the Huon Peninsula, on the southern side of the Huon Gulf. The area was flat, and generally well-drained. It had been developed as a port to meet the needs of the gold fields to the south, but there was no harbour, and deep water offshore meant that the anchorages were limited. The tidal range was small, with spring tides and neaps, and there were no coral reefs. The beaches to the east of Lae were suitable for landing craft. They were composed of firm black sand or shingle, and were about wide. But they had few exits, and for the most part were backed by dense jungle and mangrove swamps. There were no roads. The area was intercut by streams and rivers, the most important of which were the Burep and Busu Rivers. While neither wide nor deep, with firm, stoney bottoms, they were swift-flowing, with no fords, and so presented an obstacle to troops crossing.
Planning.
The landing would be made by Major General George Wootten's 9th Division, veterans of the siege of Tobruk and the First and Second Battles of El Alamein. It had returned to Australia from the Middle East after El Alamein, and been re-equipped, re-organised and re-trained for jungle operations around Kairi on the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland. Training in amphibious warfare was conducted nearby at Trinity Beach in Cairns with the American 2nd Engineer Special Brigade. This brigade was a large formation, with an establishment strength of 354 officers, 16 warrant officers and 6,806 enlisted men. Each of its three boat battalions had 120 small LCVPs and 12 larger LCMs, which they assembled themselves at a facility near Cairns. The 2nd Engineer Special Brigade was trained and equipped for "shore-to-shore" operations, over a maximum distance of .
The original concept was for a brigade of the 9th Division to be ferried along the coastline of New Guinea from a forward base at Morobe. The more Blamey thought about the prospect of doing this under the noses of the Japanese air base at Lae, the more hazardous it seemed. In May he went back to MacArthur and obtained approval for the operation to be modified to employ the entire 9th Division, and that they be carried in additional large landing craft operated by the VII Amphibious Force. Also known as Task Force 76, this was part of the US Navy's Seventh Fleet. It was commanded by Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey, and operated large ocean-going landing ships such as the LST, LCI and LCT. The ships' greater range meant that the entire force could stage at Milne Bay and travel directly to Lae from there. In July and August 1943, the 9th Division moved up to Milne Bay, where Barbey had already established his headquarters on board the .
As it was the first significant amphibious operation mounted by Australian forces since Gallipoli, extensive planning was put into the capture of Lae. Indeed, it was the first major operation for which the Australian Army was able to conduct long term forward planning, with deliberate planning beginning six months prior. Wooten deliberately chose landing sites beyond the range of Japanese artillery in Lae. "Red Beach" was to the east of the mouth of the Buso River, roughly east of Lae, and "Yellow Beach" was a further east, across the Bulu River. This was the first time in SWPA that beaches were designated with colours. The left end of the beach was marked with a solid red panel mounted on tent poles, the right with one alternating red and white. At night, the left would have a red light, and the right one alternating red and white. Yellow beach was marked the same way, with yellow instead of red. Maps and models of the landing sites were made, and kept closely guarded. Soldiers were made familiar with models of the beaches where they would be landing, but the names were kept secret. Rehearsals were conducted on Normanby Island.
A series of meetings involving Wooten, Barbey, Edmund Herring (Wooten's superior as commander of I Corps), Colonel Merian C. Cooper from the Fifth Air Force, and Air Commodore Joe Hewitt from the RAAF, reached agreement, or at least compromise, on many points. Wooten wanted at least 10 days' reserve rations. This meant that some stores would have to be transported in bulk, and not pre-loaded on trucks as Barbey initially wanted. Loading the stores onto trucks was an inefficient use of shipping space, but permitted quick unloading of the LSTs, as the trucks could simply be driven off. The 9th Division did not have sufficient trucks for this, but 200 trucks earmarked for the US Advanced Base at Lae were borrowed from USASOS. Barbey would not allow loaded vehicles on the tank decks of the LSTs, as this was a fire hazard, so bulk stores were carried there instead.
Ammunition requirements were based on experience in the desert, there being no reliable data on usage in SWPA due to acute supply difficulties. Some of ammunition was drawn from the 10th Advanced Ammunition Depot at Milne Bay for the 25-pounders of the 2/12th Field Regiment and the Bofors 40 mm guns of the 2/4th Light Antiaircraft Regiment. The 9th Division also had two shore fire control parties from the 1st Australian Naval Bombardment Group to coordinate naval gunfire support, who had been specially trained at the Flinders Naval Depot in Victoria.
Wooten initially wanted a night landing, which would give tactical surprise and maximise the time for unloading the landing ships before Japanese aircraft put in an appearance; but there would be no moon on 4 September, so Barbey was uncertain that he would be able to correctly locate the beaches. H-Hour was therefore set at 06:30, which was twenty minutes after sunrise. Because the air force had commitments to support the 7th Division's landing at Nadzab the following day, air cover would not be available in the afternoon. Barbey therefore wanted the ships to depart at 11:00. This raised the question of whether the ships could be unloaded in just 4½ hours. Barbey gave assurances that unloading would continue even under Japanese air attack. For Australian officers with memories of the Tobruk Ferry Service, where the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy had lost 25 ships keeping the port's garrison supplied, the US Navy's attitude was not good enough.
A key part of Blamey's plan was for Australian and US forces to maintain pressure on the Japanese garrison around Salamaua to the south-west in the lead up to the landing in an effort to draw Japanese reinforcements away from Lae. In this they were completely successful; the Japanese 51st Division