This bombing operation was also the moment in the New Guinea campaign when Japanese air power no longer threatened the Allies. Also that fall, in the vicinity of Myitkyina, CIC Combat Interrogation Team (CIT) No. On 5 March, Imperial General Headquarters by Navy . [17], After this failure, the Japanese decided on a longer term, two-pronged assault for their next attempt on Port Moresby. In November 1944 the 6th Australian Division relieved the last U.S. Army units in the Aitape area and launched a drive down the coast toward Wewak, finally taking it on May 10, 1945. Interestingly enough, among these records was a complete listing of the Japanese Imperial Army Ordnance Inventory. The campaign was long and arduous, but by the end of 1944 the Japanese threat was contained in New Guinea. 16 dealt with interrogation of captured American B-24 air crews; No. Among this cache were code books and a list of Japanese and German agents in the United States. MacArthur was now determined to liberate the island as a stepping-stone to the reconquest of the Philippines. I want you to take Buna, or not come back alive. [11] For the same reasons, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander Allied Forces South West Pacific Area was determined to hold it. The majority of the Allied force was provided by the United States, with the bulk of two United States Army infantry divisions being committed on the ground. Forward positions would first be established at Milne Bay, located in the forked eastern end of the Papuan peninsula, and at Buna, a village on the northeast coast of Papua about halfway between Huon Gulf and Milne Bay. 7 was cancelled and no record is held that No. 5 captured many military documents. West Papua is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly known as Dutch New Guinea. The National Archives at College Park as well as other United States and foreign archival institutions hold copies of these publications. 255) Procedure in interrogating and handling [Allied] prisoners of war. Over 420 of these were published. The Royal Australian Air Force and Dutch air units remained under Kenneys control as part of the Allied Air Forces, while the Royal New Zealand Air Force, together with certain U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy land-based air units, continued to operate along the Solomon Islands axis. In March 1943, a document was captured showing the submarine schedule between Lae, New Guinea, and New Britain. [citation needed]. [50], Three transports were assigned to the operation, Westralia, Gunston Hall and Ganymede. Tweet. Three weeks later, on March 21, 1944, a captured field order disclosed the Japanese strength at Rossum, New Britain. The story of the capture and return of the Z documents is detailed in Appendix II. The War Department Intelligence Service established a secret school at the Presidio of San Francisco to teach individuals to be Japanese-language interpreters and translators. The landings at Hollandia and Aitape were followed just four weeks later by landings at Wakde, Sarmi and Toem, to the west. 72 (formerly ATIS Information Bulletin No. Report No. The umbrella term for the series of strategic actions taken by the Allies to reduce and capture the vast Japanese naval and air facilities at Rabaul was Operation Cartwheel. Such experiments led to improvements in naval gunfire techniques and infantry tactics in time for the Marshalls operation. Land-based aircraft of the Allied air forces softened up the Hollandia area, destroying more than 300 enemy aircraft during the weeks preceding the attack. [59], Operation Reckless was an unqualified success, as were the landings around Aitape under the guise of Operation Persecution. This airfield was of great value to the Australians during the fighting for northeast Papua. To ensure that all involved in captured records activities had an appreciation for records and information, the Allied Translation and Interpreter Section (ATIS) (Southwest Pacific Area [SWPA]) published, at the specific direction of the War Department, Publication No. [52], Seven LSTs and the Australian transport Westralia were unloaded over the shore at White 1, landing 4,200 tonnes of combat supplies and over 300 vehicles on the first day. The Eastern Fleet's British and American aircraft carriers raided Sabang on 19 April. [7] The attack was designated Operation Reckless in recognition of the risks involved in carrying it out. The Dutch East Indies fell into Japan's sphere. [33], Initial operations commenced in the second week of March 1944 with air raids by aircraft of the U.S. 5th Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force attacked Japanese airfields along the New Guinea coast from Wewak to the Vogelkop and on Biak Island. When Germany and Italy declared war on the United States days later, America found itself in a global war. When Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, was captured in late April one of the first places CIC agents seized was the post office. The report contained 28 pages of translations, each translation accompanied by a photostatic copy of the original document and authenticated under oath by the translation. Adachi's decision may have been motivated by a belief that Hansa Bay would be the target of the next Allied amphibious landing and that he could reinforce Hollandia at a later date. The Battle for Milne Bay was a small one as World War II engagements went, but very important. See Appendix I for information about the ATIS publication program. The plan called for the establishment of a two-battalion front, with troops landed in seven waves at two beaches: Red 1 around the Depapre Inlet and Red 2 on the eastern side of the bay. It is important to note that all ATIS units maintained close relations with the CIC units and Australian Army Field Security Service, since these units were largely responsible for the collection and dispatch of captured documents in forward areas to the language personnel stationed with tactical units. [21] Japanese bombers were often escorted by fighters which came in at 30,000ft (9,100m)too high to be intercepted by the P-39s and P-40sgiving the Japanese an altitude advantage in air combat. He told soldiers that ATIS personnel had told him that they had seen Japanese documents held as souvenirs of earlier battles in New Guinea, which contained information of tactical value which if had been turned in at the time, would have saved lives and shortened battles. Second, the Allies had become convinced that the Japanese were preparing a major seaborne reinforcement and so had stepped up their air searches. [3] Of these, only one was considered to be complete. During the first week of March 1945, I Corps ATIS Advanced Echelon on Luzon translated four top secret Japanese operational orders made between February 26th-March 2nd. By 26 April, U.S. troops secured the two eastern airfields, and later that day linked up with forces advancing from the 24th Division advancing from Tanahmerah Bay. Miscellaneous identifications taken from documents captured in early November in the Pinamopoan Area, Leyte, gave the first indication of the Japanese 1st Divisions presence in this area. (1944), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Guinea_campaign&oldid=1136220909, 44,000 on Bougainville (politically a part of New Guinea), 30,500 on New Britain, New Ireland, and the Admiralty Islands. [35], Once the Japanese had decided to give up on Guadalcanal, the capture of Port Moresby loomed even larger in their strategic thinking. In early April 1943, a Japanese map was captured showing hidden positions of 87 barges at Labu, New Guinea. Capturing it would both neutralize the Allies' principal forward base and serve as a springboard for a possible invasion of Australia. Gen. Millard F. Harmon, who was also subordinate to Nimitz. The U.S. built Naval Base Morotai, . The Japanese occupied the village with an initial force of 1,500 on 21 July and by 22 August had 11,430 men under arms at Buna. Copies of these ATIS publications can be found at the National Archives at College Park, the Australian National Archives, as well as other archival repositories. 76, Part 4, Prominent Factors in Japanese Military Psychology.. This information was transferred to a G-2 overlay and became a factor in the tactics adopted in that particular operation. Only 30 percent of the captured documents needed no treatment; the rest needed cleaning, drying, and/or other conservation treatment. [54] There was little resistance initially, but further inland there was some opposition as elements of the 186th Infantry reached the lake by 24 April. Cushing, realizing the possible significance of the documents, notified his superiors who in turn notified the Allied Intelligence Bureau in Brisbane. Air and naval support consisted largely of U.S. assets, although Australia also provided air support during preliminary operations and a naval bombardment force. [13], Due north of Port Moresby, on the northeast coast of Papua, are the Huon Gulf and the Huon Peninsula. [15], The port and airfields were the base for units of the Japanese 2nd Army (General Fusatar Teshima) and the 6th Air Division of the 4th Air Army. Aerial resupply brought some relief, and on 30 April a group of 12 LCTs, towed by several LSTs, arrived at Humboldt Bay. Accordingly, the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, directed on September 22, 1944, that Advanced Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ADVATIS) be established in the immediate vicinity of General Headquarters at Hollandia. Joseph J. Rochefort (of the Battle of Midway code-breaking fame). The situation was not fully resolved until 3 May when transport aircraft began landing on an airstrip that was hastily built by an engineer aviation battalion at Tami. [4] See The Beginnings of the United States Armys Japanese Language Training: From the Presidio of San Francisco to Camp Savage, Minnesota 1941-1942,. US troops man Anti Aircraft MG in New Guinea 1942. 84 dealt with The Japanese and Bacterial Warfare. At Kokoda [between Port Moresby and Buna] 268 documents were captured, at Buna 1,349, at Lae [eastern New Guinea] 1,562, while at Saipan in July 1944 the figure reached at least 27 tons.[14]. [16] Only about 500 of the 11,000 personnel were ground combat troops, being drawn from several antiaircraft batteries. [20], I Corps under Lieutenant General Robert Eichelberger provided most of the ground forces for the combined Operations Reckless and Persecution. Current Translations were publications containing complete translations of documents classified A, B, C, or D in ATIS Bulletins. Excerpts from the citation indicate that he, with great risk to his life made reconnaissance in a number of caves which had been occupied by Japanese, approaching dangerously close to enemy fire and recovered more than 11 cases of enemy documents vitally needed for the successful conclusion of the operation.. [36] The air and naval attacks succeeded in isolating the remaining Japanese forces in New Guinea. Found on the vessel were Japanese documents, including field orders and prisoner interrogation reports that indicated the Japanese knew when and where the American operation was to take place. [14] MacArthur was further determined to conquer all of New Guinea in his progress toward the eventual recapture of the Philippines. Rabaul overlooks Simpson Harbor, a considerable natural anchorage, and was ideal for the construction of airfields. [53], Meanwhile, the infantry continued their advance inland. Before the operation against the Japanese at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, 41 st CIC Detachment Special Agent in Charge Duval Edwards at Finschhaven during March and April 1944 gave many lectures on the great importance of soldiers turning in any captured documents. Written orders including route, objective of raid, and extent to which enemy intended to rely on these new tactics were also included. January 23, 1942 - August 1945. author Paul Bocu, 2019. White 1 would be the main landing, as it provided the only spot where the larger LSTs could land, while White 2 would be secured with smaller LVTs and DUKWs, which would be used to cross the shallow entrance to Jautefa Bay. Hollandia was a port on the north coast of New Guinea, part of the Dutch East Indies, and was the only anchorage between Wewak to the east, and Geelvink Bay to the west. In mid-July 1944, near Moemi, soldiers recovered three cases of buried records, including seven important documents that a Japanese deserter had led them to. Round one had gone to the Americans and Australians who had ejected the. Operation Reckless, the invasion of Hollandia and Aitape of 22-27 April 1944, was one of the most dramatic leapfrogging operations during the New Guinea campaign, and saw American forces bypass the strong Japanese bases at Wewak and Hansa Bay and capture key bases for MacArthur's planned return to the Philippines. [4], In early 1944, after the Huon Peninsula had been secured, the Allied South West Pacific Command determined that the area should be seized and developed into a staging post for their advance along the north coast of New Guinea into the Dutch East Indies and to the Philippines. [18]. [46], On landing, the U.S. troops came under sporadic small arms and machine gun fire, but this was quickly suppressed. He was thrown into his own jail.[15]. The naval command in the Southwest Pacific remained unchanged. [43], The remaining destroyers with about 2,700 surviving troops limped back to Rabaul. The landings took place at dawn on 22 April after a supporting naval bombardment at each site. Copies of the documents were made in Brisbane and the original documents were returned to the aircraft crash site by another submarine. [43][44] Meanwhile, carrier-borne aircraft attacked targets around Wakde, Sarmi and Hollandia from 21 April, destroying at least 33 Japanese planes in the air and more on the ground. During the period of October 1942-July 1943, the work of indexing, abstracting and collating information from captured documents and prisoners of war, answering internal queries, and providing information to assist translators and examiners, was carried on by a staff consisting of six officers and ten enlisted personnel. ", Samuel Eliot Morison, Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, p. 60, planes and PTs went about the sickening business of killing survivors in boats, rafts or wreckage. Combat boundaries were listed. [17] These troops were positioned along the Depapre Lake Sentani trail. After taking evasive routes to the west of the Admiralty Islands to avoid air attack,[42] the convoy turned back towards their objective late in the afternoon. Between November 1943 and March 1944 18 Squadron was ordered to prevent Japanese reinforcements reaching the north-east part of Papua and New Guinea. During the second phase, lasting from late 1942 until the Japanese surrender, the Alliesconsisting primarily of Australian forcescleared the Japanese first from Papua, then the Mandate and finally from the Dutch colony. To alleviate this difficulty, in July 1944, an officer was assigned for duty with ATIS for the purpose of organizing a sub-section to clean and restore documents making them more readily legible. 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