The Battle of Wareo (27 November – 8 December 1943) was fought by Australian and Japanese forces in New Guinea during the Huon Peninsula campaign of World War II in the later part of 1943. Coming after the capture of Sattelberg by the Allies, the battle took place amidst the Australian advance north towards Sio. The Australians committed elements from four infantry brigades from the Australian 9th Division with supporting elements including artillery, engineers and tank support, while the Japanese force consisted primarily of two depleted infantry regiments from the 20th Division, with limited artillery support.
The Australian advance in this region developed into three drives. In the west, forces advanced north from Sattelberg following its capture, while in the east, an advance was made from North Hill on the coast, north of Scarlet Beach, where the Australians had landed earlier in the campaign. A smaller drive was made in the centre from Nongora, which lay in between the two, although this was limited and subsequently linked up with the coastal drive. Although possessing significant forces, the Australian advance proved slow. Heavy rain and harsh terrain slowed the Australian resupply efforts and reduced the mobility of their manoeuvre elements. Disease and fatigue also heavily depleted their infantry, with more casualties being suffered from illnesses than combat.
The Japanese units in the area also defended strongly, but they too were short on supplies and in the end they were forced to withdraw further north. Wareo subsequently fell to the Allies on 8 December, who then established a line east from Wareo to Gusika on the coast. From there they carried out further advances north later in the month and into early January 1944.
Background
In September 1943, Australian forces launched the first phase of Operation Cartwheel, General Douglas MacArthur's advance on the main Japanese base at Rabaul. The operation initially went well. Lae fell on 16 September, and having advanced north along the coast towards the Huon Peninsula, the Australians had the Japanese forces on the back foot. On 22 September, elements of the Australian 9th Division, commanded by Major General George Wootten, landed at Scarlet Beach from where they began to fan out to the south and west to capture Finschhafen and to begin the advance towards Sio, further around the coast on the northern side of the Huon Peninsula.
Up to this point the Allied advance had been faster than planned, but at Finschhafen it faltered. The rapid advance had created logistical difficulties. In particular, the engineers required to develop the captured areas were not yet available. This became critical when heavy rains delayed the opening of the Lae–Nadzab Road. Without the road, the planned airbase at Nadzab could not be developed, and without the airbase, air cover could not be provided for another amphibious operation. MacArthur was forced to postpone the next phase of Cartwheel, Operation Dexterity, the landing on New Britain.
The initiative now passed to the Japanese. As the Australians advanced, a large force of Japanese – consisting largely of the 79th and 80th Infantry Regiments, part of the 26th Field Artillery Regiment and a battalion of the 238th Infantry Regiment, which were grouped together as the 20th Division under Lieutenant General Shigeru Katagiri – launched an unsuccessful counter-attack in October before retreating inland towards an abandoned German mission that sat atop a 900-metre (3,000 ft) peak at Sattelberg.
By 5 November, General Headquarters (GHQ) South West Pacific Area (SWPA) had decided that the Finschhafen area would be developed into a major air and naval base, but the large Japanese force on Sattelberg still overlooked the base area. In order to remove this threat, Wootten sent the 26th Infantry Brigade to capture Sattelberg on 16 November. On 25 November, after 10 days of fighting, and an advance up the southern approaches from Jivevaneng by infantry supported by artillery, armour and air support, Sattelberg was seized by the Australians. Having suffered heavy casualties, and short on supplies, the Japanese withdrew north to Wareo, where they established themselves in preparation for further attacks by the Australians.
Logistics
Allied
Allied supplies were hauled from Lae in the Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel and Landing Craft Mechanised of the US 2nd Engineer Special Brigade, affectionately known as the "9th Division Navy". The capture of Dreger Harbour and Langemak Bay provided sheltered unloading areas, although they had not yet been developed into ports. This allowed the 2nd Engineer Special Brigade to make supply runs every second day. During October, its boats made 3,870 trips totalling 157,513 miles (253,493 km), and carried 5,930 troops and 26,573 long tons (26,999 t) of cargo.
These were supplemented by less frequent trips by the much larger Landing Craft Tank and Landing Ships Tank of the VII Amphibious Force, which brought up tanks and artillery pieces. Their capacity was not as great as it could have been because, due to fear of Japanese air attacks, they had to quickly unload in the darkness. Some 800 men were employed by day and 800 by night unloading craft on the beaches. By 1 November, there were 12,000 rounds of 25 pounder ammunition in the Finschhafen area, and stocks were increasing at a rate of two LCM loads per day. After unloading at Finschhafen, supplies were moved overland to where they were needed by jeeps, and where the terrain prevented this, by hand. In this regard, some New Guinean labourers were employed, but a shortage of such personnel resulted in the Australians allocating some of their combat troops to this role.
The wounded were taken to the aid posts and dressing stations in the field, and then to the 2/3rd Casualty Clearing Station, which arrived at Langemak Bay in October, or the 2/2nd Casualty Clearing Station, which opened at Heldsbach Plantation in November. Patients evacuated by sea on the small Australian Army hospital ship Stradbroke II, and later the improvised American Army hospital ship Norab. Air evacuation began when the airstrip at Finschhafen was opened in December.
Large numbers of Australian and American troops began arriving in November to develop the base at Finschhafen. There were US Army engineers to develop the airbase, and US Navy Seabees to build a PT Boat base at Dreger Harbour. The Finschhafen Base Sub Area, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel H. T. Allan, was formed in November to support Australian operations in the area. Its American counterpart, known as Base F, followed on 15 November.
Japanese
The Japanese also relied upon water transport for logistics during the battle. Due to heavy shipping losses earlier in the year during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, they employed a small force of submarines in an effort to avoid Allied air attack. Closer to the battle zone, barges were used to augment these submarines, but they too proved vulnerable to attack by Allied aircraft and PT boats. The distribution of Japanese supplies was hampered by the lack of native carriers, which the Japanese had been unable to recruit due to an Allied propaganda campaign in the region. In addition, there was a lack of motor transport and the track system was under developed. As a result, distribution of supplies once they had been landed was undertaken by resupply parties which were drawn largely from combat units. These parties moved overland on foot using a number of key tracks that existed north of the Wareo–Gusika ridge.
Prelude
Shortly after the Australians had landed at Scarlet Beach in late September, they began to patrol the area north of there towards Bonga and Gusika. Several key tracks and junctions were located by troops from the 2/43rd Infantry Battalion, who named them "Imperial", "Oriental", "Norfolk" and "Exchange", after Adelaide pubs. Through the use of aerial reconnaissance evidence was found that the Japanese were using these tracks to traverse the area and to move supplies west towards Sattelberg. Observation posts were established and it became apparent to the Australians that one hill in particular, a feature later dubbed "Pabu" by the Australians after one of their native scouts, was the key terrain in the area. Part of an area that later became known as "Horace the Horse" to the Australians due to its shape as viewed from the air, it was within artillery range of the Australian forward positions at North Hill and as such could be occupied and held by a small party who could then disrupt the Japanese supply line. In October, the Japanese had launched a counter-attack in the region and as the Australians had been forced back, they were forced to abandon Pabu.
The October counter-attack was turned back. The commander of the Japanese XVIII Army, Lieutenant General Hatazō Adachi, visited Katagiri's command post, and ordered a renewal of the attack, which Katagiri scheduled for 23 November. Meanwhile, the Australians sought to regain the initiative. Wootten decided to establish a position in depth behind the Japanese forward line, and subsequently further efforts were made to establish a force at Pabu in front of the Australian forward line at North Hill. Three companies from the 2/32nd Infantry Battalion under Major Bill Mollard, were sent to occupy it in mid-November, and after striking north of the Song River from North Hill, with the help of native scouts, they moved between the Japanese positions as "Exchange" and "Pino Hill". Following a heavy bombardment from the field guns of the 2/12th Field Regiment firing from Heldsbach Plantation, they captured the position. Over the next few days, the Australians established themselves, and began patrolling operations. After bringing up mortars and Vickers medium machine guns, they began to attack the Japanese resupply parties moving through the area, inflicting heavy casualties.
As a result of the occupation of Pabu, and the general movement of Australian forces towards Wareo–Bonga, the Japanese infantry were threatened with being trapped. In response, the Japanese commander, Katagiri, diverted some of the effort away from the recapture of Finschhafen, and resolved to recapture the North Hill–Pabu area. A strong force of Japanese subsequently advanced south along the coastal track from Bonga, attempting to retake North Hill and the ground north of the Song River. Commencing on 22 November, the Japanese made heavy assaults around North Hill, on positions which were defended by Australians from the 2/43rd Infantry Battalion and the 2/2nd Machine Gun Battalion. The 2/32nd, with two companies isolated to the north around Pabu, was also in the thick of the fighting, and over the space of 10 days it was subjected to repeated attacks. Despite being short of food and receiving repeated mortar fire, the 2/32nd held its ground with the assistance of strong artillery support, and in doing so inflicted heavy casualties upon the Japanese. Later at least 195 bodies were found around the 2/32nd's position; their own losses amounted to 25 killed and 51 wounded. The Japanese commanding general, Hatazo Adachi, later pinpointed the Australian capture of Pabu Hill as one of the main reasons for the defeat of his force during the Huon Peninsula campaign.
The Japanese counter-attacks were eventually repulsed and after this, the Australians resumed their advance. The plan called for a three-pronged attack by a divisional sized force of around 13,000 men. While the 26th Infantry Brigade advanced to Wareo, the 24th Infantry Brigade took up a position on their right with the intention of capturing the area from Gusika on the coast to the "Lakes", two large water features about 2 miles (3.2 km) inland. The 20th Infantry Brigade advanced in the centre between the 24th and 26th Infantry Brigades, striking out for Wareo from Nongora. Meanwhile, the 4th Infantry Brigade was assigned to defend the Allied beachhead around Finschhafen and Heldsbach, although it would later be employed in the coastal drive.
Battle
Pursuit of Japanese forces to Bonga
Along the coast, the 2/28th Infantry Battalion was assigned the task of leading the Australian advance along with a troop from the 1st Tank Battalion and engineers from the 2/7th Field Company. Commencing in the afternoon of 27 November, they began clearing operations between Bonga and North Hill along the coast with a secondary task of sending a company towards Pabu to facilitate the relief of the 2/32nd. In the vicinity, the Japanese 20th Division, consisting of the remnants of the 79th, 80th and 238th Infantry Regiments, numbered 4,670 men, of which 2,500 were combat effective. The lead company of the 2/28th Infantry Battalion moved off shortly after midday, passing through the 2/43rd Infantry Battalion's lines. Initially there was no opposition and by the afternoon they established a defensive position near a waterfall. The following morning, the advance continued. The ground astride the coastal track, although flat, was covered in dense jungle, which was not suitable for tracked vehicles to move across. The result of this was that the Australian tanks had to remain on the track, advancing behind the infantry, which limited the rate of their advance and prevented them from being able to apply the full weight of their firepower.