ABSTRACT
After the fall of Singapore and the Dutch East Indies to the Japanese, Australia was threatened. Australia had two territories in New Guinea. Papua was a territory of the Commonwealth, and North-East New Guinea was a part of the New Guinea Mandate. Unlike Malaya and Burma, the Japanese did not initially have a plan for occupying the whole of New Guinea. Their aggressive plan in this region developed haltingly. Equal attention is given in this chapter to both the American and Australian units who battled the Japanese. The focus of this chapter is on the operational-tactical aspects against the broader strategic background. Much emphasis is given to the sphere of minor tactics in order to evaluate the learning curve, if any, displayed by the Australian and American units. When the Japanese went into a strategic defensive mode, they displayed excellent ingenuity at building obstacles which slowed up the Allied advance. In the end, the Japanese were defeated. Thanks to inculcation of realistic training for jungle warfare, the Australian and American infantry’s combat effectiveness increased with time.
