Battle of Buna-Gona
Buna and Gona, Oro Province, Papua New Guinea
What happened
Australian and US forces under Edmund Herring, George Vasey and Robert Eichelberger fought Japanese defenders under Yosuke Yokoyama and Yoshitatsu Yasuda. After the Kokoda Track campaign, Japanese forces held beachheads on the north coast of Papua. They built strong hidden bunkers among swamps and tall grass. For two months Allied soldiers attacked through rain, mud and widespread malaria, until the Japanese garrisons, cut off from supplies, were overcome.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It ended the Japanese threat to Port Moresby and to Australia from Papua. Allied losses were higher than at Guadalcanal, and the hard lessons changed Allied training and tactics.
What came next
Japanese resistance ended on 22 January 1943. Some Japanese troops escaped overland toward Salamaua and Lae, where the next Allied campaign would be fought.
Did you know?
General Eichelberger wore the three stars of his rank among front-line troops, ignoring the custom of removing them at the front.
Timeline
- July 1942Japanese troops land at Buna and Gona.
- 2 November 1942Australian troops retake Kokoda.
- 16 November 1942The Allied attack on the beachheads begins.
- 22 January 1943Japanese resistance ends.