Battle For New Guinea
New Guinea's terrain was some of the most forbidding in the South Pacific. its sheer size and lack of cartography made it a difficult campaign for both sides. Fighting in some parts of New Guinea continued until the war ended, in August 1945.
Bismarck Sea Victory
In early March 1943, planes of the Untied States Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked a Japanese convoy carrying troops to Lae, New Guinea. Most of the task force was destroyed and Japanese manpower losses were extremely high.
5th Air Force Reports
The Fifth Air Force provided the aerial spearhead for MacArthur's island hopping campaign, and were an integral part of the successful campaign to retake New Guinea and the Philippines.
6th Infantry At Maffin Bay
The 6th Infantry Division of WWII holds the unchallenged record for consecutive days of continuous combat in the Pacific Theater, 219, set by the Division on the Island of Luzon, the Philippines. Prior to that, the Division's baptism of fire came in a battle at Maffin Bay, New Guinea, known as the battle for "Lone Tree Hill." It was to prove to be the bloodiest ten days in the entire New Guinea campaign.
Mission to Rabaul
Rabaul, on the island of New Britain, was Japan's most important forward base in the campaigns against New Guinea. Airfields ringed the base and the anchorage at Simpson Harbor bristled with Japanese warships. Land-based airpower from New Guinea made the reduction of Rabaul a primary goal.