Battle for New Georgia

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Battle for New Georgia
Landings on New Georgia
Landings on New Georgia
date June 20 to August 25, 1943
place New Georgia , Solomon Islands , Pacific
output American victory
Parties to the conflict

United States 48United States United States

Japanese EmpireJapanese Empire Japan

Commander

William Halsey

Sasaki Minoru

Troop strength
32,000 10,500
losses

1195 dead

1671 dead

The Battle of New Georgia (Operation Toenails) was a battle of the Pacific War during World War II . It took place from June 20, 1943 to August 25, 1943 and was part of Operation Cartwheel .

background

The Japanese had captured New Georgia in 1942 and established an air force base at Munda Point , from where they supported operations in the Battle of Guadalcanal . The aim of the Allied forces was to eliminate this base and to use it for further action in the Solomon Islands .

planning

Admiral Richmond K. Turner divided his powers into two groups: the West group, which was to take Rendova, Munda Point and Enogai, later also Kolombangara ; the group east, which was supposed to land at Wickham, Segi Point and Viru.

The first thing to do was to capture the island of Rendova in order to form a forward base from which the main invasion could be started and supported. At the same time, the supply lines were to be secured with landings at Segi Point, Wickham Anchorage on the southeastern island of Vangunu and Viru Harbor.

The second phase, the main invasion, should be taken with a landing near Munda Point. In addition, with a landing at Enogai Point and the conquest of Bairoko, the supply of the Japanese from Kolombangara to Munda Point was to be interrupted.

course

Landing at Segi Point / Lambeti

On June 20, 1943, the Americans noticed that the Japanese were marching towards Lambeti. Although the landing was not scheduled for June 30, Admiral Turner reacted immediately to secure space for the planned airfield. The next day two companies of the 4th Marine Raider Battalion landed and two companies of infantry landed the next day . Since the Japanese army withdrew immediately, this went on without resistance from the Japanese. The Americans were soon able to start building an airfield, from which air support for further operations could be given from July 12th.

Landing on Rendova Island

At 7:00 a.m. on June 30, the Americans began landing about 5,000 men from six transports and eight destroyers on Rendova Island, which took the Japanese completely by surprise. A Japanese unit with about 140 men was quickly overwhelmed. On the same day the bridgehead reached a depth of one kilometer. The resistance of the Japanese was limited to artillery fire from Munda Point all morning . They were only able to respond with air strikes around noon, with Admiral Turner's flagship, the McCawley transport ship, being damaged by a torpedo. It had to be sunk later. The American landing forces were badly hit in another air raid two days later. They had 30 dead and 200 injured, and a fuel depot was destroyed. Four days after landing, the Japanese launched an air raid with 16 bombers, but all of them were lost.

Landing at Wickham Anchorage / Vura

The landing on June 30, 1943 at Wickham Anchorage was far more difficult. Reports that the Japanese were occupying the landing areas caused the Americans to reschedule and bring the shock troops ashore before dawn. They should attack the Japanese at the port. Heavy rain and strong winds reduced visibility to almost zero, which made landing very difficult. Some units landed in the wrong places and had to be brought back onto the landing craft and to the right places.

In the next four days, however, it was possible to drive the Japanese out of Vura with artillery support .

Landing at Zanana / Munda Point

Advance on Munda Point
Capture of the Munda Point airfield
The goal: Munda Point airfield

The main landing took place at Zanana, a few kilometers east of Munda Point. It started on July 2nd; on July 6th all armed forces were brought ashore. The plan to capture Munda Point was simple. General Hester planned an advance from Zanana to the Barike River, about three miles away. From there the infantry regiments (the 169th in the hinterland and the 172nd on the coast) were to advance towards Munda and conquer first the hills and then the airfield. But the only way through the rainforest was a narrow footpath from Zanana north and then west. It writhed between ridges and was protected by hidden Japanese positions. It was difficult for the American troops, who had poor maps, to find their way around the rainforest.

The 172nd Infantry Regiment reached the Barike River with little difficulty, but the 169th received a brutal introduction to jungle combat . The regiment's soldiers had a busy day following the local guides through the rainforest. During the night they were repeatedly hit by Japanese counter-attacks and the American troops spent a sleepless night. The next day they continued their advance and came across a Japanese resistance nest. Raised machine guns stopped the advance. Direct attacks on the hidden Japanese positions only resulted in losses of their own. Attempts were now made to fight the Japanese with grenade launchers. The next day the Japanese positions were stormed and the advance to the Barike River continued.

After hours of bombardment of the suspected Japanese positions, the second part of the operation began on July 9th. Despite the slow progress, the Americans struggled with supplies as efforts to build a road from Zanana to the front were slow. So the supplies of ammunition, food and water had to be carried back to the front and the wounded. Half of the troops were busy.

General Hester tried to shorten the supply lines and built a new beachhead 3 km west of Munda Point. At the same time, the 169th regiment tried to conquer the heights north of Munda. The procedure was reminiscent of the First World War. After being bombarded by artillery, the infantry climbed through shell holes to attack the Japanese machine guns in the shelters. The size of the losses and the small amount of progress (often only a few meters) were similar. After several days of fighting, the Americans had only advanced a few hundred meters.

Ground operations were way behind schedule. The American leadership decided not to launch any new attacks until the supply situation improved and the troops were not reinforced.

The new offensive began on July 25th with five regiments. The main attack was directed against the Bibilo hill north of Munda. The procedure did not change, however. The Japanese shelters with their machine guns had to be conquered one by one after artillery fire by infantry.

The end of the battle came sooner than expected. On August 3rd the airfield was enclosed and on August 4th Bibilo Hill fell. The next day the Americans overran Munda.

Landing at Rice Anchorage / Enogai Point

Advance on Bairoko

On the night of July 4th to 5th, the troops from Guadalcanal landed at the mouth of the Pundakona River east of Enogai. At dawn they began their advance towards Enogai, which was about 9 km away as the crow flies. On July 10th, there was heavy fighting at Triri and Enogai. The landed troops were able to conquer the Bay of Enogai with high losses. On July 20, the Americans began the attack on Bairoko. After suffering heavy losses, they were forced to withdraw, which continued to allow the Japanese to deliver supplies from Kolombangara. Bairoko could not be captured until August 25, with the support of troops from Munda Point.

Final operations

In the weeks that followed, some of the smaller islands around New Georgia, such as Baanga and Arundel, were conquered. These operations also took longer than expected due to bitter resistance.

Review

Although these operations were ultimately carried out successfully, the island was not yet considered secure until October, as the dispersed Japanese troops repeatedly launched attacks. The airfield at Munda Point became the most used by Americans in the Solomon Islands.

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