Battle at Bita Paka
| date | September 11, 1914 |
|---|---|
| place | Area around Herbertshöhe 
|
| Casus Belli | Great Britain declares war on Germany |
| output | Victory of Australia |
| Territorial changes | Australian occupation of the Bismarck Archipelago |
| consequences | Surrender of the German colonialists in New Guinea |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Hans Wuchert |
Charles Elwell |
| Troop strength | |
| approx. 300 (including up to 60 Germans and approx. 240 Melanesians) |
approx. 6,000 (of which approx. 500 are based on Bita Paka) |
| losses | |
|
min. 31 dead |
7 dead, |
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The battle of Biti Paka was part of the First World War and contributed to the surrender of the colony of German New Guinea . The center of the battle was a German radio station near the town of Rabaul on the island of New Britain (then called Neupommern ). The few German troops stationed there, supported by Melanesian troops, offered long resistance before they surrendered and fled to Toma inland.
Starting position
On July 28, 1914, the First World War began the great catastrophe of the 20th century. The German Reich had colonial property in Africa, China and the Pacific . In the Pacific region, the Kaiser-Wilhelms-Land and the Bismarck Archipelago (now the northern part of Papua New Guinea ), the Marshall Islands , Nauru , Samoa , the Carolines as well as Palau and the northern Marianas belonged to the colonies of the German Empire . When Great Britain declared war on the German Empire, Australia and New Zealand automatically entered World War I and began to conquer the German colonies in the Pacific region. The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN & MEF) was formed in August 1914 to occupy German New Guinea .
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The German East Asia Squadron, operating in the Pacific under the command of Graf von Spee , was weakened by a lack of coal and cruised through the ocean to flee from enemy ships and in search of coal. The Germans had set up a network of radio stations in their colonies to keep in touch with their homeland. In many cases, the fighting was concentrated on these stations. The station in Bita Paka was only marginally put into operation at the beginning of August 1914. News of the outbreak of war in Europe was received on August 5, 1914 at 10:15 p.m. In contrast to his counterpart in Samoa , Eduard Haber - representative of Governor Albert Hahl who had traveled to Germany - was determined to have the strategically important station defended. At the beginning of the war, however, Haber was on an expedition near Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen in Kaiser-Wilhelms-Land and first had to return to the island of Neupommern, which he reached on August 13, 1914 after a dangerous journey. Haber's advisor, Adolf Schlettwein , declared a state of war on August 6, 1914 and moved the administrative headquarters from Rabaul to Toma about ten kilometers inland from Herbertshöhe at noon on August 6 . At that time the colonial police from all of German New Guinea consisted of 16 Europeans and around 600 islanders. About 120 men were deployed in Rabaul. This number could be increased to about 240 by the time the battle took place. About half of the Melanesians, however, had no experience with the weapon. In addition to the existing small police force, around 50–60 German reservists were called up and, after a brief briefing, were drawn together with the other gunmen at Herbertshöhe and Bita Paka.
Combat area
The contested station was close to the coast, flanked by the German branches Herbertshöhe and Kabakaul in the north-east of the Gazelle Peninsula . The provisional administrative headquarters and last place of refuge for the Germans was a few kilometers west of the radio station at the rest home and the Toma police station.
course
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On September 10, 1914, the Australian battle cruiser Australia , the cruisers Melbourne , Sydney and Encounter , the gunboat Protector , two submarines and three torpedo boat destroyers appeared off Rabaul and Herbertshöhe. The fleet was strengthened by the troop transport Berrima , a hospital ship and several coal steamers. The landing the following morning succeeded without resistance and at 7:30 a.m. the Union Jack blew over the city of Herbertshöhe. An Australian force under Lieutenant Rowland Bowen set out from Rabaul for Bita Paka. The distance between the locations was about seven kilometers. The Australians avoided the streets and made their way through the jungle. After two kilometers of arduous march, the Australians managed to surprise a troop of 25 Germans and Melanesians and, among others, to capture officers Wuchert and Mayer. They also conquered some important landscapes in the region. Bowen's men then met a well-stocked line of German reservists and Melanesian policemen, supported by snipers firing at the Australians from the treetops. Bowen's force got into big trouble, so Bowen had to wait for reinforcements. During this time, the Australians suffered their first deaths, including a doctor. At around 10:00 am, Bowen reached reinforcements and the situation was stabilized. After this line could be broken with the reinforcement, the Australians met another German line 500 meters further, which was secured by a ditch. Fierce fighting broke out, in which Bowen, among others, was killed. Then another reinforcement force reached the fighting, half a battalion under Lieutenant Charles Elwell. Elwell then took over command. The Australians discovered in a row with explosives -filled trench in order for explosion could be brought and defused the danger. Under Elwell, a major attack was made over the flank to take the main trench. The Australians managed to capture 20 German / Melanesian soldiers with losses. This enabled the second German line to be taken. Shortly before the radio station, the German defenders had set up a last line. The Germans succeeded in weakening the attackers with a counterattack, but soon they hoisted the white flag due to their numerical inferiority. The Australians feared a trap and did not react. Later they stormed the last ditch and were disappointed to find that their enemies had fled and the transmission mast had been dismantled.
consequences
About a quarter of the defenders surrendered or deserted . About 30 Melanesians died on the German side, some of whom were bayonet stabbed to death after they were captured by the Australians . With the defeat at Bita Paka, German colonial rule over Papua New Guinea was de facto ended. The German troops under Haber fled to Toma, where they were captured by the Australians and forced to surrender on September 17, 1914 . The remaining German branches in Papua New Guinea were occupied by Australian forces until January 1915 .
memory
In the vicinity of the former radio station there is now a military cemetery where, in addition to numerous fallen soldiers from the Second World War, those from 1914 are also commemorated. The Australians who died at Bita Paka were commemorated by a special stamp in a series of the Australian Post on World War I in 2014 .
Remarks
- ↑ In the province of Morobe , the German captain Hermann Detzner hid in the bush with a few men and only surrendered in November 1918.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Gisela Graichen, Horst Founder: German Colonies - Dream and Trauma. Ullstein, 4th edition, Berlin 2005, ISBN 978-3-550-07637-4 , p. 335 ff.
- ↑ a b c d Thomas Morlang: Battle in the South Seas, in: The time story. No. 1, 2014, p. 99.
- ↑ a b Bernd G. Längin (text), Michael Schindler (picture documentation): The German colonies. Locations and fates 1884–1918. Mittler, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-8132-0854-0 , p. 303.
- ↑ a b c Reinhard Klein-Arendt: "Kamina ruft Nauen!" - The radio stations in the German colonies 1904-1918. Cologne: Wilhelm Herbst Verlag, 1995, ISBN 3-923925-58-1 , pp. 257ff.
- ↑ Michael Epkenhans : Far from Berlin: Australiens Eroberungen 1914. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , March 23, 2006, accessed on April 11, 2017 .
- ^ First World War: German Colonies and their Development. Die Welt , April 19, 2014, accessed April 11, 2017 .
- ↑ Ilonka Zabel: Battle of Bita Paka. April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2017 .
- Jump up ↑ Colby Anderson: Battles - The Battle of Bita Paka, 1914. First World War.com, August 22, 2009, accessed April 11, 2017 .
- ↑ Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery. Commonwealth War Graves Commission, accessed May 5, 2017 .
- ^ C. Dale: Photographs from Bita Paka 2010. german colonial uniforms, accessed May 12, 2017 .
- ^ Daniel Barry: Australia Post announces five year First World War Centenary stamp series. Centenary News, May 6, 2014, accessed May 5, 2017 .
Web links
- Historical photos of the battle at Bita Paka , New South Wales State Library, Australia