15 September 1942
U.S. Troops Land on Papua-New Guinea
Ever since March Australian forces had been fighting against the Japanese for control of Papua-New Guinea. That summer, General Douglas MacArthur decided that he needed an airbase on Papua in order to support U.S. operations in the Solomon Islands. A battalion from the 32 nd Infantry Division landed at Port Moresby in mid-September, and the next several months saw fierce fighting, as both sides sought control of the Kokoda Trail, a primitive track that crossed the island. Slowly the Japanese were pushed back through the autumn of 1942, and by the end of the year the Australians had captured Gona, on the northern coast of Papua. In late January all remaining Japanese resistance in Papua was overcome. It had been an extremely costly campaign for both sides, with the Allies suffering 8,500 casualties and the Japanese nearly 12,000.

Histories:
The Problem of New Guinea
The New Guinea Campaign

Campaign Maps:
Papuan Campaign, 1942
Papuan Campaign, 1942

Photographs:
Papuan natives shouldering litters carrying blood plasma to the evacuation stations just behind the front line at Buna
Wounded American soldiers given medical attention in New Guinea
Unloading wounded soldier from an assault boat
A train of six bombs from United States Army Air forces planes drops on the base of Mandang on the north coast of New Guinea held by the Japanese

Personal Accounts:
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with William Neubauer
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Bert Tryon
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with George Boggs III
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Mary Robinson
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Charles Whitlock