| With eastern New Guinea secure, and Rabaul isolated,
MacArthur’s next target was the Philippines. Before such an operation could be attempted,
however, Allied military planners decided that the Japanese had to be driven from the western half
of New Guinea, so that air strikes could be launched against the Philippines from bases on New
Guinea. After subjecting the Japanese base at Hollandia to weeks of severe bombardment, U.S. and
Australian forces landed there on April 22, then proceeded westward along the coast, overrunning
Japanese positions and seizing the various islands offshore. By the end of the summer all of northern
New Guinea was in Allied hands. The remaining Japanese retreated to the mountainous interior of
the island, but lacking any means of supply, MacArthur did not regard them as a serious threat.
The Problem of New Guinea
The New
Guinea Campaign
Netherlands
New Guinea: Hollandia, 1944
Allied
seizure of Marianas and New Guinea, 1944
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 Charles Whitlock
Rutgers
Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Arthur Jiannine
Rutgers
Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Reece Haines
American
troops of the 163rd Infantry Regiment hit the beach from Higgins boats during the invasion of
Wadke Island, Dutch New Guinea
Signal
Corps cameramen, wading through stream while following infantry troops in forward area during
invasion at a beach in New Guinea
A
PT marksman draws a bead with his 50 caliber machine gun on his boat off New Guinea
PT's
patrolling off coast of New Guinea
|