"The battle of Wewak " Topic
3 Posts
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Tango01 | 28 Jul 2015 10:31 p.m. PST |
"The battle of Wewak (December 1944-September 1945) was an Australian offensive on New Guinea, aimed at destroying the last major Japanese position in the pre-war area of Australian New Guinea, on the north coast around Wewak. It was a controversial operation that didn't appear to have much significance for the wider war, but in ten months the Australians did manage to drive the last remnants of General Hotazo Adachi's Eighteenth Army away from their last coastal positions and into the mountains. Adachi's army had once been at the forefront of the Japanese effort in eastern New Guinea, but during 1943 it had been pushed out of the Huon Gulf and defeated on the Huon Peninsula and in the Finisterre Mountains. Adachi had been forced to abandon his headquarters at Madang and retreated further west to Wewak, where the next American attack was expected. Instead they bypassed Wewak and attacked Hollandia and Aitape on 22 April 1944. The Japanese were caught out and both places fell easily. General Adachi made one attempt to restore the situation, or at least regain some pride, and launched an attack on the Americans positions on the Driniumor River east of Aitape (10 July -25 August 1944), but after some initial successes this attack was repulsed. General Adachi was now trapped in a narrow area around his bases at Wewak in the west and Hansa Bay in the east. At first he had the Australians to his east and the Americans to his west, and the bigger threat came from the Australians. After the fall of Madang and Alexishafen in late April the Australians had paused, but in May they began to advance around the coast towards Hansa Bay. This brought them past a series of areas that reflected the former German occupation of the area, including Kronprinz Harbour and Potsdam. They reached Hansa Bay on 14 June, and discovered that the Japanese had pulled out a few weeks earlier as Adachi's attention was pulled west toward Hollandia and Aitape…" Full article here link Amicalement Armand |
Clinton Reilly | 19 Aug 2015 7:25 p.m. PST |
Interesting article. Has anyone war-gamed it? |
zippyfusenet | 20 Aug 2015 3:21 p.m. PST |
General Adachi made one attempt to restore the situation, or at least regain some pride, and launched an attack on the Americans positions on the Driniumor River east of Aitape (10 July -25 August 1944), but after some initial successes this attack was repulsed. I once played a Command Decision game of that engagement. There was a US Army study done of the battle that gave all the necessary information. The Japanese were trying to break out of encirclement. In a big night attack, a 'division' of ragged, starving, diseased Japanese infantry survivors, about regimental strength, launched a human wave assault, firing off the last of the ammunition from their support weapons, splashing across a fordable river and trying to over-run a regiment of dismounted US cavalry, who were wired in on the far bank with their infantry weapons and their divisional artillery off-board for support. The Japanese ignored casualties, and got points for anyone who managed to stagger through the American positions and exit off-table. They never had a chance, of course, but the Japanese players made the most of the game. There was a lot of shooting and some high drama for several turns, while a few American platoons were over-run, and the Japanese force was obliterated. Historical outcome. |
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