Image description: Map mosaic of the New Guinea Campaign, Manila American Cemetery (Personal collection)
Among Americans, the New Guinea Campaign (1942-1945) is probably one of the least remembered of the Pacific War. While many might be able to associate names like Guadalcanal or Iwo Jima with WWII in the Pacific, New Guinea probably doesn’t ring much of a bell. Yet that is where my grandfather Norman Nigh spent the majority of his time – 14 months – in the Southwest Pacific Area.
Image description: Norman (pictured) and his crew built living quarters atop their LCM in Madang, New Guinea which they used for the duration of their time - 10 months - while based there. (Personal Collection of Norman Nigh.)
Unlike other areas in the Pacific War, New Guinea was the responsibility of the Army. General Douglass MacArthur was in charge. His ultimate strategy of “leapfrogging” large enemy strongholds and instead attacking smaller, surrounding towns resulted in isolating the Japanese forces from crucial supply lines while reducing Allied casualties (though there were certainly some bloody battles). Wresting control of New Guinea was critical for both reclaiming the Philippines – MacArthur’s obsession – and protecting Allied Australia, which is located directly south of the island, from Japanese harassment and/or invasion.
Image description: The New Guinea Campaign. The Japanese invaded New Britain, followed by Lae on New Guinea in early 1942. The early days of the campaign were fought on the eastern end of the island, including the battle at Buna. Norman arrived in February 1944 at Goodenough Island, off the eastern tip of New Guinea. His first mission was with the 5th Australian Division in April near Saidor and Madang. The arrows indicate the westward flow of progress as the Allies moved across the northern coast of the Island. (Image source: https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V1/ch06.htm)
New Guinea is the world’s second largest island, with a northern coastline extending 1,600 miles from east to west. A range of jagged mountains containing several volcanoes cuts through its center surrounded by dense jungle. On the northern coast of the island, where most of the fighting occurred, rainfall reaches 300 inches annually. In the hot and moist climate, mosquitos carrying malaria and dengue fever, as well as parasites spreading dysentery, scrub typhus and other tropical diseases, abound.
Image description: "Native village." (Personal collection of Norman Nigh.)
It was not a pleasant place. I have heard mention of Norman’s experiences with rats and filth while based there. In his memoir, Robert Meredeth Watson, a member of the 534th EBSR of the 4th ESB, put it bluntly, “I can, without fear of contradiction, testify that it was a genuinely horrific locale in which to wage war.” He then goes on to directly quote General MacArthur, “few areas in the world present so formidable an obstacle to military operation… New Guinea was a background in which almost every threat of nature combined with the sudden and unforeseeable dangers of modern war to provide a miniature of the vast struggle on the Southwest Pacific.”
Image description: "Breakfast after a sleepless nite (sic) up Ramon (Ramu) River." The Ramu River is located near Madang. The men were most likely breakfasting aboard their LCM craft. I believe Norman is in the white shirt. (Personal collection of Norman Nigh.)
Access to Australia and attempting to limit the build-up of American military presence there were the primary reasons why Japan invaded New Guinea in 1942. Japanese Imperial Military planners foresaw the capture of New Guinea as critical for threatening and attacking Australian cities, which they hoped would result in neutralizing Australia. In January 1942, several weeks after Pearl Harbor and the invasion of the Philippines, the Japanese Imperial Navy and Army began moving deeper into the Southwest Pacific. From their established base at Truk in the Caroline Islands, in January 1942 the Japanese invasion force swept into New Britain and New Ireland in the Bismark Archipelago located just northeast of New Guinea; from there it was easy access. The town of Rabual on New Britain, with its deep-water port and two airports, would become Japan’s most important base in the region.
In early March 1942, Imperial Japanese forces entered the island of New Guinea by invading the towns of Lae and Salamaua, situated opposite the southwestern tip of New Britain. (Incidentally, Lae is the last place Amelia Earhart was spotted prior to her disappearance.) From there, Japanese forces spread out along the north coast of New Guinea, fanning west to conquer the island’s Dutch-controlled territory and east to attack Australian-held areas. Japanese presence on New Guinea, and consequently most major battles, was confined primarily to the island’s northern coast. However, on multiple occasions, Japanese forces unsuccessfully attempted to capture Port Moresby, the administrative center of the island located on the southeastern coast close to Australia and home to developed airfields.
Image description: "Police boys in N.G." (Personal collection of Norman Nigh.)
Also in March 1942, General MacArthur made his daring escape from the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay and relocated to Australia to command the Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific. Unfortunately, he had very little to work with at first. Due to America’s Europe First Policy in WWII, necessary troops and equipment could not be diverted to the Pacific Theater. To make matters worse, most of Australia’s forces were already committed elsewhere in the European and North African Theaters. For the next year and a half, the small available forces of Americans and Australians would engage in a war of attrition with the Japanese, in battles such as the town of Buna in eastern New Guinea, which the Allies won but with heavy losses.
Image description: "Aussie patrol starting through kunea (kunai) grass Ramou (Ramu) River N.G." (Personal collection of Norman Nigh.) These fellows were most likely delivered to their location by the 593rd's LCMs. As if there weren't enough hazards in New Guinea, kunai grass, prevalent throughout the island, had razor sharp edges and could grow to a height of over 10 feet.
Things began to change in late 1943 and early 1944. With the U.S. and Australia now providing more manpower and resources to the Southwest Pacific, the Allies went on the offensive. Among the new additions was the 593rd Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment of the 3rd Engineer Special Brigade. Norman Nigh and his comrades arrived in the area on February 2, 1944 on Goodenough Island, just off New Guinea’s northeastern coast. At Goodenough Island, Norman and the rest of the 593rd Company C received their LCMs (landing craft, mechanized), acclimatized to the tropical conditions, and then joined up with the 5th Australian Division for surprise landings near Madang on April 24, 1944. Following the successful operation, Company C based itself out of Madang for the next ten months, during which the men and their LCMs patrolled along the northern New Guinea coast from Hollandia (to the west) to Milne Bay (to the east) and the nearby Ramu River. Throughout their time in New Guinea, Norman and the other amphibious engineers played a crucial role in transporting troops and supplies along the coast and rivers, which the inhospitable terrain and dense jungles made impossible to accomplish any other way.
Image description: "Ramou (Ramu) River." (Personal collection of Norman Nigh) Norman is standing on the boat ramp in the middle of the photo. An Australian soldier, perhaps of the 5th Division, is on the far left. The 593rd was attached to the 5th Division during the invasion of the towns near Ramu River (Saidor, Bobagjim, Madang).
After ten months based at Madang, in early February 1945 (a year after arriving in the region), Company C headed west and joined up with the 6th Australian Division at Aitape. There they engaged in supply and combat missions between Aitape and Wewak to support the Australians on routing Japanese troops entrenched around Wewak. Two months later, Norman and Company C said goodbye to New Guinea and traveled to Moratai Island (between New Guinea and the Philippines) to prepare for the invasion of Borneo. By this time, MacArthur and most American troops had already left New Guinea. The previous October, MacArthur had made good on his promise to return to the Philippines with the successful invasion of Leyte Island. By January 1945, his forces landed at Lingayen Gulf on the large island of Luzon and proceeded to liberate Manila. Back in New Guinea, the “mopping-up” was left to the Australians and the few American units – such as the 593rd – assigned to them.
Image description: "Gunboat on beach at Aitape." A couple of the 593rd's LCMs were converted into gunboats, which they termed "Vest Pocket Destroyers." Unfortunately the identities of the two individuals pictured are missing from the photo description. (Personal collection of Norman Nigh.)
The New Guinea Campaign claimed the lives of 14,000 Allied servicemen (divided roughly equally between Australians and Americans.) An astounding 200,000 Japanese also perished between 1942 and 1945 on New Guinea and its surrounding areas. Unfortunately, I haven't come across any estimates for casualties among the native New Guineans, who undoubtedly suffered during this time.
Image description: "February 24, 1945." (Personal collection of Norman Nigh). Given the date the photo was taken, it is most likely somewhere near either Aitape or Wewak, or in between the two. Note the LCM's open ramp on the bottom of the photo, which is where the photographer stood while documenting the destruction.
References:
Dormaier, Alfred A. "Brief History of Company C" (U.S. Army War College, Historical Records Branch, 1945)
Drea, Edward J., New Guinea: The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II, U.S. Army Center of Military History
Duffy, James P., War at the End of the World: Douglas MacArthur and the Forgotten Fight for New Guinea, 1942-1945, (Dutton Caliber Publishing, 2016)
Paquette, Ernest W., Our Business is Beachheads: The 3rd ESB and 593rd EB&SR, (Self-Published, 1993)
Watson, Robert Meredeth Jr., Seahorse Soldiering: MacArthur's Amphibian Engineers from New Guinea to Nagoya (Bloomington: Xlibris Corporation, 2003)