"..In April, and again in June 1943, Japanese carrier and Rabaul-based planes tried but failed to knock out Allied air and naval power in the Solomons and Papua New Guinea. The loss of carrier planes and pilots during this air offensive further reduced the capabilities of the Japanese Combined Fleet whose commander, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, was shot down over Bougainville. ..
"Working with the Australian Chiefs of Staff, General MacArthur prepared a joint estimate of the situation. The Allies agreed that the Japanese advance would continue and that it would soon threaten the Australian supply line as well as the island nation itself. As General MacArthur viewed the situation, the best way to defend Australia was to meet the Japanese on New Guinea, and the way into New Guinea lay through Port Moresby, a harbor on the southeast Papuan coast lightly garrisoned by Australians. Accordingly, in early April MacArthur directed the reinforcement of Port Moresby.
While the Allies rushed to strengthen Port Moresby, the Japanese acted on their own strategic assessment. They also considered Port Moresby the key to Australia. But before approaching the port city, the Japanese moved to finish a naval mission begun earlier. The Imperial Japanese Navy saw its strike against Pearl Harbor as only half of a two-part strategy. To secure exploitation of Burma, Malaya, and the Indies, the Japanese had to neutralize the British Eastern Fleet. For that purpose, a large Japanese naval task force left the southwest Pacific for the Indian Ocean in April. The Japanese succeeded in disabling the British Eastern Fleet, but in doing so they also gave SWPA an extra month to reinforce Port Moresby.
By 4 May, when a Japanese landing force embarked at Rabaul for Port Moresby, Allied air an) naval forces had grown to decisive strength. The result for the Japanese was a major setback. As enemy troopships and an escorting carrier task force approached the eastern end of New Guinea, they were met by two American carrier task forces. In the ensuing Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese Navy lost so many ships that the landing force had to return to Rabaul. Though they lost more ships than the Japanese, the Allies won a strategic victory in the Coral Sea: the enemy had to reschedule its Port Moresby landing for July.
The Japanese had barely counted their losses in the Coral Sea when they met a much more costly defeat. In an effort to take Midway Island and the Aleutians, the Imperial Japanese Navy put to
4
"ether a huge task force centered on four fast carriers. A unique message-interception effort code-named MAGIC enabled the Allies to learn of the enemy move toward Midway, and three American carriers were sent to intercept. In the sea-air battle that followed on 4 June, the Japanese lost all four of their carriers and hundreds of aircraft and pilots. The stunning defeat at Midway was more than a temporary setback. The Japanese Navy never replaced its carrier losses, and as a result its land operations thereafter suffered from a chronic shortage of naval and air support.
But two defeats in rapid succession did not end the threat to Australia. On 22 July a Japanese landing force under Maj. Gen. Tomitaro Horii slipped ashore at Basabua and made its way to Buna on the northeast coast of New Guinea. The landing itself came as a shock to SWPA headquarters, then considering the very same move. Even more disquieting was the discovery that the enemy had landed without air cover...
...Blamey and MacArthur quickly approved. In an intelligence gift to the Allies, a missionary had come forward with news of an airfield near Fasari, a village about forty-two miles south of Pongani. Beginning 8 November the 126th Infantry flew to Fasari and Pongani, and then moved inland to Bofu, fourteen miles from the Buna perimeter. At the same time, the 128th Infantry moved up the coast from Pongani to Embogo, only seven miles from the enemy. Meanwhile on the Kokoda Trail, the 7th Australian Infantry Division pushed the enemy down the mountains toward the coast. The Allies were trapping the Japanese against the sea.
Retreating enemy forces set up a beachhead defense stretching some sixteen miles along the coast and seven miles inland. The Japanese held several important locations within their perimeter: Gona Village, the west anchor of the enemy beachhead; Sanananda Point in the center; Duropa Plantation, the eastern anchor of the beachhead; Buna Village; Buna Mission, the prewar Australian administrative center; and two airfields. Also inside the perimeter lay more swamps and streams than appeared on Allied maps and more enemy troops than SWPA estimated. In a major intelligence blunder, Allied staffs told frontline commanders that they faced no more than 1,500 to 2,000 enemy and could expect the Japanese to surrender about 1 December. In fact, some 6,500 enemy held the beachhead. ...
The Papua Campaign made clear that U.S. Army units committed to combat in the summer of 1942 were insufficiently trained, equipped, led, and supported in comparison to an enemy that had been fighting for five years. Under the imperative of combat, new leaders had emerged, and new battle tactics and support techniques had been developed. But the Army would not have long to wait or far to go before testing its new leaders, tactics, and techniques. The Japanese had been defeated at the eastern end of Papua, but they had not abandoned New Guinea. Sizable Japanese forces remained at several points west of Buna, and reinforcements and supplies were still coming in from Rabaul. The next battle was only days away.
-Movie
Kokoda - 2006 - Preview [ War film ] Unreleased in US & Can
"Director Alister Grierson teams with screenwriter John Lonie for this Aussie war drama exploring the fate of a missing patrol of Australian soldiers in World War II-era New Guinea. As Japanese troops continue their advance towards Port Moresby with an eye on invading Australia next, the task of defending the treacherous Kokoda Trail is left to uninitiated volunteers (derisively known as "chocos") due to the fact that the big guns are on deployment elsewhere. When the ramshackle platoon receives confirmation of the impending assault and their supply lines are cut off without warning, mud-caked "choco" Jack Scholt (Jack Finsterer), his brother Max (Simon Stone), die-hard Darko (Travis McMahon), and skittish Johnno (Tom Budge) all prepare for the worst. Their ranks fast thinning thanks to the deadly accurate sharp shooting of an unseen enemy, the hardened Aussie soldiers do their best to protect the homeland or die trying. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide "
*see GoodnewsEverybody.com Australian of Australia, Aussie, etc...Outreach World War 2 Drop Tanks, Port Moresby, from youtube.com "Phil & Don check out some discarded drop tanks from WW2 aircraft, left behind at the Rouna (now the Kokoda Track Hotel), near Port Moresby, PNG. "
-Tribute
Kokoda Track Heroes - WW2
"Kokoda was arguably Australia's most significant campaign of the Second World War. More Australians died in the seven months of fighting in Papua, and the Japanese came closer to Australia than in any other campaign.
The Kokoda Track (or Kokoda Trail) fighting was some of the most desperate and vicious encountered by Australian troops in the Second World War. Although the successful capture of Port Moresby was never going to be precursor to an invasion of Australia, victory on the Kokoda Track did ensure that Allied bases in northern Australia, vital in the coming counter-offensive against the Japanese, would not be seriously threatened by air attack. Approximately 625 Australians were killed along the Kokoda Track and over 1,600 were wounded. Casualties due to sickness exceeded 4,000.
The song on this video is timeless and honours the memory of those who have died in the service and defence of Australia in war.
Schools and students frequently ask to use this song in projects and commemorative ceremonies.
Radio stations throughout Australia have broadcast the song leading up to ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day. The song is also requested to be played at funerals (for veterans).
You can contact the author of the song if you would like to use the song for commemorative purposes for ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day. Music sheets are also available.
Concept, title, lyrics and copyright owner of the song: Peter Barnes
If you would like to know more about the song go to http://www.australianwarheroes.com
You can email the author at peterbarnes@australianwarheroes.com"
"...is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands (the western portion of the island is a part of Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua). It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in a region defined since the early 19th century as Melanesia. Its capital, and one of its few major cities, is Port Moresby. It is one of the most diverse countries on Earth, with over 850 indigenous languages and at least as many traditional societies, out of a population of just under 6 million. It is also one of the most rural, with only 18 per cent of its people living in urban centres.[5] The country is also one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically, and many undiscovered species of plants and animals are thought to exist in the interior of Papua New Guinea.[6]..."
Missions
Arthur Pacifies Warring Tribes in Paupa New Guinea
"Want to Subscribe? Sign in to YouTube now! Sign in with your Google Account! Arthur Blessitt, in his 38-year journey carryin... Arthur Blessitt, in his 38-year journey carrying the Cross around the world, visited Paupa New Guinea and saw thousands of people, all who came to see him, the Pilgrim with the Cross. He passed through an area that had been experiencing great war and upon seeing the Cross, they chose to put down their spears and take up the Cross."
"Today, Sunday, December 14, 1980, I arrived in Papua, New Guinea. It was unreal, awesome, powerful, and glorious. I knew no one in the country, and had never spoken to anyone in the country. I had told a friend in Australia that I was going to New Guinea. He telephoned some missionaries in New Guinea and told them I would be walking with the cross in their country. I expected no one at the airport but as the plane landed I could see crowds of people lining the airport fence. They began to wave and shout. As we came off the airplane I saw "one way" fingers pointed toward heaven. I could hear words about Jesus... Hallelujah! Glory to God! Hundreds of people were waiting for me, screaming, "Praise God, Hallelujah!" I shall never forget that crowd.
As I came through the Immigration and Customs I could hear the Jesus cheers and singing that poured through Customs. It was electrifying! Finally I walked out with my son Joshua and a friend, Mike Ooten. The crowds of people grabbed at me, screaming, tearing at me, pushing and shoving to touch me. They took the cross over their heads and began carrying it out of the building. They grabbed our bags, some going one way and some another. Then they grabbed me and lifted me above their shoulders and began carrying me out of the airport. A sea of black faces... the airport was in total confusion!
I knew no one ... I lost Joshua and I couldn't see Mike Ooten . We had expected no one to greet us, but the power of God descended. It was indescribable!
I was dripping wet with sweat in the scorching heat as I led a huge man to Jesus. The crowd gathered and I found a spot to stand on the back of a truck and I began to preach. The power of the glory of God came. Hundreds of people praying, welcoming Jesus into their lives. This was my arrival in Papua New Guinea. ...
*see GoodnewsEverybody.com Issues: Gangs, Hoodlums, etc.., GoodnewsEverybody.com Ministry: Healing, & GoodnewsEverybody.com Movies: The Passion, Crucification, Easter, Resurrection, etc..
Papua New Guinea Mission Field Trailer
"POSTED June 11, 2008 A Journey Into the Unexpected. World Gospel Mission's work in Papua New G"
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