Battle of Sansapor

Battle of Sansapor
Part of World War II, Pacific War

Columns of troop-packed Landing Craft Infantry's en route for the invasion of Sansapor.
Date 30 July – 31 August 1944
Location Dutch New Guinea
Result Allied victory
Belligerents
 United States  Empire of Japan
Casualties and losses
34 killed, 85 wounded, plus nine dead from scrub typhus

The Battle of Sansapor (Operation Globetrotter) was an amphibous landing and subsequent operations around Sansapor, Dutch New Guinea on the Vogelkop Peninsula during World War II.[1]

The landings occurred on 30 July 1944, consisting of elements of the United States Army's 6th Infantry Division at Cape Opmarai on the mainland, and on Middelburg and Amsterdam Islands to the northwest.[1] The landings were unopposed apart from encounters with a few enemy stragglers. On 31 July, shore-to shore landings from Cape Opmarai were carried out at Sansapor.

The Japanese garrison at Manokwari was cut off and attempted to retreat to Sorong.[1] The operation was finalised on 31 August, with casualties of 34 killed and 85 wounded, plus nine dead from scrub typhus.

Base development

Airfields were built at Mar, Middleburg Island, Cape Opmarai and a flying boat base at Amsterdam Island.[1] A radar station was also set up at Mar.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Morison, Samuel Eliot (2001). History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944 – August 1944. University of Illinois Press. pp. 140–4. ISBN 0252070380. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=R-KfgdHvv88C&pg=PA140.