New Guinea Force

New Guinea Force

An Australian soldier, Private George "Dick" Whittington, is aided by Papuan orderly Raphael Oimbari, near Buna on 25 December 1942. [notes 1]
Active 1942–44
Country  Australia
Allegiance Australia / Allied Forces
Branch Australian Army
Type Corps
Role I Corps
Part of First Australian Army
Engagements

World War II

Commanders
Notable
commanders
Sir Thomas Blamey
Sir Leslie Morshead
Sir Edmund Herring

New Guinea Force was a military command unit for Australian and native troops from the Territories of Papua and New Guinea serving in the New Guinea campaign during World War II. Formed in April 1942, when the Australian First Army was formed from the Australian I Corps after it returned from the Middle East, it was responsible for planning and directing all operations within the territory up until October 1944.[1] General Headquarters Southwest Pacific Area Operational Instruction No.7 of 25 May 1942, issued by Commander-Allied-Forces, General Douglas MacArthur, placed all Australian and US Army, Air Force and Navy Forces in the Port Moresby Area under the control of New Guinea Force.[2] Over the course of its existence, New Guinea Force was commanded by some of the Australian Army's most notable commanders, including Sydney Rowell, Sir Edmund Herring and Sir Leslie Morshead.[3]

Field Marshal (then General) Sir Thomas Blamey also commanded the force in 1942 while based in Port Moresby.[4]

History

8th Military District, showing Territory of Papua and Territory of New Guinea (including the New Hebrides).
The 8th Military District, showing the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea (including the New Hebrides)

At the outbreak of hostilities, Australia did not have forces in place for the defence of New Guinea and the New Hebrides, due to the League of Nations mandate under which the former German territories were administered.[5] Small, mostly ad hoc units of lightly trained men were spread across the region.[5] The Australian Government made the decision to move small units to strategic locations to assist the defence. This included elements of the 7th Division, consisting mainly of men from the 2/6th Field Company, on the transport Orcades, who were sent to Java, and fought alongside Dutch forces there, but like most other minor garrisons were soon overwhelmed.[6]

Prior to the formation of New Guinea Force, in January 1942, the 30th Brigade was deployed to New Guinea arriving on the troopship RMS Aquitania,[7] with the 39th and 53rd Infantry Battalions, and took command of the 49th Infantry Battalion.[8] Initially, all Australian forces in New Guinea had been part of the 8th Military District; however, in April 1942, an Army-wide reorganisation was undertaken which saw the establishment of a new command New Guinea Force with Major General Basil Morris in command. This force subsequently replaced the 8th Military District as the formation responsible for all Australian forces in the territories of Papua and New Guinea.[9][10]

In August 1942, HQ I Corps was transferred from Queensland to Port Moresby and on 15 August 1942 became known as Headquarters New Guinea Force (HQ NG Force).[11] Corps troops and two brigades of 7th Division subsequently moved in.[12]

Upon arrival, the 21st Brigade, under Brigadier Arnold Potts, was dispatched to Port Moresby, from where they would help reinforce the 39th Battalion, which were fighting a rearguard action on the Kokoda Track.[13] Around the same time, the 18th Brigade, under the command of Brigadier George Wootten, was sent to Milne Bay,[14][15] to reinforce the 7th Brigade, which was defending the airfield at the eastern tip of Papua, supported by the Royal Australian Air Force and US engineers.[16] The fighting which followed came to be known as the Battle of Milne Bay.[17]

Further formations from I Corps were rotated through the New Guinea theatre of operations under the command of New Guinea Force:

Mission

Three men in shorts, wearing steel helmets but one is shirtless. Two carry rifles while the third has a submachinegun.
Australian troops at Milne Bay in 1942, shortly after the battle

As per GHQ SWPA Operations Instructions No.15, Section 9, dated 6 August 1942 (reproduced here in full):[2]

9. The mission of the "NEW GUINEA FORCE" is

(a) Protect the operation of Allied Air Forces operating from and through air bases in AUSTRALIAN NEW GUINEA.
(b) Prevent further hostile penetration into AUSTRALIAN NEW GUINEA and in conjunction with the Allied Air Forces, maintain active reconnaissance and deny Japanese use of sea and land areas adjacent to PORT MORESBY, MILNE BAY and the island groups to the north and southeastward of the latter. Prevent at all costs penetration of the Japanese to the southeastward of the crest of the OWEN STANLEY RANGE.
(c) Maintain active patrol operations across the OWEN STANLEY RANGE in the direction of LAE--SALAMAUA and BUNA-GONA. Prepare at the earliest practicable date, assisted by transport and other aviation of the Allied Air Forces, a striking force of at least two battalions eastward of the crest of the OWEN STANLEY RANGE along the route, PORT MORESBY-KOKODA, and capture the KOKODA aerodrome. The eventual objective of this force, upon later orders from this headquarters, in conjunction with other forces is to capture the BUNA-GONA area. Maintain and augment present forces operating from the vicinity of WAU and BULOLO, continue harassing attacks against and be prepared in conjunction with other forces, on later orders from this headquarters, to assist in the capture of LAE and SALAMAUA.
(d) Develop at the earliest practicable date in the vicinity of MILNE BAY an amphibious force, equipped with small boats, for coastwise operations. With the amphibious force and overland detachment, and in conjunction with Allied Air Forces, operate along the northeast coast of NEW GUINEA with the objective of securing the coast line from EAST CAPE to TUFI inclusive and be prepared, in conjunction with other forces upon later orders from this headquarters, to assist in the capture of the BUNA-GONA are.

Order of Battle

Over the course of the force's existence, its order of battle changed a number of times as various divisions and brigades were force assigned or reallocated. The following units were attached at various times:

Headquarters – Port Moresby

GHQ Southwest Pacific Area Operational Instruction No.7

8th Military District – Rabaul, New Hebrides and New Guinea

January 1942 – 30th Brigade

September 1942 – Torres Strait Force[24][25]

August 1942 – May 1944 – 7th Division[26]

Early 1943 – August 1944 – 3rd Division[27][notes 3]

August 1943 – 5th Division[18]

The divisions assigned to New Guinea Force at the end of hostilities were:[28]

Notable units

Commanders

The following officers served as commanding officer of New Guinea Force:[4][5]

Notes

Footnotes
  1. Whittington died in February 1943 from the effects of scrub typhus. (Picture by George Silk, AWM104028 collection reference number.)
  2. The 49th Battalion was based in Port Moresby from March 1941.[22] It was placed under command of the 30th Brigade in January 1942 before being disbanded due to reduction in strength on 3 July 1943.[23]
  3. The 3rd Division initially moved to New Guinea composed of the 4th and 15th Brigades. These brigades were sent to Milne Bay and Port Moresby respectively, and Kanga Force (predominently the 17th Brigade) was placed into the division.
  4. During this time, Blamey was in command though Herring was nominally commander – when Blamey left in January 1943, Herring officially took control again.
  5. II Corps replaced I Corps, assuming the NGF name and role while the existing NGF HQ was broken up.
Citations

References

Further reading

External links

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