- 107 - Pacific War - Fall of Wareo , December 5-12, 1943

Last time we spoke about the learning process after the success, a very bloody one at that, of Operation galvanic, the continued operations in New Guinea, Bougainville and the naval battle of Cape St George. Galvanic was an extremely bloody experiment, one that would teach the allies bitter lessons of what to expect from the new phenomenon of “island hoping warfare” against the Japanese. On Bougainville, Japanese roadblocks were crushed and the Americans were extending their perimeters and advancing further inland. The IJN sought to help the IJA bolster Buka and this led to an absolutely disastrous engagement against Captain Burkes destroyer squadron. Burke won a near flawless victory. Then over on New Guinea, after the seizure of Sattelberg, the Australians were now beginning a new offensive heading north along the eastern coast. The Australians were in hot pursuit of the fleeing Japanese.  This episode is Fall of Wareo  Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800’s until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.    After their latest defeat at the battle of Sattelberg, Lt General Shigeru Katagiri had his men begin the long retreat towards Madang. In response General Wootten launched a two pronged offensive aimed at Wareo and Gusika. By the end of November they captured Gusika with ease effectively cutting off the Japanese supply route to Wareo. “All that remained of the 20th Division in this area consisted of abandoned foxholes, entrenchments, ammunition and ration dumps, equipment, weapons, camps, medical aid posts and graves.” The advance continued, on December 1st, the 2/43rd’s tanks were blasting through Horace’s Ears. The tanks blasted out the light opposition and soon the 2/43rd were occupying Horace’s Jaws, Nose and Western Ear. Meanwhile the 2/15th attacked Nongora, but were unable to defeat its defenders and had to pull back. A company of the 2/23rd smashed the last line of opposition south of Kunako village allowing for its seizure. Over at the Kalueng river, after a artillery bombardment, the 2/28th sent Lt Rooke’s with a patrol to check out the Lagoon who advanced without any opposition. Later in the afternoon the Australian scouts pushed south around 600 yards and began to hear the sounds of digging and chopping. They killed a Japanese and wounded another advancing further southwest to avoid what was assumed to be an enemy position. Towards dusk a strong Japanese patrol ran into them causing a small firefight. Rooke had his men dig in for the night while he climbed up a tree to observe the Japanese northeast of them. Rook then sent two volunteers, Privates Hutton and Wadel to try and slip back to the battalion HQ to get help, both men were killed trying. At 8pm Rooke’s patrol snuck out under the cover of rain and darkness to dig in closer to Kalueng. On December 2nd, while the 2/43rd consolidated all of Horace, they also began advancing towards the Lakes against slight opposition. Then some of the tanks were attacked by Japanese 75mm guns from atop some high ground to the north of a lake at around 200 yards. The 2/15th would find Nongora abandoned on the 2nd and seized what was once the 79th’s regimental HQ. At Kuanko, patrols of the 2/23rd would find the Japanese held a formidable position along a ridge near Peak Hill. At 8:30a