Battle of Arawe - Aftermath

Aftermath

The 1st Marine Division's landing at Cape Gloucester on 26 December 1943 was successful. The Marines secured the airfields that were the main objective of the operation on 29 December against only light Japanese opposition. Heavy fighting took place during the first two weeks of 1944 when the Marines advanced south to the east of their initial beachhead to secure Borgen Bay. Little fighting took place once this area had been captured and the Marines patrolled extensively in an attempt to locate the Japanese. On 16 February, a Marine patrol from Cape Gloucester made contact with an army patrol from Arawe at the village of Gilnit. On 23 February, the remnants of the Japanese force at Cape Gloucester were ordered to withdraw to Rabaul.

The Komori Force was also directed to withdraw on 24 February as part of the general Japanese retreat from western New Britain. The Japanese immediately began to leave their positions, and headed north along inland trails to join other units. The Americans did not detect this withdrawal until 27 February, when an attack conducted by the 2nd Squadron, 112th Cavalry and the Marine tank company to clear the Arawe area of Japanese encountered no opposition. The Director Task Force subsequently established a number of observation posts along the southern coast of New Britain and increased the distances covered by its reconnaissance patrols. Komori fell behind his unit, and was killed on 9 April near San Remo on New Britain's north coast when he, his executive officer and two enlisted men they were travelling with were ambushed by a patrol from the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines.

The Japanese force at Arawe suffered much heavier casualties than the Allies. The Director Task Force's total casualties between 15 December 1944 and the end of major fighting in the area were 118 dead, 352 wounded, and four missing. Most of these casualties were members of the 112th Cavalry Regiment, which suffered 72 killed, 142 wounded and four missing. Japanese casualties over this period were 304 men killed and three captured.

In the period immediately after the Japanese withdrawal, the Director Task Force remained at Arawe. In line with standard practice, the 112th Cavalry continued to improve the defensive positions in the area. The regiment also undertook training, and some men were granted leave in Australia and the United States. Combat patrols continued to be conducted in the Arawe region in search of Japanese stragglers. Elements of the 40th Infantry Division began to arrive at Arawe in April 1944 to assume responsibility for garrisoning the area. The 112th Cavalry Regiment was informed that it was to be deployed in New Guinea in early June, and the Director Task Force was dissolved at this time. The regiment sailed for the Aitape area of New Guinea on 8 June and saw combat there during the Battle of Driniumor River. The 40th Infantry Division maintained a garrison at Arawe until the Australian Army's 5th Division assumed responsibility for New Britain in late November 1944.

Historians disagree over whether the Arawe operation was worthwhile for the Allies. The official history of the USMC in World War II stated that the presence of two experienced Japanese battalions at Arawe made the 1st Marine Division's task at Cape Gloucester easier. However, Samuel Eliot Morison wrote in his History of United States Naval Operations in World War II that "Arawe was of small value" as the Allies never used it as a naval base and the garrison stationed in the area would have been better employed elsewhere. The U.S. Army's official history concluded that in retrospect the landings at Arawe and Cape Gloucester "were probably not essential to the reduction of Rabaul or the approach to the Philippines", though the offensive in western New Britain had some benefits and was not "excessively high in casualties".