Landing at Nadzab - Background - Planning and Preparation

Planning and Preparation

At Blamey's Advanced Allied Land Forces Headquarters (Adv LHQ) in St Lucia, Queensland the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Major General Frank Berryman, headed the planning process. A model of the Lae-Salamaua area was constructed in a secure room at St Lucia, the windows were boarded up and two guards were posted on the door round the clock. On 16 May, Blamey held a conference with Berryman and Lieutenant General Sir Edmund Herring, the commander of I Corps, around the model at which the details of the operation were discussed. Blamey's operational concept was for a double envelopment of Lae, using "two of the finest divisions on the Allied side". Major General George Wootten's 9th Division would land east of Lae in a shore-to-shore operation and advance on Lae. Meanwhile Major General George Alan Vasey's 7th Division, in a reprise of the Battle of Buna-Gona in 1942 would advance on Lae from the west by an overland route. Its primary role was to prevent reinforcement of the Japanese garrison at Lae by establishing itself in a blocking position across the Markham Valley. Its secondary task was to assist the 9th Division in the capture of Lae. The plan was generally known as Operation, although this was actually the GHQ code name for Lae itself.

Meanwhile, Major General Stanley Savige's 3rd Division in the Wau area and Major General Horace Fuller's US 41st Infantry Division around Morobe were ordered to advance on Salamaua so as to threaten it and draw Japanese forces away from Lae. The result was the arduous Salamaua Campaign, which was fought between June and September, and which at times looked like succeeding all too well, capturing Salamaua and forcing the Japanese back to Lae, thereby throwing Blamey's whole strategy into disarray.

The plan called for the 7th Division to move in transports to Port Moresby and in coastal shipping to the mouth of the Lakekamu River. It would travel up the river in barges to Bulldog, and in trucks over the Bulldog Road to Wau and Bulolo. From there it would march overload via the Watut and Wampit Valleys to the Markham River, cross the Markham River with the aid of paratroops, and secure an airfield site. There were a number of suitable airfield sites in the Markham Valley; Blamey selected Nadzab as the most promising.

Vasey pronounced the plan "a dog's breakfast". There were a number of serious problems. It relied on the Bulldog Road being completed, which it was not, due to the rugged nature of the country to be traversed and shortages of equipment. Even if it was, the 7th Division would have been unlikely to make the operation target date. It had taken heavy casualties in the Battle of Buna-Gona and was seriously under-strength, with many men on leave or suffering from malaria. It would take time to concentrate it at its camp at Ravenshoe, Queensland on the Atherton Tableland. To bring it up to strength, the 1st Motor Brigade was disbanded in July to provide reinforcements. Reinforcements passed through the Jungle Warfare Training Centre at Canungra, Queensland, where they spent a month training under conditions closely resembling those in New Guinea.

The delays in getting the overland supply route organised and the 7th Division itself ready meant that, in the initial stages of the operation at least, the 7th Division would have to be maintained by air. Vasey further proposed that the bulk of his forces avoid a tiring overland march by moving directly to Nadzab by air, which increased the importance of capturing Nadzab early. MacArthur agreed to make the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment based at nearby Gordonvale, Queensland, available to New Guinea Force to capture Nadzab. He further authorised the regiment to conduct training with the 7th Division and a number of exercises were conducted. Colonel Kenneth H. Kinsler, the commander of the 503rd, eager to discuss the Battle of Crete with the 21st Infantry Brigade's Brigadier Ivan Dougherty, took the unusual step of parachuting into Ravenshoe. On 31 July, Vasey raised the prospect of utilising the entire regiment with Kinsler. Blamey took up the matter with MacArthur, who authorised it on 8 August. Blamey made the Australian Army transport Duntroon available to ship the regiment from Cairns to Port Moresby, except for the 2nd Battalion and advance party, which moved by air as originally planned.

The 7th Division was treated to a training film, "Loading the Douglas C-47", and the commander of the Advanced Echelon of Lieutenant General George Kenney's Fifth Air Force, Major General Ennis Whitehead, made five C-47 Dakota transports available to the 7th Division each day so they could practice loading and unloading. Whitehead also made a B-17 Flying Fortress available so Vasey could fly low over the target area on 7 August. Meanwhile the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion and 2/6th Field Company practiced crossing the Laloki River with folding boats. They flew to Tsili Tsili Airfield on 23 and 24 August.

To give the paratroops some artillery support, Lieutenant Colonel Alan Blyth of the 2/4th Field Regiment proposed dropping some of its eight short 25-pounders by parachute. A call went out for volunteers and four officers and 30 other ranks were selected. On 30 August, Vasey watched them carry out a practice jump at Rogers Airfield. This turned out to be the easy part. Brand new guns were received from the 10th Advanced Ordnance Depot at Port Moresby on 23 August. Two were handed over for training while, as a precaution, the remaining six were sent the 2/117th Field Workshops for inspection and checking. All six were condemned owing to a number of serious defects in assembly and manufacture. On 30 August the gunners received orders to move out the next day, so the 2/51st Light Aid Detachment cannibalised six guns to produce two working guns, which were proofed by firing 20 rounds per gun. Only one was ready in time to leave with the gunners so the other followed on a special flight. Eight of the 2/4th Field Regiment’s Mark II 25-pounders were also condemned owing to the presence of filings in the buffer system. Vasey was less than impressed.

Vasey was concerned about the Japanese strength in the Lae area, which his staff estimated at 6,400, in addition to the 7,000 that Herring's I Corps staff estimated were in the Salamaua area. But the more immediate danger was posed by the Japanese Fourth Air Army at Wewak. Photographs taken by Allied reconnaissance planes showed 199 Japanese aircraft on the four fields there on 13 August. On 17 August, Whitehead's heavy and medium bombers and fighters, escorted by fighters, bombed Wewak. Taking the Japanese by surprise, they destroyed around 100 Japanese aircraft on the ground. In September, the Japanese Army air forces had at their disposal only 60 or 70 operational aircraft to oppose the Allied air forces in New Guinea, although both the 6th and 7th Air Divisions were in the area.

On the south bank of the Markham River lay Markham Point, where the Japanese maintained a force of about 200 men on commanding ground. Part of the 24th Infantry Battalion was ordered to capture the position. The attack on the morning of 4 September went wrong from the start, with two scouts being wounded by a land mine. The force fought its way into the Japanese position but took heavy casualties and was forced to withdraw. Twelve Australians were killed and six were wounded in the attack. It was then decided to merely contain the Japanese force at Markham Point, which was subjected to mortar fire and an airstrike.