Landing at Saidor - Background

Background

Fighting in the South West Pacific Area in late 1943 and early 1944 was dominated by General Douglas MacArthur's Operation, a series of operations directed at isolating and neutralising Rabaul, the main base of the Imperial Japanese forces in the South West Pacific area. MacArthur's original III plan called for Australian troops to capture first Lae, then Finschhafen, and finally Madang with a combination of airborne and amphibious assaults. However, it was a long way from Finschhafen to Madang — 178 miles (286 km). Thinking in terms of a shore-to-shore operation, which would be limited in radius of action to the distance that landing craft could sail in one night, the Commander of Allied Land Forces, General Sir Thomas Blamey recommended in August 1943 that an intermediate objective be seized first. Saidor was chosen as it had accessible beaches, a harbour, and a pre-war airstrip, and was allocated the GHQ codename . It was recognised that the capture of Saidor might make that of Madang unnecessary, as both could cover the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits, and both would provide air bases close to the Japanese base at Wewak. For the time being though, both were considered objectives.

The Battle of Finschhafen prevented the early occupation of Saidor. The Japanese wrested back the initiative and threatened to derail MacArthur's strategy, but ultimately failed to dislodge the Australian 9th Division or prevent the occupation of the Finschhafen area. With the battle of Finschhafen won, the 9th Division initiated a pursuit of Lieutenant General Hatazō Adachi's retreating Japanese Eighteenth Army on 5 December 1943. Adachi was now in a difficult and precarious position, attempting to conduct a fighting withdrawal with his inland right flank vulnerable to attack from the Australian 7th Division in the Ramu Valley and his seaborne left flank open to amphibious assault. That he had an opportunity to destroy Adachi's army was not lost on MacArthur, who decided on 10 December that Saidor should be seized on or about 7 January, provided that Operation was proceeding satisfactorily. On 17 December, Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, the commander of the Force, received orders setting a target date for Saidor of 2 January 1944.