Goodenough? PTO (id:#66821)

(Franc-Tireur #16 ID: FT333)   [next]   [previous]

Taleba Bay, Goodenough Island, New Guinea 1942-10-23 (19 others)

Overview:

As part of 0peration Drake, the 2112th Infantry Battalion, a Second Australian Imperial Force unit, which was composed mainly of men from Queensland and Tasmania, was selected to invade Goodenough Island, having taken part in the fighting around Milne Bay in August and September. Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Arnold, as the CO of Drake Force, was ordered to destroy the Japanese force there, re-establish the coast-watching and radar warning posts. Intelligence reports indicated that there were approximately 300 Japanese troops on the island, mainly concentrated in the Galaiwau Bay-Kilia mission area in the southeast. The Japanese were believed to be short of food and ammunition and suffering from malnutrition and disease. Boarding the destroyers HMAS Stuart and Arunta in Milne Bay on the 22nd of October, the Australian troops were transported to Goodenough Island escorted by Task Force 44. Arriving that night, the battalion disembarked on both sides of the island's southern tip. The main force of 520 men, commanded by Lt. Col. Arnold himself, landed at Mud Bay. A smaller force of 120 men, mostly from C Company and commanded by Major Keith Gategood, landed at Taleba Bay in Japanese landing craft that had been captured in the Battle of Milne Bay.

Defender: Japanese (Sasebo 5 Kaigun Rikusentai (SNLF))  

Errata (source)