1942 victory brought light in hard times

True, a Japanese naval task force had been turned back at the Battle of the Coral Sea in early May but soon after, Australian troops were fighting for their lives along the Kokoda Track.

Then in early September came an astonishing victory. On the far eastern end of Papua, a Japanese landing had been comprehensively repulsed, with modest Australian but significant Japanese losses.

This was the Battle of Milne Bay, fought from August 25 to September 7.

"Milne Bay was a clear victory. It is a decisive victory. But it has never had the same impact as Kokoda," Australian War Memorial senior historian Dr Karl James says.

Although there were some Americans present, Milne Bay was mostly Australian, with Australian soldiers fighting on Australian soil - New Guinea was then Australian-administered territory.

The Battle of the Coral Sea turned back the Japanese amphibious force intent on taking Port Moresby, then the principal northern air base.

This invasion force comprised seasoned Japanese troops who would certainly have overwhelmed the mostly militia battalions defending Port Moresby.

Japanese aircraft could then have been free to attack northern Australia and the shipping that was transporting urgently-needed supplies from the US.

Having been repulsed at Coral Sea, the Japanese weren't about to give up and embarked on an overland invasion along the Kokoda Track, supported by a soon-to-be-acquired base and airfield at Milne Bay.

American supreme commander Douglas MacArthur could appreciate just as well as the Japanese the usefulness of Milne Bay for operations against northern New Guinea and the main Japanese base at Rabaul.

US engineers started building three airstrips in June and Australian troops initially arrived in July. Eventually the garrison numbered 7500 Australians and 1300 Americans, backed by RAAF 75 and 76 Squadron P-40 Kittyhawks.

The first Japanese troops, some 2000 Marines, landed on the night of August 25.

James said the Japanese expected they would face just a few hundred Australian troops. They were also unaware there were three airstrips - two in operation and one under construction - believing there was just one.

But the key error the Japanese made was to put ashore at the wrong place, some 10 kilometres from their intended landing, requiring days of trekking through the sodden malarial coastal bush and a single dirt road.

Still Japanese troops had triumphed over superior numbers and, backed by a pair of light tanks, they relentlessly pressed westwards. Australian troops had no anti-tank weapons available.

Both tanks were eventually found bogged and abandoned. This year one of these tanks, now meticulously restored and still showing the marks of Australian bullets, will be displayed at the Australian War Memorial to mark the 75th anniversary of this battle.

From the Australian side, the commander, Major General Cyril Clowes, had no clear idea of Japanese numbers and didn't know if they would attempt another landing behind his lines.

He held back a significant part of his force just in case.

Japanese plans to do precisely that were hampered by constant air attacks on their landing craft and supplies. As the battle progressed, RAAF Beaufighters, Beauforts and Hudsons pitched in.

Having reached the first of the airfields and reinforced by an additional 800 marines who landed on the night of August 29, Japanese forces launched the main assault in the early hours of August 31.

In three frenzied charges across open ground, they were cut down by machine gun and artillery fire. Come dawn Clowes launched his counter-offensive.

This still wasn't easy fighting. In a savage action on September 4, Corporal John French knocked out three Japanese machine guns with grenade and Thompson sub-machine gun, an action for which he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

By this stage the outcome wasn't in doubt and on the morning of September 7, surviving Japanese troops had withdrawn aboard Japanese ships.

Australian casualties totalled 373, with 167 dead. Among the dead were 36 Australian soldiers taken prisoner, some found roped to trees and repeatedly bayoneted.

Japanese casualties were far greater, with just over 1300 of the 2800 put ashore eventually evacuated.

Although a clear-cut victory, Milne Bay has never attained the iconic status of Kokoda. James says that's because it coincided with the greater drama of Kokoda, was over quickly and wasn't reported in detail at the time.

Compared with other battles, this was a relatively modest action but it was the first occasion a Japanese force had been repelled on land and that was a ray of light.

In the jungles of Burma, British commander Field Marshal Sir William Slim, later Governor-General of Australia, was fighting desperately against seemingly unstoppable Japanese forces.

"It was Australian soldiers who first broke the spell of invincibility of the Japanese army: those of us who were in Burma have cause to remember," he later wrote.

Australian Associated Press