Operation Dexterity
Operation Dexterity | |||||||
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Part of World War II, Pacific War | |||||||
U.S. Marines in the jungle at Cape Gloucester | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States Australia | Japan | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Douglas MacArthur Walter Krueger |
Yasushi Sakai Iwao Matsuda | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~19,000 | ~10,500 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
~500 killed | ~4,500 killed |
Operation Dexterity was a military operation, part of
History and planning
The
To keep the Japanese cowed and begin the Allied advance towards the Japanese home islands, the Allied military leadership envisaged an advance through the Pacific over two main lines of attack. Admiral
Operation Dexterity was to be conducted in three separate phases:
- Operation Lazaretto – Planned landing in southern New Britain at the plantation of Lindenhafen, approximately 5 km from Gasmata on 14 November 1943 and the neutralization of Japanese base at Gasmata for protection of eastern flank for the subsequent operation. This operation was never undertaken and replaced by Operation Director.
- Units: Sixth Army.
- Units:
- Operation Director– Landing in southwestern New Britain at Arawe as a diversion for Operation Backhander, Arawe was planned as patrol boat base.
- Units: 112th Regimental Combat Team
- Units:
- Operation Backhander– Landing in northwestern New Britain at Cape Gloucester to capture local Japanese airfields and convert them into a major Allied airbase.
- Units: 1st Marine Division.
- Units:
- Operation Michaelmas – Landing in New Guinea at Saidor to prevent the withdrawal of Japanese troops retreating in the advance of the Australian Army from Finschhafen.
- Units: 32nd Infantry Division
After the successful conclusion of these three phases the Allies landed at Talasea to try to cut off the thousands of retreating Japanese troops under the command of Major General Iwao Matsuda who successfully escaped to defensive lines in central New Britain after the small force of Japanese defenders delayed the Marines from quickly advancing to the withdrawal route.
Geography and Environment
Like most of the islands of the South Pacific, the Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago are of volcanic origin with steep mountain slopes, jungle and treacherous marshes, where malaria was a problem for all deployed troops. The hot, tropical climate was rarely ameliorated by the torrential rain storms and dense clouds which afflicted the region. The inhabited islands had been managed by Australia as a League of Nations Mandate before the war, and there was only a settlement of Westerners originally settled by Imperial Germany before the First World War that was centered on coconut plantations and missionary complexes.
The Japanese on New Britain
The high command of the
The 8th Area Army relied exclusively on barge and submarine traffic from Rabaul to New Guinea, because of Allied air superiority. In September 1943, Major General Iwao Matsuda took over the 65th Brigade, the various pioneers and debarkation units, and a number of troops of the 51st Division, whose main units were on New Guinea in the fight against Australian troops. Two companies of 115th Division and provisional infantry companies formed from artillery and engineer elements of the 66th Division, and about half of the 51st Reconnaissance Regiment belonged to General Matsuda's command. General Matsuda, a highly experienced officer, established his headquarters near the airfield of Cape Gloucester. On 5 October 1943, all of Matsuda's units came under the command of the 17th Division which was commanded by Lieutenant General Yasushi Sakai, who had arrived in December 1943 from the Japanese theater of operations in China.
General Sakai set up his headquarters at Malalia in the vicinity of Cape Hoskins on the East Williaumez Peninsula. The 17th Division's troops began immediately ordering the expansions of the defensive lines. The Japanese headquarters was established in an existing concrete bunker at the foot of Talawe Mountain, which was surrounded by dense, tropical vegetation. Smaller bunkers and shelters for machine gun positions were sited at possible Allied landing beaches five miles southeast of Cape Gloucester. Two hills known later as Target-Hill and Hill 660 served as focal points for the Japanese defenses. Thus about half of all available Japanese troops in the west of the island were in positions that could effectively contribute to the defense of Cape Gloucester.
On 12 December 1943, General Yasushi Sakai advised all commanders of his units about an imminent Allied invasion. The large volumes of Allied landing ships along the ports of New Guinea did not convince the Japanese of the scheduled operations of Allied forces. False invasion alarms were commonplace up to the end of 1943. With the Allies' air superiority increasing, the bombing of Rabaul and Wewak brought the realization that the invasion of New Britain was imminent.
Preparatory actions
Reconnaissance
Two days after the decision to proceed with the operation was taken by the Allied commanders, the US 6th Army's Alamo Scouts began to deploy in the area of Cape Gloucester. They neared the coast by torpedo boat, then transferred to dinghies and landed on the beaches. From there they reconnoitered the Japanese defenses by direct observations or through contact with the local aboriginal population of New Britain.
Citations
Film
- Attack: The Battle for New Britain (1944), Produzent: Documentary, DVD, USA, (2003)
Further reading
- Bismark Archipelago Campaign Archived 2009-02-16 at the Wayback Machine part of the U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II series by the United States Army Center of Military History
External links
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/II/USMC-II-IV-1.html
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Gloucester/index.html
- http://www.hmasshropshire.com/chapter5.htm
- http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/sallet6.htm