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In late January 1944 a force of New Zealand soldiers and Allied specialists undertook a daring behind the lines reconnaissance of the Japanese-held Green Islands of Papua New Guinea. The New Zealand Army's largest amphibious operation of World War II followed two weeks later. The Japanese contested the invasion with air power and inflicted heavy damage on the American cruiser USS St. Louis. After landing, the New Zealanders pushed inland and encountered fanatical Japanese defenders entrenched in thick jungle.
Allied engineers--including the famed Seabees--then built airfields, roads and shipping facilities. The seizure of the Green Islands completed the encirclement of the main Japanese base in the South Pacific at Rabaul. A memorable but overlooked action of the Pacific War, "Operation Squarepeg" involved a diverse force of Allied sailors, soldiers and airmen that included Charles Lindbergh and future U.S. president Richard Nixon.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
One. The Strategic Landscape, January 1944
Two. The Opposing Forces
Three. The "Commando Raid"-A Reconnaissance in Force
Four. Planning an Amphibious Invasion
Five. Bloody St. Valentine's Day-The Ordeal of USS St. Louis
Six. Invasion
Seven. The Push Inland
Eight. Japanese Resistance
Nine. Tank and Infantry Action at Tanaheran
Ten. Aftermath and Consolidation
Eleven. Significance and Legacy
Chronology
Glossary
Appendices
I: New Zealand Order of Battle for the "Commando Raid,"
30 January 1944
II: New Zealand Order of Battle, Operation Squarepeg,
15 February 1944
III: New Zealand and American Units Involved in Operation
Squarepeg, 15 February 1944
IV: U.S. Naval Forces Involved with Operation Squarepeg,
15 February 1944
V: U.S. Navy Task Organization for Squarepeg
VI: Specifications of the Valentine Tanks of 3NZ Division Tank Squadron
VII: Echelons to the Green Islands
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Reg Newell has a doctoral degree from Massey University, Palmerston North (with a dissertation on New Zealand's Third Division in the Pacific) and continues researching the Pacific War. He lives in Upper Hutt, New Zealand.
