The retreat to Lae started on 11 September 1943 and was complete by 14 September 1943. By this time, an order was received to evacuate to the north coast of Huon Peninsula, therefore the 51st Division tried to cross the Saruwaged Range, which proved to be nearly impassable. The division lost all of their heavy equipment and most of their rifles due exhaustion and hunger, and the passage took a whole month instead of expected ten days. By that time, the evacuation port of Finschhafen had been rendered unusable after the Allied Landing at Scarlet Beach on 22 September 1943. In addition to combat losses, about 800 Japanese troops were also lost to the accidents. The Allied forces entered Lae on 16 September 1943, but except for a single contact with the Japanese rearguard on 13 September 1943, they were unable to mount a pursuit across the inhospitable terrain in appalling weather conditions. Due to a lack of weapons and ammunition, the survivors of the 51st Division were largely excluded from the Huon Peninsula campaign, with only one left-behind company from the 102nd Infantry Regiment participating in the Battle of Finschhafen. During 1944–1945 the main challenge faced by the 51st Division was starvation. Only 2,754 men survived until surrender of Japan on 15 August 1945.