The 6th Division was assigned responsibility for completing the destruction of the Japanese Eighteenth Army, which was the last large Japanese force remaining in the Australian portion of New Guinea. Supported by several RAAF squadrons and RAN warships, the division was reinforced by Militia and armoured units and began arriving at Aitape in October 1944. In late 1944 the Australians launched a two-pronged offensive to the east towards Wewak. The 17th Brigade advanced inland through the Torricelli Mountains while the remainder of the division moved along the coast. Although the Eighteenth Army had suffered heavy casualties from previous fighting and disease, it mounted a strong resistance and inflicted significant casualties. The 6th Division's advance was also hampered by supply difficulties and bad weather. The Australians secured the coastal area by early May, and Wewak was captured on 10 May after a small force was landed east of the town. By the end of the war the Eighteenth Army had been forced into what it had designated its "last stand" area. The Aitape–Wewak campaign cost 442 Australian lives while about 9,000 Japanese died and another 269 were taken prisoner.