In March 1943, Australian troops from the &lt;a href="2/7th%20Battalion%20%28Australia%29"&gt;2/7th Infantry Battalion&lt;/a&gt; had pushed forward from Wau, which had been secured in late January and set up a defensive position on Lababia Ridge a feature about south of Salamaua, near Mubo, which was situated around the Bitoi and Buyawim Rivers that was, according to historian John Miller, strategically important as it provided clear observation of "Nassau Bay to the southeast, Bitoi Ridge to the north, and the Komiatum Track which served as the line of communications from Salamaua to the Japanese facing the Australians".