Like all landing forces they often experienced heavy casualties when faced with determined resistance, such as at the Battle of Milne Bay. This was due to their poor training and unwillingness to surrender, and when completely out of ammunition, they may even resort to hand-to-hand fighting with their swords and bayonets. After the failure to capture Milne Bay the Special Naval Landing Forces became a defensive force and very few units were raised. Naval Guard Units became much more common IJN infantry units in the Pacific.