page_title: Battle of the Hongorai River
section_title: Advance to the Hongorai
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of the Hongorai River / Battle / Advance to the Hongorai
caption_attribution_description: An Australian built CAC Boomerang aircraft of No. 5 (Army Co-Operation) squadron RAAF on Piva airfield taxies past Royal New Zealand Air Force Vought F4U-1 Corsair aircraft prior to acting as pathfinder for a strike against Japanese on Bougainville Island, Cape Torokina, Bougainville island, Solomon islands, 15 January 1945.
context_page_description: The Battle of the Hongorai River took place during the Second World War and involved Australian, New Zealand and Japanese forces. Part of the wider Bougainville Campaign of the Pacific theatre, the battle was fought in the southern sector of Bougainville Island. Coming after the Battle of Slater's Knoll in which a strong Japanese counterattack was defeated, the battle occurred in two distinct periods between 17 April and 22 May 1945, as elements of the Australian 15th Brigade advanced south along the Buin Road.
  The initial phase saw the Australians advance towards the Hongorai River. Following the end of the early fighting, the Australian advance towards the main Japanese concentration at Buin continued as they struck out towards the Hari and Mivo Rivers. This continued until torrential rain and flooding brought the advance to a halt short of the objective, washing away many bridges and roads upon which the Australians relied for supplies.
context_section_description: The 15th Brigade took over the forward positions from the 7th Brigade on 17 April. Initial dispositions had the 24th Infantry Battalion on the Buin Road around Kero Creek, with the 58th/59th around Barara, north-east of Slater's Knoll, and the 57th/60th, when it arrived to relieve the 9th, would be positioned further east astride a secondary, parallel track known to the Australians as the Commando Road. Two days later, Hammer received the order to commence the advance towards the Hongorai from Savige, who offered him the support of the 29th Brigade as a mobile reserve in case of sudden counter-attack. In a change to the tactics that the Australians had previously employed prior to the fighting around Slater's Knoll, from early May they advanced on a two-battalion front, instead of one. The 24th Infantry Battalion was in the van, moving along the Buin Road with the 58th/59th protecting its flank and rear; while 5,000 yd (4,600 m) further inland the 57th/60th Infantry Battalion, commencing on 3 May, advanced along the Commando Road from Rumiki, after taking over from the 9th Infantry Battalion.
  Moving forward under a creeping barrage as they moved beyond Tokinotu, the 24th Infantry Battalion was the first to contact the Japanese, carrying out an attack against Japanese positions around Dawe's Creek on 17 April. Supported by a troop of Matilda tanks from the 2/4th Armoured Regiment, an artillery barrage which fired over 700 shells, two infantry companies—'C' and 'D'—from the 24th attacked the position while another—'A' Company—carried out a flanking manoeuvre to cut another track further north towards Kindara and Hatai. The left forward company—'D' Company—reached its objective without trouble; however, 'C' Company—on the right along with the troop of tanks—came up against stiff Japanese resistance and became bogged down. 'A' Company also became embroiled in heavy fighting along the Hatai track. In support of 'A' Company, Matildas came forward and raked the jungle, hacking through the undergrowth to reveal several Japanese pillboxes, which were destroyed by the Australian armour. As night fell, 'C' Company dug in before resuming the attack the next morning. Engineers were brought forward, as was a bulldozer, and the gap was bridged. Amidst heavy fighting, the Australians forced their way across the creek.  By the time that the position had been taken in the afternoon and the infantry had advanced to the line of exploitation 400 yd (370 m) beyond the creek, 37 Japanese had been killed for the loss of seven Australians killed and 19 wounded. After this, the Australians continued their advance towards Sindou Creek, which was a further 1 mi (1.6 km) to the southeast. In response, the Japanese launched a number of determined counterattacks over the course of the following week, although these were turned back. During this time, the Australians sent a number of patrols out in front of their forward elements, one of which managed to slip through the Japanese defensive positions either side of the Buin Road and carried out a reconnaissance of the Hongorai River about 1,000 yd (910 m) south of the main crossing. Further patrols were carried out, as well as a number of ambushes, before the advance was resumed on 26 April.
  Resuming their advance, the Australians were supported by three squadrons of Corsairs from the Royal New Zealand Air Force—Nos. 14, 22 and 26 Squadrons—which bombed and strafed the ground in front of the advancing infantry, as well as a creeping barrage of artillery and mortar fire. With such strong support the Japanese offered little resistance and over the course of two days the 24th Infantry Battalion covered almost a third of the distance to the Hongorai, for just one man wounded. Further progress was made over the next week, but on 4 May the advance was slowed when they encountered a roadblock defended by a field gun along with a machine gun, mines and other improvised explosive devices. After this, the 15th Brigade's engineer support were called upon to regularly carry out route clearance and proving operation
caption: RAAF Boomerang with RNZAF Corsairs on Bougainville 1945
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