page_title: Battle of Talasea
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Talasea / Battle
caption_attribution_description: English: US Marines embark for an assault on Talasea on New Britain, March 1944
context_page_description: The Battle of Talasea was a battle fought in the Pacific theater of World War II between Japanese and Allied forces. Dubbed "Operation Appease" by the Allies, the battle was part of the wider Operations Dexterity and Cartwheel, and took place on the island of New Britain, Territory of New Guinea, in March 1944 as primarily US forces, with limited Australian support, carried out an amphibious landing to capture the Talasea area of the Willaumez Peninsula, as part of follow up operations as the Japanese began withdrawing east towards Rabaul following heavy fighting around Cape Gloucester earlier in the year. The assault force consisted of a regimental combat team formed around the 5th Marines, which landed on the western coast of the Willaumez Peninsula, on the western side of a narrow isthmus near the Volupai Plantation. Following the initial landing, the Marines advanced east towards the emergency landing strip at Talasea on the opposite coast. Their advance south was stymied by a small group of Japanese defenders who prevented the US troops from advancing quickly enough to cut off the withdrawal of the Japanese force falling back from Cape Gloucester.
context_section_description: In the days prior to the assault, Royal Australian Air Force Bristol Beaufort aircraft flew numerous sorties from their base on Kiriwina softening up the defenses around the landing beach. On 3 March, the landing was preceded by a small reconnaissance patrol, consisting of an Australian officer – Marshland – an American and two indigenous scouts, which was put ashore by PT boat. After determining contacting friendly local inhabitants and ascertaining the strength and dispositions of the Japanese in the vicinity, the patrol had departed the peninsula and returned to Iboki around midnight on 3 March by PT boat. The following couple of days were used for battle preparation, after which the US force set off for the overnight journey on, embarking from the 5th Marines' base at the Iboki Plantation at 13:00 on 5 March 1944 upon a fleet of 60 assorted types of landing craft escorted by five PT boats. On board one of the landing craft were four medium tanks.
  The following day, around first light, the landing was delayed almost half an hour as the fighter cover from the Fifth Air Force that had been assigned to support the landing failed to arrive; finally the order for the assault force to leave the line of departure was given by Smith despite the risks of proceeding without fighter cover. The initial assault force consisted of 500 marines from the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. These troops were tasked with securing a bridgehead through which follow on troops from the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines would pass as they pushed inland towards the Bitokara Mission. Due to the presence of a coral reef offshore, the initial assault had to be made by two companies from the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines aboard smaller tracked landing vehicles; these were lowered into the water from the larger tank landing craft, and as they made the run into the shore, they were provided covering machine gun fire from the tanks that were aboard one of the medium landing ships. This was answered by sporadic fire from the beach.
  As the two assault companies came ashore, a small spotter plane on an observation mission flew overhead, dropping grenades in lieu of the promised air support from the 5th Air Force. According to U.S. Marine Corps historians, Hough and Shaw, citing Lieutenant Colonel Isamu Murayama's Southeast Area Operations Record, this impromptu air support was later described by the defenders as heavy. As the initial force pushed inland, several small scale clashes occurred, but the landing was largely unopposed. A beachhead was established about 200 yards (180 m) inland and patrols were sent out – on the right Company 'A' quickly met its objective, but on the left Company 'B' found the going a little harder due to swampy ground, which forced them to outflank it around the foothills of Lower Mount Worri where they encountered a small group of Japanese. To sea, the follow on waves were controlled by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Amory, in his own vessel, acting to ensure that the beach was not swamped by too many landing craft at the same time to ensure an orderly disembarkation as the 2nd Battalion followed up the 1st, moving through the beachhead towards Bitokara Mission. Nevertheless, the coral reefs slowed the boats coming in, forcing them to sail in single file, while the confines of landing beach made unloading slow and the requirement to manpack all equipment also added to the delays. Artillery landing on the water's edge suffered heavily from the Japanese mortars firing on the beach, while the medical staff on the beach also suffered heavily.
  Regardless, the advanced elements of the 2nd Battalion, consisting of its Company 'E', began moving through the 1st Battalion around 11:00 hours, even though the 1st had yet to secure the edge of the plantation. Of the four Sherman medium tanks that had come ashore, one became stuck on the beach, while the other three moved forward to support Company 'E' as it advanced along the track leading towards the plantation. Almost immediately they had an effect, silencing a Japanese machine gun position; however, one ta
caption: US preparing for the assault at Iboki Plantation
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