page_title: Battle of Wide Bay–Open Bay
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Wide Bay–Open Bay / Battle
caption_attribution_description: English: A map of Australian operations in central New Britain between October 1944 and March 1945
context_page_description: The Battle of Wide Bay–Open Bay was a battle during the New Britain campaign of the Second World War. Following the arrival of the Australians on New Britain in late 1944, replacing the US garrison on the island, they began a limited offensive against the Japanese forces on the island. Pushing east from the positions previously captured by the US troops earlier in the year, after landing at Jacquinot Bay on the southern coast in November, the Australians began advancing across the island towards the Gazelle Peninsula, where they sought to isolate the numerically superior Japanese garrison. This advance was effected along two axes: Cape Hoskins to Open Bay on the northern coast, and Jacquinot Bay to Wide Bay on the southern. Once the Australians had secured a line across the island between Wide Bay and Open Bay in March and April 1945, the fighting on New Britain died down as the Australians sought to contain the larger Japanese garrison while limiting their own casualties. This situation lasted until the end of the war in August 1945.
context_section_description: In the first two months following the Australian take over, the Japanese sought to generate some momentum in their operations west of the Gazelle Peninsula, but a number of actions against Australian patrols forced them to withdraw east towards the peninsula. In mid-January 1945, the Australians exploited this withdrawal on the northern coast of New Britain, and the 36th Infantry Battalion advanced overland to Ea Ea, around the western edge of Open Bay, while a small element remained at Cape Hoskins to defend the airfield there. Between January and April 1945 a series of clashes followed and as Australian patrols came to dominate the coast around the bay, the Japanese fell back towards the Turiu River, to the north of the bay, where the swampy ground offered a series of natural obstacles. After advancing to Watu, in line with the western expanse of the bay, the Australians temporarily halted their advance.
  Along the southern coast, Royal Australian Navy Fairmile motor launches began patrolling towards Wide Bay shortly before the new year as Japanese submarines had been spotted elsewhere, particularly on the north coast around Open Bay. In late December, two companies from the 14th/32nd Infantry Battalion, reinforced by a platoon from the 1st New Guinea Infantry Battalion, were sent east from Cutarp to Sampun, on the southern expanse of Wide Bay in late December, moving by barge. These forces were bolstered in early January with the arrival of the remaining two companies of the 14th/32nd, along with a troop of artillery from the 2/14th Field Regiment. Between late January and early February 1945, the Australian 6th Infantry Brigade advanced eastwards along the southern coast of New Britain towards Milim, where they established a patrol base with the intention of fanning out towards Henry Reid Bay. Boomerang fighters and Beaufort fighter-bombers attacked Japanese positions to the north of Karlai Plantation on 15 February, and the 14th/32nd subsequently took the position unopposed after the Japanese defenders withdrew under heavy artillery fire. Two days later, the 14th/32nd took the trading station at Kamandram.
  In late February, the 19th Infantry Battalion was moved to Gogbulu Creek, where it relieved the 14th/32nd.  Elements of the 2/14th Field Regiment established themselves at Karlai Plantation from where they fired support missions across the bay towards Waitavalo. Meanwhile, the 19th Infantry Battalion crossed the Mevelo River and sent patrols eastwards toward the Wulwut River, which flowed into Henry Reid Bay. From Henry Reid Bay, the Australians exploited towards the Kamandram Mission, on the edge of Wide Bay, where the Japanese had earlier established a new defensive line. In mid-February,  the two forces clashed for the first time in the area, but the Japanese were unable to check the Australian advance. In early March, the Australian high command ordered an advance towards the coconut plantations at Waitavolo and Tol on the northern edge of Henry Reid Bay. At Tol, the Australians found evidence of a large scale massacre of Australian troops, who had been murdered by troops from the III Battalion, 144th Infantry Regiment in 1942 when the Japanese had captured the island from the Australians. They subsequently exhumed 158 bodies.
  Following a crossing of the Wulwut River with engineer support, the 14th/32nd Infantry Battalion took over from the 19th again and from 5 March heavy fighting followed over the course of six weeks as the Australians reduced the fortified Japanese positions on Mount Sugi along a series of ridges west of the river and overlooking the bay. These hills were named "Lone Tree", "Bacon", "Cake", "Young", "Perry's", "Kath's" and "Moose", and were defended by a series of pillboxes, supported by mortars and machine guns. The most significant action was fought around Bacon Hill, which was captured on 18 March by the 14th/32nd Infantry Battalion. The fighting during this period was made more difficult by heavy rains which made the going tough for the infantrymen climbing the steep slopes, while the j
caption: A map of Australian operations in central New Britain between October 1944 and March 1945.
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