page_title: Battle of Sattelberg
section_title: Allied preparations
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Sattelberg / Prelude / Allied preparations
caption_attribution_description: English: Soldiers from the 2/24th Battalion, Australian Army, around Sattelberg, New Guinea, on 15 November 1943.
context_page_description: The Battle of Sattelberg took place between 17 and 25 November 1943, during the Huon Peninsula campaign of the Second World War. Involving forces from Australia, the United States and Japan, the fighting centred on the Sattelberg mission station which was situated atop a hill about 900 metres above sea level, approximately 8 kilometres inland from Finschhafen, New Guinea. Following the Australian landing at Scarlet Beach, a large force of Japanese had retreated inland towards Sattelberg. Holding the high ground, the Japanese subsequently threatened the Australian lines of communication as they proceeded to advance south towards Finschhafen, and in order to neutralise this threat, the Australian 26th Brigade was tasked with capturing the mission. Over the course of 10 days they advanced west from Jivevaneng up the southern approaches to the mission, reducing the Japanese position with armour, artillery and air support, before the Japanese finally abandoned Sattelberg and withdrew north to Wareo, having suffered heavy casualties and running low on supplies.
context_section_description: Prior to the attack on Sattelberg, the Australians needed reinforcements. Although initially the Allied higher commanders were reluctant to provide these, on 25 October the Militia 4th Brigade was detached from the 5th Division and placed under the operational control of the 9th Division. These troops were subsequently used in a defensive role around the beachhead to free up the rest of the 9th Division for the offensive operations. The 2/43rd Battalion, from the 24th Brigade, was also brought up on 30 September, ahead of the rest of the brigade which arrived later in October. Nevertheless, by the end of September, the Allies perceived the situation around Finschhafen to be "reasonably secure", and American engineer and construction units, including the 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion, started to arrive in October. By December they had begun work constructing an airfield and other base facilities around Dreger Harbour. Following this, Wootten began finalising his plans for assaulting Sattelberg. Because the 20th Brigade had borne the brunt of the fighting following the landing in September, the 26th Brigade, which had landed at Langemak Bay on the night of 20 October under Brigadier David Whitehead, was chosen to spearhead the attack. At the same time, the 20th and 24th Brigades, operating in the central and northern sectors, would continue patrolling operations in order to keep the Japanese off balance.
  Support for the 26th Brigade's attack would be provided by divisional assets, including Matilda tanks from 'C' Squadron, 1st Tank Battalion, whose presence the Australians took great lengths to keep secret, artillery from the 2/12th Field Regiment and later (after it was found that the 25-pdrs could not be transported up the Sattelberg Road), the 2nd Mountain Battery, and support-by-fire from the 2/2nd Machine Gun Battalion. The 2/13th Field Company supplied engineer detachments to each battalion, while air assets were provided by the United States 5th Air Force and No. 4 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, which was an Army co-operation squadron that was equipped with Boomerangs and Wirraways, and provided aerial observation in support of artillery operations. Vengeance dive bombers from No. 24 Squadron, RAAF also provided support, while Japanese supply lines were disrupted by Allied aircraft and PT boats.
  Supplies for the operation were landed by American landing craft from the 532nd Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment and brought forward using vehicles or carried by local porters. They were then "dumped" around Jivevaneng and Kumawa, where they could be distributed to individual battalions. However, the heavy rain that had fallen at the end of October hampered the buildup of stores and consequently delayed Australian preparations. As a result, their plans were not finalised until 15 November. At this time, Whitehead began issuing his orders. The concept of operations called for the capture of the 2,200 feature—so called by the Australians because that was its height in feet—first, before a subsequent westward advance to the mission. The 2/48th Battalion would advance west from Jivevaneng along the Sattelberg road supported by tanks from the 1st Tank Battalion, while the 2/24th Battalion would advance north-west across Siki Creek and capture the 2,200 feature. The 2/23rd Battalion, which would hand over its defensive duties to the 2/4th Commando Squadron, would start further south from Kumawa, protecting the left flank, and after paralleling the Sattelberg road, they would marry up with the 2/48th at a position called "Steeple Tree Hill", or the 2,600 feature, by the Australians ("Miyake-dai" to the Japanese), where it was planned to halt for resupply and re-appreciation before undertaking the final attack. It was decided that tanks, which would provide direct fire support for use against the Japanese bunker systems that were believed to be around Sattelberg, would only be employed along the Sattelberg road, as considerable engineer support was required to move the Matildas into position in the closed terrain.
caption: Australians from the 2/24th Battalion prepare for a patrol, 15 November 1943
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