page_title: Battle of Bita Paka
section_title: Advance inland
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Bita Paka / Battle / Advance inland
caption_attribution_description: English: Sourced from: http://www.awm.gov.au/database/collection.asp Copyright: The AWM record for this photo states that the copyright status is 'expired - public domain'. The photo was taken in c. 1915. AWM Caption: Bitapaka, New Britain. 1915-01-05. Group portrait of RAN members of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&amp;MEF) standing behind a pipe mine which they have been digging out on Bitapaka Road after the taking of the German wireless station on 11 September 1914. These mines were laid by German soldiers beneath the road with wires leading to an electric battery and firing key at the bottom of a lookout tree. Petty Officer Hubert Laurence Maynard Greaves RAN is standing second from the left. Note the dense jungle in the background which the naval men were required to force their way through in order to capture the wireless station. (Donor O. Greaves)
context_page_description: The Battle of Bita Paka was fought south of Kabakaul, on the island of New Britain, and was a part of the invasion and subsequent occupation of German New Guinea by the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. Similar to New Zealand's operation against German Samoa in August, the main target of the operation was a strategically important wireless station—one of several used by the German East Asiatic Squadron—which the Australians believed to be located in the area. The powerful German naval fleet threatened British interests and its elimination was an early priority of the British and Australian governments during the war.
  After an unopposed landing, a mixed force of German reservists and half-trained Melanesian police mounted a stout resistance and forced the Australians to fight their way to the objective. After a day of fighting during which both sides suffered casualties, Australian forces captured the wireless station at Bita Paka.
context_section_description: The advance inland began along the fringe of the dense jungle-edged road to the radio station, with the Australians attempting to avoid the road wherever possible. By 09:00 they had penetrated about 2,000 yards (1,800 m) and with the scrub becoming denser, the scouts pushed away from the road to work their way around the obstacle. They suddenly surprised a group of about 20 Melanesian soldiers led by three German reservists, who were apparently laying an ambush on the road for the advancing Australians. They opened fire, wounding one German in the hand and capturing him, and scattering the Melanesians. By means of a ruse Wuchert and Mayer were also captured, depriving the defenders of two important commanders, while several significant maps also fell into Australian hands at this time.
  Realising that his advance was going to be contested, Bowen requested reinforcements. Consequently, as an interim measure, 59 men from Warrego and Yarra were landed under Lieutenant G.A. Hill, until infantry could arrive from Berrima, which was still steaming towards Kabakaul from Karavia Bay. Meanwhile, Bowen pushed on and the Australians were again fired upon by the well concealed Germans and their Melanesian troops, as well as by snipers in the treetops. By 09:30 the situation had become grave, and the Australians suffered their first casualty of the war, with Able Seaman Billy Williams mortally wounded. Also among the casualties was the medical officer, Captain Brian Pockley, who died of his wounds in the afternoon after being evacuated to Berrima.
  The reinforcements landed earlier from the destroyers reached Bowen by 10:00 however, and the situation was stabilised. The advance was subsequently resumed, but the Australians had not gone more than 500 yards (460 m) when they encountered a strongly held German trench dug across the road. Working together, Hill and Bowen attempted to outflank the Germans, during which Bowen was shot and badly wounded by a sniper, leaving Hill in command. Berrima subsequently landed reinforcements, including a half-battalion commanded by Lieutenant Commander Charles Elwell, as well as a machine-gun section and medical detachment. Among the reinforcements was the battalion commander, Beresford, and the intelligence officer.
caption: Australian soldiers dig up a German pipe mine on the Bita Paka Road.
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