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D-Day New Guinea: The extraordinary story of the battle for Lae and the greatest combined airborne and amphibious operation of the Pacific War
'Java is heaven, Burma is hell, but you never come back alive from New Guinea' - A Japanese military saying.
The capture of Lae was the most complex operation for the Australian army in the Second World War. In many ways it was also a rehearsal for the D-Day invasion of France with an amphibious landing combined with the first successful large scale Allied airborne operation of the war. But this is not just a book about a successful military campaign that changed the course of the war in New Guinea. It also brings together the extraordinary stories of the Australian, American and Japanese participants in the battle, and of the fight against the cloying jungle, the raging rivers and soaring mountain ranges that made New Guinea such a daunting battlefield.
Phillip Bradley brings a compelling clarity, humanity and new insight into a little known but crucial Australian battle of the Pacific War.
The capture of Lae was the most complex operation for the Australian army in the Second World War. In many ways it was also a rehearsal for the D-Day invasion of France with an amphibious landing combined with the first successful large scale Allied airborne operation of the war. But this is not just a book about a successful military campaign that changed the course of the war in New Guinea. It also brings together the extraordinary stories of the Australian, American and Japanese participants in the battle, and of the fight against the cloying jungle, the raging rivers and soaring mountain ranges that made New Guinea such a daunting battlefield.
Phillip Bradley brings a compelling clarity, humanity and new insight into a little known but crucial Australian battle of the Pacific War.
322 pages, Paperback
Published April 3, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 20, 2023
I read this in memory of my father, who served as an Australian army signaler in New Guinea during WWII. Some of that service was in Lae, although after Operation Postern, the subject of Bradley’s book. As a child I overheard Dad talking to colleagues, relatives and so forth about his time in Papua New Guinea. Certain place names along New Guinea’s north coast reoccurred – Lae, Nadzab and Wewak. But, of course, as a child I didn’t ask too many questions; and Dad, like many former soldiers, did not admit to having seen much “serious stuff”. Only as an older man, towards the end of his life, when I was also perhaps old enough to understand, did he tell me that certain things he witnessed towards the end of the war were still giving him nightmares.
Bradley’s detailed account of what happened at Lae and Nadzab in the months before my father served in those places has allowed me to deepen my understanding of what shaped him. In September this year, it will be eighty years since Australian infantry, supported by American paratroopers and the US Navy, captured Lae and Nadzab from the Japanese. That event, like much of WWII, is slipping over the horizon of living memory, so Bradley’s research is timely.
I said the book is detailed, and I suspect some readers may find it too detailed, that for them the narrative becomes cluttered and rather plodding. I didn’t mind the detail, which conveys a sense of the skirmishing, hit and run encounters that were, in fact, the majority of the fighting. It was useful, too, to have the experiences of the Japanese in their own words.
Bradley’s detailed account of what happened at Lae and Nadzab in the months before my father served in those places has allowed me to deepen my understanding of what shaped him. In September this year, it will be eighty years since Australian infantry, supported by American paratroopers and the US Navy, captured Lae and Nadzab from the Japanese. That event, like much of WWII, is slipping over the horizon of living memory, so Bradley’s research is timely.
I said the book is detailed, and I suspect some readers may find it too detailed, that for them the narrative becomes cluttered and rather plodding. I didn’t mind the detail, which conveys a sense of the skirmishing, hit and run encounters that were, in fact, the majority of the fighting. It was useful, too, to have the experiences of the Japanese in their own words.
May 29, 2019
Review by Ian Smith – Allen and Unwin
This is a book about a specific theatre of war during WWII. It has been thoroughly researched, the detail is impressive and it clearly fills a gap in areas that have been neglected in popular storytelling.
My only qualm is that it lacks feeling, which is somewhat typical of males writing about war.
It’s all about Lae, a crucial step in Japan’s quest to take Australia during this conflict. That this reconquest was the greatest combined airborne and amphibious operation of the Pacific War will come as a surprise to many (me included). The Japanese had clearly stretched themselves and were having trouble maintaining supply in waters not fully surveyed and airstrips constantly under threat.
There were many cooks in the broth of ideas as to how to counter the threat though the fact that McArthur saw this as the key to pushing back the Japanese to the Philippines meant it always had support from the highest level.
Innovations in the form of new style landing craft and facilitating airstrips out of the jungle worked in the Allies favour. They also had hidden outposts sending back vital information so the Japanese were really up against it. A Japanese military saying goes thus, “Java is heaven, Burma is hell, but you never some back alive from New Guinea.”
One myth that gets tarnished is that the natives were always on our side, something forever portrayed in the Kokoda Trail story. They basically went with the flow.
The jungles, raging rivers, tropical diseases and unknown reefs made this a challenge in more ways than one. Here, the Australians and Americans had a slight advantage, having more experience with the weather and a much shorter supply line. The way they surged forward in horrific conditions of fast flowing rivers, mangrove swamps and boggy ground, losing many who drowned whilst crossing, did their country proud.
A classic quote from an American lieutenant, John Rucker, about Australian soldiers, is memorable, “When I saw these soldiers first, I thought they were the worst disciplined, worst dressed rabble of men I had ever seen. I had to see them in action and preparing for action before I realised what a terrible mistake I had made. Then I knew that they were the best disciplined, the best dressed and the greatest body of fighting men that anyone in the world could hope to have fighting for or with them.”
Lessons from this campaign went into the successful D-Day landings in Europe because two previous similar assaults in the Mediterranean had been botched. As the noose tightened around the stronghold the Japanese had not the resources to stop it and their eventual retreat through the jungle and over snow-capped mountains to bases to the north is an appallingly epic saga of deprivation and at least one instance of cannibalism, such was the starvation of the personnel.
Thousands died during the retreat though the chasers never got close to the survivors, instead finding mostly dead bodies by the hundred.
It’s good that this book has been published, it fills in a gap in the general public’s knowledge of WWII.
August 17, 2019
I sought out this book to learn more about the Lae campaign after I had read that superb Peter Ryan book about his work as a patrol officer in this region, mainly in the build-up to this military action. I enjoyed this book and the considerable research that went into it, but I felt that the maps were an important part of the story and this is what Kindle does very poorly as the maps are too small and can't be increased in size. I have raised this in correspondence with Kindle and they have told me that it is work in progress. I tried to correct this by stopping reading and going to the PC where I could enlarge the maps, but this is a pain. As a result of this problem I will be reluctant to download other books of military campaigns where the maps will be an important part of understanding what took place.
February 23, 2022
Bradley has written a very comprehensive and generally well articulated text on what might be considered one of the more important yet more forgotten campaigns in Australian history during World War II. Whilst those who have studied the history of the war in Papua New Guinea would know the battles of the Kokoda track and at Milne Bay in 1942, or the combined Australian-American operations against the Japanese at Buna and Gona, closing out that year, the seaborne and airborne landings in the areas near to Lae in September 1943 are far less celebrated. This is of course a shame, as the work done by mostly Australian troops in a complex combined arms operation in the assault at Lae was rarely seen before or again. Also, as Bradley points out, it might be argued that the US paratroop drop at Nadzab helped shape the latter use of airborne troops during Overlord on June 6th 1944. So if there is one important recommendation I can give potential readers of ‘D-Day New Guinea’ is that it fills in a gap in modern popular Australian military history.
However that is not the only reason why one would be interested in reading this book. Bradley has compiled a mostly fascinating narrative filled with vivid depictions of the fighting between the Allied troops and their Japanese enemy during the campaign. The author has made sure that whilst he is mostly focused on the efforts of the Australian and American forces engaged in the operations around Lae, he also gives the reader plenty of insights into the experiences and conditions of the Japanese army and naval forces who were eventually forced out of Lae and into a precipitous retreat.
Bradley is also to be commended for his detailed discussion of both the command processes and personnel during the campaign that led to the recapture of Lae, and also the logistical problems and demands that the allies had to deal with during their operations. There is no doubt when one reads this book that the Bradley establishes that the terrain and jungles of the Lae district and Markham Valley were just as difficult to deal with as the opposing soldiers’ firepower for the men in this campaign.
The author’s narrative is mostly clear and engaging, informative to the highest degree thanks to copious notes and source work. At times it does become a little bit hard to follow because Bradley focuses on units and names of commanders and their troops as well as locations without always providing supporting visual information. There are quite a few maps however they are not quite as helpful as I think they were intended. It might of been helpful if in the book Bradley had provided order of battle information as well as command structure diagrams.
On the other hand where Bradley really does an outstanding job is how he gives voice to the experiences of the men on the ground in the campaign around Lae. The reader will find him or herself fascinated by what happened to those who were mired in the jungle battles during Operation Postern. The first hand accounts from all sides is vivid and, as always, often tragic.
In conclusion, ‘D-Day New Guinea’ is a highly researched and very informative account of a somewhat forgotten episode of World War II. At times the narrative loses its way, however on the whole it does an excellent job of restoring Operation Postern to prominence. Bradley will definitely please military history buffs and perhaps find new students for the subject.
However that is not the only reason why one would be interested in reading this book. Bradley has compiled a mostly fascinating narrative filled with vivid depictions of the fighting between the Allied troops and their Japanese enemy during the campaign. The author has made sure that whilst he is mostly focused on the efforts of the Australian and American forces engaged in the operations around Lae, he also gives the reader plenty of insights into the experiences and conditions of the Japanese army and naval forces who were eventually forced out of Lae and into a precipitous retreat.
Bradley is also to be commended for his detailed discussion of both the command processes and personnel during the campaign that led to the recapture of Lae, and also the logistical problems and demands that the allies had to deal with during their operations. There is no doubt when one reads this book that the Bradley establishes that the terrain and jungles of the Lae district and Markham Valley were just as difficult to deal with as the opposing soldiers’ firepower for the men in this campaign.
The author’s narrative is mostly clear and engaging, informative to the highest degree thanks to copious notes and source work. At times it does become a little bit hard to follow because Bradley focuses on units and names of commanders and their troops as well as locations without always providing supporting visual information. There are quite a few maps however they are not quite as helpful as I think they were intended. It might of been helpful if in the book Bradley had provided order of battle information as well as command structure diagrams.
On the other hand where Bradley really does an outstanding job is how he gives voice to the experiences of the men on the ground in the campaign around Lae. The reader will find him or herself fascinated by what happened to those who were mired in the jungle battles during Operation Postern. The first hand accounts from all sides is vivid and, as always, often tragic.
In conclusion, ‘D-Day New Guinea’ is a highly researched and very informative account of a somewhat forgotten episode of World War II. At times the narrative loses its way, however on the whole it does an excellent job of restoring Operation Postern to prominence. Bradley will definitely please military history buffs and perhaps find new students for the subject.
February 9, 2021
Read in a day so can't be too bad right? Book covers (for me at least) a little known campaign in the Pacific Theatre of WW2. The narrative didn't really grab it and I remain unconvinced that it was really as an important operation as claimed. Still, a good book which I am glad I read.
May 12, 2022
Phillip Bradley is a "muddy boots" military historian who prefers to write about warfare from the perspective of the front line. He has previously written about the Battle of Wau, Salamaua–Lae campaign, and the Markham and Ramu Valley – Finisterre Range campaign. This one is largely about the landing at Lae and the landing at Nadzab. I say "largely", because there is some material about the earlier activities of commandos in the Lae area, which is largely a waste of space. Some of this book overlaps his earlier ones, and indeed seems like offcuts from them at times.
The larger the scope of the campaign, the bigger the forces involved, and the less amenable it is to this approach. Aspects such as strategy, training, tactics and logistics are touched upon, but only occasionally, and are not developed, so a reader unfamiliar with the course of the campaign will be none the wiser. The book concludes with a fine operational analysis, but this is the first time that the reader is treated to one. Even the treatment of the fighting is uneven, with some events told in great detail and others passed over completely; a more even treatment would no doubt be very long.
On the credit side of the ledger, the book is an easy read. (I read it all on an airplane flight in one sitting.) It also contains some first rate research, such as details about the attacks on LCTs and LSTs. There is a commendable effort to tell the story from the Japanese point of view, which is always difficult on account of the language barrier and the extremely high casualty rate. Bradley makes a lot of use of prisoner of war interrogations compiled by Allied intelligence. This is very moving at times.
The larger the scope of the campaign, the bigger the forces involved, and the less amenable it is to this approach. Aspects such as strategy, training, tactics and logistics are touched upon, but only occasionally, and are not developed, so a reader unfamiliar with the course of the campaign will be none the wiser. The book concludes with a fine operational analysis, but this is the first time that the reader is treated to one. Even the treatment of the fighting is uneven, with some events told in great detail and others passed over completely; a more even treatment would no doubt be very long.
On the credit side of the ledger, the book is an easy read. (I read it all on an airplane flight in one sitting.) It also contains some first rate research, such as details about the attacks on LCTs and LSTs. There is a commendable effort to tell the story from the Japanese point of view, which is always difficult on account of the language barrier and the extremely high casualty rate. Bradley makes a lot of use of prisoner of war interrogations compiled by Allied intelligence. This is very moving at times.
November 4, 2022
This excellent short book fills a void in the history of WWII in the South Pacific. The joint Australian-U.S. campaign to drive the Japanese from the Huon peninsula of Papua-New Guinea was an early example of successful planning and execution of a complex air, land and sea operation. By the Fall of 1943, the impact of ever-growing Allied resources all but ensured victory but the human and materiel cost would depend on the skill and experience of MacArthur's subordinates. Guadalcanal receives most of the attention from U.S. historians, but that six-month campaign represents a small fraction of the fighting that spread across the vastness of the South Pacific for three years. The capture of Lae demonstrated the primacy of logistics in modern amphibious warfare, especially in an environment as remote and inhospitable as Papua-New Guinea. Mr. Bradley's narrative pays special attention to the contributions of the soldiers, sailors and airmen whose skill, courage, and tenacity enabled the fighting men at the 'tip of the spear' to reach and defeat the Japanese. The commander of the U.S. Fifth Air Force, Gen. Kenney told a correspondent that the Allies faced three enemies: the tropical climate and its diseases, the weather and the Japanese, but the first two were both worse than the third! Highly recommended to anyone interested in the subject.
October 13, 2020
Really interesting if you want to know more about Australian involvement in the pacific
May 3, 2023
Good Read
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews