The Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. 1 (archived PDF)

C H A P T E R 13
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T H E PROBLEM OF
NEW GUINEA
HOUGH apprehension for the security of Australia had been
considerably relieved by Japan’s withdrawal after the Coral
T Sea engagement, and though the offensive strength of theJapanese fleet had been seriously crippled at Midway, enemy forces
still posed a serious threat to the Allied position in Australia and espe-
cially to the line of communications which joined it to the United
States. Even in the absence of carrier strength, it would be possible
for the enemy to move from Rabaul down the Solomons under cover
of land-based aviation and thus to challenge the Allies for posses-
sion of New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and the Fijis. Already, in
early May, he had occupied Tulagi on Florida Island, seat of the
British Resident Commissioner of the Solomons; and early in June,
Japanese troops moved across from Tulagi to the Lunga Plain of
Guadalcanal, where they would begin construction of an airfield
destined to fame in American military annals as Henderson Field.
At the same time, he held Lae and Salamaua on the Huon Gulf, and
from there it was a relatively short jump to points on the Papuan
coast, whence, as events would soon prove, he might even attempt the
seizure of Port Moresby by a land attack. T h e Japanese navy had
sustained its initial defeats, but the army as yet had suffered no reverse.
Moreover, the successful termination in May of the Japanese in-
vasions of Burma and the Philippines obviously would release addi-
tional forces for the enemy’s use. It was evident that some limited
offensive action by the Allies would be required in order to make
secure the defenses of the South and Southwest Pacific.
There could be no disagreement on the necessity for such action,
but in the discussion of measures to be taken there naturally developed
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