(142.35E 3.14S) Aitape was a small village on the north coast of New Guinea, on the Australian half of the island. Prior to the war, it was notable only for the presence of a fairly decent anchorage, with no facilities to speak of.
In early 1942, the village was seized by the Japanese, who built a small airstrip a few miles southeast near
the coast.
Advised by the code breakers that
Hollandia
and
Aitape were only lightly garrisoned, MacArthur decided in
March 1944
invade both locations in order to bypass the large garrisons at Hansa
Bay and Wewak.
PERSECUTION, the assault on Aitape, was intended to secure fighter
strips to support the more important Hollandia landings. The invasion
force was commanded by Brigadier General Jens A. Doe and was
built around the 163 Infantry
Regiment of the 41 Division. The troops landed on 22 April and the
airstrip was secured by 26 April. Opposition was light, since there
were not more than 1300 Japanese in the area, of whom only about 250
were combat troops. One transport was badly damaged by a Japanese torpedo bomber.
Adachi's 18 Army, cut off by the Hollandia/Aitape landings, pushed west towards Aitape with the intention of seizing the port. The Allies were warned well in advance of Japanese intentions, and by the time the Japanese reached the Driniumor River east of Aitape, the Allied garrison had been reinforced to fifteen infantry battalions and two cavalry squadrons. Nevertheless, on 10 July 1944, the desperate Japanese troops succeeded in punching a hole in the American line. The Americans counterattacked and regained their original positions by the 18th, but Adachi then tried to flank the American line in the south, deep in the jungle. Two weeks of seesaw fighting followed before the Japanese gave up and began to retreat. The Americans launched their own attack along the coast, driving the shattered remnants of 18 Army into the jungle, where they dwindled from starvation and disease until the Japanese surrender in August 1945.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia (c) 2007 by Kent G. Budge. Index