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New Caledonia is a large island, measuring 248 miles
(400 km) long and 31 miles (50 km) wide for a total land area of
8453 square miles (21,890 km2). It located about 900
miles (1450 km) northeast of Brisbane.
Two rugged mountain chains
run the length of the island, of which the larger is called the Chaine Centrale. The
mountains reach to over 5000 feet (1500 meters) and produce a rain
shadow in the interior plateau and on the southwest coast, leaving
these areas sparsely vegetated. There is a barrier reef, the second largest in the
world after Australia's Great Barrier Reef, that runs some 995
miles (1600 km) around the island and produces the world's
largest lagoon northwest of the island. The reef also produces a
deep protected channel along the southwest coast that is used by
coastal vessels. Located well south of the Equator, the island has
a pleasant climate, similar to that of Hawaii, and an excellent harbor at Noumea.
Geologically, the island is a tiny sliver of continental
crust that broke off an ancient continent (probably Australia) millions of years
ago. Its flora and fauna have evolved independently and are
unique. The island also includes some fragments of oceanic crust (ophiolites) that were thrust
to the surface; these ultramafic rocks contain important deposits
of nickel and chromium. The nickel deposits,
which are probably second only to those of Canada, were discovered in 1863.
The French subsequently set up
penal colonies that supplied mine labor for four decades, though
fewer than 100 convicts were left by 1942. New Caledonia supplied
20% of the world's nickel in 1941. In addition to metal ores, the
island produced tropical fruit and timber
and had a substantial meat and fish canning industry.
The native
peoples were divided into a landowning class that mostly
cooperated with the French, and mountain tribes that were
suspected of continuing to engage in cannibalism and were closely
watched by the French gendarmerie. The native population
from the 1938 census was 27,000, but this may have been
severely undercounted and another source gives the actual native
population as 70,000. There were also about 8000 indentured
laborers from French
Indochina and Java and
about 17,000 Europeans. The Japanese
had an agreement dating to 1935 to mine nickel and iron on the island, and
several hundred Japanese civilians were interned at Goro near the
southeast end of the island after war broke out.
The island had a good road, Route Colonial 1, that
passed from Noumea along the entire southwest coast and partway
around the northeast coast. Three roads crossed the island to
connect the coasts and a narrow-gauge railroad connected Noumea to
Paita, twenty miles to the northwest. The entire island had a
well-developed telegraph system and there was a modern phone
exchange in Noumea.
New Caledonia is a French colony and was controlled by
the Free French during the Pacific War. The political situation in
New Caledonia was tense when war broke out in the Pacific. The
governor at the time of the fall of France, M. Pélicier, declared
his loyalty to the Free French on 20 June 1940, but soon switched
his loyalty to the Vichy government. On 2 August 1940, the General
Council decided to directly contacted de Gaulle, leader of the
Free French movement. On the night of 18-19 September 1940,
Pélicier was displaced by Lieutenant Colonel Denis with support
from residents of the "bush" who had gathered in Noumea. De
Gaulle's representative, Governor Henri Sautot of the New Hebrides, arrived the
next day to consolidate Free French control. de Gaulle sent Rear
Admiral D'Argenlieu to the island early in 1942 to replace the
popular Denis, whose loyalty had become suspect. There remained
enough pro-Axis
feeling among the islanders that there was real danger of a
counterrevolution, and reports on Allied activities
quickly found their way to the Japanese.
On 3 May 1941, the
Bataillon du Pacifique was activated at Noumea, consisting of 605
volunteers. The battalion
soon shipped out to North Africa to fight with the 1st Free French
Division. This left a garrison consisting of a single 800-man
battalion of French troops on the island. The garrison was
reinforced by a hastily raised 2000-man Home Guard formation and by a
300-man company of Australian troops shortly
after war broke out, but this was pitifully inadequate for such a
large and valuable island. The French actually considered putting
a stop to the construction of a large airfield by the Australians
in the vain hope that this would make the island less attractive
to the Japanese (who had already made plans for South
Seas
Detachment to move on the island.) A garrison of
about 16,800 U.S.
troops, built around 51 Brigade
and 70
Coast
Artillery Regiment (Antiaircraft), was organized into Task Force 6814
and arrived at the island on 12 March 1942. There they were joined
by 67
Fighter
Squadron. The troops later formed the core of the Americal
Division.
Numerous airfields were completed around the island, of which the most important were Tontouta 33 miles (53 km) north of Noumea, which had two runways when war broke out, and Oua Tom north of Tontouta, which had a single runway operational. A third airfield at Koumac at the northwest end of the island was destroyed to prevent its being used by the Japanese; it would later be rebuilt by the U.S. Army. Another airfield was under construction at Plaine de Gaics (164.87E 21.22S) and seven auxiliary airstrips would be completed during the war.
The island was strongly defended primarily to deny it to
the Japanese, but it proved of unexpected value as a support base
for the Guadalcanal
campaign.
References
"
Chemins de Mémoire." (accessed 2018-11-3)
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