On this day, in 1943, the Battle of Lae (4-16 September 1943) began when the 9th Australian Division under Major-General G.F. Wooten landed on beaches twenty miles east of Lae.
On this day, in 1943, the Battle of Lae (4-16 September 1943) began when the 9th Australian Division under Major-General G.F. Wooten landed on beaches twenty miles east of Lae. It was the final stage in the Salamaua-Lae Campaign and saw Australian troops with U.S. support capture the last Japanese stronghold in the Huon Gulf area of New Guinea. The Allies first went onto the offensive in the Huon Gulf on June 30, 1943, when U.S. troops landed at Nassau Bay, south of Salamaua. They then joined up with Australian soldiers advancing across the mountains from Wau in the west, and the combined force began a slow advance on Salamaua. The campaign was a part of an effort to secure the New Guinea side of the Vitiaz Straits, between New Guinea and New Britain, to neutralize the Japanese base on Rabaul. Image: Lae area, New Guinea. 1943. Australian troops disembarking from American landing ships. Courtesy Australian War Memorial.