The Battle for Wau: New Guinea's Frontline 1942-1943 (Australian Army History Series) [Hardcover]

Phillip Bradley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521896819 | ISBN-13: 978-0521896818 | Publication Date: May 19, 2008 | Edition: 1

The Battle for Wau brings together for the first time the full story of the early World War II conflicts in New Guinea, from the landing of the Japanese at Salamaua in March 1942 to their defeat at Wau in February 1943. Phillip Bradley draws on the recollections of over 70 veterans from the campaign and on his own first-hand knowledge of the region. Beginning with the early commando operations in Salamaua, the story unfolds with the burning of Wau, the clashes around Mubo, the Japanese convoy to Lae and the United States air operation to Wau. The book climaxes with the fortitude of Captain Sherlock's outnumbered company. Desperately fighting an enemy regiment debouching from the rugged unguarded ranges to the east, Sherlock's men fought to hold Wau airfield open for the arrival of vital reinforcements.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Bradley has done a good job of piecing together a 'who was where, when' account of a battle fought over difficult terrain dominated by narrow jungle tracks." -John Burton, Pacifica Affairs

Book Description

Bradley describes the early WWII conflicts in New Guinea, from the Japanese landing at Salamaua in 1942 to the defeat at Wau in 1943. Drawing on recollections from over seventy veterans and first-hand knowledge of the region, all aspects are brought together in one readable volume.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (May 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521896819
• ISBN-13: 978-0521896818
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,811,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a pretty good book that covers an important chunk of Australia's military history in WW2, August 23, 2010

By 

Kiwi (Mississauga, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Battle for Wau: New Guinea's Frontline 1942-1943 (Australian Army History Series) (Hardcover)

There are a number of battlefields that continue to remind us of the sacrifices and struggles that took place throughout the Pacific during World War II. We often think of Guadalcanal, the Battle of the Coral Sea, Midway and Kokoda as special places where many lives were lost and important victories secured. Phillip Bradley's book, The Battle for Wau: New Guinean's Frontline, 1942-1943, reminds us of another important conflict in the Allied effort. Having failed to take Port Moresby in the Battle of the Coral Sea and vis the push along the Kokoda Trail, Japanese forces were sent from Rabaul to Salamaua and Lae. Wau became the barrier for a final push by the Japanese across New Guinea, and initially only a small Australian Army force stood in the way.

However, ANZAC forces combined with American airpower to ensure that this did not happen; Wau did not fall. Bradley's book is a well-researched account of this decisive battle and the efforts of Kanga Force, an independent company combining troops of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles and parts of the Australian 1st and 2/5th Independent Companies. While many women and children were evacuated as Japanese forces advanced into Papua New Guinea, Kanga Force was mobilised to ensure that Wau and its significant airstrip remained in Allied hands.

Bradley's account begins in 1942 with the Japanese invasion of Lae and Salamaua, and then follows Kanga Force's formation and subsequent raids on Japanese positions along the coast. He then takes us through a detailed account of battles and skirmishes as the Japanese moved toward the Bulolo Valley along old mining trails, before recounting the final battle and the use of air transport to fly the 17th Infantry Brigade into Wau. On 29 January 1943, as Japanese pressed toward the airfield, fifty-nine flights made it into Wau carrying 814 reinforcements and additional supplies. Under fire as they made their landings on what remains a unique airstrip, it was this strategic move that proved decisive.

Wau was protected and a significantly reduced Japanese force retreated toward Mubo and Salamaua.
As the book combines carefully examined archival research with interviews and private letters held by the families of those who fought, the strength of the text rests on the fleshing out of the men who were willing to sacrifice their lives on the kunai fields and in the dense forests between Salamaua and Wau. Their heroic and self-sacrificing efforts are well served by this text as Bradley fills in the detailed description of each battle with the personalities that fought them. While the author does include numerous Australian, American and Japanese sources, one thing lacking is detailed accounts of Wau's local population, as well as the many laborers from all over the island who carried supplies and fought alongside the ANZAC forces.

The author is not insensitive to the role that people from throughout New Guinea played in the conflict, having spent time trekking along the Black Cat trail and Skin Diwai, exploring the locations of the conflict with local guides to get a sense of the places. While he rightfully credits the victory to the troops, he acknowledges that the "ability of the ANGAU personnel to gain the trust and devotion of significant numbers of local carriers was a significant factor in this campaign and those that followed".

All in all, a pretty good book that covers an important chunk of Australia's military history in WW2.

A bit of background on the Battle for Wau

Between the wars, Wau was a gold mining town and large dredges were broken down and airlifted into Wau and Bulolo to sluice for gold. Following the Japanese landings at Lae and Salamaua in March 1942 men from the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles pulled back along the Wau track to Mubo. In May 1942 the 2/5th Independent Company was flown into the Wau, the first airlift of a complete unit in Australian army history. In late June the Australians raided Salamaua but by August Mubo had fallen and the threat to Wau was acute. The Australian command panicked and ordered the destruction of Wau though the Japanese never advanced beyond Mubo. However in January 1943 the Japanese did advance, using fresh troops brought across from Rabaul.

The Battle for Wau started when Captain Bill Sherlock's weakened company from the 2/6th Battalion along with some commando veterans took up positions on Wandumi Ridge east of Wau to intercept a Japanese patrol. Little did anyone know that this was no minor enemy incursion and that Sherlock's company faced a Japanese infantry regiment. The Japanese force had swept up from Mubo via a hidden track and, in a brilliant coup, had got in behind the main Australian positions that guarded either flank. The next 24 hours would determine if it was a decisive move and whether Wau and its priceless airfield would fall before reinforcements could be flown in.

The first attacks struck Lieutenant Ted St John's platoon, deployed on a dominant knoll, and these men would take the brunt of the attacks throughout the day. The staunch Australians watched as hundreds of Japanese troops surged forward across the rise of the Wandumi trig point to the west, heading their way while other enemy troops began bypassing the ridge via the wooded gullies below. The Australian infantry took a heavy toll on them. When St John's platoon finally gave way under the incessant attacks Captain Sherlock led the counterattack to regain the position. Sherlock knew there was nothing between him and the airfield and he needed to hold on. He gave his order, `2/6th Battalion, fix bayonets' then led his men back to rout the enemy from the knoll.

Now down to some 40 men and with major ammunition and water supply concerns, Sherlock pleaded for help and a composite company reached him late in the afternoon. He then pulled his men back along the ridge knowing the enemy infantry had infiltrated behind him. When night came and with the driving rain lashing across the ridge, it was clear the `game was up'. Leaving a small rearguard, Sherlock's battered command, now down to some eighteen men, made its way back down off the ridge to the flooded Bulolo River. Sherlock was killed during the crossing the next morning. Even as Sherlock fell, the distinctive sound of approaching transport planes, the first of some 60 Dakota planes that would land that day echoed back off the hills. The 814 men the planes brought to Wau ensured the enemy assaults on the airfield would be held and that the battle for Wau would be won. Vastly outnumbered and under constant attack, the Australians had held Wandumi Ridge and kept the Japanese regiment at bay for over 24 hours. Wau and its vital airfield remained beyond their grasp.