Battle of Kaiapit
The Battle of Kaiapit was fought in 1943 between Australian and Japanese forces in New Guinea during the Finisterre Range campaign of World War II. Following landings at Nadzab and at Lae, the Allies attempted to exploit their success with an advance into the upper Markham Valley, starting with Kaiapit. The Australian 2/6th Independent Company flew into the valley from Port Moresby in 13 USAAF C-47 Dakotas, making a difficult landing on a rough airstrip. Unaware that a much larger Japanese force was also headed for Kaiapit and Nadzab, the company attacked the village on 19 September to secure the area so that it could be developed into an airfield. They then held it against a strong counterattack. During two days of fighting the larger force, the Australians suffered relatively few losses. Their victory at Kaiapit enabled the Australian 7th Division to be flown into the upper Markham Valley, stopping the Japanese from threatening Lae or Nadzab, where a major airbase was being developed. The victory also led to the capture of the Ramu Valley, which provided new forward fighter airstrips for the air war.
Battle Of Kaiapit Media
Australian soldiers from the 2/16th Infantry Battalion arriving at Kaiapit after the area was captured by the 2/6th Independent Company
Papua, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands
An Australian soldier with an Army No. 208 Wireless Set. The large box is the radio itself; the small one is the battery. The weapon in the foreground is an Owen Gun.
Brigadier I. N. Dougherty (centre) and WO2 H. P. Seale of ANGAU (right) congratulate "Yarawa" (left) of the Royal Papuan Constabulary for his feat of single-handedly capturing a Japanese sergeant, Hideo Kadota, on 25 September 1943.[1]
24 September 1943. A bulldozer arrives for use on the Kaiapit strip on a Dakota of the 65th Troop Carrier Squadron. The small, light bulldozers of the US airborne aviation engineer battalions were designed to be air portable in order to perform work on strips in forward areas.
Members of the 2/6th Independent Company display Japanese flags they captured at Kaiapit.
- ↑ Bradley 2004, pp. 34–35.