Those Ragged Bloody Heroes PTO (id:#57552)

Critical Hit (Those Ragged Bloody Heroes ID: GONA CG 1)   [next]   [previous]

Gona, New Guinea 1942-11-29 (0 others)

Overview:

As the Japanese South Seas Force retreated along the Kokoda Trail with the Australian 7th Division in hot pursuit, they were finally brought to bay on the Papuan coast at Gona, Sanandana and Buna. The positions at Buna represented a defense-in-depth around the airfield there. At Gona, the Japanese concentrated their defenses around the local Mission building with the intent of holding off the attackers until the arrival of reinforcements expected from Rabaul. Australian intelligence had seriously underestimated the numbers of the Japanese defenders. More importantly, the Aussies had no experience, and thus no protocol for fighting against the Japanese soldier in fortified positions with interior lines and no option for retreat. In the Australian camp there was an expectation that once the enemy was surrounded and subjected to repeated bombardment, their officers would order their men to surrender. Few in Allied commands could have guessed the level of fanaticism the soldier of the Japanese empire, placed in a seemingly hopeless position, would evidence. The men of the 25th Brigade would soon make this grim discovery. After a series of bitter attacks were laid in, the unit lay exhausted outside Gona. On November 29th, the 2/27th Battalion, 21st Brigade had to take over the offensive at Gona and continue the attack from the eastern flank.

Defender: Japanese (41st and 144th Regiments)  

Errata (source)