26 December 1943-16 January 1944: Green Hell - The Battle of Cape Gloucester

On the second day after D-day, the action report of 27 December read "'Rains continued for the next five days. Water backed up in the swamps in rear of the shoreline, making them impassable for wheeled and tracked vehicles. The many streams which emptied into the sea in the beachhead area became raging torrents. Some even changed course. Troops were soaked to the skin and their clothes never dried out during the entire operation.' These are comments from the action report." Such was the setting for the Battle of Cape Gloucester between the Japanese and Allied forces on the island of New Britain, Territory of New Guinea, from 26 December 1943 to 16 January 1944. For the U.S. Marines who fought and suffered at Cape Gloucester, the men "remember the place more for the jungle than for the Japanese." (McMillan 1949, 175-177)

Right: U.S. Marines cross a raging stream. Cape Gloucester USMC Photo No. 5. From the Frederick R. Findtner Collection (COLL/3890), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections. OFFICIAL USMC PHOTOGRAPH.

Codenamed Operation Backhander, the U.S. Marine Corps operation was part of the wider Operation Cartwheel, the main Allied strategy in the Southwest Pacific Area and Pacific Ocean Areas during 1943-1944. The main objective of the operation was to capture the two Japanese airfields near Cape Gloucester that were defended by elements of the Japanese 17th Division. This would allow the Allies to establish a base for their aircraft in the region and disrupt the Japanese air operations. The operation was carried out by the United States Marine Corps, primarily the 1st Marine Division. It was their second landing operation of the war after Guadalcanal.

The Marine assault was launched on 26 December 1943, with marine infantry landing on either side of the peninsula. The operation was conducted through two landing forces. The western landing force cut the coastal road near Tauali to restrict Japanese movements, while the main force landed on the eastern side and advanced towards the airfields. The advance initially faced light resistance, but the swampy terrain slowed the progress of the marines, forcing them onto a narrow coastal trail. A Japanese counterattack briefly slowed the advance, but by the end of December, the marines had captured and consolidated the airfields. The fighting continued into early January 1944, with the marines extending their perimeter south from the airfields towards Borgen Bay.

The western landing force acted as a diversion and cut the coastal road near Tauali, while the main force, landing on the eastern side, advanced north towards the airfields. Initially, the advance was met with light resistance and slowed by the swampy terrain, which channeled marine infantry onto a narrow coastal trail. However, a Japanese counterattack briefly slowed the progress, but by the end of December, the airfields had been captured and consolidated by the Marines. Fighting continued into early January 1944 as the troops extended their perimeter south from the airfields towards Borgen Bay. Organized resistance came to a halt on 16 January 1944 when the Marines captured Hill 660. The mopping-up operations in the vicinity continued into April 1944 until the Marines were relieved by U.S. Army forces.

The battle's casualties were smaller in number compared to other Pacific battles for the U.S. Marine Corps, but they were not insignificant: more than 300 killed and 1,083 wounded for the Marine Corps. The Japanese suffered more than 2,000 killed in the December 1943 to January 1944 period. Mopping up operations around Cape Gloucester continued throughout early 1944, although by February 1944, the situation had stabilized enough for US planners to begin preparations to expand the lodgment further east. In early March 1944, the Americans launched an operation to capture Talasea on the northern coast of New Britain, while following up a general Japanese withdrawal towards Cape Hoskins and Rabaul.

Photo Album: USMC Archives Branch: Cape Gloucester

The late R.V. Burgin, veteran of Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa, in his memoir Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific, recalls the non-stop rain: "It scarcely seemed possible, but the rains started coming harder, thirty-six inches in one twenty-four-hour period. I'd never seen so much rain. We stayed wet so long my little toenails rotted off. Our clothes mildewed and stank. We stank. The only time we could bathe or wash our clothes was if we crossed a stream or found ourselves near the ocean." (Burgin 2010, 81-83.)

Right: U.S. Marine Corps armor on Cape Gloucester. Cape Gloucester USMC Photo No. 11. From the Frederick R. Findtner Collection (COLL/3890), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections. OFFICIAL USMC PHOTOGRAPH.

The Japanese Army, which was already suffering from critical scarcity of supplies and reinforcement, had to deal with the daunting task of facing a well-equipped and battle-tested enemy. The American military forces, in addition to their superior armament, had access to crucial intelligence and reconnaissance data that gave them the upper hand in the strategic planning of their attacks.

Moreover, the Japanese soldiers not only had to fight against the Americans but also had to endure the excruciating pain of hunger, thirst, and disease. The continuous scarcity of food and water, coupled with the unsanitary conditions of the battlefield, made the Japanese soldiers vulnerable to a wide range of diseases such as amoebic dysentery, malaria, and malnutrition.

In Japan at War: An Oral History, Ogawa Tamotsu, a medic in the Japanese Army recalls his last year (of 6 years total) in a field hospital on New Britain: "I was on New Britain for three years, and here's what I learned: Men killed in real combat are a very small part of those who die in war. Men died of starvation, all kinds of disease. They just fell out, one after another while on the run in the jungle. Amoebic dysentery, malaria, malnutrition. The ones without arms or with only one leg had to walk on their own. Worms and maggots dropped from their tattered, blood-soaked uniforms. Men suffering from dysentery walked naked, with leaves, not toilet paper, hanging from their buttocks. Malaria patients staggered along with temperatures as high as 103." (Cook & Cook, 1992. p. 278)

The operation paved the way for further Allied operations in the region. After the Cape Gloucester operation, the Americans began preparations to expand their lodgment further east. In early March 1944, they launched an operation to capture Talasea on the northern coast of New Britain while following up a general Japanese withdrawal towards Cape Hoskins and Rabaul. The 1st Marine Division was relieved around Cape Gloucester on 23 April 1944, and were replaced by the US Army's 40th Infantry Division, which arrived from Guadalcanal. A lull on New Britain followed as the US confined their operations largely to the western end of the island, having decided to bypass Rabaul, while the Japanese stayed close to Rabaul at the opposite end of the island. Responsibility for operations on New Britain was later transferred from US forces to the Australians. In November 1944, they conducted the Landing at Jacquinot Bay for a limited offensive with the Battle of Wide Bay-Open Bay securing the bays, to confine the larger Japanese force to the Gazelle Peninsula, where they remained until the end of the war.

Bibliography

Burgin, R.V., and Bill Marvel. Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific. London: Penguin, 2010.

Cook, Haruko T., and Theodore F. Cook. Japan at War: An Oral History. New York: The New Press, 1992.

David, Saul. Devil Dogs: King Company, Third Battalion, 5th Marines: From Guadalcanal to the Shores of Japan. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2022.

McMillan, George. The Old Breed: A History of the First Marine Division in World War II. Nashville: The Battery Press, 1949.

Morison, Samuel E. The Two Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War. Boston: Little, Brown, 1963.

Toll, Ian W. The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944 (Vol. 2): War in the Pacific Islands, 1942–1944. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2015.