NEW GUINEA
<January 24, 1943 - December 31, 1944>
Located east of Indonesia and in between the Coral Sea and the
South Pacific Ocean, New Guinea is the second largest island in
the world. New Guinea was an important strategic military island
to both the Allied
and Japanese Imperial Forces during World War II.
For the Americans, New Guinea served as a strategic point in
the second stage of their offensive against Rabaul, which was
an important Japanese defense base in both the South and Southwest
Pacific. New Guinea was also one of the two routes used by the
Allied forces to reach the Philippines.
Japanese forces on the other hand were attempting to cut communications
between the U.S. and Australia. If Japan were successful in controlling
New Guinea, it could easily dominate other neighboring islands.
U.S. troops fought alongside Australian soldiers in hopes of
halting Japan’s advances in the Southwest Pacific.
MIS soldiers
served mostly in the Pacific and Southeast Asia war zones. The
intelligence work conducted by the linguists
was considered vital in extracting information from captured soldiers
and documents. In addition to their intelligence work, the MIS
soldiers also participated in battle. In January 1943, MIS Nisei
participated in the campaign at Buna in eastern New Guinea, which
was the first land defeat for Japan that also allowed the Allied
forces to push them off the island.
Battles were fought on several islands along the coast, with
particularly fierce jungle warfare in western New Guinea. Roughly
four MIS linguist teams, approximately 20-30 men, were shipped
to New Guinea. They participated in several landings on Aitape
and Hollandia. A 10-man MIS team led by Mas Yamamoto worked at
Aitape in May 1944. This particular team was awarded 10 Bronze
Stars and two Legion of Merit awards. Another team leader, Yukitada
Terry Mizutari, was awarded the Silver Star posthumously after
he was killed in action.
After two years of battle in New Guinea, Allied forces in both
the South and Southwest Pacific were now in position for a final
assault on Rabaul. Instead of a direct attack on Rabaul, Allied
forces encircled the area. The Allied forces secured other islands
along the Admiralty Islands located north of New Britain Island
and New Guinea, thus isolating Rabaul. As a result, thousands
of Japanese troops were isolated and communications and supply
lines were cut off. The offensive against Rabaul was now complete.
