Battle of Bita Paka 1914
.jpg){kind=link}
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 11 September 1914 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1914 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | Papua New Guinea | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Oceania | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Asian and Pacific theater of World War I | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | -4.4069, 152.2992 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Bita Paka (11 September 1914) was fought south of Kabakaul, on the island of New Britain, and was a part of the invasion and subsequent occupation of German New Guinea by the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. Similar to New Zealand's operation against German Samoa in August, the main target of the operation was a strategically important wireless station—one of several used by the German East Asia Squadron—which the Australians believed to be located in the area. The powerful German naval fleet threatened British interests and its elimination was an early priority of the British and Australian governments during the war.
After an unopposed landing, a mixed force of German reservists and half-trained Melanesian police mounted a stout resistance and forced the Australians to fight their way to the objective. After a day of fighting during which both sides suffered casualties, Australian forces captured the wireless station at Bita Paka. The battle was Australia's first major military engagement of the war and the only significant action of the campaign; in its aftermath the remaining German forces on New Britain fled inland to Toma.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Bita Paka (revision 1376306240), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Toma 1914 · 15 km
- Battle of Karavia Bay 1944 · 18 km
- Operation Cartwheel 1943 · 27 km
- Battle of Rabaul (1942) 1942 · 27 km
- Battle of Blackett Strait 1943 · 73 km
- Battle of Wide Bay–Open Bay 1944 · 79 km
Other battles of the Asian and Pacific theater of World War I
- Siege of Toma 1914
- Siege of Tsingtao 1914
All 3 battles of the Asian and Pacific theater of World War I →
Browse more: battles in Papua New Guinea · Oceania · World War I era battles