Battle of Buna–Gona 1942
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 16 November 1942 – 22 January 1943 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1942 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Papua New Guinea | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Oceania | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | New Guinea campaign | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | -8.6500, 148.3500 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The battle of Buna–Gona was part of the New Guinea campaign in the Pacific theatre during World War II. It followed the conclusion of the Kokoda Track campaign and lasted from 16 November 1942 until 22 January 1943. The battle was fought by Australian and United States forces against the Japanese beachheads at Buna, Sanananda and Gona. From these, the Japanese had launched an overland attack on Port Moresby. In light of developments in the Solomon Islands campaign, Japanese forces approaching Port Moresby were ordered to withdraw to and secure these bases on the northern coast. Australian forces maintained contact as the Japanese conducted a well-ordered rearguard action. The Allied objective was to eject the Japanese forces from these positions and deny them their further use. The Japanese forces were skillful, well prepared and resolute in their defence. They had developed a strong network of well-concealed defences.
Operations in Papua and New Guinea were severely hampered by terrain, vegetation, climate, disease and the lack of infrastructure; these imposed significant logistical limitations. During the Kokoda Track campaign, these factors applied more-or-less equally to both belligerents but favoured the defender in attacks against well-fortified positions.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Buna–Gona (revision 1377091130), 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
- Battle of Isurava 1942 · 77 km
- Battle of Mission Ridge–Brigade Hill 1942 · 94 km
- Battle of the Bismarck Sea 1943 · 156 km
- Battle of Port Moresby 1942 · 157 km
- Battle of Lababia Ridge 1943 · 217 km
- Battle of Mount Tambu 1943 · 221 km
Other battles of the New Guinea campaign
- Battle of Milne Bay 1942
- Battle of the Coral Sea 1942
- Battle of Wau 1943
- Battle of Driniumor River 1944
- Battle of Hollandia 1944
All 6 battles of the New Guinea campaign →
Browse more: battles in Papua New Guinea · Oceania · World War II era battles