Battle of Milne Bay 1942
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 25 August 1942 – 7 September 1942 | 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 | -10.3200, 150.4800 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Milne Bay (25 August – 7 September 1942), also known as Operation RE or the Battle of Rabi (ラビの戦い) by the Japanese, was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Japanese naval infantry, known as Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai (Special Naval Landing Forces), with two small tanks attacked the Allied airfields at Milne Bay that had been established on the eastern tip of New Guinea. Due to poor intelligence work, the Japanese miscalculated the size of the predominantly Australian garrison and, believing that the airfields were defended by only two or three companies, initially landed a force roughly equivalent in size to one battalion on 25 August 1942. The Allies, forewarned by intelligence from Ultra, had heavily reinforced the garrison.
Despite suffering a significant setback at the outset, when part of their small invasion force had its landing craft destroyed by Royal Australian Air Force aircraft as they attempted to land on the coast behind the Australian defenders, the Japanese quickly pushed inland and began their advance towards the airfields. Heavy fighting followed as they encountered the Australian Militia troops that formed the first line of defence.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Milne Bay (revision 1377050473), 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 Goodenough Island 1942 · 111 km
- Battle of Buna–Gona 1942 · 298 km
- Battle of Mission Ridge–Brigade Hill 1942 · 335 km
- Battle of Isurava 1942 · 335 km
- Battle of Port Moresby 1942 · 372 km
Other battles of the New Guinea campaign
- Battle of Buna–Gona 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