Battle of Kaiapit facts for kids
The Battle of Kaiapit was fought in 1943 between Australian and Japanese forces in New Guinea during the Finisterre Range campaign of World War II. Following landings at Nadzab and at Lae, the Allies attempted to exploit their success with an advance into the upper Markham Valley, starting with Kaiapit. The Australian 2/6th Independent Company flew into the valley from Port Moresby in 13 USAAF C-47 Dakotas, making a difficult landing on a rough airstrip. Unaware that a much larger Japanese force was also headed for Kaiapit and Nadzab, the company attacked the village on 19 September to secure the area so that it could be developed into an airfield. They then held it against a strong counterattack. During two days of fighting the larger force, the Australians suffered relatively few losses. Their victory at Kaiapit enabled the Australian 7th Division to be flown into the upper Markham Valley, stopping the Japanese from threatening Lae or Nadzab, where a major airbase was being developed. The victory also led to the capture of the Ramu Valley, which provided new forward fighter airstrips for the air war.
Images for kids
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Papua, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands
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An Australian soldier with an Army No. 208 Wireless Set. The large box is the radio itself; the small one is the battery. The weapon in the foreground is an Owen Gun.
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Markham and Ramu Valley Operations, September–November 1943. Allied movements are shown in red, Japanese in black. Kaiapit is near the centre of the map.
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24 September 1943. A bulldozer arrives for use on the Kaiapit strip on a Dakota of the 65th Troop Carrier Squadron. The small, light bulldozers of the US airborne aviation engineer battalions were designed to be air portable in order to perform work on strips in forward areas.
See also
In Spanish: Batalla de Kaiapit para niños
