Landing at Saidor facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Landing at Saidor |
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| Part of World War II, Pacific War | |||||||
 Troops of the 32nd Infantry Division near Saidor. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States Australia |
 Japan |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Walter Krueger Clarence A. Martin |
Hatazō Adachi |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 13,000 | 6,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
American:
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Japanese:
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The landing at Saidor, also known as Operation Michaelmas, was a military operation during World War II. On January 2, 1944, Allied forces, mainly from the United States, landed by sea at Saidor in Papua New Guinea. This landing was part of a larger plan called Operation Dexterity.
Saidor was an important location for the Allies. It was a key step towards capturing Madang, a major goal for General Douglas MacArthur in his Huon Peninsula campaign. Taking Saidor also meant building an airbase there. This new airbase would help Allied planes attack Japanese bases further away at Wewak and Hollandia.
A main reason for the Saidor landing was to cut off about 6,000 Japanese soldiers. These soldiers were retreating from Sio because Australian troops were advancing. After the landing, the Japanese chose to escape rather than fight. They retreated through the tough Finisterre Range mountains. This march was extremely difficult for them. Soldiers faced jungles, swollen rivers, cliffs, and mountains. Many suffered from tiredness, sickness, hunger, drowning, and even the bitter cold nights.
Despite the challenges, the airbase at Saidor was finished. It became very useful, especially for night missions. Unlike the base at Nadzab, Saidor was not surrounded by mountains. This made it perfect for planes taking off in the dark. For example, in March 1944, B-24 Liberator bombers used Saidor for night attacks on Hollandia.
Contents
Why Saidor Was Important
The Plan to Isolate Rabaul
In late 1943 and early 1944, a big plan called Operation Cartwheel was underway. This plan aimed to surround and weaken Rabaul, which was the main base for Japanese forces in the South West Pacific. General Douglas MacArthur led this effort.
His original plan involved Australian troops capturing Lae, then Finschhafen, and finally Madang. However, the distance from Finschhafen to Madang was about 178 miles (286 km). This was too far for a single sea landing operation. So, an intermediate target was needed.
Choosing Saidor
Saidor was chosen because it had good beaches, a harbor, and an existing airstrip. It was given the secret code name "Michaelmas." Commanders realized that taking Saidor might even make capturing Madang unnecessary. Both locations could control important sea passages and provide airbases close to the Japanese base at Wewak. For a while, both Saidor and Madang remained targets.
Delays and Decisions
The Battle of Finschhafen caused delays in taking Saidor. The Japanese fought back hard, but they couldn't push the Australian 9th Division out of Finschhafen. Once the battle was won, the Australians began chasing the retreating Japanese army on December 5, 1943.
General MacArthur saw a chance to trap the Japanese army. On December 10, he decided that Saidor should be captured around January 7. This would happen if another landing at Cape Gloucester (Operation Backhander) went well. On December 17, Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, who commanded the American forces, received orders to capture Saidor by January 2, 1944.
Getting Ready for the Landing
Choosing the Troops
General Krueger picked the 32nd Infantry Division for the Saidor operation. This division was at Goodenough Island and was no longer needed for the New Britain campaign. Brigadier General Clarence A. Martin was put in charge of the "Michaelmas Task Force." This force was built around the 126th Infantry Regimental Combat Team. The 126th Infantry Regiment had been rebuilt after a tough battle and had received weeks of training for sea landings.
The units for this task force were spread out in many different places. They were on Goodenough Island, at Milne Bay, Oro Bay, Lae, Finschhafen, Port Moresby, Kiriwina, Arawe, and Cape Cretin, and even in Australia.
The Mission and Cooperation
The main goals for the Michaelmas Task Force were:
- To take control of the Saidor area.
- To build facilities for fighter planes.
- To help set up air and naval forces there.
- To build basic port and base facilities.
Interestingly, the orders did not specifically tell them to fight the Japanese. Australian forces would help by pushing along the coast. The Australian 7th Division would also keep Japanese forces busy in the Bogadjim area with patrols.
Planning the Landing
Maps were provided by the Australian Survey Corps. There wasn't enough time to scout the ground directly. So, three beaches on the west side of Dekays Bay were chosen using aerial photos. These beaches, named Red, White, and Blue, turned out to be "narrow, rocky, and exposed to heavy seas."
Intelligence officers believed there were only about 4,500 Japanese soldiers near Sio and 1,500 more towards Madang. They thought it would take the Japanese about a week to gather 3,000 men for a counter-attack at Saidor. Because of this, General Martin decided not to have a bombing attack before the landing. This allowed the landing to happen at dawn.
Getting the Ships Ready
The troops and their supplies had to be loaded onto ships by December 31, 1943. This was only five days after the attack on Cape Gloucester. Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey's VII Amphibious Force provided six large landing ships (LSTs), ten fast transport ships (APDs), and seventeen smaller landing craft (LCIs).
A problem came up when only nine APDs were available instead of ten. New plans were quickly made to shift some personnel to the LCIs, and the landing schedule was changed. General Krueger asked to delay the Saidor operation because it was hard to supply so many operations at once. But Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid promised enough supplies. General MacArthur insisted the operation go ahead as planned. He said, "Its capture will have a vital strategic effect which will be lost if materially postponed."
The Landing and What Happened Next
The Landing Day
On January 2, 1944, the ships and landing craft arrived at Dekays Bay before dawn. The shore was hidden by low clouds and light rain. Admiral Barbey delayed the landing time twice to allow for more light and for the landing craft to get into formation.
Destroyers fired 1,725 shells, and rocket-equipped landing craft fired 624 rockets. There was no air bombing at first, but later that morning, American bombers attacked the Saidor airstrip.
The first wave of troops reached the shore around 7:30 AM. More waves followed over the next 15 minutes. Large landing ships (LSTs) arrived soon after, carrying bulldozers and other equipment. Engineers quickly laid down special mesh to create a roadway across the beach for vehicles.
All six LSTs were unloaded by 11:45 AM. There was very little resistance from the Japanese. Only eleven Japanese soldiers were killed by the bombardment or the first troops. About 150 Japanese soldiers who were in the area quickly fled inland. On the day of the landing, American forces had only one soldier killed, five wounded, and two sailors drowned.
Later that afternoon, nine Japanese bombers, escorted by twenty fighter planes, bombed the beach area. There were three more air raids that night and 49 over the month, but most were small.
General MacArthur announced the landing the next day, saying the enemy was surprised and the landing was successful without losses. He also stated that Japanese forces between the Americans and Australians were trapped.
Meeting the Australians
American patrols trying to reach the main track in the Sindaman area met strong Japanese patrols. An observation post in the mountains counted many Japanese troops passing through Yagoyoga in February. From captured prisoners, the American forces learned a lot about the Japanese strength.
On January 12, General Martin learned that the Japanese were gathering near Sio and would try to push through to Madang. Martin asked for more troops, and two battalions of the 128th Infantry Regiment arrived on January 16. Martin thought an attack on the retreating Japanese would "destroy the Japanese before they could organise an attack on the Saidor position."
General Krueger did not immediately allow this attack. He was worried about a Japanese counter-attack, and the 32nd Infantry Division was needed for another operation. After some confusion and miscommunication, General Martin finally received permission for offensive action on February 9. However, on February 10, American troops met elements of the Australian 5th Division. This meeting closed the gap on the eastern side, meaning the Japanese were now surrounded from both sides.
The Australian historian David Dexter noted that the threat of Japanese attacks and heavy rains delayed the American advance. He concluded that despite efforts, many Japanese soldiers still managed to escape.
A Tough Fight: The Cape Iris Patrol
There were daily small fights between American and Japanese patrols. The most significant one happened on January 28. A patrol of 48 American soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment, led by Lieutenants George J. Hess and James E. Barnett, went to scout the area around Cape Iris.
Near the village of Teterei, the patrol was attacked by the Japanese. They tried to retreat along the beach but found their path blocked. They were forced back to the beach near Teterei and split into three groups to try and get back through the jungle. Two groups made it back to American lines.
The group led by Lieutenant Hess reached the Mot River but couldn't cross because the current was too strong. When a rescue party arrived, Hess tried to swim across with a rope but was swept downstream. The rescue party formed a human chain to grab him. At that moment, a Japanese machine gun opened fire, killing one American soldier and fatally wounding the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Gordon M. Clarkson. The rescue party had to pull back.
Eight of the 14 men in Hess's group, including Hess, managed to reach American lines during the night. In total, eight Americans were killed (including Clarkson), nine were wounded, and six went missing. The Japanese reported 43 killed. Four men received the Distinguished Service Cross for their bravery, and ten received the Silver Star.
Building the Base
Engineers at Work
Engineers made up a large part of the Michaelmas Task Force, about 29%. An Engineer Section headquarters was set up just nine days before the landing. The officers didn't know each other, and none had experience with sea landings. Only one had experience building airbases, which was their most important job.
Saidor had an existing grass airstrip. Australian troops had damaged it before leaving in 1942 by digging trenches. These were quickly filled, and the tall grass was flattened by driving trucks over it. By the afternoon of January 4, 1,800 feet (550 meters) of runway was ready. A small plane landed the next day.
Building the Airfield
The 863rd Engineer Aviation Battalion arrived on January 9 and improved the strip. This allowed twelve C-47 Skytrain planes carrying ammunition to land on January 11. The American command wanted an all-weather runway 6,000 feet (1,800 meters) long and 100 feet (30 meters) wide. They also wanted space for a second, parallel runway.
The engineers cleared the entire site, leaving the bare ground exposed. This caused problems because it rained almost every day from January 10 to 31, with 25 inches (635 mm) of rain falling. This delayed construction. Gravel was brought from the Nankina River and laid up to 0.7 feet (21 cm) deep, then topped with crushed stone. The rain and frequent rolling helped create a good surface. Part of it was sealed with asphalt, but bad weather prevented the whole runway from being sealed before metal mats were laid over it.
The runway was ready for emergency landings by February 4, but the surface wore down quickly. It was finally completed on March 6. Construction of taxiways and parking areas continued through April. The airbase was fully operational by May 7.
Other Construction Projects
On March 5, engineers began building a large fuel storage area. It could hold 20,000 barrels (3,200,000 liters) of aviation fuel. A fuel jetty was built so tankers could unload fuel directly into pipelines leading to the storage tanks. This was finished by April 8.
Building roads was also a huge task. The 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion had to be assigned just to road work. Gravel was laid up to 2 feet (61 cm) thick. By late January, heavy rains and military traffic damaged the roads so much that engineers had to ban morning road use. Traffic could only resume by midday after the sun had dried the roads.
Initially, the Nankina River could be crossed by walking through it. But heavy seasonal rains turned it into a fast, rushing river. A portable bridge was flown in and built in one day, but it took two weeks to build the approaches to it. Another permanent bridge with concrete supports was built over the Nakina River. Despite an 8-foot (2.4-meter) rise in the river level, the 112-foot (34-meter) bridge opened to traffic on February 17.
Local Help
Local workers were provided by an Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit (ANGAU) team. At first, it was hard to convince the scared local people to come out of the bush. But as word spread that there was food and safety within the American area, many people started to arrive. ANGAU set up a native settlement. By February 13, 680 local workers were helping. They built camps for the Americans, carried supplies to units in the mountains, brought back the wounded, and worked in the hospital. ANGAU also sent out patrols to gather information about Japanese positions.
The engineers also brought six small landing craft on the first day. Six more arrived on the second day. Within days, nine were damaged by the rocky beaches and reefs and had to be sent for repairs. A 100-foot (30-meter) pier for smaller boats was started on January 19 and finished on March 5. A 330-foot (100-meter) pier for larger cargo ships was completed on May 6. Other construction included jetties for patrol boats, landings for large landing ships, a 250-bed hospital, a supply dump, and a staging area for 9,000 troops.
Air Operations from Saidor
Saidor quickly became a busy base for the Fifth Air Force. Its main base at Nadzab was surrounded by mountains, making it difficult for planes to take off after dark. Saidor had no such problem. In March, B-24 Liberator bombers used Saidor for night attacks on Hollandia.
On April 16, 1944, a raid on Hollandia faced bad weather. Nadzab and other airfields in the Markham Valley were closed. More than 30 planes headed to Saidor. An F-5 Lightning and a B-25 Mitchell collided on the runway, and two other planes crashed on landing. However, the other aircraft that made it to Saidor eventually returned to their bases.
What Happened in the End
General Krueger reported that the "Michaelmas Task Force" tried hard to block the Japanese escape routes. But the heavy rain, the tough jungle terrain, impassable rivers, and Japanese resistance made it difficult to fully succeed.
Australian commanders were critical. Lieutenant General Frank Berryman wrote that "about 8,000 semi-starved, ill-equipped and dispirited Japanese bypassed Saidor." He felt it was disappointing that the victory wasn't fully achieved and that many Japanese escaped. Lieutenant General Sir Leslie Morshead also reported that the American task force didn't seem to make "any appreciable effort" to cut off the retreating Japanese. Sadly, many of these escaped Japanese soldiers would later have to be fought again in the difficult Battle of Driniumor River.
General Krueger officially ended Operation Dexterity, which included the Saidor landing, on February 10, 1944. The next step in the Huon Peninsula campaign was the capture of Madang.
Casualties
During the Australian 5th Division's advance from Sio to Saidor, between January 20 and the end of February, 734 Japanese soldiers were killed in action. Another 1,793 were found dead, and 48 Japanese prisoners were taken. Australian and Papuan forces had 3 killed and 5 wounded.
The US 32nd Infantry Division at Saidor killed 119 Japanese soldiers and captured 18. American losses were 40 killed, 11 wounded, and 16 missing.
Images for kids
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Troops of the 32nd Infantry Division near Saidor.
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Key military operations in the South West Pacific from January 1943 to January 1944.
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Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey, Brigadier General Clarence A. Martin, and Brigadier Ronald Hopkins watching the Saidor landing.
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Australian and American troops meet near Saidor on 15 February 1944.
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An aerial view of the Saidor shoreline in New Guinea, showing LSTs unloading equipment on January 2, 1944.
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A Piper Cub observation plane arriving at Saidor.
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Engineers working to keep a road passable near Saidor.
