Buna, Battle of

Gen. Douglas MacArthur's plan to defend Australia against impending Japanese invasion was not to hunker down in Australia itself, but to take the battle to New Guinea, which he correctly saw as the necessary staging area for any assault on Australia. Thus, the New Guinea Campaign was a defense by means of offensive, and the Battle of Buna, a village on the northeastern coast of Papua, was a key phase of the campaign. Here, during July 1942, the Japanese had established a beachhead, and here, beginning in November 1942, two Allied divisions attacked. The 7th Australian Division attacked the fortified Japanese perimeter at its northwestern end, near the village of Gona, while the 32nd U.S. Division marched toward Buna village and its associated mission at the southeastern end. Simultaneously, elements of this unit attacked the two airstrips at Cape Endaiadere nearby. Gen. MacArthur was confident of a quick victory, which was even announced—very much prematurely—in the Allied press. However, intelligence had been wildly off the mark in its underestimate of Japanese strength at the perimeter. Moreover, the 32nd was green and entirely unfamiliar with jungle warfare. As the assault stalled and casualties multiplied, MacArthur dispatched Gen. Robert Lawrence Eichelberger to Buna, charging him to take the village "or not come back alive." It was vintage MacArthur, which meant that the do-or-die order had been delivered in all literal sincerity. Eichelberger was appalled by the conditions he saw at the front. The Americans were thoroughly demoralized, starving, and ravaged by malaria. He acted quickly by relieving and replacing most of the senior commanders, establishing reliable logistics and lines of supply, and ordering up fresh reinforcements as well as armor. Under Eichelberger, the reinvigorated 32nd took Buna on December 14. However, the nearby mission held out until January 2, 1943. That same day, Cape Endaiadere fell to the Americans. MacArthur was delighted, but to Eichelberger's dismay, he tended to discount as a "mopping up operation" the additional three weeks of costly battle that were required to clear the beachhead completely of this most tenacious enemy. Thanks to Eichelberger, MacArthur's reputation, Allied morale, and the New Guinea Campaign were all saved at Buna. The cost to the 32nd U.S. Division was staggering. Of 10,825 troops deployed, 9,688 became casualties, most falling ill with malaria and other jungle diseases. This 90 percent casualty rate did provide a valuable lesson in jungle warfare by underscoring the preeminence of logistics in prolonged tropical campaigns.