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24 of 24 events · showing 1–20

The Story of

Papua New Guinea

1914 – 2024

Country in Oceania

  1. Siege of Toma

    14 September 1914 – 17 September 1914

    The siege of Toma was a bloodless action during the First World War on the island of New Pomerania (now New Britain) between 14 and 17 September 1914 as part of the occupation of German New Guinea by the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF). Australian forces had been dispatched to seize and destroy German wireless stations in the south-west Pacific because they were used by the German East Asian Cruiser Squadron of Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee which threatened merchant shipping in the region.

  2. Battle of Rabaul

    1942

    The Battle of Rabaul, also known by the Japanese as Operation R, an instigating action of the New Guinea campaign, was fought on the island of New Britain in the Australian Territory of New Guinea, from 23 January into February 1942. It was a strategically significant defeat of Allied forces by Japan in the Pacific campaign of World War II, with the Japanese invasion force quickly overwhelming the small Australian garrison, the majority of which was either killed or captured.

  3. Battle of Milne Bay

    25 August 1942 – 7 September 1942

    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,…

  4. Battle of Buna–Gona

    16 November 1942 – 22 January 1943

    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.

  5. Battle of Wau

    4 February 1943 – 31 January 1943

    The Battle of Wau (29 January – 4 February 1943) was a battle in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. Forces of the Empire of Japan sailed from Rabaul and crossed the Solomon Sea and, despite Allied air attacks, successfully reached Lae, where they disembarked. Japanese troops then advanced overland on Wau, an Australian base that potentially threatened the Japanese positions at Salamaua and Lae.

  6. Landing at Nadzab

    5 September 1943

    The Landing at Nadzab was an airborne landing on 5 September 1943 during the New Guinea campaign of World War II in conjunction with the landing at Lae. The Nadzab action began with a parachute drop at Lae Nadzab Airport, combined with an overland force.

  7. Battle of Kaiapit

    19 September 1943 – 20 September 1943

    The Battle of Kaiapit was an action fought in 1943 between Australian and Japanese forces in New Guinea during the Markham and Ramu Valley – Finisterre Range campaign of World War II. Following the 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 Japanese intended to use Kaiapit to threaten the Allied position at Nadzab, and to create a diversion to allow the Japanese garrison at Lae time to escape.

  8. Battle of Finschhafen

    22 September 1943 – 24 October 1943

    The Battle of Finschhafen was part of the Huon Peninsula campaign in New Guinea during World War II and was fought between Australian and Japanese forces. The fighting took place between 22 September and 24 October 1943 following the landing at Scarlet Beach, which was followed by a two-pronged advance on Finschhafen as the Australian 20th Infantry Brigade advanced on the town from the north, while the 22nd Infantry Battalion drove from the south, having advanced from the landing beaches east of Lae.

  9. Bougainville Campaign

    1 November 1943 – 21 August 1945

    The Bougainville campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan, named after the island of Bougainville, one of the Solomon Islands. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied grand strategy in the South Pacific.

  10. Battle of Empress Augusta Bay

    1 November 1943 – 2 November 1943

    The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, on 1–2 November 1943, also known as the Battle of Gazelle Bay, Operation Cherry Blossom, and in Japanese sources as the Sea Battle off Bougainville Island (ブーゲンビル島沖海戦), was a naval battle fought at night in Empress Augusta Bay near Bougainville Island. The naval battle was a result of Allied landings at Cape Torokina in the first action in the Bougainville campaign of World War II. It is also considered part of the Solomons and New Guinea campaigns.

  11. Landings at Cape Torokina

    3 November 1943

    The Landings at Cape Torokina (1–3 November 1943), also known as Operation Cherryblossom, took place at the beginning of the Bougainville campaign in World War II. The amphibious landings were carried out by elements of the United States Marine Corps in November 1943 on Bougainville Island in the South Pacific, as part of Allied efforts to advance towards the main Japanese base around Rabaul under Operation Cartwheel. Coming in the wake of Allied successes at Guadalcanal and in the central Solomons, the landings were intended to secure a beachhead with the purpose of establishing several…

  12. Battle of Koromokina Lagoon

    7 November 1943 – 8 November 1943

    The Battle of Koromokina Lagoon was fought between the United States Marine Corps and Imperial Japanese Army forces on Bougainville Island. It took place on 7–8 November 1943 during the Bougainville campaign of the Pacific War.

  13. Battle of Cape St. George

    25 November 1943

    The Battle of Cape St. George was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II fought on 25 November 1943, between Cape St.

  14. Operation Dexterity

    15 December 1943 – 22 April 1944

    Operation Dexterity was a military operation, part of Operation Cartwheel in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) for the Allies in the Pacific theater of World War II. The operation was directed by the Supreme Allied Commander in the SWPA, General Douglas MacArthur. Dexterity included amphibious landings at Arawe on 15 December 1943, and Cape Gloucester on 26 December 1943 in the northwest of New Britain, the capture of the Imperial Japanese held Tuluvu aerodrome on the 30 December 1943 and the amphibious landing at Saidor on 2 January 1944.

  15. Battle of Cape Gloucester

    26 December 1943 – 22 April 1944

    The Battle of Cape Gloucester was fought in the Pacific theater of World War II between Japanese and Allied forces on the island of New Britain, Territory of New Guinea, between 26 December 1943 and 16 January 1944. Codenamed Operation Backhander, the US landing formed part of the wider Operation Cartwheel, the main Allied strategy in the South West Pacific Area and Pacific Ocean Areas during 1943–1944.

  16. Battle of Driniumor River

    10 July 1944 – 25 August 1944

    The Battle of Driniumor River, also known as the Battle of Aitape, 10 July – 25 August 1944, was part of the Western New Guinea campaign of World War II. During the fighting, Japanese forces launched several attacks on United States forces on the Driniumor River, near Aitape in New Guinea, over the course of several weeks with the intention of retaking Aitape. After making some initial gains, the Japanese attack was contained and eventually turned back having suffered heavy casualties.

  17. Aitape–Wewak campaign

    November 1944 – August 1945

    The Aitape–Wewak campaign was one of the final campaigns of the Pacific Theatre of World War II. Between November 1944 and the end of the war in August 1945, the Australian 6th Division, with air and naval support, fought the Imperial Japanese 18th Army in northern New Guinea. Considered a "mopping up" operation by the Australians, and although ultimately successful for them with the Japanese forces cleared from the coastal areas and driven inland, amidst difficult jungle conditions, casualties from combat and disease were high.

  18. Bougainville conflict

    1 December 1988 – 20 April 1998

    The Bougainville conflict, also known as the Bougainvillean Civil War, the Solomon Civil War or the Civil War of the North Solomons was a multi-layered armed conflict fought from 1988 to 1998 in the North Solomons Province of Papua New Guinea between the governments of Papua New Guinea, supported by Australia and Indonesia and the secessionist forces of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), the rest of the Solomon Islands and allegedly Fiji, and between the BRA and other armed groups on Bougainville. The conflict was described by Bougainvillean President John Momis as the largest…

  19. 1998 Papua New Guinea earthquake

    17 July 1998

    The 1998 Papua New Guinea earthquake occurred on July 17 with a moment magnitude of 7.0 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The event occurred on a reverse fault near the north coast region of Papua New Guinea, 25 km (16 mi) from the coast near Aitape and caused a large submarine landslide which caused a tsunami that hit the coast, killing between at least 2,183 and 2,700 people and injuring thousands.

  20. Airlines PNG Flight 1600

    13 October 2011

    On 13 October 2011, Airlines PNG Flight 1600, a Dash 8 regional aircraft on a domestic flight from Lae to Madang, Papua New Guinea, crash-landed in a forested area near the mouth of the Guabe River, after losing all engine power. Only 4 of the 32 people on board survived.