Location
Lat 6° 43' 60S Long 147° 0' 0E  City on New Guinea's northern coast, bordering Huon Gulf.

History
Allied forces evacuated Lae on January 22, 1942. Japanese landed on March 8, 1942 at Malahang. The town became a Japanese stronghold port and airfield.

As the war progressed, Lae was isolated, and efforts to resupply and reinforce the garrison at Lae were thwarted during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Lae was the target of numerous Allied bombing missions to neutralize the area.

Japanese & Allied Missions Against Lae
February 5, 1942 - September 28, 1943

Liberation
Operation "Postern" the invasion of Lae. Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey's Task Force 76 lands the Australian 9th Division on the Huon Peninsula near Lae. On September 16, 1943 the Australian 7th and 9th Divisions entered Lae and found the Japanese there weakened from lack of food and short of ammunition. The Japanese had abandoned position after position. The Japanese were quickly pushed back, but the 9th Division lost 77 killed and the 7th Division 38 killed in the advance towards Lae.

After liberation, Lae was developed into an Allied base area, and used until the end of the war.

Post War
After the war, Americans maintained a small presence in Lae until at least 1948. There was an American 'holdout' in the Lae area until 1946 or 1947 named "Sticklefield" who was charged with desertion. Anyone with additional information about this, email me. Thanks to Bruce Hoy for this information.

Huon Gulf
Gulf that borders the Huon Peninsula, including the town of Lae.

Lae Airfield
Prewar airfield built by the Australians. Occupied by the Japanese in early 1942 and used until liberation by the Allies in September 1943.

Igam Barracks
PNGDF Barracks in Lae.

C-47B Serial Number A65-122 (DC-3)
Displayed at the Lae Botanical Gardens

Lae War Cemetery
Cemetery and botanical gardens with Australian and Commonwealth graves.

Mount Lunaman
A hill in the center of town. Used as a lookout point by Germans and Japanese. Japanese riddled it with caves and tunnels. The Australian Army closed the entrances with explosives soon after they re-captured Lae. 

Richard Leahy adds:
"I have heard that some brave souls have penetrated some of the tunnels and found very little. Mt. Lunamin consists of gravel, not rock and is unstable. Thus nobody has been game enough to go in too far."

Scrap Yard
A scrap yard in Lae has seen plenty of WWII scrap over the years. Some has gone scrapped unnoticed, other relics, like the cockpit area of a Ki-61 Tony fighter was discovered and sold to Classic Jet Museum in the early 1990's

Lae Yacht Club
Located just up the coast from the airfield, the club is built onto the site of the major dock area during the war. The bell of the s'Jacob is displayed at the club.

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Last Updated
October 1, 2009