Lat 6° 43' 60S Long 147° 0'
0E City on New Guinea's northern coast.
History
Allied forces evacuated Lae on January 22,
1942. Japanese landed on March 8, 1942 at Malahang.
The town became a Japanese stronghold and aerodrome. As the war progressed,
it was isolated, and efforts to resupply and reinforce the garrison
at Lae were thwarted during the Battle
of the Bismarck Sea.
Liberation
Following
this Allied victory, Lae was pounded from the air and from artillery
of the approaching Australian
divisions.
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. Never had the Japanese
been pushed back so swiftly. However, the 9th Division lost 77 killed
and the 7th Division 38 killed in the advance towards Lae.
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.
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.
Japanese & Allied Missions Against Lae
February 5, 1942 - September 28, 1943
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.
Tenyo
Maru
Sunk March 10, 1942 by US Navy SBD Dauntlesses. Visible above water until the 1970s
F-6D Mustang Serial
Number 44-14621
Pilot Lent crashed December 1, 1944
