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USAAF December 1943 US Army Dec 15, 1943 US Army Jan 10, 1944 |
Location Lat 6° 7' 60S Long 149° 7' 60E Arawe Harbor borders Arawe on the southwestern tip of New Britain. Beyond is the the Solomon Sea. Also spelled Arawee Harbor. Pronounced "Ara-wee". Arawe Harbor includes many small islands including Pinip Island. Japanese refereed to this location as Merkus Harbor. Prewar and during the Pacific War part of the New Britain District in the Territory of New Guinea. Today located in West New Britain Province in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Wartime History During early 1943, Merkus was occupied by the Japanese and developed into a base area. The Japanese 1st and 8th Shipping Regiments used motorized barges to shuttle troops and cargo along the coast from Rabaul to Cape Merkus then onward to Rooke Island. The defense of the area was left to Major Shinjiro Komori. American Battle at Arawe US Navy Task Force 76 and TG 74.1 departed Goodenough Island on December 13, 1943 and arrived at Arawe on the next day. On December 15, 1943, after a naval and aerial bombardment, 1,600 men of the US Army 112th Cavalry commanded by Brigadier General Julian W Cunningham made a landing at 7:00am on the west coast of Arawe. The landing was a diversionary attack for the landing planned at Cape Gloucester. American and Japanese missions against Arawe November 1942 - January 16, 1944 Takasaki Maru Sunk December 25, 1943 by air attack D3A2 Model 22 Val Shot down December 17-27, 1943 attacking Arawe Contribute
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