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Battle of Bita Paka

Coordinates: 4°25′0″S 152°19′0″E / 4.41667°S 152.31667°E / -4.41667; 152.31667
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Battle of Bita Paka
Part of the Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I

A soldier of the AN&MEF in Sydney 1914 prior to departing for Rabaul.
Date11 September 1914
Location
Bitapaka, south of Kabakaul on New Britain, German New Guinea
Result Australian victory
Belligerents
AustraliaAustralia German Empire Germany
Commanders and leaders
AustraliaCharles Elwell † German EmpireHauptmann Wuchert[1]
Strength
~500 men
several destroyers		 61 Germans
240 native police[1]
Casualties and losses
7 killed, 5 wounded[2] 1 German and 30 native police killed, 11 wounded[2]
19 Germans and 56 native police captured[3]

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The Battle of Bita Paka was fought at Bitapaka, south of Kabakaul, on the island of New Britain, on 11 September 1914 and was as part of the occupation of German New Guinea by the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force during the First World War. As with the New Zealand operation against German Samoa, the target was the strategically important wireless station, being one of several used by the German East Asiatic Squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Count von Spee. The battle was Australia's first major military engagement of the war and the only significant action of the campaign.

After landing the Australians were resisted by a mixed force of German reservists and Melanesian native police, who forced them to fight their way to the objective. Both the Germans and Australians suffered a number of casualties, while the wireless station was subsequently captured by the Australians following a day of fighting. The remaining German forces on New Britain subsequently fled to Toma and after a brief siege the garrison capitulated, ending the resistance to the Australian occupation of the island.

Prelude

Main article: Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force

After a British request for assistance on 6 August 1914, the Australian government hurriedly prepared an expeditionary force to destroy the German wireless stations at Yap in the Caroline Islands, Nauru, and Rabaul in New Britain.[4] Elements of the Australian Squadron entered Blanche Bay on 12 August, whilst several destroyers conducted a reconnaissance of Simpson Harbour, and landing parties went ashore to demolish the telephones in the post offices in Rabaul and at the German gubernatorial capital of Herbertshöhe (present-day Kokopo) on Neu-Pommern, located approximately 20 miles (32 km) to the south-east. Enquiries were also made about the location of the radio station, although no information was forthcoming. After threatening to bombard the nearby settlements if the radio station continued to transmit, the Australian warships withdrew.[5]

The AN&MEF comprised one battalion of infantry of 1,000 men hurriedly enlisted in Sydney, plus 500 naval reservists and ex-sailors who would serve as infantry.[6] Another battalion of militia from the Queensland-based Kennedy Regiment—which had been dispatched to garrison Thursday Island—also contributed 500 volunteers.[7] Under the command of Colonel William Holmes, the force departed Sydney aboard HMAS Berrima and halted at Palm Island off Townsville until a New Zealand force, escorted by the battlecruiser HMAS Australia, cruiser HMAS Melbourne and the French cruiser Montcalm, occupied Samoa on 30 August.[6] The AN&MEF then moved to Port Moresby, where it met the Queensland contingent already aboard the transport HMAHS Kanowna. The force sailed for German New Guinea on 7 September, although the Kanowna was left behind when her stokers refused to work.[8] The militia were also left in Port Moresby after Holmes decided it was not trained or equipped sufficiently to be committed to the anticipated fighting.[6][9]

German New Guinea was only lightly defended, and even after all available reservists had reported for duty and the native police were armed, total German strength was only 61 German officers and non-commissioned officers, and about 240 Melanesian native soldiers. Most of the Germans were reservists.[1] The radio station itself at Bitapaka was occupied by 8 Germans and 60 Melanesians, under the command of Hauptmann (Captain) Wuchert. The force was assigned to defend against any hostile landing at a point near the coast, and authorized to withdraw halfway between Toma and Bitapaka to Tobera if necessary, but only after demolishing the radio station. Another company of 10 Germans and 140 Melanesians was stationed at Herbertshöhe under Leutnant (Lieutenant) Mayer. The German colonial troops had also established section outposts at various locations and monitored the coast from St. George's Channel to Rabaul. Monitoring was so effective that reconnaissance of the Australian Squadron on 12 August had been quickly detected and German forces were directed towards the coast to repel any landing.[10]

Battle

German soldiers marching through the jungles of New Britain
A platoon of German Reservists, after the outbreak of war and shortly before the arrival of the AN&MEF.

Off the eastern tip of New Guinea, the Berrima rendezvoused with Australia and the light cruiser HMAS Sydney plus a number of destroyers, whilst Melbourne was detached to destroy the wireless station on Nauru. The task force reached Rabaul on 11 September, where they found the port to be free of German forces. Sydney and the destroyer HMAS Warrego landed small parties of naval reservists at the settlements of Kabakaul and at Herbertshöhe. These parties were reinforced firstly by sailors from Warrego and later by infantry from Berrima.[11] Two parties were subsequently landed, one under Sub-Lieutenant C. Webber and the other commanded by Lieutenant-Commander J.F. Finlayson. In accordance with German plans, the Australians encountered no opposition at Herbertshöhe, with the German company stationed there having withdrawn to Takubar— between Herbertshöhe and Kabakaul—in the early morning. At 0700 the Union Jack was raised over the settlement.[12]

The Australians believed that there were probably two radio stations: one under construction 4 miles (6.4 km) directly inland from Herbertshöhe and the other directly inland from Kabakaul, at Bitapaka. Finlayson remained at Herbertshöhe in order to guard the stores being landed from Sydney, whilst Webber’s party began an advance from Herbertshöhe inland along the Toma road.[13] Another party under the command of Lieutenant Rowland Bowen would advance towards Bitapaka, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the south. The party, consisting of 2 officers and 25 naval reservists was subsequently landed at Kabakaul. Also included were about fifteen other personnel to provide medical support and maintain communications.[14]

The Australians subsequently began the advance inland along the fringe of the dense jungle-edged road to the radio station, attempting to avoid the road wherever possible.[11] By 0900 they had penetrated about 2,000 yards (1,800 m) and with the scrub becoming denser the scouts pushed away from the road to work their way around the obstacle. In so doing they suddenly surprised a group of about twenty Melanesian soldiers led by three Germans, who were apparently laying an ambush on the road for the advancing Australians. They opened fire, wounding one of the Germans in the hand and capturing him, whilst the Melanesian soldiers scattered. By means of a ruse another two Germans were also captured, including Wuchert and Leutnant Meyer. Their capture significantly deprived the defenders of a number of important commanders, whilst also captured were a number of important maps.[15]

Soldiers digging up a mine that is planted in the middle of a road.
RAN personnel dig up a German pipe mine on the Bitapaka Road. These mines were laid beneath the road with wires leading to an electric battery and firing key at the bottom of a lookout tree.

Realising that his advance was going to be contested by the Germans, Bowen requested reinforcements. Consequently, as an interim measure, fifty-nine men from Warrego and Yarra were landed under Lieutenant G.A. Hill, until further reinforcements of infantry could arrive from the Berrima, which was still steaming towards Kabakaul from Karavia Bay.[16] Meanwhile Bowen pushed on and the Australians were again fired upon by the well concealed Germans and their Melanesian troops, as well as from snipers in the treetops. By 0930 the situation was becoming grave, and in the fighting Able Seaman Billy Williams became the first Australian fatality of the war.[17] Also included among the casualties was the medical officer, who died of his wounds alongside Williams in the afternoon after being evacuated to the Berrima.[18]

The reinforcements landed earlier from the destroyers reached Bowen by 1000 however, and the situation was stabilised. The advance was subsequently resumed, however the Australians had not gone more than 500 yards (460 m) when they encountered a strongly held German trench dug across the road.[14] Working together Hill and Bowen attempted to outflank the Germans, however soon after Bowen was shot and badly wounded by a sniper, leaving Hill in command.[19] Reinforcements were subsequently landed by Berrima including a half battalion under the overall command of Lieutenant Commander Charles Elwell. Also landed was the machine-gun section and a medical detachment, as well as the battalion commander, Commander J.A.H. Beresford, and the intelligence officer.[17]

Ellwell advanced inland rapidly and was soon engaged also, losing one killed and two wounded in a brief skirmish.[20] During the advance the Australian’s had also uncovered and defused a large command wire detonated pipe mine buried under the narrow track by the Germans.[21] By 1300 however, Hill’s position was reached and the Australians—now under Elwell’s overall command—launched another flanking attack on the main trench blocking the road. Despite suffering heavy casualties in the process the Australians pressed their attack, forcing the defenders to surrender after charging the trench with fixed bayonets. A German officer and 20 Melanesians were subsequently captured. Four Australians were killed, including Elwell who died leading the charge with his sword drawn. Another five men were wounded.[14]

Now under the command of Lieutenant Hill, and accompanied by two German prisoners as interpreters, the Australians proceed down the road under a flag of truce. The garrisons of two more trenches were persuaded to surrender in this manner, but not before another skirmish during with the Germans counter-attacked, wounding three more Australians including one fatally; in response one of the German interpreters was killed by the Australians as were several Melanesians. The advance continued and another group of defenders was encountered and subsequently disarmed by nightfall.[14] By 1900 the radio station was reached and was found to have been abandoned; the mast dismantled, but its instruments and machinery intact. The remaining Germans had abandoned the defences and withdrawn.[22]

Aftermath

Main article: Siege of Toma
Three officers standing outside a radio station at Bita Paka on the isle of New Britain.
Colonel William Holmes and two unidentified officers at the wireless station at Bitapaka after its capture.

After their defeat at Bitapaka the remaining German forces and the civil administration withdrew 19 miles (31 km) inland to Toma, believing they would have time to recuperate before the Australians arrived. The German governor—Eduard Haber—continued to hold out for several days hoping that the German East Asia Squadron would arrive to relieve them.[23] Unbeknown to the Germans however, an Australian advanced party consisting of half a battalion of 200 men and a 12 pounder naval field-gun had followed them, advancing along the Toma road. The Australians surrounded the town and proceeded to bombard it, whilst HMAS Encounter also arrived on the scene and fired several shells at a ridge nearby.[24] This show of firepower scattered the native police and was sufficient to start negotiations however, and Toma was occupied by the Australians. Haber visited Holmes in Herbertshöhe on 15 September, signing terms two days later. All military resistance subsequently ceased and the remaining 40 German soldiers and 110 natives surrendered on 21 September, leaving no effective opposition to the Australian occupation of the territory.[23][Note 1]

The German colony at Madang on Kaiser-Wilhelmsland (the New Guinea mainland) was later occupied on 24 September, although the German cruiser SMS Cormoran—which was lurking nearby—escaped undetected. Over the next two months the remaining outposts were also occupied.[25] Following the capture of German possessions in the region, the AN&MEF provided occupation forces for the duration of the war.[26] A military government was set up by Holmes and continued until 1921 when Australian received a mandate from the League of Nations to govern the territory.[27] Australian administration lasted until 1975 when Papua New Guinea gained its independence.[28]

Although successful the operation on New Britain was not well managed, and the Australians had been effectively delayed by a half-trained native force.[2] Regardless they had prevailed not least of all because of their unexpected ability to fight in close terrain, whilst their outflanking of the German positions had unnerved their opponents.[28] During the fighting at Bitapaka seven Australians were killed and five wounded, whilst casualties among the defenders were one German and about 30 Melanesians killed, and one German and ten Melanesians wounded. Later it was alleged by the Germans that the heavy losses among the Melanesian troops was the result of the Australians bayoneting all those they had captured.[2] Although the casualties suffered by the Australians were light in the context of later operations, they were heavy given the modest gain and were further compounded by the disappearance of the submarine AE1 during a patrol off Rabaul on 14 September, with all 35 men aboard.[29]

See also

Notes

Footnotes

  1. ^ A German officer—Captain Hermann Detzner—and about 20 native police managed to evade capture in the interior of New Guinea for the entire war. Unbeknownst to Detzner, the war had started while he was still on a surveying expedition to map the border with Australian-held Papua. He later claimed to have penetrated the interior of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland (the German portion of New Guinea) in his 1920 book, "Vier Jahre unter Kannibalen" ("Four Years among Cannibals"). These claims were disputed by various German missionaries however, and Detzner recanted most of his claims in 1932. See Meade 2005.

Citations

  1. ^ a b c Mackenzie 1941, p. 48.
  2. ^ a b c d Coulthard-Clark 1998, p. 97.
  3. ^ Mackenzie 1941, p. 74.
  4. ^ Grey 2008, p. 86–87.
  5. ^ Mackenzie 1941, p. 38.
  6. ^ a b c Grey 2008, p. 87.
  7. ^ Mackenzie 1941, pp. 23–35.
  8. ^ Mackenzie 1941, p. 32.
  9. ^ Mackenzie 1941, p. 31.
  10. ^ Mackenzie 1941, p. 49.
  11. ^ a b Mackenzie 1941, p. 53.
  12. ^ Mackenzie 1941, pp. 50–52.
  13. ^ Mackenzie 1941, pp. 52–53.
  14. ^ a b c d Coulthard-Clark 1998, p. 96.
  15. ^ Mackenzie 1941, p. 55–56.
  16. ^ MacKenzie 1941, pp. 56–57.
  17. ^ a b Mackenzie 1941, p. 58.
  18. ^ MacKenzie 1941, p. 59.
  19. ^ Mackenzie 1941, p. 60.
  20. ^ Mackenzie 1941, p. 61.
  21. ^ Mackenzie 1941, p. 62.
  22. ^ Mackenzie 1941, pp. 66–67.
  23. ^ a b Odgers 1994, p.42.
  24. ^ Bean 1946, p. 36.
  25. ^ Bean 1946, p. 38.
  26. ^ Mackenzie 1941, pp. 105–126.
  27. ^ Dennis et al 2008, p. 235.
  28. ^ a b Grey 1999, p. 83.
  29. ^ Bean 1946, p. 37.

References

  • Bean, Charles (1946). Anzac to Amiens. Canberra: Australian War Memorial.
  • Coulthard-Clark, Chris (1998). Where Australians Fought: The Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles. St Leonards: Allen and Unwin. ISBN 1864486112. OCLC 39097011.
  • Coulthard-Clark, Chris (2001). The Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1865086347. OCLC 48793439.
  • Dennis, Peter (2008). The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press Australia & New Zealand. ISBN 978-0-19551-784-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Grey, Jeffrey (1999). A Military History of Australia (2nd ed.). Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521644836.
  • Grey, Jeffrey (2008). A Military History of Australia (3rd ed.). Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521697910.
  • MacKenzie, Seaforth (1941). The Australians at Rabaul: The Capture and Administration of the German Possessions in the South Pacific. Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918, Volume X. (10th ed.). Canberra: Australian War Memorial.
  • Meade, Kevin (2005). Heroes before Gallipoli: Bita Paka and that One Day in September. Milton: John Wiley & Sons Australia. ISBN 1740311175.
  • Odgers, George (1994). 100 Years of Australians at War. Sydney: Lansdowne. ISBN 186302669X.

4°25′0″S 152°19′0″E / 4.41667°S 152.31667°E / -4.41667; 152.31667

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