Lat
6° 7' 60S Long 149° 7' 60E Small harbor located
near the western tip of New Britain on the Vitiaz and Dampier
Straits. Japanese refereed to the location
as 'Merkus' or 'Cape Merkus'. Also spelled Arawee.
History
As of early 1943, Merkus had not been occupied by the Japanese. The Japanese 1st and 8th Shipping Regiments
used motorized barges to shuttle troops and cargo along the
coast from Rabaul to Cape Merkus
and Rooke Island. The defense of the area was left to Major
Shinjiro Komori.
Ships
of TF 76 and TG 74.1 sailed from Goodenough Island on December
13 and arrived at Arawe on the 14. On December 15, 1943, after
a naval and aerial bombardment, the1,600 men
of
the US
Army's
112th
Cavalry
commanded by Brigadier General Julian
W Cunningham
made a landing at Arawe at 7:00am at the west
coast of Arawe. The landing was a diversionary attack
for the later landings at Cape
Glochester.
American Battle at Arawe
The landing plan called
for the main assault to occur at the tip of the Arawe peninsula, while a company-size unit (A Troop) landed at the
base of the
peninsula
in rubber
boats
to block
a Japanese
retreat.
The assault began on December 15, 1943 and almost immediately
encountered severe difficulties. Japanese machine gunners
spotted the rubber boats and sank almost all of them. The
soldiers of A Troop were forced to abandon their equipment
and swim for their lives. Sixteen were killed and seventeen
wounded in this abortive attack before naval gunfire could
silence the Japanese machine guns. Meanwhile, the main attack,
employing conventional landing craft less susceptible to
damage from machine gun fire, also ran into problems as successive
landing waves became separated and confused. Nevertheless,
superior Allied firepower forced the numerically inferior
Japanese to retreat. By mid afternoon the Americans controlled
the peninsula.
Japanese Counter Moves
Although they lost the opening
battle, the Japanese did not concede Arawe to the Americans
without
further
struggle. Beginning on the afternoon of the invasion, December 15th, and continuing for the next several days, they
launched furious air attacks, especially targeting ships
that had supported the assault. In addition, two nearby Japanese
infantry battalions advanced on Arawe and dug in just beyond
the American perimeter.
Stalemate, Marine Tanks
Arrive
The tactical situation rapidly degenerated
into a stalemate as the Americans and Japanese probed each
other's lines. American strength and the natural defensive
terrain along the base of the Arawe peninsula rendered the
U.S. lodgment relatively secure for the moment, but American
commanders could not feel comfortable with an entrenched
enemy just outside their perimeter. To break the stalemate
without incurring excessive casualties, General Krueger called
for 1st Marine Division tanks, that had remained behind in Finschafen
when enough tanks were deployed to Cape Glouchester.
Eighteen tanks
of Company B, 1st Marine Tank Battalion and
the 158th Infantry, 2nd Battalion as reinforcements to reinforce
the 112th Cavalry, that counter attacked on January 16, 1944. Employing
the armor protection and firepower provided by the tanks, the
Americans drove the Japanese from the trenches on January 16.
Thereafter, Arawe was quiet. Victory had been achieved at
a cost of 118 Americans killed, 352 wounded, and 4 missing.
Diversionary Role
While
the Japanese dealt with Arawe, the
main landing
occurred on December
26 at Cape
Gloucester. Arawe was declared by January 16, and
the junction of Allied forces from Arawe and Cape Gloucester
on
February
10,
1944
marks the
completion
of the campaign
for the W end of New Britain Island.
Reinforcement
Afterwards, occasional
missions will still
be
flown
in the area, mostly barge sweeps and patrols only. Western
New Britain's utility as a forward operating and support base
proved less critical to the Allied campaign than
originally anticipated. The commander of the American PT boat
squadron in the area declined to establish a base at Arawe,
and Allied pilots preferred to use the airfields at Cape Gloucester.
On April 24, 1944 the 40th Infantry Division, a National
Guard unit with soldiers from California, Utah, and Nevada,
relieved
the
marines and 112th Cavalry. For the remainder of the campaign,
the 40th Division would conduct patrols to keep the Japanese
away from the western end of New Britain while the main Allied
offensives continued elsewhere.
American & Japanese
Missions Against Arawe
November 1942 - January 16, 1944
Arawe Airfield (Merkus)
Airfield near Cape Mercus, defended by the Japanese never used by the Allies
Stuart Tank
Abandoned after the battle
