Location
Lat 8° 40' 0S Long 148° 24' 0E  Village located along the coast of New Guinea.

Pre-War
Site of the pre-war government headquarters, known as Buna Station. Japanese seaplanes attacked in mid-July [ Account by Allan Champion, Resident Magistrate ]

Japanese Occupation
Japanese landed at Buna on the night of July 21-22, 1942. They advanced inland to Popondetta then onto the Kokoda Trail. Japanese General Horii arrived at Buna on August 18, 1942. At the height of their campaign, they had 16,000 troops in this region alone. Their aim was to capture Port Moresby over the mountains, but were met by Australian forces on the Kokoda Trail. Buna became part of a concentrated 20km of defensive positions at Buna, Sanananda and Gona defended by 9,000 Japanese.

Allied missions against Buna
July 23, 1942 - January 23, 1943

Australian & American Offensive
Japanese defenders had built extensive defenses around the Buna area. The defenders  were commanded by Col. Hiroshi Yamamoto, and approximately 2,000 troops including fresh reinforcements from the 144th Infantry Regiment and 3rd Battalion of 229th Infantry. The village of Buna was first attacked on November 16, 1942, but little gains were made. More reinforcements were sent forward and American General relieved further small gains were made. By December 14, 1942 the Japanese had abandoned the village and were occupying positions in the former coconut plantation to the east at Jiropa Plantation.

A total of 3,000 Australians from the 18th Australian Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Wootten, and a squadron of the 2/6th Australian Armoured Regiment equipped with M3 Stuart tanks from Milne Bay were brought forward to Buna along with US Army reinforcements of 9,000 troops from the 32nd Infantry Division. Together, they succeeded in breaking through the defenses on January 1, 1943, and by January 3rd the fighting had ended.  The ferocious fighting saw only six Japanese prisoners captured and the garrison annihilated.

First Tank Battle In Papua
At Cape Endaiadere on December 18, 1942 at 7am, the Australians 2/9th Battalion, supported by seven tanks attacked towards Cape Endaiadere with the Americans on their left in support advanced north through the Americans, on a front of about 600 yards and with the sea on their right. However, the left company, attacking without tanks lost more than half its eighty-seven men in an advance of only about 100 yards and was pinned down. The attack did not resume until after the arrival of three tanks in the afternoon. The battalion lost 171 officers and men, about half the strength of the attacking companies. Two tanks were disabled on the battlefield.

Coconut Plantation
At 7 am on 20 December the 2/9th Battalion reinforced by a company of the 2/10th Battalion on the right with an American battalion on the left continued the advance. With air support and four tanks spaced among the Australian infantry they moved through the coconut plantation without great opposition and by 10 am were advancing into the bush and kunai grass clothing the marshy country beyond the plantation. The tanks bogged down and were only able to travel along the beach.The attackers came under heavy mortar and machine-gun fire. The advance ended on the general line along the Simemi Creek.

Casualties
There were 1,400 Japanese buried at Buna, The fighting on the beachheads cost 1,500 Australians, 670 Americans and an estimated 4,000 Japanese. The US 32nd Division sustained 1,954 casualties; 466 killed and 1508 wounded. In sixteen days the 18th Brigade had lost 55 officers and 808 men, including 22 officers and 284 others killed.

Buna Airfield (Old Strip)
Initially built by Australians, just prior to the Japanese invasion of the area. It became a battlefield in December 1942, and was the site of several abandoned aircraft.

Buna New Strip (New Strip, Dummy Strip)
Japanese begun construction of this second runway, never developed by the Allies

General Stuart M3 Tank 2300
Engine compartment destroyed by magnetic mine, recovered for the PNG Museum 1973.

General Stuart M3 Tank 2033
Disabled near Cape Endaiadere, recovered for the Australian War Memorial 1973

Beaufighter Serial Number A19-1
Pilot Sayer, shot down September 23, 1942

DB-7B Mark IIIA Serial Number A28-22
Pilot McDonald, crashed November 26, 1942

Buna Government Station
Site of the pre-war Buna Government Station.

Buna Village (Old Village)
The old village of Buna is located a mile to the west of the Buna government station

The Triangle (Bloody Triangle)
Nickname given to the Buna area by Americans of the 32nd Infantry Division.

Jiropa Plantation (Giropa Point, Giropa Plantation)
Pre-war coconut palm plantation.

Strip Point
Located between Giropa Point and Cape Endaiadere. 

Cape Endaiadere (Maggot Beach)
Cape located to the east of Strip Point.

References
Buna-Gona-Sananada Timeline

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Last Updated
January 22, 2013