The Night 1,000 Japanese Landed at Milne Bay — And 9,458 Allies Were Waiting

Battlewatch Documentaries: Prefer to listen? Our documentaries are now on Spotify 🎧 https://open.spotify.com/show/2nnWOCN... In August 1942, Japan sent its naval infantry to seize the new Allied airfields at Milne Bay, on the eastern tip of New Guinea. Its commanders believed the bay was held by two or three infantry companies and 20 or 30 aircraft. On the rainy night of 25 August, about 1,171 men and two light tanks came ashore near Waga Waga. Waiting for them were 9,458 Australian, American and RAAF personnel. This World War II documentary follows the Battle of Milne Bay through the men on both sides of that estimate: the militia patrol that met the landing in the dark, the Kittyhawk pilots of 75 and 76 Squadrons flying from a strip of steel matting, the Two Tenth Battalion's night against the tanks, the American engineers at No. 3 Strip, and Corporal John French's Victoria Cross. It ends with the first Japanese landing force of the war to be beaten on land and taken off again. Also in this video: the Japanese invasion convoy that turned back from Port Moresby after the Battle of the Coral Sea; the 353 Japanese marines stranded for two months on Goodenough Island; and the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, where skip-bombing B-25s and RAAF Beaufighters destroyed Japan's convoy to Lae. If your father or grandfather served at Milne Bay, in the Coral Sea or over the Bismarck Sea, tell us his name, his unit or ship, and where he served in the comments. Chapters: 0:00 The Night They Landed at Milne Bay 9:08 What Was Waiting 17:31 Number Three Strip 30:48 The Fleet That Turned Back 34:08 The MO Plan 41:39 Carrier and Cruiser 1:00:49 The Men Left on Goodenough Island 1:07:16 The Island With No Way Off 1:17:59 Over the Mountain in the Rain 1:31:09 The Convoy to Lae 1:37:19 The Moresby Wreck 1:46:58 The Water Thumbnail: Australian War Memorial, P05216.004 / photographer unknown (colourised), public domain Sources: Samuel Milner, Victory in Papua, U.S. Army in World War II (1957), ch. 6: https://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-... Dudley McCarthy, South-West Pacific Area – First Year, ch. 5, Milne Bay (Australian War Memorial, 1959): https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C14... Warfare History Network, Stemming the Undefeated Tide: https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/art... Combinedfleet.com, IJN Tenryu: Tabular Record of Movement: https://www.combinedfleet.com/tenryu_... Naval History and Heritage Command, H-Gram 005: The Battle of the Coral Sea: https://history.navy.mil/about-us/lea... U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, Interrogation of Captain Mineo Yamaoka (1945): https://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/USSB... Royal Australian Navy Sea Power Centre, Semaphore: Commemorating the Battle of the Coral Sea: https://seapower.navy.gov.au/sites/de... U.S. Naval Institute, The Sinking of Shoho, Naval History (2006): https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-... Australian Army Journal, Goodenough Island and the Army's mastery of amphibious operations: https://researchcentre.army.gov.au/li... Dudley McCarthy, South-West Pacific Area – First Year, ch. 11 (Australian War Memorial, 1959): https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C14... Craven and Cate, The Army Air Forces in World War II, vol. IV, ch. 5: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/... Australian War Memorial, The Battle of the Bismarck Sea: https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/... This documentary uses archival film, photographs and the original terminology of the period for historical and educational purposes. It is not intended to glorify war or to offend any person, nation or group. #WW2 #MilneBay FOOTAGE AND IMAGE SOURCES U.S. National Archives: https://www.archives.gov Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org