The battle of Buna–Gona was part of the New Guinea campaign in the Pacific theatre during World War II. It followed the conclusion of the Kokoda Track campaign and lasted from 16 November 1942 until 22 January 1943. The battle was conducted by Australian and United States forces against the Japanese beachheads at Buna, Sanananda and Gona. The Allied advance on the Japanese positions at Buna–Gona was made by the 16th and 25th Brigades of the Australian 7th Division and the 126th and 128th Infantry Regiments of the US 32nd Infantry Division. During the course of the battle, a further four infantry brigades, two infantry regiments and an armoured squadron of 19 M3 Stuart tanks were deployed.
Significant criticism has been levelled at the combat effectiveness of US troops and specifically the 32nd Division, both within the US command and in subsequent histories. A lack of training is most often cited in defence of their performance. Several historians have also commented on the lack of training afforded Australian militia units engaged in the battle although some had the benefit of a "stiffening" of experienced junior officers posted to them from the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).
Before the Allied forces arrived on the Buna–Gona coast, Richard K. Sutherland, then major general and chief of staff to General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area, had "glibly" referred to the Japanese coastal fortifications as "hasty field entrenchments." Both the strength and the overall combat effectiveness of the Japanese defenders was severely underestimated. Maps of the area were inaccurate and lacked detail. Aerial photos were not generally available to commanders in the field. Allied command had failed to make effective provision for supply of artillery or tanks believing quite mistakenly that air support could replace the need for these. Allied commanders in the field were unable to provide fire support capable of suppressing, let alone neutralizing the Japanese positions to an extent that would permit attacking infantry to close with and overwhelm them. Logistical limitations constrained efforts to make good these deficiencies.
Scanty, ill-informed intelligence led MacArthur to believe that Buna could be taken with relative ease. MacArthur never visited the front during the campaign. He had no understanding of the conditions faced by his commanders and troops, yet he continued to interfere and pressure them to achieve unreasonable outcomes. Terrain and persistent pressure for haste meant that there was little, if any, time given for reconnaissance. Pressure applied by MacArthur has been attributed to both protracting the duration of the battle and increasing the number of Allied casualties experienced.
Training and equipment US 32nd Division The 32nd Infantry Division was a National Guard unit (militia) from Michigan and Wisconsin, commanded at the start of the battle by Major General Edwin F. Harding. It had been sent to Australia in April 1942. It consisted of the 126th, 127th and 128th Infantry Regiments. Together with the US 41st Division, also based in Australia, it formed US I Corps, under command of Lieutenant General Robert L. Eichelberger.
Staff officers considered the US 32nd Division unprepared and under-supplied for combat. While in the US, the division had trained for a European war. Standard US Army practices dictated that a division should train together for a year, but the 32nd had picked up more than 3,000 replacements fresh out of boot camp when the division was suddenly redirected to Australia. When in Australia, they had moved to three different camps and were tasked with building each of them, all of which cut heavily into the division's training time. Harding, commenting on the unit's training, said, "From February when I took over until November when we went into battle we were always getting ready to move, on the move, or getting settled after a move." What limited training they had received in Australia had been to prepare them to fight in Australia's outback to defend the country from Japanese attack. The 32nd was not trained, equipped or prepared to fight in the jungle nor taught Japanese tactics.
In early July, Major General Robert C. Richardson, Jr., Commanding General, US VII Corps, inspected the 32nd and found them in the "elementary stages" of training. When Eichelberger, commanding general I Corps, inspected the troops in early September, he felt the division was still unready for combat. Before he could make any changes in the training regiment, MacArthur insisted that a division be immediately moved from Australia to New Guinea. Eichelberger felt that the facilities at Camp Cable, where the 32nd Division was based, were inadequate and a further move was necessary. This pending move weighed heavily in his choice to deploy the 32nd Division to New Guinea. Blamey had been told that the 41st Division was better than the 32nd but whether this was true at the time the 32nd Division was deployed is unclear. The transfer to Port Moresby, less the 127th Infantry Regiment, was completed on 28 September. The 127th Infantry Regiment followed and joined the division in the battle area, with advanced elements arriving in early December, followed by the remainder of the regiment in the middle of the month.
Major J.H. Trevivian, assigned to the division as the Australian liaison officer, noted that, "the officers had no sense of responsibility for the welfare of the men entrusted to them," and that the US GIs "were treated like cattle". Conversely, no soldier appeared to have a good word for any officer.
Not only was the 32nd Division's training deficient but, after their arrival in New Guinea, the men quickly found that some of their weapons, and much of their clothing and equipment, were unsatisfactory and that they had to modify many details of their organisation. Their heavy-weight herringbone twill combat uniforms were the wrong colour. In the early part of the Kokoda Track campaign, Australian soldiers wore tan uniforms that stood out against the jungle. Learning from the experience, the Americans had two sets of their uniforms dyed a darker green at a dry cleaner in Brisbane. The dye was more like paint and would not allow the cloth to wick moisture away from the skin. This caused "hideous jungle ulcers". While they had been issued leather toilet seats they had no machetes, insect repellent, waterproof containers for medicine or personal effects, and it rained heavily every day. When they received quinine pills, water chlorination tablets, vitamin pills, or salt tablets, usually a few days supply, they began to disintegrate almost as soon as the men put them in their pockets or packs. Most of the division's heavy equipment had been left in Australia due to lack of transportation. Significantly, this included all of its field artillery and about two-thirds of its 81 mm mortars.
Problems with equipment were not isolated to the Americans. Anything susceptible to moisture was likely to fail. The reliability of radios was a particular problem. In the opening engagement, a large portion of grenades used by the Americans failed to detonate. These were Australian supplied Mills bombs. The failure was attributed to them having been wet.
The Americans had not been prepared physically for the rigors of war let alone the particularly harsh conditions they would face in New Guinea. The 2nd Battalion of the 126th Infantry Regiment was called on to trek from 14 October to 12 November, across the extremely rugged Kapa Kapa Trail. More than two-thirds of their men became casualties, sick with malaria and other tropical diseases. They did not encounter a single Japanese soldier. The remainder of the division was largely spared the hardships of an overland trek. Units were flown to strips inland at Fasarsi (I/126th) and on the north coast at Pongani and Wanigela. These had been developed after the departure of the II/126th.
The division went into the first day of battle with a brash cockiness. They were "joking and laughing, and sure of an easy victory." They ended the day, a badly shaken outfit. "Now they were dazed and taken aback by the mauling they had received at the hands of the Japanese." By late November, morale was low due to heavy casualties and disease. Self-inflicted wounds were increasingly responsible for American casualties. Milner writes that, "In almost two weeks of fighting they had failed to score even one noteworthy success."
Lieutenant General Edmund Herring, GOC New Guinea Force, arrived at the American front on 25 November and reported that the American infantry had "maintained a masterly inactivity at Buna". Of his inspection on 2 December, Eichelberger wrote: "The rear areas are strong and the front line is weak. Inspired leadership is lacking. ... Our patrols were dazed by the hazards of swamp and jungle; they were unwilling to undertake the patrolling which alone could safeguard their own interests." Colonel Rogers, then I Corps Intelligence Officer, in an inspection of the same time, reported:
Colonel Clarence A. Martin, who subsequently replaced Colonel Tracy Hale as commander of Warren Force, had accompanied Rogers. Martin later admitted, after some experience with the Japanese defences, that had attacks been continued on the day he conducted his inspection, they would not have been successful. Lieutenant Colonel Larr, of MacArther's staff, was sent to Buna after the first week. He reported back that: "The GIs had not been properly trained and were reluctant to close with and kill the enemy, had abandoned weapons and had fled into the swamp." Lex McAuley observed: "This all reflects poorly on the US Regular and National Guard officers at all levels in the 32nd Division." In contrast, there were outstanding performances by junior leaders such as Staff Sergeant Herman Bottcher and many acts of individual bravery.
While lack of training and the availability of time able to be committed to this are clearly responsible for the criticism levelled at the 32nd Division, McCarthy contrasts this with what had been achieved earlier in raising the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) in a similarly short time.
Australian militia In fairness, Australian militia soldiers of the 30th Brigade, which included the 36th, 49th and 55th/53rd Battalions, did not fare much better. These units had spent most of their time in New Guinea unloading boats or constructing roads rather than training or in combat. Many men received their first training in the use of Bren and Owen guns or throwing grenades on their arrival at the front, just a few days prior to being sent in to battle.Fred Cranston cited in . Private Kevin Barry recalled the experience: "Bearing in mind at this time I’d never held a rifle in my hand, never ever fired one – didn't know anything about it...Next minute we're over there [Sanananda] and we're lining up at 3:15 pm on the 7th of December, fixed bayonets..."Private Kevin Barry, 55th/53rd Battalion, cited in .
The 49th Battalion had received a "stiffening" of experienced AIF officers. Not so the 55th/53rd, which had amalgamated on 26 October. It lacked cohesion and training as a unit. These two units were cast into battle on 7 December. At the end of the day, 8 officers and 122 men of the 55th/53rd Battalion were listed as killed, wounded or missing. Significantly, in view of later developments within this battalion, the losses included 28 NCOs. Losses for the 49th Battalion were 6 officers and 93 men. Combined, these casualties represented nearly 60 percent of the attacking force.