Koiari Raid
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The Raid on Koiari was a battle that occurred between 28 and 29 November 1943 in the Pacific theater of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
between American and
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese forces. Part of the Bougainville campaign, the raid involved a landing by a
battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...
-sized force of
United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...
to harass
Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
troops on
Bougainville Island Bougainville Island (; Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil'') is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. Its land area is . The highest point is Mount Balbi, on the main island, at . The much smaller Buk ...
. The raid was a failure for the Americans as they were attacked by a larger-than-expected Japanese force and as a result the Marines were withdrawn from the beachhead without having achieved any of their objectives.


Background

On 1 November 1943, US forces had landed around Cape Torokina as part of the Allied advance north through the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
towards the Japanese strong hold around
Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...
on
New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...
, as part of
Operation Cartwheel Operation Cartwheel (1943 – 1944) was a major military operation undertaken by the Allies in the Pacific theatre of World War II. The ultimate goal of Cartwheel was to neutralize the major Japanese base at Rabaul. The operation was di ...
. After establishing a perimeter around the
beachhead A beachhead is a temporary line created when a military unit reaches a landing beach by sea and begins to defend the area as other reinforcements arrive. Once a large enough unit is assembled, the invading force can begin advancing inland. Th ...
, the US commander, Major General Roy Geiger, decided to expand the perimeter to include a ridge of hills away and ordered an eastward advance towards the Torokina River, aimed at establishing a series of defense lines. Following the Battle of Piva Forks, which had secured defense line "Easy", further plans were formulated. Soldiers from the 37th Infantry Division would advance to defense line "How", while the 3rd Marine Division was to secure inland defense line codenamed "Fox". The Marines' advance was to proceed on 26 November. In order to protect the general advance from any surprise Japanese attack on the right flank, and to cut off Japanese reinforcements, Geiger planned a raid at Koiari ("Napoi" in Japanese sources),Tanaka 1980, p. 257. down the coast from Cape Torokina, to detect enemy troop movements, destroy enemy supply dumps and disrupt their
line of communications A line of communication (or communications) is the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Therefore, a secure and open line of communicat ...
. The raiders were to harass enemy units as far inland as the East–West trail but avoid any decisive engagement with major Japanese forces.Shaw, et al. 1963, pp. 270–272. The 1st Parachute Battalion, 1st Marine Parachute Regiment, under the command of Major Richard Fagan, which had just arrived from
Vella Lavella Vella Lavella is an island in the Western Province (Solomon Islands), Western Province of Solomon Islands. It lies to the west of New Georgia, but is considered one of the New Georgia Islands, New Georgia Group. To its west are the Treasury Isla ...
, was assigned to be the main force, with 'M' Company of the 3rd Marine Raider Battalion and a forward observer team from the 12th Marine Regiment attached.Gailey 1991, p.113. However, the raid was delayed until the 29 November. Covering fire for the landing, which had been planned to be provided by destroyers, was not available. A preliminary reconnaissance landing was undertaken in darkness on 27 November and reported no enemy activity in the area. A boat reconnoitered the beach landing site prior to the landing on 28 November and also reported no enemy activity. The Japanese troops defending the area were from Lieutenant General Masatane Kanda's 6th Division, with the infantry forming a detachment known as the Iwasa Detachment under the command of Major General Shun Iwasa.


Raid

The 1st Parachute Battalion was transported by
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
LCM and LCVP landing craft, landing ashore at Koiari at 04:00 on 29 November. The landing occurred adjacent to a Japanese supply dump. The Marines overran the supply dump and hastily dug in inland, amidst heavy mortar, machine gun and rifle fire from defending Japanese. Meanwhile, 'M' Company of the 3rd Marine Raider Battalion and HQ Company were landed further south.Gailey 1991, p.114. In order to repel the landing, troops from the Japanese 6th Transport Regiment and elements of the 23rd Infantry Regiment launched infantry charges which caused significant casualties amongst the US forces. Close-in support fire was provided by 155 mm guns of the 3rd Defense Battalion firing from their gun lines around Cape Torokina under the control of the forward observation teams. A captured 37 mm field gun was also used against the Japanese. Experiencing heavier-than-expected resistance, it became clear to the US commanders that the raiders were outnumbered. With an estimated 1,200 Japanese in the immediate vicinity, the US raiding force faced annihilation. The second landing party that had been landed further south met up with the main party at 09:30, having suffered 13 casualties while moving north. Realizing the futility of the situation and believing that he no longer possessed freedom of action having been decisively engaged, Fagan sent a request over the radio for evacuation. Geiger concurred and ordered the Marines to be withdrawn, although a communications failure resulted in this message not getting through to Fagan. Two attempts were made to extract them by landing craft, although these failed because of heavy Japanese artillery fire. With their backs to the sea and ammunition running low amongst the troops on the beach, an LCI gunboat and the destroyers , , and , which had been ordered back from convoy escort duties, closed in to the beach at 18:00, and—in concert with shore based artillery and air support—provided a barrage that allowed rescue craft to remove the raiding group from the beach; the last boat left the area at 20:40 under the cover of darkness.


Aftermath

None of the objectives of the raid were achieved, and the raid was a failure with 15 killed or died of wounds, 99 wounded and 7 missing. It was estimated that the Japanese had lost between 145 and 291 men. Again the lack of preliminary naval and artillery bombardment proved to be important in the outcome of the engagement. In the aftermath of the raid, US plans to expand the perimeter around Torokina went ahead with units of the 3rd Marine Division advancing towards the Torokina River throughout early December, as part of a plan to occupy the high ground west of the river. This advance would see the Marines take part in a series of engagements around Hellzapoppin Ridge and Hill 600A in mid-December. In December, US Army troops from Major General Oscar Griswold's XIV Corps had arrived to relieve the Marines around the perimeter. After this, there were no major actions around the US perimeter until March 1944, when the Japanese launched a strong counterattack that was turned back with heavy casualties. Following the defeat of the Japanese counterattack, a lull period followed until late 1944 when Australian forces arrived to relieve the American troops who were transferred to the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. The Australians subsequently undertook a series of advances across the island, which saw them clear the central sector and push north towards the Bonis Peninsula and south towards Buin.Keogh 1965, pp. 414–421


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koiari Raid Conflicts in 1943 1943 in Papua New Guinea Pacific Ocean theater of World War II South West Pacific theatre of World War II Battles of World War II involving Japan Battles of World War II involving the United States United States Marine Corps in World War II Autonomous Region of Bougainville Battles and operations of World War II involving Papua New Guinea November 1943 in Oceania