Sattelberg, also spelt ''Satelberg'' ("Saddle Mountain"), is a village on the

Huon Peninsula Huon Peninsula is a large rugged peninsula on the island of New Guinea in Morobe Province, eastern Papua New Guinea. It is named after French explorer Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec. The peninsula is dominated by the steep Saruwaged and Finiste ...

, in Morobe Province,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. The village is set on a peak about 900 metres (3,000 ft) above sea level,Coulthard-Clark 1998, p. 244. and dominates the area, with

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U ...

below. A

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

mission was founded by

Johann Flierl Johann Flierl (16 April 1858 – 30 September 1947) was a pioneer Lutheran missionary in New Guinea. He established mission schools and organised the construction of roads and communication between otherwise remote interior locations. Under his l ...

in 1892, when the area was part of

German New Guinea German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...

. As part of the settlement of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

in 1919, responsibility for administering the territory was passed to Australia. In 1921, the Australian government gave permission for the German missionaries to remain, but placed the Lutheran Church of Australia in control of the mission. In the early 1930s, German influence was re-established as the Lutheran Church of Australia relinquished its control of the mission. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Japanese occupied the surrounding area in early 1942. Following the Australian landing at Finschhafen in October 1943, the bulk of the Japanese garrison at Finschhafen retreated to Sattelberg. As part of the Australian 9th Division's advance towards

Sio Sio may refer to: Places * Sió, an artificial channel in Hungary * Siø, a small Danish island in the South Funen Archipelago * Sio, Burkina Faso, a village in Burkina Faso * Sio, Mali, a commune in Mali * Sio, Papua New Guinea, a town in ...

, they captured the mission at Sattelberg in November in what has become known as the Battle of Sattelberg.

Notes

References

* * * Populated places in Morobe Province {{MorobeProvince-geo-stub