Soputa is a village located inland from
Gona
Gona may refer to:
People
* Gona Budda Reddy
* Gona Ganna Reddy
* Marigona Dragusha, Kosovar model
Places
* Gona, Ethiopia
* Gona, Papua New Guinea
* Gona Barracks
Gona Barracks is a heritage-listed barracks at 3, 7,12, 25 & 26 Gona Parade, ...
,
Buna and
Sanananda in
Oro province,
Papua New Guinea. The village is located at the crossroads of the
Kokoda
Kokoda is a station town in the Oro Province of Papua New Guinea. It is famous as the northern end of the Kokoda Track, site of the eponymous Kokoda Track campaign of World War II. In that campaign, it had strategic significance because it had the ...
-Sananada Road and Buna-Kokoda Road. Trails lead to Buna and Sananada.
History
On 5 January 1943, Australian infantry and armour reached Soputa with the
US Army's
32nd Division and
41st Division. A drop zone and staging area for Australian troops were located at this area during the battle of Gona.
The
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n 2/4th Field Ambulance set up a Main Dressing Station (MDS) at Soputa, inland from the fighting at Gona and Sanananda in a rubber plantation. The MDS was attacked by Japanese aircraft inflicting high casualties including 24 killed.
An Australian and United States military cemetery was located at Soputa. At the end of the war, the bodies were exhumed and reinterred elsewhere.
References
Pacific War Wrecks
Populated places in Oro Province
{{OroProvince-geo-stub