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The island of New Guinea was divided by two countries, the Netherlands (Dutch East Indies) and Australia (Territory of New Guinea).The island was brought into control by the Japanese during the New Guinea campaign of World War II when Japanese forces started an invasion of New Guinea, primarily the northern part of the island, [2] and took over the city of Rabaul.
The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Territory of New Guinea on 23 January and Territory of Papua on 21 July and overran western New Guinea (part of the Netherlands East Indies) beginning on 29 March.
Following the capture of Rabaul, the Japanese quickly repaired the damage to Rabaul's airfield, and Rabaul became the largest Japanese base in New Guinea and the linchpin to their defences in the region. The Australians tried to restrict Rabaul's development soon after its capture by a bombing counter-attack in March. [10]
The neutralisation of Rabaul was an Allied campaign to render useless the Imperial Japanese base at Rabaul in eastern New Britain, Papua New Guinea.Japanese forces landed on Rabaul on 23 January 1942, capturing it by February 1942, after which the harbor and town were transformed into a major Japanese naval and air installation.
In March 1942, the Japanese secured Salamaua and Lae and subsequently established major bases on the north coast of New Guinea, in the large town of Lae, and in Salamaua, a small administrative town and port 35 kilometres (22 mi) to the south.
The Japanese invaded and occupied the location in order to construct an airfield and establish a base to cover and support the advance of Japanese forces into the eastern New Guinea and Coral Sea areas. As the Japanese arrived, the tiny Australian garrison in the region retreated and did not oppose the invasion.
The Green Islands, consisting of several small coral atolls, are located between Bougainville and New Ireland, about 150 miles (240 km) from Rabaul, which was the location of the main Japanese base in the area. At the time of the battle, they were part of the Australian Territory of New Guinea and were populated by around 1,200 Melanesians. [5]
The airfield on Guadalcanal was first surveyed by Japanese engineers when they arrived in the area in early May, and was known as "Lunga Point", or "Runga Point" to the Japanese, and code named "RXI". The airfield would allow Japanese aircraft to patrol the southern Solomons, shipping lanes to Australia, and the eastern flank of New Guinea.