Historical Branch, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
1952
COVER PICTURE: Marines plunge through surf three feet deep as they storm Cape Gloucester beaches on D-Day.
| Chapter | Page | ||
| 1. | Background | 1 | |
| Geographical Notes | 1 | ||
| Historical Summary | 2 | ||
| Japanese Offensive Operations | 3 | ||
| Target: Rabaul | 5 | ||
| The Japanese on New Britain | 5 | ||
| 2. | Concept and High Level Planning | 11 | |
| The Southwest Pacific Area | 11 | ||
| Strategic Considerations | 12 | ||
| Tactical Planning | 15 | ||
| 3. | Final Preparations | 21 | |
| Training and Reequipment | 21 | ||
| Intelligence Planning | 23 | ||
| Naval and Air Participation | 29 | ||
| Logistics | 32 | ||
| Loading Out | 35 | ||
| 4. | The Enemy | 36 | |
| Strength and Organization | 36 | ||
| Terrain and Dispositions | 37 | ||
| Morale and Physical Condition | 44 | ||
| 5. | Cape Gloucester D-Day | 48 | |
| Thunder at Dawn | 48 | ||
| The "Damp Flat" | 51 | ||
| The Gunners Had Their Problems | 58 | ||
| Never a Dull Moment | 60 | ||
| The Monsoon | 62 | ||
| The Misconceptions of Matsuda | 63 | ||
| Summing Up | 66 | ||
| 6. | Seizure of the Airdrome | 67 | |
| Advance of the 1st Marines | 67 | ||
| Supply and Perimeter Problems | 70 | ||
| Enter the 5th Marines | 73 | ||
| The First Gets There First | 76 | ||
| Behind the Airdrome | 77 | ||
| GREEN Beach | 81 | ||
| "Happy New Year" | 87 | ||
| 7. | Drive to the Southeast | 89 | |
| The ADC Command Group | 89 | ||
| Colonel Katayama Guesses Wrong | 91 | ||
| Suicide Creek | 95 | ||
| Aogiri Ridge | 98 | ||
| The Final Objective | 105 | ||
| 8. | Flight and Pursuit | 113 | |
| The Vanishing Enemy | 113 | ||
| Operations in the High Ground | 114 | ||
| Eastern Area Patrols | 119 | ||
| The Katabasis of Jiro Sato | 127 | ||
| The Itni Patrol | 131 | ||
| Rooke Island | 137 | ||
| 9. | Flashback: Action At Arawe | 140 | |
| Concept of Mission | 140 | ||
| Arawe Z-Day | 141 | ||
| The First Twelve Days | 143 | ||
| Enter Tobuse and Komori | 145 | ||
| Komori Makes a Noble Resolve | 148 | ||
| Disillusionment of a "Hero" | 149 | ||
| 10. | Talasea | 152 | |
| Eastward to Talasea | 152 | ||
| D-Day at Beach RED | 155 | ||
| Bitokara, Talasea and Waru | 159 | ||
| The Navy at Willaumez | 164 | ||
| The Fifth Mops Up | 166 | ||
| 11. | Long Trail A'Winding | 172 | |
| Sato, Komori & Company | 172 | ||
| Contact at Kandoka | 176 | ||
| Further Patrolling by 1st Marines | 179 | ||
| Journey's End | 181 | ||
| 12. | Conclusion | 182 | |
| The Marines Depart | 182 | ||
| Summing Up | 182 | ||
| Epilogue | 186 | ||
| Appendices | |||
| I. | Bibliography | 188 | |
| II. | The Vegetation of New Britain and its Effect on Military Operations | 191 | |
| III. | Some Explanation in Regard to Place Names | 196 | |
| IV. | The Shore Party | 198 | |
| V. | The Cape Gloucester Air Force | 202 | |
| VI. | Chronology | 206 | |
| VII. | Task Organization | 208 | |
| VIII. | Command and Staff | 210 | |
| IX. | Index | 215 | |
Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Jerry Holden for the HyperWar Foundation
