The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 9, Number 3, Winter 2020 | Page 179

A Division At War — Part I
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor started the Pacific War . General Douglas MacArthur ’ s forced escape from the Philippines in April 1942 and subsequent vow of “ I shall return ” started the war in the SWPA and the World War II résumé of the 32nd Infantry Division .
Before returning to the Philippines , MacArthur first had to protect his new base of operations , Australia . Immediately to the north of Australia lies the world ’ s second largest island , New Guinea . To protect Australia , New Guinea could not become a major Japanese base . To retake the Philippines , it must become a major US base . This early in the war , the former was the main concern . In May 1942 , the Japanese also recognized this and planned a major operation to take Port Moresby , a port on New Guinea ’ s southern coast . US code breakers penetrated the Japanese code and knew of the exact date and location of the operation . The famous naval battle of the Coral Sea happened on 4 May and resulted in an American strategic victory . The Japanese invasion force turned for home .
Undeterred , the Japanese managed to land a force on New Guinea ’ s northern coast , approximately two thousand men , that summer at Gona . Port Moresby was only 100 miles away . It may as well have been 1,000 . Between Gona and Port Moresby stood the Owen Stanley Mountains , unmapped and impenetrable jungle , a small Australian ground force , and the US Fifth Air Force , commanded by General George Kenney . All these obstacles convinced Australian and US intelligence the Japanese could never reach Port Moresby . They were wrong . The small Australian force gradually gave ground , lengthening the Japanese supply lines to the breaking point . The jungle with its constant heat , hunger , thirst , and disease , and by mid-September , Kenney ’ s planes whittled down Japanese strength . Moving back towards Gona in November , they eventually occupied defensive positions there and at nearby Buna . US and Australian intelligence believed that what was left of the Japanese was a force of skeletons . Buna had two airstrips , and Australia could be attacked from them . General MacArthur saw this as the perfect opportunity to send in US ground forces . He only had two divisions to choose from , the 32nd and 41st Infantry Divisions , both former National Guard units and completely unprepared to fight a war in the jungle . Buna became the 32nd Infantry Division ’ s baptism of fire . 1
The geography of the Buna battlefield was the last place an army would want to fight a battle :
The principal swamp in the Buna area lies between Entrance Creek and Simemi Creek .... It is absolutely impenetrable , a fact of vital importance in the campaign . Between the closely spaced trees , which are 25 to 100 feet high , is a tangle of roots , creepers , and underbrush . Much of the other ground in the area , though not actually swamps , is thoroughly waterlogged . Much of the drier land is covered with a thick growth of kunai grass or plantations of coconut palms . This
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