World War 2 In Review

Japanese tanks bogged down at Milne Bay, New Guinea. Published 1948 From southern China and the Malay Peninsula stretches the vast co­lo­nial empire known as the Dutch East Indies, most of which fell to the Jap­a­nese in the first six months of the war. New Guinea, one of the largest islands in the world, sprawls over a vast area, the western half be­long­ing to the Dutch East Indies, and the east­ern part, known as Pa­pua, belonging to Australia. Pa­pua has a population estimated to be 1,900,000. The most important harbor on New Guinea is Port Moresby, which faces south and west and which the Japanese planned to take before they made an attempt to invade Aus­tralia. Many attempts were made to capture and occupy Port Moresby, but the enemy failed each time. On the left flank of the Allied forces as they moved northward up the Solomons-New Guinea ladder, Amer­i­can, Australian and New Zea­land troops under the over­all com­mand of General Mac­Arthur, went from one strategic po...