The
Battle of Bita Paka was fought at Bitapaka, south of Kabakaul, on the island of
New BritainNew Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier Strait, and from New Ireland by the St. George's Channel...
, on 11 September 1914 and was as part of the occupation of
German New GuineaGerman New Guinea was a former German protectorate from 1884 to 1914, consisting of the northeastern part of New Guinea and several nearby island groups. German New Guinea is now entirely part of Papua New Guinea....
by the
Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary ForceThe Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force was a small volunteer force of approximately 2,000 men, raised in Australia shortly after the outbreak of the First World War to seize and destroy German wireless stations in German New Guinea in the south-west Pacific...
during the First World War. As with the New Zealand operation against
German SamoaThe Occupation of Samoa was the takeover and subsequent administration of the Pacific colony of German Samoa in August 1914 by an expeditionary force from New Zealand called the Samoa Expeditionary Force and New Zealand's first action in World War I...
, the target was the strategically important wireless station, being one of several used by the German East Asiatic Squadron under the command of
Vice AdmiralVice Admiral is a naval rank equivalent to Lieutenant General in seniority. A Vice Admiral is typically senior to a Rear Admiral and junior to an Admiral. In many navies, Vice Admiral is a three star rank.-Rank Insignia:...
Count von SpeeVice Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee was a German admiral. Although he was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the counts von Spee belonged to the prominent families of the Rhenish nobility. He joined the Kaiserliche Marine in 1878. In 1887–88 he commanded the Kamerun ports, in German West Africa...
. The battle was Australia's first major military engagement of the war and the only significant action of the campaign. After landing the Australians were resisted by a mixed force of German reservists and Melanesian native police, who forced them to fight their way to the objective. Both the Germans and Australians suffered a number of casualties, while the wireless station was subsequently captured by the Australians following a day of fighting. The remaining German forces on New Britain subsequently fled to
TomaThe Siege of Toma was a bloodless action fought during the First World War on the island of New Britain between 14–17 September 1914 as part of the occupation of German New Guinea by the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force...
and after a brief
siegeA siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit"....
the garrison capitulated, ending the resistance to the Australian occupation of the island.
Prelude
Following a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
request on 6 August 1914, the Australian government hurriedly prepared an expeditionary force to destroy the German wireless stations at
YapYap, also known as Wa'ab for locals, is an island in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It is a state of the Federated States of Micronesia. Yap's indigenous cultures and traditions are still strong compared to other neighboring islands. The "island" of Yap actually consists of four...
in the
Caroline IslandsThe Caroline Islands form a large archipelago of widely scattered islands in the western Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
,
NauruNauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island nation in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbor is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 km to the east...
and at
RabaulRabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of feet into the air. It caused...
in New Britain. Elements of the Australian Squadron had entered Blanche Bay on 12 August, whilst several destroyers had conducted a reconnaissance of Simpson Harbour, and landing parties had been put ashore to demolish the telephones in the post offices in Rabaul and at the German gubernatorial capital of Herbertshöhe on Neu-Pommern to the south-east. Enquiries were also made about the location of the radio station, although no information was forthcoming. After threaterning to bombard the nearby settlements if the radio station continued to transmit, the Australian warships withdrewn.
The AN&MEF comprised one
battalionA battalion is a military unit of around 1000-1500 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel...
of
infantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of the Combat Arms they are the backbone of armies...
of 1,000 men hurriedly enlisted in
SydneySydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...
, plus 500 naval reservists and ex-sailors who would serve as infantry. Another battalion of militia from the
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
based Kennedy Regiment—which had been dispatched to garrison Thursday Island—also contributed 500 volunteers. Under the command of Colonel
William HolmesMajor General William Holmes CMG, DSO, VD was an Australian Army Major General in World War I. He was mortally wounded by a German shellburst while surveying the ground won at the Battle of Messines....
, the force departed Sydney aboard
HMAS BerrimaHMAS Berrima was an Armed Merchant Cruiser which served in the Royal Australian Navy during World War I.The P&O passenger liner SS Berrima was requisitioned for use by the Navy, refitted and armed at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard and commissioned into the RAN as the auxiliary cruiser HMAS...
and halted at
Palm IslandPalm Island, also known as Great Palm Island, or by the Aboriginal name Bwgcolman, is a tropical island with a resident community of about 4,000 people. The settlement is named variously Palm Island, the Mission, Palm Island Settlement or Palm Community...
off
TownsvilleTownsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...
until a New Zealand force, escorted by the
battlecruiserBattlecruisers were large warships in the first half of the 20th century that were first introduced by the Royal Navy. The battlecruiser was developed as the successor to the armoured cruisers, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleships...
HMAS AustraliaHMAS Australia was one of three Indefatigable class battlecruisers built for the defence of the British Empire. Launched in 1911, Australia was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy as flagship in 1913, and is the only capital ship to serve in the RAN.Australia served in both the Pacific and...
, cruiser
HMAS MelbourneHMAS Melbourne was a Town class light cruiser laid down by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead in England on 4 April 1911, launched on 30 May 1912 by Mrs. F. Braund, daughter of Mr. Barry Smith of Adelaide, and commissioned on 18 January 1913....
and the French cruiser
Montcalm,
occupied SamoaThe Occupation of Samoa was the takeover and subsequent administration of the Pacific colony of German Samoa in August 1914 by an expeditionary force from New Zealand called the Samoa Expeditionary Force and New Zealand's first action in World War I...
on 30 August. The AN&MEF then moved to
Port Moresby||-||-||-||}Port Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, population 255,000 , is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . The city is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea.The area on which the city was founded has been inhabited by...
where it met the Queensland contingent aboard the transport HMAHS
Kanowna. The force then sailed for German New Guinea on 7 September, however the
Kanowna was left behind when her stokers refused to work. The milita were also left in Port Moresby as Holmes felt that it was not trained or equipped well enough to be committed to the fighting that was expected.
German New Guinea was only lightly defended, and even after all available reservists had reported for duty and the native police were armed, total German strength was only 61 German
officersAn officer is a member of an armed force who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
and non-commissioned officers, and about 240 Melanesian native soldiers. Most of the Germans were reservists. The radio station itself at Bitapaka was occupied by 8 Germans and 60 Melanesians, under the command of Hauptmann Wuchert. The force was tasked with defending against any hostile landing at a point near the coast, and to withdraw halfway between Toma and Bitapaka to
ToberaTobera is situated near Keravat, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. Tobera was used as an airstrip during World War II. Relics remain on the airstrip showing it was an airstrip....
if required, but only after demolishing the radio station. Another company of 10 Germans and 140 Melanesians was stationed at Herbertshöhe under Leutnant Mayer. Section outposts in various locations had also been established and the coast from St George’s Channel to Rabaul was continuously monitored. Indeed the reconnaissance of the Australian Squadron on 12 August had been quickly detected and German forces were reacted towards the coast in preparation for any landing.
Battle
Off the eastern tip of New Guinea, the
Berrima rendezvoused with
Australia and the light cruiser
HMAS SydneyHMAS Sydney was a Chatham class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy. Her crew made history in 1914, during World War I, when Sydney took part in the RAN's first ship against ship battle, the Battle of Cocos.-Construction:Sydney was laid down by the London and Glasgow Engineering Company at...
plus a number of destroyers, whilst
Melbourne was detached to destroy the wireless station on
NauruNauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island nation in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbor is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 km to the east...
. The task force reached Rabaul on 11 September, where they found the port to be free of German forces.
Sydney and the destroyer HMAS
Warrego landed small parties of naval reservists at the settlements of Kabakaul and at Herbertshöhe. These parties were reinforced firstly by sailors from
Warrego and later by infantry from
Berrima. Two parties were subsequently landed, one under Sub-Lieutenant C. Webber and the other commanded by Lieutenant-Commander J.F. Finlayson. In accordance with German plans, the Australians encountered no opposition at Herbertshöhe, with the German company stationed there having withdrawn to Takubar— between Herbertshöhe and Kabakaul—in the early morning. At 0700 the Union Jack was raised over the settlement.
The Australians believed that there were probably two radio stations: one under construction directly inland from Herbertshöhe and the other directly inland from Kabakaul, at Bitapaka. Finlayson remained at Herbertshöhe in order to guard the stores being landed from
Sydney, whilst Webber’s party began an advance from Herbertshöhe inland along the Toma road. Another party under the command of Lieutenant Rowland Bowen would advance towards Bitapaka, to the south. The party, consisting of 2 officers and 25 naval reservists was subsequently landed at Kabakaul. Also included were about fifteen other personnel to provide medical support and maintain communications.
The Australians subsequently began the advance inland along the fringe of the dense jungle-edged road to the radio station, attempting to avoid the road wherever possible. By 0900 they had penetrated about and with the scrub becoming denser the scouts pushed away from the road to work their way around the obstacle. In so doing they suddenly surprised a group of about twenty Melanesian soldiers led by three Germans, who were apparently laying an ambush on the road for the advancing Australians. They opened fire, wounding one of the Germans in the hand and capturing him, whilst the Melanesian soldiers scattered. By means of a ruse another two Germans were also captured, including Wuchert and Leutnant Meyer. Their capture significantly deprived the defenders of a number of important commanders, whilst also captured were a number of important maps.
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Realising that his advance was going to be contested by the Germans, Bowen requested reinforcements. Consequently, as an interim measure, fifty-nine men from
Warrego and
Yarra were landed under Lieutenant G.A. Hill, until further reinforcements of infantry could arrive from the
Berrima, which was still steaming towards Kabakaul from Karavia Bay. Meanwhile Bowen pushed on and the Australians were again fired upon by the well concealed Germans and their Melanesian troops, as well as from snipers in the treetops. By 0930 the situation was becoming grave, and in the fighting Able Seaman Billy Williams became the first Australian fatality of the war. Also included among the casualties was the medical officer, who died of his wounds alongside Williams in the afternoon after being evacuated to the
Berrima.
The reinforcements landed earlier from the destroyers reached Bowen by 1000 however, and the situation was stabilised. The advance was subsequently resumed, however the Australians had not gone more than when they encountered a strongly held German trench dug across the road. Working together Hill and Bowen attempted to outflank the Germans, however soon after Bowen was shot and badly wounded by a sniper, leaving Hill in command. Reinforcements were subsequently landed by
Berrima including a half battalion under the overall command of Lieutenant Commander Charles Elwell. Also landed was the machine-gun section and a medical detachment, as well as the battalion commander, Commander J.A.H. Beresford, and the intelligence officer.
Ellwell advanced inland rapidly and was soon engaged also, losing one killed and two wounded in a brief skirmish. During the advance the Australian’s had also uncovered and defused a large command wire detonated
pipe mineA land mine is a target triggered explosive weapon. Their non-explosive predecessors have been used on the battlefield since ancient times. Landmines were designed to be used to deter, channel, delay and kill an enemy. They have been used in various formats, for centuries and have featured in all...
buried under the narrow track by the Germans. By 1300 however, Hill’s position was reached and the Australians—now under Elwell’s overall command—launched another flanking attack on the main trench blocking the road. Despite suffering heavy casualties in the process the Australians pressed their attack, forcing the defenders to surrender after charging the trench with fixed bayonets. A German officer and 20 Melanesians were subsequently captured. Four Australians were killed, including Elwell who died leading the charge with his sword drawn. Another five men were wounded.
Now under the command of Lieutenant Hill, and accompanied by two German prisoners as interpreters, the Australians proceed down the road under a flag of truce. The garrisons of two more trenches were persuaded to surrender in this manner, but not before another skirmish during with the Germans counter-attacked, wounding three more Australians including one fatally; in response one of the German interpreters was killed by the Australians as were several Melanesians. The advance continued and another group of defenders was encountered and subsequently disarmed by nightfall. By 1900 the radio station was reached and was found to have been abandoned; the mast dismantled, but its instruments and machinery intact. The remaining Germans had abandoned the defences and withdrawn.
Aftermath
After their defeat at Bitapaka the remaining German forces and the civil administration withdrew inland to Toma, believing they would have time to recuperate before the Australians arrived. The German governor—Eduard Haber—continued to hold out for several days hoping that the German East Asia Squadron would arrive to relieve them. Unbeknown to the Germans however, an Australian advanced party consisting of half a battalion of 200 men and a 12 pounder naval field-gun had followed them, advancing along the Toma road. The Australians surrounded the town and proceeded to bombard it, whilst HMAS
Encounter also arrived on the scene and fired several shells at a ridge nearby. This show of firepower scattered the native police and was sufficient to start negotiations however, and Toma was occupied by the Australians. Haber visited Holmes in Herbertshöhe on 15 September, signing terms two days later. All military resistance subsequently ceased and the remaining 40 German soldiers and 110 natives surrendered on 21 September, leaving no effective opposition to the Australian occupation of the territory.
[A German officer—Captain Hermann Detzner]Hermann Philipp Detzner was an officer in the German colonial security force in Kamerun and German New Guinea, as well as a surveyor, an engineer, an adventurer, and a writer....
—and about 20 native police managed evaded capture in the interior of New Guinea for the entire war. Unbeknownst to Detzner, the war had started while he was still on a surveying expedition to map the border with Australian-held Papua. He later claimed to have penetrated the interior of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland (the German portion of New Guinea) in his 1920 book, "Vier Jahre unter Kannibalen" ("Four Years among Cannibals"). These claims were disputed by various German missionaries however, and Detzner recanted most of his claims in 1932. See Meade 2005.
The German colony at
MadangMadang is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century....
on
Kaiser-WilhelmslandKaiser-Wilhelmsland was part of the German New Guinea, South Pacific protectorate of the German Empire. Named in honor of Wilhelm II, who was the German Emperor and King of Prussia, it included the north-eastern part of the present day Papua New Guinea. From 1884 until 1918, the territory was a...
(the New Guinea mainland) was later occupied on 24 September, although the German cruiser
SMS CormoranSMS Cormoran or SMS Cormoran II was built at Danzig, Germany in 1909 for the Russian merchant fleet and named SS Ryaezan...
—which was lurking nearby—escaped undetected. Over the next two months the remaining outposts were also occupied. Following the capture of German possessions in the region, the AN&MEF provided occupation forces for the duration of the war. A military government was set up by Holmes and continued until 1921 when Australian received a mandate from the
League of NationsThe League of Nations was an inter-governmental organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members...
to govern the territory. Australian administration lasted until 1975 when
Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
gained its independence.
Although successful the operation on New Britain was not well managed, and the Australians had been effectively delayed by a half-trained native force. Regardless they had prevailed not least of all because of their unexpected ability to fight in close terrain, whilst their outflanking of the German positions had unnerved their opponents. During the fighting at Bitapaka seven Australians were killed and five wounded, whilst casualties among the defenders were one German and about 30 Melanesians killed, and one German and ten Melanesians wounded. Later it was alleged by the Germans that the heavy losses among the Melanesian troops was the result of the Australians bayoneting all those they had captured. Although the casualties suffered by the Australians were light in the context of later operations, they were heavy given the modest gain and were further compounded by the disappearance of the submarine
AE1HMAS AE1 was an E class submarine of the Royal Australian Navy . She was the first submarine to serve in the RAN, and was lost at sea with all hands near East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, on 14 September 1914, after less than seven months in service.The wreck of the submarine has never been...
during a patrol off Rabaul on 14 September, with all 35 men aboard.