Introduction
Speaking as an avid wargamer, I've always felt that playing in a campaign game is a rewarding experience for those people lucky enough to participate. While a thrown together game may provide an enjoyable afternoons entertainment, the value of a game increases if I can put the event into the context of some greater purpose.
Surely, you agree it's more satisfying to say our regiment was attacked for 10 hours straight and suffered heavy casualties but we kept the road open, than our side eliminated 14 infantry stands and 8 Mk IVs that tried to break through our lines.
Given the value of a campaign, its important to say that the hardest part is limiting the size of the game. Many European campaigns have large numbers of troops, and cover a wide area - both drawbacks to creating a manageable miniatures campaign. However, the battles at Milne Bay provide a perfect historical vehicle for a miniatures campaign. The size, scope and duration of the operation lend themselves to creating an exciting, diverse campaign, with a minimum of space and number of troops.
BACKGROUND
The battle of Milne Bay was a pivotal battle in the 1942 New Guinea campaign. The Japanese, set on pushing the frontier of their empire ever closer to Australia, were attempting to consolidate the rapid gains of the first half of 1942. The Allies, particularly the Australians and the United States, were reaching the point were they could take the offensive against Japan. The later half of 1942 marked a rough equilibrium between the two sides either side might win the battle, even if the tide of the war was shifting toward the Allies. The Milne Bay campaign is memorable for two reasons. First, it marked the halt of the Japanese advance in New Guinea and second, Milne Bay was the second (after the first invasion of Wake Island) successful defeat of a Japanese amphibious assault. Milne Bay, along with Guadalcanal, showed the Allies that the Japanese soldier could be defeated.
The Milne Bay campaign is an excellent choice for a miniatures campaign for several reasons. First, as noted above, Milne Bay occurs at a time of rough equilibrium between the two sides in terms of quality and material, and is a key objective of high strategic value to both sides. Second, the campaign integrates all three realms of warfare land, air and sea and shows the interactions, capabilities and limitations faced by the combatants. Third, the battles at Milne Bay were relatively small and of a limited duration, easing the burden on both the referee and players. Further, the environment provides a sample of what a tropical campaign was like. Lastly, Milne Bay provides the opportunity to employ a diverse mix of troop types, ranging from Australian militia and US engineers to Japanese assault troops.
GEOGRAPHY
Milne Bay, at the southeastern tip of Papua New Guinea, is roughly half way between Australia and the Japanese base at Rabaul. Milne Bay resembles a deep cleft in the land, running about 26 miles N- NW. Before the war Milne Bay's most notable features were the extensive coconut plantations, owned by Levers Brothers, that dominated the settlement at the head of the bay, and the lack of ground that could be called clear. The settlement lies on a wide alluvial plain called the Frying pan by the Australians. The arable land bordering the bay to north and south lies on a narrow confined coastal plain flanked by the bay and rapidly rising mountains.
The dominant terrain types were the coconut plantations and dense tropical rain forest. The road net was very poor, consisting of rough dirt roads connecting the small villages fringing the plantation. Development was centered around the landing jetty, a primitive causeway used to load the coconut crop, and now barely adequate for the needs of the military. By August of 1942, the Allies had completed the first airfield (GiliGili) and were working on two more (Nos. 2 and 3)
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
Milne Bay's location provided whoever occupied it with a base to project power into the Coral Sea and Bismark Sea. The battle of the Coral Sea in May of 1942 showed the benefits of such a base. An airbase there could provide better reconnaissance of the region and would allow aircraft to strike earlier at naval units operating in the area. The Allies were not slow to realize Milne Bay's potential and began developing a series of airfields in the area.
Control of New Guinea was a Japanese objective in establishing the outer bastion of their defensive barrier. The Japanese invaded northern New Guinea, capturing Lae-Salamaua and the Buna- Gona regions. An attempted amphibious invasion of Port Moresby was aborted during the battle of the Coral Sea in May. The Japanese then attempted to capture Port Moresby by an overland assault across the Owen Stanley Mountains, again being stopped by the Allies.
During this period, the basing facilities at Milne Bay were developed into an operational airstrip, with two additional fields under construction. In July a regular infantry brigade (the 18th Australian Infantry, veterans of the North African campaign), plus supporting assets, was ordered to the Milne Bay region to join the 7th Australian Infantry Brigade, Citizen Military Forces, in providing a garrison for the valuable airfield complex.
By 21 August, 1942 these units had arrived at Milne Bay and were put to use patrolling the region, typically in platoon to company sized units. The biggest problem the Allied forces faced was the requirement to patrol a large coastline in poorly developed tropical rain forest with no landing craft, searchlights or coastal guns.
Providentially, the Australian troops arrived just in time. In mid-August, the Japanese discovered the Allied build up at Milne Bay. Though Milne Bay was scheduled for eventual occupation, the troops tasked for the mission were still at Davao, in the Philippines. The Imperial Japanese Navy's 8th Fleet chose to attack at once using all available naval troops.
Battle of Milne Bay, New Guinea: August 27-28, 1942 An Introductory Campaign for Command Decision, 2nd Edition
Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #62
To Courier List of Issues
To MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1993 by The Courier Publishing Company.
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com