New GuineaTF RECKLESS begins a pincers operation against the Hollandia region of Dutch New Guinea with landings at Tanahmerah and Humboldt Bays. Units of the 24th Division quickly secure the beachhead at Tanahmerah Bay, where the 19th Infantry and 21st Infantry land on the north side at Beach Red 2 while the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry, goes ashore on Red 1, in Dépapré Bay. Red 2, from which the principal effort was to have been made, is found to be extremely narrow, backed by swamp, and lacking a road to connect it with Red 1. The 21st Infantry begin movement, Company I advancing overland, from Red 2 to Red 1, leaving the 19th Infantry to hold Red 2. From Red 1, the 1st Battalion of the 21st Infantry starts along a trail that leads to Lake Sentani and the airfields. After reaching Jangkena, about 8 miles inland, they pull back to Kantome for the night. Enemy efforts to cut the trail during the night are futile. Meanwhile, the 41st Division lands at Humboldt Bay. The 162nd Infantry goes ashore on the northern sandspit between Humboldt and Jautefa Bays on Beaches White 1 and 2, the former on the north. From White 1, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions push inland to the Hollandia-Pim track and northward to a ridge overlooking Hollandia. A reinforced rifle platoon of Company A, 162nd Infantry, lands on White 2 and moves south to Cape Pie, securing the northern spit for the landing of Companies K and L of the 186th Infantry. Because of the mangrove swamp there, the 186th Infantry force proceeds by water to the sandspits to Beach White 4, on the coast of Jautefa Bay north of Pim. They take Leimok Hill, Pim, and Suikerbrood Hill. Company I, 186th Infantry, lands on the southern sandspit (Beach White 3), secures Cape Tjeweri at the northern tip and moves southeastward toward Hollekang. TF PERSECUTION, based on the 163rd RCT, 41st Division, begins a subsidiary operation to gain a base at Aitape, east of Hollandia. Landing at Wapil, the force easily secures a beachhead, which includes the Tadji airfields, sets up outposts and the eastern flank of the Nigia River and extends the western flank to Pro Mission, beyond Waitanan Creek. Base development begins at once. |