Battle of Milne Bay

Battle of Milne Bay
Part of the Pacific War during World War II
Australian troops at Milne Bay in 1942, shortly after the battle.
Date 25 August 1942 (1942-08-25) – 7 September 1942 (1942-09-07) Location Milne Bay, Territory of Papua Result Allied Victory
Belligerents
Australia  United States	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Cyril Clowes	Gunichi Mikawa Masajiro Hayashi Minoru Yano
Units involved
7th Infantry Brigade 9th Battalion 25th Battalion 61st Battalion 14th Infantry Brigade 55th Battalion 18th Infantry Brigade 2/9th Battalion 2/10th Battalion 2/12th Battalion RAAF No. 75 Squadron RAAF No. 76 Squadron RAAF Support elements of: 101st Anti-Tank Regiment 2/3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment 2/5th Field Regiment 46th Engineers Battalion 101st Coast Artillery Battalion	Special Naval Landing Force 3rd Kure SNLF 5th Kure SNLF 5th Sasebo SNLF 5th Yokosuka SNLF Naval support from: 8th Fleet 18th Cruiser Division 29th Destroyer Division
Strength
8,824	1,943
Casualties and losses
Australia: 167 killed or missing 206 wounded United States: 14 killed	625 killed 311 wounded

7th Infantry Brigade

14th Infantry Brigade

18th Infantry Brigade

RAAF

Special Naval Landing Force

Naval support from:
8th Fleet

The Battle of Milne Bay (25 August – 7 September 1942), also known as Operation RE or the Battle of Rabi (ラビの戦い) by the Japanese, was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Elite Japanese naval troops, known as Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai (Special Naval Landing Forces), with two small tanks attacked the Allied airfields at Milne Bay that had been established on the eastern tip of New Guinea. Due to poor intelligence work, the Japanese miscalculated the size of the predominantly Australian garrison and, believing that the airfields were only defended by two or three companies, initially landed a force roughly equivalent in size to one battalion on 25 August 1942. The Allies, forewarned by intelligence from Ultra, had heavily reinforced the garrison.

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