Battle of Mission Ridge – Brigade Hill

Part of the Second World War, Pacific War

Mission Hill and Efogi

Date	6–9 September 1942
Location	Territory of Papua 9°09′26.8″S 147°39′44.9″E / 9.157444°S 147.662472°E / -9.157444; 147.662472
Result	Allied withdrawal

Belligerents

Australia

Japan

Commanders and leaders

Sydney Rowell
Arnold Potts

Tomitaro Horii
Masao Kusunose

Units involved

Maroubra Force

South Seas Detachment

144th Infantry Regiment

Strength

1,400

1,570

Casualties and losses

87 killed and 77 wounded

60 killed and 165 wounded

Maroubra Force

South Seas Detachment

The Battle of Mission Ridge – Brigade Hill (also known as the Battle of Efogi) took place between 6 and 9 September 1942, during the Kokoda Track campaign of the Second World War. Involving forces from Australia, the United States, and Japan, the fighting centred on a high feature south of the village of Efogi on the Kokoda Track.

The battle was part of a series of battles fought along the track as the Japanese South Seas Detachment under Major General Tomitaro Horii advanced south towards Port Moresby, coming after the Australians had fought a successful delaying action at Isurava in late August 1942. During the battle two battalions of Japanese infantry attacked the Australian positions Mission Ridge, with one battalion succeeding in carrying out a flanking move that cut the three Australian battalions off from their headquarters, ultimately forcing them to break track and withdraw further south after launching several unsuccessful, and costly, counter-attacks. A week later, another battle was fought around Ioribaiwa where the Japanese were finally fought to a standstill allowing the Australians to steady their line around Imita Ridge before launching a counter offensive.

In early 1942, the Japanese commenced operations to capture Port Moresby with the intention of isolating Australia from its US allies. Initially, their plans centred upon launching a seaborne invasion, however, defeat in the Battle of the Coral Sea forced the Japanese high command to re-evaluate and a plan to secure the strategic port via a landing by ground troops on the northern coast, followed by an advance on foot over the Owen Stanley Ranges was formulated. This plan would necessitate traversing the Kokoda Track, a 96-kilometre (60 mi) jungle track that snaked south from Owers' Corner to Kokoda through thickly vegetated foothills that rose steeply towards heavily rainforested mountains as high as 7,000 feet (2,100 m), and passing through a highly malarial environment where heat and humidity and terrain were as much an enemy as defending soldiers.

...
Wikipedia