21 December 1942

As the Allied troops push on relentlessly against the Japanese at Buna, the surviving defenders begin to despair of the promised reinforcements, as Pte Uchiyama Seiichi writes:

“Oh! Are you going to let us die like rats in a hole? Sgt Ogawa reported that reinforcements are coming … one cannot accept such reports except as a temporary relief to one’s feelings, or as yet another false rumour. Enemy bombing fiercely and our end is coming nearer and nearer.”

20 December 1942

Led by the energetic Diggers of the 18^th Brigade, the Allied push the grim Japanese defenders westward toward their entrenched positions at Giropa Plantation.

Gen Eichelberger describes the Australian attack as a “spectacular and dramatic assault, and a brave one”.

Jap Private Uchiyama Seeichi writes in his diary at Buna: “At dawn, enemy bombed the hell out of us. Observe only the sky with bitter regrettable tears rolling down … Filled my stomach with dried bread and waited for my end to come. Oh! Remaining comrades, I shall depend on you for my revenge.”

19 December 1942

Allied Commander in Chief, Gen Douglas MacArthur issues a communiqué claiming a great Allied victory at Buna, ignoring the fact that only Australian troops had taken part.

The Australian 18^th Brigade, victor at Milne Bay, has achieved in days what the Americans have failed to do in six weeks. They have broken into the tight Japanese positions on the eastern side of Buna and forced the enemy to retreat westward to the Buna Government station.

The vaunted Japanese Army’s aura of invincibility is again shattered.

18 December 1942

The Battle for Buna explodes as Australian tanks roll towards the Duropa Plantation area followed by Diggers crouching in the shadows. The Japanese defenders respond with withering machine-gun fire. The tanks roll to the edge of the Jap bunkers and pour cannon fire into them one by one, followed by Diggers with grenades.

Pockets of Jap defenders fight back fiercely and the Australians suffer heavy casualties as they push forward through the constant fire, many killed by suicidal Japanese snipers.

By late afternoon the position is taken but at a devastating cost: 61 Diggers die on the day and another 120 badly wounded. Virtually the entire Japanese force of around 1000 is wiped out. Few escape and no prisoners are taken.

17 December 1942

Australian tanks finally arrive at Buna as Allied High Command turns to the Australian 18^th Brigade, which had inflicted the first-ever defeat of the Japanese on land at Milne Bay in August and early September, to take the lead in the assault against at least 1000 Japanese defenders on the easter side of Buna.

For weeks the Americans have been unable to make any significant headway against these stubborn Japanese defenders, who are resolved to fight to the last man. Eventually General Blamey persuades MacArthur to hand responsibility for the defeat of Buna to the Diggers.