16 December 1942

For all his raging at the lack of progress at Buna, the Allied Commander in Chief, General Douglas MacArthur never sets foot there and this rankles with many of his troops.

His biographer William Manchester, later writes: The great hero went home without seeing Buna, before during or after the great fight while permitting press articles from his GHQ to say he was leading his troops in battle. MacArthur … just stayed over at Moresby 40 minutes away and walked the floor. I know this to be a fact.”

15 December 1942

The Americans push forward with more frontal attacks at Buna at great cost and to very little effect just as they have done for the preceding month.

Little do they know how the Japanese defenders are thinking. One of them, Private Uchiyama Seiichi, will later leave a diary and he wrote on this day: “Enemy plan is to annihilate us before reinforcements come … we are now completely enveloped. Bombed by enemy planes at dawn, continuously all day. We now only wait for the final moments to come.”

14 December 1942

Australian and American commanders at Buna protest at the futile and costly frontal attacks but their High Commands press constantly for immediate action.

Blamey tells his troops that tanks are on their way to help them but they must continue to attack until they arrive. The overriding dictum was MacArthur’s order to Blamey: “… all columns will be driven through to objectives regardless of losses.”

13 December 1942

The Americans, who have joined the Diggers in the battles for the beachheads, are given responsibility for taking Buna.

Allied Commander in Chief, Gen Douglas MacArthur, quickly reveals his burning impatience with what he sees as the lack of progress in defeating the Japanese defenders at Buna and Sanananda.

He writes to his commander on the ground Gen Bob Eichelberger: “… However admirable individual acts of courage may be … remember that your mission is to take Buna. All other things are subsidiary to this … hasten your preparations and when you are ready – strike, for, as I have said, time is working desperately against us.”

12 December 19142

Mopping up continues at Gona, while both sides rearrange their positions at Buna and Sanananda further down the coast. The Japanese a being sporadically resupplied and reinforced by destroyer and submarine from Rabaul but increasingly frequent Allied bombing raids are making these actions more difficult.

The Diggers at Sanananda patrol actively as the try to determine the Japanese strength and positions. Many are concerned tHat they are being pressured to attack without time to properly assess the situation. They believe their High Command has no understanding of the difficulties of the terrain and that they have greatly underestimated enemy numbers. The Diggers believe the defenders should be isolated and starved into surrender rather than attacking them in frontal assaults with devastating losses.