[4] At the outbreak of hostilities, Australia did not have forces in place for the defence of New Guinea and the New Hebrides, due to the League of Nations mandate under which the former German territories were administered.

This included elements of the 7th Division, consisting mainly of men from the 2/6th Field Company, on the transport Orcades, who were sent to Java, and fought alongside Dutch forces there, but like most other minor garrisons were soon overwhelmed.

[12] Upon arrival, the 21st Brigade, under Brigadier Arnold Potts, was dispatched to Port Moresby, from where they would help reinforce the 39th Battalion, which were fighting a rearguard action on the Kokoda Track.

[22] Kokoda: July – November 1942 In late-September, 1942, the Australian forces began pushing the Japanese back toward Buna.

The retreat of the Japanese forces quickly became a rout, with many falling to starvation, illness and the environment, as well as Australian attacks.

Keeping up the pressure around Salamaua, in early September they launched an airborne assault on Nadzab (see below), and a seaborne landing near Lae (see below), taking the town with simultaneous drives from the east and north-west.