Why did Australia fight in New Guinea in World War 2?

Answer 1

Papua New Guinea was important to Japan because they needed a piece of land close enough to Australia so their aircraft would be able to bomb cities and major targets. So Port Morseby was a great place to stage the invasion fleet.

Answer Japan had never seriously considered invading Australia, and desired PNG to deny it to the Allies and to neutralise Australia as a base for counter-attack. PNG was important to Australia as a source of raw materials, and was under Australian control under a League of Nations mandate. The Japanese presence there was a huge worry to Australians, who weren't aware that there were no serious Japanese plans to invade Australia.

Answer 2

In deciding the answer to this, you need to think about the proximatey of New Guinea to Australia. It is the largest close landmass and would have given the Japanese an ideal base for their desired invasion of Australia. They had made some determined forward movements over New Guinea but the Kokoda Trail advance was stopped by the AIF and militia. It also solidly cemented the US and Australian military ties.

Answer 3

Australia entered the war against Germany on 3 September 1939, shortly after Britain declared war when its ultimatum for Germany to withdraw from Poland expired. The Government's decision to immediately enter the war was primarily made on the grounds that Australia's interests were linked to those of Britain, and that a British defeat would destroy the system of imperial defence which Australia relied upon for security against Japan.

Answer 4

There were two reasons why Australian troops fought in Papua New Guinea in World War II.

The invasion of Papua New Guinea was seen as a very real threat to Australia's security, as defence of PNG and Port Moresby was critical to victory in the south Pacific. Had Port Moresby fallen, it would have left northern Australia more vulnerable to attack. Singapore had already fallen, Rabaul (PNG) had already fallen, and the Japanese troops were getting much closer. Over the period of a year or more, Darwin and northern parts of Australia experienced periodic bombings from the Japanese.

In May 1942, a Japanese invasion fleet departed Rabaul for Port Moresby, and the Battle of the Coral Sea began. It was a very real threat which was only turned back by the US aircraft leaving from carriers. After being turned back by the US, the Japanese then turned their attention to an attack over the Owen Stanley Range via the Kokoda Track, which linked the northern and southern coasts of Papua New Guinea. Thanks to the Papua New Guinean natives assisting the Australians and the US troops, the Japanese were turned back, having to retreat to bases at Buna, Gona and Sanananda, where they were eventually defeated.

In addition, Papua New Guinea was once a territory of Australia, which occurred after Australian troops defend the British half of the island against German New Guinea in World War I. When the Treaty of Versailles was established after WWI, Australia administered German New Guinea, and the British part of the island came to be considered an External Territory of the Commonwealth of Australia, and this was formalised later. Although Australia's prime motivation for sending troops to New Guinea was not to defend its territory, it did play a part.