Allied occupation of German New Guinea
Part of theAsian and Pacific theatre of World War I
Australian Fleet enteringSimpson Harbour in 1914.
Date 9 September – 21 October 1914 Location German New Guinea Result Australian–Japanese victory
Belligerents
Australia  Japan	German Empire German New Guinea
Commanders and leaders
William Holmes George Patey	Carl von Klewitz Robert von Blumenthal Albert Hahl
Strength
2,000 2 Japanese Naval detachments	500
Casualties and losses
Australian invasion of German New Guinea 39 killed 12 wounded 1 submarine missing	Australian invasion of German New Guinea 85 killed 15 wounded Japanese invasion of German Micronesia 1 survey ship scuttled

TheAllied occupation of German New Guinea was the takeover of the Pacific colony ofGerman New Guinea in September – November 1914 by an expeditionary force from Australia, called theAustralian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force.

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German New Guinea (German:Deutsch-Neuguinea) was an Imperial German protectorate from 1884. German New Guinea consisted of the territories of the northeastern part of New Guinea (German:Kaiser-Wilhelmsland) and the nearbyBismarck Archipelago, consisting ofNew Britain (German:Neu-Pommern) and New Ireland (German:Neu-Mecklenburg).^[1] Together with the other Western Pacific German islands, excluding German Samoa, they formed the Imperial German Pacific Protectorates. The protectorate included theGerman Solomon Islands, theCaroline Islands,Palau, theMariana Islands (except forGuam), theMarshall Islands andNauru.^[2] Imperial Germany had a paramilitary police force, thePolizeitruppe, in New Guinea; generally used to keep up order and put down rebellions. The Polizeitruppe at Bita Paka consisted of about 50 German officers, NCOs and reservists and 240 native police soldiers. Rabaul was well stocked with the coal for use by the GermanEast Asia Squadron.^{[citation needed]}

At the outbreak of World War I, the East Asia Squadron, consisting of thearmored cruisersScharnhorst andGneisenau and the light cruisersNürnberg,Leipzig,Dresden andEmden, under the command of Vice-AdmiralMaximilian von Spee, was cruising in the Pacific Ocean. Britain had already severed all German undersea cables passing through British controlled areas.^{[citation needed]} Concerned about possible attacks against Allied merchant shipping in the region, Britain requested that Australia destroy the German wireless stations and coaling stations in the Pacific.

Australia hurriedly raised the Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF), consisting of onebattalion ofinfantry of 1,000 men enlisted inSydney, known as the 1st Battalion, ANMEF and 500 naval reservists and ex-sailors who would serve as infantry.^[3] Another battalion ofmilitia from theQueensland basedKennedy Regiment, which had been hurriedly dispatched to garrisonThursday Island, also contributed 500 volunteers to the force.^[4] The ANMEF was tasked with the capture of the Imperial German Pacific Protectorates within six months. This included capturing or destroying the radio stations and coal stations supporting the East Asia Squadron.

Reconnaissance of the area was undertaken by theAustralia Squadron, consisting of the battleshipHMAS Australia, the second-class protected cruiserHMAS Encounter, the light cruisersHMAS Melbourne andSydney and the destroyersHMAS Parramatta,Yarra, andWarrego. Under the command of Vice Admiral SirGeorge Patey, the destroyers enteredBlanche Bay on 12 August. HMASAustralia capturedSumatra and HMASEncounter capturedZambesi while patrollingSt Georges Channel on 12 August. HMASMelbourne requisitioned the cargo of coal of the collierAlconda offRossel Island on 13 August.^{[citation needed]}

The destroyers enteredSimpson Harbour andMatupi Harbour at night searching for the East Asia Squadron. Landing parties from the destroyers were sent ashore to demolish the telephones in the post offices inRabaul and at the German gubernatorial capital of Herbertshöhe (nowKokopo), located 20 miles (32 km) to the south-east. Unable to locate the radio station, the Australian warships threatened to bombard nearby settlements if the radio station continued to transmit, before withdrawing.^[5]

Japan's goals were simply to find the east Asia squadron and had no formal plans to occupy the islands.^{[citation needed]}

Germany had no formal plans to defend German New Guinea.^{[citation needed]}

The Battle ofBita Paka took place on 11 September, during an Australian attempt to capture the German wireless station. A mixed force of German officers and Melanesian police mounted a stout resistance and forced the Australians to fight their way to the objective. After a day of fighting in which both sides suffered casualties, the more numerous Australian forces finally succeeded in capturing and destroying the wireless station.^[6]

The Siege of Toma took place between 14–17 September, when troops of the ANMEF surroundedToma. They finally brought up a 12-pound field piece to bombard it, which caused the German garrison to negotiate a surrender.^[7]

Madang was captured without opposition on 24 September by Australia.^{[citation needed]}

Australian forces first landed inNauru on 9 September andfully occupied it by 6 November without German opposition.^[8]

Japanese forces were originally told not to occupy islands but followingTanin Yamaya occupyingJaluit Atoll on 29 September Japan decided to occupy the islands not only to destroy the radio stations there but also in search of the east Asia squadron.Rota was the last Island occupied by Japanese forces on 21 October, ending the New Guinea campaign.^[9]

Organized and completed with remarkable speed, the occupation of German New Guinea was significant as the first independent military operation carried out by Australia and the second one for Japan.^[10]

LieutenantHermann Detzner, a German officer with some 20 native policemen, evaded capture in the interior of New Guinea and managed to remain free for the entire war. After theTreaty of Versailles of 1919, the victorious Allies divided all German's colonial possessions among themselves. German New Guinea became theTerritory of New Guinea, aLeague of Nations Mandate Territory under Australian administration.^[11][12][13]

• Australian occupation of German New Guinea order of battle

• German New Guinea
• Conflicts in 1914
• 1914 in German New Guinea
• 1914 in Australia
• 1914 in the German colonial empire
• 1914 in Papua New Guinea
• Battles of World War I involving Australia
• Battles of World War I involving Germany
• Australian military occupations
• September 1914
• October 1914
• November 1914
• 1910s in German New Guinea

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