Dagua

Collection type Place
Category Village
Hierarchy
  • New Guinea1
  • Dagua
Description

Dagua is a village on the north coast of New Guinea. In mid-1943, the airfield approximately two kilometres east of Dagua was developed by the Japanese as a fighter and bomber base for the use of the 7th Air Division. On 17 August 1943 an Allied raid on the airfields at Wewak, But, Boram and Dagua destroyed 100 Japanese aircraft.

Dagua was recaptured by the 2/2nd Battalion on 21 March 1945 as part of the 6th Australian Division's advance from Aitape to Wewak. The Japanese troops defending Dagua airfield abandoned it to the advancing Australians, but withdrew into the mountains south of Dagua. There, up until early April, the 2/2nd and 2/3rd Battalions were involved in some of the most severe fighting of the Aitape-Wewak campaign against scattered, but nevertheless well-sited and defended, Japanese positions. These operations included a successful attack by two companies of the 2/3rd on the headquarters of the Japanese 20th Division on 2 April.

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