Qualla: Battle of Finschhafen https://qualla.com/battle-of-finschhafen en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/c/4/battle-of-finschhafen-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Finschhafen https://qualla.com/battle-of-finschhafen Battle of Finschhafen: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-finschhafen/ Photo credit Miller, John, Public domain. The briefcase was the giveaway. Australian patrols pushing out from Scarlet Beach in mid-October 1943 stumbled across a Japanese officer's dispatch case still holding its operational orders, and suddenly the defenders knew exactly what was coming. The bulk of the Japanese 20th Division was massing around a mountain mission called Sattelberg. A three-pronged counterattack would roll down toward the beachhead. Twelve thousand enemy soldiers were already in position, waiting for the signal. That signal, when it came on the night of 16 October, was a bonfire blazing from the mountain - deliberately lit, almost theatrical, and visible for miles across the jungle.

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Image: Miller, John | Public domain

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/c/4/battle-of-finschhafen-wp/rqc4-battle-of-finschhafen-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Finschhafen: Why a Harbor at the End of Nowhere https://qualla.com/battle-of-finschhafen/ Photo credit Miller, John, Public domain. Finschhafen sits on the eastern tip of New Guinea's Huon Peninsula, where the coast curls out toward the narrow Vitiaz Strait separating New Guinea from New Britain. In 1943, that geometry mattered more than the settlement itself. Whoever held Finschhafen could build airfields to...

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Image: Miller, John | Public domain

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/c/4/battle-of-finschhafen-wp/rqc4-battle-of-finschhafen-why-a-harbor-at-the-end-of-nowhere.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Finschhafen: The Bumi River Stand https://qualla.com/battle-of-finschhafen/ Photo credit Miller, John, Public domain. The drive south stalled at the Bumi River, where roughly 300 Japanese sailors and marines of the 85th Naval Garrison had orders to delay, then withdraw. Their commander ignored the second half. They dug in, held the crossing, and stopped the 20th Brigade cold on 26 September. The...

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Image: Miller, John | Public domain

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/c/4/battle-of-finschhafen-wp/rqc4-battle-of-finschhafen-the-bumi-river-stand.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Finschhafen: The Night the Beach Nearly Fell https://qualla.com/battle-of-finschhafen/ Photo credit Miller, John, Public domain. The Japanese counterattack came in three parts and came close to working. From the north, a diversion by the 79th Infantry Regiment failed to draw off Australian reserves. From the sea, seven landing craft carrying raiders tried to strike Scarlet Beach directly - and four were su...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/c/4/battle-of-finschhafen-wp/rqc4-battle-of-finschhafen-the-night-the-beach-nearly-fell.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Finschhafen: Mountain, Machine Guns, and Matildas https://qualla.com/battle-of-finschhafen/ Photo credit Miller, John, Public domain. After the beachhead held, Wootten prepared the next move: Sattelberg itself, the 975-meter mountain where an abandoned Lutheran mission commanded the entire peninsula. Reinforcements arrived - the 26th Infantry Brigade under David Whitehead, and, crucially, a squadron of Matilda ...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/c/4/battle-of-finschhafen-wp/rqc4-battle-of-finschhafen-mountain-machine-guns-and-matildas.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Finschhafen: From Jungle Fight to Fleet Base https://qualla.com/battle-of-finschhafen/ Photo credit Miller, John, Public domain. What the Australians won at Finschhafen was not really a town. It was a logistics prize. Through 1944, American engineers transformed the captured area into what historian Garth Pratten called one of the largest bases in the Southwest Pacific. Wharves grew along the coast. Tank l...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/c/4/battle-of-finschhafen-wp/rqc4-battle-of-finschhafen-from-jungle-fight-to-fleet-base.mp3 0:06 6 full