Qualla: Battle of Tsimba Ridge https://qualla.com/battle-of-tsimba-ridge en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Battle of Tsimba Ridge https://qualla.com/battle-of-tsimba-ridge Battle of Tsimba Ridge: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-tsimba-ridge/ War correspondent Fred Aldridge walked up to Tsimba Ridge in February 1945 and described what he saw as a textbook fortress - a horseshoe volcanic feature with steep jungle-clad sides, its ends running down to the sea, the ground between forming a natural amphitheatre by the beach. It was, Aldridge wrote, a maze of dugouts, trenches and foxholes. The Japanese commander holding it, Lieutenant Colonel Shinzo Nakamura of the 81st Infantry Regiment, was considered by historian Peter Charlton to be a master of jungle warfare. The Australians who had to take the ridge thought they were facing around 390 defenders. They were actually facing more than twice that. The whole episode was almost a miniature of the Bougainville campaign - underestimated enemy, unfamiliar terrain, and a fight that looked bigger from the inside than from anywhere else.

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/p/battle-of-tsimba-ridge-wp/rqyp-battle-of-tsimba-ridge-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Tsimba Ridge: The Drive North https://qualla.com/battle-of-tsimba-ridge/ In late 1944 the Americans handed Bougainville over to Lieutenant General Stanley Savige's Australian II Corps and went to the Philippines. The Australians decided to finish what the Americans had contained. On 31 December 1944, Savige ordered Brigadier John Stevenson's 11th Brig...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/p/battle-of-tsimba-ridge-wp/rqyp-battle-of-tsimba-ridge-the-drive-north.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Tsimba Ridge: Nakamura's Fortress https://qualla.com/battle-of-tsimba-ridge/ First contact came at a clearing a thousand yards north of Puto. A platoon patrol from D Company under Captain Thomas Titley attacked several huts, killed one Japanese soldier, and then ran into machine gun fire from entrenchments further on. The Australians captured the position...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/p/battle-of-tsimba-ridge-wp/rqyp-battle-of-tsimba-ridge-nakamuras-fortress.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Tsimba Ridge: The Bridgehead Across the Genga https://qualla.com/battle-of-tsimba-ridge/ Kelly tried the obvious approaches first. Between 21 and 28 January, B Company attacked the ridge from the south, southeast and north. None worked. On 23 January he brought up the 2nd Mountain Battery for fire support. Three more attempts on 24 January failed. Then on 25 January ...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/p/battle-of-tsimba-ridge-wp/rqyp-battle-of-tsimba-ridge-the-bridgehead-across-the-genga.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Tsimba Ridge: The Final Assault https://qualla.com/battle-of-tsimba-ridge/ Kelly spent the first week of February preparing. A mountain gun was manhandled through the jungle to a position a hundred and fifty yards from the Pimple, where it could fire directly onto the Japanese trenches. Aircraft from No. 5 Squadron RAAF flew reconnaissance. To mask the ...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/p/battle-of-tsimba-ridge-wp/rqyp-battle-of-tsimba-ridge-the-final-assault.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Tsimba Ridge: What Remained https://qualla.com/battle-of-tsimba-ridge/ When the Australians walked the ridge they counted the cost on both sides. They had captured four field guns, six anti-tank guns, nine machine guns and eighty-six rifles. Japanese dead were estimated at sixty-six in the Tsimba fighting, one hundred and forty-eight across the wide...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/p/battle-of-tsimba-ridge-wp/rqyp-battle-of-tsimba-ridge-what-remained.mp3 0:06 6 full