Free Invasion Rabaul by Bruce Gamble

force. Kindly but naïve, he was accustomed to being part of a larger organization where people with experience could lend help. At Rabaul he was on his own. Major Leggatt had received new orders to take over the 2/40th Battalion on Timor, and his departure left Carr unprepared for the responsibilities of leadership. Ultimately, Carr failed to gain the respect of his subordinates, who came to regard him as something of a joke. Behind his back they began to call him “the Bodger,” slang for a bum coin, a loser.
    The situation changed with the arrival of Colonel John J. “Jack” Scanlan, a decorated combat veteran. He arrived on October 8 and immediately took command of all ground forces in the New Guinea Area (NGA), while Carr stayed on as CO of the 2/22nd. Based on his combat record during multiple campaigns in World War I, including the receipt of a Legion of Honor, Scanlan certainly had the credentials for the job. Badly wounded at Gallipoli, he convalesced in Australia before returning to fight again in Europe, where he led a Tasmanian battalion through several campaigns and battles. After the war he made a failed attempt at farming along the Murray River, then accepted a position with the Tasmanian prison system. Reenlisting for another war, he arrived at Rabaul just prior to his fifty-first birthday.
    Tasked with defending an enormous region, Scanlan had few resources to work with. At Rabaul alone, his priorities for Lark Force included not only the defense of the town but also the coastal guns at Praed Point, the seaplane base at Sulphur Creek, and two airdromes. In addition to the airdrome at Lakunai, there was a second airdrome eleven miles south of Rabaul named for a nearby Catholic mission, Vunakanau. Also known as “the Upper ‘Drome,” it sat on the plateau overlooking the caldera and served as a forward base for Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) reconnaissance aircraft. In all, the line Lark Force had to defend extended from Praed Point all the way around the caldera to Raluana Point—a total of fifteen miles.
    Initially,Scanlan made no changes to the fortified positions occupied by the 2/22nd battalion. Two rifle companies—A Company under Major William T. Owen and B Company under Captain Colin L. McInnes—were considered in reserve at Malaguna Camp. C Company, led by Captain Ernest S. “Pip” Appel, was deployed at Vunakanau; D Company, led by Captain Richard E. Travers, guarded a major intersection called Four Ways; and R Company, under Captain Frank E. “Eric” Shier, was entrenched at Praed Point.
    It was virtually impossible for a single infantry battalion to defend a fifteen-mile-long line; therefore, the riflecompanies were dispersed between a half-dozen strategic points. As for weapons, the infantrymen were armed with .303-caliber Lee-Enfield rifles (which predated World War I), supported by machine gun teams that used identical ammunition.The automatic weapons included twenty-six Lewis light machine guns, twelve Vickers water-cooled medium machine guns, and two old Maxim machine guns commandeered from the native police. The Vickers and Maxim guns were cumbersome, requiring vehicles for all but the shortest moves. The same was true of the twelve 3-inch mortars, which utilized heavy base plates and tripods. If the mortars and machine guns had to be moved a significant distance, fully tracked Universal Carriers, also known as Bren Gun Carriers, were employed by the Carrier Platoon. However, the battalion was not considered a mobile force despite the possession of the tracked vehicles.
    A WEEK AFTER S CANLAN’S ARRIVAL, L ARK F ORCE RECEIVED SOME GOOD news: the War Cabinet announced that the United States would provide additional fortifications around Simpson Harbor through theLend-Lease program. The Americans would contribute six 7-inch coastal defense guns, eight 3-inch antiaircraft guns, and twelve heavy machine guns, all of which would represent a huge improvement over the current