The Huon Peninsula campaign was a series of battles in the New Guinea campaign

New Guinea campaign

The New Guinea campaign was one of the major military campaigns of World War II.Before the war, the island of New Guinea was split between:...

 of the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Australian forces assaulted Japanese

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

 bases on the Huon Peninsula

Huon Peninsula

Huon Peninsula is a large rugged peninsula on the island of New Guinea in Morobe Province, eastern Papua New Guinea. It is named after French explorer Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec who discovered it along with his personal assistant and porter, Henry Ole. The peninsula is dominated by the steep...

.

The campaign began with an amphibious landing at Scarlet Beach

Battle of Scarlet Beach

The Battle of Scarlet Beach took place during the Huon Peninsula campaign of the Second World War. Involving forces from Australia, the United States and Japan, Allied forces landed at Scarlet Beach, north of Siki Cove and south of the Song River, to the east of Katika and about 10 kilometres to...

, near Finschhafen

Finschhafen

Finschhafen is a district on the northeast coast of the Morobe province of Papua New Guinea. It is named after the port of the same name.The port was discovered in 1884 by the German researcher Otto Finsch. In 1885 the German colony of German New Guinea created a town on the site and named it...

 on 22 September 1943. It included important battles at Finschhafen

Battle of Finschhafen

The Battle of Finschhafen was part of the Huon Peninsula campaign during the Second World War between September and October 1943 between Australian and Japanese forces...

, Sattelberg

Battle of Sattelberg

The Battle of Sattelberg took place during the Huon Peninsula campaign of the Second World War. Involving forces from Australia, the United States and Japan, the fighting centred around the Sattelberg mission station which was situated atop a hill about above sea level, approximately inland from...

, and Sio

Battle of Sio

The Battle of Sio, fought between December 1943 and March 1944, was the breakout and pursuit phase of General Douglas MacArthur's Huon Peninsula campaign, part of the New Guinea campaign of World War II....

. It concluded on 1 March 1944, about three weeks after Australian forces linked up with American forces, near the village of Saidor

Landing at Saidor

The Landing at Saidor was an Allied amphibious landing at Saidor, Papua New Guinea on 2 January 1944 as part of Operation Dexterity during World War II. In Allied hands, Saidor was a stepping stone towards Madang, the ultimate objective of General Douglas MacArthur's Huon Peninsula campaign...

.

The Japanese 20th Division faced the Australian 9th Division

Australian 9th Division

The 9th Division was a division of the Australian Army that served during World War II. It was the fourth division of the Second Australian Imperial Force and was formed in the United Kingdom in late 1940 from infantry brigades and support units which had been previously raised in Australia and...

during the campaign. The Japanese lost almost ⅔ of their original 12,600 personnel (killed, wounded or ill), while the Australians lost 1,028 soldiers.