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A big shout-out @KingandGenerals there no way a high end history channel will miss a full episode for the forgotten yet bravest air supply unit---The Hump and the Aciation Transport Unit who supplied Chinese against the Japanese where they lost 600+ planes and 1600+aviation staffs. The crashed planes can even nevigate the Hymalayas along the mountains so to speak. They are forgotten heroes deserved a thorough documantry
Great stuff cobbers. However, the pronunciation of place names is a bit off. Still, good material but recommend Australian archives for a broader appraisal. Nice work, and thank you as my grandfather fought through out these operations. Lost a lot of good mates in this arduous theater of operations.
The Pacific war has passed it’s turning point, and the slow and steady crawl to Allied victory is at hand. Keep up this long-running series, I look forward as we reach the end of this grand epic! Kudos the the writers, producers, and editors for providing us with this in depth study!
@@anteriax5175 well, you have the commonwealth in Burma and the indian ocean, the Australians doing the work in New Guinea, Americans in the Solomons and pacific and the Chinese in China.
Phenomenal detail!! I love the small unit information. You never often hear so much detail about company, and even platoon and squad level actions in most historical accounts of the pacific in documentary form. I absolutely love this series!!
The Aussies have immortalized many of these small war actions in their national consciousness. To us, it may seem like obscure lore, but for those profoundly damaged people who lived through it there appeared to them to exist certain and profound chronologic hinge points that would be revealed as self-evident in importance once a proper logical accounting could be done. Perhaps these people thought that they could scientifically describe the phenomenon of cause and effect while eliminating the forces of chance, a mastering of reality that could build a sort of bulwark against the yet unrealized technological horrors of the next war. These people would spend the rest of their lives obsessing over the exact minutiae of these profound events as if to reconcile their traumatic pasts with the creeping anxiety of the new postmodern atomic age. As their world grew increasingly complex and unrecognizable, the deeper into the past they retreated. It wasn't enough to recognize the tide-changing battle or pivotal campaign anymore, the exact action or maneuver could be pinpointed and understood down to the bullet if only the whole picture could be made complete! From this cohort, we get a multitude of books and memoirs and other media that often tends to appear almost clinical, though relatively few are truly academic works. Still, others who were there tried to bury their trauma internally and distract themselves with the twin pillars of work and domesticity that have traditionally defined the aspirational middle classes. That was the acceptable and healthy way to "be a man" back then, I reckon. Unfortunately, for the most part, they ended up as alienated from their loved ones as they had become from themselves in their pathological repression. The children of this group would become the second generation of obsessive forensic historians of the South Pacific war. Often their work tends to be characterized as more of an accounting of the human experience and less of the mathematical formulation of the older firsthand-based accounts. Thus, certain stuff is well documented and eminently "researchable" in a meaningful and personal way that I think helps the production of this style of content. These small unit actions in far-flung tropical jungles are a critical component of the Australian national identity and myth, and maybe the borderline obsessive cataloging and rehashing and hand-wringing over the impact of these relatively small but incredibly gruesome engagements is some form of national collective therapy.
I think this is, seriously, the best history-related series on UA-cam. The content and graphics are fantastic, the detail amazing. My dad was in the US Army Air Corps in New Guinea, round about this time... in fact, first mention in this series that I recall of his commanding general (so far as I'm aware) -- George Kenney.
Watching this series has given me new respect for the Australians. Although later in the war the Americans would dominate the fighting that might not have happened without the efforts of the Australians in 1942-1943.
I recall Japanese comment after the war to the effect that they sent 1m men to New Guinea and lost most hence they later referred to it as death Island.
@@jimkeats891 "I think that the writers are overly-tough against Americans....but they cannot be supportive enough for the ANZAC troops!!! (says this American)" I think they just report events as they occurred. The Solomon Islands episodes are usually highly favorable to the Americans, because it is a fact of history that they did well in that campaign. In New Guinea the Americans came in with green troops, but under the command of MacArthur who thinks green troops can do what veteran Australian troops can do because they are American - no, that is not how reality works.
He and captain sam Templeton are the most gangster guys in New Guinea. Sherlock here, and Sam Templeton got wounded, captured and “physically” interrogated if you know what I mean, and all they got out of him was there was 5000 aussies defending the track (fewer than 500 at that time) and 80,000 at Port Moresby ( fewer than 8000 at that time) then told the Japanese commander they will be kia here within a week. Japanese commander turned red with rage and deceased the captain on the spot. All this according to a book the Japanese interpreter released decades later and completely unprompted by anyone as Australians knew Sam had been kia but not where he lay or when where or how.
Any time a great channel posts, we all kind of owe them a like and a comment. Just say something to support them and help them get better treatment by youtube, its like a tribute. Never fails to impress, Kings and Generals is a gold standard for this kind of video. I hope your channel continues to grow.
Love the quality, only idea for improvement that I could think of is under the unit names place rough estimate how many soldiers were in those units since every side had different unit organisation. Everything else is 10/10.
KNG truly one - if not the - greatest history channels on the Internet. Detailed information and professional video quality. I have to say this episode on the battle of Wau left me like "wow"
As mentioned before on other K&G video comments, there is a movie about the Guadalcanal campaign; “The Thin Red Line” (1998). Other Pacific War films which give some details about the Iwo Jima land battles are; “Letters from Iwo Jima” and “Flags of Our Fathers”.
HBO Max has the The Pacific Series which is based around the United States Marine Corps push throughout the Pacific, even them resorting from stealing from the Army to stay supplied..... such a great show to watch, if you haven't already... its madee by the same people who made Band of Brothers which shows the Airborne European campaign.
Brilliant as always!! In a way I felt this British Empire's struggle in the Pacific started here And Japanese saying "Even if you die you won't be able to return" started here
Australia no longer considered itself part of the British Empire’s war by the time of the New Guinea campaign because the British had decided at the Arcadia Conference to relinquish Australia to the Japanese and ordered every Commonwealth country to deny Australia any assistance. Australia even declared war on Japan before Britain did.
@@seanlander9321 sorry but that's complete nonsense. Firstly Australia definitely consdiered itself British and British and Australian (and New Zealand) forces continued to fight together throughout the war. Arcadia did decide on "Germany first" but it also specifically created the ABDA force and for the British to strengthen their forces in the Pacific (which they did). Large numbers of British Troops were captured by the Japanese and others continued to fight the Japanese throughout the war.
@@tomriley5790 Twaddle. ABDA never happened, although there were some Dutch who joined in. Britain turned on Australia and Roosevelt failed to support MacArthur after Arcadia, that was the agreement reached with the Germany first policy. The treachery from Churchill was particularly acute and he is recorded by many as confirming that he had no concern about Australia falling to the Japanese and that it could be reclaimed after victory in Europe. Curtin was only too aware of what Britain had done and his order for mobilisation and withdrawal of most of the troops in North Africa to New Guinea was the moment when Churchill ordered the Empire to provide no assistance to Australia what so ever, and that’s exactly how the rest of the war played out.
In a cold, calculating, attritional sense, allowing the IJA to evacuate a bunch of barely walking skeletons was probably the shrewd move. It's messed up to think about it like a balance sheet, but those guys would've needed months and months of care and resources to return to any kind of meaningful duty. I'm sure most of them would've been rotated out of the New Guinea theatre as Rabaul doesn't seem like a very reliable place to convalesce. Moving them is resource intensive, but if you keep them around they are in the way, and feeding and treating them stretches logistics.
Another great episode of the Battle of Wau by the great channel Kings and Generals. Thanks again and actually am watching from Wau, now a small run down town of Papua New Guinea..
Without taking anything from the US Marines, I have to say this series does an excellent job of demonstrating the crucial contributions of the US Army and the Australian Army. The myth that the Marines won the Pacific War single-handedly is shattered by these videos. The US Army seems to have been in the thick of it everywhere - Bataan, Guadalcanal, New Guinea. It's interesting to see how much was asked of National Guard units so early in the war. C'est la guerre.
I know you are focused on the Pacific at the moment but I would love to see a separate video on Operation Compass 1940, Richard O Connor's master piece.
Luckily for Moten, the fighting at Buna ended on 23 January - and not a moment too soon. By the time the Battle of Wau began, 52 brand-new C-47 transports had arrived in Australia after their delivery from the USA had been expedited in response to urgent requests by MacArthur. The new aircraft were hastily flown to Port Moresby to support the 374th Troop Carrier Group. This meant that up to 40 aircraft per day were now available to fly the 17th Brigade into Wau, four times the number available before the conclusion of the Battle of Buna-Gona. On 29 January, 57 planeloads of men, supplies and equipment arrived at Wau, delivering most of the 2/7th Battalion and the last company of the 2/5th Battalion. 40 aircraft made 66 trips on the following day, and the two dismantled 25-pounder guns included in their cargo were unloaded, assembled and went straight into action. On 31 January, 35 aircraft made 71 trips, and 40 aircraft made 53 trips on 1 February, delivering reinforcements including the 2/3rd Independent Company and a company of machine guns flown in specifically to defend the airfield. At this point it was basically game over for the Japanese.
A big shout-out @KingandGenerals there no way a high end history channel will miss a full episode for the forgotten yet bravest air supply unit---The Hump and the Aciation Transport Unit who supplied Chinese against the Japanese where they lost 600+ planes and 1600+aviation staffs. The crashed planes can even hevigate the Hymalayas along the mountains so to speak. They are forgotten heroes deserved a thorough documantry
The Japanese achieved the element of surprise in the Battle of “Wau.” 😮 However, they were unable to capitalize on it. Otherwise it would be known as the Battle of “OHSHIT” 😱
Just a small point, the RAAF dropped the centre red roundel on its aircraft in late 1941, after an American Grumman Wildcat pilot shot at a RAAF PBY Catalina. (The Roundel should be Blue and White) Fortunately no one was injured just a few bullet holes.
Great to see attention to a theatre even more neglected than Burma, well done. Just a couple of comments on pronunciation (as a former PNG resident of Lae), Buna and Gona are pronounced with long not short vowels hence Boona and Go-na. Salamua is Sal-a-moa. Kokoda is Kok-oh-dar, Sorry if someone else has already covered this. Almost forgot Mad-ang and Wee-wak. Finschafen you did correctly, if slightly Germanically. Rabaul is a tricky word often Rab-arl but Rab-awl is ok. Not sure if I heard you say Papua, it is definitely not Pap-ooa, more Parp-wah. Hope this helps.
Great presentation! If you are interested in the air transport operations during the Battle of Wau, I recommend Volume Two of Robert Kelly's series 'Allied Air Transport Operations South West Pacific Area in WWII'. Excellent detail and some interesting photos. Cheers :)
Hey! Can you make some videos related to Indian military History? It definitely has a lot of content. You can also cover recent military history as well[1950-2000]. Great work on the Pacfic War series btw.
Thank you, my father was a trooper of 2nd/7th Independent Company. From its formation November 1942 till demobilisation 1946, from Wau to the Wewak campaign. He's one the ninety (half the company) that was flown from Townsville to Port Moresby by Qantas flying boat then to Wau by DC3. So he would have been on the Buisaval Track retreating from Mubo etc. Some of the things K&G says like were 2nd/7th joined 2nd/5th Company don't seem to be the same as I read elsewhere.
never heard of this battle the next big campaign in this area is Salamaua-Lae campaign that starts 22 April - 16 September 1943. but that will come latter.
Excellent video 📹 Admire Australia 🇦🇺 (and Canada 🇨🇦) In WW2, they knew they were empires in their own area , with vast resources and their soldiers tenaciously defended their lands, waterways and airspace. Admire the Japanese spirit. Before D Day, they were the masters of long distance amphibious landings and deep penetrations. Churchill would probably have been impressed by how quickly they moved off the beachhead.
Very turbulent time for my family, when the (reformed) 2nd/7th came back from Palestine my grandfather got put into them for about a year before I think it was around 1943 he ended up being rolled into the 31st/51st and ending up in Bougainville for more adventures that nearly got him killed. My great uncle was also flying Beaufighters at this time up until he had one's landing gear collapse from battle damage out from underneath him in I think 1943 and got medical discharged from the air force due to back injuries. Not that he was dissuaded much and ended up spending until 1946 doing UXO clearance in Darwin. I think it has to be said, these battles were often done at insanely close ranges, you might get a couple of cleared areas when you could see out to about 100m or so, but the vast majority would have been under 50m or closer. The forest, rain and fog mean you could get lost in the green hell or literally have two decent sized formations move close to one another and no one would know they were even there. To describe the actual terrain though, its straight up and down to the point its basically called mountain warfare anywhere else! Just without snow But just replace the snow with leeches, scrub typhus, malaria and a good chance of falling off a muddy hill and busting your arse. A lot of blokes got very sick with lifelong and lingering tropical diseases along with physical injuries from the campaigns even before they ever saw contact with the Japanese. Of whom also suffered greatly from the elements, terrain and illness that plagued everyone.
For the Japanese add, and quarter masters that had no supplies to sustain their troops. Japanese were cruel to their enemies, their superiors were cruel to them.
Bloody hard country to fight a war in. The whole campaign is cut out an airstrip so you can resupply, defend air strip, push enemy to beach head fight determined survivors.
WW2 cartoon showed Lightning pilots accompanying a luscious lady onto an airfield with the slogan "Escort to Wow!' because of the frequency of Fighter escorts of DC3's to Wau. P.S. Kokoda is pronounced Co-Coda!!! A20's Bostons and Havocs are bombers rather than fighters.
I've watched a considerable amount of this series. It seems so much happened before the dropping of the two atom bombs... wonder how much of it wouldn't have occurred had the bombs been dropped earlier?
The bombs weren’t fully ready till summer. It was the slaughter of American troops as we took Okinawa and the suicide dive bombing by Japanese 16-18 year olds, the original “I don’t need to learn how to land” corps, that pushed Truman into the decision to drop the bomb. They could have surrendered after the first bomb hit. They didn’t. It took the second hit three days later. Even then, some of their generals still did not want to surrender. One source I recall stated that the bombing saved the lives of the 50,000 or more Aussies and Americans who would have died wading ashore each of the separate islands of Japan itself until final victory. Of course such bombing was horrific. So would have been a ground invasion.
@@alainaaugust1932 I know the purpose of the bombs, and I know that the US was ready to drop a third. The plane was on the runway when the Japanese finally surrendered. But the question was more of a hypothetical of what could have occurred or wouldn't have had the bombs been finished and dropped earlier.
The Allies realizing the overwhelming importance of air power built an Air Field at Wau that ran downhill and ended in a Mountain, it was the only place anywhere near to put a runway.
we need more napoleonic war videos, kings stopped making them right at the end of napoleons golden age and the start of his downfall, sad how a few early series were never completed
The carelessness of Japanese command towards logistics amazes me. You hardly need to be Napoleon Bonaparte to realize that well-fed, well-supplied men fight more effectively than starving men running out of ammunition; yet for months, Japanese command has sent men into positions without adequate provisions or reliable means of resupply. What the devil makes these officers waste valuable soldiers like this?
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A big shout-out @KingandGenerals there no way a high end history channel will miss a full episode for the forgotten yet bravest air supply unit---The Hump and the Aciation Transport Unit who supplied Chinese against the Japanese where they lost 600+ planes and 1600+aviation staffs. The crashed planes can even nevigate the Hymalayas along the mountains so to speak. They are forgotten heroes deserved a thorough documantry
Bring back OffyD legendary Abridged Gameplay!!!!
14:45 to watch the emperors chosen in action
Great stuff cobbers. However, the pronunciation of place names is a bit off. Still, good material but recommend Australian archives for a broader appraisal. Nice work, and thank you as my grandfather fought through out these operations. Lost a lot of good mates in this arduous theater of operations.
The Pacific war has passed it’s turning point, and the slow and steady crawl to Allied victory is at hand. Keep up this long-running series, I look forward as we reach the end of this grand epic! Kudos the the writers, producers, and editors for providing us with this in depth study!
How can you watch this and still confuse the allied victory as "american"?
"Allied victory" TFIFY.
mainly thought it was americans driving it, but I'll change it then
@@anteriax5175 well, you have the commonwealth in Burma and the indian ocean, the Australians doing the work in New Guinea, Americans in the Solomons and pacific and the Chinese in China.
@@lakrids-pibe by not learning any war history
Gotta give it to the KnG writers, they sure do know their stuff, covering vague yet important battles such as this. Bravo.
Phenomenal detail!! I love the small unit information. You never often hear so much detail about company, and even platoon and squad level actions in most historical accounts of the pacific in documentary form. I absolutely love this series!!
The Aussies have immortalized many of these small war actions in their national consciousness. To us, it may seem like obscure lore, but for those profoundly damaged people who lived through it there appeared to them to exist certain and profound chronologic hinge points that would be revealed as self-evident in importance once a proper logical accounting could be done. Perhaps these people thought that they could scientifically describe the phenomenon of cause and effect while eliminating the forces of chance, a mastering of reality that could build a sort of bulwark against the yet unrealized technological horrors of the next war. These people would spend the rest of their lives obsessing over the exact minutiae of these profound events as if to reconcile their traumatic pasts with the creeping anxiety of the new postmodern atomic age. As their world grew increasingly complex and unrecognizable, the deeper into the past they retreated. It wasn't enough to recognize the tide-changing battle or pivotal campaign anymore, the exact action or maneuver could be pinpointed and understood down to the bullet if only the whole picture could be made complete! From this cohort, we get a multitude of books and memoirs and other media that often tends to appear almost clinical, though relatively few are truly academic works.
Still, others who were there tried to bury their trauma internally and distract themselves with the twin pillars of work and domesticity that have traditionally defined the aspirational middle classes. That was the acceptable and healthy way to "be a man" back then, I reckon. Unfortunately, for the most part, they ended up as alienated from their loved ones as they had become from themselves in their pathological repression. The children of this group would become the second generation of obsessive forensic historians of the South Pacific war. Often their work tends to be characterized as more of an accounting of the human experience and less of the mathematical formulation of the older firsthand-based accounts. Thus, certain stuff is well documented and eminently "researchable" in a meaningful and personal way that I think helps the production of this style of content. These small unit actions in far-flung tropical jungles are a critical component of the Australian national identity and myth, and maybe the borderline obsessive cataloging and rehashing and hand-wringing over the impact of these relatively small but incredibly gruesome engagements is some form of national collective therapy.
I think this is, seriously, the best history-related series on UA-cam. The content and graphics are fantastic, the detail amazing.
My dad was in the US Army Air Corps in New Guinea, round about this time... in fact, first mention in this series that I recall of his commanding general (so far as I'm aware) -- George Kenney.
If UA-cam had an academy type awards this should win hands down for history category.
@@toastnjam7384 Damn right.
Watching this series has given me new respect for the Australians. Although later in the war the Americans would dominate the fighting that might not have happened without the efforts of the Australians in 1942-1943.
I recall Japanese comment after the war to the effect that they sent 1m men to New Guinea and lost most hence they later referred to it as death Island.
I think that the writers are overly-tough against Americans....but they cannot be supportive enough for the ANZAC troops!!! (says this American)
@@jimkeats891 "I think that the writers are overly-tough against Americans....but they cannot be supportive enough for the ANZAC troops!!! (says this American)"
I think they just report events as they occurred.
The Solomon Islands episodes are usually highly favorable to the Americans, because it is a fact of history that they did well in that campaign.
In New Guinea the Americans came in with green troops, but under the command of MacArthur who thinks green troops can do what veteran Australian troops can do because they are American - no, that is not how reality works.
@@lochnessmonster5149 yeah they would be cannibalized !
@@mystikmind2005 American transport aircraft were critical to this battle.
10:11 "I'll soon find whether you are a bloody Aussie or not!" Captain Sherlock had some serious balls!
What a man.
The size of his balls slowed him down in the river. 😔
He and captain sam Templeton are the most gangster guys in New Guinea. Sherlock here, and Sam Templeton got wounded, captured and “physically” interrogated if you know what I mean, and all they got out of him was there was 5000 aussies defending the track (fewer than 500 at that time) and 80,000 at Port Moresby ( fewer than 8000 at that time) then told the Japanese commander they will be kia here within a week. Japanese commander turned red with rage and deceased the captain on the spot. All this according to a book the Japanese interpreter released decades later and completely unprompted by anyone as Australians knew Sam had been kia but not where he lay or when where or how.
Any time a great channel posts, we all kind of owe them a like and a comment. Just say something to support them and help them get better treatment by youtube, its like a tribute.
Never fails to impress, Kings and Generals is a gold standard for this kind of video. I hope your channel continues to grow.
Love the quality, only idea for improvement that I could think of is under the unit names place rough estimate how many soldiers were in those units since every side had different unit organisation. Everything else is 10/10.
Thanks. This is great channel and my son and I really appreciate your work. Best to all.
We appreciate you watching and donating, thank you!
KNG truly one - if not the - greatest history channels on the Internet. Detailed information and professional video quality.
I have to say this episode on the battle of Wau left me like "wow"
3 million subscribers now!
Have there been any movies about this battle? Feels like there should be.
Also waiting for som good modern movies about the battle of El Alamain and Tobruk.
Espessially seen from an Italien or Scottish perspektiv.
@@PunkerTrottzEltern Tobruk could be similar to Jadotville
There is one on the Polish perspective I seen years ago. Worth watching just for its take on the Australian soldiers 😊😊
As mentioned before on other K&G video comments, there is a movie about the Guadalcanal campaign; “The Thin Red Line” (1998). Other Pacific War films which give some details about the Iwo Jima land battles are; “Letters from Iwo Jima” and “Flags of Our Fathers”.
HBO Max has the The Pacific Series which is based around the United States Marine Corps push throughout the Pacific, even them resorting from stealing from the Army to stay supplied..... such a great show to watch, if you haven't already... its madee by the same people who made Band of Brothers which shows the Airborne European campaign.
Brilliant as always!!
In a way I felt this British Empire's struggle in the Pacific started here
And Japanese saying "Even if you die you won't be able to return" started here
Australia no longer considered itself part of the British Empire’s war by the time of the New Guinea campaign because the British had decided at the Arcadia Conference to relinquish Australia to the Japanese and ordered every Commonwealth country to deny Australia any assistance. Australia even declared war on Japan before Britain did.
@@seanlander9321 sorry but that's complete nonsense. Firstly Australia definitely consdiered itself British and British and Australian (and New Zealand) forces continued to fight together throughout the war. Arcadia did decide on "Germany first" but it also specifically created the ABDA force and for the British to strengthen their forces in the Pacific (which they did). Large numbers of British Troops were captured by the Japanese and others continued to fight the Japanese throughout the war.
@@tomriley5790 Twaddle. ABDA never happened, although there were some Dutch who joined in. Britain turned on Australia and Roosevelt failed to support MacArthur after Arcadia, that was the agreement reached with the Germany first policy. The treachery from Churchill was particularly acute and he is recorded by many as confirming that he had no concern about Australia falling to the Japanese and that it could be reclaimed after victory in Europe. Curtin was only too aware of what Britain had done and his order for mobilisation and withdrawal of most of the troops in North Africa to New Guinea was the moment when Churchill ordered the Empire to provide no assistance to Australia what so ever, and that’s exactly how the rest of the war played out.
In a cold, calculating, attritional sense, allowing the IJA to evacuate a bunch of barely walking skeletons was probably the shrewd move. It's messed up to think about it like a balance sheet, but those guys would've needed months and months of care and resources to return to any kind of meaningful duty. I'm sure most of them would've been rotated out of the New Guinea theatre as Rabaul doesn't seem like a very reliable place to convalesce. Moving them is resource intensive, but if you keep them around they are in the way, and feeding and treating them stretches logistics.
There is book from the Japanese perspective on New Guinea. He describes his recovery after New Guinea
“The Bone Man of Kokoda” by Charles Happell
@@kevincotterell3644 thanks for the recommendation
Another nice contribution to an underappreciated part of the war.
I look forward to new episodes every week of this series! Love it!
I dearly hope once the Pacific theatre is over that you would consider doing a similar one for North Africa/Sicily/Italy. Amazing stuff!
just pray and cross your fingers that channel's staff doesn't go through "burn out".
I saw my grandfathers battalion in that. A real pleasure watching. Thanks.
I love this series, the detailed information is greatly appreciated
Another great episode of the Battle of Wau by the great channel Kings and Generals. Thanks again and actually am watching from Wau, now a small run down town of Papua New Guinea..
Without taking anything from the US Marines, I have to say this series does an excellent job of demonstrating the crucial contributions of the US Army and the Australian Army. The myth that the Marines won the Pacific War single-handedly is shattered by these videos. The US Army seems to have been in the thick of it everywhere - Bataan, Guadalcanal, New Guinea. It's interesting to see how much was asked of National Guard units so early in the war. C'est la guerre.
I know you are focused on the Pacific at the moment but I would love to see a separate video on Operation Compass 1940, Richard O Connor's master piece.
Wonderful installment to a fantastic series! 🇺🇸⚔🇯🇵⚔🇦🇺
Luckily for Moten, the fighting at Buna ended on 23 January - and not a moment too soon.
By the time the Battle of Wau began, 52 brand-new C-47 transports had arrived in Australia after their delivery from the USA had been expedited in response to urgent requests by MacArthur. The new aircraft were hastily flown to Port Moresby to support the 374th Troop Carrier Group. This meant that up to 40 aircraft per day were now available to fly the 17th Brigade into Wau, four times the number available before the conclusion of the Battle of Buna-Gona.
On 29 January, 57 planeloads of men, supplies and equipment arrived at Wau, delivering most of the 2/7th Battalion and the last company of the 2/5th Battalion. 40 aircraft made 66 trips on the following day, and the two dismantled 25-pounder guns included in their cargo were unloaded, assembled and went straight into action.
On 31 January, 35 aircraft made 71 trips, and 40 aircraft made 53 trips on 1 February, delivering reinforcements including the 2/3rd Independent Company and a company of machine guns flown in specifically to defend the airfield.
At this point it was basically game over for the Japanese.
Wow I had no idea this is when those planes really came into action and shined!
Thanks for the extended info. 😎👍
A big shout-out @KingandGenerals there no way a high end history channel will miss a full episode for the forgotten yet bravest air supply unit---The Hump and the Aciation Transport Unit who supplied Chinese against the Japanese where they lost 600+ planes and 1600+aviation staffs. The crashed planes can even hevigate the Hymalayas along the mountains so to speak. They are forgotten heroes deserved a thorough documantry
Get Lay? Wow!
Seriously, ANZAC forces were tough as nails in both WWs. A bayonet charge that scared off the IJA? Inconceivable!
Tehe
Yes, that is amazing. I didn't think the Japanese were afraid of anything!
It's a fairy tale
Kings and Generals videos' are probably the only videos I click on like before clicking on the play button
The Japanese achieved the element of surprise in the Battle of “Wau.” 😮
However, they were unable to capitalize on it. Otherwise it would be known as the Battle of “OHSHIT” 😱
They had no change really, they were up against Captain Winning.
I always look forward to the weekly pacific video
Throughly enjoy this series, it brings the Pacific War to life which had previously only been told in books.
Jeez, Australian commandos in a bayonet charge would be a terrifying sight to see coming towards you.
This is a great series. Enjoying and learning so much.
I've been a youtube member for a while. If you can afford it and you like their content I highly recommend it.
Thank you , K&G .
🐺
Wau was another of those Australian victories that is fascinating in terms of the % of the Japanese forces that were killed.
Just a small point, the RAAF dropped the centre red roundel on its aircraft in late 1941, after an American Grumman Wildcat pilot shot at a RAAF PBY Catalina. (The Roundel should be Blue and White)
Fortunately no one was injured just a few bullet holes.
Great to see attention to a theatre even more neglected than Burma, well done. Just a couple of comments on pronunciation (as a former PNG resident of Lae), Buna and Gona are pronounced with long not short vowels hence Boona and Go-na. Salamua is Sal-a-moa. Kokoda is Kok-oh-dar, Sorry if someone else has already covered this.
Almost forgot Mad-ang and Wee-wak. Finschafen you did correctly, if slightly Germanically. Rabaul is a tricky word often Rab-arl but Rab-awl is ok. Not sure if I heard you say Papua, it is definitely not Pap-ooa, more Parp-wah. Hope this helps.
That Sherlock guy was very epic
An other great video, congrats for the 3M Subscribers !!!
Great presentation! If you are interested in the air transport operations during the Battle of Wau, I recommend Volume Two of Robert Kelly's series 'Allied Air Transport Operations South West Pacific Area in WWII'. Excellent detail and some interesting photos. Cheers :)
Wau, what a battle!
Sorry, can't resist 🤣
Great content. I study American history. I didn’t realize how much then Australians did in South Pacific
Amazing series, awesome work guys!!!
Thank you for showing these important historic battles that have been somewhat sidelined in history😢
Thank you as always for the information & keep up the good work 👍🏻
Hey! Can you make some videos related to Indian military History? It definitely has a lot of content. You can also cover recent military history as well[1950-2000]. Great work on the Pacfic War series btw.
Nothing makes the day better than seeing a kings and generals video on my notification !❤️
All I can say is Wau, very impressive 👏
Great video, very informative and interesting 👍👍👍
The Australian commandos were badass
Thank you, my father was a trooper of 2nd/7th Independent Company. From its formation November 1942 till demobilisation 1946, from Wau to the Wewak campaign. He's one the ninety (half the company) that was flown from Townsville to Port Moresby by Qantas flying boat then to Wau by DC3. So he would have been on the Buisaval Track retreating from Mubo etc. Some of the things K&G says like were 2nd/7th joined 2nd/5th Company don't seem to be the same as I read elsewhere.
So you could say that for the Australians, holding off the Japanese at the Battle of Wau was... Elementary my dear Watson
Lmfao
Wau, another top video 🤌
Need to watch the previous 63 episodes now..
Glad to hear of the continued adventures of Captain Winning.
never heard of this battle the next big campaign in this area is Salamaua-Lae campaign that starts 22 April - 16 September 1943. but that will come latter.
I hope I can learn more about some of the battles of 1943 in the Pacific Theater, this is getting interesting.
A very good episode on an under reported part of the war.
Fantastic video keep it up your doing amazing job
Excellent video 📹
Admire Australia 🇦🇺 (and Canada 🇨🇦)
In WW2, they knew they were empires in their own area , with vast resources and their soldiers tenaciously defended their lands, waterways and airspace.
Admire the Japanese spirit. Before D Day, they were the masters of long distance amphibious landings and deep penetrations.
Churchill would probably have been impressed by how quickly they moved off the beachhead.
Can't wait for this channel to talk about the Chindits and Merrill's Marauders.
The Japanese certainly got a taste of their own bayonet charge by the Aussies.
Wow! It's the battle of Wau! Wow!
I'm learning so much!
Too much bullshit you mean.
I salute the Boys from Down Under who fought in this battle.
Me too! I am from up and over.
Very turbulent time for my family, when the (reformed) 2nd/7th came back from Palestine my grandfather got put into them for about a year before I think it was around 1943 he ended up being rolled into the 31st/51st and ending up in Bougainville for more adventures that nearly got him killed. My great uncle was also flying Beaufighters at this time up until he had one's landing gear collapse from battle damage out from underneath him in I think 1943 and got medical discharged from the air force due to back injuries. Not that he was dissuaded much and ended up spending until 1946 doing UXO clearance in Darwin.
I think it has to be said, these battles were often done at insanely close ranges, you might get a couple of cleared areas when you could see out to about 100m or so, but the vast majority would have been under 50m or closer. The forest, rain and fog mean you could get lost in the green hell or literally have two decent sized formations move close to one another and no one would know they were even there. To describe the actual terrain though, its straight up and down to the point its basically called mountain warfare anywhere else!
Just without snow
But just replace the snow with leeches, scrub typhus, malaria and a good chance of falling off a muddy hill and busting your arse. A lot of blokes got very sick with lifelong and lingering tropical diseases along with physical injuries from the campaigns even before they ever saw contact with the Japanese. Of whom also suffered greatly from the elements, terrain and illness that plagued everyone.
For the Japanese add, and quarter masters that had no supplies to sustain their troops. Japanese were cruel to their enemies, their superiors were cruel to them.
Thanks for the video 👍
Sherlock was an absolute chad.
pacific war series is always interessting 👍
Good video keep op the good work❤
Episode of the pacific war on my birthday
It seems the Aussies learnt, from Kokoda and Buna Gona, how to effectively fight the Japanese.
Love this channel
Bloody hard country to fight a war in. The whole campaign is cut out an airstrip so you can resupply, defend air strip, push enemy to beach head fight determined survivors.
Can you please put scale on maps animation
So it gets easier to understand scale of battle
Love these!
Just excellent!
Bring back the infamous OffyD Abridged Game play Legend!
WW2 cartoon showed Lightning pilots accompanying a luscious lady onto an airfield with the slogan "Escort to Wow!' because of the frequency of Fighter escorts of DC3's to Wau. P.S. Kokoda is pronounced Co-Coda!!! A20's Bostons and Havocs are bombers rather than fighters.
Aussie represent. We're back in the fight.
I reckon they'll kick some arse, then enjoy Shrimp on the Barbie with some vegemite sandwiches and Foster's Lager.
Thanks for posting
Someone should translate the old saying, "An army marches on its stomach" in Japanese.
I've watched a considerable amount of this series. It seems so much happened before the dropping of the two atom bombs... wonder how much of it wouldn't have occurred had the bombs been dropped earlier?
The bombs weren’t fully ready till summer. It was the slaughter of American troops as we took Okinawa and the suicide dive bombing by Japanese 16-18 year olds, the original “I don’t need to learn how to land” corps, that pushed Truman into the decision to drop the bomb. They could have surrendered after the first bomb hit. They didn’t. It took the second hit three days later. Even then, some of their generals still did not want to surrender. One source I recall stated that the bombing saved the lives of the 50,000 or more Aussies and Americans who would have died wading ashore each of the separate islands of Japan itself until final victory. Of course such bombing was horrific. So would have been a ground invasion.
@@alainaaugust1932 I know the purpose of the bombs, and I know that the US was ready to drop a third. The plane was on the runway when the Japanese finally surrendered. But the question was more of a hypothetical of what could have occurred or wouldn't have had the bombs been finished and dropped earlier.
I have no words I'm just... Wau.
Never heard of this battle. Very interesting. Thanks for covering!
Hope you also talk about the Hump airlift and Ledo road which was lifeline from India to China
The Allies realizing the overwhelming importance of air power built an Air Field at Wau that ran downhill and ended in a Mountain, it was the only place anywhere near to put a runway.
love it!!
Very Nice
There the Australian go, making everyone look bad 🇦🇺
Gallipoli would like to speak with you. Bring Mel Gibson.
@@Matthew10950 Don't forget the Lancashire Fusiliers. Six VCs before Breakfast!
That's what we do :)
we need more napoleonic war videos, kings stopped making them right at the end of napoleons golden age and the start of his downfall, sad how a few early series were never completed
Much better maps thanks
Wow just wow.
U guys are awesome
The carelessness of Japanese command towards logistics amazes me. You hardly need to be Napoleon Bonaparte to realize that well-fed, well-supplied men fight more effectively than starving men running out of ammunition; yet for months, Japanese command has sent men into positions without adequate provisions or reliable means of resupply. What the devil makes these officers waste valuable soldiers like this?
Battle of Wow what a surprise
This video just makes me say one thing. Wau!
Valuable vedio.
Aussies kick ass! proud history!
wau, this is a good video
I’m going to ask kings and generals please let me know when is the video of the India about 1 am to present (historical videos) coming out
Wow, battle of Wau!