The siege of Toma was a bloodless action during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

on the island of New Pomerania (now

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...

) between 14 and 17 September 1914 as part of the occupation of

German New Guinea German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...

by the

Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) was a small volunteer force of approximately 2,000 men, raised in Australia shortly after the outbreak of World War I to seize and destroy German wireless stations in German New Guin ...

(AN&MEF). Australian forces had been dispatched to seize and destroy German

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

stations in the south-west

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

because they were used by the German East Asian Cruiser Squadron of Vice-Admiral

Maximilian von Spee Maximilian Johannes Maria Hubert Reichsgraf von Spee (22 June 1861 – 8 December 1914) was a naval officer of the German ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy), who commanded the East Asia Squadron during World War I. Spee entered the navy in ...

which threatened

merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are u ...

ping in the region.

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

provided a similar force for the

occupation of German Samoa The Occupation of Samoa was the takeover – and subsequent administration – of the Pacific colony of German Samoa by New Zealand during World War I. It started in late August 1914 with landings by the Samoa Expeditionary Force from New Zeala ...

. Ultimately the German colonial government was forced to surrender after being surrounded, ending the last significant resistance in the territory.

Prelude

The

(AN&MEF) reached

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

on 11 September, finding the port free of German forces. Small parties of naval reservists landed at Kabakaul and Herbertshöhe on

Neu-Pommern New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Da ...

, south-east of Rabaul. These parties were reinforced firstly by sailors and later by infantry and proceeded inland to capture the radio station believed to be in operation at Bita Paka, to the south.Coulthard-Clark 1998, p. 96. The Australians were resisted by a mixed force of German reservists and Melanesian native police, who forced them to fight their way to the objective. By nightfall the radio station was reached, and it was found to have been abandoned, the mast dropped but its instruments and machinery intact. During the fighting at Bita Paka seven Australians were killed and five wounded, while the defenders lost one German NCO and about 30 Melanesians killed, and one German and ten Melanesians wounded.Coulthard-Clark 1998, p. 97. At nightfall on 12 September, the AN&MEF infantry battalion was landed at Rabaul. The following afternoon, a ceremony was carried out to signal the British occupation of New Britain despite the fact that the German governor had not surrendered the territory.Bean 1946, p. 36.

Siege

Meanwhile, after their defeat at Bita Paka on 11 September the remaining German forces retreated to Toma, believing they would have time to recuperate before the Australians arrived. Unknown to the Germans however, an advanced party of 200 Australians had followed them from Bita Paka and surrounded the town, proceeding to bombard it with a 12-pound field piece. The

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...

also arrived on the scene, and fired several shells at a ridge nearby. The German governor, Eduard Haber, knew his small force would eventually have to surrender but continued to hold out for several days hoping that the

German East Asia Squadron The German East Asia Squadron (german: Kreuzergeschwader / Ostasiengeschwader) was an Imperial German Navy cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the mid-1890s until 1914, when it was destroyed at the Battle of the Fa ...

would arrive to relieve them.Odgers 1994, p.42. Nevertheless, the show of Australian firepower was sufficient to start negotiations, forcing Haber to realise that his hopes were futile. The Germans subsequently made favourable terms with the Australians, surrendering the colony and ending the siege. Terms were signed on 17 September and all military resistance ceased, with the remaining 40 German soldiers and 110 natives surrendering on 21 September. Haber was allowed to return to Germany while German civilians could remain as long as they swore an

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to ...

of neutrality. Those who refused were transported to Australia from where they could freely travel back to Germany.

Aftermath

With the government's surrender, nearly all of German New Guinea came under Australian control. The majority of the Germans living there were interned and later deported. Only a few isolated bands of German forces continued to resist after the fall of Toma. By 1915, the only remaining German resistance in the colony besides the occasional merchant raider was Leutnant

Hermann Detzner Hermann Philipp Detzner (16 October 1882 – 1 December 1970) was a German engineer and surveyor, who served as an officer in the German colonial security force (''Schutztruppe'') in ''Kamerun'' (Cameroon) and German New Guinea. He gained fame fo ...

and his band of 20 native police who evaded capture in the interior of New Guinea for the entire war. Following the capture of German possessions in the region, the AN&MEF provided occupation forces for the duration of the war.Mackenzie 1941, pp. 105–126.

Notes

References

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External links

The Battle of Bita Paka, 1914

New Guinea Rulers Saved by a 'Bluff' – New York Times

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toma, Siege of Conflicts in 1914 1914 in German New Guinea 1914 in Papua New Guinea Battles of the Asian and Pacific Theatre (World War I) Battles of World War I involving Australia Battles of World War I involving Germany Battles and conflicts without fatalities German New Guinea September 1914 events Sieges involving Germany Toma Toma