Operation Locust was an operation by M Special Unit in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was held in conjunction with the better known

Operation Whiting Operation Whiting was a military operation by Dutch and Australian forces during World War II in New Guinea by M Special Unit. It ran in conjunction with Operation Locust, and resulted in the capture and execution of Leonard Siffleet in October 19 ...

Mission

The mission was led by Lieutenant Jack Fryer, with Lieutenant Guy Black, Lieutenant Harry Aiken, and Sergeant Les (Tas) Baillie as radio operator, plus local bearers. It involved an extensive trek through Japanese-occupied territory in New Guinea, leaving from

Bena Bena Benabena is a stretch of valley that extends to the east of Goroka town in the west and borders with the Upper Ramu area of the Madang Province to the north, the Ungaii District to its south and the Henganofi District to its east. The name "Bena Be ...

on 21 January 1943. The trek went for six months until 14 June 1943 when they reached the Lumi airstrip in the Torricelli mountains. Locust established a base camp here and started observing Japanese. However the locals were very hostile and after the disaster of

a decision was made to withdraw. The patrol left on 27 November 1943 from Kokiabu on the Sepik River and flown to

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

. According to one account, "Locust did bring back with it some information on defences and dispositions, as well as sketches of inland routes, and that intelligence was subsequently of value to the Australian forces. But the reality was that by the time the Australians reached the Aitape area, they could have mounted aerial surveillance and done much the same job."

References

{{Australian Commando raids of the Second World War 1943 in Papua New Guinea Locust South West Pacific theatre of World War II