Pongani is a village on the north coast of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

Dyke Ackland Bay Dyke Ackland Bay is a large bay in the Oro Province of Papua New Guinea. The bay extends from Cape Nelson to Cape Ward Hunt. Porlock Bay and Oro Bay are some of the smaller bays located within the larger bay. The bay was named by Captain John Mo ...

Oro Province Oro Province, formerly (and officially still) Northern Province, is a coastal Provinces of Papua New Guinea, province in the Southern Region, Papua New Guinea, Southern Region of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Popondetta. The provinc ...

History

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the area around the village was used as a staging area for allied forces for the

Battle of Buna-Gona A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. The

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

126th Infantry Regiment The 126th Infantry Regiment ("Second Michigan") is a United States military unit of the Michigan Army National Guard. The 126th was originally an infantry regiment, then was converted into an armoured role, and then was converted to a light ca ...

and 128th Infantry Regiment of the 32nd Infantry Division together with

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n 2/6th Independent Company staged in Pongani before heading towards offensives in Buna,

Sanananda Sanananda is a village on the coast of Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. History Sanananda was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1942 during World War II and became a heavily fortified defensive area. It was liberated by the Australian Army ...

and Gona. A

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

supply dump was constructed in the area and was used for supplies coming via sea, and later after Pongani Airfield was built, by air.

References

Pongani

Populated places in Oro Province {{OroProvince-geo-stub