Bloody Buna

 

This page contains information on the fighting in and around the Mission at Buna during December of 1942.  The area where the battle was fought is on the north side of present day Papua New Guinea to the east of Lae.  While this site contains historical information, it also contains some present day pictures of the area. 

 

Website Purpose:

It is my sincere hope that surviving veterans my enjoy viewing some of the present day pictures of the battlefield where a short but very intense portion of their life was spent.  Not enough has been written about the battle that these soldiers fought in and to my knowledge, post war pictures of the battlefield have not been available..

My second reason is quite personal.  A very good friend of mine lost his father in the battle.  In the odd way that life has of dealing us our cards, he was unable to know his father beyond age 5.  I'm hoping that there may be some veteran's from the 126th Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division that may remember Captain William Francis (Jimmy) Boice and have a few stories to pass on to a son that was not fated to hear his father's own stories.

Email: Rugens@aol.com

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The map and pictures are large files and can take a long time to load depending on your internet connection speed.  Please have patience.

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Map:

Hopefully this map will help you to get your bearings in the pictures below.  The three main landmarks are the Government Gardens, The Triangle and The Coconut Grove.

 

Pictures:

  1. Coastline approaching Buna from west.

  2. Another picture of the coastline west of Buna with village.

  3. Another picture of the coastline getting close to Buna.  Sunken Japanese submarine is visible under the water just off the beach.

  4. Good view of Buna coastal area.  Government Gardens can be seen on the right.

  5. View of Government Gardens with the Triangle in the background.

  6. Good closer picture of the government gardens.

  7. Near Government Gardens from the air.

  8. Villager's watching the chopper land in the Government Garden with a wary eye.

  9. Friendly village elder's acting as guides.

  10. Some other people from the local village by the Government Gardens.

  11. Entrance Creek.

  12. A view to the small island in the middle of Entrance Creek.

  13. Tangle of roots on the bank of the creek.

  14. View from the little island.

  15. A villager with his hand on a steel beam that was a part of a bridge constructed by the US Army during the war.  This was the only item in the area remaining from the battle.

  16. A view of the Triangle from the position where Captain Boice was killed on 12/19/42.

  17. #1 of six pictures of villager's and party around Government Gardens.

  18. #2 of six pictures of villager's and party around Government Gardens.

  19. #3 of six pictures of villager's and party around Government Gardens.

  20. #4 of six pictures of villager's and party around Government Gardens.

  21. #5 of six pictures of villager's and party around Government Gardens.

  22. #6 of six pictures of villager's and party around Government Gardens.

  23. #1 of three pictures leaving Government Gardens by air.

  24. #2 of three pictures leaving Government Gardens by air.

  25. #3 of three pictures leaving Government Gardens by air.

  26. Picture of Coconut Grove which was a staging area on 12/18/19 for the assault on 12/19/02.

  27. Great picture from the US side.  The Triangle is the nearer open area.  The Government Gardens is the larger open area behind.  The Buna Mission which no longer exists would have been in the jungle at the left of the picture next to the water.

  28. Another good view of the battlefield from the Japanese side.  The mission was near the beach and is now covered completely with jungle.  You can clearly see the Government Gardens (the nearer open area) and the Triangle just beyond.  The Coconut Grove is still visible just to the right of both the Triangle and Gardens area.  Near the bottom right of the picture you can just see "The Island", scene of much of the earlier fighting, and the inlet leading to it.