Page "Battle of the Bismarck Sea" Paragraph 43

The planned movement of the 20th Division to Madang was revised in the light of what had occurred in the Bismarck Sea.

The operation was postponed for two days, and the destination was altered from Madang to Hansa Bay further west.

To reduce the Allied air threat, the Allied airfield at Wau was bombed on 9 March, and that at Dobodura on 11 March.

Three Allied aircraft were destroyed on the ground, and one P-40 was lost in the air, but the Allied fighters claimed to have shot down nine Japanese planes.

The transports reached Hansa Bay unscathed on 12 March, and the troops made their way down to Madang on foot or in barges.

The 20th Division then became involved in an attempt to construct a road from Madang to Lae through the Ramu and Markham Valleys.

It would toil on the road for the next few months, but its efforts would ultimately be frustrated by New Guinea's weather and the rugged terrain of the Finisterre Range.