Operation Squarepeg ─ The Allied Invasion of the Green Islands, February 1944

In late January 1944 a force of New Zealand soldiers and Allied specialists undertook a daring, behind the lines reconnaissance of the Japanese-held Green Islands of Papua New Guinea. The New Zealand Army's largest amphibious operation of World War II followed two weeks later. The Japanese contested the invasion with air power and inflicted heavy damage on the American cruiser USS St. Louis. After a successful landing, the New Zealanders pushed inland and encountered fanatical Japanese defenders entrenched in thick jungle. After the island was secured, Allied engineers—including the famed Seabees—built airfields, roads and shipping facilities. The seizure of the Green Islands completed the encirclement of the main Japanese base in the South Pacific at Rabaul. A memorable but overlooked action of the Pacific War, “Operation Squarepeg” involved a diverse force of Allied sailors, soldiers and airmen that included Charles Lindbergh and future president of the United States Richard Milhouse Nixon.

Reg Newell has a doctoral degree from Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand (dissertation on New Zealand’s Third Division in the Pacific) and continues researching the Pacific War. He lives in Upper Hutt, New Zealand.