Landing at Lae

The Landing at Lae was an amphibious landing to the east of Lae in the Salamaua-Lae campaign of World War II between 4–6 September 1943. It was part of Operation POSTERN which was designed to capture the Japanese base at Lae. Rear Admiral Daniel Barby was in command of Task Force 76 which landed the Australian 9th Division on the beaches. The Australian soldiers and their supplies were moved close to the area by planes, prior to the beach landings. This was described at the time by war correspondent Frank Klukhorn, of the New York Times, as "...one of the greatest achievements in any theatre of war."

Extensive planning had gone into the Salamaua-Lae campaign. The landing sites identified were Red Beach to the east of the mouth of the Buso River and Yellow Beach near Hopoi. Maps and models of the landing sites were made, and kept closely guarded. Soldiers were made familiar with models of the beaches they would be landing at, but the names of the beaches were kept secret.

The 9th Division quickly established a beachhead and began a pincer advance towards Lae with the Australian 7th Division. The amphibious landing was unopposed by Imperial Japanese land forces who were short of food and ammunition. Japanese bombers staged an air attack on the second wave of amphibious landings, and killed about 100 Allied naval and army personnel.