Douglas MacArthur, the man possessed by an idea, was still taking dead aim on the lost Philippines. Last week he moved 200 miles closer to his target.
A powerful, seasoned invasion team —Army, Navy and Air — swung along the north coast of New Guinea, pounced on Biak, a large island only 300 miles from New Guinea's western tip. Once taken — a job at which the task force was bloodily busy this week — Biak would be a real strategic asset to the U.S. in its drive into Japan's inner defenses.
Biak has three airfields. It is less than 900 miles from Davao on the southern tip of the Philippines, about 500 miles from Palau, the Jap naval base in the western Carolines.
Trumpeted Douglas MacArthur: "For strategic purposes this marks the practical end of the New Guinea campaign. The final stage has also been reached in the offense initiated in this theater on June 29, 1943 [Rendova Island attack], . . .
These operations . . . have secured bases of departure for the advance to its vital areas in the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies. . . .
"The results of the offensive which was launched in this theater eleven months ago have more than fulfilled my most optimistic hopes and expectations."
According to Plan. The first step — -the beachhead — of the "final stage" went off smoothly. At Biak, largest of the is lands in the Schouten group, it was clear dawn. Offshore, the invasion task force under Rear Admiral William M. Fechteler hove to before the rock-pointed sandy beach at the southeastern heel of the island. From cruisers and destroyers poured a 19-minute barrage.
Tracers flamed into the trees and bamboo thickets beyond the sand. Suddenly they stopped, and the Liberators poured over, bombing and laying down smoke. Small landing craft and barges zigzagged through the surf to land infantry.
The Enemy Was Waiting. As the green-clad soldiers piled out of the boats, the Japs opened up with mortar and machine gun. Allied rocket boats darted inshore, hurling their fireballs. Destroyers smashed at shore batteries. Under the curtain, more infantry poured in. The fire of American tommy guns, machine guns, carbines and mortars grew stronger.
Soon tanks rolled up the beaches, supplies piled up. Barges were coming in to Japanese jetties now, landing the troops dry-shod. The enemy backed up before a smartly executed amphibious assault.
Four hours and 15 minutes after the first troops landed, American infantry was two and a half miles inland, moving toward the first yellow coral airstrip. Although opposition developed at the secondary landing on the east flank, the beachhead was secure.
Work to Be Done. The Southwest Pacific campaign had indeed reached a strategic milestone, but tactically there was a lot of fighting unfinished. MacArthur's forces had hopped-skipped-jumped 800 miles in little more than a month, made three major landings. But each new landing left patches of bitter fighting behind.