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The Landing at Aitape (Operation Persecution) was a battle of the Western New Guinea campaign of World War II. American and Allied forces undertook an amphibious landing on 22 April 1944 at Aitape on northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The amphibious landing was undertaken simultaneously with the amphibious landings of Battle of Hollandia at Hollandia to isolate the Japanese 18th Army at Wewak. ==Background== Aitape was occupied by the Japanese on 1 April 1942. The Japanese built Tadji Airfield a few miles southeast near the coast. The South West Pacific Area Headquarters were advised by intelligence reports that Aitape was only lightly garrisoned, and General MacArthur decided in March 1944 to invade Aitape in order to bypass the large Japanese garrisons at Hansa Bay and Wewak. The objective was to isolate the Japanese 18th Army at Wewak, to provide flank protection against any westward movement by the Japanese 18th Army towards Hollandia, to secure Tadji Airfield to provide support to the more important Hollandia landings after the carriers of Task Force 58 (TF 58) departed, and to establish light naval facilities at Aitape to support further operations. Operation Persecution and Operation Reckless were supported by 217 ships, to transport and protect the 80,000 men, their equipment, and supplies over to conduct the separate amphibious landings at Aitape and Hollandia deep in enemy territory. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Landing at Aitape」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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