U.S. SOLDIERS FIRING A 37-MM. GUN M3A1 into enemy positions. The 37-mm. gun was the lightest weapon of the field-gun type used by the U.S. Army. Japanese tactics during the Buna campaign were strictly defensive; for the most part the enemy dug himself in and waited for Allied troops to cross his final protective line.
NEW GUINEA
A NATIVE DRAWING A MAP to show the position of the enemy forces. In general, the islanders were very friendly to the Allies; their work throughout the campaign, in moving supplies over the treacherous trails and in rescuing Allied survivors of downed aircraft, was excellent.
NEW GUINEA
INFANTRYMEN READY TO FIRE .30-CALIBER M1 RIFLES into an enemy dugout before entering it for inspection (top); looking at a captured Japanese antiaircraft gun found in a bombproof shelter in the Buna area (bottom). Enemy fortifications covered all the approaches to his bases except by sea, and were not easily discerned because of fast growing tropical vegetation which gave them a natural camouflage.
NEW GUINEA