history · 03 February 1942 · 82 years ago
Lieutenant Tadaichi Noda led a group of Japanese troops to the Tol plantation on the southern coast of the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain and captured 180 Australian troops hiding there; the Australians were given hot meals, the first they had for several days; the prisoners, however, did not realize that most of them would only have days to live. Hours later, after sundown, Australian Catalina aircraft flew over Rabaul, New Britain and were engaged by Japanese A5M4 fighters; all aircraft on both sides survived this first dogfight over Rabaul since Japanese conquest.
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