The Landing at Nadzab was an airborne landing on 5 September 1943 during the New Guinea campaign of World War II. It began with a parachute drop into Nadzab by the US Army's 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment and elements of the Australian Army. The drop, which took place in conjunction with the Landing at Lae, was observed by General Douglas MacArthur, circling overhead in a B-17. Australian and Papuan troops reached Nadzab that same day after an overland and river trek. The first transport aircraft carrying troops of the Australian 7th Division landed the next morning, but an air crash at Jackson's Field caused half the Allied casualties of the battle. The 7th Division advanced on Lae from Nadzab. On 11 September, it defeated a Japanese force at Heath's Plantation. During this engagement, Private Richard Kelliher won the Victoria Cross, Australia's highest award for gallantry. The Japanese Army elected not to fight for Lae, preferring instead to withdraw over the rugged Saruwaged Range, which proved to be a gruelling test of endurance. Nadzab was then developed and became the major Allied air base in New Guinea.
