Port Moresby (Bomona) War Cemetery

Port Moresby (Bomona) War Cemetery Review

This cemetery is of particular significance to visitors of one nationality, since the majority of those who lie here were Australian. Port Moresby's strategic natural harbor and its proximity to Australia placed it high on the Japanese wish list in World War II. After an attempt to take the city by sea was thwarted in the Coral Sea in May 1942, a decision was made to approach it overland instead. Japanese forces landed on the north coast of New Guinea in July 1942, and they made it as far as a ridge 56 km (35 miles) from Port Moresby before their advance was finally halted in September. The cemetery contains 3,825 victims of the fighting, of whom around 700 are unidentified. At one end of the cemetery is a large memorial, a white circular rotunda commemorating around 750 officers and men of the Australian Army, Merchant Navy, and Air Force who gave their lives during the operations in Papua and who have no known grave. The cemetery is around 18 km (11 miles) north of the city, on the road to Nine Mile. It is approached via a side road called Pilgrims Way.