The grueling seven-month campaign from 7-22-1942 to 1-22-1943, for the recapture of Buna (on the coast of New Guinea) was a turning point in WWII. General D. MacArthur landed in Australia, only to find out he had been rescued to a sector nearly menaced as the Phillipines.

Battle for Buna

Contemporaneous with Guadalcanal, with more casualties and a similarly steep learning curve for men and officers, the Battle for Buna was a bloody disaster from start to finish. Led by, a man with a great ego, Douglas MacArthur, far from the battle lines, luxuriously and safely ensconced in Australia with directives such as "sweep them into the sea" and "we need total victory" produced combat much like that of WW1 with futile charges into very strong defensive positions held by a very determined enemy. Even the Japanese wondered why "we did not pass them by and leave them to starve". Few of the survivors, on either side, we're ever used in combat again.
The good news is that it did lead to MacArthur bypassing Rabaul. The bad news is that he repeated his mistake by invading Peleliu, which like Buna secured airfields that were not necessary. An ugly early story of WW2 well told. ( )