In the months that followed, MacArthur�s forces pushed westward, capturing some Japanese strongholds and bypassing others. Enemy resistance at Salamaua broke on 14 September 1943 Lae fell two days later. The Allies dropped paratroops at Nadzab, just beyond Lae. Fifth Air Force bombers attacked airfields at Wewak, 300 miles west of Lae, to neutralize them. Salamaua and Lae then became the objectives for an Allied advance along the northern coast of New Guinea. Their attempt to reinforce Lae by sea in March 1943 met with disaster when American and Australian planes sank most of the convoy in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. After the loss of Buna and Gona in New Guinea, the Japanese fell back on their stronghold at Lae.
