The tanks were used to lay aerial smoke screens in combat during the airdrop of the US Army's 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment paratroopers at Nadzab, New Guinea in 1943.
On 13 September 1943, during the Battle of Lae, the platoon to which Private Kelliher was attached came under very heavy fire from a concealed Japanese machine gun, at Heath's Plantation.
Knots Landing | Landing gear | Advanced Landing Ground | Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee | Landing Vehicle Tracked | Landing Craft Support | Landing Ship, Tank | landing gear | Landing at Nadzab | landing craft | Jetplane Landing | Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces | Instrument Landing System | Conventional landing gear | conventional landing gear | Water landing | Penn's Landing | Nadzab | Moon landing | emergency landing | belly landing | tricycle landing gear | Take Off and Landing | Pickwick Landing Dam | Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Ford Island | Moss Landing, California | moon landing | Larkspur Landing | Landing Ship Medium | Landing Craft Infantry |
The contingent consisted of 250 servicemen and women, drawn from the three services, including Private Richard Kelliher, who had won the Victoria Cross in the Battle of Lae in 1943.
During World War II, the islands were briefly occupied by the Japanese; Tami Islands were secured after the landings and Nassau Bay, Lae and Nadzab.