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BM says 61 Bn in bad state, troops when fired on rush back in disorder leaving theirofficers. They are frightened to move out of their perimeters. Patrols go out and do notcomplete their tasks, sit in jungle and wait for time to elapse, then come in. Brig is veryworried naturally.138The relief was complete by 26 March and the 61st Battalion assumed responsibilityfor lines of communication security and was also tasked to remain readyto assist the 25th Battalion.139 In light of subsequent events it is hard not to agreewith Dexter’s assessment that this relief was akin to ‘going from the frying paninto the fire’.140As one observer from the 9th Battalion wrote, ‘It seems that the 25th Battalionwere destined to take the honours in this campaign’.141 In late January a companywas initially tasked to patrol inland along the Tavera River, but very quicklyMcKinna’s main effort became moving his forces southwards to Toko via a seriesof small amphibious landings. By late February the bulk of the battalion hadbeen concentrated in this area and Barara was secured. On 1 March the battalionreceived orders to spearhead the brigade’s movement south of the Puriata River,which was commenced on 4 March. For the remainder of the month the battalionencountered increasingly strong Japanese opposition. On 19 March McKinnalaunched a two company attack to clear the Buin Road, running south from thePuriata River. The ensuing two-hour firefight was eventually ended by a companybayonet charge. The CO commented that it was the ‘bloodiest fight he had seen’.142Australian losses were five dead, including two officers, and seventeen wounded,with twenty-nine Japanese confirmed dead. In a follow up attack three days laterCorporal R.R. Rattey won a Victoria Cross.143By this time it was evident that a major Japanese offensive was developing. Acompany from the 25th Battalion was heavily attacked by a large Japanese forceduring the night of 29–30 March and was forced to withdrawal to a neighbouring138 Matthews diary 14, 18, 20 and 21 March 1945, AWM PR89/079, Item 5.139 61 Infantry Battalion War Diary, 20 March 1945, February–March 1945, AWM 52,Item 8/3/96.140 Dexter, ‘The Battalion – My Home’, p. 167, AWM PR01182, Item 4141 Schacht, My War on Bougainville, p. 190.142 Matthews diary 14, 19 March 1945, AWM PR89/079, Item 5.143 Long, The Final Campaigns, pp. 154–5; Field’s diary, 19 February 1945, AWM3DRL6937, Item 7.A tale of three battalions — 29