hours of 23 January 1942, 5,000 Japanese marines began to land. Some faced fierce resistance, but because of the balance of forces, many landed unopposed. Amidst the onslaught, fighting took place around Simpson Harbour, Keravia Bay and Raluana Point, while a company of troops from the 2/22nd and NGVR fought to hold the Japanese around Vulcan Beach. Nevertheless, the Japanese were able to bypass most of the resistance and move inland, and after a short fight, Lakunai airfield had been captured by the Japanese force. Following this, the Lark Force commander, Lieutenant Colonel John Scanlan, ordered the Australian soldiers and civilians to split into small groups and retreat through the jungle. Only the RAAF had made evacuation plans and its personnel were removed by flying boats and a single Hudson bomber. The Australian Army had made no preparations for guerrilla warfare, and most soldiers surrendered during the following weeks. At least 130 Australians, taken prisoner at the Tol Plantation, were massacred on 4 February 1942. From mainland New Guinea, some civilians and individual officers organised unofficial rescue missions and—between March and May—about 450 troops and civilians who had managed to evade the Japanese, were evacuated by sea. At least 800 soldiers and civilian prisoners of war lost their lives on 1 July 1942, when the ship on which they were sent from Rabaul to Japan, the Montevideo Maru, was sunk off the north coast of Luzon by the US submarine USS Sturgeon. A handful of Lark Force members remained at large on New Britain and—often in conjunction with indigenous people—conducted guerrilla operations against the Japanese. Rabaul became the biggest Japanese base in New Guinea. Allied forces landed in December 1943, although substantial Japanese forces continued to operate on New Britain until Japan surrendered in August 1945. By the end of the Pacific War, more than 600 members of the 2/22nd Battalion had died. Ambon The island of Ambon, in the Dutch East Indies, was perceived to be under threat from Japan because of its potential as a major air base. However, by mid-December 1941, only two flights of RAAF light bombers were deployed there, along with assorted obsolete US Navy and Royal Netherlands Navy aircraft. The 8th Division's 1,100-strong Gull Force, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Leonard Roach, commanding officer of the 2/21st Battalion, arrived on 17 December. In addition to the 2/21st Battalion, it included 8th Division artillery and support