up along the beachhead. 35 minutes later as the 26th Brigade came ashore, they were attacked by nine Japanese aircraft which inflicted a number of casualties on the Australians in the LCIs, with eight personnel being killed, including the commanding officer of the 2/23rd Battalion, while another 20 were wounded. The following day, the 26th Brigade passed through the perimeter that had been set up by the 20th Brigade and began to advance along the coast towards Lae, crossing the Buso river before nightfall on 5 September. That night, the 24th Brigade, which had been held back as the divisional reserve, landed at the beachhead. After establishing their supply bases the two Australian divisions raced each other to Lae. The 7th Division entered the town several hours ahead of the 9th Division on 16 September. The 9th Division's advance had been held up by Japanese resistance and difficulties with crossing the rivers between the landing beaches and Lae. Huon Peninsula campaign The capture of Lae ahead of schedule meant that the focus of Allied operations could then be shifted upon an advance up the Huon Peninsula, which was strategically important to the Allies as it would allow them to establish air and naval bases for future operations. On 22 September 1943, only six days after the fall of Lae, the 20th Brigade made an amphibious landing at Scarlet Beach, north of Finschhafen. Because of the haste with which the operation had been put together, there had been no time for rehearsals and this, coupled with faulty maps and the fact that the landing took place in darkness, resulted in the majority of the brigade being landed on the wrong beach. Allied intelligence estimates of Japanese strength around Finschhafen were also faulty, with an expected force of between 500 and 2,100, although the Japanese really had around 5,000 personnel in the area. Nevertheless, after a week of heavy fighting against well-entrenched Japanese troops, the Australians captured the town and airfield of Finschhafen, declaring it liberated on 2 October. However, most of the Japanese that had been around Finschhafen managed to retreat to a mountain around Sattelberg. On 16 October they launched a counterattack from there. In response to this, the 26th Brigade was brought up to relieve the 20th, and by 25 October the Japanese counterattack was beaten off. The 9th Division then went on the offensive against Sattelberg on 7