Tenure
|
Portrait
|
Incumbent
|
Notes
|
Commissioner of German New Guinea (1885–1887)
|
1885 to January 1887 |
|
Gustav von Oertzen [de] |
|
Landeshauptleute of the German New Guinea Company (1886–1889)
|
10 June 1886 to 1 March 1888 |
|
Georg von Schleinitz |
|
1 March 1888 to 31 October 1889 |
|
Reinhold Kraetke [de] |
|
Commissioner of German New Guinea (1889–1892)
|
1 November 1889 to 31 August 1892 |
|
Fritz Rose [de] |
Acting to 30 September 1890
|
Landeshauptleute of the German New Guinea Company (1892–1899)
|
1 September 1892 to 3 March 1895 |
|
Georg Schmiele [de] |
|
3 March 1895 to 17 August 1896 |
|
Hugo Rüdiger [de] |
|
22 September 1896 to 13 August 1897 |
|
Curt von Hagen [de] |
Died in office
|
15 August 1897 to 11 September 1897 |
|
Albert Hahl |
First time, acting
|
11 September 1897 to 31 March 1899 |
|
Hugo Skopnik [de] |
|
In 1899, following the German–Spanish Treaty, the German Empire assumed direct control of the colony from the German New Guinea Company, appointing a governor.
|
Governors of German New Guinea (1899–1914)
|
1 April 1899 to 10 July 1901 |
|
Rudolf von Bennigsen |
|
10 July 1901 to 13 April 1914 |
|
Albert Hahl |
Second time, acting to 10 November 1902
|
13 April 1914 to 17 October 1914 |
|
Eduard Haber |
Acting
|
In 1914, as part of the Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I, an expeditionary force from Australia called the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) captured and occupied the territory following the Battle of Bita Paka and the Siege of Toma. In 1920, the territory was turned into a League of Nations mandate, administered by Australia, and formalized with the passage of the New Guinea Act 1920.
|
Military Administrators of the Territory of New Guinea (1914–1921)
|
11 November 1914 to 8 January 1915 |
|
Colonel William Holmes |
Killed in the Battle of Messines (1917)
|
8 January 1915 to 21 October 1917 |
|
Colonel Samuel Pethebridge |
|
21 October 1917 to 21 April 1918 |
|
Seaforth Simpson Mackenzie |
Acting
|
21 April 1918 to 1 May 1920 |
|
George Johnston |
|
1 May 1920 to 21 March 1921 |
|
Thomas Griffiths |
First time
|
Administrators of the Territory of New Guinea (1921–1942)
|
21 May 1921 to 13 June 1933 |
|
Evan Wisdom |
|
13 June 1933 to 12 September 1934 |
|
Thomas Griffiths |
Second time, acting
|
12 September 1934 to December 1942 |
|
Walter McNicoll |
From 14 December 1937, Sir Walter Ramsay McNicoll; in Australia from 24 January 1942
|
24 January 1942 to 12 February 1942 |
|
Kenneth Carlyle McMullen |
Acting for McNicoll
|
Japanese Commanders of occupied New Guinea (1942–1945)
|
21 January 1942 to 1942 |
|
Tomitarō Horii |
|
9 November 1942 to 13 September 1945 |
|
Hatazō Adachi |
Commander of the 18th Army
|
9 November 1942 to 6 September 1945 |
|
Hitoshi Imamura |
Commander of the 8th Area Army, based at Rabaul, in charge of New Guinea islands
|
U.S. Military Commanders (1943–1944)
|
June 1943 to September 1944 |
|
Walter Krueger |
Commander of the 6th Army
|
September 1944 to December 1944 |
|
Robert L. Eichelberger |
Commander of the 8th Army
|
Heads of the New Guinea Administrative Unit (1942)
|
14 February 1942 to 15 February 1942 |
|
George Wilfred Lambert Townsend |
Based in Port Moresby
|
15 February 1942 to 10 April 1942 |
|
Kenneth Carlyle McMullen |
Based in Port Moresby
|