In the Pacific Islands, World War II came first as a reverberation of distant events. The French Resident in the New Hebrides, a hybrid colony administered jointly by France and Britain, quickly opted for the Allies, but for months the governors of French territories prevaricated. Australia and New Zealand, as British dominions, sent armies to aid Britain, including a Maori battalion which saw action in Greece in 1942. Japan mounted assaults from bases stretching from one end of its Micronesian territory to the other, from Saipan to Kwajalein. The Allied reoccupation of territory was relentless, leaving Japanese on many Islands isolated from supplies as the Americans leapfrogged north and north-west towards Japan. The Australians' departure from Kieta on Bougainville was an even greater blow to white prestige. The Japanese evacuated entire populations as the American threat loomed. While some Islanders fought, many more laboured for the military forces. The Japanese thought the crossing of Papua would be simple.