Following this, the 7th Division provided security for a number of airfields that were constructed in the territory they had captured in the valleys. To assist with this, the 6th Machine Gun Battalion was brought up from Port Moresby to defend Gusap. However, the Japanese remained in strong possession of the Finisterre Range, and their positions at Kankiryo Saddle north of the Ramu river and the high razorback ridge named Shaggy Ridge, continued to threaten the airfields. This threat manifested itself in the road that the Japanese were attempting to build from Madang on the coast inland to Nadzab, via Bogadjim, along which they were hoping to advance through to Dumpu.