July 1942 (1)

Kokoda Trail, Papua, New Guinea

 

2 July – MacArthur decided to secure the Papuan Peninsula and land 3,000 additional Australian troops, but the enemy had moved faster.  Operation Providence for New Guinea could not now be rushed.  Only a few hundred native militia and one company (500) of the 29th Australian Infantry stood in defense from a powerful enemy.

Kokoda, only airstrip for a hundred miles

4 July – American submarines torpedoes 4 enemy destroyers around the Aleutian Island in Alaska; 3 at Kiska and one at Agatter.  Three of the Japanese vessels sank.

7-12 July – Australian troops made a five-day march across the Owen Stanley Mountains in southern Papua, New Guinea.  They set up defensive positions along the Kokoda Trail which snaked from coast to coast.

21-29 July – the Japanese 18th Army landed at Buna, New Guinea on the northern coast of Papua in a renewed attempt to move across the Owen Stanley Mts. and take Port Moresby.  Under MGen. Tomitaro Horii, 13,000 troops and 1,000 bearers, in his South Seas Force, marched in for a surprise attack.  Should this operation be successful, Port Moresby would become the launching  site for the bombing and invasion of Queensland.  The impossible conditions of this territory would be the site of some of the bloodiest and most desperate fighting of the entire war.

William Owen

Australian commander, Lt.Colonel William Taylor Owen, 39th Battalion, of Leongatha, Victoria, lost his life during this battle in the mountainous, rain-soaked jungles along with many of his men.  Owen was taking part in close fighting with the enemy in the most forward position in Seekamp’s sector, on the very lip of the plateau.  He was throwing grenades when a bullet struck him and he died on 29 July 1942, aged 37 years.  Owen was the first Australian to receive the American Distinguished Service Cross.

Horii’s specially jungle-trained troops by-passed a few Australian positions to take the town.  One of the Japanese diaries found, read: “The sun is fierce here.  We make our way through the jungle where there are no roads.  The jungle is beyond description.  Thirst for water, stomach empty.”  The north African combat experienced 7th Australian Division were in the process of being shipped to Papua as MacArthur spoke at a press conference, “We’ll defend Australia in New Guinea.  We must attack, attack, attack!”

Australian 7th Division, New Guinea

MGen. George C. Kenney arrived to take over the Southwest Pacific Forces Air Command of 245 planes of which only 50 were serviceable.  He too would share in the discomfort of the territory where the poor diet of MVs (canned meat and Vegetables) would cause his flyers to lose about 30 lbs. in a single tour of duty.  Malaria began to break out.  But the men still had a sense of humor and joked about the “New Guinea salute,” the constant act of swatting away the swarms of black flies.

The 80 Australians, now without their commander, and up against 400 of the enemy, were forced to retreat.  A local planter recalled the scene: “The thick white mist dimming the moonlight, the mysterious veiling of trees, houses and men, the drip of moisture from the foliage, and at the last, the almost complete silence, as if the rubber groves of Kokoda were sleeping as usual in the depths of the night and the men had not brought the disturbance.”

Click on images to enlarge.

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31 March – RAAF – 94th Birthday

No. 4 Squadron in front of their Boomerang, Nadzab, New Guinea

Cropped Lancaster

Air Marshall Sir Richard Williams, “Father of the RAAF”

 

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 Humor – 

Somebody catch that guy and give him a piece of cake!!

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Farewell Salutes – 

Ronald Allan – Toowoomba, AUS; RA Air Force # 43610, WWII

Geoffrey Byrne – Victoria, AUS; RAAF, WWII

courtesy of Stockresearch52 [link below]

John Credlin – Bundoora, AUS; RAAF & 2nd AIF, WWII

Bernard Dwyer – Torquay, AUS; RSSF # A15841

Glen Farrow – Cameron Park, AUS; RAAF, 77th Squadron

Harold Johnson – England; British Army, WWII, CBI, The Royal Artillery, bombardier, POW

William “Bud” Merrill III – Delray, FL; US Army, Korea, 2nd Armored Division

Denis Phillips – Toowong, AUS; RAAF, GP Captain (Ret. 25 years)

Rowley Richards – No. Sydney, AUS; RA Army, Medical Officer 2/15 Field Regiment, WWII, CBI, POW

Thomas Richie (100) – Auckland, NZ; RNZ Army # 29441, WWII

Duane Vasicek – Kenai, AK; US Navy, shipfitter, USS Sarsfield (DD 837)

George Wood Jr. – Lake Worth, FL; US Army, 508th Airborne RTC

Link for Stockresearch52

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