Bullets, blood, sweat and courage; all in a days work for war cameraman Damien Parer.
An in-depth look at one of the photojournalists. We still watch his newsreels today!
Posted on July 15, 2015, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 31 Comments.
Pacific Paratrooper 
A very courageous gentleman of wartime journalism!
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Yes he was – I completely agree!
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Fascinating!!!
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I appreciate your visits.
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Excellent tribute to Parer, an exceptional war photographer, I believe that second picture is his iconic picture that most Australians will remember him for.
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I thought it might be; every site I went to had seemed to have it. Robert did a great job!
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When you did your previous post I was screaming across the airwaves, “write about Damien Parer”, and here we are – you heard me. If memory serves me correctly, you featured some of his photos on posts a few months back – probably the New Guinea theatre. His contribution to truth in reporting was hugely important. He left a widow, by the way. The reference to Charles Chauvel is also interesting, although that trail leads back to WW1. In 1940 Chauvel made ‘ 40,000 Horsemen’ (I think that was the name of it), which related the story of the Light Horse Brigade in the Middle East in WWI, culminating in the charge at Bersheeba. Charles was the nephew of Sir Henry Chauvel, who had been in charge of the troops there, so no doubt was influenced by this – but of course the film had a subtle propaganda message for the boys of WWII to sign up and join the heroics.
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Thank you very much, Gwen for all that additional information; you are a treasure trove. Your memory is correct, I included one of Mr. Parer’s newsreels in a post previously. I greatly admire these people and I guess that shows, eh?
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Great reblog choice!
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I thought so. Robert did an excellent job!
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Thank you for highlighting a very brave individual (armed only with a camera). I appreciate the exposure via your blog too!
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You have an outstanding website, Robert. Any attention you receive and retain is purely due to your own expertise. If I have had anything to do with your work getting exposure – that makes my day!!
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You are correct on the guys who did this during any of our wars – it is dangerous but without them we would only wonder what was going on with our loved ones. Great post.
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They provide an outstanding service at great risk – so right, Diann. I thank you for reading Robert’s article.
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Such a loss and agree that people didn’t understand how they put their lives at such risk.
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Thank you for visiting, Kathy.
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What a tragic loss. His legacy lives on.
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Yes it does and thank you for being one of those who remember.
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Was this job as dangerous during Desert Storm? We called it ’embedded’, but the footage I saw didn’t look nearly as life-threatening as these stories you’re sharing.
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I’m afraid I am not qualified to say, Jacqui. I get so wrapped up in the WWII research, I tend to neglect the current – my apologies. I don’t think the cameramen of today are in the service and fighting at the same time, but are kept in safer places than the 1940’s men.
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I remember the Kokoda film very well. He was a sad loss to journalism, and one of many talented film-makers and reporters killed during the conflict.
Best wishes, Pete.
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It was a great loss. Thank you for coming by.
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Such a brave young man, very sad that he didn’t make it. The footage he took is still quite clear. I like what he said about the people at home on the mainland worrying about petty things like dances and tobacco and not taking the war seriously. I guess we are still like that with the war in the Middle East.
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Isn’t that the truth, Norma. People go about their lives and petty complaints while our troops are in danger 24/7. It is an awful loss that Mr. Parer was KIA.
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I was exactly one year old the day Pare died. 17 sept 1944
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Was he from a city near you?
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no. He was born in Melbourne and I was born in Sydney.
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That would have been too much of a coincidence, eh?
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Thank you!
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