History, esp. the military history of the South West Pacific. Always learning. New Guinea born.
Australia
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Repost:
The Papuan Infantry Battalion fought throughout the entire war in Papua New Guinea 1942-45; longer than any other Allied unit, filling an important role way out of proportion to their size.
A brief description of their first action in the 1942 Papuan Campaign:
@almurray
Reposted thread from 2021:
Story of Warrant Officer II William Matpi DCM of the Papuan Infantry Battalion.
Born on Manus Island, a laborer at Rabaul 1942, was taken as a slave to Papua by the Japanese Yokoyama Force.
Escaped to fight.
A hero of the war in New Guinea.
@almurray
July-Sept 1942: The Japanese South Seas Detachment (Nankai Shitai)'s ability to haul, and use, 8 mountain guns over muddy roadless jungle ridges and ravines of New Guinea was a key factor in their rapid advance towards Port Moresby on the south coast.
A thorough map:
@almurray
#OTD 1942: In Papua, a tactical loss at Isurava for the Australians after 5 days of close combat against the 144th Regiment (frm Kochi City, Shikoku). 8 mountain guns helped the 3/144th's flank attack & forced Brig. Potts to order retreat, but the 5-day delay was a strategic win.
In the earliest days of the 1942 Kokoda Campaign L/Cpl Sanopa of the Royal Papuan Constabulary single-handedly saved the lives of almost 100 surrounded Australians of B Company, 39th Battalion at Oivi on the track - at night in jungle.
Awarded the Loyal Service Medal.
@almurray
A repost of mine: Another example of Australian improvisation and re-purpose that was typical of the WW2 Kokoda and Buna- Gona beachheads campaigns in Papua New Guinea in late 1942 to early 1943.
Medical evacuation - huge problem in the remote advanced areas.
@almurray
A repost:
An Englsh emigrant to West Australia, with a large family, became an expert Bren Gunner in Lebanon and Papua.
Awarded the MM for his bravery which saved his Company in the 1941 Syrian-Lebanon Campaign (Operation Exporter), he died fighting on the Kokoda Trail.
@almurray
A thread from 2023 about the Papuan and the New Guinea Infantry Battalions which fought in Papua New Guinea (PNG), 1942-45.
PNG, a nation of 11 million in the SW Pacific, consisted during interwar years of 2 territories: Papua, & New Guinea, each with own colonial govt.
@almurray
#OTD 1943
A photographer visited the Papuan Infantry Battalion at their new self-built training depot at Bisiatabu, near the start of the Kokoda Track in Papua's Owen Stanley Range.
As well as Papua, recruits came from New Guinea, which was occupied by large Japanese forces,
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From a previous post of mine:
Lack of suitable ordnance during the 1942-45 campaigns in remote tropical mountains of New Guinea often necessitated improvisation.
To attain the required elevation to attack high Japanese positions, Australian gunners often improvised.
@almurray
Dennis Burns retweeted
New Guinea is a huge island, second only to Greenland in the world.
From 1942 to 1945, war raged over most of the northern part of the island.
Due to the island’s incredibly rugged terrain and almost complete lack of any infrastructure, military logistics was a nightmare.
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Dennis Burns retweeted
A two-megawatt windmill is made up of 260 tons of steel that required 300 tons or iron ore and 170 tons of coking coal, all mined, transported and produced by hydrocarbons. It hold 700 gallons of oil and hydraulic fluid, and like car these need to be replaced every 9 months.
People might fall for the idea that we can merrily run on sunshine and breezes, alone, but with a few trillion dollars worth of mythical mega-batteries providing backup for a few minutes, it could spin until it falls apart over and over again and never generate as much energy as was invested in building it.
Dennis Burns retweeted
The sale of historic defence sites has nothing to do with “funding the military” and everything to do with Labor’s mission to “decolonize” Australia.
This is an active attempt to destroy heritage sites of Australians and erase a proud and strong culture
Dennis Burns retweeted
Nuclear power represents a sustainable energy future with economic prosperity. Solar and wind power represent grid instability and energy rationing, which is government regulated.
That is why climate alarmists and most so-called “scientists” oppose nuclear. They are hard left, arguably Marxist, and don’t want the free market to sort it out. They want to control energy so they can control you.
July 1943
Lt H. Egan, of the Australian 2/3rd Commandos, is at left with a pipe and holding his Thompson SMG.
He was killed in action a few days later on 21/7/43.
They are manning a Vickers MG in a jungle gunpit on a humid hotly contested ridgetop near Salamaua, New Guinea coast.
July 1943
New Guinea:
New Guineans cross a vine bridge over the Francisco River enroute to front line.
They carried mortar shells, stores and wounded soldiers on their shoulders over some of the toughest terrain in the world.
3 naked Australian engineers are at work in the river.
Dennis Burns retweeted
Some think @matt_barrie is a savant, others know he’s on the pulse
Know this. He is absolutely spot on when he calls out how dangerously close Australia stands at the cliff of economic collapse
Without cheap energy we cannot produce. Manufacturing has been systematically killed
July 14 1943, New Guinea:
Sturdy carriers of the Mekeo people continue their work bringing key supplies forward as engineers of the 11th Australian Infantry Division use hand tools to laboriously carve a road through humid jungle from Bulldog outpost through the mountains to Wau.
New Guinea
1944
Easter Sunday
Yaula, Finisterre Ranges
57/60th Australian Infantry Battalion's chaplain, G. Sambell, conducts a solemn early morning mountaintop service overlooking the base area of the Japanese 78th Regt at Bogadjim village.
Five days later the base was taken.
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New Guinea.
1944
Easter Sunday morning
At dawn on a beach at Saidor, on the humid New Guinea coast, troops of the Australian 8th Infantry Brigade along with troops of the American 32d Infantry Division (Wisconsin & Michigan National Guard) attend a non-denominational service.
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