Kokoda (80 page)

Watson, Major Bill, 154, 175, 180–182

Wavell, General Archibald, 81

White, Osmar, 92–95, 132, 136, 200, 245, 273–274, 280–282, 311, 319, 330, 342–345, 358, 458

Damien Parer, journey with, 137–140, 145–147

Eora, at, 348, 351–352

Kokoda Track, at, 249–251

Mount Tambu, at, 171

Port Moresby, at, 240

Whitehead, General Ennis, 249

Wilkinson, Warrant Officer Jack, 160, 195, 205

Williams, Private ‘Bluey’, 227

Willoughby, Major General Charles A., 163, 173

Wilmot, Chester, 30, 273–274, 280–282, 311, 319, 330, 342, 358, 366, 377, 409–411, 454

arrival in New Guinea, 245

Blamey’s speech, 422

career following war, 454, 457

Damien Parer, friends with, 31

death of, 458

disaccredited, 416–417

press conference of Thomas Blamey, 384–386

Prime Minister Curtin, meeting, 410

Wilson, Tom, 326

Wirraways, 72

Women

breasts, 80

comfort women, 101–103, 280

feared rape of, 101

jugun ianfu
, 101

native women, 80

Woods, Private Jimmy, 295

World War I

Australian losses in, 83

commencement, 2

World War II

declaration of, 13–14

surrender of Japan, 453

Wright, Lieutenant Commander ‘Bull’, 151–154

Yamamoto, Admiral Isoroku, 98

Yanagiba, Yutaka, 407–408

Yodda Valley, 184, 458

Yokoyama, Colonel Yosuke, 183

Yorktown
, 134

Yosuke, Foreign Minister Matsuoka, 25–26

Yule, Lieutenant Charles, 65

Zeros, 72, 84, 112, 114

A view of Imita Range and Ioribaiwa near the start of the Kokoda Track, showing range after range of jungle terrain.

The small village of Kokoda sits on a plateau in the Owen Stanley Range. It was the key strategic possession for both the Japanese and Australians, with the only airfield within four days march in any direction.

Members of 12 Platoon, B Company, 39th Battalion, gather for a meal. The young men of B Company were the first Australian troops to set off on the Kokoda Track.

‘Uncle Sam’—Captain Sam Templeton, the commanding officer of 39th’s B company.

Members of the 39th Battalion prepare for action, including Joe Dawson’s mate, Ray Phillips, at the front. The 39th were a militia battalion with little training and no real fighting experience.

Joe Dawson and his girlfriend, Elaine, at Camp Darley, the 39th’s training ground in Australia.

These steep stairs, known as the ‘golden stairs’, were made after the first troops had departed. For the 39th, there was no help up the track.

‘The bloody track.’
Members of the 39th Battalion trudge through mud and slush up part of the track.
(Negatives by Damien Parer.)

A patrol from the 39th looks over the Uberi valley at the beginning of the track.