Explore items from Melanesia

Australian-manned General Stuart M3 Light Tanks bust Japanese pillboxes in a final assault on Buna. Men of D Company, 2/12th Battalion, advance as tanks blast a pillbox. Shell burst on pillbox can ..

1943-01-11. USE OF TRANSPORT PLANES IN NEW GUINEA ENABLES SPEEDY EVACUATION OF WOUNDED FROM FORWARD AREAS TO THE BASE. COMPARED WITH THEIR TREK ACROSS THE OWEN STANLEYS, WHICH TOOK DAYS, THE ..

1943-01-08. PAPUA. BUNA. CAPTURED AIR STRIP AT BUNA. JAPANESE LEFT BEHIND PLANES STRAFED BY ALLIED FIGHTERS. NOTE BULLET HOLES IN WING OF ZERO. THIS IS ONE OF THE NEW TYPE SQUARE WING ZERO AIRCRAFT

1943-01-11. SALVAGING AEROPLANES IN NEW GUINEA. LITTLE IS HEARD OF THE GROUND STAFF OF THE RAAF - THE MEN WHO WORK ALL HOURS AND UNDER ALL CONDITIONS, KEEPING OUR PLANES IN THE AIR, AND STILL LESS ..

1943-01-08. PAPUA. GIROPI POINT. AUSTRALIANS TEND GRAVES OF COMRADES WHO FELL IN THE FINAL ASSAULT ON BUNA. DECORATIONS ARE OF CORAL FROM NEARBY REEF

1942-12-17. PAPUA. Y.M.C.A. OFFICER, PERN HOOPER, ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN IDENTITIES BETWEEN PORT MORESBY AND THE NORTH COAST OF NEW GUINEA. EACH DAY HE SERVES UPWARDS OF 1400 CUPS OF TEA. HIS DAY'S ..

1942-12-23. PAPUA. SOPUTA. MAIN DRESSING STATION NEAR SOPUTA. THIS NATIVE BOY ASSISTS AT THE DRESSING STATION. HIS MOST PRIZED POSSESSION IS THE LARGE SIZED SAFETY PIN WHICH HE WEARS IN HIS EAR. ..

1942-12-17. PAPUA. FALL OF GONA. A CAPTURED JAPANESE MACHINE GUN. AT THE RIGHT IS FRED FOLKARD, SYDNEY "SUN" WAR CORRESPONDENT. (NEGATIVE BY BOTTOMLEY)

Lacking anti-tank weapons, the Japanese, surprised by the Australian use of tanks, had to improvise anti-tank defences by cutting down a coconut tree in the path of one of the oncoming tanks. That ..

1942-12-28. PAPUA. ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE MEANS OF FREEING THE COCOANUT GROVES OF JAPANESE SNIPERS WAS TO SPRAY TOPS OF COCOANUT TREES WITH INTENSE GUN FIRE. THE PHOTO SHOWS THE EFFECT OF THIS ..

1942-12-31. BUNA. AN AUSTRALIAN MOUNTAIN BATTERY SHELLS BUNA. GUNNER A. DIXON (N.S.W.) HAS A SHELL READY FOR GUNNER A.E. BARRETT (N.S.W.) TO RAM HOME. (NEGATIVE BY G. SILK)

An M3 Stuart light tank moving up for the dawn attack