The war meant that manyThe young war meantPapua Newthat manyGuinean young men Papua had toNew leave Guinean their villages. men had They to leave were their employed villages. by Theythe were employed by the Contact Australians and AmericansAustralians to work and as carriers, Americans medical to work orderlies, as carriers, police, medical cooks andorderlies, in other police, service cooks jobs. and Sometimes in other this service jobs. Sometimes this [email protected] lasted until the war ended.lasted Thousands until the of war young ended. men Thousands were also ofrecruited young men into were the Papuan also recruited Infantry into Battalion the Papuan (PIB), Infantry Battalion (PIB), www.environment.gov.au/heritage/international-projects/papua-new-guineathe New GuineaVOICES Infantrythe Battalions New Guinea VOICESand Infantry other FROM units. Battalions For them, and the other warFROMTHE units. involved For fightingthem, WAR the in war theirTHE involved own districts fighting WAR and in theirin own districts and in many other places aroundmanyPapua Papua other NewNew places GuineanGuinea. around storiesPapua Papua of NewNewthe Kokoda GuineanGuinea. Campaign stories of, Worldthe Kokoda War Two Campaign, World War Two DISCLAIMER: Australian War Memorial The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of photograph reference numbers the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Government or the PNG Minister for Environment 4 151021 and Conservation, or the Australian Government or the Australian THE KOKODA THE KOKODA 5 026312 Minister for the Environment. 8 016540 9 (Left) 069274 TRACK 9 (Right) OG2749 © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia, 2015 TRACKGONA GONA 10 016541 SANANANDA SANANANDA 11 013002 BUNA BUNA 12 025970 The war 13meant (Top) that100601 many young Papua New Guinean men had to leave their villages. They were employed by the Voices from the war – Papua New Guinean stories of the Kokoda Australians13 (Bottom) and 100443Americans to work as carriers, medical orderlies, police, cooks and in other service jobs. Sometimes this Campaign, World War Two is licensed by the Commonwealth lasted until14 the war060203 ended. Thousands of young men were also recruited into the Papuan Infantry Battalion (PIB), KOKODA STATION of Australia for use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 WAIROPI POPONDETTA KOKODA STATION WAIROPI POPONDETTA the New 15GuineaVOICES Infantry072448 Battalions and otherFROM units. For them, the warTHE involved fighting WAR in their own districts and in Australia licence with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the many other16 places013641 around PapuaPapua New New Guinea. Guinean , World War Two Commonwealth of Australia, the logo of the agency responsible DENIKI DENIKI 17 151027 stories of the Kokoda Campaign GORARI GORARI for publishing the report, content supplied by third parties, and OIVI OIVI 18 030258/10 ISURAVA ISURAVA any images depicting people. For licence conditions see: https:// 19 026367 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 EORA EORA 20 014028 MT BELLAMY MT BELLAMY 23 0069215 24 006217 Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and rights 25 073366 MENARI EFOGI MENARI EFOGI should be addressed to the Department of the Environment, Public 26 (Inset) 015013 Affairs, GPO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601 or email public.affairs@ 26 (Main) 015942 The war meant that many young Papua New Guinean men had to leave their villages.NAURO They wereNAURO employed by the environment.gov.au 28 076122 IORIBAIWA IORIBAIWA 29 016117 IMITA RIDGE CITATION: IMITA RIDGE 30 060901 OWERS CORNER Australians and Americans to work as carriers, medical orderlies,Kokoda Initiative 2015, Voices from the war – Papua New Guinean police, cooksOWERS CORNER and in other service jobs. Sometimes31 013614 this 32 026014 stories of the Kokoda Campaign, World War Two, a joint publication SOGERI SOGERI 33 013257 of the Governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia. 34 151018 PORT MORESBY lasted until the war ended. Thousands of young men were also recruited PORTinto MORESBY the Papuan Infantry Battalion35 (PIB),079614 IMAGE CREDITS (FRONT) 37 076605 Carriers and troops crossing the Brown River between Nauro and 38 013156 the New Guinea Infantry Battalions and other units. For Menari,them, Kokoda (Australian War Memorial, 1942)the war involved fighting in their own districts and in ISBN 978-1-921733-99-4 many other places around Papua New Guinea. 4 54 DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Government or the PNG Minister for Environment and Conservation, or the Australian Government or the Australian THE KOKODA Minister for the Environment. © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia, 2015 TRACK GONA SANANANDA BUNA The war meant that many young Papua New Guinean men had to leave their villages. They were employed by the Voices from the war – Papua New Guinean stories of the Kokoda Australians and Americans to work as carriers, medical orderlies, police, cooks and in other service jobs. Sometimes this Campaign, World War Two is licensed by the Commonwealth lasted until the war ended. Thousands of young men were also recruited into the Papuan Infantry Battalion (PIB), of Australia for use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 KOKODA STATION WAIROPI POPONDETTA the New GuineaVOICES Infantry Battalions and otherFROM units. For them, the warTHE involved fighting WAR in their own districts and in Australia licence with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the many other places around PapuaPapua New New Guinea. Guinean , World War Two Commonwealth of Australia, the logo of the agency responsible DENIKI stories of the Kokoda Campaign GORARI for publishing the report, content supplied by third parties, and OIVI ISURAVA any images depicting people. For licence conditions see: https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 EORA MT BELLAMY Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and rights EFOGI should be addressed to the Department of the Environment, Public MENARI Affairs, GPO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601 or email public.affairs@ NAURO environment.gov.au IORIBAIWA IMITA RIDGE CITATION: OWERS CORNER Kokoda Initiative 2015, Voices from the war – Papua New Guinean stories of the Kokoda Campaign, World War Two, a joint publication SOGERI of the Governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia. PORT MORESBY IMAGE CREDITS (FRONT) Carriers and troops crossing the Brown River between Nauro and Menari, Kokoda (Australian War Memorial, 1942) ISBN 978-1-921733-99-4 4 Message from the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Seventy-five years ago, soldiers from Papua Today, we live in a modernising country that is joined with soldiers from Australia and other generations away from the death and sacrifice of allied nations in stopping the invasion of our soil World War II. from the North. As a nation, Papua New Guinea expresses its Through austere conditions, terrible sacrifice gratitude to those who gave their all so that our and many demonstrations of true comradery countries could have a future that was free. To all between men and women of different cultures soldiers who took up arms from Papua, Australia and background, our people built the foundations and all contributing countries, to the Papuan porters that are an important part of Papua New Guinea who carried the injured from the battlefield to and Australian relations today. medical care, and to the communities who suffered along the trail, we thank them for their sacrifice and The seventy-fifth anniversary edition of “Voices we celebrate their heroism. Connections and relationships from the War – Papua New Guinea Stories of the between peoples are sadly often Kokoda Campaign” provides great insight into formed through war and conflict. the relationship between soldiers and civilians. It provides us with greater understanding of the pain and the sacrifice that fell upon them in horrible conditions on the Kokoda Trail. Hon. Peter O’Neill CMG MP The death, the injury and the sickness that Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea occurred along the trail were experiences no man, woman or child should ever experience. But in those days, seventy-five years ago, many communities and villages were immersed in war and this changed their lives forever. ii VOICES FROM THE WAR PAPUA NEW GUINEAN STORIES OF THE KOKODA CAMPAIGN, WORLD WAR TWO iii Message from the Prime Minister of Australia The fighting was some of the most vicious It is, therefore a great honour to launch a special experienced by our troops in the Second World 75th anniversary edition of Voices from the War. War in partnership with the Papua New Guinea Government. This book preserves Papua New The 75th anniversary of the Kokoda campaign Guineans’ stories of the Kokoda campaign for future provides an opportunity to reflect on this period generations and makes an important contribution in our country’s past, and remember those who to the history of the war. It is through deeds such as fought and died in the desperate battle in Papua. those described in these stories that we have forged It is also a time to remember the heroic the close and enduring bonds between our two contributions of our Papua New Guinean countries. neighbours. Indeed, Kokoda is a monument to the courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice Between July and November that both Australians and Papuans displayed in 1942, Australian, Papuan this time of immense peril. and Japanese soldiers fought The story of Kokoda is often told from an a deadly struggle along Australian perspective, which means that few the Kokoda Trail, which people have heard it from the Papuan side. The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP crosses the precipitous Papuan Infantry Battalion, for example, fought Prime Minister of Australia Owen Stanley Range. gallantly to stem the Japanese advance on Kokoda. And Papuans carried or helped sick and wounded Australians from the front lines to safety. Without them, Australian casualties would have borne greater suffering and fewer would have survived.