DVA 137 Tuesday 4 September 2001

This Week In History - Our Wartime Heritage

Issued by the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Bruce Scott, to foster awareness of Australia’s wartime history and heritage during the Centenary of Federation. 7-13 September

7 September 1943: A Liberator bomber crashed at Port Moresby, killing 59 members of the Australian 7th Division. The plane crashed into five trucks carrying men from 2/33rd Battalion, who were awaiting transport to airfields at Nadzab, where the 7th was reinforcing the Australian and American assault on the Japanese garrison at Lae. The crash killed 15 men instantly, 44 died of their injuries and 92 were injured.

8 September 1943: Italy announced its unconditional surrender to the Allies and signed an Armistice two days later. However, Allied forces were to face more than a year of hard fighting against German forces in Italy.

8 September 1951: The San Francisco Treaty was signed, formally ending hostilities with Japan during World War II, although the fighting had ended six years earlier.

9 September 1950: Wing Commander Lou Spence, the Commander of 77 Squadron RAAF, was killed during a ground attack mission over Angang-ni, Korea. The loss of their commander just two months into the Korean War was a shock to the Australian squadron. Command of 77 Squadron was taken over by Wing Commander Dick Creswell.

11 September 1914: The only major action of World War I in German New Guinea took place at Bitakap in Rabaul. As the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force demanded the surrender of German forces, a party of naval reservists was landed with orders to capture a suspected radio station. During the advance, the Australians came under heavy fire and six men were killed during the ensuing firefight. Another Australian died in a later skirmish. The Expeditionary Force troops were the first Australians to die during World War I.

13 September 1943: Private Richard Kelliher, 2/25th Battalion, 25th Brigade 7th Division, originally from County Kerry, Ireland, won the Victoria Cross for his valour at Nadzab, New Guinea. The Australian 7th Division was flown into Nadzab to reinforce a major Australian and American operation to capture the town of Lae. Private Kelliher’s platoon came under heavy machine-gun fire, killing five men and leaving another three wounded. Private Kelliher rushed the machine-gun post and killed some of the gun crew with grenades. With some of the Japanese soldiers still returning fire, Private Kelliher returned to his section, took a Bren gun and renewed his attack, silencing the post. He then requested permission to go back out under heavy fire and rescue his wounded section leader.

Media Contact: Mark Croxford (02) 6277 7820 or 0408 645 787

