Japanese equipment in WWII

[Skoshi Tiger]

Well I found the War Diaries from my dads Battalion on Australian War Memorial web site and found an interesting entry for the 29th August '42.

This date is fairly famous for the Battle of Isurava where the 39 Militia and 2/14 AIF Battalions made a stand against the Japanese and where Kingsbury won his VC. (The recent Aussie film Kokoda based on the 39th Milita covered events here.)

It's not very well know that at the same time accross the valley at Abuari the 53rd Militia and the 2/16th AIF Battalions were having a pitched battle with the second prong of the Japanese attack that was attempting to flank the Australians and cut off the track behind Isuarva (My Dads company was waiting in reserve at the junction of the two tracks at this point during the battle)

The last entry on the page (1245) mentions "at least two .5 HMGs dug in and well protected".

Hmmm! If it was missidentification I guess it was more widespread than just my dad. But this battle was the first time they had encountered the Japanese and their equipment.



As an aside, just to get some indication of the conditions the battle was being fought in read the entry for 0900 hrs!


Crickey!



I took this photo in 2010 from Isurava looking accross the valley towards Abuari. We were going to do a side trip accross to Abuari but we were already a day behind our schedule and it was an eight hour walk. (supose it's a good excuse for a second trip! )