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 'we bowed our heads in honour
of a brave airman'. The grave of Squadron Leader Peter Turnbull, Commanding Officer of 76 Squadron RAAF who was killed on 27 August 1942. Milne Bay War Cemetery, April 1943 [AWM 014651]
 On 29 August 1942, Private Bruce Kingsbury, 2/14th Battalion, lost his life near this rock at Isurava village on the Kokoda Track during the Battle of Isurava. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his bravery in action on that day.
[Office of Australian War Graves,
Canberra] |
Coral Sea, Kokoda and Milne Bay May-September 1942
 A Beaufighter from 30 Squadron RAAF
flying over the Owen Stanley Range in late 1942. RAAF and USAAF squadrons based in Port Moresby attacked Japanese supply bases on the north Papuan coast during the Kokoda campaign. 30 Squadron also strafed and bombed Japanese positions along the Kokoda Track during the Australian advance of October-November 1942. [AWM OG0001]
The Japanese had no plans to invade Australia during the Second World War but they did plan to cut Australia's supply line with America by establishing bases in the south-west Pacific islands. In early May 1942, an American carrier force intercepted a Japanese carrier force in the Coral Sea and, after a fierce aerial battle - the Battle of the Coral Sea - the Japanese turned back. At the same time, hundreds of kilometres to the north, HMA Ships Hobart and Australia were part of a task force sent to intercept a Japanese invasion fleet heading for Port Moresby. This force was attacked by enemy aircraft but, as a result of the American action in the Coral Sea, the invasion fleet also turned back. These actions were the first major setbacks to the Japanese during their advance south in the Pacific Ocean area. One month later, after a further naval defeat in the Battle of Midway, they abandoned their plans to capture Fiji, Samoa and the New Hebrides. However, between July and September 1942, Japanese land forces continued their efforts to take Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, fighting Australians on the Kokoda Track where they were eventually pushed back. In August 1942, Japanese marines landed at Milne Bay where Australian troops, together with RAAF Kittyhawk squadrons, defeated them. The Battle of Milne Bay was the first Japanese defeat on land in the Pacific War.
Private Bruce Kingsbury,
2/14th Battalion [AWM 100112]
Kingsbury's Rock
Private Bruce Kingsbury, 2/14th Battalion, was born at Armadale in Melbourne. He enlisted in the AIF in May 1940 and was posted to the 2/14th Battalion in June. After serving in Egypt and Syria, he returned to Australia with the 7th Division in March 1942. His unit was sent to Port Moresby and in late August he was fighting the Japanese on the Kokoda Track.
 Remnants of a Bren gun found near Kingsbury's
rock.
[Office of Australian War Graves, Canberra]
Private Bruce Kingsbury was awarded the first Victoria Cross ever gained on territory administered by Australia and the first awarded in the South-West Pacific for his actions at the Battle of Isurava on 29 August 1942. When the Japanese broke through the Australian positions near Isurava village, Kingsbury rushed forward firing his Bren gun, causing a number of casualties and clearing a path through the enemy that enabled his mates to push the enemy back. He was shot dead by a sniper and he is buried at the Bomana War Cemetery at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. |
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