| The Remembering the war in New Guinea project brings together Japanese, Australian and indigenous perspectives of the Second World War in New Guinea, to write a history of war in this theatre which truly reflects the experience of all the groups involved. With international participation, the project will focus on military activity at the strategic and tactical levels. It will particularly emphasise the human experience of soldiers on both sides, their perceptions of the experience of the other groups involved, and the effects of the war on the indigenous peoples.
A symposium was held from 19 to 21 October 2000 at the Australian National University in Canberra. The program of the symposium appears below. Abstracts of the papers are accessible through the link to the left, and the full text of papers presented will be available later this year.
Thursday, 19 October 2000 Dr Peter STANLEY Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Professor Bill GAMMAGE Australian National University, Canberra
Welcome
Higher strategy
Professor TANAKA Hiromi National Defence Academy, Tokyo
“The Pacific war and New Guinea"
Professor David HORNER Australian National University, Canberra
“Strategy and command in Australia’s New Guinea campaigns”
Professor Henry FREI Tsukuba Women’s University, Tsukuba
“Why the Japanese were in New Guinea”
War in the air
Mr John WHITE Australian War Memorial, Canberra
“Australians and Japanese: pilots and technology”
Dr IWAMOTO Hiromitsu Australian National University, Canberra
“Japanese images of the air war”
Adapting to war in New Guinea
Dr Tim MOREMAN King’s College, London
“The jungle, the Japanese, and the Australian Army: learning the lessons of New Guinea 1942-44”
Mr Garth PRATTEN Deakin University, Geelong
“Learning not to melt away under fire: the ‘chocos’ and the war in New Guinea”
General John COATES Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra
“Australians and Japanese”
Ms MAEKAWA Kaori Sophia University, Tokyo
“Forgotten soldiers among the Japanese army Asian personnel in eastern New Guinea and Rabaul”
Friday, 20 October 2000 Enemies and friends
Dr Mark JOHNSTON Scotch College, Melbourne
“‘Yet they’re human just as we are’: Australian attitudes towards the Japanese in the south-west Pacific, 1942-5”
Dr Morris LOW University of Queensland, Brisbane
“Japanese perceptions of the enemy”
Professor Hank NELSON Australian National University, Canberra
“Images of the indigenous people”
Case study: Rabaul
Dr IWAMOTO Hiromitsu Australian National University, Canberra
“Japanese and New Guinean memories of wartime experiences at Rabaul, 1942–1946”
Professor TANAKA Hiromi National Defence Academy, Tokyo
“Self-sufficiency in Rabaul”
Professor Hank NELSON Australian National University, Canberra
“Rabaul 1942”
Indigenous experience
Introduction: Professor Hank NELSON Australian National University, Canberra
Dr IWAMOTO Hiromitsu Australian National University, Canberra
“Patrol reports – sources for assessing war damage in Papua New Guinea”
Mr Sam KAIMA University of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby
“The Kaiapit-Saidor track”
Dr Geoff GRAY Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra
“The coming of the war to the Territories: forced labour and broken promises”
Fighting to the end
Dr Peter STANLEY Australian War Memorial, Canberra
“The real Bluey and Curley: Australian images and idioms in the island campaigns”
Ms Bea TREFALT University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW
“Tarzans and living spirits of the war dead: Japanese stragglers in New Guinea”
Saturday, 21 October 2000 Remembering the war CHAIR: Professor Henry FREI
Professor KONDO Shinji
“Compilation of the Japanese Official History concerning the war in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands”
Professor TOYODA Yukio and Ms FUKUSHIMA Atsuko Rikkyo University, Tokyo
"The war in New Guinea as portrayed in Japanese newspapers"
Ms Margaret REESON
“Searching for dad: unsolved mysteries of fate of Australians missing from New Guinea”
Summing up
For further information concerning the symposium and the project, please contact, in the first instance:
Steven Bullard
Fax: +61-02-6243 4325
E-mail: steven.bullard@awm.gov.au |