| AWM 062684 (Australian War Memorial) Australian soldiers look out across the floor of the Ramu Valley from a vantage point on the lower slopes of the Finisterre Ranges, December 1943. In the distance on the other side of the valley, it's peaks hidden by cloud, lies the Bismarck Range. The foothills of the Finisterre Range were covered in thick Kunai grass but this soon gave way to dense rain forest that clung to mist-covered mountains rising up to heights of 6,000 feet above sea level. |  |
| AWM 016417 (Australian War Memorial) American soldiers of the 126th Regimental Combat Team patrol the jungle around their newly-established base at Saidor, 7 January 1944. The American landing at Saidor (2 January) had helped to convince General ADACHI to order a general withdrawal to Madang. Unfortunately the Americans were unable to prevent large numbers of the retreating Japanese from slipping past them. |  |
| AWM 064220 (Australian War Memorial) Australian soldiers of "A" Company, 2/12th Battalion, after the capture of Shaggy Ridge, 23 January 1944. The strain of combat and their relief at having survived it is plainly visible in the faces of these men. The 2/12th Battalion had suffered more than 70 casualties over the previous 48 hours in some of the most costly fighting of the whole Madang campaign. |  |
| AWM 064239 (Australian War Memorial) Stretcher bearers of the Australian 2/9th Infantry Battalion negotiate the steep slope of Shaggy Ridge as they carry a casualty back to the Regimental Aid Post, 23 January 1944. After being stabilised there it sometimes took up to another 24 hours for a stretcher case to reach the Advanced Dressing Station at Geyton's Post, less than two miles away, due to the tortuous terrain and wet conditions. |  |
| AWM 016506 (Australian War Memorial) Australian medical officers of the 15th Field Ambulance carry out emergency surgery at the Advanced Dressing Station (ADS) at Koropa, Finisterre Ranges, 7 February 1944. This ADS was set up to support the 15th Brigade's advance on Bogadjim and in addition to it's makeshift surgical ward it also contained a small 'hospital ward' to hold serious casualties for up to three days if required. |  |
| AWM 016728 (Australian War Memorial) Australian soldiers of the 24th Infantry Battalion plough through the mud during a 3,000 foot climb up Cameron's Knoll during the advance towards Bogadjim, 23 March 1944. After breaking the Japanese defences around Shaggy Ridge the Australians encountered little organised resistance for the rest of the campaign. On 13 April a patrol from the 57th/60th Battalion discovered that the Japanese had deserted Bogadjim and the Australians took possession of it unopposed. |  |
| AWM 08143 (Australian War Memorial) A Wirraway of No. 4 (Tactical Reconnaisance) Squadron RAAF at Nadzab airstrip, New Guinea, June 1944. The men and aircraft of No. 4 Squadron were of great assistance to the 5th and 7th Australian divisions in their pursuit of the retreating Japanese. In their role as aerial scouts they could range across otherwise inhospitable terrain at will detecting all but the smallest concentrations of Japanese troops. |  |
| AWM 072297 (Australian War Memorial) An Australian soldier takes a closer look at a stone marker dedicated by the Japanese in commemoration of their efforts in constructing a road from Bogadjim to Daumoina, 10 April 1944. The Japanese had planned to extend this road all the way across the Finisterre Range thereby linking the Rai Coast to the Ramu Valley but it was never completed. Forced to use their own troops and equipped with little more than picks and axes the Japanese had reached as far as Yopoki (some two miles further on from Daumoina) before the Allied offensive forced them to abandon the project. |  |
| AWM 016961 (Australian War Memorial) New Guinean carriers put down their loads at a staging point on their four-day trek from Guy's Post to Australian forward positions in the Finisterre Ranges, 17 April 1944. While the 5th Australian Division's advance along the Rai Coast was sustained by waterborne supplies the 7th Australian Division's inland advance up the Ramu Valley and into the rugged Finisterre Ranges was largely borne by an extensive network of carrier lines. Not for the last time in the New Guinea Campaign such lines proved themselves indespensable to Allied progress. |  |
| AWM 072998 (Australian War Memorial) An Australian soldier inspects a blast-damaged Japanese Type 88 75mm medium anti-aircraft gun near the waterfront of Madang, 25 April 1944. Australian troops had occupied Madang the previous day after patrols had confirmed that the Japanese had abandoned it. Madang had served as a major Japanese base since 1942 and it's capture brought the Ramu Valley and Huon Peninsula campaigns to a close. |  |
| AWM 017215 (Australian War Memorial) The first Liberty ship to enter Madang Harbour as seen from the forward deck of an Australian Bathurst-class corvette, 31 May 1944. The arrival of the 7,000-ton supply ship signalled the start of Madang's role as a major Allied base. In addition to providing the main staging area for later operations against Aitape and Wewak Madang also became the principal base in the area for the Royal Australian Navy's Fairmile motor launch fleet. |  |
| AWM 075948 (Australian War Memorial) Australian engineers of the 5th Field Company construct a new bridge across the Nagada River on the Madang-Alexishafen road, 11 September 1944. In the wake of the successful conclusion of Allied operations along the Rai Coast, Ramu Valley and Finisterre Range a substantial effort was made to develop base facilities around the Madang-Alexishafen area. |  |
| AWM ART22257 (Australian War Memorial) William Dargie, Good Friday in the Finisterres, 1944, oil on hardboard, 45.4 x 39.2 cm, Australian War Memorial, ART22257. |  |
| AWM ART21328 (Australian War Memorial) William Dargie, A sentimental song - 2/10 Battalion, 1944, pen and ink with wash, 20 x 24 cm, Australian War Memorial, ART21328. |  |
| AWM ART23183 (Australian War Memorial) William Dargie, Blind, Finisterre Range, New Guinea, 1944, pen and brush and inks, 25.4 x 16 cm, Australian War Memorial, ART23183. |  |
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