Word: papua
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From the banks of the wide, swiftly flowing Gerua River in north Papua I can overlook the four fronts of the battle for Buna. But the only visible signs are two flat-topped pillars of smoke rising, one from Buna and one from Gona, and the Flying Fortresses weaving across the top of Buna through sooty puffs of ack-ack fire which are ragged now from repeated bombing. There is nothing else to see but the cloud-spattered tropic sky above the vast bowl of sun-drenched, emerald-green jungle, which is interspersed with patches of yellow, man-high kunai...
...MACARTHUR'S HEADQUARTERS, AUSTRALIA--The Allies have occupied Gona, westernmost Japanese strong point in Papua, and have launched an around-the-clock aerial bombardment against the surviving enemy positions, Prime Minister John Curtin announced today...
...wettest, highest jungle, enabling combat troops to cross the mountains on the Australians' flank and knock at the Japs' back door. More troops came in planes which landed on a natural strip discovered in the jungle. Said General MacArthur: "The Allied forces now control all of Papua except the beachhead in the Buna-Gona area...
...Papua is only one-fourth of the island of New Guinea, but it is the most important part of that eerie, partially explored island. For the first time since they landed there last February, it seemed that the Japs might have to look to the defense of their bases, Lae and Salamaua, 150-odd miles northwest of Buna. If MacArthur could take Lae and Salamaua, New Guinea would be lost to the Japs. Already Australian Commandos were harassing the two bases, working in the dead of night with their knives and tommy guns...
...only. There are no civilians left in New Guinea. Papua's white population was never more than 2,000. Those who were not taken into the Australian army, chiefly for such jobs as required dealing with natives, were evacuated six months ago and more. There are no women. Even native women have been sent back into the hills. Native men are brought in from their villages for two-month turns at simple, light labor. They wear dirty skirts called ramis and spend their idle moments combing their hair with four-pronged metal forks...