Our June 2019 Lecture: No Ground Given - 2/27th Battalion AIF at Kokoda

-

At the battles of Mission Ridge and Brigade Hill, 7-8 September 1942, in the legendary Kokoda Trail Campaign, three sister battalions of the AIF, 2/14th from Victoria, 2/16th from Western Australia and 2/27th from South Australia were together for the first time.

Attacked on the upper slope of Mission Ridge, the 2/27th resisted fiercely, leading to a Japanese flanking move which cut the 2/14th and 2/16th off from Brigade Headquarters. The Japanese couldn’t be dislodged from the track, so the order to withdraw was given.

But the 2/27th hadn’t yielded and launched several bayonet charges to give other units the opportunity to withdraw. Because of this delaying action, they themselves were forced to withdraw by cutting a parallel track and carry stretcher cases from the other units with them.

They succeeded in this backbreaking task under the sterling leadership of Captain Harry Katekar (pictured), who was awarded the Military Cross for his actions.

A historian and guide for On Track Expeditions, Adrian Clack has crossed the Kokoda Track 12 times. He will discuss these dramatic events with the aid of display items. 

Time & Venue: Saturday, 1 June 2019, 2:00pm – 3:00pm, Goulburn Room, Level 4, City of Sydney RSL, 561-567 George Street, Sydney CBD. Admission is free of charge but a gold coin donation would be appreciated. For further information call 0419 698 783 or email president@militaryhistorynsw.com.au  

Biography - Adrian Clack

Adrian is currently working as a historian and guide for On Track Expeditions taking regular trekking groups on the Kokoda Trail. He has completed twelve crossings of the track. His interest in Australian military history stems from his grandfather, Percy James Clack NX194756 who served with the 2/9th Battalion AIF and his great-uncle Donald McKenzie NX46603 who was a member of 2/30th Battalion taken prisoner of war after the fall of Singapore and surviving the Thai-Burma Railway. Prior to working as a tour guide, he was a member of the New South Wales Police from 1999 to 2011. During his service, he helped lead the first group of Aboriginal young people across the Kokoda Trail. As a result, he was the joint winner of the Eurobodalla Shire NAIDOC Award for Crime Prevention in 2007 and joint winner of the National Crime Prevention Award in 2009. Prior to joining the police, Adrian was a school counsellor and history teacher. He has a Bachelor of Arts (History and English Literature).

 The Society's website is here: militaryhistorynsw.com.au

Why not join the Society?  Visit the website's membership page here: http://militaryhistorynsw.com.au/home/membership/  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bathurst RSL Letter on Bathurst Boer War Memorial - Lt Peter Handcock

-
Image
Lt Peter Handcock O n Anzac Day this year journalist Peter FitzSimons wrote an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald calling for the removal of the name of Lieutenant Peter Handcock from the Bathurst, New South Wales, Boer War Memorial on the ground that he was a convicted war criminal, for which he was executed by firing squad alongside Lieutenant Harry "Breaker" Morant  in South Africa on 27 February 1902. Handcock was a Bathurst district local. James Unkles is an author, former naval reserve officer, military and civilian lawyer, and campaigner for a pardon for Morant, Handcock and the third convicted man, George Witton. On 30 May 2021 James posted a response to FitzSimons on his website. The response notes that on 4 May 2021 the Bathurst Sub-Branch of the RSL wrote to Bathurst Regional Council, which controls the monument, opposing the removal of any names from the Memorial. A copy of the letter is reproduced below. Bathurst Regional Council has declined to re
Read more

Second World War Tour 2025: Anzac Day in Athens - Greece and Crete

-
Image
  On the 6 April 1941 the German Army launched its attack against the Greeks on the Metaxas Line and the Imperial Expeditionary Force at Florina. The Allied force was pushed off Greece by 28 April and so began the Battle of Crete. Join our memorial tour lead by Lt-Colonel Ron Lyons (retd), Vice President, Military History Society of NSW, in conjunction with Battlefield History Tours, to Greece and Crete visiting the battlefields where the 6th Division and the New Zealand Division confronted the German Army. This is a special tour developed for the very special purpose that we hope will, in a small way, ensure that this part of Australian and New Zealand history is not forgotten. As we visit the battle sites, each with an informative briefing, we will meet the local dignitaries who maintain our military heritage and pay our respects at the resting places of our fallen. ABOUT BATTLEFIELD HISTORY TOURS www.battlefieldhistorytours.com.au Battlefield History Tours is one of Australia’s lead
Read more

Statement on the Vandalisation of Public Monuments and War Memorials

-
Image
  STATEMENT ON THE VANDALISATION OF PUBLIC MONUMENTS AND WAR MEMORIALS The following statement was adopted by the Council of the Military History Society of New South Wales at their meeting on Monday, 28 October 2024: As a body dedicated to preserving and honouring our state’s military heritage, the Military History of New South Wales is disturbed by continuing instances of defacement, vandalism and misuse of historical public monuments, including war and veterans memorials. Acts of physical destruction as a means of political expression should be condemned unreservedly. These attacks represent an infringement of community rights. They are an illegitimate substitute for the democratic processes by which these monuments are properly managed with broad popular consent. This is true even if controversy surrounds the monument in question. In the case of war memorials, the attacks dishonour the sacrifice, and insult the relatives, of those who gave their lives for the precious freedoms
Read more