Damien Parer's War

by McDonald, Neil

• ISBN13: 9780734405890
• ISBN10: 0734405898
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-04-15
• Publisher: Natl Book Network

Summary

Vital new discoveries enrich this revised and expanded version of Neil McDonald's classic 1994 biography of legendary photographer and war cameraman Damien Parer. The new revelations include the author's recent finding that during the darkest days of the withdrawal from Kokoda, Parer and ABC broadcaster Chester Wilmot were recruited as liaison officers. Parer's Oscar-winning newsreel Kokoda Front Line was not only a record of conditions on the Track, but a virtual report to the commanding general.

Table of Contents

Foreword	v
Introduction to War Cameraman	x
Introduction to Damien Parer's War	xiv
Maps	xvi
Prologue	xviii
1 Why did we have to move so often?
King Island - Melbourne - Bathurst, 1912-29	1	(7)
2 Photography's all right as a hobby, but not to earn your living
Melbourne, 1929-35	8	(8)
3 The idea was to seize on the spontaneous gesture
Sydney - Orange, 1935-38	16	(18)
4 This place Australia
Sydney - Katoomba - Melbourne, 1938-39	34	(7)
5 Off to the bloody war
Palestine - Egypt, January-December 1940	41	(15)
6 No finer choice
Palestine - Egypt, March-December 1940	56	(20)
7 The sound no Italian or German expected ever to be heard again
Western Desert, December 1940-January 1941	76	(14)
8 Prisoners are not to be sent back in lots of less than a thousand
Western Desert, January-March 1941	90	(16)
9 God save those poor buggers!
Cairo - Alexandria - Athens - Northern Greece, March-May 1941	106	(26)
10 A good idea at the time
Syria, July-August 1941	132	(11)
11 The spirit which makes men stick together
Tobruk, August-September 1941	143	(13)
12 Retreats are nothing but sick headaches
Western Desert, November 1941-January 1942	156	(10)
13 I didn't hear any bombs, I was filming
Port Moresby - Townsville, May-June 1942	166	(9)
14 The most amazing supply route of the war
Port Moresby - Wau, July 1942	175	(13)
15 Australians fighting in their own homes
Wau Salamaua area, July-August 1942	188	(14)
16 A lot of poor bastards have got to get killed
Port Moresby - Kokoda Track, August-September 1942	202	(32)
17 I know what your husbands, brothers and sweethearts are going through
Opening narration, Kokoda Front Line, Sydney, September-October 1942	234	(12)
18 All but you have surrendered
Timor, November-December 1942	246	(12)
19 None shall survive
Port Moresby - Bismarck Sea, January-March 1943	258	(12)
20 The Department represents your country, Mr Parer
Sydney - Port Moresby, May-August 1943	270	(14)
21 Not a man looked at the camera
Salamaua area, New Guinea, June-September 1943	284	(28)
22 These missions in the jungle aren't very spectacular
Port Moresby - Arawe - Cape Gloucester - Admiralties, November 1943-March 1944	312	(10)
23 I suppose I'll marry you
Australia - New Guinea, March-June 1944	322	(10)
24 Peak moments
Guam - Peleliu, July-September 1944	332	(18)
Epilogue	350	(5)
A final word	355	(2)
Terms and abbreviations	357	(1)
Abbreviated notes and a note on sources	358	(5)
Index	363