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Photographs from Bita
Paka 2010
Photos ©
Sebastien Grenda |
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Bita Paka was the site of the wireless
station in German New Guinea. It is on the Gazelle Peninsular on New
Britain (then known as Neu Pommern) near Kokopo (then known as
Herbertshöhe). It was on the road to Bita Paka that the German
reservists and Polizeitruppe of New Guinea made their stand
against the Australian Invasion on the 11th September 1914. The battle lasted only a
day and the wireless station was captured that evening. The governor
for German New Guinea surrendered on 17th September. The battle had cost the
lives of about thirty Melanesians, one German and six Australians. These were
the first Australian casualties of the First World War.
In 1914 the road to Bita Paka was a rough
track that the Germans had mined and dug trenches across. Dense
vegetation lay on either side of the track, hampering Australian
attempts to out flank the German positions. Today much of the
vegetation has been cultivated, the road macadamised and the
wireless station completely dismantled. Its exact site is no longer
known. The area was also the scene of heavy
fighting between Australian and Japanese Forces in 1942.
A Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery is
situated nearby. As well as five Australian graves from 1914, most
of the cemetery has the graves of Australian soldiers from the
Second War World War and Indian Prisoners of War who died while
working as forced labour for the Japanese. |
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The Australian War Memorial to their dead
of 11th September 1914 inside the cemetery. Along the bottom are
inscribed the names of the six fallen Australians: Able Seaman WGV
Williams, Able Seaman JE Walker, Captain BCA Pockley AAMC, Lieut
Commander CB Elwell RN, Signalman RD Moffat, Able Seaman HW Street.
Except for Signalman Moffat who was buried at sea, the others are
now buried in the cemetery at Bita Paka. |
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A plaque outside the cemetery explaining
the Battle of Bita Paka. |
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The entrance to the cemetery |
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Inside the cemetery at Bita Paka. |
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One of the places described as possibly
being the site of the former German wireless station at Bita Paka.
Note the old stone flooring and fallen pillar in the foreground. |
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This was also described as the site where
the wireless station once stood. It is now inside a banana
plantation. Its wild appearance is most likely how the area as a
whole looked in 1914. |
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An old civilian cemetery found nearby
inside the banana plantation. |
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A period photograph taken
by Australian forces in 1914 showing some of the New Guinea
Polizeitruppe they had captured at Bita Paka. This photograph is on
display at the Rabaul Museum. |
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Recommended External
Links-
The Australian Official History of the War in the Pacific at the Australian
War Memorial Website
Battle of Bita Paka
at First World War.com
Australia's First Battle Against
Germany in World War One
at Austrailia Police.com
Battle of Bita Paka at Wikipedia |
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