The Battle of Bitipaka

Some sources and materials to build the story

 

For many years, PNGAA members and contributors to Una Voce have shown a developed interest in the history and events surrounding the Battle of Bitapaka at the outbreak of World war I and its aftermath. That interest extends to the battle itself wherein the first Australian soldiers to die in WWI lost their lives; the loss of the submarine AE1, and the aftermath of the surrender of German Imperial Forces in New Guinea and the installation of Australian military rule. For those PNGAA members interested in going direct to back-issues of Una Voce discussing some of these events, the following reference list has been compiled. It is not exhaustive but it gives a lead to some of the more interesting anecdotes and discussions.

In the references in the left column below, the figures before the hyphen indicate the issue of Una Voce, and the number after the hyphen is the page reference. Click on the link to download the PDF file of that issue, then scroll through to the required page.

Journal
(yyyy/mth-pg)

Title

Author

J2009/12-23 

95th Anniversary of Australia's First Battle in WW1 

Hayes, Max 

J2009/06-46 

How and When New Guinea Was Won 

Kemsley, H H (CPO) 

J2008/12-22 

Emirau 

Martin, Warren 

J2008/12-17 

Bitapaka Battle Remembered 

Hayes, Max 

J2008/03-41 

Remembering Kabakaul 1914 

Lutton, Wesley 

J2006/12-26 

Mysterious Disappearance of AE1 

Saunders, Steve 

J2006/12-20 

92nd Commemoration of Australia's First Battle in World War 1 

Hayes, Max 

J2006/06-24 

Situation of the Island of Mioko in Summer 1915 (with Preface by Karl Baumann) 

Uechtritz, Peter 

J2005/03-16 

Letters from the Front 

Hayes, Max 

J2004/09-38 

The 90th Anniversary of Australia's First Battle 

Hayes, Max 

J2004/03-11 

The Capture of the Komet 

Threlfall, Neville 

J2002/03-34 

German Travelling by Canoe Around South Coast New Britain prior WW1 

Aquart, Helen Dr 

J2002/03-22 

Memorial to Australia's First WW1 Casualties - 87 Years 

Hayes, Max 

J2001/09-31 

First Australians Killed in WW1 

Hayes, Max 

J2000/09-38 

Germans Face Mob Law after War's End 

Blanch, Ken 

J2000/06-05 

No More Im Kaiser - The Little War in the Pacific, 1914 

Downes, Jim 

J2000/03-24 

Papuan Administration Nurses of World War I 

Grimshaw, Peter 

J1999/12-33 

Melbourne Ceremony Commemorates Australia's First Victory in WW1 

Hayes, Max 

J1998/03-19 

The Neglected War -The German South Pacific & the Influence of WW1 

Editor 

J1997/09-35 

The Loss of Submarine AE1 in 1914 

Humphreys, Ken 

J2012/03-36 

Help Wanted - Heinrich Wahlen of Maron Island (Western Isles) 

Higham, Louise 

 

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