Australian [Mis]Treatment of Indigenous Labour in World War II Papua and New Guinea (Essay‪)‬

One of the most enduring images of World War II from Papua New Guinea is the George Silk photograph of a wounded Australian soldier, Private George C. Whittington, being escorted by a Papuan named Raphael Omibari. The photograph, taken in late 1942 during the Buna Campaign, shows the wounded Australian soldier, his eyes bandaged, clearly dependent upon his Papuan companion. The photograph portrays Papua New Guinean loyalty amidst adversity and evokes genuine affection for the Papuan attendant, symbolic of all Papua New Guineans toiling for the allied war cause. (1) Silk's photograph represents much of the mythology surrounding World War II in Papua New Guinea: the injured digger, the difficult trek, and the extraordinary loyalty and support of Papua New Guinean 'Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels'. (2) Certainly the loyalty of many Papua New Guineans merits praise, and the affection for Papua New Guineans epitomised through Silk's photograph is genuine. Yet it is what Silk's photograph does not depict--the harsh treatment of Papua New Guinean labourers during the war--which has remained on the periphery of Australia's national memory and which is the subject of this article. As the course of World War II placed increasing labour demands on Papua and New Guinea, the mass employment of Papua New Guineans became vital to the allied war effort. The pamphlet You and the Native, issued to Australian soldiers serving in New Guinea, stated: